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HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS

OF

THE LIFE AND ACTS
OF THE
RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN GOD,
JOHN AYLMER,
LORD BP. OF LONDON IN THE REIGN OF QUEEN ELIZABETH.
WHEREIN ARE EXPLAINED
MANY TRANSACTIONS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND;
AND WHAT METHODS WERE THEN TAKEN TO
PRESERVE IT, WITH RESPECT BOTH TO
THE PAPIST AND PURITAN.

BY JOHN STRYPE, M. A.

A NEW EDITION.

OXFORD,
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS.
MDCCCXXI.

TO THE HONOURABLE
ADMIRAL AYLMER.

SIR,
ACCEPT the Dedication of this Life of Bishop
Aylmer. For to what other name may it more
justly belong than yours? Not only in that you
both are sprung from the same ancient family, but
by reason of your high and deserved advancements :
he, by his Prince placed in one of the chiefest
trusts in the Church ; you, by yours in as great
and honourable a charge in the Navy. , In which
you have not only been successful, by bringing
home in safety the Turkey fleet in the midst of
war, and a sea full of enemies laying wait for you,
but since by cutting [or agreeing] for the redemp
tion of his Majesty's subjects, lying for many years
in a most miserable slavery under the Emperor of
Morocco ; and have gained other advantages, both
for the honour and trade of England ; as may be
seen in the Articles confirmed by you with the
governments of Tunis and Tripoli. But you, Sir,
had rather do great services, than hear of them, and
receive the praises due for them. And therefore I
stop my pen from proceeding any farther in this
argument. Sir, that you may still live, and be the instrument

iv EPISTLE DEDICATORY.
of much more good to the King and kingdom, may
I presume to be your monitor? Remember from
whose hands all your successes and honours flow ;
acknowledge Him, and let Him have the glory.
The crest and motto belonging to the other branch
of your family may be your remembrancer : which
is, three flourishing slips of the plant allelujah, (as
herbalists call the trifolium acetosum,) and a scroll
compassing the same, with the word Allelujah,
which signifies, Praise the Lord: let that, Sir,
(which is their motto,) be your practice.
To conclude, if you shall please at your leisure
minutes to read over these Historical Collections
concerning this Prelate your namesake, (as history
is the mistress and. instructor of life,) whatsoever
you find praiseworthy in him, follow. Follow what
soever you observe in him springing from the noble
principles of religion, conscience, and true magnani
mity, and let them ever live and flourish in the house
of the Aylmers : with which wish and prayer I end
this address, being, Sir,
Your most humble Servant,
JOHN STRYPE.

THE

PREFACE.

J. O give some account of my doings in publishing this
piece, let me premise a few things. I confess I have been
led, by a strong propension of mind, to make inquiry into
the ecclesiastic affairs of this kingdom, happening especially
in the last century of years but one, (namely, that called
the scecvlum refbrmatum,) when the state of rehgion un
derwent so great a change in Europe, and particularly in
England. And that I might herein be profitable to others
as well as to myself, I have been willing to communicate
what I have collected and discovered out of various re
cords and archives, as well as other old cast-by printed
tracts; this kind of history, especially along through the
reign of Queen Elizabeth, being very sparingly hitherto
made known to us.
And because the hinges of pubhc affairs have chiefly
turned on the management of those in eminent places and
oiHces, Biography may deservedly require its place in his
tory : I have had a great respect to it in the collections I
have made ; taking due notice of all such persons as have
made a figure either in the Church or State, and observing
as much as I could of their acts and characters ; especially
of such whose aims and pursuits have been just and honour
able. Of such I have had a mind to revive the memory,
and retrieve their- names from being lost in perpetual obli
vion, by drawing up some accounts of them, taken out of
their own letters and papers, or elsewhere; intending to
offer some of them to the present age : a thing due to wor-
a2

vi THE PREFACE.
thy men, that their names and good works may never die,
nor be forgotten. And as it is a piece of justice to them,
so of considerable benefit to us in this age ; the contemplat
ing of their hves being hke to prove of very good use to
those that have the skill to gather lessons of prudence and
conduct in human life from them. I may add, the pleasure
and satisfaction that is commonly taken in relations and his
tories of persons of rank and eminence that hved in former
times. It hath somewhat very acceptable and agreeable in
it, as there is in seeing the lively portraitures or statues of
such as have been great Statesmen or learned Ecclesiastics,
being the usual ornament of the galleries of noblemen's
houses: though those could but represent the outward
shape, and not the minds and deeds, as history can and
doth. What flocking is there when an ambassador or a
great man is to be seen ! Many put themselves to the ex
penses of travelling abroad, chiefly to see the faces of for
tunate princes, or to be acquainted with profound scholars,
or men of some other great figure. And what inquiries do
they make into their manners, opinions, and factions ! Which
shews what a delight mankind usually takes in the know
ledge of men, whose dignities or employments have distin
guished them from the inferior rank.
I have in this hook shewn to the world one of these sin
gular men, viz. Queen Elizabeth's third Bishop of London.
Within whose diocese lay both the Court, Westminster Hall,
and London, the great metropolis, of the nation: and by
whom the Archbishop of Canterbury passed all his injunc
tions and mandates to the rest of the Bishops and Clergy of
his province. And therefore we may reasonably look for mat
ters of great moment to be occasionally recommended to
this Bishop in this busy reign, and to fall into the accounts
we give of him.
If it be asked why I do not rather begin with Grindal
and Sandys, this Bishop's two immediate predecessors in
the said see of London ; it is enough to answer at present,
that the one being afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury,
and the other of York, it may be more proper to treat of

THE PREFACE.

vn

them (as perhaps in due time I may) under the denomina
tions of the sees whereof they were possessed when they
died. In what I have writ, I have endeavoured invariably to
follow the tract of truth, and have related things as I found
them. I may perhaps be censured for this plain and im
partial way of writing, and blamed, that I have not put
some veil or varnish upon some things, and been wholly
silent of others, which might reflect some blemish upon the
man I write of. In truth, I make no scruple to express
the- defects and failings of men, as well as their excellent
qualities and praiseworthy deeds. We are not writing a
panegyric, but a faithful account. A sober reader might
justly misdoubt the whole, when all is praise, and every
passage of the hfe is represented as coming up to the per
fect and commensurate rule of justice, virtue, and honour.
And herein I follow s good historian, (Morison, Secretary
to the Lord Mountjoy, sometime Lord Deputy of Ireland,)
who, undertaking to write his Lord and Master's acts, bids
his reader confidently to believe, " that as in the duty of
" a servant he would not omit any thing he remembered,
" which might turn to his Lord's honour ; so, in his love
" to truth, he would be so far from lying and flattery, as
" he would rather be bold modestly to mention some of his
" defects, whereof the greatest worthiness of the world can-
" not be altogether free." Adding, that " as he esteemed ly-
" ing and flattery by word of mouth among the living to be in-
" fallible notes of baseness and ignorance, so he judged these
" vices infamous and sinful, when they were left in print to
" deceive posterity." And as for the errors in good men's
hves, it suffices to say, that we are not angels in this state
of mortality, and men will be men, as Archbishop Parker
used to say. The best have their imperfections ; and there
have been many singular useful men, whose passions or
other temptations have made them sometimes to deviate
and go aside; and yet may their names stand fair, and
their examples be recommended to posterity. Some slips
and failings perhaps we may find in this Bishop in reading
a 3

viii THE PREFACE.
his history : which his pubhc spirit, his zeal for the Pro
testant religion, his learning, his steady and careful govern
ment, and other singular accomplishments, will abundantly
atone. But whereas a great many charges and criminations
of a fouler nature were cast upon him, they will prove but
the uncharitable and angry slanders of his enemies, the in
novators, whom he neither favoured nor spared. And, in
justice to the memory of a great Father of our Church, I
have endeavoured to vindicate and clear his name from
such impudent calumniations and picked-up stories, as are
in Martin Marprelate, and some other malicious scribblers
in those times.
But to prevent the objection of some, who do not like
this age's practice, of burdening the world, as they call it,
with such abundance of needless and frivolous books, let
me add to what I have already said concerning the reason
of my setting forth this piece, that (besides the life and
acts of a single man, that, dying above an hundred years
ago, the present generation is not much concerned for) it
contains in it matter of more pubhc concern. For there
fall in with it many transactions in the Church ; as the pro
ceedings of the Commission for ecclesiastical causes ; parti
cular relations what grounds and interests both Papistry',
and that which was termed Puritanism and Separatism
got; how the State was awaked with these things; what
orders came down, and what prosecutions thereupon; the
state of the Clergy of London and the diocese ; matters dis
covered in visitations ; things not yet taken notice of in our
histories, but rather declined and purposely omitted. Cam
den, our best historian for these times, lightly toucheth at
matters of this nature, professing to leave them to the eccle
siastical historian.
Notices and characters are here likewise given of divers
remarkable persons then living both in the Church and
State, as, namely, the faithful, the just, and wise Lord
Treasurer Burghley, the great favourite the Earl of Lei
cester, the diligent Secretary Walsingham, the truly learned
and experienced Secretary Wylson, and other Statesmen ;

THE PREFACE.

ix

divers Archbishops and Bishops, and other eminent Church
men, viz. Parker, Grindal, Whitgift, Sandys, Cox, NoweU,
Goodman, Fox ; many of the chief Papists, Feckenham, Wat
son, Meridith, Allen, Campion ; and Puritans, as, Whright,
Chark, Field, Wilcox, Carew, Giffard, Cartwright, Cawdry,
Barrow, Greenwood, and others of that rank. Which things,
when duly considered, may render this book of public use
and advantage, though the argument of it be more private,
and relate chiefly to one man.
Should any be desirous to know upon what foot of truth
I stand, and what authority I have for what I have written,
I acknowledge the demand to be very reasonable, and I
shall freely declare what notes I have made use of, and
whence I have gathered my materials. In general, I have
been furnished from authentic registers and records, from
original letters and other MSS. some lying in pubhc ar
chives, and others in more private libraries. Some help
also I have had from certain old tracts and pamphlets
printed in those times. But to be more particular, (for this
perhaps may give a satisfaction to some more inquisitive
persons,) at the end of this book I have set down a cata^
logue of the manuscripts, together with the other ancient
printed treatises, both that "I have made use of, and that
are mentioned in the history.
And here I cannot but take this occasion publicly to
acknowledge my singular obligations to divers reverend
and honourable persons, who have granted me the hberty
of consulting very valuable papers in their possession or
custody. Among these is the right honourable and learned
Sir Joseph Williamson ; who, after my requests of being
admitted into the Paper Office had been made known unto
him by the favour of the most reverend Father in _ Christ
the present Archbishop of Canterbury, allowed me to take
a. view of the ecclesiastical papers there ; and afterward,
by a warrant from the most honourable the King's Privy
Council, with the same obliging readiness, to take copies of
divers of them for my use, in the compiling an ecclesiastical
history under my hands; whereby I was furnished with
a 4-

x THE PREFACE.
some things for my present purpose. By the favour also
of my right honourable and right reverend Diocesan
Henry Lord Bishop of London, I have had access to the
Registry of the Bishops of London: where I was kindly
received and directed by Mr. Alexander, the Deputy Re
gister. The right reverend the Lord Bishop of Nor
wich, the possessor of a great and curious collection of
MSS. and other ancient printed pieces, (little inferior to
MSS. in regard of their scarceness,) hath also been very
considerably assistant to me, as well in this present work, as
in others, by that free leave, nay, and invitation, he hath
given me to peruse, and make transcriptions out of any of
them. Nor do I forget the obliging readiness of Sir Henry
St. George Clarent. King at Arms, with others belonging
unto the noble Office of Heralds ; who with all willingness
afforded me the use of their books, in order to the searching
for the family and pedigree of our Bishop, as well as for
divers other things, serviceable to some purposes I have in
hand. And this at length is the sum of what I had to say to the
reader ; praying him, in case he discovers any shps or over
sights, to pardon them to one who looks upon himself as a
frail and fallible man, and is apt enough to have mean con
ceits of his own performances, and very ready to be set
right, and thankful to be instructed, as weU as willing to
contribute his talent to instruct others. And thus I bid the
reader farewell.
J. S.
From Low Leyton in Essex,
February 6, 1700.

THE
CONTENTS OF THE
HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS OF THE RIGHT
REV. BP. AYLMER'S LIFE ;
TOGETHER WITH THE CHRONOLOGY.

CHAP. I.

-L HE Bishop's birth, education and preferments, exile and
return. Made Archdeacon of Lincoln. P. 1.
The name of Aylmer. His extract and birth. His education. Aon. 1521.
Tutor to the Lady Jane Grey. Her proficiency under' bim. 1553-
Aylmer's character when young. Reckoned amongst the best i55g,
and politest wits. Studies divinity. Becomes Archdeacon of I562-
Stow. Flies abroad for his religion. Instructs youth in his 1572.
exile. Publisheth the Lady Jane's letter. Assists Mr. Fox the 157s-
Martyrologist. Aylmer a severe critic. Aylmer at Zurich. Ad-
viseth to invite Peter Martyr to read at Frankfort. He tra-.
vels. Prints a book at Strasburgh against Knox. Engaged in
a disputation. Made Archdeacon of Lincoln. Present at the
Synod anno 1562. Writes to the Archbishop concerning old
books at Lincoln. Sticks at Lincoln. Justice of the Peace,
and in the ecclesiastical Commission there. His usefulness.
Becomes Dr. of Divinity. Moved by the Archbishop to an
swer a certain book. A controversy between the Archdeacon
and Bishop of Lincoln decided.

xii CONTENTS CHAP. II.
He is preferred to the see of London. His cares in that
function: chiefly about Papists. Visits his diocese.
Preaches often. F- 1°.
Ann. 1576. Why neglected so long. The Archbishop's character of him.
'" Made Bishop of Loudon. Contest between Aylmer and his pre
decessor Sandys. Archbishop Sandys's plea. The kindness of
his predecessor. His confirmation and consecration. His re
quest to the Queen. His primary visitation. His expenses.
Preaches frequently. His main endeavour. His first ordina
tion. Discovers a Popish Priest. His apprehensions of Spain.
His advice to the Lord Treasurer concerning Papists. Orders
for Papists in prison. A secret letter to the Bishop concerning
them. Thimblethorp. The Bishop an enemy to Papists. Writes
to John Fox. His care about the plague in London. Discovers
Carter, a Popish printer. Removes Pond to his prison at Stort-
ford. CHAP. III.
His farther dealing with Papists. Campion's book. P. 31.
Ann. 1581. Campion's book. The Bishop wished to answer it. His
judgment of Protestant writers. His advice to the Lord Trea
surer. Persons by him nominated for answering the Popish
book. His reflections upon Campion's book. The Bishop not
for disputing. The Papists boast.
CHAP. IV.
His dealing with the Puritans. His advice concerning the
University. His trouble about feUing his woods. P. 36.
Ann. 1577. Puritans. His opinion of some of them; and advice con-
— 1580. cerning them. Imprisons a bookseller. One of the Clergy of
Lincoln dedicates a book to him. One Welden abuses the Bi
shop. Complains of it. A book against the Queen's marriage
with Monsieur : occasions the Bishop suddenly to summon the
London Clergy. Andreas Jacobus. The ubiquitarian contro
versy. Admonishes his Clergy about the Queen. The Min
isters of London now often cited. Articles of inquiry. Other
Articles, by virtue of the Council's letters. Orders for the
Clergy. Another call of the Ministers. Another. His advice

AND CHRONOLOGY. xiii
concerning the University. Licence for keeping and looking to
hearses at funerals. Commissions. Sir Julius Caesar. Troubled
about felling his woods. Writes to the Lord Treasurer about
it. His defence of himself. Forbid to fell any more of his
woods. Endeavours a commission for dilapidations. His let
ters to the Secretary. He sues the Archbishop of York. The
charge of the dilapidations
CHAP. V.
An earthquake occasions the Bishop to compose certain
prayers. He visits. His business with the Lord Rich.
His device about appointment of preachers. His coun
sel for filling the see of Bath and Wells, and other sees.
P. 51.
An earthquake. Frames prayers for this occasion. A visita- Ann- ,580'
1581
tion. Articles to be inquired of. Chiefly for Papists. City Ministers
cited again. And again. Contends with the Lord Rich, a Pu
ritan. Wright his preacher. They come before the Commis
sion ecclesiastical. Writes to the Queen concerning his doings.
Wright offers a subscription. His device for preachers. His
grave advice for supplying vacant sees. His letter to the Trea
surer for that purpose. CHAP. VI.
The Bishop's care about the Commission. Labours a re
move to Ely. P. 60.
Several punished for inconformity. Complains of some Com- Ann. 1581.
missioners that absented. Apparitors employed on Sundays.
The Lord Treasurer sends cautions to the Bishop. His answer
thereupon. Tbe Bishop the great stay of the Commission. The
success of his pains. Meets with troubles at Court. Labours
a remove. He hath the grant of Ely. Solicits his remove to
Ely. Solicits again the next year. Fed with hope. Troubled
again by informers. The elms in Fulham. The Queen lodges
at Fulham. CHAP. VII.
The Bishop celebrates the 17th of November. Slandered.
Papists have mass in prison. Goes his visitation. Sus
pends one Huckle. Suit with his predecessor for dilapi
dations. Thomas Cartwright taken up. P. 68.
The Queen's day solemnized at Paul's. His enemies slander Ann- I583>
1 —1586.

xiv CONTENTS
him. His request hereupon. Papists in prison pervert many.
Visits. Complaints of commutation of penance. His advice
for the reforming thereof. Silenceth a dangerous Minister.
Another suspended by him, viz. George Giffard, Minister of
Maiden. Restored. Suspended again. A large testimonial of
him by his auditors. Giffard wrote against Barrow the. Sepa
ratist. Casts Archbishop Sandys for dilapidations. His reasons
against a new commission for examination of the matter. The
Bishop desires the judgment of the Judges concerning certain
Papists. Vauce, a Popish Priest. Takes up Cartwright the
Puritan. The Queen offended with the Bishop. Charged un
justly to have spoiled the bishopric. A controversy between
the Queen aiid him about a vicarage. A Presbytery set up at
Hatfield. Enormities and strange doctrines of their preacher.
His dealing at Hatfield. Composes a prayer for a present occa
sion. The Bishop endeavours to pacify the citizens concerning
the strangers. Holds a. visitation. Visits in London. Goes
into Essex. A strange rudeness intended against the Bishop at
Maiden. Goes to Wickham. Dr. Aylmer, Archdeacon. Visits.
CHAP. VIII.
Cawdry's case: who was deprived, and deposed from the
ministry. P. 84.
Ann. 1587. Cawdry of Luffenham cited before the Commission. The
Bishop deprives him. Cawdry refuses to submit to the sen
tence. His lawyer's arguments. James Morice his lawyer.
Cawdry vindicates his abilities in learning. Urges his using
tbe Common Prayer. The reason of his sentence. Which he
would not abide by : and why. His letter to the Lord Burghley.
Offers some kind of submission : but will not recant publicly.
Appears at Lambeth. Degraded and deposed. The Bishop of
Peterborough sequesters his living. Cawdry sues in the Star-
chamber. The Lord Burghley recommends his case to the Bi
shop of London. The Bishop's letter to the said Lord. Caw
dry's counsellor's angry advice. Dr. Aubrey's judgment of
the case. The statute urged by Cawdry's counsel. Offered to
be restored to his ministry upon subscription.
CHAP. IX.
The Bishop's contest with one Maddocks. Smith the
preacher at St. Clement's suspended. A visitation. Dyke,

— 1591.

AND CHRONOLOGY. xv
of St. Alban's, forbid preaching. Cartwright the Pu
ritan. Sir Denys Roghan, an Irish Priest. The see of
Oxford void. P. 97.
The occasion of a contest between the Bishop and Maddocks. Ann. 1588.
Maddocks complains to the Council. The Bishop relates the 1590"
case. Maddocks submits. Smith, Lecturer of St. Clement's. 1592.
Greenham's account of him to the Lord Treasurer. The Bishop
suspends him. The reasons why. His answer to them. Cer
tain of the parish sue to the Lord Burghley for Smith to be
their Minister. An abusive book against the King of Spain. The
Bishop sent unto, to find the printer. Visits. Suspends Dyke
of St. Alban's. Gives his reasons for so doing. Cartwright in
the Fleet appears before the Bishop : who expostulates with
him. The Bishop's house vexed with an Irish Priest. Sues to
be rid of him. Who this Irishman was. His informations to
the Council ; and advice. But proves a right Irishman. The
Bishop commends certain for the see of Oxford. Desirous to
resign.
CHAP. X.
The Bishop's last visitation. His death. His burial. His
last will. His children and posterity. P. 112.
His last visitation. Departs this life. His estate. His last Ann. 1592.
will. His wife and children. His eldest son, Samuel. Dr. l 9 '
Aylmer, his second son. Some character of him. Some farther
character of Dr. Aylmer. His charity. Humble and mortified.
His preparation for death. The Bishop's third son, John. His
fourth, fifth, and seventh sons. Tobel, his sixth son. His
daughters. Dr. Squire, the Bishop's son-in-law. Squire a pro
digal. The Bishop's letter to the Lord Treasurer concerning
Squire. The Bishop's name and family. George Aylmer one
of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem. The Bishop's house
keeping and expenses. His purchase. His dilapidations : for
which Bishop Bancroft sues his son and heir.
CHAP. XI.
Some observations upon Bishop Aylmer. Certain things
charged upon him cleared. The Lord Burghley his
friend. P. 129.
A review taken of the Bishop. Faults charged upon him.

xvi CONTENTS
Wronging the see by felling the wood. Charged for his licences
for marriage. Faculties. Old Sir Roger. Charged again for
disorders in Essex. Desires to be heard by the Queen. Mar-
prelate's slanders of the Bishop. Detaining stolen goods.
Wronging his grocer. Keeping one in the Clink. Ordaining
his porter. These calumnies wiped off. The business bBtween
the Bishop and the diers ; and the executors of Allen his grocer.
Benison's business. His charge of making his porter a Min
ister, cleared. Other calumnies. Bowling on the sabbath. His
friends. Lord Treasurer Burghley.
CHAP. XIT.
His great abilities in learning. His disputation. Writings.
A logician : an historian : an hebrician : a civilian. P. 145.
His debates in Queen Maiy's Convocation : concerning the
sense of oia-lcc. His free speech to the Prolocutor. He takes
up the Prolocutor again. His book called The Harborough.
Dedicates it to the Earl of Bedford and Lord Dudley. Some
character of the book. A specimen of it. The arguments of
Knox's book reduced to six. Aylmer's book of the supremacy.
He was a logician, au historian,, a good hebrician. His
sense of the descent of Christ into hell. Bishop Aylmer favours
Hugh Broughton. His opinion of the LXX. Greek. Skilled
in the civil law. Shews the difference between the law of Eng
land and the civil law. CHAP. XIII.
A great Divine. WeU skilled in Hebrew learning. A good
textuary and preacher. His judgment. Some of his
sayings. p. 168.
Well seen in all divine learning. A good interpreter of the
Scripture. Several places by him explained. Conversant in
the ancient Church writers. An excellent preacher. A preacher,
how to be qualified, in his judgment. Curious in books. A
good judge of learning. Some of his thoughts concerning va
rious matters. Quakers. His opinion of Bishops' lands. His
opinion of the English government. Compares the two Queens,
Mary and Elizabeth. His judgment of the Queen's marriage.

AND CHRONOLOGY. xvii
His judgment of the French : and of the Spaniard. His pro
verbial sayings. True fraternitv. The benefit of counsellors.
Women's pride. The Popish Clergy. The Bible. No infalli
bility. Miracles. A false argument. Women. Neglect of
good counsel. Acquiescence in God.
CHAP. XIV.
His qualities, conditions, and temper of mind. P. 182.
His temper and disposition. Zealous for the true religion.
His opinion of Luther. His prayer for a great Minister. His
zeal against the French King, a persecutor. Diligent and pain
ful. Not to be tempted by bribes. His devotion. Punctual
in his visitation ; and ordination of Ministers. Quick and hot
in bis temper. Expostulates with the Lord Treasurer. The
Lord Treasurer's auswer. Sharp in his discourse. His words
concerning Queen Mary's match with King Philip ; and the
Parliament receiving absolution from Cardinal Pole. Facetious.
His story of the Vicar of Trumpington. Judges, drudges. He
called the Under Sheriff Under Thief. Bold. Free in speech.
Blunt in words. Stout and courageous. An odd instance of
his courage before the Queen. His recreation. His personage.
His picture now in the possession of Mr. Aylmer of Chelms
ford. His household. A man of both fortunes. His relation
of a passage concerning the Lady Jane Grey. His opportunity
of knowing the Lady (after Queen) Elizabeth. Roger Ascham.
Contents of the Additions. P. 199.
Campion the Jesuit. The Bishop's doings in Convocation.
Dyke the Puritan. Dyke's auditors solicit the Treasurer : who
thereupon writes to the Bishop. His second letter in Dyke's
behalf. Cartwright the Puritan imprisoned. The other Puri
tans in other prisons. Their names. The conference between
the Bishop, with the other Commissioners, and Cartwright.
Mr. Attorney's speech to him. The Bishop puts him upon
taking the oath, which he declines. His answer to the Articles.
Dr. Lewin's speech to him. The oath ex officio. Bancroft's
speech to him. Some debate arises between the Bishop and
Dr. Bancroft. Cartwright's argument against the oath. Cart-
wright's replies, when it was told him he had once taken the

xviii CONTENTS AND CHRONOLOGY.
oath : and that we are bound to confess our faults ; and that
he and others held conferences and made laws ; and when he
was moved again to take the oath. Bancroft shews the danger
of the discipline ; in France, in Scotland, and Geneva. Cart-
wright's reply to this. The Bishop makes an act of Cart-
wright's refusal. The Queen had read his answers. The Ar
ticles charged against Cartwright and his fellows. The pro
ceedings with them. How the cause with the Puritans stood.
Interrogatories put to them. Upon the Bishop's death, the
Dean and Chapter claim the temporalties. The Dean and
Chapter custodes episcopatus. The Aylmers of Ireland. The
stolen match of the Lady Dorothy Devereux with Sir Tho.
Parrot. An injunction about licences to marry.

HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS

CONCERNING THE

RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN GOD,
JOHN AYLMER,

SOMETIME

LORD BISHOP OF LONDON.

CHAP. I.

His birth, education, and preferments ; exile and return.
Made Archdeacon of Lincoln.
JjISHOP Aylmer (of whom this ensuing book must treat) The name
bore a name variously written ; sometimes Aylmer, some- ° y me '
times Ailemare, (and so I find it written by the learned int.MSS.D.
Camden Clarentieux in one of his books of heraldry,) {^°" 'Ma>
sometimes Elmer, sometimes ^Elmer, with the Saxon diph- Claren-
thong, (and so he wrote himself,) contracted, as it seems,
from the Saxon name Adelmar, or Ethelmar ; for that the
name is Saxon is undoubted. And in the catalogue of the
Bishops of Sherborn in the Saxon times, viz. anno 1009>
we have one of the same name.
He was one of the excellent Bishops made choice of by
Queen Ehzabeth to assist in the government of the Church
of England; and placed in one of the chief sees thereof,
being to superintend ecclesiastical matters in the chief me
tropolis of the realm, the city of London, with the diocese
thereof. He was a gentleman by birth, of the ancient family of™* ™%£*

THE LIFE OF

CHAP, the Ayimers, spreading in Norfolk and Suffolk; for the
L Ayimers of Quadring, in the county of Lincoln, gave a dif
ferent coat of arms, and so may be concluded to be of
another family. The Ayimers with whom we are to be
concerned bear for their coat of arms, argent, a cross sable,
between four choughs of the same ; whence some derive
the name Ailmar, quasi ab alite de mari : but the chough
is no sea-fowl. The reason of which bearing may be per
haps conjectured from the relation some of the family, they
say, bore to a Duke of Cornwall ; from whence, for their
crest, they bear on a ducal coronet a Cornish chough's head
and neck, wings displayed. He received his first breath in
the county of Norfolk, about the year 1521. For in 1581
I read him in one of his letters calling himself homo sexa-
genarius, i. e. " a man of threescore years of age." Born,
according to Dr. Fuller, at Aylmer Hall, in the parish of
Tilsley, as he saith the Bishop's nearest relation informed
him ; mistaken, I suppose, for Tilney in the same county ;
for as for Tilsley, there is scarce such a town in England.
In the neighbouring county of Suffolk, within four miles of
Ipswich, there is a very fair house called Claidon Hall,
now, or late, in the possession of the Ayimers. His elder
Sir Robert brother was Sir Robert Aylmer, of Aylmer Hall aforesaid,
y mer' whose ancestor was High Sheriff of that county of Norfolk
in the time of Edward II.
His educa- Aylmer, though he took his degrees of divinity in Ox
ford, had his first education at Cambridge; but when ad
mitted, and under what tutor, and in what society, I am to
learn: whether in Bene't or Gonvil hall, where the Nor
folk youth commonly studied, or Trinity hall, entered
there by the fame that Bilney, formerly of that house, bore,
who much conversed and carried a great stroke among .the
people of Norfolk. But these things are uncertain. Grey,
Marquis of Dorset, (afterwards Duke of Suffolk,) took a
liking to him from a child going to school, and entertained,
him as his scholar, and exhibited to him when transplanted to
the University. After he had attained some competent know
ledge in University learning, and taken, I presume, his. de-

BISHOP AYLMER. 3
grees, the Marquis took him into his family, and made him CHAP.
tutor to his children ; one whereof was the Lady Jane, that _

afterwards wore a crown: who, as she was a lady of excel-Tutortothe
lent parts, so by his instruction she attained to a degree G*ey, ar
above her sex in the knowledge of Latin and Greek; so
that she read, and that with ease and delight, Plato and
Demosthenes, and wrote excellently well. And he bred her
up in piety as well as learning, being very devout to God,
and a serious embracer of evangelical doctrine purged from
the superstitions of Rome.
To what perfection she attained in Greek by Aylmer's Her Profi-
. ' , , , -ii 1 ¦ -i ciencjr un-
lnstruction, and what an nappy guide he was to her in good der him.
hterature, appeared in part by a discourse that happened in
King Edward's days between this noble Lady and Roger
Ascham, who was schoolmaster to another great Lady, (and
afterwards Queen too,) viz. the Lady Elizabeth : and I will
give it in Ascham's own words. " Before I went into Ger-Schooimast.
" many" [being Secretary to the embassy thither, Sir Ri
chard Morison Ambassador] " I came to Broadgate in Lei-
" cestershire, to take my leave of that noble Lady Jane
" Grey, to whom I was exceeding much beholden. Her
" parents, the Duke and the Duchess, with all the houshold,
" gentlemen and gentlewomen, were hunting in the park.
" I found her in her chamber, reading Phaedon Platonis in
" Greek, and that with as much delight, as some gentlemen
" would read a merry tale in Boccace. After salutation and
"duty done, with some other talk, I asked her, why she
"• would leese such pastime in the park. Smiling she an-
" swered me, ' I wisse, al their sport in the park is but a
" shadow to that plesure that I find in Plato. Alas ! good
" folk, they never felt what true plesure meant.' ' And
" how came you, madam,' quoth I, ' to this deep know-
" ledge of plesure, and what did chiefly allure you unto it,
" seeing not many women, but very few men, have attained
* thereunto ?' ' I will tell you,1 quoth she, ' and tell you a
" troth, which perchance ye will marvel at. One of the
" greatest benefits that ever God gave me is, that he sent
" me so sharp* and severe- parents and so gentle a school-
b 2

4 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, "master: for when I am in presence either of father or
L "mother, whether I speak, keep silence, sit, stand, or go,

" eat, drink, be merry or sad, be sewing, playing, dancing,
" or doing any thing else,. I must do it as it were in such
li weight, mesure and number, even so perfectly as God
" made the world ; or else I am so sharply taunted, so
" cruelly threatned, yea presently sometimes with pinches,
" nipps, and bobbs, and other ways, (which I will not name
" for the honour I bear them,) so without mesure misor-
" dered, that I think myself in hell, till time come that
" I must go to Mr. Aylmer, who teacheth me so gently,
" so plesantly, with such fair allurements to learning, that
" I think all the time nothing whiles I am with him. And
" when I am called from him, I fall on weeping, because
" whatsoever I do else but learning, is full of grief, trouble,
" fear, and wholly misliking to me. And thus my book
" hath been so much my plesure, and bringeth daily to me
" more plesure and more, that in respect of it, al other
" plesures in very deed be but trifles and troubles unto
" me.'" While Ascham afterwards thought on this' admirable-
Lady, and of the employment he found her in, in her
chamber reading of Plato, he brake out into these words ;
Epist. As- Ti2 ZsO xati Qeo) ! divinam virginem, divinum divini Plato-
riss. D. w*-' Phadonem Greece sedulo perlegentem : hac parte \feii-
cior es judicanda, quam quod KargoOev ixr^Tpohvrs ex regibus
reginisque genus tuum deducis : i. e. " O good God ! a di-
" vine maid diligently reading in Greek the divine Phaedo
" of divine Plato : in this respect you are to be reckoned
" happier, than that both by father and mother you derive
" your stock from kings and queens." And upon the same
account our Aylmer, whose scholar she was, ne thus con
gratulates, (turning his speech to him, and then to her:) 0
Elmarum meum felicissimum, cui talis contigit discipula,
et te multo jelicioremj quas. eum prceceptorem nacta es :
utrique certe et. tibi qua: discis, et illi qui dacet, et gratuhr,
et gaudeo: i. e. " O my most fortunate Aylmer, to whose lot
" it falls to have such a scholar ; and you, madam, more

Joannae Gray;

BISHOP AYLMER. 5
''fortunate in such a master: all joy to you both; you CHAP.
" the learner of such a master, and him the teacher of such '
" a scholar."
Of Aylmer^s residence with the beforesaid nobleman we Aylmer's
have some account in an old book, entitled, The Jewel of ^J""1"
Joy, written by Thomas Becon, in King Edward's reign, young.
That author being an old friend and professor of the Gos
pel, and on that account in danger of his life under King
Henry VIII. resolved, for his safety in the- latter end of
that King's reign, to conceal himself, by travelling from
these parts northwards : and coming into Leicestershire,
where the Marquis of Dorset's seat was, he met with Mr;
Aylmer, then a young man, that nobleman's domestic, of
whom he was kindly received ; and in the said book gave
him this character, " that he was exceUently well learned Jewel of
" both in Latin and Greek;" and added, " that with himjoy'
" alone in that county he had familiarity." There being,
it is probable, not one else that he dared to trust, for fear
lest he might be betrayed by them. Becon called him his
countryman ,• and Becon was of Norfolk.
Aylmer now in his younger days plied his studies, read- Reckoned
ing Greek, and other pohte authors; so that he was reckoned D™" „d 'e
amongst the number of the best scholars and finest wits of politest ¦
those times, such as Cheke, Haddon, Smith, Ascham, and
others. Whereof Ascham and Aylmer, being both often at
the Court, and in the same way employed, and equally ad
dicted to good hterature, contracted a great acquaintance.
And in a letter the former wrote from Ausburgh, in the
forementioned embassy, he took affectionate notice of his
friend Aylmer; and among other matters he begged two
things of him: the one was, that by his persuasion the Lady
Jane would write him a Greek letter, as soon as she could,
which was no more than she had promised him ; and so he
had told Johannes Sturmius, the learned Professor, his
friend at Strasburgh. He prayed Aylmer also to move her
to write another Greek epistle to that exceUent person ; and
that it would not repent her of her pains [being likely to
receive back again from him some learned answer]. The
b3

6 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, other request, or rather exhortation, was, that they both
should persist and continue that their present course of life,
of reading and studying. " How free," said he, " how
" sweet, how like philosophers then should we live ! What
" should hinder then, dear friend, but that we might enjoy
" all those good things which Cicero, in the conclusion of
" his third book De Finibus, attributed to this way of living?
" Nothing would occur to us in both the languages, nor in
" aU records of time past and present, but we should gather
" thence matter to render our life sweet and pleasant'"
studies di- But Aylmer did not only follow the studies of humani-
vimty. ty, but of divinity also, and devoted himself to the service of
Christ in the Gospel. And having the countenance once of
the Duke of Suffolk, his lord, under King Edward, and after
of the Earl of Huntingdon, (both whose places were in
Leicestershire,) he was die only preacher in that county for
some time. And by his and that Earl's means that shire
was converted, and brought to that state wherein it was in
the latter end of King Edward, and in the beginning of
Queen Elizabeth; which in true rehgion was above any
other place in this regard, that they retained the Gospel
without contention ; which few other places did.
Becomes The first preferment I find him possessed of was the
o/stow.00" Archdeaconry of Stow, in the diocese of Lincoln, which he
obtained in the beginning of the year 1553, succeeding Dr.
Draicot, lately deceased. This dignity qualified him to be
of the Convocation, which happened the first year of Queen
Mary, wherein when he saw the Clergy to run strongly
towards Popery, in compliance with the Queen, he, with five
more, (though with an hundred halberds about his ears,)
boldly and bravely offered to dispute the controverted
points in religion openly in that synod, against aU the learn.
ed Papists in England ; and learnedly argued out of Theo-
doret with one Moreman there, against the doctrine of tran
substantiation : which dispute is set down at large in Mr,
Fox's Acts and Monuments.
Flies abroad But for this confidence, grounded upon his love of truth
for his reii- amj the Gospel, he underwent great danger, and was de.

BISHOP AYLMER. 7
prived of his archdeaconry. Under this reign, uneasy and C HA P.
unsafe for him and aU others that conscientiously adhered t-
to the reformed rehgion, he soon fled away into Germany,
and with several others of the best rank, both flivines and
gentlemen, he resided at Strasburgh, and afterward at Zu
rich in Helvetia ; and there in peace foUowed his studies,
and heard the learned Dr. Peter Martyr's Lectures, not
long before the King's Reader of Divinity in Oxford.
And whhe he was here he was not idle, but employed instrucu
his talent of learning partly in the instruction of certain ^;'j*h in his
students and young gentlemen in good hterature and reli
gion. One of these was the son of Dannet, a worthy per
son, whom many years after, when he was Bishop of Lon
don, he caUed his old scholar ; and by reason of his excel
lent abilities he recommended to the Lord Treasurer. By
setting rehgion before this young Dannet in a true hght, he
brought him off, as from ignorance, so particularly from
the superstitions wherein he had been bred : which he thus
elegantly set forth in a letter to the foresaid noble person,
when he sued in Dannet's behalf. " Give me leave to en-
" treat your honourable favour for my son Onesimus, whom
" I begat not in my bands, but in my banishment ; fleeing
" not from his master Phuenion to Paul, but from Mise-
" mon, the great Antichrist, to Christ."
Some other things I find this learned confessor doing Pubiisheth
in his exfle. Soon after the English fled from the Ro-jane'Saiet.
man tyranny exercised in England, a learned and excel- ter'
lent letter of the Lady (late Queen) Jane, written to the
apostate Harding, her father's chaplain, was printed in
Enghsh in Strasburgh. This, I make httle doubt, Aylmer,
formerly her tutor, was the pubhsher of, and perhaps the
bringer of it along with him from England. And when a
few years after John Fox, who was now busy in collecting
materials for his Martyrology, inquired of Aylmer what he
had to communicate of that right iUustrious Lady, he told
him of that epistle, and of the publishing it in English;
and that if he were minded to make any memorials of her,
nothing could be worthier of his pen, nor redound more to
b 4

8 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, that rare woman's praise, than that same letter: Nam, as he
L -wrote back to Fox, et pie et prudenter,fortasse etiam docte,
scriptam dices; i. e. "For you wiU say it was piously and
" prudently writ, and perhaps learnedly too."
Assists Mr. He was, whhe in these parts, a great, fautor and for-
rriartyroio- warder of that godly laborious man in the works he was
Sist- upon; particularly in two: 1. His edition of the History of
the Enghsh Martyrs in Latin ; and 2. Of Archbishop Cran
mer's Vindication of his Book of the Sacrament, against
Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, translated by the said
Fox into Latin; which last however was never printed.
And of Aylmer's great'learning and accurate judgment such
an high opinion had Fox, that he chose him of all other
learned men in those parts then in exile ; and sent to him,
then at Zurich, his translation, making him alone the judge
of it, and resolving according as he approved of it or disap
proved, so the work should stand or faU: Cujus [sohus]
censura hos ejus labores vel probari vel improbari vellet ;
as Fox wrote to him. To which Aylmer modestly answer
ed, " That in this he could not so much approve his coun-
Ayimer a " sel as embrace his love." Aylmer was indeed a severe
tiJ. rc critic ; and so he confessed himself, and looked upon it as
Int. Foxtt his fault. Sum enim, ut vere '. de meipso dicam, ex eorum
numero qui JmMius reprehendunt, quam emenda/nt: ut mi-
noris multd negotii est solvere quam componere, et ut philoso-
phis placet,'destruere quam excedificare : i.e. " For to speak
" truly of myself, I am of the number of them who do
" more easUy reprove than mend ; as it is much less labour
" to undo than to do, or, as the philosophers speak, to de-
" stroy than to buUd up." But so correct, it seems, was
Fox's work, that even this critic bestowed much commenda
tion on it; nay, though, as he acknowledged himself, he
had more accurately and nicely weighed and examined it,
upon divers accounts ; partly because they both were Eng
lishmen, and coupled together in the same bond of reli
gion, and so he was the more concerned that his country
man and fellow Protestant should not set forth a raw and
undigested work ; partly because he esteemed it a crime tq

MSS.

BISHOP AYLMER. 9
toy in a thing so serious with his friend, and with a Chris- CHAP
tian, or to give his approbation of that which he did believe '
others would dishke. " My mind therefore was," as he
wrote to Fox, " in the commendation I gave of your pains,
" or in that encomiastic epistle, as you were pleased to
" style my letter, not so much to please you, as to speak
*' truth, and as I reaUy thought of it. Although I confess
" it the part of a friend, yea of a good man, rather to err
" on this hand, to attribute a httle more to virtue, than on
" that, to detract one jot from true praise. But besides, I
" know in part how your own disposition inclines you to
" think meanly enough, yea perhaps more than enough, of
" yourself, and of your performances. For as to you, my
" friend, I had no fear you would begin to be puffed up with
" other men's praises of you, especiaUy in this course of
" your studies ; wherein whatsoever is by you taken in
" hand, your purpose hath been to render an account not to
" men, but to God. Take heed rather, lest by this exces-
" sive, not to say vicious, modesty, you be drawn off from
" things that would be of great use to the whole Christian
" state, and decline doing what you are weU able to do,
" and ought most willingly to set yourself about to do.
" Compare your own doings with other men's, and see
" whether you be not rather to be chidden for so much
" modesty, than for any self-conceit. In this, saith Plu-
" tarch, hes no smaU fault, that they that can do best at-
" tempt least. But so are the dispositions of men, that
" modesty and the dread of reproof goes with singular and
" exquisite learning, confidence and rashness with ignorance
" and unskilfulness. And hence we see it comes to pass,
" that of the writers in aU kinds of hterature, the more are
" and always have been unlearned than truly learned."
And then turning his speech to Fox, " Believe me, my
" friend, I do attribute very much to your merit, and ear-
*' nestly pray to God, that he would daily increase those
" gifts wherewith he hath enriched you, and to turn them
" to his glory. And, lastly, I do again counsel you to dis-
" patch that work which you have in your hands as soon as

10 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, ."you can, that we may enjoy those your exceUent Ja-
L " bours."
Aylmer at This was the dependence of this good and painful father
Zurich. Fox upon tne ^gdouj an(i judgment of Aylmer ; arid thus
friendly, learnedly, and Christianly did Aylmer excite, ad
vise, and encourage Fox. And soon after, that is, in De
cember 1557, Fox went over from BasU to Zurich, where
Aylmer then was, to consult with him, and others his feUow
exUes there, about his said works; Aylmer in a letter a
httle before assuring him how glad his coming would be,
and promising him aU the help and assistance he could. And
these are some instances how this good man employed him
self while he remained abroad.
Advises to Nor must we be suent concerning the good service he in-
Marty^t*6"" tended for the English residing at Frankfort. For observ-
read at ing a considerable company of scholars and students placed
there, who might hereafter in better times become ministers
and preachers of true religion in England, he considered
how useful it would be to have some very learned reader of
divinity among them ; and soon caUed to mind Peter Mar
tyr, the late King's Professor at Oxford, who then was, I
think, at Strasburgh: whereupon he advised Fox, who
then was at Frankfort, and others of chief note there, to at
tempt to gain that learned man to come among them, and
to take that office upon him ; and for that end to propound
some honourable salary to him. His counsel took place,
and an earnest and respectful epistle was drawn up, signed
by Fox and the rest of the best repute there, and sent to
him : when Fox also wrote another more private letter of
his own to him to the same effect, caUing him therein the
Apostle to the English nation; and signifying that the
pubhc letter, as it was signed by their subscriptions, so it
was done Elmeri nomine, in Aylmer's name. But this took
not effect.
He travels. While Aylmer thus continued abroad in exUe, he took
the opportunity of improving himself by travel, visiting al
most all the Universities of Italy and Germany ; and had
much conferences with many the best learned men. At last'

BISHOP AYLMER. -11
he was stayed at Jene, an University erected by the Dukes CHAP.
of Saxony; and should, if he had not come away, hare had
the Hebrew lecture there which Snepphinus had, having
been entertained there to read in that University both
Greek and Latin, in the company, and with the good love
and liking of those "famous men, Flacius IUyricus, Victorius
StrigeUus, D. Snepphinus, (whom they termed the other
Luther,) with divers others.
When Queen Mary was extinct, whose reign was deeply Prints a
besmeared with blood, and her sister Elizabeth, a lady of °°nsta^nox
other principles, succeeded to the crown, Aylmer with the at Stras-
rest of the exiles came home to their native country, with
no httle joy and thankfulness to God, to enjoy the quiet
profession of that rehgion they had suffered for before, and
endured the loss of aU. But before he returned home he
printed an Enghsh book at Strasburgh, caUed An Harbo-
rough for faithful' Subjects; (an account whereof is, given
towards the conclusion of the book ;) which he wrote upon
a consultation, as it seems, holden among the exiles, the
better to obtain the favour of the new Queen, and to take
off any jealousy she might conceive of them and the reh
gion they professed, by reason of an iU book a httle before
set forth by Knox, a Scotchman and fellow exUe ; who had
asserted therein, that it was unlawful for women to reign,
and forbid by God in his word. This doctrine was season
ably confuted by Aylmer, and learnedly. And for Queen
Elizabeth, he gave her a great character, concluding that
there would be aU peace and prosperity under a Princess of
such admirable parts and godly education.
He was but newly come home, when he was appointed Engaged in
one of the eight to hold a disputation in Westminster, be- a 18pu
fore many of the nobility and gentry, against the hke num
ber of the Popish Bishops.: which if it had been fairly
prosecuted, and not dechned after one or two meetings by
those Bishops, our learned man had shewn his great parts,
and that he was not ignorant in ah the three learned lan
guages. Whether upon his return he enjoyed his archdeaconry of

12 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. Stow again, I cannot tell; but in the year 1562 he obtain-
L .ed a far better, namely, that of Lincoln, being valued in

Made Arch- the King's books at one hundred and seventy-nine pounds
Lincoln!* nineteen shillings, whereas that of Stow was but twenty-four
pounds odd money in the said books. In this archdeaconry
he succeeded one Thomas Marshal, a Papist. This he got
by the procurement of Secretary Cecil; to whom he was
earnestly recommended by one Mr. Thomas Dannet, for
whom the Secretary had a great esteem, both for his inte
grity and good deserts. And Dannet loved Aylmer as his
brother. The remembrance of which kindness, and the an
cient friendship between them, still kept such an impression
upon him, that many years after, viz. anno 1581, he was
very solicitous with the Lord Treasurer to prefer this Dan-
net's son to be a clerk of the Council; especially considering
also his exceUent abUities: using these words to the said
Lord: " That it might please him to yield his favour to his
" bumble suit, that as by the means of his father {Mr. Tho-
" mas Dannet] his Lordship was the worker of his first pre-
" ferment, so now God might incline his heart, at his humble
" request, to farther this his son to the office of the clerk-
" ship of the Council. Wherein if his Lordship did not find
" such sufficiency in the man as he would wish, then in me
" cudaturjaba" said he. " That no man knew him better
" than he, [for this is he whom, as it is said before, he was
" the instructor of in his youth,] both for his secrecy, his
" learning, (most fit for such a place,) his honesty, since.
" rity, and zeal in rehgion." Thus did his gratitude to
the father carry him out in an endeavour to show kindness
to the son. But to our present business.
Present at And being Archdeacon, he was present at the famous
anno 1562. Svnod> anno 1562> when the doctrine and disciphne of the
Church, and the reformation of it from the abuses of Po
pery, were carefuUy treated of and settled : and I find his
own subscription to the Thirty-Nine Articles under the
name of Johannes iElmerus Archidiac. Lincoln. But when
the bandying happened in the Lower House, for the abo
lishing or retaining of certain ceremonies, (as for the recep-

BISHOP AYLMER. 13
tion of the Sacrament kneeling; the use of the cross in CHAP.
Baptism, and of organs in the Church ; the laying aside of
the holy days, and the using only the surplice in the ser
vice,) Aylmer was absent, whether by chance or on purpose
I know not; and so also was the Dean of Canterbury, Mul-
lins Archdeacon of London, Cole of Essex, and divers others,
to the number in all of twenty-seven with the proxies.
This reverend man dwelt much at Lincoln, where he was writes to
Archdeacon; whence in the year 1567 he wrote a letter the ArchD1-
J , shop con
to Archbishop Parker, who had sent to him to make in- cerning old
quiry for ancient historical writings in that cathedral, orL°^ln
other libraries in those parts. Mr. Aylmer accordingly
made search, but after aU could give him no satisfaction in
that point, the libraries thereabouts consisting chiefly of old
schoolmen. But among his own books he found one writ
ten by one of the Archbishop's predecessors upon the Old
Testament, which Aylmer promised to send up to him : in
fine, expressing his joy, that God had chosen the chief Pas
tor of this church out of his native country, meaning Nor
folk. Here at Lincoln he stuck a long while, though he was Sticks at
often nominated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, his
countryman and friend, as occasion served, to succeed to
some vacant bishopric. But the Archbishop had enemies at
the Court, that commonly thwarted what he recommended
and advised. But that he remained yet in statu quo with
out higher preferment, many passed their conjectures. That
party of men that did not much favour the Bishops, nor
hke the divine worship established by law, made his book
against Knox one of the causes that he had so many back "
friends, that employed their interest against his rising ; be
cause perhaps they thought he had in that book too much
advanced the power and authority of princes, which Knox
had so lessened and disparaged. For to this, it seems, that
expression tended, of one Norton, a Minister, in a letter to
Dr. Whitgift, wrote anno 1572 ; where advising the said
Whitgift to forbear answering Cartwright the Puritan's
book, that Protestants might not give an entertainment to

M THE LIFE OF
c HA P. the enemies of religion, by falling into controversies among
*... ., .themselves ; and as though Whitgift's secret intention by
his writing in this quarrel was, to stand the fairer for pre
ferment ; to this, I say, tended that expression of his con
cerning Aylmer ; (as though Whitgift should take example
by him ;) " Mr. Aylmer's unseasonable paradox to truth
" hath hurt the Church, and yet not advanced his prefer-
" ment so much as he hoped." But Whitgift, in his an
swer to Norton's letter, gave a better interpretation both
of himself and Aylmer, and their intentions in what they
MSS. D. wrote ; saying, " That Mr. Aylmer's doctrine was neither
tyt".Armig. " unseasonable, nor yet a paradox; but a common true re-
" ceived opinion, grounded on the express words of the Scrip-
" ture, and received without doubt of aU learned writers,
"both old and new, and in most seasonable time taught,
" riien's minds and hearts being so far from due obedience,
" and so inchnable to the contrary. And I am fully satis-
" fied," added he, " concerning our Divine, that he had aU
" the advancement that he looked for ; and that it was great
" lack of charity to judge men to do that for advancement j
" which they did of conscience and duty."
Justice of However Mr. Aylmer hved in great reputation, and was
and in the one °f the Queen's Justices of the Peace for the county,
ecdesiasti- an(j one of her ecclesiastical Commissioners ; being an active-
mission, and bold man, as weU as wise and learned.
His useful- Here in short, as his office led him, he first purged the
cathedral church of Lincoln, being at that time a nest of
unclean birds ; and next in the county, by preaching and
executing the commission, he so prevaUed, that not one re
cusant was left in the country at his coming away; and
many years after it remained a diocese weU settled in reli
gion; as he. mentioned himself in one of his letters to the
Lord Treasurer.
BecomesDr. And in the year 1573, having contented himself hitherto
' my' with the degree only of Master of Arts, he accumulated his
degrees in divinity, being made Bachelor in Divinity and
Doctor in Divinity in one day, in the University of Ox
ford.

BISHOP AYLMER. Iff
The next year a bopk De Disciplina coming forth in CHAP.
Latin, which struck at the present ecclesiastical government, '. .
and aimed to overthrow the constitution of the Church ofMovedby
England, the Archbishop of Canterbury made choice of bishop to
Dr. Aylmer, of aU other divines, to take this book in hand, ™s^er a
and confute it ; and: withal sent him the tract. But though
he kept the book a good whUe by him, yet he refused to do
it, writing back to the Archbishop, that he could not deal
therein : which perhaps may be attributed to his discon
tent. But the Archbishop got it answered by another hand
soon after. Grindal also, then Archbishop of York, re
puted Aylmer the fittest for this work, but concluded that
he would not take the pains; having other employments
probably lying upon his hands.
There had been for some time great question moved be- A contro-
vcrsv be-
tween our Archdeacon and the Bishop, of Lincoln, concern- tween the
ing the exercise of the spiritual and ecclesiastical jurisdic-A™hJ?.e!J™"
tion within the Archdeaconry of Lincoln; about which theydecided.
had been at law together, for asserting their distinct rights
in the said jurisdiction. But in the year 1 572 it came to
an happy conclusion by the arbitration of Matthew Arch
bishop of Canterbury, and Robert Bishop of Winton;
both parties, for the sake of peace and concord, leaving
their respective rights to be finaUy determined by those
grave fathers' discretion ; and promising during their hves
to stand by their decision. Hereupon they ordered and
decreed, that both the Bishop and Archdeacon should hold
their courts weekly together jointly in some place in the
cathedral of Lincoln, or in the city ; and so hear arid deter
mine causes, receive and admit the proofs of wiUs, commit
the administration of goods of such as died intestate, and
exercise all other ecclesiastical jurisdiction, except coUati'on
to benefices, admissions and institutions of clerks presented
to the benefices of the said archdeaconry; which only be-.
longed to the Bishop and his Vicar General. They decided
also, that the fees, profits, commodities, and eriioluments re
sulting thence, should be divided between them ; but that
in the Bishop's triennial visitations,' he' should take to him-

I.

16 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, self all the profits arising from the proving of wiUs, commis-
. sions, administration of goods of intestate persons deceased,
for three months, that is, for one month before, and two
months after such visitation begun ; the Archdeacon more
over paying the Bishop thirty-three pounds per annum.

CHAP. II.

He is preferred to the see of London. His cares in that
junction; chiefly about Papists. Visits his diocese.
Preaches often.
Why neg- AMONG the reasons why Aylmer aU this whUe of the
iorw.d thlS " Queen's reign was not yet advanced to a bishopric, (for his
learning, conduct, and great abUities deserved it,) one we
may conclude to be, that in his book before mentioned he de^
claimed against the splendour and wealth of that order, and
spake with some seeming spite against the civU- authority of
Bishops ; which made many gather that he stood not weU
affected to the calling itself. But in truth he was no enemy.
to the calling, but to that domineering tyranny that had
been exercised by Bishops under the Papal usurpation.
However he used now and then to be twitted in the teeth
for it long after. In the year 1569, when Grindal, Bishop
of London, was to be removed to York, the Archbishop
would fain have brought him in to succeed there, and recom
mended him in that behalf to the Earl of Leicester, the
Queen's great favourite. But he thought the Queen would
object against him for this preferment, as too great a step
from an archdeaconry to one of the chiefest bishoprics in
England. But when Aylmer's name was talked of at Court,
The Arch- the Archbishop took occasion to give the Secretary his
character 0f Ju<^>ment °^ nun ' namely, " that he would be very fit to
him. " succeed in London, being a busy government, and so
much pestered with Papists, the Queen's mortal enemies ;

u

BISHOP AYLMER. 17
" and he would prove a careful and active Bishop to watch CHAP.
" the .sheep against them. In fine, he signified to him, that "'

" he thought verily, that the Queen would have a good,
" fast, earnest servitor of this man." AU this took not ef
fect, and Aylmer was waved for this turn, and Dr. Sandys,
Bishop of Worcester, was translated to London.
But at last, in the year 1576, he was preferred to be Bi- Made Bi
shop of London, upon Sandys's removal from that see to l^o^
York ; who, in his fareweU sermon at Paul's Cross, had Sandys's
these words concerning him ; " My hope is, that the Lord sermon!
" hath provided one of choice to be placed over you ; a
" man to undertake this great charge, so weU enabled for
" strength, courage, great wisdom, skUl in government,
" knowledge, as in many other things, so especially in the
" heavenly mysteries of God, that I doubt not but my de-
" parture shaU turn very much to your advantage."
Yet between these two reverend and grave Bishops hap- Contest be-
pened some sharp difference, who before were very good m^enn0w "
friends, and had been feUow-exUes. For Aylmer, who sue- Bishop, and
ceeded Sandys in this see of London, required, as his due, Cessor.
the whole incomes and benefits of the bishopric for the last
half-year, that is, from Michaelmas to Lady-day, though
Sandys continued Bishop of London the best part of that
time, namely, tiU Candlemas, before his remove to York.
Both of them appealed to the Lord Treasurer. Aylmer PaperOffice.
shewed him, by a note in writing, the present commodities
growing to the Archbishop of York upon his entrance : as,
for the Lady-day rent 500Z. his demeans 40(W. a bene
volence of his Clergy 8001. besides woods to the value of
3000Z. Aad this, he said, was a true rate, and would be
avowed by those that were privy to the estate of the see of
York. Concluding hence that my Lord of York had no
reason to detain any part of the revenues of London from
the last Michaelmas, being so well left at York ; and he
coming so naked now to the see of London.
The Archbishop, on the other hand, shewed the Trea- Archbishop
surer, that the first sum mentioned was more by a great dealp]*Dadys s
than in truth it was : and perhaps some part of the tenths
c

18 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, would be required of him: that as for the benevolence of
"• the Clergy, it would be two years before that would be re
ceived: that the Bishop of London had as much woods
left in his diocese : and if he, the Archbishop, might seU his
woods at once, as Aylmer seemed to insinuate, he might dp.
the same with his. He urged also, that he had served in
London until the beginning of February, as Bishop, and
received the rents of the see, according to equity and law :
that the sum of what he received was smaU, and in that
time he spent 1000Z. and upward ; the present Bishop of
London having been at no cost, neither serving the bishop
ric : and that he received of the Queen's gift 397Z. enjoying
likewise the revenues of his other livings to that time. He
added, that there was no example that he should make any
restitution of what he had received to his successor ; neither
Bishop Yong, nor the late Bishop Grindal his predecessor,
having been so dealt withal, but enjoyed aU that they had
received. And therefore he proceeded to charge his succes
sor with ingratitude ; that so soon as he [the Archbishop}
had holpen him on with his rochet, he was transformed, and
shewed himself void of that temper he pretended before:
and with envy, in that by the note beforementioned of the
Archbishop's revenues, he laboured to hinder the Queen
from shewing him further favour; and setting forth the
commodities of the see of York for a melius inquirendum.
And in fine concluded pretty severely upon the Bishop,
charging him with " coloured covetousness, and an envious
" heart covered with the coat of dissimulation ;" words
perhaps wherein the Archbishop was too much led by his
passion. How this business was compromised I cannot teU:
but it may be observed what disagreements meum and tuum
will create even among, good men and brethren. But a
greater and a longer difference (such is the fraUty of men)
happened between them upon the account of dUapidations,
as we shaU see afterwards.
The kind- The truth is, his predecessor Sandys was instrumental in
predecessor. ms advancement to the see, recommending him to the
Queen, as a very fit person to succeed him, When Aylmer

BISHOP AYLMER 19
came up, he courteously entertained him at his house, and CHAP.
upon his desire assisted at his consecration ; and when he 1I-
departed to York, left several things in the houses belong
ing to the bishoprie for his use and benefit: which kind
nesses so obhged the new Bishop, that as he promised the
Archbishop, a little before his consecration, that he would
never demand any thing for dUapidations ; so a little after,
that he would be contented to take 1001. in full satis
faction for them. But notwithstanding these friendly be
ginnings, the process was more tragical, and to be la
mented. His election to London was confirmed March 22, 1576, His con-
in Bow church, before Thomas Yale, LL. D. the Arch- and conse-
bishop of Canterbury's Vicar General ; and one Lane, his cratl0n-
Proctor, took the oath in the Bishop elect's name. On Sun
day foUowing, March 24, he was consecrated in Lambeth
chapel by the Archbishop, assisted by Edwin Archbishop
of York, and John Bishop of Rochester ; George Row and
Thomas Blage, Chaplains to the Archbishop, and others
being present.
The Bishop soon after caused a view to be taken of the Diiapida-
dilapidations of the bishopric ; which stood thus. The re
paration of the palace of London amounted to 5091. 7s. 6d.
of St. Paul's church, 309Z. of Fulham, 1591. 18s. lOd. of
Hadham, 147/. 15*. 9d. of Wickham, 46Z. 8*. id. of Dun-
mow, Wickham, Fering, Cressing, [chancels of those
churches, as appears in another paper,] 34Z. 16*. 8d. For all
which his predecessor must ere long be caUed to account.
The reverend man was weU aware into what a ticklish His request
station he was entering, and what back-friends he was hke to qu* en
meet with in the conscientious discharge of his duty : and
therefore when he made his address to the Queen, to pay
her his duty, and to receive her commands, among other
things, he requested of her, that in case any hereafter might
accuse him of any misdemeanour, she would suspend her be
lief until he were first heard, and that she would permit
him to be brought unto his answer. And this she promised
him graciously. c 2

20 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. The Bishop began his primary visitation in London, De-
" cember 17, 1577, when subscription was urged ; and as
His primary many did subscribe, so some refused ; who caUed the sub
scribers dissemblers for their simple subscription : nay, and
very uncharitably compared them to Arians, PrisciUians,
Anabaptists, and such like. And not only so, but they
flouted and mocked them ; as Earl, one of these subscribing
In Bibiioth. Ministers, in a journal of his yet extant, records it. " Where-
Ep. Norric. " as5" writes he, " all that we say to them is, that we are
" sorry for them, but cannot help them."
At this visitation the Bishop discovered (and perhaps
among the Clergy) a Mass-Priest, a conjurer, and a semi
nary reconciler : of whom we shall hear by and by.
His ex- The expenses of his first year, what with first-fruits and
penses. divers other necessary disbursements, were such, as he could
not spend above 500Z. that year, and scarcely that: how
ever, he came rich and well to pass to the bishopric
Preaches He preached very frequently in his cathedral church;
requent y. ^j j^d a notable art of winning the ears and attention of
his auditors. As once when he perceived those about him
not so attentive as they ought to have been to what he was
teaching, he presently feU to reading the Hebrew Bible:
which he did so long, that aU his drowsy auditors gazed at
him, as amazed that he should entertain them so unprofit-
ably, in such unknown language. But when he perceived
them all thoroughly awake and very attentive, then he went
on with his sermon, after he had given them this grave
reprimand ; how it reflected upon their wisdom, that in mat
ters of mere novelty, and when they understood not a
word, they should be wakeful, and listen so heedfuUy, but in
the mean time to be ready to faU asleep, and give so httle
attention and regard, whUe he was preaching to them the
weighty witters that concerned their everlasting salvation.
At another solemn audience in the Parliament time at
Paul's Cross, where were present a great many noblemen
and persons of quality, that he might speak aptly to them,
and excite them to evangelical virtue and true rehgion, and
a serious regard of piety, he set before them the pattern of

BISHOP AYLMER. 21
Sir Thomas More, sometime Privy CounseUor to King CHAP.
Henry VIII. and Lord High Chancellor of England ; " a "'
" man for his zeal to be honoured," said the Bishop, " though
" for his religion to be abhorred :" shewing them, how he
would divers times put on a surplice, and help the Priest
in his proper person to say service. Insomuch that on a
time at Chelsea the Duke of Norfolk came to him, being
then Lord ChanceUor, about some special affairs, and being
informed that he was at church went thither. In the end
of the service the Duke and Sir Thomas met, and after
salutations, the Duke said, " What ! my Lord ChanceUor
" become a parish clerk ? What wiU the King's Majesty say
" to this jeer, when he shall understand that his Lord Chan-
" ceUor of England, a special person of the realm, and in the
" highest room of honour in the land next the Prince, is be-
" come a parish clerk ?" To which Sir Thomas replied, "that
" he thought and verily believed, that his Highness would be
" so far from misdeeming or mishking him herein, that on the
" contrary, when he should hear of the care which he had
" to serve both his Master and mine," said he, " he wiU the
" rather take me for a faithful servant." This passage the
Bishop apphed to the present occasion, that when the Par
hament were sitting and consulting about the national af
fairs, their first care should be to serve God themselves, and
have a regard to his honour.
As soon as he entered upon his episcopal function, he His main
made it his main business to preserve the Church in the
state in which it was established by the laws of the land, in
respect both of the doctrine and discipline of it ; and there
fore thought it his duty to restrain both Papist and Puritan;
both which laboured to overthrow the constitution of reli
gion, as it was purged and reformed in the beginning of the
Protestant reign of Queen Ehzabeth. But this he found a
very hard task for him to do ; and which created him much
trouble and sorrow, and raised him. up not a few enemies, as
we shall see hereafter.
Another of his cares was for the supplying the Church His first or
with Ministers, that might be persons of learning and ho-
cS

22 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, nesty, and bred in the Universities, who being dispersed
about the nation, might preach, and teach the ignorant
people ; for of this sort was a great want stiU. For many
of the old Incumbents and Curates were such as were fitter
to sport with the timbrel and pipe, than to take in their
hands the book of the Lord, as the preacher at the Bishop's
first ordination expressed it. A great number of these
cattle were lately deprived, as they deserved; and so the
more churches left destitute. Therefore on Ascension-day,
May 16th, in the year 1577, was a great ordination of
Ministers at Fulham by this Bishop ; and was his first or
dination; when he appointed one Keltridg, formerly of
Trinity CoUege in Cambridge, a notable preacher, to make
a sermon upon the occasion: which he did from 1 Tim.
iii. 1, 2, 3. It is a true saying, If a man desire the office of
Bishop, he desireih a good work. A Bishop therefore must
be unreprovable, &c. This sermon he afterward printed,
and dedicated unto the Bishop. In it he addressed himself
to his Lordship against the vicious old Popish Clergy, yet
in the Church, but undermining it, " humbly craving of his
' Honour, whom God in his eternal counsel had placed
' over them, the Levites, to rub and raze out aU the stock
' of Jezebel, to pluck up and deface them, who had no
' title to the true priesthood, to rid the kingdom of those
' headless feUows, who having of a long time served Peor,
' and offered up the first-fruits of their youth to Acheron,
* were then compeUed to he groveUing in the Church of
' God, and in the darkness wherein they had loitered, and
« choaked up the people with chaff and superstition," &c.
And those that were then ordained he exhorted, " That for
' suPpiy of preaching in the kingdom, they would scatter
' themselves through every angle and quarter of this realm
' in several congregations, that all countries might hear
' their voice, and every part thereof might glorify the
' Lord. And moreover he desired them, nay, charged
' them in the Lord Christ, that they would not be of di-
' vers minds, but that they would teach one God, and one
' Christ, whom he had sent; sowing abroad no new and

BISHOP AYLMER. 23
" fantastical opinions, nor scattering devihsh and old here- CHAP.
" sies, nor inventing strange and fond novelties, thrusting "'
" upon the siUy souls innovations and fables, which apper-
" tained not to edification, brought in at that time by the
" schismatics of the times, and then troubling the common-
" wealth." These admonitions did the grave Bishop think
fit should be given these young Clergymen ; that they
might not add to the number of those that now were in
the Church, but troubled the peace of it. At this ordina
tion were sixteen made Deacons, and ten Priests, after due
examination of them by William Lane and Wuliam Cotton,
his Chaplains. These Achans, of what persuasion soever
they were, he thought himself bound to discover arid set
himself against.
In this year 1577 he discovered a Popish Priest named Discovers n
Meredith, and had him in hold : who came over from be- £0-pi!hFnest.
yond sea in the year 1576, and conversed much in Lanca
shire and Nottinghamshire, and resided chiefly in one Al-
leri's house, brother to Dr. Allen^ then in the college of
Doway, (afterwards the Cardinal of that name, and a pen
sioner of the King of Spain.) The Bishop discovered con
cerning this Priest, that he carried about him a book of
common resolutions to certain questions, which Papists here
in England might propound to him in cases of conscience ;
it is probable about dispensing with their obedience and al
legiance to the Queen, coming to church, and the hke to
these. In this book, which it seems the Bishop had seized,
he' extoUed certain traitors that had suffered, and especiaUy
Felton, who set up the Pope's excommunication of Queen
Ehzabeth upon the door of St. Paul's in London, exciting
her subjects to rebel against her. Him he caUed, The glo
rious Felton ; and England he styled Babylon. Wherein
the Bishop supposed he obliquely aimed at the greatest
Very pestUently, as he said, meaning the Queen, as though
she were the whore of Babylon. Of this man therefore the
Bishop informed the Lord Treasurer, holding him a pass
ing crafty fiUow, as he styled him. He refused to answer
before him upon his oath : and would confess nothing cOn-
c4

24 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, cerning the state, but in point of rehgion he was very frank.
IL « Whereby it appeared," said the Bishop to the said Lord,
" if they might be touched as near for their religion as they
" are for the state, they would look twice about them."
His appre- This blade carried divers trinkets about him ; as a cha-
hensions of ^ & patb rf ^ R painted crucifix, to be in the mass-
book at the time of their consecration, which they used to
kiss at the Memento ; a Portas daUy used for Latin service.
Whereby the Bishop gathered that he was a Priest, and
had said mass all Lancashire over. He had also divers
Agnus Deis, a hallowed candle, beads, and other such like
things. It should appear he had bestowed many, and these
were the remainders. But he would name none, nor in
anywise confess that he came from Rome. But the Bishop
thought if he were shewn the rack, he would not be so
close; for he seemed to be somewhat timorous. He was
near the place where the Scotch Queen was detained pri
soner, but denied he was there. Dr. Wylson, the Queen's
Ambassador in the Low Countries, wrote to our Bishop, that
there were ten Priests dispersed of late into corners of this
land ; whereof this might weU be one. Upon this occasion
he gave the Lord Treasurer to understand, that there was
such another in the parts of Suffolk, named Green, who
dealt with divers thereabouts by degrees of speeches of mis-
liking the loose government ; and told them at last how it
would be hard to help those things without a conquest ; the
better to reconcile the English Papists to the King of
Spain's designed attempts against England, and to assist
him whensoever he should invade. And he signified to the
said Lord, that by some that came before him and the ec
clesiastical Commissioners, it appeared that there were con
spiracies and dangerous attempts towards.
His advice These intelligences this grave and wise Bishop, out of his
rarer'cont*" care °^ rehgion and the state, gave to that great minister ;
cerning Pa- and withal suggested freely his own advices : which were,
pis that it was time to look about. " I speak to your Lord-
" ship," said he, " as one chiefly careful for the state, and
" to use more severity than hitherto hath been used ; or

BISHOP AYLMER. 25
" else we shah smart for it. For as sure as God hveth they CHAP.
" look for an invasion, or else they would not fall away as
" they do." For the Papistical sort, who before outwardly
comphed with the laws, did now withdraw from the Church,
and refuse the oath of supremacy; and others not well
grounded, upon Popish suggestions turned Papists. He
suggested moreover to the same Lord, that in these danger
ous times the heads of Papists which were obstinate (whom
he caUed their chief captains) should be placed in close
prison, as Sir Thomas Fitz-Herbert, Townley, and some
others of that sort, who now had liberty, or were under an
easy confinement only : men ready, if opportunity served,
to give counsel and countenance. He signified that he liked
not that Fecknam, late Abbot of Westminster, Watson, late
Bishop of Lincoln, and Young, another active Popish dig
nitary under Queen Mary, should continue where they
were, in London, in the Fleet or Marshalsea; where by
their converse and advice they might instigate and do mis
chief; advising that they might be placed again as they had
been before, with some three Bishops, as Winchester, Lin
coln, Chichester, or Ely ; and that for his part, he, if he
were out of his first-fruits, could be content to have one of
them. About this time [viz. 1577 or 1578] orders came to the Orders for
prison [of the Fleet as it seems] to keep under close re-.ap'
straint aU the Papists, both knights and others. But they
had the indulgence to dine and sup together; when they
sat for whole hours, conferring with and encouraging each
other. And upon pretence of the sickness of the wife of
one of them, under colour of physicians, Papists were ad
mitted to her, and she by private ways let them in to the
rest ; where they communicated their news and the counsels
that were taken among them. And divers of such as were
Protestants, servants and others in the house, were infected
and turned by them. Of aU this, secret information was
given by certain unknown persons that were privy to these
doings ; whose letter to the Bishop it may not be amiss to
set down.

prison.

26 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. « Right Reverend Father in God, these are most hum-
IJ" « bly to advertise you for discharge of our consciences, and
A secret « to desire your Lordship to see these abuses reformed,
Bishop con- " which hereafter we mind to declare to your Lordship ;
them"S " tnat wnereas ner Majesty by the direction of your Lord-
" ship and others, her Majesty's Commissioners iri causes
" ecclesiastical, have set down and appointed divers and
" sundry good orders for the reformation of that idolatrous
" sect Of the Romanists, enemies unto her Majesty and her
" realms, we thought it good to discharge our duties, and
" to advertise your Lordship thereof.
" So it is, that of late time there came commandment to
" separate and shut up as close prisoners aU the Papists,
" as weU knights as others. At which thtte there was re-
" quest made unto your Lordship by the deputy of this
" house, (as we think but for saving of charges,) that the
" said knights and men of worship should meet dinner and
" supper, where they should use but table-talk. The which
" hberty to some of them^ in our opinions* is more than was
" before the said restraint. For that now they stay there
" sometimes two hours after their suppers. The reform*'
" tion whereof we refer to your fatherly consideration.
" Also, we thought good to advertise your Lordship that
" there are six prisoners, some of them gentlebieri, whose
" names are these : Mr. Farley^ Mr. Thymbletharp, and his
" brother, Mr. Thomson, Mr. Burchingshaw, and one Jen-
" kin WiUiams : which six persons are thought to be by
" the Papists infected and seduced since their coming hi-
" ther^ Of which two of them, named Burchinshaw and
" Jenkin WiUiams, are appointed to attend upon the Pa^
" pists, and sworn as though they were servants ; and within
'f these six months did come to church : with whom we
" desire that your Lordship of yourself wiU appoint some
i% godly man to confer severally in time, lest they become
" arrogant. " Also, we think good to signify unto your Lordship
" some of their names, which have used to come to this
" house to the Papists, and do yet resort to bring news.

BISHOP AYLMER. 27
" As one Dr. Fryer, a physician, who cometh and hath CHAP.
" come often under colour to see Mrs. Trugeon* who is I1-
" sick ; which doctor is accounted a notable Papist : and
" one Mr. Rocheford, an Irish gentleman of Gray's-Inn or
" Lincoln's-Inn. Both which, with others whom we know
" not, come now to Mrs. Trugeon, since this restraint, who
" is at liberty, and one of the notablest Papists of aU the
" house. The which Mrs. Trugeon doth so lodge, as all
" the hours of the night he may go into the garden, and
" give intelligence to aU the Papists in the house, at his
" pleasure, of any news that is brought in.
" And lastly, there are certain officers in the house, as
" the porter and the chamberlain, who are great with the
" said Burchinshaw and Jenkin WiUiams, supposed Papists,
" being aU Welshmen, linked together, and leaning more
" to the Papists than otherwise: which porter, as it is
" supposed, is not yet .sworn; for he saith that he wiU. have
" aU the servants of the house sworn before he be sworn.
"Good my Lord, for God's sake, as secretly as your
" Lordship may, see these abuses reformed, after such sort
" as it may not any way be known that your Lordship hath
" had any advice from any in this house, but rather by
" some friend of your Lordship repairing to this house : as
" it is most convenient for your Lordship to have both here
" and in aU other prisons about London. Wherein your
" Lordship shah do God and her Majesty good service, dis-
" charge your Lordship's duty, and Satisfy our consciences.
" And thus we commit your Lordship to the blessed keep-
" ing of the Most Highest.
" By your Lordship's loving friends humbly
" to command, Nameless,
" Because we would be Blameless.
" It may please your Lordship to understand that the
" Thymbletharps, Mr. Farly, and Mr. Thomson, have
" been converted by Dr. Halsey and Trugeon."

28 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. This was the letter of some weU-affected to rehgion be-
_!L_ longing to this prison, that, as secret soever as the Papists'
here were, had observed these their practices. Whence we
may see what reason the Bishop and the rest of the eccle
siastical Commissioners had to look about them for the pre
venting the mischief of these creatures of the Pope ; who
even in the. prison made it their business to propagate the
treason for which they were committed. And the work was
not very hard to do towards discontented persons laid up
Thimble- for debt and misdemeanours, as the Thymblethorps were ;
thorP- who were committed to the Fleet for endeavouring to cheat
the Queen of the tenths of the Clergy of Norfolk, which
they were appointed by the Bishop of the diocese receivers
of, and to leave the debt upon the Bishop.
The Bishop The Bishop of London was a real enemy to Popish error
Papists"^ and superstition, and thought it greatly conducible to keep
it out, now it was out. But he with many other good men
were in continual fears of the re-entry of it, partly by the
means of the neighbourhood of Scotland, where was a great
faction of Papists; and partly by the Scotch Queen, pri
soner in England, a pretender to the crown imperial of this
realm, and a busy and zealous woman of the Guisian fac
tion, bigoted Papists, and mortal haters of Queen Ehzabeth.
But it chanced about this time, that is, anno 1578, or there
abouts, the young King James of Scotland received the Pro
testant religion, and rejected the mass ; forbidding upon cer
tain penalties to be present at it. And together with this,
news came that the said Queen of Scots was faUen very UI
of a palsy; whose death alone in all human appearance
could put an end to England's fears. And it was wished
to be rather natural than violent. But still the Bishop
knew that nothing could have a good issue without God ;
and therefore that he was at this juncto to be earnestly in
voked. These things the Bishop communicated to his old
feUow-exUe John Fox : and especiaUy that he might excite
the devotion of that pious reverend man, who was esteemed
in his time a man powerful in prayer with God ; and sent
for this purpose a letter to him to this tenor :

BISHOP AYLMER. 29
Sal. in Christo. Accepimus Reginam Scotorum paralysi CHAP.
graviter laborare, vel ad desperationem, et aliis noiinullis _

torqueri morbis. Rex ipse optimal spei adolescens Parlia- Writes to
menti authoritate decrevit de una religione confirmanda, et. . . F '..
Papistica SJinibus suis exterminanda. Ita ut quisque mis- Epist. mss-
sam auditurus, primd moneatur, secundd bona ipsius jisco
adjudicentur : si teiOd peccaverit, solum vertere cogatur.
Hcec ad te scripsi, tum ut hujus boni participem Juciam ;
turn ut a te preces cum lacrymis Christo nostro Jimdantur,
et nos beare, et suum Evangelium propagare pergat. Quae
concedat optimus Jesus noster, quern non minus tibi jhmi-
liarem existimo, quam est amicus quisque amico. Ora, ora,
mijrater ; nam plurimum apud Christum tuas valere preces
non dubito. Tui amantissimus
JOHANNES LOND.
In this year 1578, the infection of the plague spreading His care
in London, our thoughtful Bishop took care of two things, piagne in
viz. to preserve the hves of his Clergy, and yet to make London-
provision that the infected might be visited, and have spi
rituals administered to them. Therefore he summoned the
city Clergy before him, (where also were present, as assist
ants, NoweU, Dean of Paul's ; MuUins and Walker, Arch
deacons; and Stanhop, ChanceUor,) to elect and appoint
out of them visitors of the sick folk ; and all the rest to be
spared by reason of the danger of the infection. The for
wardness of many Ministers to undertake this office was
noted; some for covetousness, and others for vain-glory,
and others to supply their wants, namely, such as were in
great debt, and others without service and employment.
But the Ministers generaUy disliked this motion ; thinking
it a part of their duties to suffer with their flock, and to
submit to God's wiU in the discharge of their functions.
The Bishop shewed by this, his fatherly care of the city ;
and also his pohcy for ceasing of the plague, by dispersing
directions in books printed for that purpose.
Several occasions feU out for Bishop Aylmer to exert his

3a THE LIFE OF
in XV. care for religion against the dangerous Romanists and their
_J!i_— emissaries, who were very active in these days by aU ways
Discovers and means to reestablish themselves, and to overthrow the
Popish * present constitution, and the Queen, who had taken upon
printer. ner to De tne suprenie guardian of it. One Carter a printer
had divers times been put in prison for printing of lewd
pamphlets, Popish and others, against the government.
The Bishop by his diligence had found his press in the
year 1579 ; and some appointed by him to search his house,
among other Papistical books, found one written in French,
entitled, The Innocency of the Scotch Queen; who then
was a prisoner for laying claim to the crown of England,
and endeavouring to raise a rebeUion. A very dangerous
book this was : the author caUed her the heir apparent of
this crown: inveighed against the late execution of the
Duke of Norfolk, though he were executed for high trea
son : defended the rebeUion in the north anno 1569 : and
made very base and false reflections upon two of the Queen's
chiefest ministers of state, viz. the Lord Treasurer, and the
late Lord Keeper, Bacon. The Bishop had committed this
feUow to the Gate-house ; but he desired the Lord Trea
sure at his leisure to caU him before him, and examine him,
having denied to answer upon oath to the Bishop: and
promised that he would also send to him the Warden of the
Company of Stationers, who would inform him of another
book which was abroad* wherein her Majesty was touched;
and of certain^ other new forms of letters which Carter had
made, but would not confess them.
Removes Another Popish gentleman there was about these times,
prison at 'S named Thomas Pond, sometime a courtier, that had lain in
Stortford. prison (that of the Marshalsea I suppose) for some years :
him. the Bishop thought convenient now to remove from
London, unto another prison more remote, namely, his castle
at Bishop's Stortford, to prevent his infecting others by his
talk ; for some such information, and what a dangerous
person he was, was brought to the Bishop by Trip and
Crowley, two Ministers who went to confer with him; He
talked notably with them ; and observing them to insist

BISHOP AYLMER. 31
much upon Scripture, he warily required them to lay down CHAP.
some sure principle for both parties to proceed upon ; and 1L
that was this, Whether the private spirit of particular men,
or the pubhc spirit of the universal Church, ought to judge
of the sense of the Scriptures ? For he, when he heard them
frequently quoting places of Scripture, affirmed, that we must
not run in these controversies to the only letter of Scripture,
understood according to every private man's pleasure, but to
the most certain judgment of the universal, at the least the
most ancient, Church, which being governed by the Spirit of
God, propounded the truth and genuine sense of Scripture.
He also then proposed to them (though he were a layman, and
not deeply versed in divinity) six firm reasons, as he thought,
of his opinion, and required those Ministers to answer them;
and that afterwards he might have hberty to confute their
answers either by speech or writing. Upon this relation
given of Pond by the Ministers, the Bishop thought fit to
remove him to the aforesaid castle, being, as the Popish
writers say, much provoked and angry. And they describe
it to be an obscure and melancholy place, void of both light
and converse.

CHAP. III.
HisJartJter dealings with Papists, Campion'.s book-
IN OR was the Bishop's endeavour only to discover and at- campion's
tack books of this poisonous: nature, but to arm1 people took-
against the doctrines and principles contained in them, by
providing substantial answers to them. One Edmund Cam
pion, formerly a scholar of Oxford, now a revolter from re
ligion and his country, had entered himself into the society
of the, Jesuits. And about the year 1581 he set forth
a book consisting of ten reasons, written in a terse, elegant,
Latin style, and dedicated to the Scholars of both Universi-

32 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, ties, in vindication of what he had done in returning to
IH' Rome, and exhortatory to them to follow him, slandering
the Protestant religion with false and unworthy imputa
tions. Care was taken privUy to disperse this book in the
Universities; which gave disturbance to the government.
The Lord Treasurer Burghley thought it needful to have a
good answer timely set forth, to prevent the mischief it
The Bishop might do ; and reckoned Bishop Aylmer very fit for such
answer it. an undertaking; in one particular respect especiaUy, namely,
for certain blots and disparagements cast upon the first re
formers of religion, and restorers of it from Popeiy; in
whose times the Bishop lived, and with some of them, and
their doings, was weU acquainted. The Bishop had heard of
the book, and had sent to Oxford, and searched other places
for it, but could not meet with it, so secret it was kept;
which was partly his excuse for not answering it. He had
also at this time an ague, which was faUen down so sore in
his leg that he was not able to study without great danger :
but notwithstanding he let the Treasurer know, if he could
get the book, he would do what his health would permit ;
adding, that as to what he wrote touching those first worthy
and learned men, he guessed that the things wherewith he
reproached them, were nothing else but such raUing coUec-
tions as were gathered against them by the apostate Staphi-
lus, which for the most part were not to be found in their
Hisjudg- works. And moreover, as to the reproaches the Jesuits
Protestant cast uPon these reverend fathers of the Reformation, he
writers. knew there were divers navi in them, as lightly be in all
men's writings : as some things were spoken by Luther hy-
perbohcaUy, and some by Calvin ; as in the doctrine of the
Sacrament, which he afterwards corrected, and in predesti
nation. This Jesuit, the Bishop subjoined, and Staphuus,
might herein soon be answered, if they would but look in
the end of the Master of the Sentences, where they should
find under the title of Errorum Parisiis Condemnatorum,
that their own Peter Lumbard, Thomas Aquinas, Gratian
among the Schoolmen, and Tertullian, Cyprian, Augustine,
Hierome, and others among the Fathers, to be condemned,

BISHOP AYLMER. S3
yea, errasse contra jidem, "to have erred against the CHAP.
" faith," as he termeth it. And yet the rest of their doc- ..
trine was holden for Catholic ; and not the whole Catholic
doctrine condemned for a few of their navi. A precious
stone, said he, may be found in a dunghiU, and in the
fairest visage some little wart. He proceeded to give his His advice
advice to the Lord Treasurer, whom he saw much con- Treasurer.
cerned for the honour of the Protestant rehgion so struck
at and defamed by this book, that it were not amiss
that a letter might be sent from the Lords of the Cquncil to
the Archbishop of Canterbury, or to him, (the Bishop of
London,) to enjoin the Deans, Archdeacons, and Doctors,
to make some collections for these matters : for that such as
had not great dealings in the Church, to take up their time,
(as they had not, yea, and some Bishops also,) might, hav
ing that leisure, help weU, as he said, to this building.
Wherefore else, added he, have they their livings ? And as
for the number of books, he thought such a good quantity
might be printed, as should serve for that purpose. #
He gave in also to the Lord Burghley a particular sche- Persons by
dule of the names of those he judged fit for this under- ^^f™1"
taking ; which he divided into two ranks ; some to find ma- answering
terials, others to buUd the house; some to make proper b00kt
coUections, others to write and compUe the book from those
coUections. The coUectors to be these : the Deans of Paul's, Win
ton, York, Christ Church, Windsor, Sarum, Ely, Wor
cester, Canterbury. The Archdeacons of Canterbury, Lon
don, Middlesex, Essex, (Dr. Walker,) Lincoln, Coventry,
(Dr. James,) Sudbury, (Dr. Styl.)
The writers to be, Dr. Fulke, Dr. Goade, Dr. Some.
Great pity it is, that this noble design of the Bishop's
laying down was not pursued, and brought to perfection :
whereby a good history of the reformation of rehgion, and
of the doctrines embraced, might have been substantially
set forth, by such who hved in or near those times, for tho
doing justice to so glorious a work as that was. But per-
D

34 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, haps it was not thought convenient that Campion's book
1UV should have so much honour done it, to be so solemnly an
swered. But yet it went not without answer, Mr. Whit-
aker, Professor of Divinity in Cambridge, and others do
ing it. ,
His reflec- But when the Treasurer had soon after sent the Bishop
Campion's Campion's pamphlet, and desired him again, as his health
book. would serve, to peruse it, and according to his discretion
to set some about the work, this caused some farther
thoughts in him concerning it pro re nata ; which he thus
imparted to the said Nobleman ; that as for his coUections of
strange opinions and sayings of some of the Reformers set
down in his chapter entitled Paradoxa, he thought (sup
posing the author truly alleged them) that none of our
Church meant to defend Luther's hyperbola, or aU things
that had passed the pens of Calvin or Beza : for, quisque
suo sensu abundet. That we read them as Austin read
Cyprian, and as he would be read himself, that where he
dissented from the canonical Scripture, he should not be al
lowed. Secondly, that if we should make such a malicious
coUeetion of their writers and Schoolmen, we should find
other manner of things in them : sed in nullius juravi-
mus verba magistri; i. e. "but that we had learned to
" swear to the dictates of no master" but of Christ. Then
he shewed what httle credit was to be taken to his quota
tions of Scripture, when in the very first text that he cited,
he used the Septuagint interpretation, utterly different from
the truth of the original : that if he dealt so in aU others,
his credit would be but smaU: Ex unguibus leoneni.
Again, that there was a favourableness of interpretation
due to writers and speakers ; and if we should take every
thing to the worst, and not interpret candidly, what should
we say of Gregory Nazianzen, who saith, Ita nos Deos fecit
Christus, ut ilk f actus homo est; with many such in Lac-
tantius and others. He added, it was a property of a spider
to gather the worst and leave the best: and that his Lord
ship should find his (Campion's) writings to be the arrogant

BISHOP AYLMER. 35
vanities of a Porphyrius or a Julian ; who were base apostates CHAP.
from Christianity. And in fine, that were it not for the toil In"
of his ecclesiastical Commission, he could gladly have occu
pied himself in searching out his vanities ; but according as
his health would serve, he would peruse the piece, and set
some others a work.
We have not done with Campion a yet. In September The Bishop
1581, (Campion having been caught, and now in hold input;,,".
the Tower,) the vapouring chaUenge which he had made of
maintaining his doctrine by disputation with any Protestant
whatsoever came into remembrance. Several of our Divines
took him up : and, by the consent of some of the superior
powers, there were several conferences had with him. But
when the day was come aUotted for these learned combats,
the bruit thereof brought great numbers of people to hear.
This gave a disgust to the Court, which thought it most
convenient to have it privately managed, to prevent aU
noise, boastings, and misreports, which must fly abroad
concerning it. The blame of this confluence was imputed
to the Bishop, though he was of the same mind, and had
advised the Lieutenant of the Tower of his mishking that
so many were admitted. This he was fain by letter to sig
nify to the Lord Treasurer in his own behalf, adding, that
the Lieutenant's authority was not to be directed by him,
(being an exempt jurisdiction perhaps,) but by her Majesty
and the Lords : nay, and that for the iU opinion he had of
any dispute at aU, he sent to stay it : which was aU that he
could do. And whereas Mr. Whitacre had answered in
Latin Campion's Ten Reasons, now some were very busy
in translating the answer into Enghsh, in order to the pub
lishing thereof. But neither did the Bishop hke this, that
the people's minds might not be heated with controversies ;
and therefore, if the copy came into his hands, he was re
solved to stay it.
The issue proved the matter as the Bishop feared : for The Papists
the friends of the Jesuit boasted much ; and among the rest oas '
a See Additions, Numb. I.
d2

36 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, one Cawoodb, perhaps son of the Popish printer of that
II1- name, who talked very liberally, extolling Campion's learn
ing, and attributing the victory to him : and for his confi
dent and slanderous reports was brought before the Bishop,
who gave him the punishment of confinement in the Clink.

CHAP. IV.
His dealing with the Puritans. His advice concerning the
University. His trouble about Jelling his woods.
rP ...
Puritans. J. HESE were some of our Bishop's dealings with Papists.
He was also industrious for the checking of another sort of
opposers of the Church established, chiefly its enemies in
regard of the ecclesiastical regiment of it, which they
thought to be Antichristian, because used in the Popish
Church. These were now commonly known by the name of
Puritans and Precisians; whom the Bishop had indeed httle
kindness for, and they as little for him. I proceed to shew
what happened between him and them, and his opinion con
cerning the danger of them.
His opinion In the year 1577 he met with several persons of a con-
6f some of trary way to Papists; of whom he iriformed the Lord Trea
surer, that in respect of their hindering unity and quietness
they were not much less hurtful than they ; namely, Chark,
Chapman, Field, and WUcox. These he had before him ;
the two former he had some hopes of; but the two latter
shewed themselves obstinate, and especiaUy Field ; who,
notwithstanding the Archbishop's inhibition, had entered
into great houses, and taught, as he said, God knows what.
And advice His advice concerning these men was, that they might be
them.™ ng profitably employed in Lancashire, Staffordshire; Shrop
shire, and such other like barbarous countries, to draw the
people from Papism and gross ignorance : and that though
they went a httle too far, yet he supposed it would be less
" See Additions, Numb. II.

BISHOP AYLMER. 37
labour to draw them back, than now it was to hale them CHAP.
forward ; and that some letters of friendly request might he

sent thither for some contribution to be made by the towns
and gentlemen for some competent stipend to reheve them.
And he thought this might grow greatly to the profit of the
Church ; and therefore communicated this counsel to the
Lord Treasurer, and prayed him at his leisure to think on
it. Yet he declared that he said aU this, not because he
hked them, but because he would have his cure rid of them.
Some years ago (about 1571 or 1572) came forth, in imprisons a
print, a book entitled, An Admonition to the Parhament ; Admoni"
the main design whereof was to subvert the Church as it tion to the
was then established in the pubhc worship by the Book of
Common Prayer, and in the government of it by Bishops
and other ecclesiastical officers. This therefore gave the
Queen great disgust ; and the Churchmen found themselves
obhged to give a full answer to the book ; which was done
by several, but especiaUy Dr. Whitgift, afterwards Bishop
of Worcester and Archbishop of Canterbury successively :
and a severe proclamation was issued out, anno 1573, for the
better observation of the Common Prayer and orders of
the Church, and for the suppressing of that book. But now,
about November or December 1578, when the book was
almost laid aside, a young stationer, named Thomas Wood
cock, hoping to make a good gain by the adventure, vended
several of these books ; whereupon the Bishop of London
committed him to Newgate. But his friends faUed not to in
tercede with the Bishop for Woodcock's enlargement. To
whom the Bishop answered, that he neither could nor would
do any thing without the Lord Treasurer's consent, or by
his letters or warrant. Which was looked upon as somewhat
rigorous in him. Whereas indeed it was most true, that he
could not of his own authority discharge a criminal he had
committed without inflicting due punishment, unless it were
by some order from above ; especiaUy such as dispersed or
sold this Admonition, which depraved the Book of Common
Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, and so was
interpreted to tend to make divisions and dissensions among
d3

38 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, the people; and to breed disputes against the common or-
IV- der. And therefore the Queen, in the aforesaid proclama
tion, commanded all printers and stationers, or others, who
had any of these books in their possession, to bring the
same forthwith to the Bishop of the diocese, or to some of
her Majesty's Privy CouncU ; and not to suffer any of them
upon pain of imprisonment. The issue therefore was, that
Woodcock, having lain about a week in Newgate, found
such favour from those of his own company of stationers,
that the chief of them, as Richard Tottyl, the Master,
John Harrison and George Bishop, Wardens, and WU
liam Seres and John Day, directed their letter to the Lord
Treasurer, soliciting him that he would either direct his
warrant for the enlargement of this man, or else to signify
his pleasure to the Bishop, to take order herein accordingly,
the said person putting in sufficient bonds to appear at aU
times when he should be caUed, and ready to answer any
matters that should be objected against him. And thus the
Bishop by his watchfulness over this sort of men, and their
books too, which spread their opinions, shewed how httle
he liked them.
One of the In this year 1578, one WUliam Hopldnson, a Minister
Lincoin°de- °^ Lincolnshire, and under the care of our Bishop when
dicates a Archdeacon there, translated a Latin book of Beza in be-
him. half of Calvin's doctrine concerning election, entitling it, An
evident Display of Popish Practices, or patched Pelagianism :
which the said Hopkinson printed, and dedicated to our
Bishop, in acknowledgment of his former good and careful
inspection of the Clergy of Lincoln, " and his zeal for the
" Lord's family," as he expressed il ; " which," he said, " he
" himself eftsoons experienced to his great comfort, in the
" time of his being within his jurisdiction. And being lately
" come to the great charge of overseeing the diocese of
" London, he prayed God to increase in him his many and
" mighty blessings, and to multiply upon him the measure
" of his grace; that as he had chosen him into the forefront
" of his harvest, and given him among others the chiefest
"and special charge over his field furnished with labourers;

BISHOP AYLMER. 39
" so he continuaUy would make full the measures of his CHAP.
" own mercies in his heart, &c." This great esteem had the IV"
learned Clergy for him.
But the Bishop was as little liked of the Puritans. For One Wei-
as he roundly executed Ms office in reclaiming or suppress- the BMho>.
ing them, they spared not to defame and shew their ill-will
to him. Such a matter fell out in the year 1579 : Cook-
ham, a considerable parish in Berkshire, was destitute of a
preacher ; some Puritan minister belonging to that place
having been, as it seems, suspended by the Commission.
Hither the Bishop sent Mr. Keltridg, before mentioned, an
able preacher, to supply that church. But one Welden, a
person of some note in Cookham, hindered him, saying,
that though the Bishop himself should come and sit with
Keltridg in Cookham church, he should have a very warm
seat, and he would make them both weary of their places.
The Bishop upon this disturbance sent an attachment for
him. But he told him, that he should answer that which
he had done before his betters. He reported also, that
if the Bishop had sent forth another attachment, he had
proceeded so far with his Lordship's betters, that he should
have had such an attachment for him, that none should
have bailed him ; and that he himself would have been his
keeper. And when a pursuivant had served him with a
letter, he said, the Bishop of London had now learned good
manners. He said, moreover, what was he before but a
private man ? but he must be lorded, And it please your
Lordship at every word ; and that there was never Bishop
so vUely esteemed as he was, and that he was as UI thought
of as ever was Bonner. AU this was proved by deposition ;
and the said Welden convict by the court, because he re
fused in a most contemptuous manner to answer : and for
his great contempt he was in January committed by the
rest of the Commissioners, without the Bishop, because it
was his own cause. The Bishop was not a httle moved to Complains
be so used in his discharge of the Queen's Commission ; ° ' '
which made him think it convenient to let the Lord Trea
surer know it, and to countenance their prosecution of this
d 4

40 THE LIFE OF

CHAP. mart. He reminded him, how he and the Lord ChanceUor
IV.

.had told him, that they were to countenance and back the
Commissioners in the said Commission ; which he humbly
prayed his Lordship to do, or else he saw not how he might
continue in that place ; and that for his own part, if every
man might thus rail at them for their faithful and painful
service in the executing of her Majesty's Commission, it must
needs make him weary. FinaUy, he hoped his Lordship
would not suffer him to be so abused. This care and these
discouragements soon made him earnestly desirous to change
his see, as we shall hear hereafter.
A book The Queen and her Court were now in September 1579
against the -. , . __,.. ,
Queen's startled upon one or two occasions. 1 he one was, the news
marriage Qf tne breaking; out of a rebelhon in Ireland; and the other,
with Mon- & . '
sieur. the publishing of a book written by one Stubbs, a great Pu
ritan, against the Queen's marriage with the Duke of An-
jou, the French King's brother : for he being a Papist and
a Frenchman, the Enghsh had an antipathy against him
upon both accounts. Many expressions in the book tended
to sedition, and gave high offence to the Queen ; as though
she herself were warping from religion by her entertain
ment of such an one. It made also very dishonourable re
flections upon that Prince ; which she feared France might
weU resent. The very title also was penned after that rude
The Disco- sort that it might justly offend; viz. The Discovery of a
gaping * gaping Gulph, whereinto England is hke to be swallowed
Guiph. by another French Marriage, if the Lord forbid not the
banns, by letting her Majesty see the Sin and Punishment
thereof. In one place of this book he disparaged the per
son of this Prince, and by consequence the Queen's judg
ment in entertaining him. " I humbly beseech her Majesty
" that she will view it, (his person,) and surview it ; and in
" viewing she wiU fetch her heart up to her eyes, and carry
" her eyes down to her heart. And I beseech God grant
" her at that time to have her eyes in her head; even in the
" sense which Solomon placeth a wise man's eyes in his
" head : and then, I doubt not, upon conference of her wise
" heart and her eyes together, he shall have her dispatching

BISHOP AYLMER. 41
" answer." And then, as to this Prince's manners, thus he CHAP.
exposed them ; (both his and his brother's, now King of 1V'
France ;) " They speak in aU languages of a marvellous,
" licentious, and dissolute youth passed by this brother-
" hood ; and of as strange incredible parts of intemperance
" played by them, as those were of Heliogabalus. Yet I
" wUl not rest upon conjecturals. For if but the fourth part
" of the misrule bruited should be true, it must needs draw
" such punishments from God, who for the most part pu-
" nisheth these vUe sins of the body, even in the body and
" bones of the offender, besides other plagues to a third and
" fourth generation ; as I would my poor life might redeem
" the joining of Queen Ehzabeth to such an one in that near
" knot, which must needs make her half in the punishment
" of those sins." This bold book, therefore, and clamours
of the people, (London being in a dangerous ferment,) espe
ciaUy those that were of the Puritan party, made a consider
able shock at Court. It was therefore thought convenient Occasions
to send a hasty despatch to London, to the Bishop there, and tu"jdBlSihop:
presently to summon the Clergy for the better pacifying summon the
these matters. And on a sudden, September 27, 1579, on c°ergy\
Sunday, at one of the clock, the Clergy of the city were
caUed unto the Bishop's palace ; where forty of them ap
peared. Then the Bishop, the Dean of Paul's being pre
sent and assistant, told them the occasion of his sudden
railing for them was, to admonish them of two things chiefly.
The former was of one Andreas Jacobus, a Dutchman, and, Andreas
as it seems, a Minister of the strangers' church in London ;
who was a Lutheran, or an ubiquitary, as they now styled Thelibigui-
them who were for the real presence ; and had caused great troverey!""
quarrels among the strangers' preachers. He warned them
to take heed how they gave ear to the sophistical arguments
of him, or any such like. That this ubiquitarian contro
versy had caused great heats and differences among the Pro
testants of Germany, and that the Divines had a Diet at
Smalcald on that occasion; and that God be thanked it
was appeased, and all at quiet among them.
He proceeded to the other reason, (and which was the

42 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, chief indeed,) why he called for them at that time ; to wit,'
1 * upon the account of Stubbs's book, and of the animosities

Admonishes that it had occasioned ; for people were highly offended at
about trfey Monsieur's being at Court, and perhaps he used his religion
Queen. there. And many of the preachers themselves meddled in
that argument, and in matters of state, in their pulpits, to
the farther disturbing of the minds of the people. There
fore the Bishop first of all assured them with many good
words of the Queen's steadiness in rehgion, wherein she
was, he said, resolute and settled. Then, that they should
not meddle with such high secular matters, nor intrude
themselves into the Queen's affairs; but study peace and
quietness, and to promote it in their several charges : that
they should be constant, sober, prudent, and wise ; and that
they should do their endeavour in their places to bring in
that dangerous book : for which purpose there was a pro
clamation issued forth. And both the author, printer, and
disperser afterwards were discovered and severely punished.
For which I refer the reader to the civU historian.
The Minis- These disturbances about the Queen's marriage being
don now°n" chiefly moved by such as were enemies to the ecclesiastical
often cited, constitutions, a straiter hand was this year held over them,
and the Ministers of the city, for their due conformity to
the orders of the Church. For besides this summons al
ready mentioned, they were four times more caUed together
by order from above to the Bishop, that there might a dili
gent inspection be made into their behaviour ; and for the
prescribing them several rules in their ministry.
Article? of The next citation then of the Ministers of London was
inquiry. November the 10th foUowing, at St. Sepulchre's church ;
where5 also met many persons sworn to make inquisition
upon certain articles to be given them ; which articles were
as foUow : 1. For the true and faithful observation of the
book of pubhc prayers : 2. If any preachers meddled with
matters of state in their pubhc or private doctrine, or inter
meddled with alterations of states and kingdoms : 3. If any
used to preach not licensed thereunto ; for that such who
had not licences were not to preach : 4. To inquire after

BISHOP AYLMER. 43
private conventicles, preachers, and fasts : 5. If there were*x HAP.
any alterations from the Book of Common Prayer ; and to IV-
inquire who, and how many, gathered to private preaching :
6. To make dihgent search after vagrant preachers and
Popish priests.
Again, in January this same year, 1579, came forth arti- other arti
cles to be ministered and inquired of by the parsons, vicars tuees'of j^,""
and curates, ministers and church-wardens, of every parish Council's
within the archdeaconry of London, according to a com
mandment sent from the Lords of the Queen's Majesty's
Privy CouncU, by their letters bearing date January 17,
1579; viz.
I. Who is parson, vicar, curate, or minister of your pa
rish, and whether he be resident upon his benefice, or no.
II. Whether the parson or vicar doth serve the cure of
his parish himself, or who doth serve it for him.
III. Whether your parson or vicar doth say the divine
service in the church, and minister the sacraments of Bap
tism and of the Lord's Supper in his own person, or who
doth it for him.
IV. Whether the parson or vicar doth use weekly or
monthly to preach or to read any lectures in their church,
or in any other church or place ; and where he doth use so
to preach or read.
V. Whether any other minister or preacher doth use to
preach or to read any lectures in their church ; who they or
he be, and set down their names, and where such preacher
or reader is beneficed.
VI. Whether such minister or preacher, as useth to preach
or to read any lecture in the church, 'doth use also to minis
ter the sacrament of Baptism and the Lord's Supper in
his church, or in any other church ; and. where he doth use
to minister the same.
I am apt to conclude that these were articles of the Bi
shop's framing ; but that he procured the Privy CouncU to
own and send them as theirs, to give them the more strength
and authority.
For the better execution of the Council's letters, it was the ciergy;

44

THE LIFE OF

CHAP. IV.

Another call of
Ministers.

ordered the Clergy at this meeting after this manner, " That
" from henceforth you do not admit any man to preach, or
" to read any lectures in any of your churches, but such as
" you do know ; that do also in their own persons minister
" the sacraments of Baptism and of the holy Communion,
" according to the order prescribed in the Book'of Common
" Prayer. " Ye shall make return of your answer to these articles
" on this side the first day of March next coming, to Mr.
" Good the registrar."
In pursuance of which articles, February 6th foUowing,
there was another caU of the London Clergy by virtue of
the Council's letters. Then there were again precepts given
to mark the recusants of the Book of Common Prayer, or
such as refused to administer the sacraments after that or
der, or that only preached, but had no celebration of the
sacraments ; putting that work upon their curates, or as
signs, or that preached and used not the book, and so made
a schism. The church-wardens were called and sworn to
present all such.
Now on the first of March, the Clergy was summoned
again, and met, according to the CouncU's letters before
mentioned, in pursuance of the six articles. Thus close was
the matter of conformity this year pursued ; and that be
cause of the dangerous schism that was now a breeding, and
the apprehension of the great evUs that must needs ensue
upon that ; while the Common Prayer was by some in part,
and by others whoUy, laid aside, and the sacraments of the
Church disused, or shifted off to be performed by others
that were hired or procured. AU which considerations
made both the Bishop and the Queen herself somewhat vi
gorous in the suppressing these men. And this quickening
of the London Ministers in their obedience to the ecclesiasti
cal laws went on the next year, as we shall see by and by.
His advice About this time the University of Cambridge was run
theUniv"?- mto Puritanism, and the Bishop was consulted with about it
sity. by the Lord Burghley, the Chancellor thereof. For when,
in the beginning of March 1579, upon the motion of Dr.

Another.

BISHOP AYLMER. 45
Pern, Dean of Ely, and others, making complaint to the CHAP.
said ChanceUor of the Puritans' disorderly preaching, and of IY"
the unsuitable apparel of the scholars, lie was resolved to
take some order for the redress of both, he sent the said
Dean to the Bishop from him, for his opinion ; which ac
cordingly he gave in these particulars. 1. That aU licences
granted by the University should be caUed in, and granted
anew by the Heads, to such as would subscribe to the articles
synodical, as in aU dioceses it was used ; and that bonds
should be taken of the parties that they should preach no
innovation, as he himself used to do in granting his hcences.
2. That the Heads of the houses might be enjoined by the
ChanceUor to see every man to his own company, that both
at home and abroad they used scholars' apparel, according
to their statutes ; or else to crave the aid of the rest of the
Heads to expel such stubborn persons out of the University,
as would not submit themselves to that order. And this to
be done by some injunction from her Majesty, to authorize
the Heads in that behalf. And this he thought would be a
good way for the redress of both offences; for, Stultitia,
said he, ligata in corde pueri virga disciplines jugatur; and
indeed the only way ; for he thought no other way would
do. These were the resolute counsels of a resolute man.
The Bishop about this time, or somewhat before, thought Licence for
fit to grant somewhat an unusual hcence to one Manwaring, hearsed
which was to keep good order at the, funerals of the nobility
and gentry; when the rude people used to commit much
outrage and disorder by defacing the hearses as they passed
along the streets, and violently taking away the coats of
arms and other ornaments ; and to preserve the better de
cency at these solemnities ; yet without intent of encroach
ing upon the office of heralds. And to this tenor ran the
Bishop's faculty, which because somewhat extraordinary I
set down.
" John, by the permission of God Bishop of London,
" to aU and singular to whom these presents shall appertain,
" greeting. Whereas about the hearses of honourable and

46

THE LIFE OF

CHAP.
IV.
Eimeri Re-
gist.

" worshipful men there groweth sundry discourse by em-
" bezzeling and steahng away the escutcheons of arms and
" other ornaments to funerals belonging ; with such other
" rudeness and misdemeanor ; we have upon good consider-
" ation hereunto moved, permitted and licensed Nicolas
" Manering, servant to the Right Honourable the Countess
" of Darby, to have the keeping of the said hearses within
" our diocese of London, for the avoiding of the said incon-
" veniences and disorders ; and this his hcence to endure
" the natural life of the said Nicolas Manering, not abridg-
" ing but aiding the heralds in their office. Yeoven under
" our hand and seal at Harnsey, September 25th, the 20th
" of the Queen.
" JOHN LONDON."

Commis
sions.

Sir Julius
Caesar.

Troubledabout fell
ing his
woods.

By a commission dated May 1579, he constituted Ro
bert King, clerk, to exercise the office of Commissary in
partibus within the archdeaconry of Essex and Colchester,'
and other places.
And about four years alfter, anno 1583, December 26th,
he preferred a very remarkable man, (famous afterward for
his faithful and able management of great places of trust
pertaining to the civU law,) Julius, afterwards Sir Juhus
Cassar, LL.D. to whom he gave the office of Commissary
and Sequestrator General in the archdeaconry of Essex and
Colchester, and the deanery of Braughing, Harlow, Dun-
mow, and other places.
But now let me proceed to a matter that created the Bi
shop some passion and disturbance. He had made a good
fall of his woods ; and that in so large a proportion, and (as
it was pretended) so unlawfuUy, that an information was
brought to the Lord Treasurer and CouncU against him for
it, as though he had made a great spoU of the timber and
woods, and wasted the revenues of the bishopric. It was
informed, that he had feUed and sold three hundred timber
trees at one time, and an hundred at another, and some
more besides at another : also that a great number of acres
of wood were sold at divers times, aUowing to every acre

BISHOP AYLMER. 47
certain timber trees. Though this information was partly CHAP.
true, yet it had more of malice than truth in it. But the IV"
Bishop upon this was brought before the CouncU, where the
said Treasurer in May 1579 openly blamed liim ; holding
himself bound, as he said, so to do, as he was a pubhc min
ister, and with all plainness and freedom telling him, that
there was a Bishop once displaced for such a deed. These
words gave the Bishop some uneasiness, and provoked him
to some anger, holding himself unblamable for what he had
done. Whereupon coming home he took up his pen, and in that Writes to
heat that was upon him vented his grieved mind to the same Treasurer
noble Lord, telling him that they were but indigested sur- about it.
mises of his wasting the woods, giving (in a writing in
closed) to the particular articles of accusation particular an
swers ; wherewith, as he shortly told him, if his Lordship
should be satisfied, he should be glad ; but if not, he would
stand to the justification of his doings, both in that and
in all other things. He added, that if he (the Lord Trea.
surer) thought his answers were either untrue, or not suffi
cient to satisfy him, he prayed him to call to him a gentle
man, (weU acquainted with the Bishop's doings,) and one
whom his Lordship judged to be both upright and wise,'
and of great experience, and to inform himself by him; and
if it feU not out that he (the Bishop) was not too careful a
man of his woods, and that they were much the better for him,
then let him lose his credit with her Majesty and aU their
Honours of the CouncU. But, in fine, these surmises against
him he counted but hght in comparison of his grief, as he
expressed himself, that " my Lord Treasurer should have a
" discontented mind toward the Bishop of London," whose
friendship he valued above all ; and therefore the seeming
estrangement thereof could not but be very afflicting to him.
The sum of the paper above mentioned, wherein he en- His defence
deavoured to clear himself by distinct answers to each ob-° '
jection against him, was this : That those trees which he
had given order for the faUing of were not timber trees, but
pollards, doated and decayed at the top ; nor was the num.

48 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, ber of them so many as was informed. He acknowledged that
Iv- in the years 1577, 1578, and 1579, he sold sixscore acres of
wood by the arbitrement of the Lord Dyer and consent of
the tenants, and aUowed two lopped and doated trees to each
acre; which he would justify to be an increase of wood: for
that for which he had received 300Z. at the next fall (the
spring being kept) would be worth 500Z. And that whereas
it was informed, that the sales of these woods amounted to
1000Z. he shewed they came but to 600Z. And in the whole,
he desired that it might be considered, that in these three
years he had paid, and must, to the Queen, 1800Z. besides
his housekeeping, wherein he had threescore persoris young
and old ; that he bought his fuel at Fulham whoUy ; and
that at London and Harnsey he used coals, sparing wood,
which came to sixscore pounds yearly : in the whole, in
fuel eighteen score pounds. Moreover, the burning of his
house (at Harnsey, if I mistake not) put him to 200 mark
charges. And lastly, he was able to prove, that whereas 400
acres of wood were destroyed by his late predecessor, and
threescore more in his time, the see was the better by 100Z.
a year.
Forbid to But, in short, this business of the wood stiU depended ;
more of his ^or ^ nno- tnat about half a year after, the Queen sent her
wood. letters to the Bishop, and some others, to inquire into the
felling of those woods; to which the Bishop, with the others,
prepared their answer, and wanted only to know whether
they should direct their letters to the Queen immediately,
or to the Lord Treasurer, who might inform her Majesty
concerning their answer : and for direction herein the Bi
shop craved the said Treasurer's advice. This ended at
length with a restraint from her Majesty, that the Bishop
hereafter should take down no more of his woods.
Endeavours Now also the business of dilapidations came on between
sion°fo"dT- our Bishop and the Archbishop of York, his predecessor ;
lapidations. wherein also the Archbishop of Canterbury, predecessor to
him of York, was involved. In the beginning of the year
1577 he had laboured to procure a Commission for that
end, and made use of Secretary Walsingham therein. The

BISHOP AYLMER. 49
Archbishop made his complaint to the said Secretary against CHAP.
Bishop Aylmer's proceedings, shewing the many good turns '

he had done him ; and withal the good promises the said
Bishop had before his consecration made him, not to trou
ble him in this regard. He also sent up his servant from
Bishopthorp, where he now was, to enter into reasonable
conditions with Bishop Aylmer, with which he made Wal-
singham privy ; who soon laboured with the Bishop in this
affair to bring things to an accommodation. But it could
not or would not be done ; and the reason was, because it
was not safe for him to put this suit to an end by arbitra
tion ; which Walsingham was willing to take upon him, and
the Bishop declared himself to have been willing to leave it
to him ; but that for the security of his posterity it must be
decided by law : which the Bishop signified in his letter
written to him in May.
Therein he signified, " That he found himself marvel- His letters
" lously beholden to him for his good continuance and ready cretary.
" answers of his matters, that his man whom he sent unto
" him found at his hands. That the cause that moved him PaperOffice.
" so earnestly to urge the commission for dilapidations was,
" that unless he had end by law, he and his executors could
" not be discharged ; which he was sure, if her Majesty un-
" derstood, she would grant him justice for his indemnity :
" otherwise he assured his Honour, he had as lief be without
" the bishopric, as to dweU still in that danger. That if it
" might be put in arbitrament, he minded to choose none
" but him, if he would give him [the Bishop] leave to be
" so bold with him."
Upon this they go to law. There is a book in the Paper He sues the
Office consisting of divers sheets of paper written in Latin, lc ls °p'
as it seems, of the Bishop's own penning, wherein he ar
gued his own case ; and by his many quotations of the civil
law shewed himself very well studied therein. It was en
titled his Allegations, beginning thus :
Ad decisionem proesentis controversies prcemittendum est,
quod inter alia, quae ad curam et solicitudi-nem providi et
vigilantis pastoris pertinent, curare debent zacralissimi
K

50 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. Episcopi, ut Ecclesias Cathedrales, aliaque (edificia ad
1V" Episcopatum spectantia, ab omni ruina et deformitate con-
servent, ut ruinosa reficiant, diruta et collapsa restaurent.
Si enim in privatis eedificiis deformitas omnis vitanda est,
ac Reipublicce intersit, ne civitas ruinis deformetur, (ut C.
de JEdijkiis privatis L. ii. et F. nequid in loco publico. L.
ultima, et ex. de Elect, c.fundamenta §. digno: libro vi.)
Multdque magis interest omnium, ut Ecclesia, quee in ho-
norem et cultum Dei Omnipotentis ac fideUum Christi
consolationem ; ubi Christi fideles divina audire, et Sa
cramenta percipere solent, ab omni deformitatis et rumcB
labe conserventur, ut notant doctores in c.l. ex. de Ecclesiis
cedificandis, 8cc.
There is also in the same place another book in Latin,
wherein he learnedly labours to confute the witnesses that
the two Archbishop's defendants brought to prove the edi
fices were left in sufficient repair when they were translated.
The conclusion of which paper ran thus : Ex quibus omni
bus manifesto patet, non esse, [invalidas] aut insiifficientes
Londinensis Episcopi probationes, sed debile et infirmum
esse illud subterfugium in re tam manifesto, et omnium
oculis objecta, probationes nostras tanquam minus conclu-
dentes arguere : cum tamen illi non probaverint se ea Jb-
eisse quajacere debebant; et proinde eorum culpa hcec con-
tigisse prcESumatur. Juxta L. qui nonjucit. F. de reguMs
juris,
The-cbarge In the year 1580, a new review was appointed to be
nidations*" taken of the dilapidations, when they amounted to about
1602Z. that is much more than they were when the first view
was taken, anno 1577 ; the charge being then but 1200Z.
The suit held tiU 1584, when our Bishop obtained a favour
able sentence : and then the Archbishop of York's last plea
was to get the sentence qualified, and to lay part of the bur
den upon the executors of Archbishop Grindal, lately de
ceased.

BISHOP AYLMER. 51

CHAP. V.
An earthquake occasions the Bishop to compose certain
prayers. He visits. His business zeith the Lord Rich.
His device about appointment of preachers. His counsel
JbrjiUing the see of Bath and Wells, and other sees.
JL HERE happened, April the 6th, in the year 1580, an An earth-
earthquake in London and the parts adjacent, and farther qua e'
off. Camden, in his History of Queen Elizabeth, writes
of it, that it was about six in the even, the air clear and
calm, in England on this side York, and in the Nether
lands, almost as high as Colen ; when the earth in a mo
ment feU a trembling in such a manner, that in some places
stones feU down from buUdings, and the beUs in the steeples
struck against the clappers, and the sea, that was then calm,
vehemently tossed and moved to and fro; and the night
foUowing the ground in Kent trembled two or three days :
and the hke again happened May the 1st, in the dead time of
the night. The Bishop of London was piously sensible of
this, and willing to take this opportunity to caU the people
to repentance, that such a terrible providence might have a
due effect upon them. And indeed this earthquake, together
with the present apprehension of the nation's enemies, made
a mighty impression upon men's hearts. The Bishop speed- Frames
Uy upon this, whUe the matter was warm, and the people thuocca-'
affected with fear and horror, framed prayers to be used in sion-
pubhc through his diocese on this occasion ; having also
some instructions from the Lord Treasurer, by the Queen's
order, for the same ; who signified, that she would not have
any solemn matter made of it ; meaning not to have a day
set apart through the kingdom for it ; but yet some serious,
notice to be taken of it in the pubhc devotions. In com
pliance with which, the Bishop had composed the prayers
aforesaid without any special psalms ; but the psalms to be
read according to the common order. The Lord Treasurer,
a grave and pious man, signified his mind to the Bishop ra-
e2

52 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, ther for some more solemn observation of a day; or at
V- least that all things should be done, as much as might be,
to the capacity and edifying of the people. But the Bishop
in answer, first thanking God for this Lord's care of so im
portant a thing -as the people's spiritual benefit, did never
theless take leave to dissent from him for the keeping of a
national day; because the state of the time considered, toge
ther with the malice of the enemies, who commonly (though
falsely) upbraided the Enghsh Protestants, that they never
fasted, and seldom prayed; he held it requisite, without
farther delay, to give some order and direction to stir up the
people to devotion, and to turn away God's wrath threat
ened by the earthquake. But the compUing of a new form
of prayer would ask a longer time ; and therefore he
thought it would do more good,, if the form already fin
ished were foUowed ; especiaUy for that the people was then
much moved with the present warning: but their nature
was such as commonly to make these things but a nine days'
wonder : adding, Cito arescit lacryma ; i. e. A tear soon
dries up; and that he might say, multo citius indolescit ani
mus ; i. e. much sooner does the mind wear off its grief :
that it were therefore necessary, that things of this nature
should be done out of hand : but yet concluding, that what
should seem best to his Lordship he was ready to foUow.
But we return to his dealings with his Clergy.
A visitation. In the year 1580 c he instituted an episcopal visitation,
which began August 16th, in London; and in the month of
November ensuing were divers articles exhibited by the
Archdeacon, to be inquired by the ministers, church-war
dens, and sworn men of every parish within the archdea
conry of London ; in aU the diocese also, in places as weU
exempt as not exempt, according to the special direction of
certain letters, sent to the Bishop from the Lords of the
Queen's Privy Council : which articles were as foUow, and
respected chiefly the Laity, Sectaries, and Papists.
. Imprimis, Whether there be any in your parish that do
r Sec Additions, Numh. III.

BISHOP AYLMER. 53
refuse to conform themselves in matters of religion, and to CHAP.
come to their own parish church, and refuse the Commu

nion ; and what be their names, and of what condition or Articles to
estate they are. be inquired
Item, How long they have refused so to do.
Item, How many of their wives, chUdren, servants, or
others, sojourning and abiding in their houses, do likewise
refuse so to do ; and what be their names and surnames ;
and how long they have so done.
Item, For what cause they have refused so to do.
Item, Of what yearly living in England, or other value
of substance or goods, are these principal persons thought
to be, in truth and in deed, and not as they be stinted in the
subsidy book.
Item, Whether any one or more of them have been now
already committed to any prison for such recusancy.
Memorandum, This inquisition not to extend to any
other than such as do obstinately refuse to come to their
parish church, and there to receive the Communion.
This inquisition seems to have been set on foot upon the Chiefly for
intelligence of the increase of Papists. For those crafty emis- PaPlsts-
saries of Rome took this opportunity to reconcUe as many
as they could to the pretended unity of the Church, while
the eyes of the State were chiefly upon the dissenting bre
thren, of whom it had a great jealousy about this time.
Therefore from henceforth both sorts were equally looked City Minis-
unto ; and in the month of January 1581, there was a caU —";„' e
of the City Ministers, to make inquiry what sons of English
gentlemen and others, or what servants were now beyond
seas, and to what ends they went ; whether as scholars, or
factors, or otherwise. And the same month, namely, Ja- And again.
nuary 29th, there was another caU of them into the consis
tory by the Bishop of London and ecclesiastical Commis
sioners ; when these injunctions and inquiries were given
forth. 1. No invectives to be used of or against estates :
[that is, this or other kingdoms, or potentates : some preach
ers, as it seems, being now-a-days very liberal of their
speeches' both against France and Spain.] 2. None to re-
e3

54 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, fuse the wearing of the surplice. 3. That there be no di-
V' minishing or altering the service. 4. Inquiry to be made
who did not celebrate the Sacraments together with their
preaching ; doing the one, but whoUy omitting the other.
5. Also, who made alteration in the rites required to be
used in Baptism. 6. Who did not catechize the youth.
7. The seventh article related to contentious preachers, who
scandalously gave others the name of dumb dogs. 8. The
last related to such as utterly refused to read the HomUies.
The Bishop at this assembly shewed himself somewhat ear
nest, and said, he would surely and severely punish the of
fenders in these points, or / will lie, said he, in the dust
Jbr it.
Contends He had a long and troublesome business with a certain
Lord Rich nobleman, a great favourer of the Puritans. It was the
a Puritan. Lord Rich, who about the years 1580 and 1581, had ex
ercises of rehgion after their Way in his house in Essex, one
Wright being the preacher ; who seems to have been the
same Wright with him of Trinity CoUege in Cambridge,
and tutor to the Earl of Essex, both before and at his being
at the University ; a sister of which Earl the said Lord
Rich had married. These meetings in this Lord's house
the Bishop being informed of, opposed and forbade, and by
the power he had endeavoured to stop. In his father's
time,* the former Lord Rich, the Bishop had many storms
from him upon the same account : and now his son conti
nued die same practices in his house. This was coriie by
this time to the Queen's ear ; that is, that there were dis
orders practised in Essex, and particularly in that Peer's
house ; which she angrily took" notice of to the Lord Trea
surer : of which he acquainted the Bishop, and withal, that
it was her order and command to him, to take notice of those
unlawful exercises, and forbid them. The Bishop took this
opportunity, that the Queen might know what troubles he
underwent in this her service, by the answer he made to the
Treasurer's letters ; therein desiring and entreating that
Lord to signify to her Majesty, that he had many great
storms with the late Lord Rich ; and that now lately the

BISHOP AYLMER. 55
present Lord Rich, and his bastard uncle, and another, CHAP.
came into his house at Fulham, to solicit him to licence the __L_
aforesaid Wright to preach in his diocese ; but this the Bi
shop utterly denied to do, unless he would subscribe to the
orders of this Church. But that Lord's aforesaid uncle did
hereupon so shake him up, that he said he was never so
abused at any man's hands since he was born. For which
he was minded to commit him, as great a person as he was,
but that there were not three Commissioners together to do
it according to the authority of the Commission : but deter
mined that he [the Bishop] and some of the rest would call
him at their first sitting in the term ; for he considered, the
Queen's chief Commissioner was not so contemptuously to
be treated for saving the honour of the Princess herself;
and our Prelate's spirit was as great as the greatest.
He then gave the Lord Rich warning, that he followed
not his uncle's counsel in those matters ; and that if he did,
he must needs make her Majesty acquainted with it ; and
so he meant to do.
His endeavour next was to get Wright their preacher. Wright his
But him he could not come by, unless he sent a power Qf preac
men to fetch him out of a nobleman's house; for he had
charged both father and son to send him unto him ; and
they promised they would, but never did. Therefore, seeing
they of the Commission had done as far as their said Com
mission gave them leave, he hoped her Majesty would think
the best of their doings, and not suffer them to be defaced
by such busy-bodies; or be grieved with them, the Com
missioners, for not doing that which their authority reached
not unto. Two years he had been thus struggling with
them : but he told the Treasurer, that unless they should
puU Wright out by the ears, he knew not how they should
come by him. These things were by the said Treasurer
communicated to the Queen; and so the Bishop desired they
might in his own vindication.
This business made such a noise, and the Queen so •irri-Tltey co,me
; . before the
tated, that it seems Mr. Rich and Mr. Wright aforesaid, Commis-
and the other, were had in examination before the Commis- ™c™ esi*
e 4

56 THE LIFE OF
chap, sioners in the month of October, not long after the fore-
v- mentioned rencounter with the Bishop, which happened in
September; and the Lord Burghley himself, perhaps by
the Queen's special order, was present. In November they
had these men again before the Bishop and Commission. At
this second appearance great proofs were brought against
them [i. e. Rich and Wright] concerning their speech about
solemnizing the Queen's day, viz. November the 17th;
against Wright, for asking if they would make it an holy
day, and so make our Queen an idol : and against Rich,
for soothing and maintaining, in very great earnest, the same
speeches, and others like to therii. For this cause, and for
rejecting the book, and many other disorders, the Bishop
with the rest of the* Commissioners sitting the 7th of No
vember, committed them both ; Wright to the Fleet, and
Rich to the Marshalsea : and one Dix, another very disor
dered man, and a violent innovator, (as the Bishop charac
tered him,) was sent to the Gate-house : that he there, and
Wright in the Fleet, might exercise their learning against
the Papists who lay in those prisons, which 4 hitherto they
had broached against their brethren, and against the State.
Writes to And having proceeded thus far, the Bishop thought good,
concerning ^or ^s better safety in case of false informers, to teU his
his doings, tale to the Queen herself in a letter from him and the rest
of the Commissioners ; which he did in January foUowing :
and that for these reasons, as he signified to the Lord Trea
surer, who seemed not so well to have approved of it, since
the Bishop had before desired this Lord to acquaint the
Queen with it. First, because the Lord ChanceUor had
said, it were better it should be known farther. Secondly,
he understood the Queen knew of it, and had thought that
she had heard nothing before of it as from him. Thirdly,
because it chiefly touched her. Wherefore he and the rest
thought good to make her privy to it.
Wright in fine ]y[r. Wright, having lain in the Gate-house till
offers a sub- ° y
scription. September 1582, became willing to subscribe to two arti
cles ; viz. to his good allowance of the ministry of the
Church of England, and to the Book of Common Prayer.

BISHOP AYLMER. 57
Yet one thing more the : Bishop required of him ; which CHAP.
was, that some of his friends should be bound for him in a '

good round sum, that from henceforth he should neither
commit in act, nor preach any thing contrary to the same :
and then the Bishop did not mislike that he should have
farther favour, so that the Queen were made privy there
unto, whom this offence-did chiefly concern.
Our Bishop was instrumental, anno 1581, in setting on Hi.s device
foot a very useful practice in London ; namely, that a num- e°!j,preac "
ber of learned, sound preachers might be appointed to preach
on set times before great assemblies ; chiefly, I suppose, for
the Paul's Cross sermons ; their pains to be spent mainly in
confirming the people's judgments in the doctrine and dis
cipline of the present established Church, so much struck
at and undermined by many in these times ; and for the
encouragement hereof certain contributions to be made, and
settled on them by the city. This motion was so approved
of at Court, and by the Queen especiaUy, that Mr. Beal, a
clerk of the CouncU, was sent from above to the Bishop,
bringing 'with him certain notes and articles for the more
particular ordering of this business, which he and the eccle
siastical Commissioners were to lay before the Mayor and
Aldermen. Sir John Branch was then Mayor ; who, it
seems, with the Aldermen, did not much hke this motion,
for the standing charge it must put the city to. For after
much expectation, the Mayor gave the Bishop answer, that
his brethren thought it a matter of much difficulty, and al
most of impossibility also. Notwithstanding, to draw them
to this good purpose, the Bishop had appointed divers con
ferences with them ; but after aU concluded, (and so he sig
nified to the Lord Treasurer,) that unless the Lords wrote
directly unto them, to let them know it was the Queen's
pleasure, and theirs, httle would be done in it ; and so a
good design overthrown by the might of mammon, as he ex
pressed it. But withal he offered that himself and the rest
would, if it pleased them above, proceed farther and do
what they could, thinking it pity so good a purpose should

58 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, be hindered, where there was so much abUity to main-
v- tain it.
His grave The see of Bath and Wells was now in November 1581
ad™e for void by tne death 0f Gilbert Barklay, aged eighty years;
vacant sees, who by reason of his great age, and the affliction of a le
thargy, could not be so dUigent as was requisite in so large
a diocese, and so inclined to superstition and the Papal reh
gion; which grew the more for want of episcopal inspection,
and frequent good instruction. At the same time the dio
cese of Norwich bent much towards innovation, and har
boured such as taught disobedience to the orders of the
Church ; which our Bishop, being a Norfolk man born, the
more laid to heart. For these causes at this time he se
riously bethought himself, how these things might be sea
sonably remedied by fit Bishops ; and that the Queen's and
the Treasurer's consciences might be weU discharged in this
work of setting governors over the flock of Christ, he in a
very grave and bishop-hke manner expressed his mind to
the said Treasurer in this affair, urging it closely upon him
not to neglect so necessary a matter, as he would give ac
count to God for it : advising therefore that Cooper, the
Bishop of Lincoln, a learned and active man, might he
translated to Bath and Wells ; Freke of Norwich, less fit
for that place, to go to Lincoln ; Young, a good governor,
Bishop of Rochester, to be removed to Norwich ; and the
Dean of Westminster, Dr. Goodman, a man exceUently
qualified, to succeed to Rochester, to be held in commendam
with the deanery. And with what good reasons he backed
this his advice, and what deference and yet becoming gra
vity he joined with it, wiU appear to him that reads his
letter. Thus therefore he accosts that great CounseUor :
His letter " Right Honourable and my singular good Lord. For-
snrer for " asmuch as I am in conscience persuaded, that no man
that pur- « next, to her Majesty hath a greater care for the furnishing
" of the Church of Christ with able men, especiaUy to be
" Bishops, than you have ; nor any man more able to dis-

BISHOP AYLMER. 59
" cern and judge of meet or unmeet persons for such rooms, CHAP.
" both for your long experience in the Commonwealth, and
" for that rare learning that God hath endued you with ;
" therefore, as one wishing that the best jewels may be
" sought out for the garnishing of Christ's Church, I
" thought good to caU upon you, (though I need not,) and
" to put you in remembrance of that I know you never for-
" get, (unless it be through your great and infinite business,)
" that it may please you to have a special eye to the be-
" stowing of the bishopric of Bath and Wells ; wherein I
" wiU not prescribe, but shew what I wish, to the discharge
" of her Majesty's conscience, which I know of itself herein
" is tender, and godly, careful for the great advancement of
" God's glory, and the profit of his Church. Methink
" therefore (pardon me, my good Lord) it were good, if
" Lincoln were removed to Bath ; where, for lack of a learned
" man, reigneth great ignorance ; and Norwich (who shall
" never be able to do any great good where he is) to Lin-
" coin, where the diocese is weU settled ; and Rochester to
" Norwich ; who for his quickness in government, and his
" readiness in learning, is the fittest man for that country
" that I know ; and especiaUy to bridle the innovators, not
" by authority only, but also by weight of argument : and
" then to his place Mr. Dean of Westminster, a man every
" way very fit for any good place ; who having his deanery
" in commendam, might marveUous weU serve her Majesty
" in the room of the Almoner, who now I know, even upon
" conscience, would be glad to be with his flock. And so I
" think aU places would be sufficiently provided, and your
" conscience discharged ; to whom I am persuaded the due
" looking to this matter speciaUy appertaineth, because you
" are learned and zealous.
" Therefore in God's behalf, my good Lord, look to it ;
" for truly God wUl require an account of your omission at
" your hands. Thus hoping you wUl forgive me this bold-
" ness, I take my leave, most humbly praying God to bless
" you many years in this State ; that we aU thereby may

60 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. " continue to taste of the wonted blessings which God hath
v- " poured upon us by her Majesty's ministry, and your
li Christian vigilancy.
" Your good Lordship's humbly to command,
" JOHN LONDON."
" From my house by Paul's,
" November 28, 1581.
But aU this good plot of the Bishop came to nothing :
and notwithstanding this serious incitement, this bishopric
laid vacant for almost three years after, (a thing sometimes
practised in this Queen's reign, I wUl not say for the sake
of the temporalities,) and then Dr. Goodwin, Dean of Can
terbury, was preferred to it.

CHAP. VI.
The Bishop's care about the Commission. Labours a re
move to Ely.
Several pu- J\.T the commitment of Rich, Wright, and Dix, before
inconforrni- mentioned, were present the Bishop, Sir Owen Hopton,
ty- Dr. Clark, Dean of the Arches, Dr. Walker, and Dr.
Lewen; Dr. Lewis, Dr. Hammond, Mr. MuUins, Arch
deacon of London, and other Commissioners, which ought
to have assisted, withdrew themselves ; which weakened
their proceedings. But at this sitting, some they had ad
monished, and some suspended, (but not many,) till they
should shew themselves conformable in allowing the book.
Complains The Bishop observed how in these things, and such other
Commis- as ^e judged of importance, but odious, their coUeagues did
sioners that shrink from them ; whereby those few that did assist grew
discouraged. He thought fit therefore to let the Lord
Treasurer know it, and interpose himself in it. He advised
that the Dean of the Arches, who was very active and as
sistant, might be encouraged by his Lordship or the Queen;
especially having had little favour from the Court : and the

BISHOP AYLMER. 61
others to be somewhat touched by his letters for their ab- CHAP.
• • VI
sence. He feared that within a whUe in such matters of

displeasure, they should have but few to join with them.
The Recorder, Mr. Fleetwood, in the term-time seldom or
never came amongst them. He also propounded to have
some other able and courageous men to be joined with them,
as Dr. Dale, Dr. Forth, Civilians, and the ChanceUor of
London. For he shewed how he saw that other men in
weighty matters slipped the coUar.
At the aforesaid last sitting of the Commissioners they Apparitors
made an order, that the Archdeacons, Commissaries, and on Sundays.
Officials, should send their Apparitors from place to place
every Sunday, to see what, conformity was used in every
parish, and to certify. These proceedings the Bishop
prayed the Treasurer to impart to the Queen for her better
satisfaction, and to understand farther her pleasure in the
same. Which he thought would not be amiss to be done.
In the midst of their business in the month of December The Lord
1581, that the Bishop and his coUeagues might not do any sen(js cau.
thing to create more displeasure against them and their tlons t0 the
Commission, and that there might be no occasion of appeal
ing from them, the Lord Burghley sent Dr. Lewis, Master
of the Requests, to the Bishop, to advise him not to meddle
with many matters, by virtue of their Commission, but such
only as concerned rehgion. Which direction, mixed with
so much wisdom and moderation, and proceeding from so
great a CounseUor, the Bishop received in very good ,part ;
and to demonstrate what a grateful sense he had of it, he
despatched his mind in these words, viz.
" That he agreed with his Lordship in judgment, as one His answer
" by whom he had ever desired to be directed, and would upon"
" be stiU, if it pleased him to grant him that favour that he
" might. For his wisdom, zeal, experience, learning, and
" godliness, (he thanked God,) he accounted to be such,
" and himself in aU such so mean, that he would think him-
" self happy to be directed by him. And therefore my
" good Lord (as he added) do but let me in such points
" know your pleasure, and by God's grace I shall be as

62 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. " ready to accomplish it as any whosoever either love you
VI- « or honour you. And so the Lord pour his rich blessings
" upon you and yours to his glory," &c.
The Bishop It was still the Bishop that moved this body, the rest
stay^f the being ready to slip away from the work, had not he still
Commis- appeared, and acted vigorously, and carried the Commis
sioners along with him. For he was absent but once by
reason of a pain in his eyes, and there was no sitting, to the
great murmuring and charges of the suitors. The civil
lawyers that were of the Commission neglected the pubhc,
and looked after their private affairs, where their gains most
lay. But the Dean of the Arches, and Hopton, who was
Lieutenant of the Tower, continued very diligent. And
the Bishop on these considerations moved the Lord Trea
surer to write a letter to the Registrar, a little to touch the
slackness of the Commissioners, naming none, and giving
some commendations unto Dr. Clark and Sir Owen Hopton,
who only were painful. And that his Lordship would here
by greatly farther the service.
The success And indeed by his dihgence and patience he was a great
J'spams' instrument, in obedience to the Queen, to queU and take
down these men, who set themselves against the ecclesiasti
cal order, notwithstanding aU their endeavours and interest
at Court against him: which he remembered to the Lord
Treasurer as a good office that he had done, for which the
Queen, he reckoned, ought to favour him, and not to give
ear to every information given against him and the Com
missioners ; but to consider into what peaceable tranquillity
God, by his poor service, as he said, had brought not only
London, and the whole diocese, but also the most part
of England, since he came to that place : whereby he had,
as he thought in his conscience, rather deserved her gra
cious favour than discouragement. For on the other side
he expressed how he was hated hke a dog, and was called
the oppressor of the children of God.
Meets with By this it appears that he laboured at this time under some
Court.eS " discountenance at Court, the Puritans commonly raising a
dust there against the Bishops that favoured them not.

BISHOP AYLMER. 63
Aylmer had indeed a cause depending now before the CHAP.
Queen and Council, upon some complaint as it seems for
a pretended injuring of the revenues of the bishopric by
felling great quantities of wood. This was in the year
1581, these accusations were mixed with much falsehood,
creating him great trouble. But the Lord Burghley here
stood his friend to the Queen, and stuck to him heartUy.
Which kindness of his so overcame the Bishop, that he
could not sufficiently express his gratitude ; writing thus to
him; " My good Lord, I cannot but honour you for car-
" rying yourself with so great equity before her Majesty in
" my late cause. You have so won my heart, (though God
" is my witness you had it before,) that you shah be the
" man to whom I wUl trust, (under God,) whom I wUl only
" choose for my judge in aU cases, and honour as my most
" noble friend at aU times ; and in some part be thankful,
" as I may, but never as you deserve." Thus did this good
man's soul run out, as though it had been melted down with
the seasonable kindness of this noble person; whose up
rightness was such, that he used not to favour any, but
those whose innocency or other circumstances required it.
But the Bishop plainly saw how liable he was to these Labours a
troubles while he remained Bishop of London, and how
subject to the inconvenience of slanderous tongues and ma
licious informations, which had too much ear at Court.
The labour and attendance also of the Commission was too
heavy for him, now become old. Wherefore he endeavoured
long for a remove to another diocese : which he had been
harping upon ever since the year 1579: for then he was
earnest with the Lord Treasurer to procure him a transla
tion either to Ely or Winchester. But because the former
hung upon uncertain points, (Bishop Cox of Ely being yet
alive, and there being a design to take away some of the
revenues of that see, to which the Bishop incumbent was
to agree,) therefore he chose to decline that ; and disclosed
his wishes unto the Treasurer, that Dr. Day, the present
Bishop of Winchester, might be removed to London, and
he in his room to Winchester ; and that his Lordship should

64 THE LIFE*OF
CHAP, find him as thanlcful as any that ever received benefit at his
VL hands. And that being so near he might assist the Bishop
of London, which peradventure would be some ease to him,
and not unprofitable for the ecclesiastical government.
He bath the But afterward his eye lay chiefly upon Ely, (the change
Ely"* "' with Winchester it seems not being to be expected.) He
had in the languishing time of Cox, Bishop of that see,
made interest with the Lord Treasurer to be invested in it,
when the present incumbent should die. And as for this
suit which the Treasurer made for our Bishop, the Queen
granted it : and so Secretary Walsingham told him. There
fore the good Bishop of Ely being dead, two days after his
death, that is, July 24, 1581, the Bishop despatched a letter
to his before-mentioned friend at Court to promote now his
remove, having certain news of Cox's departure. . " And he
" thought fit now, as he wrote, to remind him, that as by
" his Lordship's only means he had at her Majesty's hands
" then a yea, so by some sinister working her gracious fa-
" vour were not turned into a nay. He added, that he
" would not seek the place as he did, but that he found in
" himself some imperfection in body and mind, being then
" homo sexagenarius : and that he found in himself, that
" within a short time he should never answer her Majesty's
" expectation, nor his own conscience, in that place of ser-
" vice which hitherto had been so tedious, that he hoped
" her Majesty even of justice would recompense him, though
" not with gain, yet with ease in these his crooked years."
It was about this time that the Queen was in the mind to
remove him to Worcester, and in his room to have preferred
Dr. Richard Bancroft, Archbishop Whitgift's Chaplain, an
active man, and made much use of in the ecclesiastical Com
mission. But whatever the matter was, this came to no
thing.
Solicits his He continued soliciting this business till April 1582, when
remove to ne begged of the aforesaid Lord a remove upon account of
his age, and the greatness of the business of London, much
fitter for a younger man than he. The said Nobleman had
stirred in this business for him ; and now he entreated him

BISHOP AYLMER. 65
that he would finish that which he had so favourably hi- CHAP.
therto followed ; desirous to be delivered of this heavy bur- VI'
den, as he called it, of London. The bishopric of Ely had
been now void for a pretty long time ; which he was con
tented to succeed into. He desired now in the beginning of
. the year, that the business might be finished, since he once
had the Queen's promise for it. He pleaded, now was the
time for him to settle himself for his provision either here
or there : which must at this time be considered of both for
the successor's commodity, and his own. He added, how
this ensuing summer would much hinder the state of that
living, both the parks and elsewhere. And he heard that
great swarms both of Papists and of the family of love did
daUy increase there, for lack of one to look unto such dis
orders. But alas ! these were not sufficient reasons to fill
that vacant see whUe there wanted not men about the
Queen that suggested to her the ample revenues of it. And
Bishop Aylmer seemed not to be for their turn ; that is, to
submit to the alienation of some of the lands and lordships
of it. So that however he called this his long looked for
suit, and thought it now upon a despatch, yet he was de
ceived. But stUl he gave it not over ; for in October the next Solicits
year I find him labouring with the Treasurer in the same aga!n the
•* © next year.
cause : who furthered it again with the Queen, and got
some good probability of it. So that the Bishop hung in
suspense, and could not settle to make his provisions in any
place. He pleaded again his years; and that that place
of London had need of a younger man than he was. And
at last he was so near his desired remove, that his congS
d!elire seemed only deferred a httle, because he was con
cerned in a commission for the reparation of Paul's, which
by his departure thence might probably receive some hin
drance ; and because the Queen's audit for the temporalities
of that bishopric of Ely was at hand. But the Bishop an
swered, that as for the first, the action would follow his
person ; and that it was to be answered at Ely as well as at
London. And as to the second, that the audit would be

66 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, past before he could do his homage; and so the conge
VL cCelire could not be hindrance to that. But this business
stUl stuck ; and finaUy came to nothing.
Fed with However he was always fed with hope to succeed at last ;
hope" , calling it therefore his long lingering hope. For in June
1585, the Lord Treasurer sent him word by a certain Lord,
that he had it in his mind and, purpose to purchase him
some more ease in his old years ; adding many favourable
speeches concerning him. Which revived again in him the
sense of this great man's honourable countenance towards
him ever since he came to that restless see, or euripus, as
he chose to call his bishopric, and the constant continuance
of his favour and furtherance in that long lingering hope of
his, which his Lordship and some other of his friends had
divers times set on foot for him.
Troubled It was mentioned a httle above, that our Bishop had a
'informers business depending at Court, concerning some complaint
made against him for embezzling his woods. Which was
the second time these informations were made to the Coun
cil or Star-chamber against him. Of which nevertheless he
had a discharge; and the Lord Treasurer shewed himself
therein his greatest friend. The great informer now against
him was one Litchfield, a Court musician, who was the in
former of cutting down of the elms in Fulham. But the
Bishop was so confident of his own innocency in this busi-
, ness, that he prayed the Lord Treasurer, that he would
procure that he might answer any adversary he had: and
he doubted not but he should clear himself. Indeed for
his lewd officers, which he had then in suit, he could not so
weU answer. The woods in the park were better than they
were before his time. And for the out woods he did his
best (both by suit of law, and by diligent looking to them)
to meet with the outrage of the borderers ; who indeed had
sought to spoU them, so much as in them lay. Arid in
truth a great share of that timber that had been feUed since
his time was done by the woodwards : who having by his
predecessor a large grant of fees by the name of dead trees,
starveling trees, sear trees, and such as were in decay, car-

BISHOP AYLMER. 67
ried away aU the timber there. For as he, since her Ma- CHAP:
jesty's restraint, had not felled nor sold one tree, so under
the terms aforesaid the woodwards had carried away above
an hundred, which were good timber trees. For indeed
there were few or no timber trees then within his parks, but
either sear, starveling, or half dead. Therefore by the ri
gour of his patent the woodward should have all, and the
Bishop none, by reason of the prohibition : whereas neither
law nor conscience, as the Bishop himself argued, could
otherwise interpret his grant, than that he should have fire
wood only, and no timber. But the Bishop had not only this
wrong done him, but aU was laid upon his neck, though it
were other men's faults. So that in fine he desired to come
to his answer against any man that should take upon him
to charge him. And as for Litchfield, in truth he wanted
twenty timber trees, and requested them of the Bishop.
But the Bishop refused to give them: which if he had
granted, as he plainly told the Treasurer, it would have
ended aU this matter. But this man soon after died.
He it was that blazed abroad the report of the Bishop's The elms in.
felling of the elms about the palace at Fulham ; but it was Fulham-
a shameful untruth. And how false it was, aU the Court Admoni-
knew, and the Queen herself could witness. For she had*1™*"^6"
lately lodged at the palace there ; where she mishked no- England,
thing, but that her lodgings were kept from aU good pros-™. A
pect by the thickness of the trees, as she told her Vice- lodges at
Chamberlain ; and he reported so to the Bishop, And Dr. u am'
Pern, Dean of Ely, being at a great man's table soon after,
and hearing much railing discourse against the Bishop for
his felling the elms at Fulham, asked one of the company,
being an ancient lawyer, how long the elms at Fulham had
beenfeUed; "Some half a year ago", said the lawyer. "Then
replied Pern, " they are marveUously grown in that time.
" For I assure you, I was there within these four days, and
" they seem to be two hundred years old." And then he
took occasion likewise to repeat the passage mentioned be
fore, how the Queen complained of her prospect hindered
by the trees. And therefore that story that commonly
f 2

68 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, went, and is mentioned by Martin Marprelate, and Sir
VI- John Harrington, is false: namely, that Madox should tell
Brief view, the Bishop, that his name was Elmar, but it might well be
Mar-elm, for that he had marred all the elms in Fulham.
For Madox, who dwelt at Fulham, weU knew that the
elms were not felled at aU: or perhaps" but two or three
of the decayed ones. Which might give umbrage to the
clamour.

CHAP. VII.
The Bishop celebrates the 17th of November. Slandered.
Papists have mass in prison. Goes his visitation. Sus
pends one Huckle. Suit with his predecessor for dilapi
dations. Thomas Cartwright taken up.
JJUT now let us look a little back, and observe some of
the Bishop's doings in the dispensation of his office, and in
other matters that befell him in the years 1583, 1584, and
1585.
TheQueen's In the year 1583, the Queen's day, that is, the 17th of
ntzed°atm November, fell on a Sunday : which the Bishop resolved to
Paul's. celebrate with aU the becoming solemnity that so great a
mercy as her access to the crown deserved. Therefore he
obtained the favour of Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury,
to preach that day at St. Paul's ; and that the great Lords
of the Court might honour the auditory with their presence,
he invited them after the sermon to dine with him ; viz. the
Lord ChanceUor, and the Lord Treasurer Burghley, the
Earl of Leicester, and other great personages.
His enemies jn tbe beginning of November divers of the CouncU de
sired to speak with the Bishop, that they might be better
informed about his matter, (that is, somewhat that his ene
mies had accused him of.) And in the issue he found at
their Lordships' hands great justice with honourable favour:
and so came off with much reputation. But, however, this

BISHOP AYLMER. 69
appearance before the CounseUors gave occasion to the fac- CHAP.
tion to boast, and to bruit abroad that the Rjshop of T.on-
don was caUed before the CouncU, and there chidden^ arid
what not ; as though this had been in respect of his severe
actings in -the Commission. However false this was, the
Bishop, being a man of a stout and somewhat hasty spirit,
was inwardly vexed; and thought this talk arose partly
from his being before so many of the CouncU ; which made
the matter look somewhat criminal on his side. Therefore His re1uest
for the future, to prevent any such surmises, he prayed the
Lord Burghley, that hereafter, if there should be occasion,
he might be called before him, and some one of the Coun
cU; or else he must, as he said in some heat, with their
good Lordships' favour, give over sitting in the Commis
sion : and moreover wished earnestly that the Archbishop
were in the Commission ; for he, for his part, was deadly
weary. Accordingly the Commission was renewed in De-'
cember, and the Archbishop put in to help to bear the
burden. The Bishop was troubled at this time with Popish Priests Papists in
and Jesuits, who lay in the prisons in and about London, v^^nj"
and especiaUy the Marshalsea ; being now replenished with
these dangerous underminers of the quiet state of the realm,
and disowners of the Queen's supremacy. These, though
by the laws they were liable to the death of traitors, yet the
Queen cared not to spill their blood, but rather to keep
them up in restraint from doing mischief abroad, by their
massing and suggesting evil counsels against rehgion and
the Queen's just authority. But though they were thus in
hold, under an easy confinement, they followed their ap
pointed business, commonly saying mass, and enticing the
youth of London unto them, to the Bishop's great grief
when he understood it ; and especiaUy that they were daily
reconcUed. One of these, named Hartly, was more busy
than the rest ; whom he therefore shut up, and laid irons
upon him, till he should hear from above what course to
take hereafter in this matter.
Our Bishop's triennial visitation happened this year, 1583. Visits.
f3

70 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. June the 21st he visited his London Clergy at St. Paul's;
VIT" where Dr. Walker, one of the Archdeacons, preached.
Then was required of them generaUy a new subscription.
That which he discovered this visitation, among other things
that were faulty, and required correction, was the practice
Complains of the commutation of penance ; much practised in his dio-
totioTof1" cese bv ChanceUors, Commissaries, Officials, Registers, even
penance, to the very Apparitor. And these commutations were so
many, and sometimes so strange, that he feared it would be
a means to let in aU manner of vice; which like a flood
(unless prevented) was in danger to overspread the whole
realm ; especiaUy the wealthier sort, who might be as had
as they pleased, when they should think they might bo
saved from punishment by their mammon. And this was
done notwithstanding a late Convocation had expressly or
dered, that there should be no commutation of penance with
out the Bishop of the diocese's privity. And in this abuse
even the. highest courts ecclesiastical were not clear.
His advice Of all this the Bishop, being now at Hadham in Hert-
forming fordshire, (as it seems in his visitation,) informed the- Lord
thereof. Treasurer ; and, for the redressing of this evU, desired the
said Lord, together with the CouncU, to direct their letters
to the High Commissioners ecclesiastical : that where in
the last Convocation at the last Parhament order had been
taken by the Bishops of the realm then and there assembled,
that no commutation of penance should be made without
the Bishop should be made acquainted ; (which thing was
not at aU observed,) therefore their Lordships' pleasure was,
that the said Commissioners should examine aU manner of
ecclesiastical officers, what and how many penances they had
commuted and changed within six or seven years past. The
benefit whereof, according as the Bishop propounded it,
might be, that these commutations being refunded, (which
he concluded to be very considerable,) should go towards
the reparation of the ruinous church of St. Paul's ; " which
" would well help to make good a good piece of it. And
" besides, by this means aU ecclesiastical officers would," as
he said, "be more precise in bargaining for sin, and all sin-

BISHOP AYLMER. 71
" ners would be more afraid of punishment : God's name CHAP.

VII.

" would be less dishonoured, and the chief of the Clergy, .
" which were therein most blamed, should, he hoped, shew
" themselves of aU others to have least gain : or else let
" them bear," said he, " the burden of their deserts." This
letter was writ in July. Thus honestly and discreetly did
our Bishop advise for the cure of this corruption of dis
cipline: but what effect it had I cannot say.
In the foresaid visitation the Bishop silenced one Huckle, Siienceth a
a Minister in his diocese ; a person who it seems before, for Minister.
divers years past, had been complained of in his archdea
con's and commissary's courts. He was a busy man, trans
gressing the orders appointed in the Church, and an enemy
to the peace of it ; an impugner of the book, and a gather
er of night-conventicles, and more lately a busy disputer
against Athanasius's Creed. Him therefore, when the Bi
shop himself could not reclaim him, he suspended from his
preaching. And he declared that he was the more in fear
of him, because he was but an indifferent scholar, and so
the more easUy carried into error. But notwithstanding,
this man, after having laid some time under suspension, got
friends at the CouncU-board ; who in May 1584 sent their
letter to our Bishop to restore him again. But he shewed
himself herein a man not to be warped from doing his duty
by any authority. For with aU deference making his an
swer to the said letter, he shewed them what the man was,
according as was said before, and therefore how dangerous
to be readmitted to his office. And finally, that he hoped
their Lordships would permit him to use his discretion in
ordering such offenders, unknown to them, but much com
plained of to him. . But that he might avoid displeasure, he
apphed to the Lord Treasurer, who had been absent from
the CouncUj letting him know what he had done, that if
occasion were, he might interpose a seasonable word in the
CouncU, as he knew he would do in all matters of justice
and equity.
George Giffard, Minister at Maiden, was also about this Another
time (viz. in the year 1584) suspended from preaching and byThn *
f 4

72 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, administering the Sacraments ; for refusing to subscribe the
Vii .Articles, which aU the Clergy were obliged to subscribe to,

viz. George there being some things in the Book of Common Prayer
Minuter of which he was not persuaded of to be agreeable to the word
Maiden. 0f QGd. Information also was given against him to the
Bishop, that he taught disobedience to magistrates, used
conventicles, and secret teachings, and divers other things
worthy of sharp reprehension. This man was a great and
diligent preacher, and much esteemed by many, and of
good rank in the town, and had brought that place to more
sobriety and knowledge of true religion : insomuch that many
of his hearers obtained from the Lord Treasurer a letter to
the Archbishop of Canterbury in his behalf. But the Arch
bishop shewed the said Lord, that Giffard was a ringleader
of the rest ; and that he had received certain complaints
against him, to the answering whereof they of the High
Commission did intend to call him: and that his deserts
might be such as would deserve deprivation ; and therefore
he thought it not convenient to grant him any farther li
berty or release of his suspension, until he had purged him
self. The Bishop of London also had sent the Archbishop
an account of certain crimes charged upon him, wherefore
he had suspended and restrained him; which the Arch
bishop also sent to the Treasurer. This happened in May
1584.
Restored. It was not long after, that Giffard was brought to answer
before the High Commission ; and his accusers were heard,
and he, in his own vindication, by certain discreet men ap
pointed by their letters. But his enemies could not prove
any of their accusations to be true. Whereupon the Bishop
restored him to his preaching.
Suspended But this was not the end of this Preacher's troubles; for
upon some new complaint he was a second time suspended.
Then a long and large petition was put up to the Bishop in
his behalf, signed with the hands of two and fifty persons ;
A large tes- whereof two were Bailiffs of the town, two Justices of the
him°by hU Peace' ^our Aldermen, fifteen head Burgesses, and the Vicar
auditors, of the town. In their petition they shewed how the former

BISHOP AYLMER. 73
accusations appeared so false, that his Lordship had set him CHAP.
at hberty to preach after a suspension : that they themselves, '
and many others, had been nourished and strengthened in
many good graces by his doctrine ; and that the outrage of
many notorious sins, commonly practised before his coming,
was abated and suppressed, to the great glory of Almighty
God, and the comfort of their weak consciences : that it was
the profane and wicked sort, that ceased not in their great
rage and malice both to his person and rehgion, to accuse
him in slanderous and unjust reports ; and therefore, that
they could not but in a godly charity towards the man, and
for the better information of his Lordship, soundly and
rightly to judge of him and his cause, to certify him, that
they and many others of his usual auditory never received
from him any other but true and sound doctrine to their
judgments; and that he always in preaching and catechiz
ing taught outward obedience to princes and magistrates;
that he preached and catechized in no other place than in
the church ; that he used no conventicles ; and that in his
hfe he was modest, discreet, and unreprovable : by which
good and gracious means there was wrought a godly con
formity of the people, to the great benefit of the town, and
of the Church of God.
And to confirm this their report to be true, they reminded
his Lordship, how the same Giffard their Preacher was con-
vented before him and others the Queen's Commissioners, not
long since, upon these and other like accusations, none of
which his accusers could prove to be true ; and that he, the
said Bishop, restored him to his preaching: and therefore
they most humbly begged, out of that godly care which
they hoped to find at his hands for the benefit of their souls*
that he would vouchsafe them his restitution. This Git Giffard
fard, however he were a Puritan, wrote very weU against ^Z°i*st
Barrow, and the separatists, and the pleas and pretences Barrow.
urged by them for withdrawing from the pubhc communion
of the Church. I cannot proceed farther in relating the
issue of this business, but conclude, it appearing a slander,
the Bishop restored him.

74 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. Here it comes in place to relate the issue of a law-suit,
yVIL commenced between this Bishop, and Sandys, late Bishop
Casts Arch- of London, now Archbishop of York, whereof mention was
Sandys for made before. It was for dilapidations of St. Paul's church.
diiapida- The suit was great, long, and chargeable. At length the Queen,
who had a great care of Paul's, granted a special Commission
for the examining and proceeding in the matter. And in
the year 1584 the Archbishop was cast, by sentence of the
judges delegates, to pay to the present Bishop 900 or 1000Z.
for the repairs of the said church. And this was the sum
Sandys's predecessor in the see of London, viz. Archbishop
Grindal, had aUowed him for his dilapidations. But after ,
sentence, the Secretary, who was one of the delegates, was
for a delay of the execution for a time, upon pretence the
same was not just ; and laboured that the Archbishop might
obtain another commission for a new examination of the
matter, before the former sentence were executed ; and that
His reasons because the Archbishop did pay a quarta. To this the
new com- Bishop urged many things : " as that the authority of a
mission. « sentence being once given might not be called in question
" by the same judges, neither by any other, but a superior
" judge. For that when sentence is once given, the law
"saith, Quod judex functus est officio suo; said hath no
" other thing to do but to execute : otherwise there would
'' never be an end or certairity of any suit ; but that the
" authority of judges would be eluded, and the travaU and
" cost of the parties utterly lost. That the judges in this
" case might not stay execution upon pretence that the same
" is unjust, or upon colour that the Archbishop might ob-
" tain another commission for a new examination ; for that
" it was not likely that the Queen would grant a new com-
" mission in this case, because the same had not hitherto
" been granted in any like case ; and that if there were any
" hope to obtain such commission, yet the former judges
" ought to proceed to execution of their sentence, untU such
" time they were inhibited. That learned writers did say,
" that the denying of this execution was a contempt to the
" superior that committed the cause, an injury to the party

BISHOP AYLMER. 75
" that sought for execution, and charged the judges which CHAP.
" so denied justice, to answer aU such damages as the party .

" sustained for lack of execution. Moreover, that thejudges
" delegates, in deciding and determining the matter, had used
" great pains, travail, and diligence, to understand the truth
" both in fact and in law ; and after great and long delibe-
" ration had given a just, discreet, and indifferent sentence.
" That whereas Mr. Secretary made a scruple of quarta, the
" truth was, the Archbishop paid not after the rate oioctava
" nor duodecima. That it was strange that the said Secre-
" tary, who was not learned in the laws, should stick and
" swerve from the rest of his coUeagues, seeing he had given
" sentence jointly with the rest. Farthermore, that the Bi-
" shop of London and his executors should be charged for
" ever with the sum of money that was adjudged by the
" sentence, as with that which he had received, or might
" receive ; and could not any way be discharged against the
" church, or against his successor, but by employing the
" same upon the church : and that even then the Commis-
" sioners for Paul's, by their letters to the Bishop, did ear-
" nestly urge present payment thereof to be made : that the
" deeays of the church were such as required speedy and
" present reparation." Yet after aU this, the Bishop offered,
that if the two Archbishops (who had been Bishops of Lon
don before him) would bear him harmless, he would be con
tented to hold himself satisfied.
The Bishop and the other ecclesiastical Commissioners The Bishop
were inclined to release out of prison certain Popish Priests, judgment of
whereof there were not a few now in custody ; and that as thejudges
it seems by some intimation from above, being unwilling the certain Pa-
rigour of the law should take place upon them. But the plsts'
Bishop doubted whether they might safely extend this fa
vour to them ; and therefore the opinion of the judges was
required in this matter. This was in the beginning of the
year 1585, when it was dehvered by the said judges in the
Star-chamber, the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Treasurer
present, viz. that they, being upon condemnation according

76 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, to the statute in execution for the Queen, the Commission
VI1- had no more to do with them.
Vauce, a It was not long after, that the Bishop had one Vauce, an
priest old Popish Priest, and divers others of that order before
him, whom the Commission found guUty and obnoxious to
the law as criminals, and so in danger of death. In the
behalf of this Vauce, who was not so bad as the rest, the
Lord Treasurer had interceded with the Bishop for his de
liverance. And the Bishop pitied the old fellow, as he
called him, who was not the worst, though bad enough. But
yet dared not to take upon him to deal with him or any
other in the like state for their liberty, remembering what
the judges lately had declared in the Star-chamber. And
so he signified back to the said Treasurer. And that there
fore it lay before him and the rest of the Lords of the
Privy Council, and thence it must come, and not from them
of the Commission.
Takes up Thomas Cartwright in these days was the chief head of
the Puritan, the Puritan faction ; a man of a bold spirit, and a running
pen. He had writ some books against the hierarchy esta
blished by law in the Enghsh Church, whereby he had
given great offence, and made himself obnoxious to the
laws. . This man Bishop Aylmer had lately taken and com
mitted to prison ; which, according to his constant practice,
he acquainted the Lords with by the Clerk of the CouncU.
And thinking to dechne thereby displeasure from himself or
the Commission, he took him up by warrant from the Queen;
who in truth was incensed against him. And he sent the
Lords word, that he did it by her order. But the Queen
took this in evU part, and was very angry that he used her
name to the Lords. This the good Bishop took to heart,
and thus made- his complaint to the Lord Treasurer, his
constant friend, expostulating, with him for what he had
done, and begging his endeavours to appease the Queen's
indignation.
The Queen " I understand myself to be in some displeasure with her
with him. " Majesty about Mr. Cartwright, because I sent word to

BISHOP AYLMER. 77
" your Lordships by, the Clerk of the, CouncU, that I com- CHAP.
" mitted him by her Majesty's-commandment. Alas ! my VIL
" Lord, in what a dUemma stood I, that if I had not shew-
" ed that warrant, I should have had aU your displeasures,
" which I was not able to bear : and using it for my shield,
" (being not forbidden by her Majesty,) I am blamed for
" not taking upon me a matter, wherein she herself would
" not be seen. WeU, I leave it to God, and to your wisdom
" to consider in what a dangerous place of service I am.
" But God whom I serve, and in whose hands the hearts
" of princes are, as the rivers of waters, can and wUl turn
"all to the best; and stir up such honourable friends as
" you are to appease her Highness's indignation."
Perhaps the Bishop's enemies took their opportunity now charged
to buzz in the Queen's ears slanders and misreports against haveVpoiled
him: whereof one was, that he had spoiled' the revenues of the bishop-
the bishopric ; and how he was noted for this, she bade the
Archbishop of Canterbury let him know from her. This
was in August. Apprehending weU how this tended to his
great discredit, and knowing his innocency herein, and the
good service he had done in truth to the bishopric, he drew
up a brief note of particulars, which he communicated to
the Treasurer, and to some other persons of honour, his
friends, to shew that he was so far from impairing the bi
shopric, that he had bettered it in divers respects : and that
so it would easUy appear, whensoever the matter should
come to trial, that he had by no means diminished it, but
increased it considerably. And he applied to the said Trea
surer, beseeching him even in equity to weigh what wrong
he had sustained by such reports, and, as occasion should
serve, to let her Majesty understand that all was not true
that had been reported.
In the month of October foUowing, another business fell A contro-
out to our Bishop, by the instigation of some troublesome J*"Jn the
persons unknown, which created some controversy between Queen and
the Queen and him. But herein the Bishop shewed him- a vicarage.
self a true friend to his poor Clergy, and withal 'a tight
maintainer of the rights of his bishopric. The case was

78 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. this. One Houseman, Vicar of Canwedon in Essex for thirty
VIL years, was complained of to the Lord Treasurer and other
the Barons in the Exchequer-chamber, at Mr. Attorney
General's information, for a supposed intrusion and wrong
holding the said vicarage from her Majesty. The Vicar
applied to his diocesan ; who, having examined his ancient
records, found that his predecessors, the Bishops of Lon
don, from time to time, for two hundred years agone and
more, had some interest in the patronage of that vicarage
by nomination ; and now belonged unto him. Wherefore
he engaged himself in this affair, and signified to the said
Lord Treasurer his right by his own letter. And that he was
informed by learned counsel, that the said suit or complaint
could not by law be held or maintained there before him
the Lord Treasurer, but was to be returned by trial at
common law, where aU matters of hke nature had usuahy
been heard and determined. Therefore, taking the case
upon himself, he moved the said Lord, that he might find
such favour, (if, as he added, by law or justice it might
be,) that he would either dismiss the Vicar absolutely from
his Lordship's Court of the Exchequer; or else, that he
would return him with his cause to the common laws of the
realm. " Where," said the Bishop, " he for his possession,
" and I for the right of myself and of my successors in the
" patronage of that vicarage, may use such defence as the
" law doth permit us."
APresby- Another thing happened in this year 1585, that gave
atrHatfi"ld. some concern also to our careful Bishop. It was a Pres
bytery set up within his diocese, at Hatfield Peverel in
Essex ; the head and teacher whereof was one Carew. Of
him and his congregation such information was brought to
the Bishop and his fellow-Commissioners, that they could
not but summon divers of them, and after examination
commit them. But before their commitment he repaired to
the Lord Treasurer's house at London, and acquainted him
with these persons, and their disorderly principles and prac
tices. Whereat he replied in one or two short words taken
out of the Scripture, Habetis legem, &c. Whereby he seemed

BISHOP AYLMER. 79
to think them worthy of the Commissioners proceeding with CHAP.
them. For as for Carew, he took upon him to preach with- V1L
out authority, nay, against authority : but this was not all, Enormities
but he contemned aU ecclesiastical censures; he was elected doctrines86
by the people, and practised a Presbytery. He defaced the of their
Book of Pubhc Prayers and Administration of the Sacra- pre'
ments. He utterly denied that article of the faith, that
Christ descended intd hell. He held to the Bishop's face,
that the Queen had no authority to make ecclesiastical laws.
He maintained, they must continue in division, because
Christ saith, Non veni mittere pacem, sed gladium : i. e.
/ came not to send peace, but a sword. He put several
good gentlemen and others from the Communion, when (as
the Bishop wrote in his letter to the Treasurer about him)
there was more need to aUure them to it. He ignorantly
and hereticaUy held against the Bishop, that the soul qf
man was qfihe substance of God; and so consequently that
it was infinite : and the soul of the reprobate being damned,
the substance of God should be damned ; with infinite such
other errors, as the learned Bishop shewed him, whereinto
he feU through ignorance and arrogancy. Nor could he
speak three words of Latin. As for his people, he had
brought them to that point, that they said, even at Baptism,
that it made no matter for the water, so we have the word.
And divers of them denied to join with the congregation in
praying for the Queen ; and irreverently sat with their heads
covered, in spite of good order, when others kneeled and
prayed for her.
The noise of these men was so great in the parts adj a- His dealing
cent, that the Earl of Sussex, who hved at New-hall, not*
far off, signified to the Archbishop of Canterbury their great
evil example. After these innovators were committed, the
Archbishop and the Bishop took care to send down preach
ers to Hatfield, and one to read the book, according to the
law. And however greatly they had offended, they were
offered to be baUed upon these conditions : that Allen, the
layman, would not disturb the preachers that were appointed
to preach there, nor disquiet the Minister in reading the

80 THE LIFE OF
C HA P. service, and that Carew preached no more in his diocese
VIL without licence. But in January these persons had the

confidence to make their complaint to the Council against
these proceedings, according to their custom: and some
friends they had there. This when the Bishop understood,
he wrote to the Lord Treasurer, who now seemed with
others to shew them favour, importing, that they were com
mitted by a great bench, both of divines, civilians, and com
mon lawyers. That if his Lordship understood out of the
registry and otherwise, of them and their behaviour, he
thought the other would as much mislike them as they did.
He shewed him the reasonable conditions made them for
their enlargement; arid at length in some heat he added,
" that if those were suffered, the Church and the realm
" would be so disturbed, as it was never yet since her Ma
jesty's reigh. That if the Lords of the CouncU thought
" that the Bishop and his Commission would deal too hardly
" with them, he prayed, in God's name, that the Archbishop
" of Canterbury and the Cominissioners there at Lambeth
" might examine it, and inform the Lords how they found
" it there ; and the Bishop declared he arid the rest would
" be ready to exhibit the whole proceedings before them.
" FinaUy concluding with these words, that if this foul and
" contemptuous fact were suffered, he for his part. must
"yield up to her Highness all authority which they had
" received at her hand."
Composes a This year, 1585, the nation was much afflicted with un-
present oc- seasonable wet weather, and dispirited by fears arising from
foreign enemies, the Queen of Scots, and the plots laid for
Queen Elizabeth's life, on which so much depended the
peace of England. This gave occasion to the Bishop to
compose, or cause to be composed, a form of prayer, very
pious and well expressed, and of good length, consisting
of seven pages, and being one continued prayer; and re
commended to be used in private famihes as weU as in pub
lic. It was entitled, " A necessary and godly Prayer, by the
" Right Reverend Father in God, John, Bishop of London,
" to be used throughout all his Diocese upon Sundays and

casion.

BISHOP AYLMER. 81
" Fridays ; for the turning away of God's wrath, as well CHAP.
"concerning this untemperate weather, and rain lately _____
" faUen upon the earth, as also all other plagues and
" punishments which for our manifold sins we most justly
" deserve. Most needful to be used of every housholder
" and his family throughout the realm." It began, " O
" Almighty God, and most merciful Father, we most hum-
" bly prostrate ourselves before thy mercy-seat," &c.
The Bishop was now, together with the Lord Mayor, The Bishop
using his interest in the city of London to pacify a mur-^jT™,.
muring and discontent among the citizens, occasioned by the citizens
great multitude of poor strangers that fled thither, by rea-the'strang-
son of the persecution of rehgion in those parts whence ers>
they came. The tradesmen were apprehensive how injuri
ous they would prove to them by underworking and under
selling them, and getting part of the business from them.
Of this dissatisfaction some good men at the Court were
very sensible ; and the Lord Treasurer wrote to Secretary
Walsingham about it ; who thereupon procured letters from
the CouncU to the Bishop and the Mayor, that they would .
use all means to make the strangers better liked of in Lon
don : an account of which Walsingham gave to the Trea
surer in these words : " That he was sorry to find by his
" Lordship's letters, that the repair of the poor afflicted
" strangers was so greatly grudged at, seeing for their sakes
" (for that God had used this realm as a sanctuary for them)
" he had bestowed so many extraordinary blessings upon
" us ; and that both the Bishop and the Mayor had re-
" ceived letters from the Board, to use aU good means that
" might be, to remove the dislike of the vulgar sort." This
letter was written November 4, 1585; and the Bishop,
who himself was once an exUe for religion, no question
heartily espoused this business.
In the summer of the year 1586, the Bishop went his Holds a v-u
next triennial visitation, to take account in what state thesitatl0n- .
Ministers and people of his diocese were ; and had, as it
seems, some intimation from the Queen, especially to have
regard to those that dissented from the established order*

82 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, who now were reported to her to be very strong in their
VI1- numbers, and to" act very disorderly in some parts of
Essex.
Visits in He held his visitation in London, May the 22d. Then the
London. Ministers there were enjoined the observation of these articles.
1. To use prayers Wednesdays and Fridays. 2. To read and
preach such sermons and homilies as were proper to move
compassion to the poor. 3. To make contributions among
themselves at free choice according to their abUities, without
laying any taxation upon them. This I suppose was a sea
son of sickness or dearth. 4. Presentment to be made of
negligent recusants.
Goes into From thence he repaired into Essex ; but he found as he
went along the disorders were not so great as was feared,
though more (as he confessed in a letter to a great friend at
Court) than were to be wished, untU he came to Maiden ;
where, as he expressed in the same letter, he had like to
have tasted of the sour fruits of the new reformers, and
especially of such as were mercenary ; that is, such as were
retained to preach in divers places, besides the ordinary
A strange Ministers. A certain feUow, to be hired by some young
rudeness in- . _ . ...
tended a- heads in the town, tradesmen there, was to have come mto
gamst the tbe church besmeared hke a fool, and to have taken the
Bishop at
Maiden. Bishop's cap off from his head, and having twirled it about
his finger, to have cast and tossed it to and fro among
them in the midst of the people. But by some means this
came to knowledge, and was seasonably prevented: which
if it had not, there was no doubt but a dangerous tumult
would have risen, and, as the Bishop feared, not without
blood. The Bishop examined the matter, and having found
out the chief devisers of it, committed them. The bailiffs
and the rest were much dismayed at it. The Bishop did ad
vise hereupon, that her Majesty, or some of the Lords of
the Council, would shew some countenance of misliking of
so dangerous a device as the fruits of those men's preach
ings, who disobeyed the book and other orders ; whereby,
as by the Bishop's present proceedings they were daunted,
and began to yield, so the Bishop doubted not then to find

BISHOP AYLMER. 83
them and all others in that corner very tractable. This hap- CHAP.
pened in July. VI1,

The Bishop retreated from his adventures at Maiden to Goes to
Wickham, where he had a manor, to which was a fair large Wlckhain-
house annexed, formerly the seat of the Bishops of Lon
don, for the government of those parts of the country. But
now it had been granted away from the manor by some
means or other ; perhaps some long lease made by some of
this Bishop's predecessors to the Queen, as it seems : so that
the Bishops, when they came into these parts, had no house
for them and their companies to reside in : whereby the
people of that country was deprived of the benefit of their
Bishop's influence and care in dwelhng sometimes among
them. The house was large and spacious ; the farmer who
now occupied it had but a small famUy ; so that a great
part of the house might weU be spared. This therefore the
Bishop had a desire of, and made interest with the Queen
for her gracious letters to have some portion of the house for
a month or two in the year ; not only because the house
went to ruin so greatly, as if he had not some part thereof,
thereby to repair it, it would be ever hereafter unfit for any
Bishop to tarry in ; Jbut chiefly, because he doubted not but
within short space to bring aU the whole country into so
good an order, as any other part of his diocese whatsoever,
both in respect of disordered persons, as such as were of
lewd conversation. As his being at his house at Hadham
some smaU time in the year had made by this time aU the
country of Hertfordshire (before out of order) now to be
most quiet and orderly.
The Bishop's pious and painful son, Dr. Theophilus Ayl- Dr. Aylmer,
mer, now Archdeacon of London, the 6th of January en- ^j^;^
suing, caUed for the Clergy, (as he frequently used to do,)
intending this meeting chiefly for such Ministers as were not
preachers, but of the inferior sort : for the bringing forward
of which were these particulars enjoined. 1. Every person
to have a Bible in Enghsh and Latin. 2. Every person to
have BuUinger's Decads. 3. Each to have his paper book,
and therein to write the quantity of one sermon every week.
g 2

84 THE LIFE OF
C H A P, , 4 Tins book to be shewn quarterly unto a certain grave
 1__ man appointed to examine how they had profited, and he
to deliver them to Mr. Archdeacon. 5. The exammants to
use these beginners with favour. 6. Every non-preaching
Minister to be taxed at four purchased sermons every year ;
that is, to procure at his own cost a preacher to preach a
sermon in his church once in a quarter. 7. A hcensed
preacher to preach sixteen times in a year. Within two
months after, the dUigent Archdeacon summoned the Clergy
again, viz. March the 8th ; that is, the preachers and learn-
eder sort; enjoining them, 1. To observe carefully the
Book of Common Prayer. 2. To catechize youth Sundays
and holydays. And this was now aUowed to Curates to do ;
and that in certain questions and answers set forth by the
Bishop : as namely, Who made you ? God. Who re
deemed you ? Jesus Christ, &c. and so on, as httle chUdren
are now commonly and commendably taught by their pa
rents to this day. 3. Every man to shew his letters of or
ders and hcence to preach immediately. And lastly, se-.
veral who had taken the degrees of Masters of Art, or Ba
chelors of Art, were enjoined to procure the Bishop's li
cence to preach. This and the former caU was for this end;
to increase the number of preachers, according to a mandate
from the Archbishop to all the Bishops.

m

CHAP. VIII.
Cawdry's case, who was deprived and deposed from the
ministry.
Cawdry of J.N the year 1587, 1 find the Bishop again sitting in the ec-
Luffenham , . . . _, .. ,
cited be- clesiasticai Commission ; where he executed a judicial act,
CommTs- that created him> and others with him, work for four or five
sion. years after : and because I shall set it down more distinctly,
let me obtain excuse for the length of it. There was one
Robert Cawdry, that having been a schoolmaster for seven
or eight years, afterwards got the favour of the Lord Burgh-

BISHOP AYLMER. 85
ley to be presented to the living of South Loughnam, or CHAP.
Luffenham, in Rutlandshire : where after he had spent six- VIIL
teen years, he was convented before the Commission, and
in fine deprived by our Bishop : for there was preferred se
cretly an information against him for speaking divers words
in the pulpit, tending to the depraving of the Book of Com
mon Prayer. The Commission gave him his oath, according
to the practice of those spiritual courts, to answer interroga
tories that should be propounded to him, for the clearing of
himself if he could do it. Then he attended ten weeks
upon the Commissioners, but proved altogether incompliant;
and so being judged a dangerous person, if he should con
tinue preaching, by infecting the people with principles dif
ferent from the religion established, at length the Bishop The Bishop
himself gave the definitive sentence May the 30th, there him.'™8
sitting then with him, Dr. Valentine Dale, Sir Owen Hop-
ton, Kt., WUliam Fleetwood, Sergeant at Law, WUliam
Aubrey and Edward Stanhope, Doctors of Law, his col
leagues. In the aforesaid sentence there was added a se
cond cause of his deprivation ; namely, for not conforming
himself in the celebration of the divine service and admin
istration of the Sacraments, but refusing so to do ; though
indeed for the most part he did conform himself to the book,
only leaving out the cross in baptism, and the ring in mar
riage. The Bishop also, besides his deprivation, suspended
him from exercising any ministry in Luffenham or else
where. But Cawdry thought himself hardly and unjustly dealt Cawdry re-
withal, and therefore acquiesced not in his sentence, nor m;t to the
would submit himself. However the Commissioners had in sentence.
March foUowing sent their letters to the Bishop of Peter
borough, to send his ordinary process to Luffenham church,
and to give intimation to the Lord Burghley to present an
other ; yet he stiU kept possession and held the living, styl
ing himself in his letters, " Minister and Pastor of South
" Luffenham." Upon which disobedience he was also de
graded by the Commissioners at Lambeth, as well as he
had been deprived before in the consistory of Paul's. • And
g3

86 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, there were two things charged upon him by the Commission,
VH1- why he should not be restored ; viz. want of learning, and
not using the Common Prayer Book in that due exactness
as he should.
His law- On Cawdry's side the question was, whether he were
men'tsrSU* rightly deprived. If the Commissioners proceeded upon the
statute primo Ehzabeth, then it was argued by his lawyers,
that he was not legally deprived ; for that statute limited
deprivation to be a punishment for a second offence, and not
James Mo- for the first, as Cawdry's case was. James Morice, Attor
ney is aw- ne^ ^ ^e Court of Wards, held this sentence to be nuU and
void in law for these reasons : because his Lordship, the
Bishop of London, was not Ordinary of the diocese where
the benefice lay ; and that it was his sentence only, and not
of the rest of the Commissioners. But to that it would he
said, that the rest that were present and assisting concurred
also in the sentence. Whereunto he replied, (which was
his second argument,) that it was not the sentence of the
Commissioners ; for by law the sentence should have been
given in the name of aU the Commissioners present, and not
in the name of one by the others' consent, as it seems the
sentence ran. Again, the Bishop in his decree said ex
pressly, the cause was controverted before him in judicio ex
officio mero, which could not be before the Commissioners ;
and if the cause were depending before his Lordship as pro
ceeding ex officio, how could the judgment, said he, be other
than his own ?
And then as for the sentence itself, or the matter of it,
that he held to be contrary to law ; because there were by
law several censures and punishments to /be inflicted in that
case before deprivation, which was the last ; as namely, ad
monition, excommunication, sequestration. But this sen
tence at the first inflicted the last and extremest punish
ment ; which was not warrantable by the statute, nor any
other of the Queen's ecclesiastical laws.
This was the substance of a paper which the said Morice,
a good friend to Cawdry, and that stuck close to him, writ
in Cawdry's behalf upon the Lord Treasurer Burghley's de-

BISHOP AYLMER. 87
sire ; who, upon that Minister's suit to him, had a compas- CHAP.
sion for the man, having a wife and eight chUdren. ' '

A year was now spent in this cause, and in May 1588 Vindicates
Cawdry laboured to vindicate himself in the two points laid learning!
to his charge by the Bishop ; namely, concerning his learn
ing, and concerning his using the Book of Common Prayer.
To satisfy the Lord Burghley (whom he styled his patron)
in both these, as to the former, he shewed him that (be
sides his teaching a grammar school formerly) he had weekly
used some exercise of learning, in expounding to the people
some places of holy Scripture now for the space of almost
twenty years ; and he hoped in so many years' study in the
school and in the Church, God hath blessed him with some
smaU measure of knowledge. He appealed to the people,
and the good success of his ministry ; which was, he said,
a great comfort to bis soul ; and he desired the said Lord
to appoint him to read upon some place of Scripture in his
own hearing, and he was in some good hope his Lordship
should not find him so utterly unfit to do any good in the
service of the Church. He confessed in very truth, that in
respect of his great calling he was much unfit, for want of
ability in learning, to supply that sacred ' function ; and
therefore wished with all his heart, that he were the most
unlearned Minister in England, on this condition, that he
might give over the same, and never to meddle with it
again, even to-day before to-morrow. But it was some
comfort to him, that God in mercy had so blessed his la
bours, that of so few people there was not a parish within
ten mUes and more of him, that knew better how to give unto
God that which was due to God, and to Caesar that which
was due to him.
As for the other objection against him, he declared that Urges his
he had always used the Common Prayer, and purposed to comSm0n
use it stiU ; only he humbly craved that he might not be Prayer.
more narrowly searched and looked into in the using of it,
than many other Ministers were throughout England.
Thus far on Cawdry's side : but in truth to know how The reason
Cawdry stood affected may be learned from the process it- tenc'e.
g 4

88 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. self. He was convicted upon his own confession, publicly
____in his sermon to have depraved the Book of Common
Prayer, sayings that the same was a vile book, and fy upon
it ; and that he had not observed the order of the said book
in his ministration. For this he was divers and sundry
times moved, commanded, and enjoined, pubhcly to retract
and revoke his said words, and to acknowledge the book to
be good and godly, and to promise to observe the order
thereof in his future ministration ; but this he wUfully re
fused. The Court long expected his conformity ; that is,
/rt"| from December 1586, to May the 30th 468f : which he
not performing was then deprived.
Which he The very next day he acquainted the Lord Burghley
abide by. vrith the sentence passed against him, and only craved that
And why. by his favour he might enjoy his benefice tUl Michaeltide
next, as he called it ; (not liking, I suppose, to name it Mi
chaelmas ;) and intending quietly to relinquish it. But af
terwards, by the instigation of certain persons, he found
fault with the sentence as unjust, and refused to submit to
it, and prayed the favour and assistance of the said Lord.
But that noble personage advised him to submit himself to
the determination of the Archbishop and the Bishop of
London. But this now he would not do ; and in a letter to
that Lord, dated March 22, 1587, gave his reasons why
His letter he would not abide by their award ; viz. " Because he was
Burghky^ " persuaded in his conscience, and lamentable experience
" proved it, that these Lord Bishops after a sort, though not
" directly, were the greatest enemies her Majesty had this
" day in England : for that they had been, and yet were,
" the greatest lets of a learned ministry. Through lack
" whereof her Majesty's subjects, in six parishes for one
" through her dominions, were yet as ignorant of the right
" knowledge of their obedience towards God and her Ma-
" jesty, as though they had lived under Popery. For had
" it been possible, said he, that such a riotous rout of re-
" bels could have been assembled together, and that in one
" corner of this realm, as were assembled together not many
" years ago, (viz. anno 1569,) against her Majesty in the

BISHOP AYLMER. 89
" north parts ; or that so many treasons and conspiracies CHAP.
" could have come to that height as they were, if so be that Vln"
" every parish had a faithful and learned Pastor, by preach-
" ing and catechizing to beat into their heads continually
" what obedience faithful subjects owe, first to God, and next
" to their Prince ; which might have been brought to some
" good effect or this, if they had not so countenanced non-
" residents, and made so many idle shepherds ; and besides,
" if they had not dealt so extremely against so many godly
" Ministers, in displacing them for not observing some
" Popish ceremonies. That this was most true, that gene-
" raUy throughout England, where most need was of the
" best Ministers, there were the worst. That for his part he
" did not know in any country where there was a preaching
" Minister placed in that town where a recusant was : so
" that Jesuits, seminaries, and Popish priests, might have
" there free egress and regress without any check, which was
" very dangerous to the State ; besides the great hindrance
" of knowledge to obey God and the Prince, that otherwise
" might there be planted.
" A second cause was, for that the Bishops punished most
" rigorously godly Ministers, (whom they could not justly
" touch either with false doctrine or any misbehaviour in
" life,) for not observing the Book of Common Prayer; and
" yet they themselves, for the most part these twenty-nine
" years had not observed it : as, first, in granting hcences for
" money to marry without the banns asking ; secondly, in
" making insufficient Ministers; and thirdly, in not confirm-
" ing of chUdren, as the book appointed : and yet by that
" order, they that were inferior Ministers were charged, that
" they should not admit any to receive the Communion,
" untU such time as they were confirmed by the Bishop.
" Whereby they feU into two extremes, either to offend
" God, or the book : for if they were able to examine them-
" selves, and give a reason of their faith, they, the Ministers,
" might not deny them the Communion : but the book said
" otherwise. Now seeing they omitted this, because they
" knew it was a Popish ceremony, and not warrantable by

90 THE LIFE OF ,
CHAP. " God's word; he' demanded then, with what conscience
vm- « they could deal so hardly with them for leaving out some
" ceremonies more superstitious and offensive than this.
" Thirdly, for that they would aUow any Papist, atheist,
" and what wicked hver soever, that was convented before
" them, to know their accuser, to have a copy, for their mo-
" ney, of the interrogatories and other proceedings ; but
" they, the Ministers, could neither know their accusers, nor
" yet have the benefit of subjects.
" Fourthly, for that they, the Bishops, condemned non-
" residency to be horrible, odious to the people, and perni-
" cious to the Church of God, and yet tolerated and dis-
" pensed with the same ; as by their book of Canons extant
" in print, and agreed upon in the Convocation House 1571,
" in these words, as his memory served him: Absentia Pas-
" toris a Dominico grege, et secura ilia negligentia, quam
" videmus in multis, et destitutio Ministerii, est res et in se
"Jbeda, et odiosa in vulgus, etperniciosa Ecclesiae Dei.
" And lastly, for that they, the said Bishops, did molest,
" nay, deprive them for preaching that doctrine which they
" themselves had published in print, and was extant to be
" seen." And then instanced in a book of the Bishop's of
London, entitled, The Harborough of the Faithful : out
of which the said Cawdry had transcribed as many passages
as would fiU half a sheet of paper, and sent them enclosed
in his foresaid letter to the Lord Burghley.
Offers some And these at length were the causes set down by himself,
mission! " why ^e w°uld not submit himself to the Archbishop and
Bishop, as he was advised to do ; yet afterwards, upon fur
ther suggestion of the forementioned Lord, he made at last
a submission before the Archbishop, for the words he ut
tered concerning the Common Prayer. But a further sub
mission he refused, viz. to submit himself to such orders as
But will not should be agreed concerning him; namely, to recant and
lidy" PU retract publicly in the same place the words he was charged
with, and to promise conformity to the laws established, and
subscription to the Articles : which were such conditions,
he said, as he dared not yield unto ; being persuaded that

BISHOP AYLMER. 91
such a submission would be both contrary to God's word, CHAP. VIII
and of great offence unto the Church.

In May, on a Thursday, he appeared before the Com- Appears at
missioners at Lambeth, who told him with some threats,
that seeing he would not comply, he must attend them two
days after, and then be deprived of his ministry, (as he had
been of his benefice before,) and be made a layman. ,
Yet they were so patient towards him, that this sentence Degraded
was not executed upon him untU a whole year after; namely, posecj.
May the 14th, 1590 : when, having been divers and sundry
times advised and commanded to submit himself unto the
former sentences, and to the Queen's laws, in the observa
tion of the order of the book, but he had refused and de
nied to yield thereunto ; wherefore on the same day, for the
said contempt and disobedience, (as the instrument of the
sentence ran,) the nature and merits of this cause being first
duly considered, he was by sentence in writing degraded
and deposed from the ministry by these Commissioners pre
sent ; viz. Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, Mr. Se
cretary WoUey, Mr. Fortescu, the Lord Chief Justice of
the Common Pleas, the Lord Chief Baron, Dr. Aubrey,
the Dean of Westminster, the Attorney General, Dr. Co-
sin, Archdeacon Redman, Dr. Stanhop, Dr. Lewin, Dr.
Bancroft. At this meeting the Archbishop told him, that
if he would not conform himself and be obedient to law,
they would deprive him of his ministry. Cawdry answered,
that he never denied to conform himself so far as he was
bound by law, and as a Minister of God in conscience was
bound to do. Upon this, the Commissioners' Proctor said he
was deprived for speaking against the Book of Common
Prayer. Cawdry answered, it was not true ; for that it ap
peared in his answer to the Articles upon his oath, that it
was for speaking against an inconvenience that came by the
book : but, added he, that if it were so in the worst manner
that they could take it, yet it was no deprivation by law for
the first offence ; and that he should have been indicted at
the next assizes after, which he was not, and therefore clear
by statute.

92 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. Upon this sentence the Bishop of Peterburgh, his dio-
VIlL cesan, sequestered him from his benefice, who hitherto had

Bishop of enjoyed it, and supphed it with his Chaplain. To which
Tetuesterf Bishop the Lord Burghley, compassionating Cawdry's case
his living. ancl poverty, wrote, that he would, in consideration of his
desolate state and great charge, allow him some yearly pen
sion out of the living. Whereupon the Bishop made this
offer to Cawdry, that if he would disclaim his title to the
living, and resign it urito his hand to the use of his Chap
lain, he would then consider of him. But Cawdry stopping
upon terms, and requiring to know, how and in what man-
Cawdry sues ner the Bishop would do it, they brake off. Cawdry de-
chamtrer" listed not, but took his course in the Star-chamber, and
served subpoenas upon the Chaplain, and some others, upon
pretence that they had committed a riot, in taking away by
violence the corn that grew upon the glebe ; and again de
sired the said Lord's favour in that court. On the other
hand, the Chaplain laboured to bring him before the Com
missioners ; and got an order to be set down there against
him, either to answer more fuUy, or to be committed to pri
son within eight days.
The Lord The next year, viz. May 1591, upon Cawdry's suit again
recom- t° the Lord Burghley, he bade him consult with his coun-
mends his sel by what' course he might be relieved. Accordingly he
case to the
Bishop of did so: and they told him the way was, either that the Corn-
London, missioners should revoke their sentence of deprivation, and
so to restore him to his ministry ; or, by his Lordship's means,
to have a mandate procured for that end from the Queen ;
or else to be restored to the possession of his living, and so
to foUow his suit in forma pauperis, depending in the
King's Bench, for the trial of his cause. But the moderate
course the said Lord thought fittest to take was, to desire
the Commissioners to consider the exceptions taken against
their proceedings, and to review and reexamine this man's
case ; and so he prayed the Bishop of London to do, spe
cially considering several particulars urged by Cawdry on
his own behalf : but in truth misrepresented to that Lord
against the Commissioners. Whereupon the Bishop of Lon-

BISHOP AYLMER. 93
don wrote this letter unto the said Peer, relating the truth CHAP.
of the cause :

" I received your Lordship's letter of the first of June, The Bi-
" upon the fourth of the same, touching Robert Cawdry, t0°the said"
" late Parson of South Luffenham in the county of Rut- Lord-
" land, and his deprivation from the said benefice by sen-
" tence definitive of her Majesty's Commissioners for causes
" ecclesiastical, together with a case drawn by himself, as it
" seemeth, and subsigned by his learned counsel ; wherein
" how far he abuseth your Lordship may appear by this
" enclosed brief, touching our proceedings against him. He
" was detected unto us, not only for depraving the Book of
" Common Prayer in such vUe terms as in the said brief is
" set down, but also for refusing to observe the orders by
" the same book appointed. Which his speeches, he being
" oftentimes by us judiciaUy admonished to revoke, and to
" observe the said orders, and he stiU refusing the same,
" we in the end proceeded, as by law, and a proviso in the
" end of the statute, mentioned by his learned counsel, we
" hold it warrantable, to his deprivation.
" Where your Lordship further writeth to pray the Com-
" missibners to review and examine the said sentence, and
" to consider of the exceptions by him proposed to the same,
" your Lordship shah find in the enclosed brief a further
" judicial proceeding against him, whereat were present
" some of the judges of the land, and of her Majesty's
" learned CouncU ; wherein, for that he persevered in his
" disobedience, whereof he was convicted upon his own con-
" fession, for not submitting himself to the former sentence
" of deprivation, and for continuing in refusal of observa-
" tion of her Majesty's laws, touching the use of the orders
" of the Book of Common Prayer, he was by sentence de-
" finitive in writing degraded and deposed from his min-
" istry. So as there is now no colour for him to desire re-
" view of the former sentence touching his deprivation ;
" when as the same is by a second sentence confirmed, and
" he utterly unabled and removed from the ministry. These
" proceedings, I hope, will justly move your good Lord-

94 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. " ship not to give credit unto the complaints of jsuch disor-
______" dered men as he is, whom it seemeth no due course of
" law wUl anywise content. Arid so I commit your gOod
" Lordship to God's holy protection."
The proviso mentioned by the Bishop in the letter before,
as warranting their doing, is in the statute of anno primo ;
whereby is given unto the Archbishop, Bishop, and other
ordinaries, power and authority to inquire in their visita
tions, synods, &c. to take accusations and informations of
such offences, and to punish the same by admonition, ex
communication, sequestration, or deprivation, and other cen
sures and proceedings in hke form, as heretofore had been
used in hke cases by the Queen's ecclesiastical laws.
Cawdry's But James Morice, Cawdry's friend and counseUor, ad-
counseiior's vise(j m some heat, that his Lordship would make' the Bi-
angry ad- , x
vice. shop feel and understand his lawless proceedings, whereby
(as he said) haply some remorse of conscience might move
him to be more favourable ; and added, that though it
might be offensive to find fault with judicial proceedings;
he considered also the present time and persons, and had
little hope to do any good by that course of reexamining ;
yet, seeking to help the wronged, and to maintain law and
justice, and to make ecclesiastical judges more careful here
after, he thought it unseemly in men of his profession to be
afraid of every frown ; especially having, as he assured him
self, the law to take his part.
Dr. Au- In the same year, viz. July 1591, the Lord Burghley
ment'o^the sent certam PaPers concerning Cawdry's case, drawn up by
case. the aforesaid Morice, to prove the course taken against him
unlawful, to Dr. Aubrey, a learned civilian, and indeed one
of the Commissioners ; that he would send back his impar
tial judgment thereupon, laying aside the consideration of
himself as a Commissioner. And Aubrey accordingly wrote
his opinion learnedly and modestly, as foUoweth ; for I
choose rather to transcribe his letter, than contract the sub
stance of it.
" My duty to your good Lordship humbly remembered.

BISHOP AYLMER. 95
" I make bold to return to your Lordship such writings as CHAP.
" it pleased your Lordship to dehver unto me, touching the VJI1-
" removing of Cawdry from the parsonage of Luffenham
" in the county of Rutland, and his deposing from the min-
" istry ; which for the duty I owe to your good Lordship
" I have perused, and according to my poor skiU considered;
" and dispossessing myself, as I could, of aU affection that I
" should bear to the maintenance of a sentence wherein,
" among other, myself is a party, I make bold to impart to
" your good Lordship my opinion simply, as I think and
" can conceive of the cause. First, if either the Commis-
" sioners were bound by the Commission to proceed accord-
" ing to the statute of anno primo, or had in any part of
" their proceedings expressed that they meant to proceed
" only according to the order and form appointed in that
" statute ; or if the statute were so straining, as the Com-
" missioners were tied to proceed according to the form of
" that statute, and no otherwise, (as I take it not to be,) it
" is true that is delivered to your Lordship by Cawdry's
" counsel, that the sentence is not justifiable by the precise
" letter of the statute. But the law ecclesiastical being in
" such force for manner of proceeding as it was before the
" making of that statute, and the Commission warranting
" the Commissioners to proceed according to the law eccle-
" siastical, or according to their sound discretions, all the
" principal force of the reasons aUeged to ground a nuUity ,
" in the sentence is taken away. And where the sentence is
" impugned, because the Bishop of London did read the
" sentence cum consensu collegarum suorum, whatsoever
" the temporal law is in that point, it is most agreeable to
" the law civU and canon, that where there is a multitude
" of judges, one shall be the instrument in the pronouncing
" with the consent of the rest ; and it is a matter absurd,
" and not possible, that all shall concur in the act of read-
" ing. And that hath been in this realm the usual form,
" and no other, of all sentences in proceedings and causes
" ecclesiastical. " As for the degradation and deposing of Mr. Cawdry

96 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. " from the ministry, the temporal law of the realm taketh
VI11, " no knowledge thereof; and yet the Chief Justice of the
" Common Pleas, the Lord Chief Baron, and the Queen's
" Attorney, were there, and gave their consents. And it is
" of that nature, that until he be restored, he is not capable
" of any other benefice ecclesiastical ; and was [so censuredj]
" not only for lack of his conformity to the sentence, but
" for that he refused to conform himself to the observation
" of her Majesty's laws, and of the order of the book, in
" sundry particular points : however, in general words he
" pretendeth that he will be obedient. Thus praying your
" good Lordship to take this my short plain answer in good
" part, I humbly take my leave of your good Lordship.
" Your good Lordship's humbly
" at commandment,
" WILLIAM AUBREY."
" From London,
" this 18th July, 1591."
The statute That sentence of anno primo of the Queen, which Caw-
Cawdry's dry's counsel so much urged to render the sentence of de-
counsel, privation null, was this, that it appointed the punishment
for depraving the Book of Common Prayers, or refusing to
say or use the said Common Prayers, or to minister the Sa
craments, after lawful conviction according to the laws of
this realm, by verdict of twelve men, by confession, or no
torious evidence of the fact ; for the first offence, to be only
the loss of the profits of his benefice for one year, and six
months' imprisonment ; and after the first conviction,- if a
second offence be committed, and a lawful conviction had,
then a year's imprisonment with deprivation ipso facto.
But this decree or definitive sentence inflicted deprivation
for the first offence, leaving no time for the second convic
tion, nor punishment for a second offence.
bTrestored ^n<* tnus at ^ast tms ^onS Process seemed to be ended,
to his min- (at least I know no more of it,) which was in hand four
subscrip-" veal's and seven months, and cost Cawdry one or two and
tion. twenty journeys to London. The last particular I meet

BISHOP AYLMER. 97
with in this tedious suit was, that the aforesaid nobleman CHAP.
requested that this man might be restored to his ministry ; V111'
which Dr. Lewin and Dr. Aubrey acquainted the Arch
bishop with : who answered, he was wiUing to do it, if he
would subscribe to certain Articles, as other Ministers did:
which had been offered to him several times before, both by
the Archbishop and the Bishop of London. But that Caw
dry would not be brought to do : neither could the advice
of his said noble intercessor prevaU with him.

CHAP. IX.

His contest with one Maddocks. Smith, the Preacher at
St. Clemenfs, suspended. A visitation. Dyke, of St.
Albans, forbid preaching. Cartwright the Puritan. Sir
Denys Roghan. The see of Oxford void.
J. HESE transactions with Cawdry have carried me for
ward three or four years, that I might lay my whole narra
tive thereof together. I must therefore go back again,
having some other things to relate, wherein our Bishop was
concerned. In AprU 1588, he happened to have a ruffle with a mad The occa-
blade named Maddocks, who had married a gentleman's c'onte°t ^e.
daughter of Fulham. This man was of a turbulent hot head, tween the
and made great stirs in that town : and the same Maddocks, Maddocks.
I suppose, of whom Sir John Harrington relates, how that Brief view
this Bishop once told him, that his name expressed his na- 0f tne
ture, and that he was one of the madest beasts that ever he church.
talked with. He happened to have a contest with the
Bishop about some private matters ; as concerning the right
of a pew in Fulham church ; and with the townsmen about
a passage to a ground of the Bishop's. Martin Marprelate
brings in another cause yet of these dissensions, namely,
frqm the Bishop's taking part with his man, who being
executor to the wiU of somebody dwelling in Fulham, de
tained the payment of a legacy given therein to a poor
H

98

THE LIFE OF

CHAP, shepherd : whereat Maddocks advised the shepherd to bring
_____his case into the Court of Requests, where he had some of-

Maddockscomplains
to the
Council.

fice, thinking probably thereby to draw some blemish upon
the Bishop. And when the matter was indeed moved in
that Court, the Bishop wrote to the Masters of the Requests,
that they would discharge his man, and he would see agree
ment made; which nevertheless that Court yielded not to:
and the Bishop knowing Maddocks, the man that upheld
the shepherd, sent for him; who coming, angry words
happened. These matters argued pro and con created
more and more difference ; insomuch that divers frays hap
pened between Maddocks and the Bishop's servants, who
would not hear their master abused. One of these hap
pened when he and his wife were walking together. Mad
docks makes the first complaint, and puts up a petition to
the Privy CouncU, (enclosed in a letter to the Lord Trea
surer,) therein relating particularly the injuries pretended to
be done him by the Bishop and his followers, desiring his
case might be heard before his Lordship and the Queen's
honourable CouncU ; which, he said, no mean justice would
do, because the Bishop was, by her Majesty's advancement,
in such dignity: and that in the mean time he inight have
a warrant from his Lordship to apprehend the Bishop's cut
ters, as he called them, until the matter had a hearing. He
added, that his wife was with child as he thought, and
rested since the last assault (wherein he was wounded) in very
hard case : that that assault was in the view of the Bishop :
that when he complained thereof to him, he gave him re
proachful words : that for his part, he had given no cause
to his knowledge. He represented his case as desperate,
either to lose his own life, or, by the loss of the life of some
of the Bishop's base foUowers, to hazard his poor estate ;
which was the thing, he said, the Bishop desired.
The Bishop Upon this the good Lord Treasurer sent to the Bishop,
case. Praying him to order his men to do no injury to Maddocks.
To whom the Bishop presently sent answer, that he had
given warning to his servants not to meddle with Mad
docks : nor needed he to fear that his men should offer him

BISHOP AYLMER. 99
any injury, nor hitherto had done, but when he and two chap.
of his men had picked out their match to assault one of _____
his men, three against one. And yet, said the Bishop, as he
understood, his single man housed them all. But that he,
minded to see the peace kept, sent for both him, his men,
and his own servant: but Maddocks refused to come to him.
The Bishop upon this occasion thought fit moreover to give
this Lord a httle taste of the good dealing of the man : as
1. He made a fray upon his father's man, (as weU as upon
his,) and wounded him in the head with some peril, and he
himself had his head broken for his labour : which blood-
shedding was to be examined at the next leet. 2. He
charged some belonging to his father with felony; which
proved but a rage of humour, and nothing else. 3. He
wrangled with the whole town [of Fulham] about a pas
sage to a ground of his, [the Bishop's,] wherein he thought
in his conscience he did them wrong. 4. He found means
in the Court of Requests to cast an honest husbandman of
the said town into the Fleet, greatly to his damage and
hurt. 5. Upon Easter-day last he came in warlike man
ner with rapier and target to Fulham church, when the
Bishop and all his men were at the Court ; and there thrust
in his mother and his sister into the Bishop's wife's seat,
and troubled his daughters, being come to receive the Com
munion. The Bishop added, that he bragged that he dis
dained to fight with any of his men ; but if he [the Bishop
himself] would hold up his finger, he would be with him
at host That his father-in-law was an honest gentleman,
but could do nothing with him, and his rash head since he
came there troubled aU the town. And lastly, as to the late
fray, he told his Lordship that he might weU consider that
if Maddocks abused him behind his back, his men would
hardly bear it at his hands. And indeed the Bishop himself,
who was a man of metal, and could use his hands well,
would perhaps not weU have liked it, if they should.
In fine, Maddocks had so rudely behaved himself to- Maddocks
wards the Bishop, that at last it came before the Arch- su ml s'
bishop of Canterbury, and some other Bishops assisting;
h 2

100 . THE LIFE OF
CHAP, who found the matter so iU on Maddocks's part, that he
IX" was content before them to ask him forgiveness, and to pro
mise that he would ever after haye a reverent regard of his
duty toward the said Bishop, as his ordinary.
Smith, Lee- Mr. Henry Smith, an eloquent and a witty man, had the
turer of St. ^ t ^ 1587, become Reader or Lecturer at St. Cle-
Clement's. J ' ' .
ment Danes without Temple-Bar, at the desire of many of
the parishioners, and by the favour of the Lord Treasurer,
who dwelt in the said parish, and yielded contribution to
him. This is the Smith whose sermons have been a com
mon famUy book even to this day, and often reprinted. He
was the son of a gentleman of Leicestershire, and bred for
a little while in Oxford : but desiring to spend more time
there, his father, whatever the reason was, would not yield
unto his suit. Soon after his coming from Oxford, he lived
and foUowed his studies with Richard Greenham, a pious
Minister in the country, but not thoroughly affected to the
orders of the Church established; and his principles he
seemed to have infused into Smith. The Lord Treasurer
took notice of. the man, especiaUy when he put in for the
preacher's place in the parish of St. Clement's. Therefore
he obtained a testimonial and character from Greenham to
the said Lord : to whom, after some preface in his letter, as
considering his Honour's place, and rare wisdom in discerning
of gifts, and his own unmeetness to commend, and that there
were many better means to inform himself, which he might
Greenham'shave; at length he thus wrote of him, "That he would
him to the " not speak of his human literature, whereof he supposed
" Smith himself had given him [the Lord Treasurer] some
" small token, (he meant, I suppose, by a sermon preached
" before him,) but he had perceived him to have been well
" exercised in the holy Scriptures, religious and devout in
" mind, moderate and sober in opinions and affection, dis-
" creet and temperate in his behaviour, industrious in his
" studies and affairs, and, as he hoped, of an humble spirit
" and upright heart, joined with the fervent zeal of the
" glory of God and health of souls. Which mixture of
" God's gifts put him in hopes, that God hereafter might

Treasurer.

BISHOP AYLMER. 101
" be much glorified in him ; speciaUy if he might have tar- CHAP.
" ried in the University until his gifts were grown unto_____
" some more maturity. In which particular, he added, he
" had earnestly dealt with him unto the same end, [and so
" had the Lord Treasurer,] but he stUl answered that he
" could not obtain that favour of his father."
In short he was permitted to read (that is, to preach a The Bishop
lecture) at St. Clement's, where one Harewood was now^6*1"18
Parson. But the next year, being the year 1588, our Bi
shop, being informed that he had spoken in his sermon
some words derogatory to the Common Prayer, neither had
subscribed the Articles, wherein was contained the approba
tion of the said book, suspended him from preaching a
wlriie. His own case he drew up briefly for the informa
tion, it seems, of the Lord Treasurer ; which was as fol
lows:
Reasons objected and alleged by the Bishop of London
against Henry Smith, Preacher of St. Clements without
Temple-Bar, as causes for which he hath proceeded to
the suspension of the said Henry from the exercise of his
ministry. I. That I was chosen by a popular election, as his Lord- The reasons
ship termeth it, that is, by the Minister and congregation, w ly'
without his Lordship's hcence.
II. That I have preached against the Book of Common
Prayer. III. That I have not yielded my subscription to certain
Articles which his Lordship required at my hands.
Mine answer to the same.
" First, touching my calling thither, I was recommended His answer
" to the parish by certain godly preachers, which had heard ° em" N
" me preach in other places in this city; and thereupon ac-
" cepted of by the parish, and entertained with a stipend
" raised by voluntary contribution : in which sort they had
" heretofore entertained others without any such question
" or exception. Secondarily, his Lordship calling me to
h3

102 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. " preach at Paul's Cross never moved any such question to
IX- « me. Nevertheless, if any error have been committed
" herein either by me or the parish, through' ignorance, our
" joint desire is to have his Lordship's good allowance and
" approbation for the exercise of my function in his Lord-
" ship's diocese.
" Touching the second, however his Lordship hath been
" informed against me, I never used speech in any of my
" sermons against the said Book of Common Prayer ;
" whereof the parish doth bear me witness in this supphca-
" tion to your Lordship.
" Concerning the third, I refuse not to subscribe to any
" Articles, which the law of the realm doth require of men
" of my calling : acknowledging with aU humbleness and
" loyalty her Majesty's sovereignty in aU causes, and over
" aU persons within her Highness's dominions ; and yield-
" ing my full consent to aU the Articles of faith and doc-
" trine taught and ratified in this Church, according to
" a statute in that behalf provided the thirteenth year of
" her Majesty's reign. And therefore beseech his Lordship
" not to urge upon me any other subscription than the law
" of God and the laws positive of this realm do require."
Certain of If he subscribed not afterwards, yet he seemed to have
the parish rnVen some satisfaction to the Bishop for his continuance in
sue to the °, , . i 1 1
LordBuigh- his place tiU the year 1589 ; when, upon the dangerous sick-
Smithto beness °^ Harewood the incumbent, divers of the parish peti-
their Minis- tioned the Lord Treasurer, that in case he died, Mr. Smith
their preacher might succeed him. And being departed this
life, they renewed their petition, signed with the hands of
divers of St^ Clement^ and Lion's Inns, and the two
churchwardens, the one a grocer, the other a locksmith, and
a good number besides of ordinary tradesmen, as smiths,
tailors, saddlers, hosiers, haberdashers, glaziers, cutlers, and
such like, most of them setting their marks. The petition
was somewhat rude, as were the men from whom it came:
for it expressed, " That if there were any towards his
" Lordship, whom his Honour affected, and was willing to
" prefer thereunto, they most humbly and instantly impor-

BISHOP AYLMER. 103
" tuned his Lordship [notwithstanding to lay them aside, CHAP.
" and] to prefer Mr. Smith in this, and them some other IX"
" way, as his Lordship had many. And in behalf of them-
" selves they set forth, that [if this might be obtained] then
" Mr. Smith's living should be ascertained, [which was but
" precarious before,] and they eased of his stipend, [and so
" a charge taken from them,] and their desires satisfied
" m enjoying him for their Parson. In fine, giving this
" character of him, that his preaching, hving, and sound
" doctrine, had done more good among them, than any
" other that had gone before, or, which they doubted, could
" foUow after." But notwithstanding, I scarce think these
men, nor their reasons, were of strength to prevaU with the
Treasurer. The care of the press lay also upon the Bishop ; and An abusive
complaint was made to him in the year 1589, in April, by gahiVthe
the Lord Treasurer, concerning a piece that was now come KinS of
abroad. The matter was this. After the Spaniards were
so shamefully defeated at sea the last year, and their Invin
cible Armada came to nothing, as thanks and praise was
given to God by the devout sort, so hghter minds set them
selves to exercise their wits in the abuse of that proud na
tion, not sparing King Philip himself. One pamphlet of
this sort in foolish rhyme was dispersed in London about
this time ; which gave offence to the said Lord, and, as it
seems, to the Queen herself: for the persons of Princes are
sacred, and that great statesman ever spake reverently of
them ; nor was it thought advisable to provoke that Prince.
Whereupon he sent to the Bishop to know who presumed The Bishop
to print it. The Bishop was of the same judgment, and t0 find the
said, that in his opinion it had been better to have thanked printer-
God than to have insulted upon men ; and especiaUy upon
Princes : and that he marveUed that they of Oxford (where
it was first printed by Jos. Barnes) should suffer such toys
to be set forth by their authority : and that he had found
Toby Cook printed it at London without licence, and he
would talk with him about it.
The dUigent Bishop was now very aged, near seventy visits.
h 4

104 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, years of age ; and yet, according to his constant practice,
_____ went this year 1589, his triennial visitation, which he held at
London, August 30. Now among other injunctions, the
Clergy there were required, 1. To give God pubhc thanks
for the French King's victory. 2. That they be ready with
furniture according to the proportion assigned them; that
is, with arms for the Queen's defence, who was now in
daily apprehension of the enraged Spaniard, since their
shameful defeat the last summer.
Suspends At St. Albans in Hertfordshire was placed somewhUe
Albans. *' a§° one Dyke for preacher ; and that in some measure by
the means of the Lord Treasurer, who dwelt not far off:
for he had recommended him to the Bishop of London to
allow him ; and because he was but Deacon, and somewhat
suspected of nonconformity, the said Lord promised the
Bishop, that if he troubled the congregation with inno
vation, he would join with the Bishop in punishing him.
But now in November 1589, the Bishop stayed him from
preaching for troubling his auditory with new opinions and
notions, thwarting the established religion d. But Dyke had
gained a great vogue among that ordinary sort of people ;
who therefore made their application to the said noble per
son, that he would prevaU with the Bishop that he might
be restored to his ministry. And in compliance with their
suit the kind Lord writ to the Bishop about Dyke, and the
interest made for him; and desired to know upon what
cause he had forbidden him the pulpit. The Bishop
Gives his readily gave these reasons for it: viz. That he was only
sowing™ beacon, and so had continued many years, refusing and dis-
aUowing of the ministry of the Church of England, and the
priesthood, as the book called it, which Dyke, I suppose,
reckoned Popish. That the people, if they listed, might be
sufficiently instructed by one Mr. WiUiams, a grave preacher
and better learned, without new-fangled innovations, where
with the other did exceedingly keep them occupied : and
added, he thought it necessary to have him there. That
Dyke was and had been charged with ill-favoured matters
4 See Additions, Numb. IV.

BISHOP AYLMER. 105
of incontinency, schisms,- and disorders, and withstanding of C H A P.
orders given from the Lords of the Privy Council; whereof
he had not yet purged himself, and therefore not to be
retained in the Church. He added, that the multitudes
of supplicants for him were of the meanest and basest sort,
"dubbed," as he expressed it, "with the title of yeomanry."
But instead of all other reasons, he urged that he could not
in conscience tolerate him, who was not full Minister, nor
would be, lest by that means he should seem to join with
him in misliking and disaUowing of our sacred ministry.
And thus hoping that his Lordship, in consideration of the
premises and many other reasons which he omitted, would
be content to bear with him, though he bore not with Dyke,
he took his leave of his Lordship, praying God to bless him
with health and a just care of the peace of the Church, as
hitherto he had done.
Thomas Cartwright, the head Puritan, lay now in the Cartwright
Fleet, having been in the year 1590 summoned up from m the tet_
Warwick into the" Star-chamber, together with Edmund fore the
Snape, and divers other Puritan Ministers, for setting up a ls op-
new discipline and a new form of worship ; and subscribing
their hands to stand to ite : which therefore was interpreted
an opposition and disobedience to the established laws. In
May 1591, Cartwright lying now inthe Fleet, was sent for
by the Bishop to appear before him and Dr. Bancroft, and
some others of the ecclesiastical Commission : and being
brought into a chamber of the Bishop's house, he in a long
speech directed himself unto him. He first charged him in who expos-
abusing the Privy CouncU by informing them of his dis- Mates with
eases, wherewith indeed he was not troubled: for Cart
wright had lately sued to them for his liberty from the
Fleet upon pretence of his gout and sciatica: which it seems
was more in pretence than truth. Secondly, that as he
had abused the CouncU, so he with others, in a supphcation,
had abused her Majesty, in suggesting that the oath that
was tendered to them was not according to law, and that it
was given generally without limitation : meaning the oath
e See Appendix, Numb. V.

106 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, which the ecclesiastical Commissioners offered to those that
IX- came before them. Thirdly, that he had confessed twice or
thrice before that time, that a man might be saved in ob
serving the orders of the Church established by the laws
of the land, and in consequence thereupon he charged him
with the vanity and fruitlessness of seeking a further re
formation: adding moreover, that in the greatest matters
he and others contended for, they were of the same opinion
that the Papists were of; as partly, he said, appeared by
the answers of some of his party that were a few days ago
at Lambeth before the Archbishop and the Commissioners
there: whereas what agreement was between the Papists
and the Bishops (which that party was so apt to lay to their
charge) was at most but in some smaU ceremonies, and they
but indifferent, tUl established by law. And these were
some of his expostulations and dealings in commission with
Cartwright. In many passages past of this our history we may have
seen, that our Bishop had no great pleasure in his advance
ment to the bishopric. And he being of a quick and some-
The Bi- what hasty spirit became the more uneasy. I shah mention
vexed* with6 one passage more, (besides what is before mentioned,) that
an Irish pUt him into a discomposure, and seemed in truth to have
been a thing put upon him by some of his bad$,-friends to
disturb him. It was often practised by the Privy Council
to commit to the Bishops persons of quahty or learning, to
whose charge matters of treason or breach of laws had been
laid ; that by their conversation and learned discourses and
persuasions, the other might be gained and reclaimed, lying
under an easy restraint in their houses. But about the
month of April 1592, the CouncU sent to our Bishop a cer
tain extravagant Irish Priest named Sir Denys Roghan, or
Rowghane, and a woman, pretended to be bis wife; the
Bishop caUed her his housewife. These he was to maintain
in meat, drink, and lodging, at his house; how long he
knew not. The man had little to recommend him, be
ing of a loose turbulent conversation. The woman had a
great belly, (which the Bishop called, her being bagged,)

BISHOP AYLMER. 107
and was hke perhaps to lay her burden within the Bishop's CHAP.
house : and then he must also provide for her nurses and '
other necessaries. This Priest had lived in Spain, and
seemed to have been privy to the conspiracies between
Spain and the wUd Irish against the Queen, and an actor
in the disturbances and rebeUions of that people. But now,
upon some disgust taken against his party, came over, or
was sent over, to discover their practices ; for which he ex
pected not only pardon but reward : for he carried himself
insolently in the Bishop's family, and required great ob
servance of him and his, from the Bishop and his people.
When he removed with his famUy to Fulham, Sir Denys
would not stir from the Bishop's house at London; and
made such a revel rout there, that the Bishop and his ser
vants were perfectly afraid of him.
He was therefore not without cause highly displeased Sues to be
that these guests should be forced upon him, and sent letter
after letter to the CouncU ; and his son had waited upon
them a fortnight and more, to be released of that most
heavy and unbishop-like burden, as he termed it. And to
the Lord Treasurer he thus bemoaned himself: " That
" besides his charges, there was the carefulness of keeping
" them : and assuring his Lordship that it was a great of-
" fence to his conscience to keep such an idle couple in his
" house ; which stirred no more in reading, in working,
" in praying, than very dead idols ; but when his Irish
" mouth lavished against his Lordship, [the Lord Trea-
" rurer,] the rest of the CouncU, and such as strained them-
" selves to keep them to their charge, [the Bishop meant
" himself,] very unseemly and ungratefully. That it had
" been the wont to commit to the Bishops of London their
" keeping learned men, and not asses with their great-
" bellied wives ; Indignum Episcopo, et sene, et libero cive
" officium, i. e. ' An office unworthy a Bishop, an aged
" man, and a free citizen.' He prayed his Lordship that
" he might have help ; for it hindered his study, his prayer,
" and his preaching : and whatsoever they had offended
" among them, that it was no reason that he should bear

108 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, "the punishment." Thus he expostuled and argued in his
lx- letter dated May 13.

Delivered of But notwithstanding all this endeavour, the Bishop could
him at last. not get ^ Qf njs gUest . for j f}nd he was with him in
June. And when he was to be removed to Fulham, where
the Bishop now was, he would not by any means go thither :
of which he wrote to the Lord Treasurer in a second letter.
Here Sir Denys's business now was, in preparing pistols,
and swords in walking staves, and other weapons, whereby
the Bishop shewed the said Lord that his men and himself
were driven to some suspicion that he minded some mis
chief to somebody: that therefore none of his men dared
tarry about him, nor he [the Bishop himself] go into his
house, but by some back way. He acknowledged, " it was
" an honourable meaning to seek to help this man, but
" what it would be in the eye of the world, and in the
" chronicle to our posterity, to reward an accuser, that he
" left to his Lordship's wisdom to judge." But at length
he was relieved : for I find Rowghan at. Kingston in the
month of November, and at liberty.
Who this Perhaps we shaU be desirous to know who this Irishman
" was, and what his business here in England. Take this
account of both. He had been a Romish Priest, but now
professed himself a most faithful subject of the Queen, and
acknowledged her supremacy, made a shew of the Protestant
religion, and was married. And being formerly among the
Queen's enemies in Ireland, was privy to all their traitorous
purposes and doings ; and upon some disgust taken, had
left them, and come into England, to accuse them and dis
cover their practices, and withal hoped by this means
to get himself advanced. And coming over in the year
1591, he exhibited a note to the CouncU of the special and
His inform- chief mischiefs in Ireland. And his informations he re-
the°Councii.Peated several times to the CouncU, who it seems were not
very fond of him. The sum of which was, that there was
one Dr. Craghe in Ireland, who came thither in company
with Dr. Saunders from beyond sea, with a number of
Spaniards, to the arch-traitor the Earl of Desmond : that

was.

BISHOP AYLMER. 109
this Craghe remained there to tlris day, seducing the people CHAP.
from the true service of God, and their loyalty to the

Queen ; giving the world to understand, that he was there
without either protection or pardon : that he daily conse
crated priests, and used other papistical orders : that by his
means the land was filled with iniquity, theft, murder, and
rebeUion. Moreover, he informed, that there were very many
of the inhabitants of that realm, as weU in cities and towns,
as in the countries, that transported themselves into Spain,
and others sent their sons or their next kin thither, to
assure the Spaniard the land to be theirs. Then he ad- His advice.
vised that it would be necessary to send' somebody furnished
with sufficient authority to seize upon those seminary priests
and their tutors, and to empower some trusty men to exa
mine such as sent their sons or kindred to Spain ; and espe
cially the Lord of Cahir, who had sent his nephew with let
ters to the King of Spain, and to inquire into the numbers
and names of those that were gone to seek the invasion of
the land. This man offered himself ready to answer any
interrogatories concerning the premises that the Council
should put to him, and to discourse the same more largely,
and to set down the best means, as was possible, to bring the
same to pass. He promised to discover many other abuses
done there, yet unknown to the Queen and her CouncU ; so
that he were encouraged, as he had been discouraged, as he
told the Queen. I take also out of a letter Rowghane wrote
to her, that he avouched that several of her chief officers
themselves in Ireland were traitors; as Sir John Perrot, the
Lord Deputy, Sir Nic. White, Master of the RoUs, and
many more. He subscribed himself, Her Majesty's most
true, humble, and faithful subject, D. Rowhane, both Priest
and Solicitor to her Highness.
But how, if, after aU this, Rowghan were a Papist stUl, But proves
and all he drove at was only to get himself advanced and re- irishman.
venged? for what a right Irishman this fellow was, was evi
dent by the examination that was taken of his man, one Ar
thur Connock, upon oath before Sir WUliam Rowe, Lord
Mayor in November anno 1592 : whence it appeared, that

110 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, he, for his service in accusing Sir John Perrot, expected to
_____have been made a Bishop, or to have been raised to some
high place : which if he had, he said, he would have pulled
down the best of them aU ; meaning, of the Queen's Privy
CouncU. And because he was not better answered, he told
Connock he meant to go to Rome ; and would have had
this servant of his to go along with him, saying, that he
should have better maintenance for saying of masses, than
he had of her Majesty for his said service; and that he stayed
only to get a httle money together, and then he would set
forward : and added, that when he was once at Rome, he
would lay such plots as should disquiet the best of them all.
And when his said man refused to go over to Rome with
him, he threatened he would lay so heavy a burden upon
him as he should not be able to bear, and would charge
him with such plots as should cost him his life. And what
truth there was in his pretence of being a Protestant may
appear in this, that he wore next his skin a string whereon
hung a little round bag, and divers pieces of twopences and
threepences were bowed over the said string, to be offered
to saints, or those that kept saints. And this at length was
the man that our Bishop was so weary of; and weU he
might be.
Commends His care of the Church, and his respect to his friends,
certain for sucb as were truly worthy, put him on sometimes to recom-
Oxford. mend persons to bishoprics that feU void : and in May this
year, viz. 1592, the see of Oxon lost its Pastor, Dr. Under-
hU. For the supply of this place he had two persons in his
eye ; the one was the Bishop of Gloucester, John Bulling
ham, who at that time made suit, that that bishopric might
be joined in commendam to his' own poor one : the other
was Dr. Cole, Head of a College in that University. Con
cerning these the Bishop of London wrote to the Lord
Treasurer; that as for the Bishop of Gloucester, it was
in his opinion very fit for him, for the nearness of the place,
and to make some addition to his poor portion : or, if that
were not thought convenient, and his Lordship should not
like of it, then he prayed him to remember Dr. Cole, who

BJSHOP AYLMER. Ill
was his co-exile in Queen Mary's days, and his Lordship's CHAP.
countryman, (that is, of Lincolnshire,) and his faithful well- 
wUler. This man our Bishop had not long before recom
mended to something else, but succeeded not ; it being not
his luck, as he said with some discontent, to further any
of his good friends in any suit of his : yet however, he
added, he could not be wanting to his friends, and to God's
Church. But neither of these two were preferred to this
bishopric, nor indeed any else during the reign of the Queen.
Now our Bishop hath not above two years more to finish Desirous to
his pUgrimage, when he had a great mind to resign hisres'sn"
bishopric to Dr. Bancroft, a rising man, and acceptable to
the Queen. And three times this year he offered him a re
signation upon certain conditions, perhaps in respect of the
dilapidations, to aUow him such a sum in satisfaction : for
the Bishop seemed to foresee a considerable burden like to
faU upon his estate on that account, and so thought it his
best way to compound it in his life-time : but Bancroft re
fused. But questionless Bishop Aylmer's main inducement
in labouring Bancroft's succession to the see of London was,
that he knew him to be a person long used in the ecclesias
tical Commission, and strait for the observation of the rites
and prescriptions of the Church established, against such as
would have trampled upon them. Therefore it was but
the day before our Bishop died, that he signified how sorry
he was that he had not written to the Queen, and com
mended his last suit unto her Highness, viz. to have Ban
croft his successor : and being dead, none was so commonly
talked of to succeed, as he. But the Queen bestowed it
upon another, to wit, a courtly Prelate, Fletcher Bishop of
Peterborough ; for such the Queen delighted in : who en
joying it two or three years, it came to pass according to
Bishop Aylmer's last desires. Yet however Bancroft's suc
cession proved prosperous to the Church, it light heavy
upon Aylmer's heir ; as we may see hereafter.

112 THE LIFE OF

CHAP. X.

The Bishops last visitation. His death. His burial. His
last will. His children and posterity.
His last A GREAT burden of years lay now upon the aged Bi-
visitation. gnopj and yet be omitted not the care of his diocese : for in
the year 1592, March 18, when his son the Archdeacon vi
sited his archdeaconry, he was present, to counsel, advise,
and -oversee. And the next year, viz. January 16, 1593,
was the ancient Bishop's last visitation ; when Dr. Stanhop,
his Chancellor, assisting him, or visiting in his name, every
. Minister was enjoined, among other things, to do what was
somewhat extraordinary, (but this I suppose by order from
above,) that the full state of each man might be the better
known and examined ; it was, to bring, in a fair sheet of
paper in writing under their hands, their parents, their
schools where they were educated, their degrees, their age,
the day and year of their letters of orders, when made Dea
con and when Priest, their presentation, institution, in
duction into their benefices, and their hcences to preach the
word of God, and where; and lastly, the Bishop that
allowed them, since they officiated in the Church. These,
with the frequent and careful visitations of his good consci
entious son the Archdeacon, and their rules, orders, coun
sels, instructions, tasks, and examinations, did great good
among the Clergy of the city, especiaUy towards the re
forming and quickening of them, and keeping them within
their duty, and in the better discharge of it.
Departs this Thus our Bishop continued, rubbing through many dis-
llfe- couragements, but stUl persisting in the discharge of his
episcopal function in preaching and governing his Church,
and watchfulness over such as disturbed the peace or orders
of it ; tiU June 3, 1594, when being arrived to a good
old age, that is, to seventy-three, he departed at his palace
at Fulham. His body was interred with due solemnity in
his own cathedral church before St. George's chapel, which
was in the north walk of the east part of that church, under

BISHOP AYLMER. 113
a fau- stone of gray marble with an inscription; which, CHAP.
together with those of his two successors, Fletcher and_____
Vaughan, are long since defaced and taken away by sacri
legious hands, as Dugdale in his History of St. Paul's tells
us. But that which was the inscription was as follows ;
Hicjacet certissimam e.vpectans resurrectionem sua carnis
D. Johannes Aylmer D. Episcopus Londini. Qui obiit
diem suum an. Dom. 1594. cetat. sua 73.
Ter senos annos Prasul ; semel Exul, et idem
Bis Pugil in causa religionis erat.
By an authentic paper in my hands, it appears the vaca
tion of this bishopric was reckoned from June 5, 1594, to
January foUowing, when the temporalities were restored to
Richard Fletcher, Bishop Aylmer's next successor f.
What worldly estate and wealth he left behind him, it is His estate.
not evident ; but it is, that he made several purchases iri
London, in Lincolnshire, and in Essex ; and lent out mo
ney upon mortgages. Among his purchases in Essex, the
chief was the manor of Mugden or Mowden Hall, in the
parish of Hatfield, the seat of the fanrily of the Ayimers to
this day. Whatsoever his estate was, he carefully and pru
dently in his life-time divided it among his wife and
chUdren by an indenture octopartite ; which he mentioned
and confirmed in his last wiU ; which bore date AprU 22, His last
1594, that is, not six weeks before his death. Therein he wl '
wUled to be buried in some convenient place in the ca
thedral of St. Paul's, on the north side, with some decent
monument to be erected for him, and his figure set up, in
imitation of that of John Colet, sometime Dean of the said
church, standing on the south, side. He gave by the said
wiU 300Z. to be paid in six years into the chamber of Lon
don, for the better maintaining of constant sermons at Paul's
Cross : which sum his eldest son Samuel was to pay out of
the rents of Mugden Hall ; and 1001. more, deposited with
him by the Countess of Shrewsbury for the same purpose :
f See Additions, Numb. VI.
I

114 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, willing and advising, that in those sermons there should be
' some remembrance made of such benefactors. To his wife
he bequeathed 201. per ann. until such time as she should
become possessor of certain houses in London. He gave to
his second son, Theophilus, Archdeacon of London, 1001.
owing from Mr. Newce, being remainder of the portion
which his said son was by agreement to have with Mary,
the said Newce's daughter ; the Bishop acknowledging he
had received 1001. already of the said portion. He gave
legacies to his two grandchildren, a son and a daughter
of the said TheophUus ; and to httle John and Judith, son
and daughter of Squire that married his daughter ; and to
the chUdren of Judith Lynche, another of his daughters,
that married Mr. Lynche, gentleman. He gave the manor
of Muckleton alias Mugden HaU, with aU his lands in Essex •
besides, to his eldest son Samuel. Certain lands in'We-
theringset, late the Lady Stafford's and Sir Edward Staf
ford's, he gave to his son Theophilus, or the money lent
upon the same. AU his lands in Rivesby in Lincolnshire
he gave to his son John, who, as it seems, married and
lived there. His son Samuel to take out of his library
what phUosophy books he pleased. The rest to be divided
between three of his sons, TheophUus, Zachary, and an
other, who, as it seems, studied divinity. He bequeathed
to the poor of London 1001. to the poor of Fulham 401.
to the poor of Hadham 51. His executors were his sons
Samuel and TheophUus, Dr. Richard Vaughan his cousin,
and Mr. Lynche his son-in-law. For the overseer of his
wiU he appointed Dr. Foorth. The probatum thereof bore
date November 28, 1594. This is enough to shew the"
contents of his will. Now we wiU look into his family and
children.
His wife He married Judith, the daughter of Bures, or Buers, a
drea. " ' g°°d house in Suffolk, being entitled the Bures of Bures.
Joan, a daughter of Robert Bures, Esq. was married to
Thomas King, a good family in the same county ; and after
to Sir John Buck, Knight, about the year 1530. From
which match or matches sprang many noble and eminent

BISHOP AYLMER. 115
famihes of the Mordaunts, Barrows, Bacons, Bucks, Gaudies, CHAP.
Tilneys, Sheltons, Hauts, Ayimers, Foliots, Vaughans, Hai-

dens, Hassets, &c. I find one Esau Buers, Vicar of Istel- E MSS-
worth, who was ordained Priest by our Bishop anno 1577, Geo. Buck
no question a relation of his. By this matron Juditli, the MlK penes
Bishop had a numerous offspring ; vis. seven sons ; Samuel,
TheophUus, John, Zachary, Nathaniel, Tobel, and Ed
mund ; besides two or three daughters. Samuel, his son Ex Offic.
and heir, was left in good circumstances, as may be guessed j""0,"",'
from a purchase or purchases of lands, which cost the Bi-son.
shop 16000Z. This Samuel was of Claydon Hall in Suffolk,
and High Sheriff of that county in the reign of KingCharles I.
He was bred to the law; which, by certain note-books of
his which I have seen, he seemed to be studious in. He
married two wives. His former was Dorothy Hastings,
daughter of Edward Hastings, of the Abbey of Leicester
in Pratis: by whom he had no issue. His second was
Ann, the eldest daughter of Edward Lord Brabazon, of
Tamer's Court, near Dublin in Ireland ; who was the son
(if I err not) of Sir WUliam Brabazon, Lord Chief Justice
of Ireland three times in six years, that is, from 1543 to
1549, in which year he died in the tents in Ulster, and was
buried in Trinity church in Dublin, and his heart carried
into England, to be buried there. This Lord Brabazon
had three sons ; his eldest was William Earl of Meath ; the
second, WaUop Brabazon, of Eaton in Herefordshire ; the .
third, Sir Anthony Brabazon, of Ireland. His daughters
were six. The second was thrice married ; viz. to the Lord
Montgomery, Sergeant Brereton, and Sir John Bramston,
Lord Chief Justice of England. The third married to
Rigby, of Lancashire. The eldest, viz. Ann, was linked
to the said Samuel Aylmer, our Bishop's eldest son; by
whom he had divers chUdren; viz. John, Edward, An
thony, Elizabeth, and Alice: from which John sprung
Brabazon Aylmer, late of Mowden Hall in the county of
Essex, Esq. Justice of the Peace ; who hath left three sons,
Samuel, Anthony, and John ; and two daughters, the eldest
married to John Godbold, of Territon HaU in the same
i2

116

THE LIFE OF

CHAP. X.

Dr. Ayl
mer's se-.
cond son.

Some cha
racter of
him.

county, Esq. the other unmarried. And from Anthony,
the youngest son of the same Samuel, is descended another
Brabazon Aylmer, the bookseUer and publisher of this book ;
who, out of due and honourable respects to the memory of
his great grandfather, the Bishop, put me upon exposing
these coUections, and communicated some considerable papers
and notices relating hereunto.
TheophUus, his second son, was bred up to the study of
divinity, and commenced Dr. of Divinity, was Archdeacon
of London, and Rector of Much Hadham in Hertfordshire :
out of which parish he married his wife Mary, daughter of
WUliam Newce, (Thomas Newce, Esq. was anno 1617 High
Sheriff of Hertfordshire, who, I suppose, was the said WU-
liam's son.) He was, if we may take Dr. FuUer's character
of him, one of the most reverend and learned divines of his
generation, and an exceUent preacher : and preaching once
before King James, the King took great satisfaction in his
sermon, commending it much; but being chiefly leveUed
against the Puritans, he thought he made use of his father
the Bishop's notes, who little favoured that party. Among
others the good and praiseworthy qualities of this man, he
was an encourager of learning, and maintained some, scholars
at the University to be brought up to the ministry : among
the which was one John Squire, his nephew; and by the
said Theophilus's means possessed of the living of Shore
ditch, London : which favours the said Squire did openly
acknowledge in his epistle to a Paul's Cross sermon by him
preached anno Dom. 1623, which he dedicated unto him,
and gratefuUy remembered there ; confessing it was he sent
him to the University, procured his preferment there, and
had been his patron ever since. This Squire's father was
in such reputation with the Bishop, that he gave him one
of his daughters in marriage. But how he proved after
wards, we shah see by and by.
We may take some character of this Dr. Aylmer from a
letter of his occasionally written to CecU, Earl of Salisbury,
a great man, now, or soon a* er, Lord High Treasurer, con
cerning tithes due to him from the said Earl's tenants ; for

X.

BISHOP AYLMER. 117
which he was fain to sue them. And to take off any dis- CHAP.
pleasure that might arise to him on that occasion, he penned _
a very handsome letter to him, set forth with much defe
rence to his Lordship, and expressive of much gravity and
sense of piety. And not being very long, I shaU insert it.
" Mine humble duty in aU due sort premised. My very
" honourable good Lord, the constant report of your Lord-
" ship's rehgious and just disposition in aU affairs whatso-
" ever, hath emboldened me (by nature timerous) to solicite
" your Honour in a word or two for mine own self. May
" it therefore please your Lordship to understand, that I,
" being Parson of Much and Little Hadham in Hartford-
" shire, have a year since (or thereabout) commenced suit
" against some of Little Hadham (who may happly be your
" Lordship's tenants) for tyth of underwoods, by aU law to
" me due. This very name of suit, though it might with
" some persons fore-condemn me, either as covetous or cbn-
" tentious ; yet dare I mention it unto your Honour, whose
" upright judgment righting many, wUl never admit that
" prejudice should wrong me or any.
" First therefore I protest in the sight of the Heart's only
" Searcher, that not any sinister affection, but necessities
" forceable compulsion, hath urged hereunto. Secondly,
" whereas it may be thought, that my beginning this suit
" with some of your Lordship's tenants may imply want of
" due regard in me towards your Honour, I (upon my for-
" mer protestation) assure your Lordship, that these men
" being the first, who (after demaund of tyth) were first to
" me presented, as those that carried their woods; not leaving
" their tyth, they were, not voluntate mea electi, but sorte
" sua relicti, et oblati to the first trial of this suit. Thirdly
" and lastly, mine humble suit unto your Lordship is, that
" though your tenants may expect your honourable patron-
" age, (which as their Lord you may afford them without
" wrong-doing unto any,) yet it would please you (of that
" religious integrity which tyeth the souls of all good men
" unto you) to reserve for me (your Lordship's poor, true,
i 3

118 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. " and affectionate supphant) such favour and grace in your

x

, " eyes, as that law having free passage, right being tryed,
" my poor estimation with your Lordship may, so far forth
" as I shall not deserve the contrary, abide untainted : I in
" this and in all things wholly submitting my self to your
" Lordship's godly command. Thus unfainedly praying
" for your Honour's- continual prosperity in this world,
" and eternal happiness in the world to come, I most hum-
" bly take my leave.
" Your Lordship's in all duty to command,
. " Theophilus Aylmer."
London, this 8th of Feb. 1605.
Some fnr- We have not yet said all of the Reverend Son of this
racter of Right Reverend Father ; but having been so singular a
Dr. Aylmer. person in his life, I wUl here relate some few things more
concerning him from papers communicated to me by Mr.
Aylmer the bookseller, to whom he was great uncle. As
this divine was an exceUent, so a frequent preacher; and
that even to his last and crazy age. He had also an un
common gift in prayer, whereby he was enabled to put up
fit and proper petitions to God, according as the different
states and necessities of men and things required. He trod
in his father's footsteps in his earnest -endeavours by aU
sober and rational means to persuade his people to a due ob
servance of the Common Prayer, and the orders prescribed
in the worship of God ; so that it was observed, his congre
gation was as reverent and uniform in the public service as
any congregation in England beside: for his father had
bred him up to be a true son of the Church of England.
And yet he was not at all of a contentious spirit, nor placed
his conformity in continual disputations and tossing of argu
ments, or in angry and reproachful terms against such as
differed from him, or the present constitution. For he was
a mild and peaceable man, retaining the truth in peace.
His cha- And as he had considerable incomes from the Church, or
r,ty- otherwise, so his charity was extraordinary: and that not
only towards the poor within his own precincts and parishes,

BISHOP AYLMER. 119
but towards others that needed ; especially poor scholars and CHAP.
poor strangers ; whether Spanish, Dutch, French, Italian, x"
Grecian exUes : gratefuUy remembering, no question, that
his father was once an exUe for his religion, as they now
were : to whom therefore he could not but have a peculiar
compassion. Mr. Squire, his nephew by his sister, Minister
of St. Leonard, Shoreditch, London, would often shew to
him the necessities of certain persons, and ask an alms on
their behalf; when he would usuaUy give him twice as
much as he demanded ; whence the said Squire would say,
he was constrained to conceal from him many objects of
charity, because he conceived him to be too bountiful in his
liberality, even to the injuring of his famUy. So that it was
said by the foresaid person, who knew him and his concerns
intimately weU, that had he been but ordinarily frugal, he
might have reserved from his charity to the poor, as much
as he left for the entire maintenance of his wife and famUy.
It was this made him say on his death-bed, " that the poor
" could not expect any gift at his death, because he had
" given them as much as he could, whUe he was ahve ; and
" that, to his soul's comfort, he had already made his own
" hands to be his executors, and his own eyes his overseers."
And as he was thus of a charitable, so he was also of an Humble
humble and mortified spirit. He exercised himself upon^edmor"
occasions in praying and fasting; living contentedly and
thankfully with what he had. And though he were one
of the ancientest Chaplains to King James, and might have
deservedly attained more preferment in the Church, and
have been placed in a higher sphere, in respect of his fa
ther and his own learning, when many of his inferiors and
juniors obtained greater and more wealthy places, yet he
never repined nor envied.
His preparation for death, and his behaviour of himself His prepa-
in his sickness, was remarkable, and truly Christian. He ™t,on <or
was at first taken with a feverish distemper, which though
not violent, yet he apprehended would cause his death, say
ing, Nemo moritur sine febre. Wherefore his first work
was to put his house in order, and to make his will : and
i 4

X.

120 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, then raised up his mind to frequent holy and heavenly
. thoughts ; quickening himself by these words ; Quo propm-
quior morti, eo laetior ; quo vicinior ccelo, longior a, terra.
He enjoined one of his nearest and dearest friends, that
when he should perceive him at the point of death, he
should prompt him to say these words ; Lord have mercy
upon me ; Lord Jesus receive my soul. Which his friend,
when he perceived his death approaching, accordingly did ;
and though he could not speak the words, yet by the lift
ing up his hand he signified the repeating of them in his
heart. In the beginning of his sickness his friends persuaded
him to make use of physic. He answered, " It needed not ;
" he should be well. However," said he, " I commit and
" submit my body unto them, as unto God's instruments :
" yet with this caution, that they deal plainly with me ;
" and when they find their art ineffectual, then they render
" my poor carcass to me again, to be ordered according to
" my own direction." When he was asked often, how he
did, he would say, " I thank God, heart-whole." And once,
having laid one hand on his heart, and lifting up the other
to heaven, he said, " The glory above giveth no room to sick-
" ness." When he found he approached nearer to death,
according to the order of the Church, he iriade his confes
sion to the Preacher, his assistant, and received his absolu
tion; and desired the Communion, but death came too
hastily, and prevented. When the Preacher praying with
him came to the suffrage, Let the enemy have no power
against him, he suddenly interposed with an observed cou
rage, " I am assured he shaU not."
He shewed his paternal and conjugal love by these ex
pressions : " Let none," saith he, " think that I have left
" my chUdren poor : no, I have left them heavenly riches."
And when his wife wept by him? he observing it said, "Why,
" how now, sweet heart : dost thou by those dear tears
" wound thine own heart and mine ? But mine is passion-
" proof. Worldly occasions have many nights separated
N " us, and the morning hath rejoined us. It is but one

BISHOP AYLMER. 121
" night, one short night, I shah be from thee, when the CHAP.
" glorious morning, by that never-setting Sun of Glory, X'
" shaU eternally bring us together." Like a good pastor,
he shewed a great concern for the weU-doing of his flock
after he was dead and gone. " As St. Paul," said he,
" prayed for his brethren according to the flesh, that all
" Irsael might be saved ; so dp I pray for my flock, that
" aU my people may be saved. And to this end I earnestly
" entreat the Lord, that after my departure he wUl send
" faithful and painful pastors among them, who may break
" the bread of life sincerely unto them, and in aU godliness
" go in and out before them."
When his death came with nearer approaches towards
him, he shewed greater acts of faith and fearlessness of it.
He declared he forgave aU men, as he desired God should
forgive him. " Let my people know," added he, " that
" their pastor died undaunted, and not afraid of death. I
" bless my God, I have no fear, no doubt, no reluctation ;
" but an assured confidence in the sin-overcoming merits of
" Jesus Christ." And in the conclusion of all, he shut his
own eyes with his own hands, dying in the Lord Jesus in
the month of January 1625, the first year of King Charles I.
a year memorable for a severe pestUence; in which time
died fifty-four preachers of London. He was buried in his
own parish church, and honoured with a funeral sermon
preached by Dr. James Usher, the most learned Archbishop
of Armagh. And all this we have said of the Bishop's se
cond son, TheophUus.
His third son, and his namesake, John, perhaps a soldier*, His thi'rd
for some service, or testimony of honour the Prince thought son' ° D"
fit to shew him, was knighted, and styled Sir John Aylmer,
of Rigby in the county of Lincoln, Knight. He married
Susan, daughter and heiress of Sampson of Suffolk.
Of his fourth and fifth and seventh sons, Zachary, Na- His fourth,
thaniel, and Edmund, I know httle; only that Zachary andseventn
Edmund, as they were brothers, so they were friends, asons-
most entire affection passing between them. As a notable
testimony whereof, when EdmUnd lay sick, Zachary never

122 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, left him, but was continuaUy with him night and day to
x- the very last ; never to be parted from each other tiU death
made the separation : and that was not long ; which Zachary
himself, as it were by some hidden instinct, was aware of.
For when the joiner came to take measure of the corpse of
his brother to make his coffin, Zachary at the same time
ordered him to take his measure also for the same intent ;
and his coffin was made too ; in which he was enshrined in
a short time after, and died without issue. A commendable
instance of that affection and love that ought to be between
near relations, and such as nature hath tied together in
blood.
Tobel, his Tobel, his sixth son, had Archbishop Whitgift for his
sixth son. ,.'-...„.
Fuller. godfather, who so named mm according to the signification
of the word, (that is, The Lord is good,) in memory of a
great deliverance by the goodness of God this chUd's mo
ther received, and the chUd too, cast out of her coach, being
big with chUd, and no harm followed. He was styled, Tobel
Aylmer, of Writtle in Essex, gentleman. He took to wife
Mary, daughter of John Sammes, of Toppingohal in Hat-
Ex Officio field Peverel, in Essex ; and had by her John Aylmer, his
' eldest son, Rector of Bletneso and Melchborn in the county
of Bedford ; and Tobel, of London, gentleman, who mar
ried Margaret,- daughter of John Casinghurst, of Lether-
head in the county of Surrey : besides which two sons he
had a daughter, named Mary, married to John Acton, son
of John Acton the King's goldsmith : which second Tobel
had issue two daughters, Mary and Margaret ; as appears
by a visitation of London taken by S. George about the
year 1636.
His daugh- The Bishop's daughters were, Judith, who married WU
liam Linch, of Kent; and Elizabeth, married to Sir John
Fohot, of Pirton in the county of Worcester, Knight ; who
had issue Aylmer Foliot ; and he Aylmer Fohot, of Yard-
ley in the same. county, a worthy and a learned man, and
of a good estate, lately deceased. The Bishop had a third
daughter, (or one of the former by a second marriage,)
Dr. Squire, matched with Dr. Squire, a Divine and Preacher. There

BISHOP AYLMER. 123
be two copies of verses of his extant upon the death of CHAP.
Bishop Jewel, one in Latin, the other in Greek. This Bi- X-
shop he styled his master in those verses ;
Heu ! mihi, mors rapuit dominum.
So that Squire seems either to have been his Chaplain, or
brought up under him ; and that that Bishop exhibited to
him in the University. And I find he had in that Bishop's
life a dispensation for the vicarage of Conmore in the diocese
of Sarum. This man was somewhat fantastical, as appears
in that he would needs preach his own wedding sermon ;
which he did from that text, It is not good far Adam to be
alone ; Adam being his own Christian name. But this was
not the worst of him ; for he proved an unkind husband, Squire the
and a dissolute man. She was a virtuous woman, and weUS0'* .^^w-
brought up. But he, to cover his disloyalty to her bed,
unworthily feigned an intrigue between her and a Knight ;
and, as we are told, framed a letter from the Knight unto Brief view
her, which was indeed his own inventing, to bespatter her of *{|e State
reputation. The Bishop sent for the Knight, and found Church.
out the truth : and soon after, arguing the case between
him and his son-in-law, soundly cudgeUed him for his
baseness ; which Martin Marprelate hearing of, thus abu
sively related it ; " that he went to buffets with his son-in-
" law for a bloody nose."
He had good preferments in the Church. In one whereof, Squire a
by the statutes of the church where it was, he was bound
to keep hospitality ; and to have every Saturday three Vi
cars Choral at supper ; and every Tuesday to feed all the
poor that came to his house for alms : and there came
weekly above ninety persons. But as he was vicious, so he
was of a prodigal humour, and ran much in debt : and his
houses and chancels belonging to his livings feU into great
decay. He was also in the Queen's debt for first-fruits and
tenths ; and was fain to make use of a protection. So that
at last the Lord Treasurer, the Bishop, and his eldest son,
and four other commissioners, took the management of his
debts, the Archbishop of Canterbury having granted his

124 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, creditors the sequestration of his hvings. This sequestra
tion tha Bishop procured to stop his vice and profuseness,

and to see his just debts satisfied ; taking care that his al
lowance out of the sequestration should be but a bare sub
sistence; because his father-in-law was minded hereby, if
possible, to reduce this lavish sinful man to thrift and repent
ance. But Squire laboured with the Lord Treasurer that
he might have these sequestrators nominated by the Bishop
removed, and this sequestration taken off: for that all his
creditors would have been content upon his own word (ex
cepting Dr. Bingham) without sureties to have borne with
him, and to have received portionaUy as his revenues had
come in, if the sequestration had been released. Whereas
he did then daUy more and more incur forfeitures. That
it were better for him to resign aU his hvings, and to com
mit his body to his creditors, than to suffer the Bishop of
London (in whose debt he said he was not, but the Bishop
in his) to keep his living from him, and to receive aU the
profits into his own purse. That he could stay no longer
at Court, partly for want, and partly for fear of imprison
ment, his protection being ended. That in his journey he
must have begged, had not Sir Francis KnoUes given him
some money to bring him home. And when he should come
home, he had not one penny to maintain him and his fa
mUy : and yet he was bound by oath, and the statutes of
the church to which he belonged, to keep hospitality. This
was the substance of a letter he wrote to the said Lord
Treasurer, August 12, 1587. And the said compassionate
Lord the said day, either by letter or word of mouth, moved
the Bishop for some favour to be shewed this spendthrift.
Whereat the very same day the Bishop signified his mind
in this grave and earnest manner to the Treasurer :
The Bi- " My singular good Lord, (my duty remembered,) I
concernfn"" trust your &ood LordshiP wil1 have due consideration of
Squire. " my lewd son-in-law, that neither by pity, whereto you
" are naturaUy enclined, nor by importunity of friends,
" which such a lewd fellow shall commonly find ready, you

BISHOP AYLMER. 125
" wUl forget any piece of that fear which you owe unto CHAP.
" God, or that singular care which your Lordship hath
" ever had to cleanse the Church, the Spouse of Christ, of
" aU hypocrites and filthy livers. And upon that confi-
" dence I am bold to pray your good Lordship, that such
" an acolastus, and dilapidator rerum ecclesiasticarum, shall
" not carry any piece of Christ's patrimony away to main-
" tain his vicious hfe : or that he and his friends shall find
" such favour in Court, that a sequestration, granted by
" my Lord of Canterbury's Grace, and of his coUeagues,
" men of great wisdom, knowledge, and consideration,
" should now be discredited, (a matter whereof there is no
" precedent,) to bring the fruits of Squire's hvings to hungry
" men's hands, as those two were which were offered to your
" Lordship ; whereby the unthrift might make some piece
" of money, and so run away ; and so the creditors be de-
" feated of aU satisfaction ; which hitherto they have had
" good hope of. The sequestrators are for one piece, Mr.
" Francis Hastings and Mr. Purefoy, of Leicestershire ; the
" others, my eldest son, and one Mr. Kemp, of the Temple,
" Utterbarister ; whom your Lordship may at aU times
" cause to be caUed to account: where otherwise, being
" committed to such needy feUows as he hath and wUl
" bring in, your Lordship shah see a mervailous great in-
" convenience to foUow : whereof I shall not need to speak ;
" for your wisdom wUl have thereof sufficient consideration.
" Thus praying God to direct your Lordship in this and
" aU other things, I commit you to the most favourable
" blessings of God. From my manour of Much Hadham,
" this 12th of August, 1587."
The Bishop's vexation with this man, both for his un-
kindness to his daughter, and his other immoralities, was
such, that he accused him at the CouncU-table, where he
gave the Bishop sharp words. But in his own vindication
he soon after ventured to make his protestation to the Lord
Treasurer, (which I must not omit,) that for matters of
crimination objected by the Bishop, he was innocent ; and

126 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, had offered himself to trial in any court in England, saving
______ only where his father-in-law was a Judge; although he
knew, as he said, that aU the civU lawyers almost stood iri
awe of him ; and the rather for that the Lord Archbishop
of Canterbury had joined with him in this action. He pro
tested before the eternal God, that he had ever, untU then-
meeting at the Council-table, in aU humble and most dutiful
sort, reverenced his father-in-law, and most entirely loved
and yet did love his wife; although he had been greatly
abused, and strangely dealt withal.
What afterwards became of this loose man I know not.
But his son John seems to have been left in low circum
stances ; whom his uncle, Dr. TheophUus Aylmer, brought
up and maintained at the University, and proved a sober
and honest man. He enjoyed the benefice of St. Leonard,
Shoreditch, London, by the means of his uncle, and other
preferments ; which he gratefully acknowledged in print, as
was said before. He was endued with good learning, as
appears by his sermon preached at Paul's Cross anno 1523,
upon the second Commandment ; which hath a great deal
of reading in it.
The Bi- Having said aU this of our Bishop, and his chUdren, I
and family, might add somewhat of his name and famUy, which was
ancient and genteel. I find several of the Ayimers in the
city of. Norwich about the beginning of the sixteenth cen
tury commencing 1500. In St. Peter's church in Norwich
was buried one Richard Aylmer, with an old inscription in
Latin verses upon him ; which shew him to have been
Mayor of that city, and derived of an honourable stock.
Which verses began thus :
Weever's Aylmer Richardus procerum de stipite natus ;
Mon. P. 802. js quondam Major urbisjacet hie tumulatus, &c.
His wife was named Joan ; and by her he had posterity ;
is charactered for a good and a charitable man ; and was
buried anno milleno D. Mno cum duodeno ;
that is, 1514, if 1 take it right. And before him there was

BISHOP AYLMER. 127
one Thomas Aylmer, of Norwich, grocer ; whose last will CHAP.
bare date 1500 ; who therein left a legacy to his aunt, Mar- _____
garet Parker : which Margaret seems to have been grand
mother to Matthew Parker, Queen Elizabeth's first and
most worthy and weU-deserving and learned Archbishop of
Canterbury. Of this famUy, I suppose, was Laurence Aylmer, Sheriff Stow'sSurv.
of London anno 1501, and Mayor 1507 ; serving out the
year upon the decease of WUliam Brown, Mayor. This
Laurence was a draper, and son of Thomas Aylmer, of
EUesnam in Essex, a neighbour county to Norfolk.
And of the same famUy I make no doubt was that George Geo. Ayi-
Ayhner, one of the chief of the Friars of the Priory of St. J^'D°S of '
John of Jerusalem in London, who at the dissolution of Jerusalem.
rehgious houses under King Henry VIII. was one of those
stout Knights of the Priory that would not surrender the
house to the King, as many of the other monasteries did.
But however, when this house was dissolved by act of Par
hament, he fared pretty well, notwithstanding his obsti
nacy, having 100Z. pension aUowed him for life by the same
act. •
To aU the rest let me add, that I find one Mrs. Fraunces mss. in
Aylmer, a gentlewoman of the Court, who was one of the morc_-
ladies that attended Queen Jane, King Henry VIII.'s most
beloved wife, on horseback at her most splendid and so
lemn funeral S.
Our Bishop kept a good house, having eighty servants The Bi-
with him in his fanrily. And besides, he buUt and repaired h_j'eskeep_
houses, bridges, scoured and cleansed ditches and common ing and
sewers, &c. in which he spent more than any Bishop 0f exPenses-
London before him had done in forty years. And whereas
it was not unusual in those times for Bishops to obtain the
Queen's release of first-fruits, he generously forbore to sue
for it, considering the Queen's great charges.
And yet by his good and provident husbandry he laid His pur-
out 16000Z. in purchase of lands not long before his death, chase•
e See Additions, Numb. VII.

128 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. And when he died, his goods of aU sorts came to about
K' __ 1000Z. ; which was most of it spent upon his funerals.

His diiapi- But notwithstanding aU the charges and expenses which
dations. ^ gjsjj0p bestowed in necessary reparations, such were the
decays of that great structure of St. Paul's, and his ancient
palace at London, that three years after the Bishop's death
the cost of putting them in repair was computed at 6513Z.
14*. as Bishop Bancroft, his next successor but one, brought
For which in ; who sued Mr. Aylmer, the Bishop's son and heir, for
croft°suesn" dilapidations, (as the Bishop had sued his predecessor,) and
his son. obtained a sentence in the Arches against him for 4210/. 1*.
8d. But, to speak the truth, Paul's church had been in a
decaying condition before Aylmer came to the see; and
what he and his predecessors could do themselves, or gather
from others, towards the repairs, could not effect it. The
sentence aforesaid took not effect, because the personal estate
was not sufficient to satisfy the sum awarded. Bancroft
thereupon desired the Lord Treasurer's good liking and
furtherance, to prefer a biU in the High Court of Parha
ment for sale of so much of his lands as should suffice to
discharge the dilapidations, considering the said lands were
bought with part of that; money that should have kept the
church and houses in repair : and added, that it had cost
him a thousand marks to repair the house at London, being
ready to faU down when he came to it. It was said also by
the said Bancroft, that Bishop Aylmer made 6000Z. of his
woods, and left scarce enough to find the present Bishop
yearly fuel ; and that he let out leases, some for an hundred
years and above, and some for fifty. But he now suing
Mr. Aylmer at the law, some caution must be had in the
reader how he takes aU in the strictest sense, especiaUy
having no opportunity of hearing the other side, and re
membering what the Bishop himself in his lifetime urged
concerning his woods. I do not know what issue this came
to : it seems Mr. Aylmer set him at defiance, and said, Let
the Bishop of London repair how he list, but he should re
pair nothing with his money. But I have been told by
some of his posterity, that he was fain to part with a round

BISHOP AYLMER. 129
sum at last, and to seU some part of his estate to make sa- CHAP.
tisfaction. X-

CHAP. XI.
Some observations upon Bishop Aylmer. Certain things
charged upon Mm cleared. The Lord Burghley his
friend.
W E cannot leave our Bishop yet, till we have in some A review
reflections and considerations taken a review of him, and Bishop.
looked into bis nature and disposition, his good acquired
accomplishments of learning and judgment, his friends and
enemies, and what things were charged upon him as faults
in the administration of his episcopal function.
I shall begin with the last of these. For however care- Faults
fully and conscientiously the Bishop behaved himself in hisuporfhim.
office, he could not escape many and various censures and
UI representations made of him and his actions. But I- must
premise, that the ground of aU the accusations that were
preferred to the Queen and CouncU against him, for the
most part were his prosecutions of such as went contrary to
the rules and orders appointed in the Church. For he
spared not his pains to keep the Church of England in that
stay of doctrine and discipline wherein it was settled, when
with so much mature advice and dehberation it shook off
Popery at first.
The greatest broU he met with was, that he was reported Wronging
to have made a great waste of his woods, to the injury andfeiiing the '
impoverishment of the see. In the year 1579, he madewood-
indeed a considerable faU of wood and timber. The inform
ation whereof was brought to the Council : and the Lord
Treasurer soon wrote to him upon this complaint ; and in
his free and plain manner blamed him for what he had
done ; and withal told him, that there was a Bishop once
deprived for such a thing. But the Bishop on the other

130 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, hand a little nettled, and, being somewhat a hot man in his
_____ nature, called these undigested surmises; and, conscious
that he had done nothing but what he could answer, was
resolved to stand to the justifying of his own doings. But
what his pleas and vindication of himself was, we have seen
already.
Charged for The Bishop was again blamed for his too hastUy and
for mar-0" negligently granting licences for marriage, without due exa-
riage. mination concerning the consent of the parents, guardians,
and friends of the parties to be married. The occasion
whereof was, that in July 1583 some noble person's son or
daughter was matched unequaUy and unhappUy, by means
of one of these licences. Whereupon the complaint was
brought before the Council-table h. And the officer named
Mr. Blackwel, was sent for by a warrant from the Lord
Treasurer, to appear before the CouncU, to examine him
about granting this licence. But both he and Dr. Stanhop,
the Bishop's ChanceUor, protested they neither knew nor
heard of the fault tUl the Lord Treasurer's warrant came :
whose charge they confessed it was, if they had been pre
sent, to have looked unto it. The Bishop himself was also
sent for to the Council, where he was twitted for his li
cences: though if there were any fault committed in this
particular, the blame lay in his officers, not in him. But
effectually to prevent such unfortunate accidents for the
future, out of his good zeal and fatherly care, he forthwith
sent order to Dr. Stanhop, inhibiting him for granting any
licences at all : which he professed most wUlingly to obey :
but withal desired, that there might be one uniform order
in all courts, whence these licences were to be granted.
Faculties. For the courts out of which they were taken, besides that
of the Bishop of London, were that of the Archbishop of
Canterbury's Vicar General, the Court of Faculties, whereof
Dr. Lewin was Judge; the Consistory of every Bishop:
and in some places the Commissary in partibus used it ; and
some Archdeacons challenged it by prescription : there was
t> See Additions, Numb. VIII,

BISHOP AYLMER. 131
also the exemption of the Tower; by pretence of which an CHAP.
ancient Priest, commonly called Old Sir Roger, did marry x1.

without any licence. For, as Stanhop prudently signified Old Sir
to the Bishop, if he made special restraint of his licences, IU,ger"
and aU other courts were left at hberty, although the
judges of those courts were careful themselves herein, yet
their courts being kept in London, it was easy for those
that meant evU to seek that in one place, which they might
not have in another, as daUy experience shewed in the ex
emption of the Tower ; by virtue whereof Old Sir Roger
married many a couple, which licences could not or would
not be obtained. And if other courts were not restrained,
as weU as that of the Bishop of London, as the subject
would receive no benefit, so a blot would only remain upon
the Bishop's court, and his jurisdiction be in part over
thrown ; when men should know, that they were driven to
leave his court to sue to another.
Therefore upon these considerations, and for a due regu
lation of these hcences every where, the said learned Civilian
craved of the Bishop, that he would endeavour with their
Honours of the CouncU, that certain restraints might be
put upon aU courts where such hcences were wont to issue
out : first, for the form of them ; and secondly, for certain
limitations to be observed concerning them.
For the forms, he sent the Bishop a copy of that of the
court of Canterbury, and another of that of London.
Whereby it might appear, that the latter was a great deal
more strait in respect of the manner of the hcences, and the
consent of the parents. And if by comparing both it should
be found, that that form of London were less disordered, then
that his Lordship would procure that form might generaUy
stand. The limitations to be observed to be these :
First, That no hcence pass, but that it be directed to
some certain parish, and either to the Parson, Vicar, or Cu
rate, who did continuaUy serve there. So might the officers
know upon present search, where to answer the delivery of
their licences.
x 2

132 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. Secondly, That no licerice should pass for any maid, (rich
XI" or poor,) but that the clause in English subscribed be set
unto it. For that every Minister was not to understand
Latin. Thirdly, That none that came for licence should be al
lowed to it by the Register : but that he should bring him
to the Judge, to examine the cause and the necessity of the
licence before it pass. And so the Register to receive his
instructions at the Judge's hands, in presence of the party
that sued for the licence.
Fourthly, That no bond under two hundred pounds
should be taken for any licence of the meanest. And so
according to the quality of the person, the sum of the bond
to be raised.
Fifthly, That one clause in every bond to be taken be,
that the parties be of that quality, and no other than they
are named in the licence; as either by the name of his
occupation, trade, gentry, or upward.
Sixthly, That no licence pass for any maid, but that the
quahty of the parents be set down truly : and that likewise
to be a clause in the bond.
Seventhly, That where the party himself to be married
did not come to sue about the licence, the solicitor, or who
soever else did follow it, should put in known security that
the parties were of that quahty, and of no other than he did
avouch them to be.
These were the Civihan's restraints devised for marriage
licences, recommended by him to the Bishop : to which he
in his wisdom might add more. But in behalf of defence
and maintenance of the Bishop's court and jurisdiction, and
for the care he had that they might not be noted above aU
others to be restrained from that which was the hberty of
others ; he humbly required of the Bishop, that these, or
what other orders soever were thought necessary, might be
by the Queen's honourable Council given generaUy to all
courts, and all limited to one manner of bounds.
Heischarg- Another time an accusation was brought to the Queen
pri RiSTfLin for ^^ ^^
disorders in against our Bishop by some of his back-friends, and that
Essex. .

BISHOP AYLMER. 133
only upon hearsay ; which reflected upon his care of seeing CHAP.
due conformity observed in his diocese; a thing apt to prcK _______
voke the Queen against her Bishops more than any other.
Therefore they told her of reports of great disorders in
Essex, a considerable part of his diocese; and that the
Ministers there in their several churches had ways and
forms of their own, aU different from the appointed service ;
and that there were not seven churches in the whole county
one hke another. This was a severe charge indeed, if it had
been true. This happened in November 1581. The Bi
shop understanding such an information to be brought to
the Queen against him, was not a little nettled at it ; and
forthwith caused a diligent search to be made in Essex. And
after aU had not found three churches in the whole county,
wherein the service of the book was not observed. Where
upon he prayed the Lord Treasurer, that he would let her
Majesty know (and that on his credit) the falsehood of this
report, and the conformable condition of his diocese : add
ing his resentment, that any should so far abuse her Ma
jesty upon credit of others, and teU the Queen matters not
of their own knowledge. And to signify his dihgence in
his place to cure aU disorders, he shewed the Lord Trea
surer, how by them of the ecclesiastical Commission orders
were given out, that Apparitors and officers should on
Lord's days go from church to church to see what confor
mity was used everywhere, and to certify accordingly. Of
this also the Bishop thought convenient that the said Peer
should advise the Queen, and to understand further her
pleasure in the same.
In these and divers other matters, there wanted not for Desires to
persons to misrepresent him to the Queen; which, when t_ QUgen .
they were better and more throughly known and under
stood, proved but calumnies. And therefore when some
time the Queen seemed to give too much credit to these
reports, the Bishop would Remind her of the request he
made to her upon his first access to his charge, desiring he
might enjoy the promise she had then made him thereupon :
that his adversaries might not carry it away without his an-
x3

134 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, swer, nor she condemn him without his deserts. And when
_______ he found his enemies aspersing him liberaUy, and he not
caUed to speak in his own vindication, he would sometimes
be a remembrancer to the Treasurer, and say, he did not
doubt her Majesty would graciously caU to her remem
brance what a princely promise she made him more than
once at his first coming to that place, that whatsoever should
be informed against him, he should come to his answer.
The performance whereof he hoped she would honourably
grant him.
Marpre- By the above written it appears, that our Bishop wanted
ders of this neither enemies nor slanderers. Whereof one was Maddocks,
Bishop. wno refrained not from shewing his spite against him, even
before the Lord Treasurer himself, teUing him, that the
Bishop's dealings were under the censures of many, and his
life gained evil speeches of all. But it must be marked
that a great part, or most of these his Ul-wUlers, were such
as he procured by that which he counted the discharge of
his own duty and conscience, namely, the pressing obedience
to the estabhshed Church and Liturgy. These men of the
separation threw loads of reproaches and vUifications upon
him. And every one of therii Martin Marprelate carefully
picked up, arid howsoever slenderly vouched, he clapped
into his book, the more to expose the Bishop. Some, and
the chief whereof, we will here mention.
Detaining He told a lamentable story of the Bishop for detaining
goods. stolen goods, viz. a parcel of cloth found within his manor
of Fulham, left there by certain thieves, who had taken it
from certain diers living at the Old Swan in Thames-street.
But when the diers came to challenge their cloth, the Bi
shop said it was his own, because taken within his own
lordship: and that if it was theirs, the law should pass
upon the thieves, and then he would talk further with
them. The thieves were tried and executed, and they con
fessed the cloth to be theirs that claimed it. But notwith
standing the diers could never get their cloth. With this
the scurrilous author made sport, saying, the cloth was
good blue, and so might weU serve for the-liveries of the

BISHOP AYLMER. 135
Bishop's men; and good green, and so would serve for his CHAP.
cushions, and the coverings of his tables. XI-
Another story was told of him, which I put also among Wronging
the rank of his slanders. That one George Allen, being his grocer-
the Bishop's grocer, and dying, Tho. Allen and Rich. Al-
worth, merchants of London, were his executors. And
finding in the books of the deceased the Bishop to owe 14/.
odd money, on Easter- Wednesday, of all the days of the
year, they waited upon him at his palace at London for the
said money, for that they were to dispose of it according to
the trust reposed in them. But that the Bishop called them
rascals and vUlains, saying, that he owed the- deceased no
thing, and that he had a general acquittance to shew. But
when they desired him to shew his discharge, and they
should be satisfied, he would shew them none, but bade
them go sue him. And then they rephed, Do you use us
thus for asking our due ? We would you should know, we
are no such vUe persons. To whom the Bishop again,
Away, citizens ! nay, you are rascals ; you are worse than
wicked mammon. And so lifting both his hands, and fling-.
ing them down again, said, You are thieves, you are co
zeners. Take that for a Bishop's blessing ; and so get you
hence : and so thrust them out of doors. But when they
shortly after went to bring the matter to further trial, he
sent a messenger to them confessing the debt. Yet they
could not get the money to this day.
Another of his enemies' slanders was, that he kept one Keeping
Benison, a poor man, in the Clink, for I cannot teU howC]ink
long, unjustly without cause.
They threw it also as an heinous reproach on him, that Ordaining
he ordained his porter that waited at his gate, for a Min- 1S p0
ister. These and divers other stories were but the effects of a These ca-
calumniating spirit ; and were either false, or, if there were w;pej off
any truth in them, they were so put together, as to make
that criminal and heinous, which indeed was justifiable, or
at least excusable. But the hbeUer, to set out his pasquil,
raked aU things by aU reports from aU the, sycophants in
k 4

136 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, the world, and made no choice of men or matter, so that it
______ might serve his turn; as an author in those times, (sup-
Admonit; posed to be Cowper, Bishop of Winchester,) in his answer
People of to Martin's libel, speaks ; who wiped off all these foul and
England, lying representations of this and other worthy Bishops in
' Queen Elizabeth's reign, and set in true light the disguised
stories told of them.
And from him to assoil these dire accusations. The busi
ness between the Bishop and the diers in truth was thus.
That upon notice given to the said Bishop, that such cloth
was waived within his manor of Fulham, and left in a ditch
there, and no owner known, he presently, hoping to take
them that brought it thither, or at least to save the same
from purloining or miscarrying, appointed the same to be
watched divers nights. And in the end, hearing neither of
the owners, nor of them that so waived it, wUled the same
to be brought to his house in Fulham, and there to be kept
for him or them which by law ought to have it, were it in
respect of the first property, or of the alteration thereof By
means of the hberties. Whereupon a good space after, the
diers indeed came to the Bishop and claimed the cloth, and
sought by earnest means to have it again, without making
any proof that the cloth was theirs, or that the same cloth
was it, for which the thieves were executed, or that fresh
suit was made after the said thieves for the same. But
upon conference had with learned lawyers therein, it was re
solved, that the property of this cloth was altered, and trans
ferred to the liberties. And so the diers themselves found ;
else they wotUd by law have sought remedy ere this, three
years being now past since this pretended loss of the cloth.
Yet nevertheless, so far had the Bishop been from exacting
the extremity, that offer had been made to the diers of a
good part of the cloth, where in law they had lost aU:
and farther to restore all, or to make sufficient recompense,
if by law it ought to be so, upon the examination of the
truth of the cause. Marprelate indeed caUed this down
right theft, though it were taken and claimed by right and
law, because the true owners were defeated. _And this is

BISHOP AYLMER. 137
no more than the law doth in other cases : as in strays, pro- CHAP.
claimed and kept a year and a day, according to the law,
the property is altered, and transferred to the lord from the
true owner. So is it for stolen cattle, brought bona jide to
the open market. The first owner's property is gone, and
the buyer hath it. And so it was for waived goods, as was
that cloth. So that herein the Bishop did but maintain the
common known right and privUege of his manor, and no
otherwise than any other lord of a manor would and might
do in the hke case. But to shew that he had not so great
a desire to detain the cloth as the libeUer presumed, he
oftentimes asked an officer of his, how it happened that the
diers came not for it : for he had been ever ready, and still
was, (and so the apologist seemed to have warrant from him
to declare,) to dehver it to them, or the value thereof, if it
proved to be theirs.
As to the executors of Allen the grocer, it is true the Bi
shop was somewhat moved to hear his name to be in the mer
chants' books ; a thing which he ever so precisely avoided,
that commonly he sent to them he had to do with, warning
them to dehver nothing in his name, without his own hand,
or ready money. Hence if peradventure, provoked by the
executors, he used some sharp words in a matter that was
so sudden and so strange to him, it must be placed among
human fraUties. But certain it is, that though not at that
time, yet very shortly after, the debt was discharged ; and
that long before Martin's railing book came forth, excepting
ten pounds, which the said executors themselves for a time
respited. The business the Bishop had with one Barnabe Benison, Benison's
who caUed himself student in divinity, and who for his
perverseness was kept in the Chnk half a year and more,
was thus. This man had studied for some time at Geneva ;
and after a convenient stay returned into England, full
fraught with the study of innovation and disobedience, set
ting up his station in London : where he was married by
some other order different from the book and usage of the
Church of England: and it seems bore out himself by

138 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, grave Mr. Fox, the martyrologist; who, being mistaken in
______ him, favoured him at first, but afterwards acknowledged
with grief of heart that he had been abused by him. Now
Bemson gathered conventicles, refused to go to his parish
church, sought to set all in combustion with schism in the
city. Whereupon he was caUed before Sir Nic. Wood-
roff, a grave citizen, (that had been Lord Mayor anno
1580,) and the Recorder; who found him in such an
humour, that they ineant to have sent him to prison. But
because he was of the Clergy, they thought good to com
mit him to his Ordinary. The Bishop's Ordinary travaUed
with him most earnestly to bring him to the Church, and
become orderly ; but after all could profit nothing with
him. Wherefore he sent him again to the sessions, to the
Lord Mayor and the Judges. After they had dealt with
him, and could find at his hands nothing but railing, they
referred him to the Bishop ; who finding in him unspeak
able disobedience to the Queen and her laws, offered him
the oath usuaUy tendered by the Commission, which he
contemptuously and spitefully refused. Which being cer
tified according to order, he was sent to the King's Bench,
and condemned, and thereupon sent to prison. And what
at length could the Bishop have done less ?
But it seems the Bishop had in the managery of the matter
with this man somewhat overshot himself, and not proceeded
so circumspectly in the imprisonment of him for so long
time. For Benison's cause being brought before the Lords of
the CouncU, the Bishop was judged to have dealt too hardly
with him, and received therefore some reprimand. This
made Benison's friends and the Bishop's enemies to triumph.
And he, to second his blow, (that I may put aU together,)
preferred a petition to the Lords, " That it would please
" them to inform the Queen, while his affliction was yet
" something fresh within her remembrance, that for the
" late loss and great hindrance he had sustained by his late
" imprisonment, over and beside his former harm done him,
" the Queen would take some pity on him, and that in three
" regards especiaUy. First, his charges of close imprison-

BISHOP AYLMER. 139
"ment thirty weeks in the Clink; having a man conti- CHAP.
" nuaUy suing to their Honours for him : whose expenses, XL
" besides his ordinary maintenance, were great and charge-
" able unto him. And that it might be judged, that nei-
" ther he, nor any poor student else, who had been ten-
" derly brought up after an honest manner in learning,
" could not any way live conveniently in so costly a place
" so long time under 4>0l. cost at least. Secondly, the un-
" faithful dealing of sundry men with him, who had most
" part of his household-stuff in their hands when he went
" to prison ; and the utter spoU of his books, both at his
" chamber, and also in the prison, brought no less damage
" unto him than were his costs in the Clink, with much
" grief because he could get no such books again, as were
" the most of those he missed. Thirdly, his tenement of
" freehold, aU the stay of living that was left him of his
" father, was so ruined, and utterly spoUed in his absence
" especiaUy, as an 100Z. would not in aU things repair it
" again, and bring it to the same ableness for her Majesty's
" service, that it was in, in his ancestors' days.
" Wherefore these things briefly informed by their Ho-
" nours, and his present poverty opened unto herj to wit,
" that it would please them to teU her, that he was not
" then able, unless he would seU his poor apparel off his
" back, or cover of his bed, to lay out 40s. for his recovery
" of ought of that which was unjustly taken from him, and
" by force kept still. Which if they would do, he would
" nothing doubt of it, but that God, who of his mercy to-
" ward him made her Majesty to pity him for his long im-
" prisonment, and other wrongs received of the Lord Bi-
" shop, would now again move her to set down, according
" to this Christian clemency he had ingrafted into her, some
" good order of recompensing of him for the great wrong
" the Bishop had done him." But how weU or how UI this
petition was taken of the Lords I cannot teU. And so much
for Benison.
As for the charge, that the Bishop made his porter aof'maMn|e
Minister ; aU things considered he thought it to be justifi- h« porter
¦ ¦ ¦ o o •" a Minister,
cleared.

140 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, able and lawfully done, and not to lack example of many
' such that had been after that sort admitted, both since the

Queen's coming to the crown, by many good Bishops, and
by sound histories ecclesiastical. That where Churches, by
reason of persecution, or multitudes of hamlets and free
chapels, had commonly very small stipends for the Min
isters, honest godly men, upon the discretion of the go
vernors of the church, had been, and might be, brought in
to serve, in the want of learned men, in prayer, administra
tion of the Sacraments, good example of life, and in some
sort of exhortation. And this man therefore, when the Bi
shop found him by good and long experience to be one that
feared God, to be conversant in the Scriptures, and of very
honest life and conversation, he aUowed of him to serve in
a small congregation at Paddington ; where commonly, for
the meanness of the stipend, no preacher could be had ; as
in many places it came to pass, where the parsonage was
impropriate, and the provision for the Vicar or Curate very
smaU. And how that poor man behaved himself there,
time and trial proved him : for he continued in that place
with the good liking of the people eight or nine years, tiU
he grew duU of sight for age, and thereby unable to serve
any longer. It is to be found among the Greek Canons,
that in Spain and Africa, when the Goths and Vandals had
by extreme persecution made havock of the Churchmen,
those few that were left there alive made their moan to the
Churches of Rome and Italy, that their churches stood
empty, because they could get none to serve, no not such
as were unlearned. Whereby it appears, that in the time
of necessity, and such great want, the Church did aUow of
very mean clerks ; and so did they in the beginning of this
Queen's reign.
other ca- It is hard to relate aU the aspersions and stories they cast
upon this grave Father. For besides the former, they
charged him for cutting down the fair elms of Fulham;
and for taking part with his man, who endeavoured to
wrong a poor shepherd of a legacy left him. The false
hood of both which hath been declared before. They rudely

lumnies.

BISHOP AYLMER. 141
nicknamed his Lordship (whose Christian name was John) CHAP.
Don John, and sometimes, by an easy variation from thence, XI'
Dumb John ; intending thereby to fetch him over for lazi
ness and neglect of preaching. Whereas in truth he was
both a great and a learned preacher, and had been very
successful therein. In former time he was the only preacher
in Leicestershire: whereby, under God, that county was
brought out of ignorance to knowledge and sound religion.
When afterwards he was Archdeacon of Lincoln, by his
diligent preaching and careful discipline, he purged both
the cathedral church and the county too, and reduced it
to order, sobriety, and religion. Moreover they had the
confidence to give out, that simony was the Bishop's lackey,
and that, according to Marprelate's phrase, Tarleton had
taken him in Don John of London's ceUar : that he urged
men to subscribe contrary to law : that he abused the High
Commission : that he bound an Essex Minister in a bond
of 200Z. to wear his surphce on Easter-day : that he forbade
men to humble themselves in fasting and prayer : and that
he then said unto the preachers, Now you had best tell the
people that we forbid fasts. The occasion of this clamour
seemed to be, that in Lent 1588, by letters to the Arch
deacon of Essex, he had forbidden certain fasts which the
sectaries had of their own authority appointed. Further,
they told it abroad with triumph, how one dame Lawson,
a citizen's wife, a bold prating woman, came to the Bishop
at Paul's gate, and bade him throw himself down at her
Majesty's fleet, and acknowledge himself to be unsavoury
salt, and to erave pardon of her Highness, because he had
so long deceived her and her people. This woman, as it
seems, was set on by the malecontent party. For she took
her opportunity to abuse even the Archbishop of Canter
bury, as weU as the Bishop of London. But the apolo-
gizer, in the name of the Bishop, replied, that this dame
came at no time to him in that bravery. For if she had,
the Bishop was not so soft, but she should have felt of his
discipline, and of the Queen's authority.
They charged him further, that he was a defender of theBh°ew^on bath.

142 THE LIFE OF
chap, breach of the Sabbath, and that he used to play at bowls
XI- on those days. And that he was a swearer, because he used
to say sometimes, By my faith. As to these two last im
putations, the Bishop thus either justified or excused him
self; That he never withdrew himself from service or sermon
on the Lord's days. That Christ, the best expositor of the
Sabbath, said, that the Sabbath was made for man, and
not man for the Sabbath. That man might have his meat
dressed for his health upon the Sabbath ; and why might
he not have some convenient exercise of his body for the
health thereof on that day ? Indeed it was the general cus
tom in those days, both at Geneva, and in all other places
where Protestants inhabited, after the service of the Lord's
day was over, to refresh themselves with bowhng, walking
abroad, or other innocent recreations. And the Bishop fol
lowed that which in his travels abroad he had seen ordina
rily practised among them. As for his using the word, By
his faith, sometimes in his asseverations, the Bishop pleaded,
that if it were an oath, he would amend it ; but he was ap
prehensive of no more in that phrase of speech, By my faith,
than In very truth, Bona fide, Assuredly, or as Amen im-
porteth. Beside the book of Martin Marprelate, wherein most of
these calumnies are cast upon him, there was another book
came forth in these times, written with as much spite against
the Bishops, and Aylmer among the rest, entitled, A Diar
logue concerning the Tyrannical Dealings of the Lord Bi
shops. Where the author spake of his making the porter
of his gate Minister of Paddington, being blind, whenihe
could do him no further service. .But that was known to
be false, that honest man losing his sight divers years after.
And in another place, that this Bishop when he was at best
was but a corrupt man : and that the best thing in his book
[of the Harborough of Faithful Subjects'] savoured but, of
earth, and many things handled in it very immodestly and
unchristianly. And, that I may not conceal any i thing that his slander
ous enemies belched out against him, the very mention

BISHOP AYLMER. 143
whereof is enough to shew their mahce, and to justify the CHAP.
Prelate ; there was another imputation cast upon him, both ¦ '
of covetousness and falsehood. As that he protested once
at Paul's Cross, that he had no money, and that Paul's
church could bear him witness, [upon which he had laid
out so largely in repairs.] And that shortly after one of
his servants robbed him of an 100Z. As though these two
might not well consist together ; that at the time when he
spake those words he might have httle or no money, and
soon after receive an 1001. and have it in his house. Nor
is it an unusual manner of speech for men to say, they have
no money, when they have not plenty of it. The slanderer
added, that for this offence of robbing the Bishop, he hung
three or four : some of which said, they knew he had
money at usury, and that his servants hved upon bribes.
The libeller was put hard to it to blemish the Bishop's
name, when he was fain to make use of the words of rogues
hanged at Tyburn to do it. What credit is to be given to
such, let any one judge.
But in the midst of these enemies he had divers friends, His friends.
and some of them of power and quality at the Court. The
chief of these was the Lord Burghley, Lord Treasurer of
England ; who indeed, as he was a very good and wise
man, so he was a general patron and friend to aU the wor
thy and learned men of the Church. He was this Bishop's
great and constant friend; and he shewed himself never
the less friendly, though he used, as he saw occasion, freely
to speak bis mind, and admonish him in some things which
he thought reprovable. Whereat though the Bishop would
be sometimes a httle nettled, and speak and write to the
Lord Treasurer somewhat hastUy, yet this never abated
that real love the said Lord had for him : which the Bi
shop after long experience being very sensible of, vowed
himself unto him, as his chief patron under God and the
Queen. And when once, viz. in the year 1585, the said
noble Peer had by the Lord North sent a kind message to
him, expressing what an opinion and value he had for him ;
and particularly that he would endeavour to procure him

144 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, more ease by a translation to an easier bishopric, which was
xt- the thing that of all he most desired ; these favours made
a great impression upon the Bishop's grateful heart ; which
by letter to the said Lord he soon expressed : " That he
" understood by the abovesaid Lord North, how much he
" was bound to him, as well for his good opinion of him far
" above any thing that was in him, as also for his honour-
" able purpose to purchase him some more ease in his old
" years, than hitherto it had been his luck to have. That
" though he had neither by obsequious attendance, nor by
" any manner of recompense, nor by any great signification
" of thankfulness, given his Lordship any cause to deal so
" favourably ; yet that it might please him to think of him,
" [the Bishop,] who, he said, was no good courtier, as one
" that could better conceive what and how much he was
" bound unto so honourable a friend, than his plain nature
" by outward shew did commonly vaunt. But that his
" Lordship should find, by God's grace in the end, when
" abUity served, that he would neither forget his obtain-
" ing the archdeaconry of Lincoln for him, nor his honour-
" able countenance for him since he came to that restless
" sea, [he meant the bishopric,] nor the constant conti-
" nuance of his favour and furtherance towards him in his
" long lingering hope of remove." But there was a party
at Court against him, that ever obstructed this from taking
effect, in how great probability soever it was sometimes of
succeeding. He caUed it his burthenous estate in that place, wherein
he found himself every day more and more unapt to supply
what the place and the time required. But he prayed that
God's wiU might be done, who in mercy in his good time
would provide a place for him of more ease, [meaning
heaven,] and a man for that room of more ability. And
thus in the conclusion composing himself as to this matter,
" that though some men sought to hinder the course that
" the Lord Treasurer and other of his honourable friends
" so favourably followed, yet in the end they should do no
" more than God would suffer them."

BISHOP AYLMER. 145
Between the foresaid noble Lord and him was held a con- CHAP. YT
stant good correspondence. For indeed he was a person that.

took a particular care of the Church, and the state of reli- Lord Trea-
gion ; and was, as I may so say, the superintendent of the Burghley.
superintendents of it. And the Bishop, seeing how he was
concerned, not only for the civU state, but the ecclesiastic
also, told him once, that he, the said Lord, might justly say,
not only reipubliece, but, with St. Paul, Mihi incumbit cura
omnium Ecclesiarum. In truth he was one, that, by his ex
traordinary natural parts, and deep and long experience,
had arrived to such a degree of wisdom and understanding,
that when once the Bishop had signified his advice in some
matter, he shortly took up himself with the Latin proverb,
Sed sus Minervam, and said no more. And well know
ing the great stay this said Lord was to the whole kingdom,
at another time he made this prayer for him ; " I pray for
" you as God's good and great instrument in this poor ark
" of Noah, and these most dangerous times.- In which I
" pray God send you the eyes of angels, and the wisdom
" of Solomon."

CHAP. XII.

His great abilities in learning. His disputations: writ
ings. A Logician: an Historian: an Hebrician: a
Civilian.
JjUT let us turn away our eyes from these his troubles,
and take another view of him, as he was a man exceUently
endowed both with human and divine learning.
He gave the first marks of his abUities this way in his Hisdebates
. 1 /-v TIT L ln Queen
disputations in the Convocation under Queen Mary, wnenMary.s
he was a member there. Where he had need both of cou-C°n™ca-
rage and learning too, to withstand the torrent of an assem
bly of Popish Divines, resolvedly bent to overthrow the
Gospel. He managed himself now very well, and shewed

146

THE LIFE OF

Concern
ing the
sense of

CHAP, first that he was a good Grecian ; making that part of his
Xlr learning serviceable now to him. For when Cheny, another
of the Protestant disputants, had quoted a passage out of
Theodoret, to prove that the substance of bread remained
after the consecration, viz. that the elements were the same
after sanctification that they were before; and that they
did not go out of their former substance and form, where
that writer useth the word ova la, substance : and when one
Moreman, a riiember of that Synod, (to evade this aUega-
tion,) had said, that o6<rla was a word that imphed accidence
as well as substance, and accidental substance; Aylmer
shewed learnedly, that ovo-la. could not possibly signify acci
dence in the place alleged. And that was evident from the
two other words used by Theodoret in the same place, viz.
elBo; and vxhy.* ; which signify in Enghsh, shape and form.
He proved moreover out of the same author, that ouo-/a in
Greek could not be so generally taken, as Moreman for a
shift would have had it. This was made good by Aylmer
in the acts of the second day. And two days after, when
Moreman, his antagonist, for his own reputation, had endea
voured to refute what Aylmer had before said, he again
very learnedly confirmed what he had spoken of the sense
of ouo-'ia, by reasons and proofs grounded and brought out
of the Greek. Which so confounded his said opponent,
that he desired a day to overview them, not knowing what
to say.
Another passage of this learned man in this Convocation
must not be omitted: it was this: that when Pern had
made a declaration of his mind against transubstantiation,
and confirmed the sayings and authorities of Aylmer, Dr.
Weston the Prolocutor took him up short, and said, he
wondered that Pern would say so much, because but Friday
last he had subscribed to the contrary. But Aylmer stepped
forth, and told the Prolocutor, that he was to blame to
reprehend any man; partly, for that the House was an
house of hberty, and every man was there free to speak
his conscience,- and partly, because he himself had pro
mised but the day before, that notwithstanding any man

His free
speech to
the Prolo
cutor.

BISHOP AYLMER. 147
had subscribed, he should have free liberty to speak his CHAP.
mind. Such was the bold spirit of the man in a just and _______
good cause.
One passage more must be remembered of this reverend He takes
man with relation to this Synod; which shewed his pru- iocutor "
dence and care for the credit and reputation of himself, and aSain-
those few Protestants with him that were in the House.
For when the Prolocutor after some days would have made
a triumph against them on the side of the Papists, and had
termed their conferences about the argument of transub
stantiation a disputation ; telling the House that they had
three days together answered them, upon promise that they
should answer them [the Papists] again, as the order of
disputation did require; " and if they be able to defend
" their doctrine," said he boastingly, " let them do it :"
Aylmer stood up, and shewed the House how vain a man
this Prolocutor was; affirming, that they never promised
any such matter as to dispute, but only to open and testify
to the world their consciences. For when they were re
quired to subscribe, that which they did was, that they
refused, and said, they would shew reasons which moved
them that they could not with their consciences do it : as
they had partly sufficiently done, and were able to do more.
And therefore that it was Uly caUed by them a disputation;
and that they were worthy to be blamed that were the
authors of that name. And finaUy, that they should but
encumber themselves, and profit nothing, since the matter
was aheady resolved upon in the House, and determined
whatsoever they should do, or dispute to the contrary.
The next specimen Aylmer gave of his learning, was a His book
small but a truly learned piece, caUed, An Harborowe for uarb0.
faithfull and trewe Subjects, against the late blowne Blaste, rough.
concerning the Governement qf Wemen. ]Vherin be con
futed al such reasons, as a Straunger qflate made in that
behalfe: with a breife Exhortation to Obedience. Which
he wrote in his exile, and near upon his coming over into
England, printed in Strasburgh, anno 1559, the Queen
being then newly come to the possession of the crown. It
l 2

148 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, was penned in the name and for the vindication of the
X11' Enghsh Protestants, against a book written by Knox the
Scot, entitled, A Blast against the Government of Women.
Wherein he spake much and vehemently concerning the
unlawfulness of women's government, and for fighting
against and dethroning of Princes, if they opposed and
persecuted rehgion, and earnestly excited the people there
unto, out of hatred to Queen Mary and her persecutions.
This was a doctrine the true Enghsh Protestants in these
times utterly disowned ; and therefore it behoved them at
this juncture especially to clear themselves of by some pub
hc testimony. And this Aylmer did in this book, and
threw such principles rather upon the Papists. And hence
in a place in his book he took occasion to declaim against
the Popish Bishops, and their lascivious living, and their
secular wealth, and spake in these words ; (which Marpre-
late, and after him Will. Prin, made use of against even
Antipathy, the Protestant Bishops;) " Come off, ye Bishops; away
Part li. " with your superfluities : yield up your thousands : be
" content with hundreds, as they be in other reformed
" Churches, where be as great learned men as you are.
" Let your portion be priest-like, not prince-like. Let
" the Queen have the rest of your temporahties and other
" lands to maintain these wars [against the French, that
" now threatened the nation much] which you procured,
" [meaning the Popish Clergy, in compliance with King
" PhUip,] and your Mistress [Queen Mary] left her [Queen
" Elizabeth] embroiled in ; and with the rest to build and
" found schools throughout the realm ; that every parish
" church may have his preacher, every city his superin-
" tendent, to live honestly and not pompously : • which
" wUl never be unless your lands be dispersed and be-
" stowed upon many, which now feed and fat but one.
" Remember that Abimelech, (as he goes on,) when David
" in his banishment would have dined with him, kept such
" hospitality, that he had no bread in his house to give him
" but the shewbread. Where was aU his superfluity to
" keep your pretended hospitality ? For that is the cause

BISHOP AYLMER. 149
" that you aUege, why you must have thousands, as though C H A P.
" you were commanded to keep hospitality rather with a XI1-
" thousand than with an hundred."
Indeed our Divine was then, as appears sufficiently by
what is above said, no friend to the wealth and grandeur of
those Papal Bishops that were then in place, who affected
splendor and glory more than true regard to Christ and his.
flock, and had shewn themselves the greatest opposers of
the Gospel, and the reformation of the corruptions of the
Church. And hence he spared them not. And in another
place of his book, " Could the Bishops ruffle in their robes,
" keep their great horses, and have their thousands yearly,
" with aU the rest of their superfluity, if she [Queen Eliza-
" beth, lately come to reign] were not their bulwark, and
" took care for them, whUe they care not for her :" mean
ing these Popish Prelates, who remained at present in their
places, and whom the Protestants feared might stUl con
tinue there. But Aylmer's expressions were so general
against aU Bishops, that they were afterwards by the ene
mies of episcopacy thrown in his own teeth, and of the rest
of the Protestant Bishops. And he himself was fain to
make apology (the best he could) for those words of his.
One of the taunts on this occasion cast at him by Martin
Marprelate was, that he prayed Bishop Aylmer to resolve
him, that in case this prophecy of Mr. Aylmer (meaning
those words of his book, " come down, ye Bishops, from
" your thousands," &c.) came to pass in his days, who then
should be Bishop of London ?
But to return to the book itself. He dedicated it to the Dedicates it
Earl of Bedford and the Lord Dudley; and therein gave *f Bedford
the reason that moved him to write, protesting, in the name an<1 Lord
of the rest of the learned Protestants, against this Blast to
overthrow the government of women ; and that he took this
work in hand so much the rather, because, if no man should
have done it, all their side should seem to have borne with
it ; which he knew to be so far off, that none that he knew
(he spake of the learned) were any further guilty in this
point, than that by their [pubhc] declaration they had not
l3

150 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, shewed themselves guiltless. " I dare be bold to say,"
X1L added he, "that all the best learned be of the same judgment

" herein, that this my simple treatise shall utter me to be
" of. So that neither our sworn enemies, the Papists, shall
" have any longer leisure to belie us ; nor our half friends,
" which are indifferent to beheve any thing of us hereafter,
" to mistrust us ; nor the high powers themselves in this
" point to fear us. We have learned and taught, we love
" and like, we honour and esteem true obedience to the
" high Ministers of God. And on the contrary, we can no
" skill of seditious disturbers of well settled polices, of rash,
" unbridled breakers of wholesome and godly laws. Thus,
" methinks, I may say in the name of all, because I know
" the contrary opinion to be in few or none. Wherefore let
" our enemies leave off thus to charge us."
But it seems their enemies would not leave off, notwith
standing Aylmer's counsel to them : for the calumny was
too sweet to their enemies to lay it aside. And they con
tinued industriously to blow it about, and to make a noise
against the whole body of the English Protestants for that
single book of Knox's, however disowned and abhorred by
them. For it was three or four years after, that one Tho.
Dorman boldly in print told the English Protestants in ge-
Dorni. neral ; " When it served your turn, you defended stoutly
119. ' P " with tooth and nail, that a woman might not govern a
" realm lawfuUy descended unto her, no, not in civU and
" politic matters. Within how few years, yea months after,
" taught ye, (the time so serving for your purpose,) and
" yet do» that a woman may rule not the realm in temporal
" things [only,] but the Church in spirituals." As though
it were still the Protestants' principle, but that now they
concealed it, because they had a woman on their own side.
And besides this, the Papists had the impudence to lay
the charge still more home, viz. that however the author of
the Harborough pretended that he that wrote that book of
the Blast was a stranger and no Englishman, yet in truth
he was an Englishman. For thus the same Dorman writ ;
" That they covered their malice with the cloak of a

BISHOP AYLMER. 151
" stranger, and so conveyed the fault from themselves to C H A P.
" another. But that the truth was well known to be far xu-
" otherwise." And that first, because [forsooth] Aylmer in
his book had said, that the author of that book against wo
men's government " was grieved, like a good member of that
" body which then suffered," [that is, the Enghsh in exile
under Queen Mary,] therefore he must be English himself,
and of Enghsh principles: for surely the Scottish author
must be said to be so, living in England upon Queen
Mary's access to the crown, and flying then with the rest
of the Enghsh in the beginning of her reign. And se
condly, this author must in Dorman's account be Enghsh,
because Aylmer had said of him, that he shotUd not have
meddled with other Princes, but kept himself in the parti
cular person of his sovereign Lady Queen Mary. Indeed
this might have looked hke some truth, if there had been
no other Queen Mary at that time but she of England.
But there was then a Mary Queen of Scots too ; and of the
same severe temper against the professors of rehgion as the
other Queen her namesake. And concerning her, viz. the
Scotch Queen Mary, it is that Aylmer spake, " that the
" present State then, through the fault of the person and
" not of the sex, was unnatural, unreasonable, unjust, and
" unlawful. And that if he [meaning Knox] had kept him
" in that particular person, he could have said nothing too
" much, nor in such wise as could have offended any indif-
" ferent man : adding this concerning the same Knox, (which
" wUl speak fuU out his mind in this matter,) that this again
" would have been considered, that if the question were to
" be handled, yet were it not meet to bring it into doubt at
" that time, when it could not, nor yet can be, redressed
" (were it never so evU) without manifest and violent wrong
" of them that be in place. For if it were unlawful (as he
" wUl have it) that that sex should govern, yet is it not
" unlawful that they should inherit. And in this point
" their inheritance is so linked with the empire, that you
" cannot pluck from them the one, without robbing them- of
" the other. This doubt might better have been moved,
1.4

152 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. " when the sceptre was, or shall be, in the hand of the male.
J ' " And so if it were found evU, (as I am persuaded it shall

" never be,) it might without the wronging of any be re-
" formed. But now being stablished by law, confirmed by
" custom, and ratified by common consent of aU the orders
" in the realm ; it can be no equity to take it from them,
" nor any colour of honesty or godliness to move any plea
" against them. If nature hath given it them by birth,
" how dare we pull it from them by violence ? If God have
" called them to it either to save or to spiU, why should we
" repine at that which is God's wUl and order ? Are we
" wiser than he in bestowing it ? or so bold to alter that he
" purposeth should come of it ?" Thus fuUy and plainly did
our Divine, in his own and in the name of the rest, declare
their loyal sentiments of obedience to the supreme, be he
man or woman, whom God had brought unto the throne.
However, this could not stop the mouths and pens of their
enemies the Papists, charging them with disloyal principles,
and gladly taking hold of the occasions this foreigner's book
had given them.
Some cha- But as for Aylmer's book, surely it was writ with as close
the book. an<^ l°gieal reasoning and good arguing, as any I have met
with composed in that age, and void of that manner of abu
sive treating of the adversary, (too common in controversial
writers, especiaUy of that time,) deahng in gentle and hu
mane words with the person he undertook to confute. And
his expositions of Scripture throughout the book, which are
divers and sundry, are very sound and learned ; a piece of
learning more rare among Divines then, when the original
languages and the Jewish history were less known.
A specimen Now that the reader may the better see and observe the
ofthebook- design of the author of this treatise, and his style, (espe
ciaUy it being a book somewhat rare to be met with in this
age, now after an hundred and fifty years weU near,) let it
not be counted tedious, if I repeat somewhat at large his
introduction to his said discourse in his own words.
" Like as sick or feble bodies cannot abyde any great
" panges or fittes, or old cracked shyppes any great waves

BISHOP AYLMER. 153
" or windes; so disturbed or maymed commonweal thes are CHAP.
" sone overturned and cast under foot by soden and straung
" mutations. Seing therefore that by frowning fortune and
" Gods wrath, for thoffences of thinhabitantes, Englande
" is of late, both in honour and possessions, not a lytle
" maimed ; yea, takinge a faU through the negligence of
" the nurse, [viz. Queen Mary,] half made a creple ; it is
" necessary for aU good men, and the dutie of aU faithful
" subjects, to have an eye to it, that it runne not upon the
" rockes, and make shippwrake. And as in great cities
" great hede is given, that neither by negligence of the ci-
" tezins, nor mahce of evU-wUlers, it be consumed by fyre,
" or hurt by any other casualtie ; so in common welthes
" must it be provided, that no fyre-brandes of sedicion be
" cast into the houses of mens hartes, to impayre thobedi-
" ence of good subjects, to kindle the hearts of the froward,
" and to destroy honest, godly, and comly order. For
" mans nature being such, as it can hardly be brought to
" stupe, and easUy stirred up to disturbe, aU occasions must
" be cut off, whereby the evyl may be encoraged to cast of
" the yocke of obedience, and the simple brought into doubt
" what thei ought to foUow.
" Happening therefore not long agone to rede a lytle
" book, straungely written by a straunger, to prove that
" the rule of women is out of rule, and not in a common
" welth toUerable; and waving at the first what harme
" might come of it, and feling at the last, that it hath not a
" lytle wounded the conscience of some symple, and almost
" cracked the dutie of true obedience, I thought it more
" then necessary to lay before mens eyes the untruth of the
" argument, the wekenes of the proufes, and the absurditie
" of the whole. In the sifting whereof I mynd to use such
" modestie, that it shaU appear to aU indifferent men, that
" I seke to defend the cause, and not to deface the man ;
" seing this errour rose not of mahce, but of zeal ; and by
" loking more to the present crueltie [viz. under Queen
" Mary] that then was used, then to the inconvenience that
" after might follow. Wherein surely his doing is some—

154 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. " what to be pardoned, considering the grief that, like a
xn' " good member of that bodie which then suffered, he felt,
" to his great sorrow and trouble. For lyke as the eye
" being fuU of tears is the more unable to see, so is the
" mind fuU of sorrow much the less hable to judge.
Eurip. in " As ye see in Euripides, Polymnestor, being for his
" mordring of Polydorus extremeli punished of Hecuba
" and other women, (who pricked out his eyes with pins,)
" cryeth out not only agaynst them that hurt hym, but
Idem in " agaynst the whole sexe that never came nere him. And
'PP- a [n Hippolitus, who for the faut of his stepdame Phedra,
" curseth the whole kind : so this author seyng the tor-
" ments of martyres, the murdring of good men, thimpri-
" sonment of innocents, the racking of the gUtless, the ba-
" nishing of Christ, the receivyng of Antichrist, the spoyl-
" ing of subjects, the maintenance of strangers, the moving
" of warrs, the losse of Englandes honour, the purchasing
" of hatred where we had love, the procuring of trouble
" where we had peax, the spending of treasure where it was
" nedlese ; and to be short, aU out of joynt ; he could not
" but mishke that regiment from whence such fruits did
" spring. Only in this he was not to be excused, (unless
" he alledge ignorance,) that he swarved from the iW&=ens
" to the flecric, that is, from the particular question to the
" general ; as though all the goverment of the whole sexe
" were against nature, reason, right, and lawes, because
" that the present State then, through the faulte of the per-
" sone, and not of the sexe, was unnatural, unreasonable,
" unjust, and unlawful. If he had kept him in that parti-
" cular person, he could have said nothing to much, nor in
" such wise, as could have offended any indifferent man.
" And this again would have been considered, that if the
" queston were to be hanled, yet was it not mete to bring
" it into doubt at that time, when it could not, nor yet can
" be, redressed (were it never so evil) without manifest and
" violent wrong of them that be in place. For if it were
" unlawful (as he will have it) that the sexe should go-
" verne, yet is it not unlawful that they should inherit, as

BISHOP AYLMER. 155
" hereafter we shaU prove. And in this point their en- CHAP.
" heritance is so lynked with the empyre, that you cannot XIt'
" pluck from them thone without robbing them of thother.
" This doubt might better have been moved, when the
" sceptre was, or shaU be, in the hand of the male. And
" so, if it were found evU, (as I am persuaded it shall never
" be,) it might without the wronging of any be reformed.
" But now being stablyshed by law, confirmed by custom,
" and ratified by common consent of all the orders in the
" realm ; it can be no equitie to take it from them, nor any
" colour of honestie or godhnes to move any plea against
" them. If nature hath given it them by birth, how dare
" we puU it from them by violence ? If God have caUed
" them to it either to save or to spUl, why should we repine
" at that which is God's wUl and order ? Are we wiser then
" he in bestowing it ; or so bold to alter that he purposeth
" should come of it ? If he hable women, shaU we unhable
" them ? If he ment not they should minister, he could
" have provided other. Therefore the safest way is, to let
" him do his wiU which can do best ; which can see plainly
" that wUl follow it, where we bhndly guesse, and do but
" grope at it. Per me reges regunt, saith Wisdom in the
" person of God.. By him reign they, and not by us. It
" is his appointment, and not ours. For though we some-
" tyme have the election to chuse or refuse this person or
" that, (as it is in some commonwelths,) yet because we be
" not our own, but his, nor have our hearts in our hands to
" ordein what we hste, but must as waxe yelde to his wurk-
" ing ; therfore it is more aggreable to dutie, and a great
" deale less jeopardie, to honour his choise, rather then to
" preferre our own. Placeth he a woman weake in nature,
" feable in bodie, soft in courage, unskilful in practise, not
" terrible to the enemy, no shielde to the frende ; well,
" Virtus mea (saith he) in infirmitate perficitur ; i. e. My
" strength is most perfight, when you be most weak. If he
" joyn to his strength, she cannot be weak ; if he put to his
" hand, she cannot be feable ; if he be with her, who can

156 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. " stand agaynst her? Thou shalt not take with thee any
xn- " great power, (saith he to Gedeon,) lest you think to
" overcome your enemies by your own strength and prow-
" ess, and not by my wurking and might. It is easy for
" him to save by few as by many, by weak as by strong,
" by a woman as by a man. Yea, his most wonderful
" works are always wrought in our most weakness, as infi-
" nite examples and testimonies do shewe.
" Yet mean I not to barre policie, when without breach
" of Gods ordinance it may have place. For policie is
" Gods gifte, either geven man immediately of God, or
" gotten by study, experience, and practise, or wonne by
"tmickness of witt. But when God chuseth himself by
" sending to us a King, whose succession is ruled by in-
" heritance and lyneal descent; no heires male; it is a
" plain argument, that for some secret purpose he mindeth
" the female should reigne and govern," &c.
After this he proceeds to a closer combat, and undertakes
to overthrow all Knox's arguments ; entering upon this
part with these words: " But lest this author should
" thinke that I make to long a floryshe before I come to
" handstrokes with him, as an evU-fenced man, that can
" make a better bragge of his cunning, then, when need is,
" use it, I mind before I say any more of this matter, to
" buckle with him in his arguments, and to try what blowes
" he gyveth. Wherein if I foUow not the order that he
" kepith leafe by leafe, and reason by reason, (which I
" avoide, because he followeth no method,) yet I trust so
" to hyt the pithe of it, that all such as be indifferent shall
" think him fully answered ; and he himself, with the boult-
" ing out of the truth, not offendid. For I have that opin-
" ion of the man's honesty and godhnes, that he wUl not
" disdayne to hear better reasons, nor be lothe to be taught
" in any thing he misseth : knowing that no mans judg-
" ment is so sound, no mans wytte so ripe, no mans learn-
" ing so perfight, but he may sometyme misse the quissyon,
" and fall into errour." The arguments, (which he acknow-

BISHOP AYLMER. 157
ledged to be handsomely amplified,) as he gathered them CHAP.
up through Knox's book, reducing them to syllogisms, were X11'
these six.
I. That whatsoever is against nature, the same in a com- The argu-
monwealth is not tolerable. But the government of a wo-_."j„fi
man is against nature. Ergo it is not tolerable.
II. Whatsoever is forbidden by Scripture is not lawful.
But a woman to rule is forbidden by Scripture. Ergo it is
not lawful.
III. If a woman may not speak in the congregation, much
less may she rule. But she may not speak in the congre
gation. Ergo she may not rule.
IV. What the civU law forbiddeth, that is not lawful.
But the rule of a woman the civU law forbiddeth. Ergo it
is not lawful.
V. Seeing there foUoweth more inconvenience of the rule
of women than of men's government ; therefore it is not to
be borne in a commonwealth.
VI. The Doctors and Canonists forbid it. Ergo it can
not be good.
Thus Aylmer drew out the substance and strength of
Knox's book by reducing it into these particulars : which
he caUed the props which held up this matter ; or rather
the pickaxes to undermine the State. All which he an
swered, article by article, with a great deal of fine wit,
strong reason, handsome eloquence, and great reading of
histories and authors.
After he had despatched his answer to Knox, in the con
clusion of his book he treated of three things with peculiar
regard unto the new Queen. I. Of the duty owing from
the subject to her. II. Of the good hope that her people
might conceive of her. And, III. Of the fruit of doing or
balking their duty to her. Wherein his intent was (as in
deed it was in the whole book) to take off aU disloyal prin
ciples from her subjects, especiaUy from such of them as
professed themselves to have rejected the Popish religion,
and to make them ready, both for conscience and policy
sake also, to submit themselves to her government.

158 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. ' This book came out nameless; and he studiously con-
X11, cealed himself to be known the author : whereof he gave
this good reason, viz. " That he suppressed his name that
" his pen might be freer; and that he might appear to say
" of the Queen, for conscience sake, what he thought and
" knew, without suspicion of flattery, or hope of benefit."
And thus much for his Harborow.
His book of I do not know whether he writ and published any thing
macv. else, unless perhaps concerning the Queen's power in spi
rituals, and over spiritual men ; for satisfying the people in
her ecclesiastical supremacy, concerning which an act was
soon after the Queen's taking the sceptre to be made, and
all her hege subjects to swear to it. For he gave some sig
nification of writing on that argument in his forementioned
book, where, having discoursed briefly upon it, he promised,
that though he then tarried not longer in that matter, yet
a time should come peradventure, when it should be more
largely handled.
He was a We have seen soriiewhat of Aylmer's learning : indeed it
ogician. was universal, being a generaUy learned man. He was an
exact logician; and so he shewed himself in answering
Knox's book, by reducing it into arguments; and then
closely examining the strength thereof, and shewing the
sophisms in them ; going on all along in a very clear way
An histo- of ratiocination, and apt distinguishing. He was a great
historian. He had read Josephus, Egesippus, Berosus,
Herodotus, Justin, Polybius, Livy, and divers other such
authors. And out of these profane histories, as weU as
sacred, by many instances at large cited in his foresaid
book, he shewed how under women that reigned, the com
monwealth was happily preserved, and greatly flourished :
first shewing this in Jewish Queens, and then in Queens of
other countries : and it was one of his reprimands to Knox,
that he should attempt to write of an argument that re
quired so much knowledge and insight of ancient history,
and be skiUed in none but that of the Bible. " AU an-
" tiquity," saith he, " of time, all histories and monuments
" cannot be contained in so httle room : and that therefore

nan.

BISHOP AYLMER. 159
" if men would decide matters hanging upon antiquity, CHAP.
" they must not only counsel with the Bible, but exercise X11"
" themselves in ancient stories." And then mentioned
Philip Melancthon, whom he caUed one of the princes of
learning at that day, that he travaUed more in those his last
years in reading, gathering, and setting forth of histories,
than in any other kind of learning ; " and not without
" reason, added he ; for histories, as he aUeged out of
" TuUy, be the witnes of time, the candle of truth, the
" hfe of memory, the lady of life, and the register of an-
" tiquity." Then he shewed that no antiquity ever debarred the
heirs female of their right and title of inheritance, whenso
ever it feU to their lot to succeed their parents ; as though
it had been unlawful, ungodly, and unnatural for that sex
to govern. And he proved the reign of women out of the
histories of the Jews, Ethnics, and Christians : that in
many countries, and under every monarchy, women have
not only ruled, but happUy and weU; and that one shall
find none, or very few, in whose reign their country was
the worse for their government, but much the better.
First, for the Jewish history; here he mentioned Deborah;
and out of the latter Jewish history he produced Johannes,
Ruler of the Jews four hundred and seventy years after the
captivity of Babylon, who at his death left his wife Queen
and Governess. Aristobulus also left his wife Queen.
Alexander left Alexandria his wife Queen of the country.
The sister of Antigonus, and Salome the sister of Herod :
one was Queen of Hyrcania, and the other appointed by
Augustus Caesar to rule over Jamnia, Azotus, Pharsalides,
and Ascalonia; which she after left to Juha, Tiberius's
mother, and Augustus's wife. This was enough to shew
that the Jews were sometimes ruled by that sex.
Then he proceeded to profane history among the Gen
tiles, who were led by the law of nature, to shew that this
was not against that law. Berosus, he said, who followed
no fables, but the records of the Chaldees, writ, that Noah,
which was called Janus, (for pi Jain, signifieth wine,

160 THE LIFE OF
chap, which he invented,) made his daughter Crana Queen and
XI1, Governess of Italy. In the monarchy of the Babylonians,
(for which he quoted Herodotus,) were Semiramis and
Nicocris. The former builded Babylon, conquered Ethiopia,
invaded India, whither never King nor Emperor came, but
Alexander the Great. The latter, wiser than the former,
defended her empire against the Medes, who then sought
the monarchy of the world ; wrought such a wonder in that
great flood Euphrates, as all men then were amazed at it, and
yet think it almost incredible ; for she made it to leave its
old course, and to foUow her device to and fro, to serve the
city most commodiously : so that, as our scholar wittily ex7
pressed it, she did not only pass aU men in wit, but over
came the elements with power. Among the Massagets,
reigned Queen Thomyris. He mentioned also Mandane
and Artemisia, women ; one Cyrus's mother, and the other
the wise counsellor of King Xerxes. Isis, after the death of
her husband Osyris, reigned over Egypt ; and that with so
much provision for the wealth of the realm, that she was
after her death counted a goddess. Lavinia, after the death
of Mneas, reigned in Latium, Dido in Carthage, Olympias
in Epirus, Aramea in Scythia, Cleopatra in Egypt, and a
Queen in Illyria, who ventured to withstand the Romans
when they were greatest; and Olympias, after the death
of Alexander, in Macedonia: and he added somewhat of
the stories of aU these. This for heathen history.
Then he ran over some records among Christians. Theo
dora, otherwise caUed Helena, reigned, after the death of
Leo the Emperor, over aU Asia, as Lady and Empress.
That in France, till of late years, women inherited the
Crown as in England and Scotland ; until that they meant
by the law Salique rather to defeat us of our title, than to
condemn the succession as unlawful. Henry, Duke of Sue-
via, son of Frederick the First, called Barbarosa, mar
ried the heir of SicUy, and so became King thereof, and
Emperor of Rome. Conrade Palatinus left behind him
one only daughter Agnes, who was Palatiness, and after
being married to Henry Duke of Saxony, made him

BISHOP AYLMER. 161
Palsgrave; who in hke manner died and left a daughter CHAP.
called Gertrude, Palatiness ; whom Otto, Duke of Bavaria, XIt"
married, and became Palsgrave. And the same order of
descent and succession remained in the most part of the
empire. Hence our historian proceeded to Spain ; where,
he said, he could number a great sort of women, who suc
ceeded and ruled in the realm : as Joanna, the mother of
Charles V. Mary the daughter of Charles called BeUator,
and wife to MaximUian, succeeded her father in the duke
dom of Burgundy and the county of Flanders. Mary,
Charles's sister, ruled in Flanders in his time : and Frances,
the French King's mother, ruled the whole dominion during
the term of her son's captivity in Spain. And many more
he mentioned in France. I have repeated all this, which he
handled more at large, to shew what a general well read
historian our Bishop was, even in his younger years, when
he wrote that book of the lawfulness of women's govern
ment ; and so well accomplished in that material piece of
learning. And as Aylmer, as we have seen, was an excellent histo- A good He-
rian, so he was weU seen in the learned tongues; and par
ticularly in the Hebrew, a piece of learning very rare in
those times : nor had he a superficial knowledge only
therein, but was able by the help of it to search out truth
and confute error. To give an instance or two. Whereas
some had objected, that Moses's authority was not over the
priest, because he was a prince, but in that he was a priest
himself; and so it became lawful for him to meddle in
Church matters, because he was a Churchman. And this
they went about to prove from Psal. xcix. Moses and Aaron
among his Priests. Here Aylmer made use of his He
brew learning, by shewing what the word was in the Hebrew,
viz. D^rO (which is there translated priests,) but that
it was a word indifferent to the chief priests or the chief
princes: and therefore that such as best understood that
tongue rendered it thus ; Moses et Aaron inter Ministros
ejus. And to prove that it might be so, the Scripture, he
said, called David's sons Cohanim, by the same word,
M

162 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. 2 Sam. viii. 18. but no man therefore would be so fond
X11' as to say, that a King's sons were priests : yea, he added,

that the best among the Hebrew authors, interpreting this
word, gave it to be no more than the expression in the
foUowing clause ; Kore Shemo, Moses et Aaron, inter eos
qui invocant nomen ejus, i. e. among them that caU upon
his name.
His sense of It was a great controversy in Queen Ehzabeth's reign,
of Christ and especially more latewardly, what the meaning of that
into hell, article in the Creed was, He descended into hell. Arch
bishop Whitgift, and the most of the Clergy, stood for
the literal sense, that is, Christ's local descent into hell.
Hugh Broughton, the profoundly learned Hebrician in
those days, by his excellent and deep knowledge in the
original languages, and of the use of the word (which we
translate hell) in the sacred writings, confuted that notion
of the article ; and demonstrated that it meant not any lo
cal descent, but that Christ after his burial went into para
dise, that is, the mansion that received his soul, that being
the constant sense in Scripture of "ASijj, and TUU, which we
translate hell in English. That learned man had much
contested in this argument with the Archbishop, Dr. Ban
croft, Dr. Bilson, and others ; and after much strife, at
length brought off the Archbishop. This doctrine of the
local descent was one of the reasons that kept off Barrow and
Greenwood, the Separatists, from being present at our
cbnrches ; who after they were condemned were promised
pardon, if they would have come to church : but this at last
was the chief, if not only, bar that stopped them, as
Broughton shewed in his letter to Bancroft, now Archbishop
of Canterbury. Bishop Aylmer, who was better versed in
the Hebrew learning, was of Broughtons opinion, and
knew that the Greek which we translate, He went down
to hell, signified more truly his going up to heaven ; and
he did therefore endeavour to satisfy those two poor men
before spoken of, by a friend sent to them ; and that this
was indeed the true sense which our Church, if it under
stood itself, did hold, though some of its members did make

BISHOP AYLMER. 163
a mistake here. But a certain Chaplain of the Archbishop's CHAP.
not doing his message, it had no effect : which otherwise XIL
might have saved their lives. Indeed our Bishop had some
controversy with Archbishop Whitgift about this point of
the descent : which the said Archbishop seemed to have re
quired the assent of aU the Clergy to ; and that from his
bare authority, as Archbishop of Canterbury. But the
Bishop of London told him, " that some [meaning himself
" among others] thought, that his title and revenue might
" be employed to singular good use for the Church, with-
" out authority of ambition to be relied on."
Bishop Aylmer was a friend and a fautor of that above- Bishop Ayi-
said most learned man in the^ Hebrew literature, knowing well Hugh"0""
the great use of it in the study of divinity. Broughton had Broughton.
conversed much with the Jews in foreign parts, and for
their sakes he bethought himself of drawing up an abridg
ment in Hebrew of aU the Bible; and was very desirous
of having the work brought to perfection. He communi
cated it to the Bishop of London, and to divers other Bi
shops, who were aU for it; and would have contributed to
the charge of the impression, and given other encourage
ments : for the Bishop weU considered, that this abridgment
would have served notably for the use of the Jews, that is,
for their conversion, or conviction : for the drift of the work
would have been, to have shewn how aU the Old Testament
bore an admirable harmony with those things that hap
pened under the New. But Broughton applying not him
self to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Whitgift, he shewed
himself no friend to it ; and so it came to nothing.
When the said Broughton had set forth his learned book
called The Concent, the Archbishop of Canterbury dishked
it, and was calling him to answer for some things in it :
so that he was fain to depart, and go away into Germany,
or at least hastened his journey thither, to avoid the ecclesi
astical Commission. This gave cause of much discourse
among learned men, and Broughton was by most of them
cried out upon as a broacher of errors ; and Dr. Caesar was
one of these. But their clamour depended upon their ig-
m 2

164 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, norance in that sort of learning : and Bishop Aylmer, who
XI1, was better versed in those Hebrew studies, once, whUe the
book was talking of in the presence of the said Caesar, said,
" One scholar of right judgment would prove aU adversaries
" foolish." Thus he spake in effect, and more, in commen
dation and vindication of that great Hebrician.
His opinion Our Bishop valued the Hebrew verity before the Septua-
Gr'e^^'gint's Greek translation of the Old Testament, of which
he had no great esteem : and from his skUl in the Hebrew
took occasion to confute a passage in Campion the Jesuit's
book, called his Ten Reasons. Casting his eye upon the
first passage, he perceived he quoted a verse out of the
Psalms after the LXX. much swerving from the truth of
the Hebrew text, which, he saidj every chUd understood at
this day : for aUeging the 63d Psalm, (where it is indeed
in the Hebrew original the 74th,) he read, Et sagittce
parvulorum erant plaga illorum : the text indeed is, Sed
ubi jaculis penetravit eos Deus, sagitta repentina fuerunt
plagae. " If," added the Bishop, " he deal so in aU other,
" his credit wiU be smaU."
Skilled in He was well skilled in the civil law ; concerning which
la^ C1 ' he fell into some discourse, occasioned by Knox's bringing
a proof out of that law against the government of women.
This matter, he said, belonged not to the civU law, but to
the municipal law of England. For that like as every field
brought not forth all fruits, so was not one law meet for aU
countries. He granted the civil law was the best and the
perfectest and the largest that ever was made, yet compre
hended it not all things in aU countries : nor at the making
and gathering thereof in Justinian's time by Trebonianus,
Dorotheus, and Theophilus, were all countries and pro
vinces so known to the Romans, that they could provide all
laws as should be for .all necessary. Wherefore in appoint
ing us to be ordered by the civil law, he offended in distri
butive justice : as Cyrus in Xenophon, he said, did, being
a child ; who finding a great boy to have a httle coat, and
a httle boy a great coat, gave sentence that the great boy
should have the great coat, and the little boy the little coat.

BISHOP AYLMER. 165
But his master corrected him for his judgment. For it was CHAP.
not to be judged by the greatness or smallness, but which XIL
was whose: and every one according to justice to have his
own. In like manner you should not, said Aylmer to this
author, looking upon the civil law, and weighing how
goodly it is, how large and indifferent it is, give it, as that
great coat, to England; no more than you would appoint
the Enghsh law, which is the little coat, to Rome : our
law must direct us, because it best agreeth with our coun
try. Therefore, as he concluded smartly, to burden us with
the civU law, is as much as if you should persuade the Scots
to use the Garamantes1 law, to kiU men at fifty, and women
at forty, because the country, being somewhat barren,
could not weU nourish such as by their age could do no
great good. And he proceeded to shew learnedly in divers
respects, wherein the Enghsh law and the civil disagree.
And for the entertainment of the reader I will repeat them.
" In England the eldest son inheriteth the father's lands, Shews the
" saving in gavel-kind. And in mine opinion it is good betweeiithe
" pohcy for the continuance of houses : for nothing sooner law of EnS-
" destroyeth great houses, than the division of the inherit- the civil
" ance ; as it appeareth in Germany, and will more here- law'
" after in our posterity, when the younger brethren shall
" not be made Abbots, Bishops, and Cardinals, as they have
" hitherto been. In the civil law the children succeed in-
" differently in their father's patrimony, infeudis the sons,
" and in other both sons and daughters. L. max. vit.ff.
" sancimus. C. de lib. prat. Item in Autent. de Hared. ab
" infest, in princ. et inff. cumfilius Just, de hared. Where
" you see not only our law far to disagree with this, but
" also that the civU law granteth inheritance to the females,
" which you [Knox] would pluck away.
" The civU law giveth the father power over his child in
" life and death : specially that which is called jus vetus,
" as it appeareth, Le. 2. C. de par. quifil. diet, et le. in suis
" F. de lib. et posth. C. de pat. ptatem. But in England, if
" any father should kill his son, he should be trussed up
" for his labour.
m 3

CHAP.
XII.

Tit. de leg.
tute. ff. et
le. et Ti.
Just, de le.
app. tut.

166 THE LIFE OF
" The civU law maketh the chUdren of traitors infames,
" i. e. infamous, but committeth them not to perpetual pri-
" son, as they do in England.
" In the civil law, the king, or lord of the soil, hath no-
" thing to do with wards or tutorships, but the next of kin,
" if the father in his lifetime appoint none. But in our
" law, the king hath the wardship of all that hold of him
" in capite, or knight's service. And as it was granted to
" the Crown upon a necessary respect ; so must it not be
" puUed away, so long as the same cause remaineth. It
" was given him at the first in consideration of the great
" charges in war, and the small revenues that belonged to
" the Crown. And though such orders seem hard, through
" the abusing of them by some greedy-guts ; yet the realm
" having always almost continual wars with the French or
" Scots, or both ; whosoever goeth about to puU from the
" Crown such helps, unwittingly maketh a breach for the
" enemy to invade us.
Const. Just, a in _e civu ]aWj the tutorship endeth in the males at
" fourteen years of age, and in the females at twelve. But
" our law keepeth him in nonage untU one and twenty
" years.
Quand. tut. « The civil law bindeth not him to marry by the force of
vel cur 6SS6
desinunt. " his wardship, where his tutor wUl. Marriage must be
c. de Nup. " free, and in his own choice, and may not be compeUed by
de^vTup. l. Ji" nis father, much less by his tutor. But in England, the
fil. famiie. « tutor hath his marriage, or maketh him to pay for his li-
l. in con- " berty. How that cometh to pass, and how indifferent it
vict. c de a jSj iet the lawyers answer. I meddle no further than to
" shew that it is so.
L. servum « The civil law so favoureth life, that it granteth a trai-
cast. nu. 5. " tor his advocate to defend his innocency. But in our law
" he can have none to speak for him, but himself. For
" the fault is counted (and that justly) so heinous, that it
" taketh from him aU manner of help, to put others in fear.
" Again, the civil law condemneth no man, unless he ei-
" ther confess the fault, or be openly convict by witness
" sufficient. But our law committeth it to the verdict of

Bart.

BISHOP AYLMER. 167
" twelve men, indweUers in the country where the trespass CHAP.
" is committed, who pronounce Guilty, if they think so, XH"
" whether he confesseth it or no : and ofttimes rather upon
" their own conscience, than any great witness, or other
" evidence. This order, as it was in itself at the first with-
" out corruption, was marvellous conscionable and godly,
" and in my judgment much better than the civil order.
" For they, to wring out the confession of the fault com-
" mitted, are driven to use torments, and to punish before
" they have tried the fault. Wherein they are ofttimes de-
" ceived, by racking those which have not offended, and
" driving them for pains of torments to say that they never
" did. As I have heard happened at Tubinga in the Wir-
" tenbergh land, that a man was broken upon the wheel for
" murdering another, which after was found alive. The
" smarts of the torments made him to confess it, and lie of
" himself: in monument whereof his image standeth yet
" in a glass window of the church, even as he was upon
" the wheel. Again, there was in England an Italian, not '
" long ago, who, as they say, passed through all the tor-
" ments in Venice, and escaped without confessing the fault
" which indeed he had committed. On the other side our
" twelve men, the quest, being indweUers in the country,
"and rn-an of skUl, shaU learn by the circumstances, as by
" the life of the man, the common fame of the people, or
" their, own search in the matter, whether he be such an
" one or no ; and so without racking, wresting, and tor-
" menting, the deed may be found. But indeed at these
" days it is grown to great corruption, &c. But, as I said,
" this order [of the verdict of twelve men] in itself, me-
" thinks, hath much more justice, equity, and indifference,
" than the civU (or rather cruel) rack hath. If I should
" peruse and compare aU points wherein ours differ from
" the civil, and shew that for our country it is much meeter,
" I should never make an end." And so at length he con
cludes, turning his speech to him whom he is refuting:
" Wherefore these shall be sufficient to shew, that you
" must bring our own weights, to weigh our matters by,
m 4

168 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. " and not strangers' ; or else we must take you for an evil
XIL " clerk of the market," as he proverbiaUy and pleasantly
expressed himself. I have set down this thus largely, that
the reader may see, not only his skill in the civil law, but his
solid judgment in comparing that and the proper law of this
realm together.

CHAP. XIII.
A great Divine. Well skilled in Hebrew learning. A
good Textuary and Preacher. His judgment. Some of
his sayings.
Weil seen _>tjt as our Bishop was thus universally learned, so (as
in divine . . .
learning, his holy function required) he was best seen in theology.
He accurately discussed deep points in divinity : he had an
excellent faculty in a sound interpretation of the sense of
difficult places of Scripture. He was weU read in the Fa
thers and ecclesiastical history, and a great preacher.
The Papists, and Scotch Protestants following John
Knox, gave the supreme power in temporals only to the
Prince ; but retained the power in spirituals to the Church,
that is, to themselves. But our Divine decided the point in
his Sovereign the Queen's behalf; that she was supreme in
both. " Both," said he, (in his book against the Blast,) " be-
" long to her. But not in one manner. For in the one,
" that of policy, she hath a function that she must be a
" doer. In the other she hath authority and oversight, but
" not the function and practice. As we see in the common-
" wealth of the Jews first between Aaron and Moses. Moses
" controlled Aaron, but yet he executed not Aaron's office.
" He offered no incense nor sacrifice ordinarily; he meddled
" not with the ark, nor any such thing as belonged to the
" priesthood ; he ware not the garments ; he ministered not
" the sacrifice. And yet had he authority to redress
" Aaron's toils, by the commission he received at God's
" hand, Tu eris illi. in Deum, et ille erit os tuum.'1''

BISHOP AYLMER. 169
When some quoted Scripture for directing matters of CHAP.
worldly policy and government, as who were to govern _____
kingdoms, and how qualified they were to be, he shewed
the false divinity thereof by the practice of Christ, " who
" knowing the bounds of his office," as he said, " would not
" meddle with extern policies, translating of realms, de-
" priving of true inheritors. No ; when he was desired to
" be arbiter between two brethren, he asked not how the
" plea stood, but who made him an officer. Divines, me-
" thinks," as he added, "should by this example not give
" themselves too much the bridle, and to enlarge a scope to
" meddle too far with matters of policv; as that is, where-
" upon dependeth either the welfare or illfare of the whole
" realm. If those two offices, viz. ecclesiastical and civil, be
" so jumbled together, as it may be lawful for both parties
" to meddle in both functions, there can be no quiet, nor
" any weU-ordered commonwealth."
And again, thus did he learnedly explain the foresaid
words of our Saviour, Who made me a judge between you ?
as a rule, tending not to teach Christian subjects to dispose
of governments, but to obey them. " As though Christ
" should have said, Mine office is not to determine matters
" of pohcy, of succession, and inheritance: for that belongs
" to the civU magistrate. If he had thought that it had been
" within the compass of his function, why, and with what
" consequence, refused he to set those brethren at one which
" were at strife, and to put that out of doubt which was in
" suit, if he ought to do it ? and would he not have lacked
" charity, and not done his duty ? If it belonged not to
" him, how belonged it to any of his apostles, disciples, or
" successors ? Had he not as large commission as he gave ?
" or could he give that he had not ? But knowing his office,
" as the Prophet Esay had forespoken of him, to preach
" the Gospel, to heal the broken, &c. he would do nothing
" without warrant. And therefore being asked whether he
" were a [secular] king, he answered simply by a plain ne-
" gative, My kingdom is not of this world. If his kingdom
" were not here, neither the ordering of policy was his. All

170

THE LIFE OF

CHAP.
XIII.

A good in
terpreter of
the Scrip
ture.

Several
places by
him ex
plained.

" that he saith in this matter of policy is, Date Casari qua
" sunt Casaris. Obey the magistrates, and those that be in
" authority ; not only for fear, but for conscience. He limit-
" eth no magistrates; he altereth no policy; he meddleth
" neither with democraties, aristocraties, nor monarchies; nor
" prescribeth whether old or young, rich or poor, learned or
" unlearned, man or woman, should reign. But as he finds
" them, so he leaves them ; impairs none, alters none, dis-
" turbs none." Thus gravely did our Divine reprove tam-
perers with princes' crowns, and meddlers with matters of
state to the disturbance of kingdoms, whether Papists or
innovators; and by a sound exposition rescue Scripture
from countenancing such doctrines.
Indeed he had well studied the holy Scriptures, both as
to the original language, history, and design thereof: where
by he became an excellent interpreter of the sense. To
give a specimen or two. He gave a notable answer to his
adversary who had made an unsound exposition of Deut.
xvii. Thou shalt choose a king among thy brethren ; and not
among thy sisters, as he collected: and thereupon inferred,
that it was unlawful for us to have queens to rule over us.
It is as much, said Aylmer, as if a man should say, Christ
said, I came to call sinners, sinful men, to repentance; that
is, I am come to call men sinners, and not women sinners.
Or, saith he, as one reasoned, Examinet se homo; Let a man
examine himself, and then communicate : ergo women may
not. And Christ at the latter day saith, Venite benedkti,
and not benedicta ; Come', ye blessed men, and not blessed
women: therefore women shall never go to heaven. But
this learned man shewed, that in aU tongues the figure syn
ecdoche hath a singular good grace, as he expressed it, espe
cially in the Hebrew tongue ; where TM$ Ach, which signi
fieth a brother, doth not only comprehend a sister, but a
nephew too. And throughout the Scripture the masculine
comprehends the feminine: or else surely we must say
with the phrenetic Postellus, that women be not yet re
deemed, but men: and that they must have a xooman to die
for them, as well as man had Christ. And that place of

BISHOP AYLMER. 171
Scripture which commanded a brother to be king among CHAP.
the Jews, had no relation to a sister, as these men made it, XIIL
but to a stranger, as he observed. For it followed, Thou
shalt not appoint a king alterius gentis, of a strange na
tion. And the reason of this was, for to prevent swerving
from God, and faUing into idolatry.
Gen. hi. Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall
rule over thee. Which place when the author of the Blast
had interpreted, that for the woman's enticement, it was en
joined her and her posterity, as a penance, to be at the beck
and command of the man, Aylmer shewed what the com
mon interpretation of it was; viz. Though both in conceiving
and bringing forth thy chUd, thou shalt feel throes, and
exceeding plagues, yet shalt thou not be able to withdraw
from thy husband, but shalt give occasion to have more:
the pains of the former shall not make thee to avoid the
next. This he caUed no evU interpretation ; for it answer
ed, as he said, in the manner of the pains the quality of the
offence. As who should say, Thou hast enticed thy husband
to turn to thy foUy, I shaU therefore make thee to turn to him
to thine own smart. But because some rejected this interpre
tation, he admitted the other, that it made for the wife's
obedience to her husband ; that she must hang upon him
as upon her guide; follow his wUl, as the wiser; obey his
commandment, as her superior ; and, to be short, to know
him for her head, and herself for his subject.
To add two or three interpretations more, setting right
thereby the sense of certain place's of holy writ, by the fore
said author wrested, to favour his argument against the go
vernment of women.
Isaiah hi. I will take from you your honourable sena
tors and your wise counsellors ; and I will give you boys
and women to reign over you. Not boys, said he, in age,
but manners. As Aristotle said of young men, that to hear
phUosophy, it maketh no matter for their years, but for
their manners. Not women in sex, but in feebleness of wit;
and not such as some women be, wiser, better learned, dis-

172 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, creeter, constanter, than a number of men; but such as wo-
XIIL men be of the worst sort, fond, foolish, wanton, &c. Such
shall be your senators and rulers, that shaU be neither able
to rule themselves nor you.
1 Cor. xiv. 1 Tim. ii. where St. Paul forbade women to
speak in the congregation; and that it was an unseemly
thing for them to speak. This the Apostle, he said, meant,
that though he ordained that every man in the assembly
ecclesiastical, about the word of God and prayer, should
have leave orderly and in his course to speak and utter, for
the interpretation of the Scripture, all that was revealed him
by the Spirit of God ; yet women, because they were not
meet, neither by nature nor study, to preach and interpret
Scriptures, he would not have to meddle with it there : and
then, from Primasius and Theophylact, added, that the chief-
est cause that moved Paul to take this order was the com
mon fault that then was in that sex. For being somewhat
instructed by this hearing of the Apostle in the mysteries of
salvation in the cross of Christ, they began to think some
what of themselves, and turned that was taught to edify
them with, to a jangling and tattling in the Church, when
they met ; so that the congregation was thereby disturbed.
For the avoiding whereof Paul meant to bridle them ; as
without doubt he would have done the men also, if they
had prophesied unorderly. And moreover hereby the Apo
stle not only debarred women from prophesying, but from
any public function in the ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
Knox brought this place to shew that the Scripture dis
allowed a woman's government : if not to speak in the con
gregation, therefore not to rule ; thinking that it was a for
mal a minore ad mqjus. But Aylmer argued, that it was
not to be taken thus ; Paul forbade her the less for her un-
aptness, therefore he debarred her of the greater : but in
deed it was contrariwise, he forbade her the greater and
more chargeable function; which was the spiritual ministry,
and preaching : therefore it followed not, that he shut her
from the less, which is extern policy. And thus, as he

BISHOP AYLMER. 173
concluded, we see that St. Paul thrusting that sex from the CHAP.
greater function and office, did not also disable it to execute Xtl1,
the other.
And as the Bishop was thus learned in the sacred Scrip- Conversant
tures, both in the knowledge of the original tongues, and [__„_!"
the sound sense and interpretation; so he had read the writers.
writings of the Fathers, and the history of the ancient
Church of Christ : whereby he came the better to know and
defend the pure and primitive doctrine in those times
wherein he lived, when the corruptions of Popery had so
overspread the earth.
This learning in sacred things qualified him excellently Anexceiient
for the discharge of the ministerial function, and the teach- preac er'
ing others the true Christian doctrine. And he frequently
and successfuUy preached it, both in Leicestershire, where
in King Edward's days he was the only preacher, and in
Lincolnshire, where he was Archdeacon ; and afterward at
London, and at the Court ; where he preached often ; and
especiaUy when invasions were feared, and rumours of wars
were much spread and talked of: for he had a way of
preaching that would encourage and inspire with spirit and
life those that heard him. And sometime when fears were
put into people's heads from the conjunction or opposition
of the planets, and from figure-casting, he had these words
in a sermon at Court, " As long as Virgo [meaning the
" Queen] is in the ascendent, we need fear nothing. Deus
" nobiscum, quis contra nos ?" And the Queen for this used
much to commend him.
As he could also by his preaching raise fearful minds, A preacher,
and inspire them with courage in a good cause ; so in ap- °_ifi°a '„
plying himself to sinners' consciences, he would use all free- his judg-
dom and boldness, let the quality of his auditors be what it
would. He could not endure temporising and flattery in a
preacher; and reckoned other great abUities, as of learning,
integrity, zeal, and wisdom, to be necessary to such an one.
He said, " that those that were preachers must be no milk-
" sops, no white-hvered gentlemen, [according to his fami-
" liar way of expression,] that for the frowning and cloudy

174 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. " countenance of every man in authority wUl leave his
XI1L « tackle, and cry Peccavi. They must be of such a nature
" as the poet Terence said of Crito, In vultu gravitas, in
" verbo fides; to have gravity in his countenance, and
" faithfulness in his speech. That they should not be afraid
" to rebuke the proudest, no, not kings and queens, so far
" forth as the two tables reach : that they stoop not to
" every man's beck, nor study to please men more than
" God. If heresies arise, they must have their tools ready
" to meet with the adversary, and to overthrow him ; which,"
as he added, " he could never have, unless he had travaUed
" in many sciences, heard and read much, &c. : for it was
" not enough," he said, " for a man to teU a fair tale in the
" pulpit, and when he came down was not able to defend
" it." And again, "in such as shaU occupy the pulpit are re-
" quired these things, that they be meet to teach, to reprove,
" and convince. In teaching is required gravity, learning,
" and eloquence ; in reproving, carriage and sound judg-
" ment ; and in convincing, arts, memory, and much sci-
" ence."
Curious in AU this I have said, that it might be seen what his great
abilities were in learning. And, according to the usual in
clination of such as are scholars, he was a lover of, and
searcher after books, and especially of such as were more
rare, and curious. While he was in exUe he saw a piece
of WicVf de Ecclesia, which treated of the Church and
Churchmen, and the abuses and corruptions superinduced
by them. He chanced to meet with it in the hands of
one who brought it out of Bohemia; and he wished it
were put into print: whence, as he said, the Popish Bi
shops might see their wrenches and cavUlations concerning
their great estates, and their pretended hospitality to be
maintained thereby. And this I the rather mention, be
cause I think this tract of Wiclif is not mentioned among
the catalogue of his writings set down in Dr. Cave's Histo
ria Literaria.
A good And as he was a truly learned man himself, so he was a
learning. S°°d judge of learning and languages, being an exact critic.

BISHOP AYLMER. 175
Insomuch that John Fox the Martyrologist, in one of his CHAP.
letters to him, (while they were both exiles,) praised him for Xl11
his singular judgment, and that mixed with a snowy can
dour. And when the same Fox had sent him a translation
of his into Latin, (I think it was Archbishop Cranmer's last
book of the Eucharist, with his confutation of the Bishop of
Winchester,) he prayed him narrowly to peruse it, in order
to his printing of it at BasU, where Fox then was: for that
he was resolved, as he said, to stand to his judgment alone;
and that it should be approved or rejected according to his
only censure. Which address made Aylmer give a cha
racter of himself varying from what Fox had given, (where
in, perhaps, the learned man was over-severe towards him
self;) namely, " That he was too critical in other men's
" performances, and too blind in the conceit of his own."
The former he caUed in alienis curiositas, et ingenium ni-
mis i-niTijjiri-rx.h, i. e. "a curiosity in other men's matters, and
" a disposition too much addicted to find fault." Sum enim,
as he added, ut vere de me ipso dicam, ex eorum nume-
ro, qui facilius reprehendunt quam emendant ; ut minoris
multo negotii est solvere quam componere, et, ut philosophis
placet, destruere quam ex adificare : i. e. " For I am, to
" speak the truth of myself, of the number of them that
" are more ready to find fault than to amend ; as it is a
" much less labour to dissolve than to frame, and, as the
" philosophers speak, to puU down than to build up. Do
" not therefore doubt of me," speaking to Fox, " that I am
" too candid, but doubt that I be not more rigid than pru-
" dent, arid a lover of mine own beauty more than is fit,
" and a less esteemer of the beauty of others. But besides,
" this is a quahty peculiar to me, (for let me set forth to
" you my virtues,) that I look upon the things of others
" with lyncean and too piercing eyes, even then especially
" when I am purblind in mine own. Whereupon those
" that know me are wont to reprove my more delicate judg-
" ment and rigid censoriousness, rather than to esteem me
" a man that think over-candidly and kindly even of my
" best and dearest friends."

176 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. After all that I have said here concerning our Prelate's
X1"' .learning, we may take some notice of his judgment and

Some of his opinion in a few things that occur. There was a sort of people
concfrning even in his time, (like our modern Quakers,) who counted
variousmat- it idolatry to pull off the hat, or give reverence even to
Quakers princes. These were, I suppose, of the sect of the Anabap
tists in those days. Of whom thus did our Divine give his
opinion : "I think it no idolatry, as some men use to term
" it, either to bare the head or bow the knee to the chiefest
" minister of God, [the Prince;] yea, if thou dost it not,
" thou makest an idol of thyself, while thou liftest up thy
" baseness to that height, that thou wilt not stoop where
" thou oughtest, nor give honour where thou shouldest.
" What is else to make an idol of thyself, but to honour
" thyself where thou oughtest not ; and to pull down God's
" majesty, [represented by the Prince,] where thou should-
" est not?"
His opinion He was once of opinion, namely, when Queen Elizabeth
lands! °PS ^rst began her reign, concerning Bishops' lands and incomes,
that a good share of their temporalties should come into the
Queen's hands ; partly to maintain her wars, and partly to
buUd schools, and to be a maintenance for preachers in
every parish, and superintendents in every city. This he
expressed thus, turning his speech to the Bishops in those
Harbo- times, "Come off, ye Bishops; away with your superfluities;
" yield up your thousands; be content with hundreds, &c."
as was mentioned before. This was a principle embraced
and taken up by many such as favoured the Gospel from
the times that Henry VIII. seized the lands of the abbeys;
when the shew was, that those revenues, idly and luxuri
ously employed, should come to the Crown for better uses ;
as to be laid out upon maintaining the King's wars without
taxing the subject ; furthering of learning by building a
great many schools, founding more bishoprics, and such like
charitable donations. But the courtiers about the King
soon subverted those good purposes, by obtaining those de
means to themselves, and a very poor share thereof disposed
according as was pretended. And Bishop Aylmer after-

rough.

BISHOP AYLMER. 177
wards well saw the same greedy spirit stiU in the Court : and CHAP.
therefore changed his mind, and thought the Bishops had XIIL
as good retain their ancient revenues, as to see them run
away with by the laity, and little good done with them.
And when this passage of his was sometimes afterward
thrown in his dish, he would say, as St. Paul did in another
case, Cum essem parvulus, loquebar cum parvulis, sapie-
bam ut parvulus : i. e. " When I was a chUd, I spake as a
" chUd, I thought as a chUd, Sec."
Take also a few instances of his judgment in matters of
worldly state and pohcy.
His opinion of the proper government of this nation was His opinion
this : " The regiment of England is not a mere monarchy, "Jn^ent"
" as some for lack of consideration think ; nor a mere oli-
" garchy, nor democratic ; but a mixed rule of aU these:
" wherein each one of these have, or should have, like au-
" thority. The image whereof, and not the image but the
" thing indeed, is to be seen in the Parhament House ;
" wherein you shah find these three estates, the King or
" Queen, which representeth the monarchy ; the Noblemen,
" which be the aristocratie ; and the Burgesses and Knights,
" the democratic The very same had Lacedaemonia, the
" noblest and best governed city that ever was. They had
" their King, their senate, and hippagretes, which were for
" the people. As in Lacedaemonia none of these could
" make or break laws, orders for war or peace, or do any
" thing without the other ; the King nothing without the
" Senate and Commons, nor either of them, or both, without
" the King : albeit the senate and ephori had greater au-
" thority than the King had. In like manner, if the Par-
" liament use their privUeges, the King can ordain nothing
" without them : if he do, it is his fault in usurping it, and
" their folly in permitting it. Wherefore," as he added,
" those, in his judgment, that in King Henry's days would
" not grant him, that proclamations should have the force
" of a statute, were good fathers of the country, and wor-
" thy commendation in defending their hberty."
He notably decided which of the two Queen sisters, Mary Compares
J the two
N

178 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, or Elizabeth, was wisest, in respect of the different choice
'"' .they made of their counseUors. And for that purpose he

Queens, set the two sorts of Rehoboam's counseUors before .those to
Eifcabeth. whom he made his discourse. The grave and the ancient
senators, those Queen Elizabeth chose: but the rash younger
sort, those Queen Mary chose. " These," as he described
them, " advised that King not to spare, but to lay about
" him, to chop off their heads, to tower them, hang them,
" burn them, away with them : Dead men do no harm :
" and to make his little finger heavier upon his people than
" was his father's body. These were lusty lads, these were
" such as would win all or lose all." Thus Aylmer, under
the colour of Rehoboam's rash counseUors, made a lively
representation of Queen Mary's. But her sister Queen
shewed her wisdom in making another choice. For she,
said he, picked out such counsellors to serve her as were
neither of common wit nor common experience. Of whom
some by travel in strange countries, some by learning,
some by practice and like authority in other rulers' days,
some by affliction either one way or other, for their gifts
and graces, which they had received at God's hand, were
men meet to be caUed to such rooms. He added, (to
take off an objection,) that if she could, she would have
chose her Council whoUy of the nobility, she being her
self the head of that order and patroness ; but if she espied
out meaner men of greater experience, further reach, and
more science than they were, there was no fear but the
nobles, both for their own safety and the Queen's, would
gladly lot to themselves such as might put them in mind
of things they remembered not. By which words, I make
no doubt, he had his eye upon Bacon and CecU, whom,
though not noble by birth, the Queen had taken into her
Council.
mentU0dfSthe His judgment of the Queen's marriage, (which sohcitously
Queen's exercised all men's thoughts and cares at this time,) whe-
mamage. t^er Detter to marry to some within her own kingdom, or
some foreign Prince, he thus expressed ; " That if all things
" answered, it was better joining at home than choosing

BISHOP AYLMER. 179
" abroad: as if he be no very base or mean person; if he CHAP.
" love and fear God ; if he be of the same religion, endued ______
" with good and commendable qualities of wisdom, justice,
" manhood, temperance, gifts of languages, knowledge of
" countries, pitiful, merciful, constant, sober, no hearer of
" flatterers, continent, not prodigal, but liberal, no extorter,
" &c. such an one, if God should allot any Queen, were to
" be preferred to any abroad. Unless all these," he said,
" might be found in a stranger: and thereto joined nobility,
" and ancientness of lineage, and the nation being such as
" used not to rule cruelly, but rather fatherly than lordly."
We easUy perceive what foreign Prince he excluded by
those words, namely, proud King PhUip ; who had already
made his addresses to the Queen : and she most discreetly
had declined him.
His judgment of the French he shewed in these words; His judg-
" That they were the proudest, the untruest, and the most French.
" tyrannical nation under the sun. I except not," said he,
" the Spaniards : whose dominion the Italians in Milan,
" Naples, SicUy, and elsewhere, can much better brook and
" abide, than the light and inconstant French, as Caesar
" caUed them."
Of the Spaniard, another powerful neighbour of England, Of the
these were his thoughts with respect to Queen Elizabeth's
late denial of him. " If kings be wooers and no speeders,
" there can be small hopes that they will be faithful friends
" after : for great men cannot bear great repulses ; espe-
" ciaUy when their power is such as they can, when they
" wUl, revenge it. A mind or heart," added he, "where love
" hath dwelt, if it begin once to hate, is hke a sponge,
" which sucketh up as much water of mahce, as it had
" before honey."
A man's wisdom and judgment, and a great deal of his His prover-
mind and sentiments, become known by his ordinary speeches
and expressions. And for this purpose I shall rehearse
here divers of our Bishop's proverbial sayings and apo
phthegms.
n 2

180 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. "If thou hast the forecast of a wise man, thou wUt be
______" content with a little, to purchase the safety of the whole."
" Be not covetous where thou shouldest be liberal, nor
" unkind where thou shouldest be thankful, nor wayward
" where thou shouldest be forward."
" Take to thee the stomach of a free palfrey, and not the
" froward touches of a resty jade."
" As it is God's peculiar property never to err, so it is a
" botch in man's nature seldom to hit the truth."
" Sometimes under a homely coat lieth much treasure,
" and pure gold is found among much dross."
True frater- « It is manners, faith, and behaviour, and not nations,
" that make men strangers. And contrariwise, where there
" is one faith, one baptism, and one Christ, there is nar-
" rower fraternity than if they came out of one womb." A
saying proper to cheer him in his exUe condition.
" As an eye fuU of tears is the more unable to see, so the
" mind fuU of sorrow is the less able to judge."
" You must bring our own weights to weigh our matters
u by, and not strangers', or else we must take you for an iU
" clerk of the market."
" Good example is ofttimes much better than a great
" deal of preaching."
The beneat " If I had but ten Nestors, said Agamemnon, Troy
lors. " could not stand long :" speaking of some wise counseUors
the Queen had chose about her.
Speaking against covetous men, " Your gold and your
" angels are caUed current, and not sleepant?
Women's Speaking of the pride of women, and of their excess,
when the nation wanted necessary defence, he thus accosted
them : " Oh ! ye English ladies, learn rather to wear Ro-
" man hearts, than Spanish knacks ; rather to help your
" country, than hinder your husbands; to make your Queen
" rich for your defence, than your husbands poor for your
" gearish gayness. If every one of you would employ your
" rings and chains, or the price of your superfluous ruffs,
" furs, fringes, and such other trinkets, upon the necessary

pride.

BISHOP AVLMER. 181
" defence of your country, I think you should make the CHAP.
" Queen much richer, and abler to meet with your enemies, XI11'
" and yourselves much the honester."
The Popish Clergy he caUed " spiritual spiders." And The Popish
Bonner, the fat, cruel Bishop of London, he caUed " MyClersy-
" Lord Lubber of London."
The Bible he caUed " a Paradise, wherein are to be found The Bible.
" aU the best herbs and fruits that be."
" A good purpose overthrown by the might of mam-
" mon." " No man's judgment is so sound, no man's wit so ripe, No infaiii-
" nor his learning so perfect, but he may sometime miss the blhty'
" quission." "Asa man that would buy a house, wUl not so much
" weigh the gay painting as the sure buUding ; so who
" wUl judge of any matter truly, must lay it before his eyes
" nakedly." " Miracles are not the work, but the impediment of na- Miracles..
" ture." " The breach of good laws is the breakneck of the
" country." Speaking of some ignorant persons that yet wUl talk and
prate, he said, " They were hke a certain Sir John, which
" said, By my priesthood, if the Trinity were not in my
" portas, I would not beheve it."
He compared a false argument, cunningly set out with A false ar-
words, "to a weU kembed bush, where never a hah lay gumen '
" amiss, so long as the man had a house to cover him: but
" when he comes into the wind, it is soon ruffled. Or hke
" a painted madam's face, which, so long as nobody blows
" upon it, nor sweat riseth in it, is gay glistering : but any
" of these means maketh the wrinkles soon appear. So is a
" false argument decked with fair words : it seemeth good,
" but turn it naked, and you shaU soon see the botches."
He made women to be of two sorts, " some of them Women.
" wiser, better learned, discreeter, and more constant than a
" number of men." But another and a worse sort of them,
and the most part, he thus facetiously, but sharply de-
n3

182 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, scribed; " Fond, foolish, wanton, flibbergibbs, tattlers,
VTfT " triflers, wavering, witless, without counsel, feeble, careless,

" rash, proud,, dainty, nice, tale-bearers, eves-droppers, ru-
" mour-raisers, evU-tongued, worse-minded, and in every
" wise doltified with the dregs of the Devil's dunghUl."
Neglect of Shewing how misery and unsuccessfulness happened to
good coun- . ,
sel. Xerxes, that powerful and mighty emperor, for neglecting
the good counsel of Artimisia in Herodotus, having lost his
vast army, "He went home," said he, " not like a king, but
" like a coxcomb : not like a conqueror,' but hke a coward :
" not like a man, but like a mouse, in a fisher-boat with one
" or two with him ; though he brought out so many [sol-
" diers] with him, as it is almost in these days incredible."
Acqui- « The safest way is to let him do his wUl which can do
escence J
in God. " best ; and which can see plainly what wUl foUow, where
" we blindly guess, and do but grope at it :" spoken in
reference to our acquiescence in the providence of God.

CHAP. XIV.
His qualities, conditions, and temper qfmind.
"d dtapo" ™ E have not yet said a11 that is sumcient to describe the
sition. character of this reverend Father : for we have not aU
this whUe looked into his nature, temper, disposition, and
the inward tendencies of his mind.
Zealous for And first, for his sense of God and religion, and dis-
ligion™ "" charge of his duty. He was deeply and heartily concerned
for the true rehgion in opposition to Popery ; and from the
beginning was a hearty embracer of the reformed religion,
and an earnest Protestant : he was deeply sensible of the
wonderful goodness of God, in detecting and dehvering us
from the gross errors of Popery. This was once his con-
ofLuther°ntemplation concerning Euther : "When the light of the
" Gospel was put out, and Antichrist ruled and reveUed in
" the temple of God, (which is men's hearts and con-

BISHOP AYLMER. 183
" sciences,) armed and guarded with the power of emperors, CHAP.
" kings, princes, and laws, beyond aU men's expectations, XIV'
" contrary to hope, a poor Friar, one man, at that time not
" the best learned, through the mighty hand of God, ac-
" cording to his unsearchable decree, was able, not with
" force and armour, not with bands of men and power, not
" with favour of princes and prelates, not with any help
" of man or favour of the world, to set -up the cross of
" Christ, to puU down the chair of Antichrist, to restore
" God's word, to banish the DevU's sophistry, to make of
" darkness hght, of hes truth, of plain foohshness true wis-
" dom ; and as it were another Helena, to find out the
" cross of Christ hidden in the dunghill of devilish doc-
" trine, covered with the rotten bones of Romish martyrs,
" sinful saints, and counterfeit confessors."
And when about the year 1577 great fears were in all His prayer
men's hearts fronl the joint conspiracies of Popish Princes minister.
abroad, and the Scotch Queen's accomphces at home, against
the peace and quiet of England, the Bishop knowing what a
great minister of state the Lord Treasurer was, and what
a chief hand he had in the counsels and government, fell to
his prayers, and most earnestly beseeched God to give that
great CounseUor "the eyes of angels and the wisdom of
" Solomon ;" styling him " God's great and good instru-
" ment in this poor ark of Noah in these dangerous times."
And concerning Henry the French King, a deadly op- His zeal
pressor of his poor Protestant subjects, who had also joined 5?ench
in league with the Turk, Christ's sworn enemy, (by means King.aper-
of which league the Turk fell upon some Christian king
doms,) he zealously brake out into these words : " He, a
" King or a DevU, a Christian or a Lucifer, that by his
" cursed confederacy so encourageth the Turk, that he now
" dares be bold to venture upon Polonia, a Christian realm,
" which hath received the Gospel, and that way to come
" into Germany. Oh ! wicked caitiff, and firebrand of
" hell, [pardon, reader, this language to his zeal,] which,
" for the increasing of the pomp and vain-glory which he
" shah not long enjoy, [mark that,] wUl betray Christ and
n 4

184 THE LIFE OF
CHAP. " his cross to his mortal enemy. Oh ! foolish Germans,
' " which see not their own undoing, [which Germans were
" his soldiers, or favoured him,] who conspire not together
" with the rest of Christian Princes, to puU such a traitor
" to God and his kingdom by the ears out of France, and
" hang him against the sun a drying, &c. God cannot long
" suffer this, though he wink a whUe at his wretchedness."
One would think our Divine spake these words by a pro
phetic spirit, when we consider the event. For it was not
much above a quarter of a year after that this King indeed
died, viz. July 10, 1559, and that in the flower of his age,
being forty-two years old ; and, which is more remarkable,
not by a common death, but God made a new thing : and
he was thrust into the eye by a lance, notwithstanding his
head-piece, in tilting with one of his nobles, that he com
manded to run with him, though earnestly declining it.
Whereby his head festered, and he died in miserable pain
and anguish.
Diligent In thp discharge of his duty, the Bishop was very con-
pain u ' scientious and exact, and spared for no pains, being natu-
raUy an active and stirring man : and so he was particularly
in his episcopal function. One part of his dihgence con
sisted in pressing a due conformity unto the laws and orders
of the Church established: and that because he thought
it the best bulwark to secure from Popery. This was the
cause he spared neither Papist nor Puritan. Whereby he
drew upon himself the hatred of both : but especiaUy that
of the Puritan appeared most visibly against him ; setting
Martin Marprelate loose upon him, and giving him all the
trouble they could any other way, as we have seen in part'
in the foregoing history.
Not to be Nor was he a man to be biassed by any temptation, or
bribPes!d by blindea by gifts. An instance of this happened in the year
1581; when a certain prisoner, (some Papist, as it seems,)
sent a letter to him, wherein was some signification of a
liberal gratification offered for his favour, perhaps to pro
cure him liberty some clancular way : or whether it were a
contrivance to betray him into some unwarrantable action,

BISHOP AYLMER. 185
and a plot laid for him to bring him into trouble, I know CHAP.
not. But the Bishop shewed himself above these tempta-
tions of money, and took the letter and enclosed it in one of
his, and sent it to the Lord Treasurer, teUing him that the
meaning he understood not, but that the writer would angle
for him with a golden hook : that he knew his Lordship's
wisdom could smeU out the meaning of such matters better
than he, and therefore thought good to make his Lordship
privy to it : and then to proceed as he should direct him :
adding, that he could not think that any of that religion
could have any good meaning towards him.
He and his whole family every day in the week twice His devo-
were present at, and joined with the whole divine service ; tlon-
calling upon God for a blessing upon themselves, the State,
and the Queen's Majesty : and by that means putting up
frequent devout prayers for her and her kingdoms.
He duly observed his triennial visitations. And because Punctual in
his presence might be of advantage to the promoting of so- tion .
briety in manners, and obedience to the ecclesiastical constitu
tion, he would often make some longer stay in several places
of his diocese, where conveniently he might ; and that for a
month or two, before his return home : as to see abuses rec
tified, to hear complaints, to give his counsel and advice to
such as needed it, to observe the behaviours of the Clergy,
to preach himself, to keep hospitality, and such like.
In his ordination of Ministers he was very punctual and And """di-
careful : admitting none to Orders but such as himself did Ministers.
examine in his own person in points of divinity, and that in
the Latin tongue, in the hearing of many ; whereby it came
to pass, that none hghtly came at him, but such as were
graduates, and of the Universities.
For his natural temper, he was quick and hot ; as many Quick and
great spirits have been: and this would sometimes lead^p1"^18
him out into haste and passion: but he had the wisdom
and conduct soon to check and take up himself again.
Once the Bishop was very angry with the Lord Treasurer
Burghley, otherwise his very cordial friend, charging him
somewhat too hardly in respect of the friendship between

186

THE LIFE OF

CHAP. XIV.

Expostu lates "with
the Lord
Treasurer.

them : for which the Bishop soon excused himself by rea
son of his natural hastiness. The Treasurer had heard
how he had feUed much wood pertaining to the reve
nues of the see, to the prejudice of it, which caused that
great minister of state, according as he reckoned it his
duty, to teU him plainly of the waste of his woods. The
Bishop gave the. Treasurer a quick answer, knowing his
own innocency, and the informations brought to the said
Lord to be malicious ; saying that these reports were aU in
digested surmises; and that whether he [the Treasurer]
were one to bring him to the bishopric, he knew not; but if
he would procure to bring him out, he assured him he
would thank him for it: and that he would stand to the
justifying of his doings. He took this opportunity to com
plain to the said Lord, how he had checked him at other
times for his urging so much some ceremonious points, and
the rigour of his ecclesiastical officers. He wrote his mind
at large concerning these matters to the said Lord : " That
" it grieved him, that my Lord Treasurer was counted to
" have a miscontented mind towards the Bishop of London.
" He was sure he had given him no just cause ; but con-
" trariwise had as much honoured him in aU times and
" everywise as any man in England. That God would
" touch his heart, when he should think best, and move him
" to remember, non occidat sol super iracundiam vestram.
" That he could have no great victory over him, if he
" should displace him, as he had told him a Bishop once
" was. Nay, he would thank him. And the charge being
" so importable, his old years growing on, the beggaring of
" himself, the wearing of his body, the thanklessness of the
" office, the continual discouragement, especially of late,
" made him he even upon his knees prayed, that he [the
" Treasurer] or some other would help him away, even to
" lead a private hfe. And therefore that no man should
"> need to sift much his doings, for Jiabebitis reum confiten-
" tern. " And to be plain with you, my Lord, [as he proceeded,}
" you are the man that do most discourage me, not in these

BISHOP AYLMER. 187
" points, (whereof I make no account,) but in that by your CHAP.
" words and countenance my government is hindered. For 
" when such words shall pass from you, that such and such
" things be not of the substance of religion ; that the eccle-
" siastical jurisdiction (which you yourself by statute have
" confirmed) is mere Papal ; that you would such and such
" should preach, which are disturbers, &c. it cannot be, my
" Lord, but three words from your mouth hujus generis
" shall more embolden them and hinder our labours, than
" our toil and moU shaU in many years be able to help and
" salve. These are the things, my Lord, that do discou-
" rage me, and make me weary, that on the one side we
" shall be bawled on by them; and not backed nor counte-
" nanced by such great magistrates as you are : and there-
" with for my part so oppressed with business, (enough for
" any three,) without either help, reward, or thanks, it must
" needs make us desperate, as by my writing you may see
" I am. For I cannot hve this life, nor joy greatly in my
" state, where I always toU tanquam in pistrmo, and dwell
" in suspicion of your good-wiU, &c. I have a clear con-
" science that I ever deserved weU at your Lordship's hand,
" and never UI. And therefore, whatsoever shaU happen, I
" stand clear before God."
But as he would be thus hot sometimes, so his, heat
would be soon over, and he would recaU himself, and bring
himself into a cooler temper ; as he did in the conclusion
of aU this expostulatory epistle with the Treasurer ; which
ran after this tenor : " I know this is no time to hold your
" Lordship thus long, but that very grief of mind makes
" me to deal with your Lordship as Job did with God ; to-
" ward whom, in his passion, he sometimes forgat himself.
" So I may seem to pass the limits of my duty. But if it
" may please you with this to forgive and forget all the
" rest, I shah be as ready to seek your favour as any man's
" alive : which if I cannot obtain, there is one above that
" wiU one day reprove you and chide you. Thus God
" bless your Lordship as I would be blessed myself." This
was writ in May 1579-
This letter shews us Bishop Aylmer's grief, and some-

188 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, what of his spirit, tending to impatience ; which however
 he had the grace to master, and not long to give way to.

But lest, by the abovesaid challenges and charges of that
most exceUent Statesman, any sinister opinion might be left
in men's minds concerning him, I shall subjoin his answer
to the Bishop, wrote the very same day ; wherein may
appear that most admirable, wise, and serene temper that he
was master of.
The Lord " My good Lord, your Lordship's letter is too full of cho-
answer! * S " ^er ^or me to answer directly without adding of choler :
" and so I should addere oleum igni, i. e. add oil to the fire.
" But I am otherwise disposed, both for reverence to your
" spiritual vocation, and for charity to mine old familiar ac-
" quaintance. For the opinion by you conceived of me, as
" not bearing you good-wUl, surely your Lordship therein
" doth misinform yourself: and for answer coram Domino,
" I protest that I bear you no kind of disfavour. That I
" have said to you of your wasting of timber, I spake as a
" public officer, and wiU speak the like upon like occasion
" to any of your estate, how dearly soever I shall love them.
" For reprehension of the common misusage by Bishops'
" Chancellors, Commissaries, Summoners, and such like, I
" say, with grief of mind, that I see therein no true use of
" the discipline meant at the first erection of those officers,
" (which I aUow weU of,) but a corrupting of them to pri-
" vate gain, and not to the public benefit, and edifying of
" the Church. And it grieveth me to see the fond, hght,
" pretended reformers, to have occasion ministered unwisely
" to condemn the offices, where they should condemn the
" misuse thereof.
" And so, my Lord, lest in much writing I should by
" heat of argument stir your choler, I end, and pardon
" your taunts sparkled in your letters.
" Your Lordship's with reverence
" and Christian charity,
" W. Burghley."
Westminster, May 26, 1579.

BISHOP AYLMER. 189
But to return to our Bishop : as he was somewhat hasty CHAP.
and quick in his temper, as we have heard, so he was quick

and sharp in his discourse ; and his expressions were min- sharP in his
, discourse.
gled with pungency and pleasure. When he was arguing
with Knox, in respect of his book against the reign of wo
men, whereby he touched hard upon Queen Elizabeth, he
had these words; "It is a great enterprise, and, as they
" say, no baU-plav, to puU a Queen's crown off her head ;
" and especiaUy such an one as many ages have not seen."
When the same author had pretended Scripture against
the rule of women, he said in general, " I must say to
" them aU in general, that the Scripture meddleth with no
" civU pohcy, further than to teach obedience. And there-
" fore whatsoever is brought out of the Scripture concern-
" ing any kind of regiment, is without the book pulled into
" the game-place by the ears, to wrestle whether it wiU
" or no."
Speaking concerning the marriage of Queen Mary to His words
King Philip, so unfortunate to England, he used these Q°e"nras
words; " Cyrus, that noble Persian, sent to Thomaris, Mary's .
i «. ¦ mil match with
" Queen of the Massagetes, for marriage, lo whom she KingPhiiip;
" made answer, that she knew his meaning was to marry
'.' her kingdom, and not her. Which answer if Queen
" Mary had given to Philip, Calais, Hammes, and Guisnes
" had not been lost ; nor the good Lady, her sister and our
" Sovereign, so left in the briers ; beset about on every side
" almost with mighty enemies, impoverished and robbed of
" her common treasure, and her subjects so fleeced, that
" they must scrape near the bones that wUl get any
" more." Mentioning Queen Mary's Parhament, that took the And the
Pope's .absolution from Cardinal Pole on their knees, he __,^ re_
said, " They stooped upon their marrow-bones to receive ceiving ab-
'? the DevU's blessing, brought them by Satan's apostle, £„,„(_.-
" the Cardinal." dinaiPoie.
When certain arguments were brought, dressed and flou
rished over, to prove an error, and he was taking them into
examination, " I will," said he, " turn the arguments out

190 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, "of their clouts, and consider them as they be in them-
_____" selves."
Facetious. For he would also mix a facetiousness with his discourses.
When Knox would have proved the unlawfulness of wo
men's government from that place in Isaiah, / will take
from you your honourable senators and your wise counsel
lors, and I will give you boys and women to reign over you ;
he confuted it by saying, that it was not meant of boys in
age, but in manners ; not of women in sex, but in feeble
ness of wit : and then added, divertingly, that this argu
ment therefore arose of wrong understanding the word. As
His story of the Vicar of Trumpington, said he, understood Eli, Eli,
Tramping- ^ama sabacthani, when he read the Passion upon Palm-
ton. Sunday. Coming to which place he stopped, and calling
the churchwardens, said, " Neighbours, this gear must be
" amended. Here is Eli twice in the book. I assure you,
" if my Lord of Eli come this way and see it, he wUl have
" the book, [since his name was in it.] Therefore by mine
" advice we shah scrape it out, and put in our own town's
" name, viz. Trumpington, Trumpington, lama sabac-
" thani.'" They consented, and he did so, because he un
derstood no better. So they that use this place for a wea
pon against this matter do fault in homonymia; not con
sidering that words have proper significations and trans
lations.
Judges, And once speaking to the Judges, " Some in sport," said
he, " caU you drudges, and not judges ; but I think in good
" earnest, that it is contrary, that you make yourselves
" lords, and aU other drudges."
He called The Under Sheriff he would caU the Under Thief; the
the Under ., . /
Sheriff un- J urymen, or the questmen, the questmongers, and some-
der Thief, times the curstmongers. And he thus once facetiously as weU
as sharply delivered his mind concerning the unjust mea
sures that poor men often received by their means : " Be-
" tween the High Thief and the Under Thief, my Lord
" [the lord of the manor, or chief nobleman] and the
" curstmongers, [the choice of whom was influenced by my
" Lord,] poor men are outweighed."

BISHOP AYLMER. 191
The Bishop was a man of a bold spirit, and feared no- CHA p;
body. Concerning which courage he once said, that " two Xlv'
" things made him so ; the one, that he neither feared nor Bold.
" cared for any loss of his place, [which had so much of
" care and vexation ;] the other, a clear conscience."
He took a great freedom to speak his mind, whosoever Free in
was worthy to be reproved, and whatsoever sins or evilspeech"
customs were to be checked. It was a sharp reproof he
gave the nobility in his time, which had been the occasions
of abusing that ancient good custom of the verdict of twelve
men for deciding criminal matters, and of meum and tuum.
" If there be," said he, " any nobleman dweUing in the
" country, either a duke, a marquis, an earl, or baron;
" he shaU hghtly have in his retinue aU the cobbs in the
" country, which be the questmongers, [as he styled the
" questmen.] And if any matters be touching him, his
" man, or his friend, whether it be a crime capital or nisi
" prius, sent down for lands, the case shall weigh as he
" wUl. For his detainers [as he called retainers] must
" needs have an eye to my Lord, though they should go to
" the devU for it. And so be some innocents knit up, and
" some offenders dehvered, and some titles of inheritance
" lost, against aU justice and right. Another is, if my lord
" wUl not offend the statute of retinue, then must the High
" Sheriff be his friend, and the Under Thief (Under Sheriff
" I should say) his man. He empaneUeth the quest, either
" such as dare not displease my lord, or for good-will wiU
" not. And so that way, betwixt the High Thief 'and the
" Under Thief, my Lord and the curstmongers, poor men,
" are outweighed. This corruption, if it be not looked to,
" wUl make this order, [of the jury of twelve,] which was
" the best that could be, to be the wickedest that can
" be." Thus he would in a blunt way freely deliver his mind ; Blunt in
especiaUy when it was needful the truth should be spoken w0'"
for vindication of innocence or reproof of sin, let it be be
fore the greatest person. Hence, after he had taken the
hberty once to say what he thought in some certain matter

192 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, to a great lord, he acknowledged that he was no good
x v' courtier, and excused himself by his plain nature.

Stout and AU this that I have said already sheweth him to have
courageous. ^een Qf a great stomach. Indeed he had a natural cou
rage: which appeared also not in words only, as we saw
before, but sometimes even in deeds : for the Bishop was
a man of his arms, and would not turn his back for any
man. Sir John Harrington, who lived in this Bishop's
time, and knew him, teUs us, that when he was an old man,
when no other correction nor sober advice would do his
unthrifty son-in-law any good, he took him into an inner
room, where they were alone, and cudgeUed him soundly.
And methinks those words of his in the description of a
preacher intimated his skiU in fighting as weU as preaching.
" It is not enough," said he, " for a man to teU a fair tale
" in the pulpit, and when he comes down is not able to
" defend it. If preachers and spiritual men be such, where
" be we, when we come to hand-gripes ? They must not
" only flourish, but they must know their quarter-strokes,
" and the way how to defend their head ; their head
" Christ, I say, and his cross."
An odd in- And now we are fallen upon this argument, I wUl not
nis°courage oimt a tradition that goeth in the famUy of the Ayimers, of
before the the Bishop's stout heart in a pretty odd instance, namely.
Queen. . . r „ , . . , , , ' \
in causing one oi his teeth to be drawn once in the Queen s
presence, for the better encouraging her to undergo that pre
sent pain for her own quiet and ease afterwards : and indeed
I find she was once so disquieted with the toothach, that it
gave a concern to aU the Court. It was in the month of
December 1578, when she was so excessively tormented with
that distemper, that she had no intermission day nor night,
and it forced her to pass whole nights without taking any
rest ; and came to that extremity, that her physicians were
called in and consulted. These differed among themselves
as to the cause of the distemper, and what means were" pro-
perest to be used. There was then an outlandish physician
of some note, it seems, for giving ease in this anguish, whose
name was John Anthony Fenotus ; him the Lords of the

BISHOP AYLMER. 193
CouncU sent for, and required, or radier commanded him CHAP.
to give his advice in writing, to procure the Queen ease. _______
Whereupon he wrote a long Latin letter which I have
seen : first, disabling himself to come after such great phy
sicians ; and then prescribing divers remedies. But in case
the tooth were hoUow, his advice then was, that when all
was done, it was best to have it drawn out, though with the
incurring some short pain. But if her Majesty could not
submit to such chirurgical instruments, (which it seems he
had heard something of the Queen's abhorrence of,) then he
advised that the juice of chelidonius major might be put
into the tooth, and so stopped with wax, that none of it
might faU upon the sound parts ; whereby the tooth would
in a short time be so loose that it might be puUed out by
the fingers: or the root of it might be rubbed upon the
tooth, and it would have the same effect. But in short,
the pulling it out was esteemed by aU the safest way ; to
which, however, the Queen, as was said, was very averse,
as afraid of the acute pain that accompanied it. And now
it seems it was that the Bishop of London being present, a
man of high courage, persuaded her that the pain was not
so much, and not at aU to be dreaded; and to convince
her thereof told her, she should have a sensible experiment
of it in himself, though he were an old man, and had not
many teeth to spare; and immediately bade the surgeon
eome and puU out one of his teeth, (perhaps a decayed
one,) in her Majesty's presence. Which accordingly was
done: and she was hereby encouraged to submit to the
operation herself.
The recreation which he delighted in was bowhng ; His recrea-
which he used for the diversion of his cares, and preserva
tion of his health at Fulham, according as he had leisure.
This exercise he used on Sundays, in the afternoon, after
evening prayer. And herein he would be so eager, that he
sometimes had such expressions in his game as exposed him
to the censure of many, especiaUy of his enemies. Hence
Martin Marprelate spake of his running after his bowl, and
crying Rub, Rub, Rub ; and then, The Devil go with it,

194 THE LIFE OF
C H AP. when he followed himself. And again on another occasion,
.  L_ " that he would spare him for that time, because it may be

" he was at his bowls ; and it was pity to trouble him, lest
" he swore."
His person- jjut now at last to wind up in short my accounts of this
age. . r . •> .
Bishop, and to draw towards a conclusion. As to his per
son, he was mean of stature, but of courage great, and very
valiant in his youth ; which quality departed not from him
The picture when he was old. He wore a long gray beard. A good
the posses- original picture of him is preserved to this day, or at least
sion of Mr. (jj^ lately remain, in the town of Bishops Stortford, fastened
Cheims- into the wainscot of an house there, once inhabited by Mr.
fou Aylmer, an apothecary, that derived himself from him.
His house- He kept a regular weU-ordered family, duly observing
the hours of prayer twice in the day, whereat he himself
was constantly present when he was at home, with the rest
of his officers, chaplains, and servants ; the number of
which consisted of above fourscore persons. And he was a
good master, friend, and father to them and his dependents.
Among the rest of his Chaplains, Dr. Vaughan was one,
Archdeacon of Middlesex, and his cousiri, and he that after
wards was the worthy and beloved Bishop of London. This
Vaughan was a deserving man, and known both for his
learning, readiness in preaching, and other godly gifts, in
ferior to few; and long a Prebend of the church of St.
Paul's. And being a senior Prebendary, made interest with
the Dean for the place of a Residentiary in that church, but
was several times put by; which troubled not only him,
but the Bishop too, knowing well his worth. But in AprU
1592, Archdeacon Molins lying in great extremity of sick
ness, and so a Residentiary's place likely again to become
vacant, the Bishop concerned himself for Dr. Vaughan.
And that his interest might the better prevaU, (divers hav
ing been already recommended to the Dean of PauFs,) he
addressed a letter to the Lord Treasurer, being moved in
conscience, as he said, lest by too many repulses the worthy
man should be discouraged ; praying his favourable assist
ance in this suit ; that it would please him at his [the Bi-

BISHOP AYLMER. 195
shop's] entreaty to send his letters to Mr. Dean on his be- CHAP.
half, being then in great hopes, that the success would be xtV'
better than it had been : and at the least howsoever it fell
out, both his Chaplain and he should acknowledge them
selves deeply bounden to his Lordship's honourable fur
therance given unto them herein. Adding, how he was
marveUously troubled for lack of such an one as the Doctor
was, to be ready at the Cross to supply the defects there ;
which happened divers times in the year by sickness, or
negligence of them that were caUed to preach there. What
effect this had, I cannot tell. But herein may be observed,
how sohcitous the Bishop was for the preferment of those
about him ; and what men of learning and merit he enter
tained. In fine, Aylmer had all the advantages that both prospe- A man of
rity and adversity are wont to contribute to make men wisetanes_ r
and good. After much ease and reputation which he en
joyed at the Court, and in the family of a great nobleman,
he was thrown out of aU his places, glad to escape for his
life, to leave his native country, and friends, and plenty,
and hve a banished man, and carry his life in his hand.
And after, when he was restored by the merciful providence
of God, and had his share, according to his merits, of ho
nour and wealth again, it was so deeply mixed with sorrow
and care, that he could have been heartily willing to have
been stripped of aU again, for a more private and peaceable
life. But his earlier days, which he passed in the Court,
seem to. have administered the greatest pleasure to him.
And by his converse there, he knew weU the characters of
great and noble persons. For he lived in the Duke of Suf
folk's famUy, and was the instructor of his incomparable
daughter, the Lady Jane Grey. And it may be reckoned
one of his fehcities, that he had the education of so rare a
person both for learning and piety, as well as high birth and
fortunes. And for her modest carriage, and good zeal to religion, His relation
, , , .. i • i_ a 1 °fa passage
this passage may be added concerning her, which Aylmer concerning
himself mentions somewhere; viz. that he knew a great j^^
o<Z

Elizabeth.

196 THE LIFE OF
CHAP, man's daughter, who having received from the Lady Mary
' goodly apparel of tinsel cloth of gold and velvet, laid on
with parchment lace of gold, when she saw it, said, " What
" shall I do with it ?" " Marry," said a gentlewoman stand
ing by, " wear it." " Nay," answered she, " that were a
'' shame to follow my Lady Mary against God's word, and
" leave my Lady Elizabeth, which followeth God's word."
His oppor- WhUe he thus conversed at Court in King Edward's days,
knowing he could not but take notice of the exemplary behaviour
the Lady 0f the said Lady Elizabeth. Whereby he was able to give
Queen) that character of her when she was young, before the crown
feU to her, which he thought fit at her very first access to
the kingdom to write and publish, for the better reconcUing
of her subjects to her government. And what he wrote
was of his own knowledge, as he said. And he wished to
God aU men knew her as much as he, that they might con
ceive of her the same opinion that he had. He was ac-i
Roger As- quainted with her first schoolmaster that taught her tongues :
cham. a mallj he said, very honest and learned. And among other
talk which he had with him of her, (for he was, as he said,
very curious in questioning, and he [her master] as gentle
in answering,) he told Aylmer once, that he learned more
of her every day, than she of him: which seemed to
Aylmer a mystery, as indeed it was. But because he
would not keep him in doubt, thus he expounded it : "I
" teach her words," said he, " and she me things. I teach
" her the tongues to speak, and her modest and maidenly
" looks teach me works to do. For," said he, "<1 think
" she is the best disposed of any in aU Europe." Aylmer
farther spake of her, that an Italian, who taught her his
tongue, told him once, that he found in her two qualities,
which were never lightly yoke-feUows in one woman; name
ly, a singular wit, and a marvellous meek stomach. Aylmer
added, that he would have thought that these men had
thus commended her because she was their mistress: but
by certain knowledge otherwise,, he understood that it was
the truth ; and that they might have said much more, and
not lied.

BISHOP AYLMER. 197
This character his conversation in times past in the Court CHAP. XIV.
enabled him to give of Queen Elizabeth. And by giving 
this in the most pubhc manner he could, in a printed book,
he did a piece of very good service, to reconcile her a due
respect in the minds of her subjects ; many of whom, being
led away by the Priests and actors in the late Popish go
vernment under her sister, had no great stomach to receive
her. And therefore aU the fairest characters, as weU as
other means to be used, were to be divulged of her. Where
in our Divine did his part, and merited weU.

o3

¦v.-n cVlfcir:

K!

ADDITIONS.

OINCE the writing hereof, certain things have come to my
hands, relating to some particular passages of the foregoing
history; which I have here added, as judging them proper
to give some further illustration to it.

Numb. I. Pag. 35.
Campion the Jesuit.
THE disputations with Campion, that boasting Jesuit,
were there spoken of, and the smaU opinion the Bishop of
London had of any good to be obtained thereby, partly in
respect of the disputations themselves, wherein commonly
not the soundest arguing, but the volublest tongue carrieth
away the glory ; and partly because of those flocks of au
ditors of httle judgment that would be present ; not a few
whereof being Campion's weh-wUlers, would not faU to blaze
the matter to the Jesuit's praise, and the undervaluing of
the Protestant Divines, his antagonists, and their cause.
And so in truth it happened. For the stopping of which
inconveniencies, the last day's conference was managed by
writing, each disputant's arguments, by consent, being set
down from their mouths by a person appointed for that
purpose, (who was Thomas Norton, a Minister of good
account,) and so were the answers likewise. Of these things
the same Norton gave the Lord Burghley an account in a
letter dated Sept. ult. in these words : " I pray your Lord-
" ship to pardon me to say, that I think the course hitherto
" taken, either by lack of order, or moderation, or conve-
" nient respect of admitting men to be hearers, hath been
" but fruitless and hurtful, and subject to great harm by
o 4

200 ADDITIONS.
" reports. The last time I was a means, by advice, to have
" it in some such form as did better content ; and the order
" to set down the objections and answers, and to repeat
" them written, so as the parties should acknowledge them
" to be their own before any answer or reply made unto
" them, did greatly satisfy the hearers; being so surely
" used, that in the whole day Campion could not complain
" that I did him wrong in any one word, but always con-
" fessed that his sayings were rightly conceived, and truly
" set down. By which, mere confusion was avoided, and
" by- talk was cut off: he was hardly driven to the wall :
" what he once had granted, he could not resume; and our
" cause is not so subject to false reports of his favourers."

Numb. II. Pag. 36.
ONE Cawood was mentioned there to have been taken up
by Bishop Aylmer, for applauding publicly the abovesaid
Campion and his learning, in his conferences, to the dis
paraging of the Protestant Divines that disputed with him.
There was also another, named Oliver Plucket, (another of
the crowd of common auditors,) who openly commended the
said Campion, saying, that he had heard him dispute, and
thought, in his conscience, that Campion was discreet and
learned, and spoke very well : and that he would have con
vinced them that opposed him, if he might have been heard
According with indifferency. Which words were laid to his charge in
of the in- December by the foreman of the Wardmote-inquest of
quest, vid. the parish of St. Andrew's, Holborn; which he owned.
p. 682. Whereupon the deputy of the ward, with the said foreman,
preferred a bUl of information against him to Fleetwood
the Recorder. The issue was, that he also was committed.

Numb. III. Pag. 52,
sho* 's do- HERE we fall into the year 1580, where let me note, that
ingsinCon-whUe Aylmer was Bishop of London, the Clergy of the
vocation.

ADDITIONS. 201
province of Canterbury met several times in their Synods :
and I make no question so active a man as he was, and so
useful as he had shewed himself to be once in a Synod in
the first year of Queen Mary, was also very serviceable by
his advices and conferences in these ecclesiastical assemblies
under Queen Ehzabeth, when he bore a greater figure. But
I confess I have httle to set down of this matter ; only that
in the year 1580, when the Convocation began to sit, Ja
nuary 17, our Bishop presided, being deputed by the Arch
bishop of Canterbury, at that time sequestered, and under
the Queen's displeasure ; and was at the head of what busi
ness was then done. And in the Convocation that sat in Rights of
February 1586, the Bishop complained of the Dean ofCo°™rat-
Norwich and some others for not preaching at Paul's Cross,
according to monition ; it having been of long time custo
mary for the Bishops of London to summon up from the
Universities, or elsewhere, persons of the best abUities to
preach those pubhc sermons, whither the Prince and Court,
and the magistrates of the city, besides a vast conflux of
people, used to resort. For the due providing therefore
for these sermons, and for the encouragement of the preach
ers that should come up, this Bishop was a great bene
factor.

Numb. IV. Pag. 104.
Dyke the Puritan.
WE there left Dyke under suspension from the Bishop,
for troubling bis auditory with new opinions. For the re
storing of whom to his preaching, mention was made of an
earnest petition put up by the parishioners to the Lord
Burghley ; which being omitted in the history, I wiU here
give the tenor of it. It set forth, "how they had hved
" without any ordinary preaching untU within four or five
" years. By which want they knew not, as they ought,
" what did belong to God, what to their Prince, their
" rulers, their neighbours, their famihes, to bring them up

202 ADDITIONS.
" in that obedience and subjection as was meet. Neither
" knew they how to keep them from such abuses as were
" in common in the world ; so as ignorance and disorder
" was upon them and theirs for want of teaching. But that
" of late it pleased the Lord to visit them with the means
" of their salvation, the ordinary ministry of the word ; and
" through the godly endeavour of their very good patroness
" the Lady Bacon, [widow of Sir Nic. Bacon, late Lord
" Keeper,] at her especial and almost only charge, they en-
" joyed Mr. Dyke, a preacher authorized : who, according
" to his function, had been painful and profitable ; and both
" in life and doctrine had carried himself peaceably and
" dutifuUy among them ; so as no man could justly find
" fault with him ; except, of mahce, some who were evU
" disposed persons, and could not abide to hear theh faults
" reproved, did for that cause set themselves against him,
"by slanders and such like practices labouring in aU
" places to theh utmost to discredit him, and to hinder the
" course of his ministry : yet none of them all, in the least
" shew of evil, were able to touch him. That through his
" preaching many had been brought from theh ignorance
" and evil ways to a better life ; to be frequent hearers of
" God's word ; willing to every service of the Prince ; ready
" to distribute to the poor : and theh servants were in
" better order and government than in times past."
Dyke's au- Then giving his Lordship to understand, " that this theh
ditors solicit « preacher was suspended by the Bishop of London; and
Treasurer. " so they were now as sheep without a shepherd ; exposed
" and laid open to manifold dangers, even to return to theh
" former ignorance and cursed vanities. That they were no
" better than their fathers, who in the absence of theh good
" guides corrupted themselves, and were soon turned out
" of the way which God prescribed them. That the Lord
" had spoken it, and therefore it must needs be inviolably
" true, Where there is no vision, the people perish. And
" that they having had some experience of his [the Lord
" Burghley's] honourable care heretofore in the like case,
" (for with all thankfulness they acknowledged, that through

ADDITIONS. 203
" his means they had enjoyed this benefit of the word
" preached,) they were in theh present distress emboldened
" to become most humble suitors and petitioners, next after
" God, unto his Honour, that in regard of so many benefits
" they had by preaching, and in respect of theh great loss
" now upon them, by want whereof they were spoiled of
" theh comfort, weakened to God-ward, and made more
" unfit for every good service and necessary work ; it would
" please his Lordship, in the bowels of his honourable com-
" passion, to pity them in theh present misery, and to be-
" come so favourable unto them, as by his means they
" might enjoy theh Preacher again."
To this petition were subscribed the hands of six, and the Who there-
marks of twenty-nine : which made the Bishop style them "o the^Bi-68
such as were "dubbed with the title of yeomanry.'" .But shop.
whatever mean mechanics these subscribers were, upon this,
as was specified p. 104, the said Lord despatched his letter
to the Bishop in Dyke's behalf. To which in answer the
Bishop gave his reasons for suspending of him ; which are
there set down : as, that he was but Deacon, and so had con
tinued many years, refusing the other order of Priesthood ;
shewing thereby his disaffection to the book of orders of
the Church of England : that he lay under the infamy of
uncleanness; and that he was an impugner of the esta
blished way of worship, and preached innovations. To this
some time after the said Peer gave this second letter to the
Bishop :
" That he had received his Lordship's letters of the 9th His second
" of November, in answer to his formerly written to him^ y_-s"_.
" in the behalf of Mr. Dyke, Preacher at St. Michael's in half.
" St. Albon's. And that he had forborne hitherto to answer
" the same upon sundry causes aUeged by his Lordship,
" that moved him to forbear to restore him, untU he [the
" Lord Burghley] had more duly informed himself of the
" truth of some of those matters. Which if they had been true,
" as it seems his Lordship [the Bishop] was informed they
" were, he should not only be of his Lordship's opinion for
" his suspension, but think him worthy of further punish-

204 ADDITIONS.
" ment. But having, upon due inquisition and knowledge
" from the best of that shire, understood, that the foul
" matter wherewith he was charged in the open sessions at
" St. Albon's, of incontinency, was maliciously informed
" against him by a lewd woman, that seemed to have had
" the report thereof from one Forster, a gentleman dweUing
" in Essex. For he, by his letters written to the Justices,
" and openly read in the Sessions-house, utterly denied to
" have ever used any such speeches. Whereupon the wo-
" man confessing her lewdness in slandering of him, and
" askmg him openly forgiveness, he sufficiently was cleared
" thereof. And truly, my Lord, added he, in that manner
" may the best Clergyman in this realm be slandered. That
" he did not therefore see, but for that matter his Lord-
" ship and aU the world (who hereby might hardly con-
" ceive of him) ought to be satisfied.
" And for one other matter, of his not administering the
" Sacraments, he being but only Deacon, and having no
" cure or charge, whereof to be Minister or Curate, might
" not lawfully minister the Sacraments ; although being a
" Deacon, and so authorized, he might, as before his Lord-
" ship's restraint he did, preach to the instruction of the
" people. " That for other matters, he thought his Lordship had
" been over hardly informed against him : which made him
" to continue in earnest manner his former request to him
" on Dyke's behalf, and to pray him to restore him to his
" former place of preaching at St. Michael's ; where now
" the people lived untaught, and had for a Curate a very
" insufficient, aged, doting man. That his Lordship knew,
" that magna est messis, et operarii pauci ; i. e. the har-
" vest was great, and the labourers few. And that al-
" though he might have some imperfections, as the best of
" us aU are not void thereof, yet in a reasonable sort would
" the same be borne withal, being but moved of zeal.
" Which made him [the Lord Burghley] the more ear-
" nestly to press his Lordship for this man's restitution :
" who, he hoped, (if he had heretofore erred by overmuch

ADDITIONS. 205
" earnestness,) would hereafter be more advised, and in a
" temperate sort carry himself. And for this favour to
" him, besides the good the people should receive in their
" instruction, he should thank his Lordship for him. But
" lastly, that he would not sohcit his Lordship in his fa-
" vour, if hereafter he should give just cause of any public
" offence against the orders of the Church established."

Numb. V. Pag. 105.
Cartwright the Puritan.
MENTION was made how Thomas Cartwright and some imprisoned.
other Puritans were taken up and brought before the ec
clesiastical Commission, for setting up a new discipline con
trary to that which was established in the Church of Eng
land; and that the said Cartwright, as the chief, being
called before the Bishop and other ecclesiastical Commis
sioners, the said Bishop used a certain expostulatory speech
to him. To add some further particulars. The names of
the rest of these Puritan Ministers, besides Cartwright, dis
posed in the Fleet and other prisons about London, were
as foUow :
Humphrey Fen. Edward Lord. The other
Andrew King. Edmund Snape. other prf-

Daniel Wight. WUliam Proudlove. sons> theit
° names.
John Payne. Melancthon Jewel.
The place where the Commission sat, when Cartwright
was brought before them, was the Bishop's chamber. Where
he was secretly caUed on Saturday afternoon, without any
warning aforehand, to prevent, as was said, the cumbrance
that the coming in of such as favoured him might occasion.
And for the satisfaction of any who might be desirous to
understand how these proceedings went, I wiU set down the
remainder of the conference of the Bishop and the other
Commissioners with Cartwright at this meeting, as I have
it from an authentic paper.

206 ADDITIONS.
The con- The Bishop having delivered himself, according as was
tweenthe* shewn in the history, Cartwright began to speak, but Mr.
Bishop, Attorney Sir John Popham, another of the Commissioners,
Commis- took the speech from him, and made a long discourse. The
Cartwrl wf en?ect whereof was to shew, how dangerous a thing it was,
Mr. Attor- that men should, upon the conceits of their own heads, and
ney's speech yet un(Jer colour of conscience, refuse the things that have
been received for laws of long time. And that the oath [to
answer to certain interrogatories] that was tendered was ac
cording to the laws of the land ; which he commended above
the laws of aU other lands : yet so, that because they were
the laws of men, they carried always some stain of imper
fection. Also, that he was now to deal with Mr. Cartwright
in two points : one was, the peace of the land, which was
broken by him and others, through unlawful meetings, and
making of laws : the other was, the justice of the land,
which he and others had offended against, in refusing the
oath now tendered : which, as he said, was used in other
courts of the land. Neither was there any, in his conscience,
learned in the laws, that did judge it unlawful. So exhort
ing Mr. Cartwright to take the oath, the rather for that he
being aged should have more experience, and with it more
wisdom than the others, he made an end of his speech.
The Bishop After this, the Bishop requiring Mr. Cartwright to take
uoon takine *ne oath, he desired that ere he came to the oath, he might
the oath; be received to answer the grievous charges which were
declines, given partly against him apart, and partly against him with
others, by Mr. Attorney ; but especiaUy by his Lordship.
Whereunto the Bishop answered, that he should not answer
to any thing but only to the oath, whether he would take
it, to answer the Articles which he had seen. And Mr.
Cartwright replying, that it was a hard course to give open
charges, and the same very grievous, and yet to shut men
from all answer of them. The Bishop wUled him, first to
answer touching the oath ; and then he should be admitted
His answer to answer the charges which had been made upon him. Mr.
ticks! Af Cartwright foUowing the order the Bishop had appointed
him, answered, that the Articles being the same that they

ADDITIONS. 207
upon oath would examine him of, which he had seen before,
he had already made answer to them, drawing them forth
out of his bosom ; and withal offered to be sworn unto it ;
and that he could not make any further answer. Whereof
when they demanded the reason, his answer was, that he had
laid the chief strength of his refusal upon the law of God ;
secondly, upon the laws of the land : which in some men's
judgment, professing the skUl of the laws, did not warrant
such proceeding. But seeing that he heard Mr. Attorney
affirm as he did, and that he had no eyes to look into the
depth and mysteries of the law, he would most principally
rely, and stand at this present, upon the law of God.
Then Dr. Lewin spake, and said, that he would be glad Dr. Lewin's
that Mr. Cartwright should understand, that he was greatly ___c
deceived in that he called this oath the oath ex officio ; The oath ex
whereas it was by express words derived from the authority "-ff1"0'
of the Prince by a delegate power unto them. Wherefore
that he had need to take heed, lest in refusal of this oath
he refused that which the Prince authorized. Which speech
the Bishop greatly commended ; and willing Mr. Cartwright
to take heed unto it, lest by refusal of this oath he should
directly oppose himself to the authority of the Prince : Mr.
Cartwright answered first, that in calling it an oath ex
officio, he did it by warrant of this court, using no other
language therein than the Bishop himself, that so caUed it,
and another of the High Commission that was not then
present, who caUed it the oath of inquisition. The Bishop
denied that he had done so. But Mr. Cartwright appeal
ing therein to the testimony of those which were present,
he was sUent. Secondly, Mr. Cartwright aUeged, that he
had seen commissions from her Majesty, wherein there was
no mention of proceeding by corporal oath. Then Dr.
Bancroft interrupting him, Mr. Cartwright desired that he
might make an end of his answer. But Dr. Bancroft say
ing, that Mr. Cartwright might speak if he would, and that
himself would keep silence ; Mr. Cartwright answered, that
he would give him place, and proceed after with his answer,
if he remembered it. So Dr. Bancroft said, that the High Bancroft's
° speech to
him.

208 ADDITIONS.
Commission had been altered, as occasion of time, persons,
and other chcumstances required. And that it was true
indeed that the former Commissions had not inserted into
them the clause of proceeding by oath : but that there were
some men, discontented with the State, had sought curiously
into these things, and observed them. And that Mr. Cart
wright had taken them from them.
Some de- Hereupon there feU some jar betwixt the Bishop and
between the Dr- Bancroft ; the Bishop affirming that he liked not that
Bishop and saying of the Doctor, and the Doctor making it good, and
croft. n°t afraid to profess it. But the Bishop said, that he had
. been Commissioner this thhty years, partly in Lincoln, and
partly in London, and had always that clause of the oath
inserted. His fear being, as it seemed, lest they [the Com
missioners] having used the oath always, and having no
Commission, [warranting it,] but now of late, should be
thought to be in the praemunire, for that they had used it
so many years without warrant.
Cart- Then Mr. Cartwright said, that he had a hard point re-
areumtnt maining of his answer to Dr. Lewin and the Bishop : which
against this was, that although they might, by words of her Majesty's
Commission, proceed by oath, yet it followed not, that there
fore they might proceed by oath without any to accuse,
without any limitation, and without reasonable time of de
liberation and advice what to answer. And therefore he
which refuseth not simply to swear, but to swear in such
sort as they required, was not, as is said, directly opposite
herein to the Queen's authority. Hereof there was some
debating concerning the difference of this oath from the
oaths tendered in other courts ; Mr. Cartwright' alleging,
that although in other courts the Words of the oath were
general, yet that indeed it was restrained to some particular
matter, which the deponent knew before he took the oath.
And that himself, in title of hospital lands, [viz. the hospi
tal in Warwick, where he was Master,] before certain Com
missioners, had taken the oath which is accustomably given
in other courts.
After, Mr. Dr. Bancroft charged him, that he had taken

ADDITIONS. 209
this oath twenty years ago ; asking, why it was not as law- Cart
ful now as at that time. Whereunto he answered, that the Jjgj^'
case was not alike ; for that then there was but one only when it was
matter for him to be examined of, and the same was known „_ _„. be
unto him before: also, that he had not so spent his time, taken the
(he thanked God,) but that in so long a space he had°a
learned something, as in some other things, so in this. (He
that wrote this relation said, he heard Mr. Cartwright say
afterwards, that, had he not been interrupted, he could fur
ther have answered, that he took not that oath twenty years
ago, but with exception to answer so far as might well stand
with God's glory and the good of his neighbour.) Finally,
that by the example of divers Ministers and others refusing
this oath before him, he took occasion to search further than
otherwise he was hke to have done.
Then Dr. Bancroft said, that for so much as every man And that
which had offended another was bound to confess his fault, bouid to
and to reconcile himself, he should much more do it to the confess our
Prince. Whereunto Mr. Cartwright answering, that the a"
case here was very unlike, and that this general rule did
admit some exception ; which seeming strange to Dr. Ban
croft, he required of Mr. Cartwright an instance : who an
swered, that if he had spoken evU to one of a third man,
which never came to the knowledge of it, it should not stand
well with the rule of charity to open this matter unto the
person whom he had wronged ; considering that so he might
(likely) break the knots of love, which without that confes
sion might have continued whole.
Moreover, upon the charge which Mr. Attorney repeated, And that he
that Mr. Cartwright and others had holden conferences -nd^),d^ons™
made laws ; Mr. Cartwright answered, that touching that ferences
point his answer was before them, which, being required, iaws .
he would confirm upon his oath ; that is, that they never
held conferences by any authority, nor ever made any laws
by any manner of compulsion, to procure any obedience
unto them. Also, that he and others had expressly testified
by subscription, that they would not so much as voluntarily
and by mutual agreement, one of them without another,

210 ADDITIONS.
practise any advice or agreement that was contrary to any
law in the land. Whereunto Mr. Dr. Bancroft rephed, that
authority they had none, and therefore could not use it;
and compulsion needed not, seeing every one, received to
their conferences, must subscribe to be obedient to all orders
he and others should set down; so far as if they should set
down the sense or interpretation of a place of Scripture, it
should not be lawful for any to depart from that ; which,
said he, is deposed by three or four. But, said Mr. Cart
wright, he might have ecclesiastical jurisdiction of reproof,
suspension, excommunication, degradation, as they had been
openly, but most untruly, charged to have done, if either,
or others with him, had thought it lawful for them so to do.
And for the other point, of their requiring subscription by
any that was admitted, much less such a subscription as
Mr. Dr. Bancroft spake of, he protested that neither had
he so done, nor any that he knew : and that he was ready
to make that also good upon his oath.
And when Further, Dr. Lewin moved Mr. Cartwright to take the
moved oath, and then assured himself that the company would
again to take at his hands any reasonable answer. To whom Mr.
take the
oath. Cartwright answered, that he could not conveniently give
any other answer than that which was before them. To
whom when the Bishop replied, that then they would teU
him where his answer was short, and required further an
swer : so, said Mr. Cartwright, shall not the oath make an
end of the controversy ; which notwithstanding is the proper
use of an oath. Against which Mr. Dr. Bancroft excepted,
saying, that an oath tended indeed to make an end of a
controversy ; but that it was strange that Mr. Cartwright
said, that it should whoUy end a controversy; albeit Mr. Cart
wright therein alleged no interpretation, but the plain text.
Bancroft But, (said Mr. Dr. Bancroft,) Mr. Cartwright, think you
danger of thus to go away in the clouds, or to have to deal with men
the disci- 0f so small judgment, as not to see what is your drift ? Do
not we know from whom you draw your discipline and
Church-government? Do not we know their judgments and
their practice ? which is to bring in the further reformation

ADDITIONS. 211
against the Prince's wUl by force and arms. It is well He meant
known, how one of the English Church at Geneva wrote a^J"
book to move to take arms against Queen Mary ; and Mr.
Whittingham's Preface before it. And who knoweth not,
that the Church of Geneva allowed it ? Also we have seen The disci-
the practice in France. Likewise it is written in the Scot- France"
tish story, how Mr. Knox moved the nobUity of Scotland Scotland,
to bring in the Gospel with force against the Queen there ; Va.
and likewise weU known, that Mr. Calvin was banished
Geneva, for that he would have brought in the discipline
against the wUl of the magistrate. Whereunto Mr. Cart- Cart
wright replied, that his meaning was not to hide himself in repfi'to
the clouds touching this matter, as one which had made athis-
plain and direct denial hereof: wherein if any thing were
doubtful, he would make it as plain as Mr. Doctor could
set it down. But that he now perceived, that if others were
like-minded to Mr. Dr. Bancroft, aU purgation of ourselves
by oath (which was now required of him and others) should
be in vain ; considering, that whatsoever they should de
pose, yet it might be answered, as Mr. Doctor doth, that
they knew our drift weU enough. Moreover, that he did
the reformed Churches great injury, which never had, either
that judgment or practice he speaketh of, for any thing
that he ever read or knew. That he had read the Scottish
story, but remembered not that which he spake of. That
some particular persons had written from Geneva some
such things as he spake of; yet that it was a hard judg
ment to charge the Church of Geneva with it : which by
an epistle set forth by Mr. Beza, a principal Minister
thereof, had utterly disclaimed that judgment.
With this the Bishop took them up, and asked Mr. Cart- The Bishop
wright once again, whether he would take the oath ; and _. of Cart_
upon his refusal, commanded an act thereof to be entered, wrighf « «-
Then Mr. Cartwright putting the Bishop in mind of his
promise of leave to answer the charges which were given
against him, he answered, that he had no leisure to hear
his answer : and if he would answer, he should do it by a
private letter to the Bishop.
r 2

212 ADDITIONS.
The Queen Qne thins; beside Mr. Dr. Bancroft undertook to affirm
answers, there; that her Majesty had read Mr. Cartwright's answer
to the Articles : which although it were abruptly brought
in, yet it was esteemed that his meaning was thereby to sig
nify, that her Majesty, notwithstanding the knowledge of
that answer, would have this severe proceeding against him.
And this was the sum of what was done at that sitting.
But since we have not yet seen fuUy what the crimes
were that Cartwright and his fellows were accused of, I
shall add here the effect of the principal matters in the biU
of complaint against them ; viz.
The Arti- « That there had been of late set forth by some seditious
cles charged <• i ~i i 1 -A -r»
against " people, a government of the Church by Doctors, Pastors,
Cartwright „ Eld Deacons, and such like.
and his ' '
fellows. " With a new form of Common Prayer and Administra-
" tion of the Sacraments, and discipline for the Church,
" comprised in a book entitled, Disciplina Ecclesia Sacra,
" Dei verbo descripta : and other books and pamphlets of
" like nature.
" That the defendants had unlawfully and seditiously
" assembled themselves together concerning the premises.
" And had in those [assemblies] treated of, and con-
" eluded upon, sundry seditious Articles, in aUowance of
" the same books, and of the matters therein contained.
" Unto which Articles the defendants had in some of
" those assemblies submitted themselves and subscribed,
" and put part thereof in execution. For which misde-
" meanors they had been called in question before the High
" Commissioners : where they refused to take the oath
" ministered to them, to answer to such Articles as they
" were to be examined of on her Majesty's behalf concern-
" ing the same.
" Of aU which a bUl had been exhibited by direction
" from the Lords into the Star-chamber against the defend-
" ants. In which bUl was also contained, that they, under1
" colour and pretence of discipline and charity, did derive
" to themselves power to deal in aU manner of causes what-
" soever ; and had moved and persuaded sundry her Ma-

ADDITIONS. 213
" jesty's subjects, to refuse to take any oath to answer to
" any matter that might concern any the unlawful doings
" and proceedings of them, theh brethren, and teachers."
Lastly, I wUl subjoin the process of this business, with The F°-
the interrogatories, and how matters stood with them June wUh them.
23, 1591.
To the former bUl the defendants in theh answer have How the
confessed their denial to take the oath before the Commis-'^"pu^j_s
sioners ; and for the rest of the most material matters have stood.
made an uncertain and insufficient answer.
Which being referred by the Court to the consideration
of the Chief Justices, Chief Baron and Mr. Justice Gawdy,
they advising thereof, did set down wherein theh answers
were insufficient, and that they ought to answer the same
particularly and directly.
This notwithstanding, they made theh answer in effect in
many points as imperfect as before; and in some points
oppose themselves against the report of the Judges, that
they ought not to answer them.
Whereupon interrogatories were ministered unto them
upon the parts of the bUl. Whereof they answer not at all
the most part, and the principal interrogatories.
Hereupon, the consideration thereof being by the court
eftsoons committed to the said Judges; and they to set
down wherein and which of the interrogatories ought to be
better answered, and that the same should be answered ac
cordingly. The defendants being thereupon eftsoons examined upon interroga-
these interrogatories according to the direction, do notwith- tn"_pn
standing stiU refuse to answer them. As namely these :
" Where the said assembhes were made ; when, and how
" often. " Who were at the same assembhes as weU as themselves.
" What matters were treated of in the same assem
bhes. " Who made or set forth, corrected or reformed, the said
"book of discipline, or any part thereof.
" Who subscribed, or submitted jhemselves to the same
r 3

214

ADDITIONS.

book, or to the Articles therein concluded, besides the
said defendants.
" Whether in a Christian monarchy the King is to be
accounted among the governors of the Church, or amongst
those which are to be governed by Pastors, Doctors, or
such like.
" Whether in*a well-ordered Church it is lawful for the
Sovereign Prince to ordain orders and ceremonies apper
taining to the Church.
" Whether ecclesiastical government, established by her
Majesty's authority within the Church of England, be
lawful, or aUowed by the word of God.
" Whether the Sacraments ministered within her Ma
jesty's dominions, as they be ordained by the Book of
Common Prayer to be ministered, be godly and rightly
ministered."

Upon the
Bishop's death the
Dean and
Chapterclaim the
temporal-
ties.

Numb. VI. Pag. 113.
THE Bishop being now four days deceased, the Dean and
Chapter of St. Paul's claimed a privUege upon his death,
and during the vacation of his bishopric; which was, to
enjoy the temporalties of the bishopric, paying yearly 1001.
for the same : and that by an old charter, given to the Cor
poration by King Edward II. And so made theh suit to
the Lord Treasurer Burghley; who accordingly ordered
Fanshaw, an officer in the Exchequer, to examine the char
ter, and how it had been allowed formerly : which he did,
and found it to be of the same effect. And that in King
Henry VIII.'s time, upon the translation of Cuthbert ann.
Reg. 25. the bishopric being vacant, the Dean and Chapter
had the custody of the bishopric and temporalties. And
when Stokesley succeeded in that see, the King granted to
him aU the right and title that he had in the temporalties
and rent thereof, which before was had and taken by the
Dean and Chapter, and did discharge the Dean and Chapter.
The Treasurer being satisfied with this charter and this
late precedent, I find that after some time they had the

ADDITIONS. 215
temporalties let and consigned to them by the Queen, upon
the consideration of 1000/. a year ; (computing the 1001. in
Edward II.'s time worth 1000J. now.) And afterwards,
upon the admission of Richard Fletcher to be Bishop, the
Treasurer demanded an account of the Dean and Chapter
of theh receipts of money and rent ; which they sent him
in ; that is, from June 5, 1594, to January 24 ensuing : in
theh paper calling themselves ciistodes episcopatus ac om- The Dean
nium temporalium ejusdem, quamdiu idem episcopatus va- wstodeT "
cavit. And it was computed that they were to pay, accord- episcopatut.
ing to theh account, (after the rate of 1000Z. per ann.) for
the temporalties, for the time they held them, 320/. 11*.
And the Queen wrote her letters to them to restore the al
location thereof to the reverend Father Richard Fletcher ;
whom she had nominated for Bishop.

Numb. VII. Pag. 127-
MANY persons of note of the Ayimers in England had The Ayi-
been there spoke of: but as the name had flourished here ireiand.
at home, so it spread itself considerably in the neighbouring
kingdom of Ireland ; where the Ayimers were settled time
ont of mind. Theh first coming thither is uncertain ; pro
bably two hundred years ago, and more. The first we
meet with of that stock there, was Richard, (a great name
in the famUy,) being the ancientest person taken notice of
in a visitation book (remaining in the hbrary of the coUege
near Dublin) of Molineux, sometime Ulster King of Arms
of Ireland: which Richard perhaps was the son of that
Richard of Norwich, who had been Mayor of that city;
and is said in his monumental inscription to be procerum devid. p. ia6.
stipite natus. The abovesaid Richard married Katherine,
daughter of Petit, of Piersetown in the county of Meath.
Whose son and heir married Margaret, daughter of Bar
tholomew Bath, of Dullardstown in the county of Meath,
Esquire. By whom he had Bartholomew Aylmer, of Lyons
in KUdare. Who married to Margaret, daughter of Chevers
p 4

216 ADDITIONS.
of Maston in the county of Meath, Esquhe. And had two
sons, Sir Garret of Dullardstown, Chief Justice of the
Common Pleas anno 1535. and married Alson, daughter
of Fitz Garald of Athlone. His other son (who was the
elder) was named Richard ; married to Jenet, daughter of
Twee, Alderman of Dublin. And from these two brothers
the famUy branched out numerously into the Ayimers of
the Lyons and of DuUardstown : and intermarried into the
best houses in the counties of Meath and KUdare. As the
last named Richard had Richard, that married Eleoner,
daughter of James Lord Slane. Theh son Thomas mar
ried Alson, daughter of Thomas Cusack, Knight, Lord
Chancellor of Ireland anno 1550. who had issue, Bar
tholomew iriarried to Cicely, daughter of Robert Pipho,
and Jenet, daughter of Viscount Gormanston. Theh son
was Thomas, that took to wife MabU, daughter of Peter
Barnwel, Knight. The other brother, Sh Garret, or Gereld,
that was Chief Justice, (as is abovesaid,) had Bartholomew,
and he James, and James Nicolas, and he Christopher, and
Christopher Richard; who married the daughter of Sir
Robert DiUon, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas,
and died anno 1635. He left (besides other sons and
daughters) James, that matched to Johanna, daughter of
Christopher Lord KUleen.
From the other house, viz. of the Lyons, came Christo
pher, a sober, wise, and studious man ; who, living in the
times of the civU wars, shewed his loyalty to King Charles I.
by giving him his assistance, and afterwards by suffering
exUe for him in Spain. This Christopher married a daughter
of Matthew Plunket, Lord of Lowth: whose issue was Sir
Gerald, the eldest, and Matthew, now living, appointed
Admiral to the royal fleet sent into the Straits : where he
did faithful service to his great honour and reputation:
now Governor of Deal, castle, and one of the Barons in
Parliament for the Cinque Port of Dover : the inhabitants
of which place hold themselves much obliged to him for
procuring the late act for the repairing of Dover pier, a
matter of such importance to the whole nation.

ADDITIONS. 217
In short, this famUy of the Ayimers of Ireland is related
to the noblest and best houses in the counties of Meath,
Dublin, and KUdare; as the Lutterels, the Fitz-Geralds,
the Fitz-Moris, Cusacks, DiUons, Fitz-Simons, Piphos, dri
vers, Plunkets, Flemmings, Husseys, and others. And
Camden, reckoning up the best families of Enghsh extrac- in his Bri-
tion in Meath, specifies the Fitz-Geralds, the Ougans,
De la Hides, Walshes, Boisels, Whites, Suttons, and
among the rest the Ayimers.

Numb. VIII. Pag. 130.
THAT unequal marriage, for the solemnizing whereof a The stolen
hcence was obtained out of the Bishop's Faculty Office, was _,!___
mentioned to have been complained of at Court, and occa- Dorothy
___ De vere ux
sioned blame to the Bishop. The particulars of it, omitted with Sir
in the history, were as follow. The parties were Shphomas
Thomas Parrot and the Lady Dorothy Devereux, daughter
to the Earl of Essex, of right noble and ancient blood:
which lady at that time lived with Sir Henry Cock, Kt.
in the parish of Broxburn in Hertfordshire : where, getting
into the parish church, they were married by a strange
Minister, whom they had procured, two men guarding the
church door with theh swords and daggers under their
cloaks, as the rest of the company had, to the number of
five or six. One Green was then Vicar of the parish, to
whom that morning repaired two persons. One of them
told him that he was a Minister, and a Bachelor of Divi
nity, and had been a Preacher of long time ; and asked him
for the key of the church door, which must be opened to
him, for he had a commission, whereupon he was to examine
certain men, and to swear them : and therefore asked him also
for the Communion Book. The Vicar told him it was locked
up in the vestry, and he could not come by it : but instead
thereof he offered him a Latin Testament. But the other
said, that would not serve his turn. Coming to the church
he found it open, and Sir Thomas and the lady ready to

218 ADDITIONS.
enter in ; who hindered him by any means from shutting
it. But perceiving that they meant to proceed to a mar
riage, he persuaded the strange Minister not to deal herein,
wondering how he would intrude himself into his [the Vi
car's] charge ; and then offered to him an injunction against
it, and began to read it unto them; which was to this
tenor :
An injunc- « Item, For the avoiding of inconvenience which some-
tion about . ° ,
licences to " times groweth by hcences to marry without the banns
marry. « asking, (which notwithstanding are sometimes reasonably
" granted,) no man shall be suffered to marry any person
" with such licence (the banns not being first orderly pub-
" lished) but in the church or chapel where he is Parson,
" Vicar, or ordinary Curate ; neither at any other time than
" is usual for public and common prayer ; neither except
" he do first shew his sufficient licence to the Churchwardens
" of the said church or chapel : and either by his own
" knowledge, or the knowledge of the said Churchwardens,
" be assured, that the parties to be married have thereto
" the assent of their parents or other governors."
But they refused to hear it; and the strange Minister
(whose name was Lewis) told the Vicar he had sufficient
authority, shewing him a licence under seal; which the
Vicar offered to read : but before he had read half of it,
Sir Thomas snatched it away from him, and offered him a
rial to marry him. But he refusing, Sir Thomas bade the
other go forward. But the Vicar, when the other began to
read, resisted him, and shut the book. Whereupon Sir
Thomas thrust him away, and told him he had nothing to
do therewith, and that he should answer it for resisting my
Lord Bishop's authority. And one Godolphin, one of Sir
Thomas's party, took him up, and told him he shewed him
self malicious. Whereupon, after once more forbidding him,
he held his peace. Edmund Lucy, Esq. one that lived in
s Sir Henry Cock's family together with the Lady Dorothy,
coming in, plucked away the book from the Minister ; who
told him he should answer it, and was in danger of a pre-
munire for resisting the Bishop's authority ; and so he went

ADDITIONS. 219
forward with his office without the surplice, in his cloak,
with his riding boots and spurs, and despatched it hastUy.
This soon came to the Court : and she being a daughter of
one of the ancient noblesse, (though she herself was in the
plot,) gave great offence; and Sir Henry Cock, being a
Justice of Peace, was commanded to take the examination
of the matter,, and send it up. And in fine, the Bishop
of London underwent much blame for his Faculties. And
what foUowed upon it you may read in the history.

An enumeration qf Books, both printed and manuscript,
made use of by the Author in compiling this Work, or
mentioned in it.

PRINTED.

Roger Ascham's Schoolmaster, printed anno 1571.
His Latin Epistles, printed at London anno 1578.
Admonition to the People of England : wherein are an
swered the slanderous untruths of Martin the LibeUer and
others, printed anno 1589.
An Admonition to the Parhament, by Tho. Cartwright
and others, about the year 1570.
Antipathy of Popish Prelates. By WUl. Prin.
Acts and Monuments of the Church. By John Fox.
A Blast against the Government of Women. By John
Knox. A Brief View of the State of the Church. By Sir John
Harrington. The Book of Canons agreed upon in the Convocation
House, anno 1571.
The Concent. By Hugh Broughton.
The Discovery of a gaping Guiph, whereinto England
is like to be swallowed by another French Marriage. Writ
ten by Stubbs. Printed 1579.
Decades. By Hen. BuUinger.
De Disciplina. A book set forth by Puritans anno
1574. An evident Display of Popish Practices, or patched Pela-
gianism. By Hopkinson. Printed anno 1578.
De Ecclesia. By Wickliff.
Ecclesiastical History. By Tho. Fuller.

AN ENUMERATION OF BOOKS, &c.
Farewell Sermon at St. Paul's. By Bishop Sandys, anno
1576. Funeral Monuments. By Weever.
George Giffard against Barrow the Separatist.
History of St. Paul's Church. By Dugdale.
Harborough for faithful Subjects. By John Aylmer.
Printed at Strasburgh anno 1559-
Historia Literaria. By Dr. Cave.
The Innocency of the Scotch Queen. Writ in French.
Martin Marprelate.
A Proof. By Tho. Dorman, Priest.
Ten Reasons. By Campion the Jesuit.
A Pamphlet in rhyme against the King of Spain, upon
the Defeat anno 1588.
Mr. Squire's Sermon at Paul's Cross.
His Sermon at the Assizes at Hertford, Mr. Newce being
High Sheriff.
Stow's Survey of London.
The Queen's Power in Sphituals. By John Aylmer.
MANUSCRIPT.
Disciplina Ecclesias sacra, Dei verbo descripta.
Collections Historical and Genealogical, of Sir George
Buck, Kt.
Several volumes in the Library of the College of Arms.
Manuscripts of Sir Henry St. George, Kt. Clarencieux
King of Arms.
Manuscripts in the Paper Office.
Manuscripts of the Right Reverend Father, the present
Bishop of Norwich.
The Registers of Bishop Aylmer and other Bishops.
Epistoke Johannis Foxii Martyrologi.
Manuscripta penes me.
A Visitation Book of Molineux, sometime Ulster King
of Arms of Ireland.

THE END.

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