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TABLE TALK
OF
JOHN SELDEN
REYNOLDS
Bonbon
HENRY FROWDE
Oxford University Press Warehouse
Amen Corner, E.C.
112 Fourth Avenue
THE
TABLE TALK
OF
JOHN SELDEN
EDITED
WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES
BY
SAMUEL HARVEY REYNOLDS, M.A.
LATE FELLOW AND TUTOR OF BRASENOSE COLLEGE
0;»;fotr5
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1892
C)]cfoxi>
PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
BV HORACE HART. PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY
CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction ix
List of editions referred to in the notes xxvi
Introductory letter or dedication by Richard Milward . . i
I. Abbeys. Priories 3
II. Thirty-nine Articles 5
III. Baptism 7
IV. Bastard 8
V. Bible, Scripture 9
VI. Bishops before the Parliament ... 13
VII. Bishops in the Parliament 16
VIII. Bishops out of the Parliament .... 23
IX. Books. Authors 29
X. Canon Law 31
XI. Ceremony . ib.
XII. Chancellor 32
XIII. Changing Sides 33
XIV. Christians -35
XV. Christmas 37
XVI. Church 38
XVII. Church of Rome 40
XVIII. Churches 41
XIX. City .... ... 42
XX. Clergy ... .... 43
XXI. High Commission 45
XXII. House of Commons 46
XXIII. Competency 47
XXIV. Confession ... .... 48
XXV. Great Conjunction ib.
XXVI. Conscience 49
XXVII. Consecrated places 51
XXVIII. Contracts 52
XXIX. Convocation 53
XXX. Council ib.
XXXI.
XXXII.
XXXIII.
XXXIV.
XXXV.
XXXVI.
XXXVII.
XXXVIII.
XXXIX.
XL.
XLI.
XLII.
XLIII.
XLIV.
XLV.
XLVI.
XLVII.
XLVIII.
XLIX.
L.
LI.
LII.
LIII.
LIV.
LV.
LVI.
LVII.
LVIII.
LIX.
LX.
LXI.
LXII.
LXIII.
LXIV.
LXV.
LXVI.
LXVII.
LXVIII.
LXIX.
LXX.
LXXI.
LXXII.
LXXIII.
LXXIV.
LXXV.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Creed 53
Damnation 54
Self-denial 55
Devils ib.
Duel 58
Epitaph 60
Equity ib.
Evil speaking 62
Excommunication 64
Fasting Days 68
Fathers and Sons 69
Faith and Works ib.
Fines 70
Free-Virill 71
Friends ib.
Friars . ib.
Genealogy of Christ ... . . 72
Gentlemen ib.
Gold ......... 73
Hall 74
Hell 75
Holy-days 77
Humility 78
Idolatry H),
Jews 79
Invincible Ignorance ib.
Images 80
Imperial Constitutions 81
Imprisonment 82
Incendiaries 83
Independency ib.
Things Indifferent 85
Public Interest ^i.
Human Invention ii)_
God's Judgments 86
Judge . . 87
Juggling 88
Jurisdiction n
Jus Divinum 2^
King 89
King of England oj
The King ^^
Knight's Service o^
Land n^^
Language 08
CONTENTS. vii
PACE
LXXVI. Law 99
LXXVII. Law of Nature loi
LXXVIIL Learning 103
LXXIX. Lecturers 103
LXXX. Libels 105
LXXXL Liturgy . ib.
LXXXIL Lords before the Parliament ib.
LXXXin. Lords in the Parliament 107
LXXXIV. Marriage 109
LXXXV. Marriage of Cousin-Germans . . . . ib.
LXXXVL Measure of Things no
LXXXVIL Difference of Men in
LXXXVIIL Minister Divine 112
LXXXIX. Money 118
XC. Moral Honesty 119
XCI. Mortgage 120
XCIL Number ib.
XCIIL Oaths 121
XCIV. Oracles . . 123
XCV. Opinion 124
XCVL Parity 125
XCVn. Pariiament ... .... 126
XCVIIL Parson . . 129
XCIX. Patience . . 130
C. Peace ib.
CL Penance 131
CIL People . . ib.
Cin. Philosophy . 132
CIV. Pleasure ib.
CV. Poetry 134
CVL Pope 136
CVII. Popery i39
CVIIL Power. State .140
CIX. Prayer . . 143
ex. Preaching 144
CXL Predestination . 149
CXIL Preferment . . 151
CXIII. Praemunire i53
CXIV. Prerogative i54
CXV. Presbytery . . ib.
CXVL Priests of Rome i57
CXVIL Prophecies i59
CXVm. Proverbs *•
CXIX. Question 160
CXX. Reason ib.
CONTENTS.
CXXI.
CXXII.
CXXIII.
CXXIV.
CXXV.
CXXVI.
CXXVII.
CXXVIII.
CXXIX.
cxxx.
CXXXI.
CXXXII.
CXXXIII.
CXXXIV.
cxxxv.
CXXXVI.
CXXXVII.
CXXXVIII.
CXXXIX.
CXL.
CXLI.
CXLII.
CXLIII.
CXLIV.
CXLV.
CXLVI.
CXLVII.
CXLVIII.
CXLIX.
CL.
CLI.
CLII.
CLIII.
CLIV.
Excursus
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
Religion i6i
Non-Residency 167
Retaliation 168
Reverence ib.
Sabbath 169
Sacrament 170
Salvation ib.
Ship-Money 171
Simony . ib.
State 173
Subsidies i73
Superstition ib.
Synod Assembly 174
Thanksgiving 177
Tithes ib.
Trade .... .... 181
Tradition 182
Transubstantiation ib.
Traitor 183
Trial ib.
Trinity 185
Truth 186
University 187
Vows 188
Usury ib.
Pious Uses 189
War 190
Wife 194
Wisdom , . . . ib.
Witches 195
Wit ib.
Women 196
Year 197
Zealots 199
Excommunication
Incendiaries ....
The King's Chapel Establishment
The Prior of St. John .
Questions sent to the Assembly .
201
202
205
206
208
Changes in present Text 209
Testimonies and Criticisms about Selden . . 211
Index
213
INTRODUCTION
It is now more than thirty years since the late
Mark Pattison suggested to me to prepare an edition of
Selden's Table Talk, and gave me some valuable hints as
to the way in which a work of the kind ought to be done.
Pattison was an enthusiast for Selden ; he considered
him a typical Englishman, at once a representative of the
best points in the distinctively Enghsh character, and
wholly free from its common prejudices and shortcomings.
Selden had certainly what have been termed the three main
interests of Englishmen, politics, business and rehgion.
His Table Talk gives us specimens of his remarks on all
three, but on matters of business not so many as on the
other two. That the conversations which it reports were
held between 1634 and 1654, the year in which Selden died,
may be assumed with certainty. The reporter, Milward,
says in his introductory letter that he had had the oppor-
tunity to hear Selden discourse twenty years together, and
he thus fixes the range of time which his notes cover.
Now the letters referred to in Tythes, sec. 6, bear date
in the Autumn of 1653, so that the conversation about
them must have come very shortly before Selden's death.
The chief part of the discourse is about contemporary
events, and Selden's remarks upon these throw an
X THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
interesting light on the history of his opinions and on his
attitude to the parties of his day.
The early history of the book must be left incomplete
on many points. It seems clear, as Mr. Singer has pointed
out, that the MS. of it was put together within a few years
of Selden's death. He finds proof of this in Milward's
introductory letter where he speaks of ' Mr. Justice
Hale, one of the Judges of the Common Pleas.' Hale,
afterwards Sir Matthew Hale, ceased to be a judge of the
Common Pleas in 1658 on Cromwell's death. It is clear
too from this introductory letter, that when the MS. was
ready it was placed in the hands of Selden's Executors,
probably in the hands of Hale, whose name stands first in
the fist. But what became of it afterwards I do not know.
It is not to be found among Sir Matthew Hale's papers in
the Lincoln's Inn Library. The collection includes several
of Selden's own papers, some of them unpublished as
yet, but no part of the Table Talk. I have to thank the
Librarian for his courtesy in placing within my reach very
full means of information on this point. Now the earliest
printed edition did not come out until 1689, more than
thirty years after the MS. had been prepared. Of the
history of the book in the meanwhile we know little or
nothing. In some form or other it must have been acces-
sible, for it is certain that there were copies made from it
or from some second-hand rendering of it. But the long
time which was suffered to pass before it was sent to
press, suggests that there were parts of it which its
trustees did not approve, and there are some at which
they may have taken very reasonable offence. Religious
questions are handled with a freedom of expression not at
all to Hale's mind : the political sentiments are not those
of Hale himself, and the book is disgraced by the insertion
of several indecent references and expressions, which add
nothing to the force of the passages in which they occur,
INTRODUCTION. xi
and which Selden himself could hardly have wished
should go down to posterity as specimens of his every-
day talk.
After the Restoration, and during the whole reigns of
Charles II and James II, not even the remainder of the
Table Talk could have been received with much approval.
The course of opinion and of events was setting another
way; and Selden's outspoken words, his attack on the
divine right equally of kings and of bishops, his reduc-
tion of the Monarchy to a limited constitutional form,
his love of liberty, his insistence on obedience to law as
part of a contract by which kings and subjects were alike
bound — all this would have been very unlike the theory
that found favour under the Stuarts. When the book at
length appeared, in 1689, it was in a form which leaves
much to be desired, replete as it is with blunders and
in more than one place making downright nonsense of
the passage. The present edition does something to
bring the text back to what it must originally have been,
and it certainly clears away some gross faults of which
neither Selden nor his reporter can have been the origin-
ating cause. The Harleian MS., No. 1315, in the British
Museum Library, has been taken as the basis of the text.
The Library has three MSS. of the Table Talk. To the
earliest of these, the Harleian, No. 690, the date assigned
by Mr. Warner, the Assistant Keeper of MSS., is circa
1670. Next in order of time and a little later comes
the Sloane MS., No. 2513, and latest of the three is the
Harleian, No. 1315, for which the posterior limit of date
can (for reasons which I shall presently explain) be fixed
with certainty as i68g. Mr. Warner's authority as a
palaeographist is so high that his opinion may be taken
as conclusive. It is certain, however, that no one of these
MSS. can have been the original copy of the Table Talk.
The Harleian 690, the earliest of the three, leaves blank
xii THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
spaces for all the Greek words under the heading
'Descent into Hell,' and besides numerous other faults,
blunders badly with the French. The Sloane MS. is
even more out of the question. Besides its later date,
it abounds throughout with blunders, grammatical and
others, of the most obvious kind. Some of these have
been corrected by a later hand, but the paper on which
the MS. is written is so very like blotting-paper that
almost every correction or change involves a deletion of
the original text. The Harleian 1315 is of much better
stamp than the Sloane. It accords very nearly with the
MS. 690, and it has a special authority of its own by
reason of an inscription on the back side of the title,
which, as Harley's Librarian says, was written in it by
Harley himself The inscription runs thus — ' This book
was given in 168 (the final figure is unfortunately want-
ing) by Charles erle of Dorset and Middlesex to a book-
seller in Fleet Street, in order to have it printed : but the
bookseller delaying to have it done, Mr. Thomas Rymer
sold a copy he procured to Mr. Churchill, who printed
it as it came out in 169 . . .' This inscription is dated
February 17, 1697. It thus fixes the date of the MS. as
not later than 1689, and gives it an authority of its own,
since it stands as proof that, but for the printer's delay,
it would have been the basis of the earliest printed edition.
The inscription is incorrect on one point, since it implies
that the edition of 169 . . . (presumably the edition printed
in 1696, by Jacob Tonson and Awnsham and John Church-
hill) was the first that had appeared. This, as we have
seen, is not so. The first printed edition came out in
1689.
For bringing back the text to some nearer approach to
its original and correct form, the choice lay between the
Harleian MSS. 6go and 1315. Both contain excellent
readings, and the two together, with occasional help from
INTRODUCTION. xiii
the Sloane MS. and from the early printed editions, supply
material for a fairly satisfactory revision. But where no
notice appears .to the contrary, the text now printed is that
of the Harleian MS. 1315. In all three MSS. several
passages which have been detached from the body of the
book are misplaced, or are added in an Appendix at the
end. These, in the present edition, have been put back
to the places to which they properly belong, and as they
appear in the edition of 1689. This, and an occasional
change of the spelling where it was obsolete or obviously
incorrect, are the only changes which have been made
without notice. Those who set a value on the vagaries of
a half-lettered scribe, will find them in abundance and of
all sorts in the Sloane MS. 2513.
With all helps, but in the absence of any conclusive
authority, the settlement of the text has been a matter of
difficulty and doubt. In deciding between different read-
ings, or in conjectural emendations, I have taken as my
guide Selden's own rule. ' A man,' he says, ' must in this
case venture his discretion, and do his best to satisfy him-
self and others in those places where he doubts.' It is
safe to assume that Selden did not talk nonsense, and that
he was not ignorant of matters with which his published
works prove him to have been perfectly conversant. For
example, when he is made to say that a suffragan was no
bishop, we may conclude with certainty that he did not say
this, although the MSS. and the early printed editions
agree in putting it into his mouth. When he is made to
speak of Sir Richard Weston as the Prior of St. John's,
and of Valentine's novels as laying down the limits of
episcopal jurisdiction, I have borne in mind Porson's
remark that no editor in his senses adopts a reading
which he knows to be wrong, and I have changed the text
accordingly. But in every instance the reader has notice
of the change.
xiv THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
Milward, in his introductory letter, requests the reader
to distinguish times, and in his fancy to carry along with
him the when and the why many of these things were
spoken. The alphabetical arrangement of the matter of
the book gives us no help here. There is no attempt at a
chronological order. Times are confused throughout, and
we pass from subject to subject with no notice of either
when or why except such as we can gather from the con-
tents of each paragraph. I have done what I could, in an
imperfect tentative way, to supply the want. Out of the
great stream of events and writings and speeches which
formed, so to say, the environment of Selden's life, I have
picked out, here and there, what seemed likely to have
suggested some of his remarks. In some instances the
reference has been clear and certain ; in some his pub-
lished writings have given the clue, and have served to
supplement the imperfect information in the Table Talk as
well as to correct mistakes which must have been due to
his reporter not to himself Of his very numerous works,
his History of Tithes is the only one to which he makes
direct reference in the Table Talk. (See Tithes, sec. 6.)
Selden was born in 1584. In 1600 he entered at Hart
Hall, Oxford. In 1602 he was a law-student at Clifford's
Inn, and thence migrated to the Inner Temple in 1604.
He soon became known as a man of vast and exact learn-
ing. So great was his fame as a constitutional lawyer,
that before he became a member of Parliament he was
often called in to advise the House on questions of prero-
gative, and he is credited with having had a principal part
in framing the Protestation of 1621 — a service for which
he paid the penalty of five weeks' imprisonment by order
of the Council. He was thus already a marked man
when, in 1624, he was elected a member of the House, a
position which he held in several Parliaments, viz. in 1626,
1628, and in the second Parliament of 1640. It was not
INTRODUCTION, xv
long before he again became a prominent champion of
the Pariiamentary cause and an opponent of the high-
handed acts of injustice done by the King or in the
King's name. His knowledge of past history and of
precedents made him a valuable ally, and when the
Petition of Right was drawn up, Selden was one of those
who had been appointed to give help in preparing it.
This, and his general outspokenness in his place in the
House, marked him out, a second time, as a proper object
for royal vengeance. In the spring of 1629 he was one
of what he terms the ' Parliament men imprisoned tertio
Caroli,' by a stretch of the prerogative, aided and ren-
dered effective by the subservient temper of the judges
before whom the prisoners were brought. Denzil Holhs,
Eliot, and Valentine were among his fellow prisoners — an
illustrious company, in which Selden may not have been
unwilling to find himself included. The charge against
them had to do with their conduct and language in Par-
liament — matters about which no challenge could legally
be made by any outside authority. The judges would
have bailed the prisoners if they would have given
security for their future good behaviour, but this at
Selden's instance they most properly refused to do. It
would have been a surrender of their privilege for the
past, and a check on their future Hberty of deed or word.
They were accordingly committed to the Tower, and
though in Selden's case the confinement did not last
long, and his treatment was not harsh, yet the restraint
was an outrage which he did rightly to resent, and which
in his case and in that of his fellow sufferers was of grave
and lasting injury to the cause which it was intended to
serve. In politics, as in religion, it is useless to play at
persecution. Charles by his half measures succeeded
only in making enemies of those whom he had hoped
to terrify into submission. Selden was not the most
xvi THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
formidable or the most bitter, but neither then nor in the
future was he an adversary whom it was at all safe to
provoke.
But just as Selden started as a Parliamentary champion
on strictly constitutional grounds, so it was not long
before the proceedings of the second Parliament of 1640
forced him into more or less of an antagonism to his old
allies. We have several traces in the Table Talk of his
growing coolness towards the advanced section of the
Parliamentary party. Not, indeed, that his breach with
his old friends had gone so far as to drive him into the
opposite camp, expectant as it was and ready to welcome
him if he had come over to it. He still held that the
original contract between king and people had been
broken, and that the subjects had thus been released
from their promise of obedience. The quarrel, he saw
clearly, had gone so far that it must be settled by an
appeal to arms. It was a contest now, in which the
original issues had become obscured, ' a scuffle,' as he
terms it, between two sets of opponents with neither of
whom could he identify himself They must fight it out
between themselves, and leave decent quiet people to
their own business or to their books.
The outbreak of the civil war accordingly found him
lukewarm, if not indifferent. He could look with no satis-
faction to the victory of either side, to the king's high-
handed disregard of law, or to the puritans' zeal not
according to knowledge, and for objects many of which
he disapproved. With the authors of the revolution of
1689 he would have been more entirely in agreement.
The declared policy of the new rule was just what he
had himself stood up for in evil days when power was
triumphant over right. The year for the publication of
the Table Talk was thus well chosen. When the illegal
rule of James H had been ended, and when the Bill of
INTRODUCTION. xvii
Rights had settled the government of England after the
type which Selden approved, then and not till then was
his Table Talk given to the world. The day had at length
come in which Selden's own principles were in the as-
cendant, it was the triumph of the only cause for which
he had ever cared personally to contend.
After the beginning of the civil war, there is not much
in Selden's public career that calls for notice here. The
references in the Table Talk to the public events of the
time are few and indistinct. We have no word about
Charles' trial and execution, or about Cromwell's rise
and administration. It is hardly possible that these
should not have been frequent matters of table talk, but
we have no record of them in Milward's report. Has
Milward avoided keeping a record of them, or has the
Table Talk, prior to pubHcation, been curtailed and
bowdlerised in a poHtical sense ? Or has Selden kept
carefully to his rule that wise men say nothing in
dangerous times (Wisdom, 3), and that the wisest way
for men in these times is to say nothing (Peace, i) ? If
he did say anything, we have certainly no record of it.
The chief subject to which he again and again refers
is of a very different class. In 1643 he was appointed
one of the learned pious members of the Westminster
Assembly of Divines, and the Table Talk abounds with
proofs of the kind of interest which he long continued
to feel in his new work. The Assembly was formed of
all parties in the Church and out of it. The prelatical
party were included in it, but they studiously did not
attend. The rest were Presbyterians with a moderate
infusion of Independents and Erastians. Selden, it is
certain, had no great love for bishops and clergy, but
he did not regard them with the contemptuous dislike
which he felt for the main body of their non-conformist
opponents. The lofty claims and the ignorance and
b
xviii THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
intolerance of the Presbyterian section ; the ranting of
the more ignorant Roundhead under the influence of
what he termed the Spirit, were even less to his mind
than the prelatical party had been.
In the Westminster Assembly of Divines it was with
the Presbyterians that he came chiefly into conflict.
They formed a clear majority, and as far as votes went,
contrived to carry things pretty well in their own way.
This, however, was the limit of their success. The
House of Commons refused to ratify their claims to a
free spiritual jurisdiction, or to acknowledge the divine
right by which they claimed to hold their ministry. In
debate they were no less unfortunate. Selden, by the
evidence of friends and of enemies, was one of the chief
thorns in their side. It was his way to lead them on to
argue, to amuse himself with their mistakes and con-
tradictions, and to bring to bear his formidable battery
of learning against their favourite doctrinal strongholds.
His services in this sort were, as we might suppose,
very variously regarded. His friend and fellow divine,
Mr. Whitelock, a sound Erastian like himself, writes —
' Divers members of both houses, whereof I was one,
were members of the Assembly of Divines, and had
the same liberty with the Divines to sit and debate and
give their votes .... In which debates Mr. Selden spake
admirably, and confuted divers of them in their own
learning.
' And sometimes when they had cited a text of Scripture
to prove their assertion, he would tell them. Perhaps in
your little pocket Bibles with gilt leaves (which they would
often pull out and read) the Translation may be thus, but
the Greek or the Hebrew signifies thus and thus; and
so would totally silence them.' (Memorials, p. 71.)
Anthony a Wood,, in his Athenae, quotes Aubrey to the
same effect : —
INTRODUCTION. xix
' He was one of the Assembly of Divines in those days,
and was hke a thorn in their sides, for he was able to
run them all down with his Greeke and antiquities.'
Fuller, in his Church History, speaks less approvingly
of the work, but bears testimony to the skill with which
it was done. ' The Assembly,' he says, ' met with many
difficulties, some complaining of Mr. Selden, that ad-
vantaged by his skill in antiquity, common law and the
oriental tongues, he employed them rather to pose than
profit, perplex than inform the members thereof in the
fourteen queries he propounded. Whose intent was to
humble the jure divinoship of Presbytery . . . This great
scholar, not overloving of any (and least of all these)
clergymen, delighted himself in raising of scruples for
the vexing of others ; and some stick not to say that
those who will not feed on the flesh of God's word, cast
most bones to others to break their teeth therewith.'
(Church History, Bk. XI. sec. ix. § 54.)
But when we pass from friends and neutrals to Selden's
opponents in the Assembly, we find more ample proof
than ever of his prominence and of the vigour of his
destructive work. Poor Robert Baillie, a worthy Scotch
Presbyterian, who had come up from Glasgow to join
the Assembly of Divines, bringing with him the pure
light of the Gospel as it was understood in those parts,
found Selden terribly in his way in the Assembly and
afterwards in Parliament. Baillie speaks sadly of ' Selden
and others who will have no discipline at all in any
Church jure divino, but settled only upon the free will
and pleasure of the Parliament.' (Letters and Journals,
ii. 31.)
He rises presently to a more vigorous form of de-
nunciation, after proof given of the effectiveness of
Selden's antagonism.
' The Erastian party in the Parliament is stronger than the
b a
XX THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
Independent, and is like to work us much woe. Selden is
their head. If L'Empereur would beat down that man's
arrogance as he very well can .... if he would confound
him with Hebrew testimonies, it would lay Selden's vanity,
who is very insolent for his oriental literature.' (Vol. ii.
p. 107.) Whether this call on L'Empereur to the rescue
was heard, I do not know. I have found no trace that
it was in any part of Selden's writings. In Book I. of his
De Synedriis Veterum Ebraeorum, Selden quotes L'Em-
pereur and praises him as ' doctissimus vir.' On one
point he disagrees with him, but on a wholly different
matter from those about which Baillie was in need of help.
(See Works, i. 874.) The De Synedriis was published in
1650, two years after L'Empereur's death.
In dealing with the successive religious questions of his
day, Selden's language is substantially the same. The
Table Talk, it will be seen, relates to two wholly distinct
periods, — to that of the attempted High Church movement
under Laud's impulse and guidance, and to the counter
movement when the Presbyterians were in power. The
former of these was recognised by the leaders of the
Oxford movement of 1833 as in the main identical with
their own, since Laud's claims for the Church served to
bring into prominence just those principles and beliefs
which they themselves advocated, and which the Reforma-
tion had tended to obscure. Laud's failure is explained in
the Table Talk. The promoters of the movement were in
too great a hurry. They forced things on too suddenly,
and in such a way as to give offence to those whom it
would have been easy to conciliate by more gradual and
more gentle methods. With the aims and purposes of the
movement Selden had no sympathy, nor had he any with
those of its more violent and fanatical opponents. He
is thus in almost equal antagonism to each of the two
parties which became dominant by turns. If he sometimes
INTRODUCTION. xxi
defends the bishops, it is not because he has any love for
them, but because there must be some form of Church
government, and there was no body more to his mind that
could be put into the bishops' place. On their claim to
rule jure divino, he speaks with great scorn, but he is no
less scornful to those who think them so anti-Christian
that they must be put away. In such matters as these,
' all is as the State hkes.' From first to last Selden shows
himself firm and consistent as an Erastian.
His own personal religion has been a matter of some
controversy. ' Gentlemen,' he remarks, ' have ever been
more temperate in their religion than the common people,
as having more reason ; the others running in a hurry.'
Selden himself was no exception to the rule. Temperate
he certainly was ; indifferent or lukewarm he would have
been termed by the more zealous. Baxter, indeed, reports,
on the authority of Sir M. Hale, that Selden was ' a re-
solved serious Christian, an adversary to Hobbes,' and
that the opposition between them was sometimes so sharp
that Selden either departed from Hobbes or drove him out
of the room. But these alleged contests do not prove
much. Both parties to them were men of strong opinions
and of somewhat overbearing tempers. If they quarrelled
occasionally, as they very probably did, it is much more
likely that their quarrels were about politics than about re-
ligion. Religion, they both held, was a matter to be settled
by the State, and as the State settled it, so it was to be. In
politics they were less at one. Selden, as the upholder of
a constitutional monarchy based on an assumed contract
which both parties were alike bound to observe, could never
have been brought to agree with Hobbes, the champion
of a monarchy in which no misconduct on the monarch's
part could give the subjects any right to resist. For proof,
then, of Selden's religious faith we must look elsewhere.
We shall not find it in Clarendon, who with all his praise
b3
xxii THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
of Seidell's learning, humanity, courtesy, affability, and
delight in doing good, is silent on the point of his religion.
Nor will Usher help us with his very laudatory funeral
sermon, in which he finds every excellence in Selden, but
says nothing of his piety, because, as his hearers thought,
he could find nothing which he could say with truth. The
discussions about religion in the Table Talk are not, in-
deed, in the language of a theoretical sceptic. They show,
beyond doubt, that Selden constantly professed a belief in
revealed religion. But they are not at all what we should
expect from a resolved serious Christian. They are rather
in the language of one who takes religion under his wing,
and finds it — like the virtue of humility— very good doc-
trine for other people. Their author will show respect to
the established religion of his country, but he has no great
care what form it takes, except as far as it is a powerful
poHtical engine which must not be suffered to fall into
hands which will turn it to a mischievous use. D'Ewes,
who knew Selden personally, took such offence at his
seeming want of religion that he did not seek to be
intimate with him.
His death-bed scene— he died in November 1654 — has,
as we might expect, been very variously reported. Lord
Berkeley ^ tells us of the pious friends whom he summoned
to be with him at the last, and of his own expressed trust
in the promises of Holy Scripture as his best and only
comfort at so anxious a time. On the other hand,
Aubrey's account, as quoted in Wood's Athenae, is that —
'When he was neer death, the minister (Mr. Johnson)
was coming to him to assoile him ; Mr. Hobbes happened
then to be there: sayd he, "What, will you that have
wrote like a man, now dye like a woman?" So the
minister was not let in.' But death-bed stories are pro-
• See Historical Applications, &c., written by a Person of Honour, p. 32, and
Josiah Woodward's Fair Warnings to a Careless World, p. 139
INTRODUCTION. xxiii
verbially ' common form.' They tell us more often what
the narrator wishes to believe, than what he has any
good authority for. We find accordingly that Selden's
editor and biographer, Archdeacon Wilkins, accepts and
records Lord Berkeley's story, and says nothing what-
ever about Aubrey's. (Works, vol. i, Vita Authoris,
p. xlv.)
Selden's vast and varied learning was recognised in
his own day by the general testimony of scholars in
England and on the Continent, and the fame of it still
survives. But this is all that can be said. As a writer,
he has never been popular, and is never likely to be. His
reputation, like that of Johnson, depends more upon what
has been written about him or has fallen from him in con-
versation, than upon any writings of his own. This is
due, in Selden's case, about equally to the matter and
to the manner of his works. The subjects which he
treats relate, some of them to the questions of his own
day, others to points of real permanent interest, but only
to the antiquarian reader, nor had he the art of popular-
ising what he wrote. Much of what he has written is in
Latin, and his Latin style, correct as it is, is strangely
rough and inelegant. Not seldom it presents an involved
series of parentheses within parentheses, until at length
the grammatical structure with which we start is put out of
sight and lost. When this difficulty has been overcome, and
when the reader has at last succeeded in evolving order
out of the confused and disorderly mass, the result often
is that he finds after all that he has gained nothing for
his pains. Selden's digressions are so frequent and so
perplexing as often to make it really doubtful what his
drift can possibly have been in his Latin or in his English
works. He draws at random on his vast stores, until the
thread of his argument is lost by his many and prolonged
and wholly irrelevant discursions, each of which gives
xxiv THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
rise to fresh discursions, one subject calling up another,
under no guide but the chance association of ideas in the
very learned author's mind. His enormous erudition thus
frequently proves to be a weight too heavy for him,
an encumbrance rather than a help to clear methodical
arrangement.
This fault does not attach to the Table Talk. Selden,
under the stimulus of society, was a different man from
what he was when he took pen in hand and set himself
down to write out an exhaustive account of some subject
which he had made his special study, and to treat inci-
dentally every other subject that suggested itself by the
way. In writing, a man may go on unchecked to his own
satisfaction and to the impatience of his readers. In the
to-and-fro toss of conversation he is under more effective
restraint, and he becomes short and incisive in just the
degree in which he is possessed of the conversational art.
In this art Selden unquestionably excelled. We do not
need Clarendon's testimony that he was the most clear
discourser, and had the best faculty in making hard things
easy, and presenting them to the understanding of any
man that hath been known. The Table Talk is evidence
enough. It is as lively as his written works are dull, as
attractive as they are many of them repelling. The mis-
cellaneous collection varies in interest of course. Some
of it has to do with matters of mere research; some
with matters of grave consequence at the time, but of
little or none now. Nor is it free from mistakes and
contradictions, or from what its critic in the Acta Erudi-
torum calls (poprLKa aKova-fxaTa. In one passage, for example,
it speaks slightingly of the learning of the bishops ; in
another it declares that there never was a more learned
clergy, and that no one taxes them with ignorance. In the
discourse on Preaching, it first condemns and then recom-
mends preaching often in the same sense. In its defence
INTRODUCTION xxv
of duelling, in its explanation of the ass's head story
(Christians, 3) and of the Descent into Hell, it is hardly
ingenious, much less convincing. Its repeated assertions
that moral rules are of no force without a theological
sanction, display Selden possibly as a good theologian,
certainly as an unsound moralist. Some of its remarks on
the obligation of an oath are even more open to question.
The discourse on Oaths might almost be headed — the art
of perjury made easy. But on all these points it is Selden's
reporter with whom the chief fault must rest. It was his
business to discriminate between what was worth and
what was not worth giving to the world ; and not to write
down and publish everything said, it might be, at random
or in a perverse mood, and forgotten as soon as it was
said, or as soon as the thing under discussion had ceased
to be a question which Selden had approached as a con-
troversialist rather than as a judge. But when all deduc-
tions have been made, enough remains to bear out the
very high repute in which the Table Talk has stood. Its
critic in the Acta Eruditorum ^ wishes it included among
the ' multa ingenii monumenta quibus (Selden) aeternam
famam meruit.' Johnson singles it out as the best book
of its kind in existence, better than any of the much be-
praised French anas. Coleridge, as a poet, quarrels with
it, but he still finds more weighty bullion sense in it than
in the same number of pages of any uninspired writer.
This is substantially the verdict which the world of
letters has accepted and has endorsed. Johnson, one of
the vouchers for it, has been termed the wisest and the
wittiest of Enghshmen. The Table Talk shows us, so to
say, the figure in every-day dress of one who might not
unfairly take rank as his competitor for one distinction.
'■ Supplementa, Tom. i : see viii. p. 424.
*^* The References in the Notes are to the following
Editions : —
Roger Bacon. Opus Majus. Jebb's ed. 1733. folio.
Baillie. Letters and Journals. Edinburgh. 1775. 2 vols.
Bingham. Christian Antiquities and other Works. Clarendon Press.
1855. 10 vols.
Clarendon. History of the Rebellion. Clarendon Press. 1807. 6 vols. ;
paged as 3 and so referred to.
Clarendon. Life. Clarendon Press. 1827.
Dugdale. Monasticon. By Caley, Ellis & Bandinel. 1830. 6 vols.
Figuier. Histoire du Merveilleux. Paris, i860. 8vo.
Gibson. Codex. 1761. 2 vols.
Hardwick. History of the Articles. 1851.
Laud's Works. Library of Anglo- Catholic Theology. 1854.
Nalson. Collections. 1682. 2 vols.
Neal. History of the Puritans. 1822. 5 vols.
Pearson. On the Creed. Clarendon Press. 181 6. 2 vols.
Preuves des libertez de I'Eglise Gallicane. 1639. I vol. folio.
Prynne. Histrio-mastix. 1633. small 4to.
RUSHWORTH. Historical Collections. 1721. 8 vols.
Selden. Works. Wilkins' ed. 1726. 6 vols., paged and referred to as 3.
folio.
Stow. Chronicle. 1631.
Traitez des droits et libertez de I'Eglise Gallicane. 1639. I vol. folio.
Whitelock. Memorials. 1732. folio.
Wilkins. Concilia. 1737. 4 vols, folio.
Wood. Athenae Oxonienses. Bliss's ed. 1817. 4 vols. (Selden's
Life is given in vol. iii. p. 366 ff.)
THE DISCOURSE
JOHN SELDEN, Esq.
HIS SENSE OF VARIOUS MATTERS OF WEIGHT AND
HIGH CONSEQUENCE
RELATING ESPECIALLY TO
RELIGION AND STATE
Distingue tempora
TO THE HONBLE
Mr. justice HALE,
ONE OF THE JUDGES OF THE COMMON-PLEAS
AND TO THE MUCH HONOURED
EDWARD HEYWARD,
JOHN VAUGHAN,
AND
ROWLAND JEWKS, ESQ^s
Most Worthy Gentlemen,
Were you not executors to that person, who {when he lived) lo
was the glory of the nation, yet I am confident any thing of his
would find acceptance with you, and truly the sense and notion here
is wholly his, and most of the words. I had the opportunity to hear
his discourse twenty years together, and lest all those excellent
things that usually fell from him might be lost, some of them from
time to time I faithfully committed to writing, which here digested
into this method, I humbly present to your hands : you will quickly
perceive them to be his by the familiar illustrations wherewith they
are set off: in which way you know he was so happy, that [with
a marvellous delight to those that heard him) he would presently 20
convey the highest points of religion, and the most important
affairs of state to an ordinary apprehension.
In reading be pleased to distinguish times, and in your fancy \
carry along with you the when and the why many of these things \
were spoken; this will give them the more life, and the smarter 1,
relish. 'Tis possible the entertainment you find in them may render
you the more inclinable to pardon the presumption of
Your most obliged and
most humble servant
Rich. Milward. 30
1.2. Mr. Justice Hah, ) ,,., , , . , „ ,, ,
1 I- J J tr J I Milward speaks of these as belden s executors.
I. 5. Edward Heyward ) '^
I have therefore given the names as they stand in Selden's will (see Works,
vol. i, Vita Authoris, p. 53), and as Milward may be assumed to have given
them.
THE
DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN
I.
ABBEYS. PRIORIES.
The unwillingness of the monks to part with their lands
will fall out to be just nothing, because they were yielded
up to the king by a supreme hand, viz*, a parliament. If
a king conquer another country, the people are loth to
lose their lands ; yet no divine will deny but the king
may give them to whom he please. If a parliament make
a law concerning leather, or any other commodity, you
and I, for example, are parliament-men ; perhaps in respect
to our own private interests we are against it, yet the lo
Explaftaiion of sigtts.
H. Harleian MS. 1315. H. z. Harleian MS. 690. S. Sloane MS. 2513.
Lines, theywere yielded up to the king &.Q.i\ The lands were taken from
the monks by two Acts of Parliament. The earlier, that oioq Henry
VIII, cap. 28, gave the king the properties of the smaller houses, below
a clear annual value of ^200. The next Act, that of 31 Henry VIII,
cap. 13, confirmed the surrenders which the Abbots or Priors of the
larger houses had in the meantime been threatened or cajoled into
making. Selden's remarks, here, may have been suggested by any
one of the numerous attacks made on church property in his own
day.
B %
4 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
major part concludes it; we are then involved, and the
law is good.
2. When the founders of abbeys laid a curse upon them
that should take away those lands, I would fain know
what power they had to curse me. 'Tis not the curses
that come from the poor, or from anybody, that do me
hurt because they come from them ; but because I do
something ill against them, that deserves God should
curse me for it. On the other side, 'tis not a man's bless-
lo ing me, that makes me blessed ; he only declares me to
be so ; and if I do well, I shall be blessed, whether any
bless me or not.
3. At the time of dissolution, they were tender in taking
from the abbots and priors their lands and their houses,
till they surrendered them, as most of them did. Indeed
the prior of St. John's, Sir William Weston ^, being a stout
' William IVestoti] Richard Weston the High Treasurer in the early years
MSS. and early editions ; probably of Charles' reign,
through confusion with the name of
1. 3. when the founders of abbeys &c.] This may be an objection to
one of the arguments which Selden had heard used by Dr. Hacket in
defence of the sacredness of cathedral revenues. On May 12, 1641,
there was a special session of the House of Commons to hear a dispute
between Dr. Burgess, as assailant, and Dr. Hacket, as defender of these
revenues ; and Hacket, in the course of his speech, urged that ' these '
(sc. the chapter revenues and lands) ' are dedicated to God ; the
founders appoint the uses, and curse any that alter it.' See Vemey,
Notes on the Long Parliament, p. 75-76.
1. 15. Indeed the prior of St. John's &c.] The priory of St. John of
Jerusalem, the chief English seat of the Knights Hospitallers, was not
touched by the Act of 31 Henry VHI, since the prior (as Selden
implies) had not at that time surrendered ; nor does it appear that he
ever did surrender. The priory lands were taken away by a special
Act passed in the next year. The prior died in May, 1540, on the day
on which the suppression took effect. In Dugdale's Monasticon (vol.
vi. 800-805) there is a long list of the lands and farms which had be-
longed to the priory. When the Knights Templars were suppressed,
all their lands were given over to the Hospitallers ; see (7 Edward II) a
letter De Terris quondam Templariorum Hospitalariis liberandis. The
grant was confirmed by 6, 7, and 12 Edward III, and some tenements
THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES. 5
man, got into France, and stood out a whole year ; at last
submitted, and the king took in that priory also, to which
the Temple belonged, and many other houses in England.
They did not then cry no abbots, no priors, as we do now
no bishops, no bishops.
4. Henry the 5th put away the friars aliens, and seized
to himself ;£'ioo,ooo a year ; and therefore they were not
the protestants only that took away church lands.
5. In Queen Elizabeth's time, when all the abbeys were
pulled down, all good works defaced, then the preachers 10
must cry up justification by faith, not by good works.
II.
THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES.
The nine and thirty articles are much another thing in
Latin, in which tongue they were made, than they are
in London, which had been wrongfully seized by Hugh Despencer,
were restored and secured to the Hospitallers. Dugdale, Monasticon,
vi. 809, 810.
1. 6. the friars aliens] These were religious orders, domiciled abroad,
and holding land in England. They were pecked at several times
before Henry Vth's reign. Edward I began in 1285 ; Edward III fol-
lowed in 1337. In 1361 their lands were restored, but their revenues
were still occasionally taken away for a while. They were sequestered
during Richard II, and were finally expropriated in 2 Henry V.
Dugdale, Monasticon, vi. 985 ff. See also Prioratuum Alienigenorum
Catalogus, qui Leicestrensi Parliamento suppressi sunt. Anno Henrici
Quinti secundo. An. Dom. 1414. Dugdale, Monasticon, vi. 1652-53.
I. 13. much another thing in Latin &c.] See e. g. Article 9, in which
' quamvis renatis et credentibus nulla propter Christum est condem-
natio,' is rendered by, ' although there is no condemnation for them
that believe and are baptized.' In Article 33, ' poenitentia ' is rendered
' penance ' — an error to which Selden seems to refer in the discourse
on ' Penance.' The right claimed in Article 37, ' Christianis licet y^sto
bella administrare,' is enlarged into ' it is lawful for Christian men to
serve in the wars.' The older version of 1552 had translated the same
6 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
translated into English. They were made at three several
convocations, and confirmed by act of parliament six or
seven times after. There is a secret concerning them :
of late, ministers have subscribed to all of them ; but by
the act^ of parliament that confirmed them, they ought
only to subscribe to those articles which contain matters of
faith, and the doctrine of the sacraments, as appears by the
first subscriptions. But Bishop Bancroft, in the convoca-
tion held in King James's days, he began it; that ministers
lo should subscribe to three things, to the king's supremacy,
to the common prayer, and to the 39 articles : Many of
them do not contain matter of faith. It is matter of faith
how the church should be governed ? Whether infants
should be baptized ? Whether we have any property in
our goods ?
1 Acf, H. 2 and S.] Acts, H.
words by ' to serve in laweful warres.' There are some other minor
inaccuracies.
1. 2. six or seven times after] If this reading is to stand, the word
' times ' must be taken in a special sense— parliamentary sessions or
terms. So, perhaps, in 'Confession,' sec. i, 'In time of Parlia-
ment,' i. e. when Parliament had met. The Articles were confirmed
once only, viz', in 1571, by 13 Elizabeth, chap. 12.
1. 5. by the act of parliament that confirmed them &c.] The Act orders
that every minister (except certain specified persons) is to declare his
assent, and subscribe to all the Articles of Religion which only concern
the confession of the true Christian faith and the doctrine of the
Sacraments.
The obUgation on the clergy to subscribe to the whole of the
Articles was imposed at a Synod of the province of Canterbury, held
in 1604, under the presidency of Bancroft, then Bishop of London. It
was then settled that no one was to be ordained who had not stated in
writing— Quod libro de religionis Articulis, in quos consensum est in
Synodo Londinensi an. mdlxii. omnino comprobat, et quod omnes et
singulos Articulos in eodem contentos, qui triginta novem citra ratifi-
cationem numerantur, verbo Dei consentaneos esse agnoscit (Wilkins,
Concilia, iv. 386).
BAPTISM. 7
III.
BAPTISM.
1. 'TwAS a good way to persuade men to be christened,
to tell them that they had a foulness about them, viz*, original
sin, that could not be washed away but by baptism.
2. The baptizing of children with us, doth only prepare
a child, against he comes to be a man, to understand what
Christianity means. In the church of Rome it has this effect,
it frees children from hell. They say they go into limbus
infantum. It succeeds circumcision, and we are sure the
child understood nothing of that at eight days old. Why lo
then may not we as reasonably baptize a child at that age ?
In England, of late years, I ever thought the priest baptized
his own fingers rather than the child.
3. In the primitive times they had godfathers to see the
children brought up in the christian religion, because many
times, when the father was a christian, the mother was not ;
and sometimes when the mother was a christian, the father
was not ; and therefore they made choice of two or more
that were christians, to see the children brought up in that
faith. . 20
1. 8. it frees children from hell. They say they go &c.] i. e. They say
that unbaptized children go, &c. The Limbus Infantum was one of the
divisions of hell. In the Church of Rome baptism is said to free
children from this. See Canons, &c. of the Council of Trent, Session v.
sec. 2, 3, 4. On the limbus puerorum, the place of eternal punishment
for those qui solo originalipeccatogravantur, and on the degree of punish-
ment, the mitissimam poenam which they are alleged to suffer, see
Aquinas, Summa Theolog. Supplementum sW"" partis, quaest. 69, art.
5 & 6. So, too, Moroni (Eccles. Diet, under title Limbo, Limbus)
writes — II secondo luogo, che chiamasi limbo o limbus puerorum, e
quello in che vanno i bambini morti senza battesimo. Many various
opinions are collected as to the nature and extent of their punishment.
That it is to be eternal all the cited authorities agree. So, too, Dante
writes of the occupants of the Limbo, or first circle of the Inferno, a vast
crowd of infants, women, and men, there placed perche non ebber bat-
tesmo, and suffering only dual sen&a martin. Inferno, Canto iv. 28-35.
8 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
V IV.
BASTARD.
'Tis said, 23 Deuteron. 2, A bastard shall not enter into
the congregation of the Lord, even to the tenth generation.
Non ingredietur ecclesiam Domini, he shall not enter into
the church. The meaning of the phrase is, he shall not
marry a Jewish woman. But upon this ground, grossly
mistaken, a bastard at this day in the church of Rome,
without a dispensation, cannot take orders. The thing
haply well enough, where 'tis so settled : but that 'tis ^ upon
10 a mistake (the place having no reference to the church) ap-
pears plainly by what follows at the 3 verse ; An Ammonite
or Moabite shall not enter into the congregation of the
Lord, even to the tenth generation. Now you know with
the Jews an Ammonite or a Moabite could never be a
priest ; because their priests were born so, not made.
' But that tis, S.] H. and H. 2, omit ' that.'
1. 5. The meaning of the phrase is &c.] Selden, in his De Successione
in Pontificatum Ebraeorum, says that the sense which he gives here
to the words is universally accepted among the Jews. Works, ii.
p. 158.
1.6. But upon this ground, &.c^ That the rule in the Church of Rome
was based on this text is stated, conjecturally, by Pope Gregory IX.
In a letter addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury on the appoint-
ment of a bastard to the see of Worcester, Gregory declares — Nos
ergo cum fratribus nostris habito super hoc diligenti tractatu, relectis
canonibus, quosdam invenimus qui non legitime genitos promoveri
vetant ad officium pastorale, causam forte trahentes ex lege divina per
quam spurii et manzeres usque in decimam generationem in ecclesiam
Dei prohibentur intrare. The matter is then debated pro and con, and
the Pope concludes that although, according to a canon of the Lateran
Council, the appointment is irregular, yet he has a dispensing power.
Decretales Gregorii IX, lib. i. tit. 6, cap. xx. Corpus Juris Canonici,
vol. 2, pp. 61, 62 (ed. 2 by Friedberg, 1881).
So, too, Boniface VIII insists on the need of a dispensation, episcopal
for the lesser orders, papal for the greater. Ibid. p. 977.
Aquinas cites the text as one among the arguments against the
BASTARD. — BIBLE, SCRIPTURE. 9
V.
BIBLE, SCRIPTURE,
1. 'Tis a great question how we know Scripture to be
Scripture, whether by the Church, or by man's private
spirit. Let me ask you how I know anything? How I
know this carpet to be green ? First, because somebody
told me it was green : that you call the church in your way.
And then after I have been told it is green, when I see that
colour again, I know it to be green, my own eyes tell me it
is green ; that you call the private spirit.
2. The English translation of the Bible, is the best trans- 10
lation in the world, and renders the sense of the original
best, taking in for the English translation the Bishops'
Bible as well as king James's. The translators ^ in king
James's time took an excellent way. That part of the
Bible was given to him who was most excellent in such a
tongue (as the Apocrypha to Andrew Downs) and then they
met together, and one read the translation, the rest holding
in their hands some Bible, either of the learned tongues, or
French, Spanish, Italian, &c. If they found any fault they
spoke ; if not, he read on. 3°
^ Translators, H. 2, corrected from 'translation'] 'translation,' H.
admission of bastards to orders. He concludes against their admission
without a dispensation, but on general grounds, and without further
reference to the text. Summa Theolog. Supplement, 3 part, quaest. 39,
art. 5.
1.2. ' Tis a great question &.C.] This question is discussed very fully
in the course of the celebrated conference between Laud and the Jesuit
Fisher, the first complete account of which was published in 1639.
Laud handles the matter at greater length and with more unction than
Selden ; but for the most part substantially to the same effect. See
Laud's Works, vol. ii. p. 70 ff.
1. 10. The English translation &c.] For an account of the persons
employed in the translation, and of the rules which they were in-
structed to follow, see Wilkins, Concilia, iv. 432, and Fuller's Church
History, bk. x. sec. 3, § i, with note h in Brewer's edition.
lo THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
\ 3. There is no book so translated as the Bible. For the
I purpose, if I translate a French book into English, I turn
it into English phrase, not into French English. II fait
froid, I say, it is cold, not it makes cold ; but the Bible is
translated into English words rather than into English
phrase. The Hebraisms are kept, and the phrase of that
language is kept : as for example, [He uncovered her shame]
which is well enough, so long as scholars have to do with
it ; but when it comes among the common people, lord,
10 what gear do they make of it !
4. Scrutamini scripturas. These two words have undone
the world. Because Christ spake it to his disciples, there-
fore we must all, men, women, and children, read and in-
terpret the Scriptures.
5. Henry the 8th made a law, that all men might read
the Scriptures, except servants ; but no women, except
ladies and gentlewomen, who had leisure, and might ask
somebody the meaning. The law was repealed in Edward
the 6th days.
20 6. Laymen have best interpreted the hard places of the
Bible, such as Joannes Picus, Scaliger, Grotius, Salmasius,
Heinsius, &c.
7. If you ask, Which, of Erasmus, Beza, or Grotius, did
best upon the New Testament? 'tis an idle question, for
they did all well in their way. Erasmus broke down the
first brick ; Beza added many things, and Grotius added
much to him, in whom we have either something new, or
1. 1. For the purpose] i. e. for instance : for proof of what I say. A
phrase used by Selden elsewhere. See ' Trade,' sec. i, and —
Eudoxus yet hath otherwise placed them ; as for the purpose, the
spring equinox on the sixth day after the sun's entrance into Aries &c.
Works, iii. 1415.
1. 10. what gear] i. e. what stuff.
1. II. Scrutamini] Gk. ipevvare, probably the Present Indicative, and
if so the words have been doubly misinterpreted.
1. 15. Henry the Qth made a law] This was 34 & 35 Henry VIII, ch. i.
BIBLE, SCRIPTURE. ii
else something heightened that was said before ; and so
'twas necessary to have them all three.
8. The text serves only to guess by; we must satisfy j
ourselves fully out of the authors that lived about those
times.
9. In interpreting the scripture, many do, as if a man
should see one have ten pounds, which he reckoned by i,
2) 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, g, 10 ; meaning four was but four units,
and five five units, &c., and that he had in all but ten
pounds ; the other that sees him, takes not the figures 10
together as he doth, but picks here and there, and there-
upon reports, that he has five pounds in one bag, and six
pounds in another bag, and nine pounds in another bag,
&c. when as in truth, he hath but ten pounds in all. So we
pick out a text here and there to make it serve our turn ;
whereas, if we took it all together, and considered what went
before, and what followed after, we should find it meant no
such matter.
10. Make no more allegories in scripture than needs
must. The fathers were too frequent in them : they indeed, 20
before they fully understood the literal sense, looked out
for an allegory. The folly whereof you may conceive
thus ; here at the first sight appears to me in my window,
a glass and a book, I take it for granted 'tis a glass and a
book ; thereupon I go about to tell you what they signify ;
afterwards, upon nearer view, they prove no such things ;
one is a box made hke a book, the other is a picture made
like a glass. Where's now my allegory ?
11. When men meddle with the literal text, the question
is, where they should stop? In this case, a man must 30
venture his discretion, and do his best to satisfy himself
and others in those places where he doubts. For although
1. 20. The fathers were too frequent in them] This is amply verified by
the 120 closely printed pages of the Index de Allegoriis, in the second
vol. of the Indices to Migne's Patrologiae Cursus Completus, p. 123 ff.
12 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
we call the Scripture the word of God (as it is) yet it was
writ by a man, a mercenary man, whose copy either
might be false, or he might make it false : for example, here
were a thousand bibles printed in England with the text
thus, [Thou shalt commit adultery] the word not left out.
Might not this text be mended?
12. The scripture may have more senses besides the
literal; because God understands all things at once ; but a
man's writing has but one true sense, which is that which
lo the author meant when he writ it.
13. When you meet with several readings of the text,
take heed you admit nothing against the tenets of your
church ; but do as if you were going over a bridge, be sure
and hold fast by the rail, and then you may dance here and
there as you please ; be sure you keep to what is settled,
and then you may flourish upon your various lections.
14. The Apocrypha is bound with the Bibles of all
churches that have been hitherto. Why should we leave it
out? The church of Rome has her Apocrypha, viz'.
20 Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon, which she does not
( 1. 4. here were a thousand Bibles &c.] Mr. Barker, the printer. There
is a cause begunne against him for false printing of the Bible in divers
places of it, in the edition of 1631, viz* in the 20 of Exod[us] ' Thou
shalt committ adultery' ; and in the fifte of Deut[eronomy] 'The Lord
hath shewed us his glory, and his great asse ' ; and for divers other
faults. High Commission Cases, pp. 296 and 304 (Camden Society).
Barker was not the only sufferer. Laud's account is that — among
them (i. e. the printers) their negligence was such as that there were
found above a thousand faults in two editions of the Bible and Common
Prayer-Book. And one, which caused this search, was that in Exod.
XX. where they had shamefully printed, Thou shalt commit adultery.
For this, the masters of the printing house were called into the High
Commission, and censured, as they well deserved it ... . And
, Hunsford, being hit in his credit, purse, and friends, by that censure
u\ •■ ' for so gross an abuse of the Church and religion, labours to fasten his
fangs upon me. History of the Troubles and Trial of Abp. Laud, Laud's
, Works, iv. 165 and 195.
This edition was known as ' the wicked Bible.'
1. 20. Susanna, and Bel and the Dragon] This is not so. Susannah
BISHOPS BEFORE THE PARLIAMENT. 13
esteem equally with the rest of those books that we call
Apocrypha.
VI.
BISHOPS BEFORE THE PARLIAMENT.
T. A BISHOP, as a bishop, had never any ecclesiastical
jurisdiction : for as soon as he was electus confirmatus, that
is, after the three proclamations in Bow-church, he might
exercise jurisdiction, before he was consecrated ; but till
then ^ he was no bishop, neither could he give orders. Be-
sides, suffragans were bishops, and they never claimed any
jurisdiction. 1
• But till then, H. 2, corrected] not till then, H.
and Bel and the Dragon are canonical in the Church of Rome. They
are not specially named in the Decree of the Council of Trent, settling
the Canon of Scripture, because they are printed in the Vulgate as part
of the book of Daniel, and come, therefore, under the general rule that
the books named as canonical are to be received entire, with all their
parts, as they are contained in the old Latin Vulgate. The only books
of the Apocrypha not received as canonical are the 3rd and 4th Books
of Esdras (printed in the English Apocrypha as Esdras i & 2) and the
Prayer of Manasseh. See Canons and Decrees of the Council of
Trent, Session iv.
Accordingly, in the Douay version, the History of Susannah and
Bel and the Dragon stand in their appointed place as parts of the
canonical book of Daniel.
1. 4. A bishop as a bishop &c.] Selden discusses this very fully in
his De Synedriis veterum Ebraeorum, lib. I, ch. 13. vol. i. p. 1066.
1. 6. three proclamations'] These were and are part of the ceremony
of confirmation. Strype in his life of Archbishop Parker, bk. ii. ch. i,
gives an exact account of the whole process in Parker's case, as it
was performed in the church of St. Mary de Arcubus [i. e. Mary le
Bow in Cheapside] . . . The consecration — until which he ' was no
bishop, neither could he give orders '—came eight days afterwards.
1. 9. suffragans'] These are expressly said to have ' no authority or
jurisdiction beyond that expressed in their licenses by a bishop or
archbishop to whom they are suffragans by commission under seal.'
26 Henry VIII, ch. 14, sec. 6.
14 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
2. Anciently the noblemen lay within the city for safety
and security. The bishops' houses were by the water
side, because they were held sacred persons, which no-
body would hurt.
3. There was some sense for commendams at first ; when
there was a living void, and never a clerk to serve it, the
bishops were to keep it till they found a fit man ; but now
'tis a trick for the bishop to keep it to himself.
4. For a bishop to preach 'tis to do other folks' office.
10 As if the steward of the house should execute the porter's
or the cook's place ; 'tis his business to see that they and
all others about the house perform their duties.
5. That which is thought to have done the bishops hurt,
1. 5. commendams\ It was one of Archbishop Laud's projects ' to
annex for ever some settled commendams, and those, if it may be,
sine cura, to all the small bishoprics.' Laud's Works, vol. iii. p. 254.
That he had done this was one of the charges brought against him
at his trial. In his history of his trial, he explains and defends his
act, but he adds in the course of his remarks about it — ' I considered
that the commendams taken at large and far distant, caused a great
dislike and murmur among many men. That they were in some cases
materia odiosa and justly complained of.' Works, vol. iv. p. 177.
For further proof of the abuse of which Selden speaks, see Sir
Ralph Verney's Notes of Proceedings in the Long Parliament, p. 14,
giving the heads of a remonstrance of some of the clergy, referring
inter alia to commendams. The remonstrance says, in Article 16,
' Bishops hold commendams and never come at them. As Main-
waring, Bishop of St. Davids, and the Bishop of Chester hold two
of j^iioo per annum.'
1. 9. For a bishop to preach &c.] That bishops did not preach is
among the charges made against them by Nathaniel Fiennes (Feb.
1640). Nalson, Collections, i. 758.
See, too, Sir Benjamin Rudyard's speech on Sir E. Deering's Bill
for the abolishing of bishops, &c. (May, 1641). Some of ours, as soon
as they are bishops, adepto fine, cessat motus, they will preach no
longer, their office is to govern. But in my opinion they govern worse
than they preach, though they preach not at all, for we see to what
a pass their government hath brought us. Nalson, Collections, ii. 249.
1. 13. That which is thought &c.] Clarendon, after speaking of the
slovenly state into which many churches had fallen during Archbishop
Abbot's time, and of the irregular way in which the services had in
BISHOPS BEFORE THE PARLIAMENT. 15
is their going about to bring men to a blind obedience, im-
posing things upon them [though perhaps small and well
enough] without preparing them, and insinuating into their
reasons and fancies. Every man loves to know his com-
mander. I wear those gloves, but perhaps if an alderman
should command me, I should think much to do it. What
has he to do with me ? Or if he has, peradventure I do
not know it. This jumping upon things at first dash will
destroy all. To keep up friendship there must be little
addresses and applications ; whereas bluntness spoils it 10
quickly. To keep up the hierarchy, there must be appli-
cations made to men, they must be brought on by little and
little ; so in the primitive times the power was gained, and
so it must be continued. Scaliger said of Erasmus ; st
minor esse voluerit, major fuisset ; so we may say of the
bishops, si minores esse voluerint, 7najores fuissent.
many places been performed, adds — ' This profane liberty and un-
cleanliness the Archbishop [i. e. Laud] resolved to reform with all
expedition, requiring the other bishops to concur with him in so pious
a work.' He adds, presently, that — ' The Archbishop prosecuted this
affair more passionately than was fit for the season ; and had pre-
judice against those who, out of fear or foresight, or not understanding
the thing, had not the same warmth to promote it. The bishops who
had been preferred by his favour, or who hoped to be so, were at
least as solicitous to bring it to pass in their respective dioceses ; and
some of them with more passion and less circumspection than they
had his example for, or than he approved ; prosecuting those who
opposed them very fiercely, and sometimes unwarrantably, which was
kept in remembrance.' Clarendon, Hist. vol. i. 148 ff.
1. 9. little applications] i. e. (as explained at length by Bacon in the
Adv. of Learning) — 'the observing carefully a man's manners and
customs, with the intention to understand him sufficiently whereby
not to give him offence.' Lord Bacon's Works (Ellis and Spedding),
vol. iii. 279.
1.14. Scaliger said &c.] The nearest I can find to this is a passage in
J. J. Scaliger's Table Talk. Erasmus perspicacissimo vir ingenio, se
ipso baud dubie futurus major (quod scribit Paulus Jovius) si Latinae
linguae conditores imitari, quam petulanti linguae indulgere maluisset.
Prima Scaligerana, sub voce Erasmus.
1. 15. voluerit,] voluit MSS. and early printed editions.
i6 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
6. The bishops were too hasty; else with a discreet
slowness they might have had what they aimed at. The
old story of the fellow that told the gentleman he might
get to such a place if he did not ride too fast, would have
fitted their turn.
7. For a bishop to cite an old canon to strengthen his
new articles, is as if a lawyer should plead an old statute
that has been repealed God knows how long.
VII.
BISHOPS IN THE PARLIAMENT.
o I. Bishops have the same right to sit in Parliament as
the best of earls and barons ; that is, those that were made
1. 6. For a bishop to cite Sec] This was done in the Constitutions
and Canons Ecclesiastical, put out in 1640 by the Synods of the two
Provinces. See Canon v. ' Against Sectaries ' and Canon ix on the
summary or collection of visitatory articles which the Synod had
caused to be made out of the rubric and the canons and warrantable
rules of the Church. Wilkins, Concilia, iv. 548 and 550.
1. 10. Bishops have the same right &c.] The various objections, here
stated and answered, to the right of bishops to sit in Parliament, to the
nature of their seat by office and not by blood, and to the policy of
allowing them to meddle with temporal affairs, were raised from time
to time in the long series of discussions which led finally to the aboli-
tion of their right and then of their office.
See, especially, the reasons offered by the Commons in reply to the
reasons offered by the Lords in favour of the bishops, June, 1641.
They cover most of the points raised in this chapter of the Table Talk.
The Commons do conceive that bishops ought not to have votes in
Parliament. First, because it is a very great hindrance to the exercise
of their ministerial function.
(2) Because they do vow and undertake at their ordination, when
they enter into Holy Orders, that they will give themselves wholly
to that vocation.
(5) Because they are but for their lives, and therefore are not fit to
have legislative power over the honours, inheritances, persons, and
liberties of others.
(6) Because of bishops' dependency and expectation of translation
to places of greater profit. Nalson, Collections, ii. 260.
BISHOPS IN THE PARLIAMENT. 17
by writ. If you ask one of them [Arundel, Oxford, North-
umberland] why they sit in the house ? they can only say,
their father sat there before them \ and their grandfather
before him, &c. And so says the bishop : he that was a
bishop of this place before me, sat in the house, and he
that was a bishop before him, &c. Indeed your later earls
and barons have it expressed in their patents, that they
shall be called to the parHament.
Objection. But the lords sit there by blood, the bishops
not. J
Answer. 'Tis true, they sit not there both the same
way, yet that takes not away the bishop's right. If I am
a parson of a parish, I have as much right to my glebe and
tithes, as you have to your land, that your ancestors have
had in that parish 800 years.
2. The bishops were not barons, because they had
^ Before them, H. 2] so originally in H. ' him ' is written over ' them.'
1. 16. The bishops were not barons &c.J What Selden here denies was
among the statements made by Mr. Bagshaw, Reader of the Middle
Temple, in his speech in Hall (1639) on the thesis Whether it be a
good Act of Parliament that is made without the assent of the Lords
Spiritual. He argues that it is good, because inter alia ' they do not sit
in Parliament as bishops, but by reason of the baronies annexed to
their bishopricks, which was done 5 W. I, and all of them have baronies
except the Bishop of Man, and he is not called to Parliament.' White-
lock, Memorials, p. 33.
Selden explains his point more fully in his Titles of Honour, part ii.
ch. 5, vol. iii. pp. 659, 724, 727. He shows that in the Saxon times the
lay claim to be included in the Witenagemot was the holding of land of
the king in chief by knight's service. Those who so held were, after
the Normans, parliamentary barons, and their tainlands only were the
parliamentary baronies. But in Saxon times, the bishops did not hold
by this tenure, yet they were none the less summoned regularly to the
Witenagemot, and had voice and place as bishops. And thus their
freedom from that tenure .... continued it seems till the fourth year
of King William I, when he made the bishopricks and abbeys subject
to knight's service in chief, by creation of new tenures, and so first
turned their possessions into baronies, and thereby made them barons
of the kingdom by tenure.
C
j8 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
baronies annexed to their bishoprics (for few of them had
so, unless the old ones, Canterbury, Winchester, Durham,
&c. the new erected we are sure had none, as Gloucester,
Peterborough, &c. Besides, few of the temporal lords had
any baronies). But they are barons, because they are
called by writ to the parHament, and bishops were in the
parliament ever since there is any mention or sign of a parr
liament in England.
3. Bishops may be judged by the peers, though in time
10 of popery it never happened, because they pretended they
were not obnoxious to a secular court ; but their way was
to cry. Ego sum frater domini papce, I am a brother to my
lord the pope, and therefore take not myself to be judged
by you. In this case they impannelled a Middlesex jury,
and dispatched the business.
4. Whether may bishops be present in case of blood ?
1. 3. as Gloucester, Peterborough &c.] These" were among the six
bishoprics founded by Henry VHI out of part of the spoils of the
monasteries. On the nature of their endowment see the king's grant
to the bishopric of Gloucester : ' Damus .... habenda et tenenda
omnia et singula praedicta, Aulas, Cubicula .... domos aedificia et
caetera omnia et singula praemissa praefato episcopo Gloucestriae et
successoribus suis imperpetuum, tenenda de nobis haeredibus et sucr
cessoribus nostris in puram et perpetuam eleemosinam.' Rymer,
Foedera, xiv. 727 (1712 fol.).
' So, too, in the case of Peterborough, the king (1542) grants to the
-bishop and his successors, various manors and rents (valued at
^^368 IIS. (>d), in puram et perpetuam eleemosynam, and subject to de-
ductions only for tenths and first-fruits.' Willis, Survey of Cathedrals,
iii. 493 (London, 1742, 3 vols.).
1. 9. Bishops m,ay be judged &c.] Selden, in his treatise on the privi-
leges of the baronage, lays it down as a rule of the common law that
bishops, although unquestionably peers of the realm, were to be tried
bj' common juries and were in fact so tried ; no regard being paid to
their claim as churchmen to be free from lay jurisdiction. He gives
several instances in which this claim was made and disallowed, and
the trial had by a common jury. Works, iii. 1538 if.
1. 16. Whether may bishops be present &c.] This question became
prominent and was hotly disputed at the trial of the Earl of Strafford.
BISHOPS IN THE PARLIAMENT. 19
Answer. That they had a right to give votes, appears
by this ; always when they did go out, they left a proxy ;
and in the time of the abbots, one man had 10, 20, or 30
voices. In Richard the ad's time there was a protestation
against the canons, by which they were forbidden to be pre-
sent in case of blood. The statute of the 25th of Henry the
8th may go a great way in this business. The clergy were
forbidden to use or cite any canon, &c. but in the later end
of the statute, there was a clause, that such canons as were
in usage in this kingdom, should be in force till the thirty- iq
two commissioners appointed should make others ; pro-
vided they were not contrary to the king's supremacy,
Now the question will be, whether these canons for blood
were in use in this kingdom or no ? The contrary whereof
may appear by many precedents in Richard 3 and Henry 7
and the beginning of Henry 8 ^ in which time there were
more attainted than since, or scarce before. The canons of
irregularity for blood were never received in England,
but upon pleasure. If a lay lord was attainted, the bishops
' Richard, Henry, Henry, H. 2] initials only in H.
The bishops were denied all meddling even in the commission of
preparatory examinations concerning the Earl of Strafford, as causa
sanguinis, and they as men of mercy, not to deal in the condemnation
of any person. Fuller, Church History, bk. xi. sec. 9, § 10.
That bishops were forbidden by the canons to pronounce sentence
of condemnation at trials on a capital charge, is clear. See e.g.
Wilkins, Concilia, vol. i. 1 12, 365 and 474.
On the authority of the canons, as law, it is laid down by 25 Henry
VIII, chap. 19, that the canons are not to be pleaded or used if con-
trary to the king's prerogative or to the customs, laws and statutes of
the kingdom — canons, not thus contrary, to be in force, as Selden
states.
In the case referred to in Richard IPs time, the exclusion of the
bishops was a concession granted to them at their own request. The
whole subject is discussed exhaustively in the opinion delivered
by the Bishop of Lincoln (Williams) as to the right of the bishops to
be present at Strafford's trial. Hacket, Life of WilUams, part ii.
P- 153 ff-
C 2
20 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
assented to his condemning, and were always present at the
passing of the bill of attainder : but if a spiritual lord, they
went out, as if they cared not whose head was cut off,
so none of their own. In those days the bishops, being
of great houses, were often entangled with the lords in
matters of treason; but when d'ye hear of a bishop-
traitor now?
5. You would not have bishops meddle with temporal
affairs. Think who you are that say it. If a Papist, they
10 do in your church ; if an English Protestant, they do among
you ; if a Presbyterian, where you have no bishops, you
mean your Presbyterian lay elders should meddle with
temporal affairs as well as spiritual. Besides, all jurisdic-
tion is temporal, and in no church but they have some
jurisdiction or other. The question then will be reduced
to magis and minus ; they meddle more in one church than
in another.
1. 8. You tvould not have bishops meddle with temporal affairs, &c.]
So in 1641, a bill was introduced for the second time to forbid bishops
having votes in Parliament or holding any temporal office, 'the
greatest argument being that their intermeddling with temporal
affairs was inconsistent with, and destructive to, the exercise of their
spiritual function.' Clarendon, i. 470.
The same argument was used by Lord Say and Sele (June 1641),
who based it on the Scriptural rule that — ' No man that warreth, en-
tangleth himself with the affairs of the world.' Nalson, Collections,
ii. 268.
Early in 1641, a committee of the House of Commons, appointed to
consider a remonstrance of some ministers, and the London petition
for the better government of the Church, voted, inter alia, that Article 6,
complaining that bishops were encumbered with temporal power and
state affairs, was material and fit to be considered by the House. Sir
R. Verney's Notes of Proceedings in the Long Parliament, pp. 4-14.
Most of the questions treated in the Table Talk, were raised in the
course of this inquiry.
See, too,—' It is not possible for one man to discharge two functions,
whereof either is sufficient to employ the whole man, especially that
of the ministry, so great that they ought not to entangle themselves
with the affairs of this world.' Speech of Nathaniel Fiennes, Feb.
1640-41. Nalson, Collections, i. 757.
BISHOPS IN THE PARLIAMENT. 21
6. Objection. Bishops give not their votes by blood in
parliament, but by an office annexed to them ; which being
taken away, they cease to vote ; therefore there is not the
same reason for them as for temporal lords.
Answer. We do not pretend they have that power the
same way, but they have a right ; he that has an office in
Westminster-hall for his life, the office is as much his, as
his land is his that has land by inheritance.
7. Whether had the inferior clergy ever anything to do
in the parliament ? i
Answer. No, no otherwise than thus; there were certain
of the clergy that did use to assemble near the parliament,
with whom the bishops, upon occasion, might consult;
(but there were none of the convocation, as it was after-
wards settled, viz', the dean, the archdeacon, one for the
Instances to the same eflFect will be iound passim in the debates and
speeches of the time.
1. I. Bishops give not their votes by blood &c.] This was one of the
stock arguments against the bishops. See, e.g.
' If they may remove bishops, they may as well next time remove
barons and earls.
' Answer. The reason is not the same, the one sitting by an honour
invested in their blood and hereditary, which though it be in the
king to grant alone yet being once granted he cannot take away. The
other sitting by a barony depending upon an office, which may be
taken away ; for if they be deprived of their office they sit not.'
Speech of Lord Say and Sele, June, 1641. Nalson, Collections, ii. 268.
1. 14. the convocation as it was afterwards settled] In or about 1283, a
canon was framed which may be regarded as settling historically the
representation of the clergy in the convocation of the province of
Canterbury. The rule laid down is ' ut in proxima congregatione ....
praeter personas episcoporum et procuratores absentium, veniant
duo aut unus a clero episcopatuum singulorum.' The Archbishop's
full writ, of which the canon is a copy, summons the attendance of
bishops, abbots, priors, deans, and archdeacons throughout the pro-
vince of Canterbury. Also ' de qualibet diocesi duo procuratores
nomine cleri, et de singulis capitulis ecclesiarum cathedralium et col-
legiatarum singuli procuratores.' Stubbs, Documents illustrative of
English History, pp. 452 and 456.
22 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
chapter, two for the diocese) but it happened by continu-
ance of time (to save charges and trouble), their voices and
the consent of the whole clergy were involved in the
bishops, and at this day the bishops' writs run, to bring all
these to the parliament, but the bishops themselves stand
for all.
8. Bishops were formerly of these two conditions ; either
men bred canonists and civilians, sent up and down am-
bassadors to Rome and other parts, and so by their merit
10 came to that greatness ; or else great noblemen's sons, or
brothers, or nephews, and so born to govern the state.
Now they are of a low condition, their education nothing
of that way; he gets a living, and then a greater living,
and then a greater than that, and so comes to govern.
9. Bishops are now unfit to govern, because of their
learning : they are bred up in another law : they run to the
text for something done amongst the Jews, that nothing
concerns England. 'Tis just as if a man would have a
kettle, and he would not go to our braziers to have it
20 made, as they make kettles ; but he would have it made as
Hiram made his brass-work, who wrought in Solomon's
temple.
ID. To take away bishops' votes, is but the beginning to
1. 23. To take away bishops' votes &c.] This was borne out by the
event. ' In 1646, by ordinance of Parliament, the name, title, style,
and dignity of archbishop and bishop were wholly taken away, from
and after September 5, and all and every person was disabled to hold
the place, function, or stile of archbishop or bishop.' Rushworth,
Hist. Collections, vol. vi. 373.
That they will ' always go for the king, as he will have them ' was,
in effect, one of the arguments used against them in 1641. ' The Com-
mons do conceive that bishops ought not to have votes in Parliament,
because .... of bishops' dependency and expectation of translation
to places of greater profit.' Nalson, Collections, ii. 261.
So, too, Lord Say and Sele, in the course of a debate in the same
year, urges that bishops 'have such an absolute dependency upon
the king that they sit not here as freemen .... For their
fears, they cannot lay them down, since their places and seats in
BISHOPS OUT OF THE PARLIAMENT. 23
take them away ; for then they can be of no longer use to
the king or state. 'Tis but Hke the little wimble, to let in
the greater auger.
Objection. But they are but for their life, and that makes
them always go for the king as he will have them.
Answer. This is against a double charity ; for you must
always suppose a bad king and bad bishops. Then
again, whether will a man be sooner content, himself
should be made a slave, or his son after him ? [when we
talk of our children we mean ourselves]. Besides, they 10
that have posterity are more obliged to the king than they
that are only for themselves, in all the reason in the
world.
11. How shall the clergy be in the parliament, if the
bishops be taken away ?
Answer. By the laity ; because the bishops, in whom the
rest of the clergy are included, assent to the taking away
their own votes, by being involved in the major part of the
house. This follows naturally.
12. The bishops being put out of the house, whom will 20
they lay the fault upon now ? When the dog is beat out
of the room where will they lay the stink ?
VIII.
BISHOPS OUT OF THE PARLIAMENT.
I. In the beginning, bishops and presbyters were alike ;
like your gentleman in the country, whereof one is made
Parliament are not invested in them by blood, and so hereditary, but
by annexation of a barony to their office ; and depending upon that
office and thereby of their places, at the king's pleasure they ....
sit ... . but at will and pleasure.' Nalson, Collections, ii. 268.
1. 20. The bishops being put out of the house &c.] This was done in
1642, when the king was at length induced to give his consent to the
Bill excluding them. Clarendon, i. 668.
1. 24. In the beginning, bishops and presbyters &c.] The question
24 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
deputy-lieutenant, another justice of peace ; so one is
made a bishop, another a dean : And that kind of govern-
ment by archbishops and bishops no doubt came in, in
imitation of the temporal government, no jure divino. In
time of the Roman empire, where they had a legatus, there
they placed an archbishop ; where they had a rector, there
a bishop ; that every one might be instructed in Christi-
anity, which now they had received into the empire.
2. They that speak ingenuously^ of bishops and presby-
' Ingenuously] MSS. ingeniously. The two words are confused in several
places.
raised in the first three sections as to the identity of bishops and
presbyters was one of the stock subjects of dispute in Selden's day.
After the triumph of the Presbyterian party, it was answered by the
legislature in the affirmative : —
' Whereas the word Presbyter, that is to say Elder, and the word
Bishop, do in the Scripture intend and signify one and the same
function, although the title of Bishop hath been by corrupt custom
appropriated to one, &c.
' Nov. 8, 1645.'
Ordinance of Lords and Commons. Rushworth, Collections, vi. 212.
Selden's view agrees with, and was not improbably based upon, that
of Archbishop Usher, to whom he was in the habit of referring, and
for whose judgment he had a great and merited respect. Usher^
his biographer Parr writes, was charged ' That he ever declared his
opinion to be, that Episcopus et Presbyter gradu tantum differunt non
ordine — which opinion,' says Parr, ' I cannot deny to have been my
Lord Primate's since I find the same written almost verbatim with his
own hand, dated Nov. 26, 1655. And that the Lord Primate was
always of this opinion I find by another note of his own hand, written
in another book many years before this.' Parr adds some limitations
and cautions ; but subject to these, confirms the opinion from other
writers. ' So that you see,' he adds, ' that as learned men, and as stout
asserters of episcopacy as any the Church of England hath had, have
been of the Lord Primate's judgment in this matter, though without
any design to lessen the order of bishops or to take away their use in
the Church.' — Life of Usher, Appendix, pp. 5-7.
1. 4. In time of the Roman Empire &c.] Bingham, Christian An-
tiquities, bk. ix. goes minutely into this, and shows in detail that the
Church, in setting up metropolitan, patriarchal, and episcopal sees,
commonly took the model from the civil divisions of the state.
BISHOPS OUT OF THE PARLIAMENT. 25
ters say, that a bishop is a greater presbyter, and during
the time of his being bishop, above a presbyter : as the
president of the college of physicians, is above the rest,
yet he himself no more than a doctor of physic.
3. The word {bishop] and [presbyter] are promiscuously
used; that is confessed by all: and though the word
bishop be in Timothy and Titus, yet that will not prove
the bishops ought to have a jurisdiction over the pres-
byters, though Timothy or Titus had by the order that
was given them. Somebody must take care of the rest : 10
and that jurisdiction was but to excommunicate ; and that
was but to tell them they should come no more into their
company. Or grant they did make canons one for another,
before they came to be in the state : does it follow they
must do so when the state has received them into it?
What if Timothy had power in Ephesus, and Titus in
Crete over the presbyters ? Does it follow therefore our
bishops must have the same in England? Must we be
governed like Ephesus or Crete ?
4. However some of the bishops pretend to be jure 20
divino, yet the practice of the kingdom has ever been
otherwise ; for whatsoever bishops do otherwise than the
1. 20. However some of the bishops pretend &c.] This was and has
ever been the claim of the High Church party. We find it e.g.
asserted by Andrewes, and approved by Laud, and in express terms
asserted by Laud himself. See ' Die Mercurii, ostendi rationes regi
cur chartae Episcopi Winton. defuncti, de episcopis quod sint jure
divino, praelo tradendae sint, &c.' Laud's Diary, Jan. 17, 1626;
Works, iii. 199.
' We maintain that our calling of bishops is jure divino, by divine
right. . . This I will say and abide by it, that the calling of bishops
is jure divino, by divine right, though not all adjuncts to their calling.'
Speech at the censure of Bastwick, Burton, and Prynne ; Works, vi.
pt. i. p. 43.
Selden's argument to the contrary seems to be based on the legal
control exercised over bishops in the discharge of their functions,
most notably in the matter of excommunications. See ' Excommuni-
cation.'
26 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
law permits, Westminster-hall can controul, or send them
to absolve, &c.
5. He that goes about to prove bishops to he jure divino,
does as a man that, having a sword, shall strike it against
an anvil ; if he strike it awhile there, he may peradventure
loosen it, though it be never so well riveted ; it will serve
to cut flesh or strike another sword, but not against an
anvil.
6. If you should say, you held your land by Moses' or
10 God's law, and would try it by that, you may perhaps lose ;
but by the law of the kingdom you are sure of it. So
may the bishops by this plea of jure divino lose all. The
pope had as good a title by the law of England as could
be had, had he not left that, and claimed by power from
God.
7. There is no government enjoined by example, but by
precept : it does not follow we must have bishops still, be-
cause we have had them so long. They are equally mad
who say bishops are so jure divino that they must be
20 continued; and they who say, they are so anti-christian
that they must be put away. All is as the state likes.
8. To have no ministers but presbyters, 'tis as if in the
temporal state, they should have no officers but constables,
and justices of peace which are but greater constables.
Bishops do best stand with monarchy ; that as amongst the
laity, you have dukes, lord-lieutenants, judges, %lc. to send
down the king's pleasure to his subjects; so you have
bishops to govern the inferior clergy : these upon occasion
may address themselves to the king, otherwise every
30 parson of the parish must come and run up to the court.
9. The protestants have no bishops in France, because
1. 31. The protestants have &c.] Probably suggested by Usher, who
is quoted by his biographer Parr, as excusing or palliating the absence
of bishops in the Churches of France on the ground that they are
' living under a popish power and cannot do what they would.' Parr's
Life, Appendix, pp. 5 and 6.
BISHOPS OUT OF THE PARLIAMENT. 27
they live in a catholic country, and they will not have
cathoHc bishops; therefore they must govern themselves
as Virell as they may.
10. What is that to the purpose, to what end bishops'
lands were given to them at first ? We must look to the
law and custom of the place. What is that to any
temporal lord's estate, how lands were first divided, or
how in William the Conqueror's days? And if men at
first are juggled out of their estates, yet they are rightly
their successors. If my father cheat a man, and he con- to
sents to it, the inheritance is rightly mine.
11. If there be no bishops, there must be something else
which has the power of bishops, though it be in many;
and then had you not as good keep them ? If you will
have no half-crowns, but only single pence, yet 30 single
pence are a half-crown ; and then had you not as good keep
both? But the bishops have done ill. 'Twas the men,
not the function. As if you should say, you would have
no more half-crowns, because they were stolen, when the
truth is they were not stolen because they were half- 20
crowns, but because they were money, and light in a
thief's hands.
12. They that would pull down the bishops and erect a
new way of government, do as he that pulls down an old
house, and builds another of another fashion. There's a
great deal ado, and a great deal of trouble ; the old rubbish
must be carried away, and new materials must be brought ;
workmen must be provided; and perhaps the old one
would have served as well.
13. If the prelatical and presbyterian party should dis-30
pute, who should be judge ? Indeed in the beginning of
queen Elizabeth there was such a difference between the
1. 31. Indeed in the beginning of queen Elisabeth &c.] Strype, in the
Annals of the Reformation, vol. i. chap. 5, gives a lengthy account
of this ' conference between some popish bishops and other learned
28 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
protestants and papists, and Sir Nicholas Bacon, lord
chancellor, was appointed to be judge ; but the conclusion
was, the stronger party carried it. For so religion was
brought into kingdoms, so it has been continued, and so it
may be cast out, when the state pleases.
14. 'Twill be a great discouragement to scholars, that
bishops should be put down. For now the father can say
to the son, and the tutor to the pupil, Study hard, and you
shall have vocem ef sedem in parliamento ; then it must be,
10 Study hard, and you shall have an ;^ioo a year if you
please your parish.
Objection. But they that enter into the ministry for
preferment, are like Judas that looked after the bag.
Answer. It may be so, if they turn scholars at Judas
his age. But what arguments will you use to persuade
them to follow their books, when they are young ?
men of that communion, and certain protestant divines, held in the
month of March, 1559, by order of the Queen's privy council, to be
performed in their presence, eight on one side and eight on the other.'
The Queen orders it to be conducted in writing and the papists to
begin. The first day passed off quietly. On the second day, difficul-
ties were raised as to the course of the proceedings and the papists
refused to go on, as it had been arranged that they should. The
conference thereupon broke up, after some ominous words from the
Lord Keeper, Sir Nicholas Bacon. ' For that ye would not that we
should hear you, perhaps you may shortly hear of us.' And so they
did, for, as a punishment for their contempt, the Bishops of Winchester
and Lincoln were committed to the Tower, and the others, except
the Abbot of Westminster, were bound to make their personal appear-
ance before the Council and not to depart the cities of London and
Westminster until ordered. They were afterwards compelled to
dance attendance every day at the Council from April 5 to May 12,
until at length their fines for contempt were settled ; ' and so they were
discharged, recognizances for their good abearing being first taken of
them.'
In the Editor's Preface to the second volume of Laud's Works,
numerous instances are given of oral and of written controversies and
disputations in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, some of them
between protestants and papists, others between the champions of
different protestant sects.
BOOKS. AUTHORS. 29
IX.
BOOKS. AUTHORS.
1. The giving a bookseller his price for his books, has
this advantage ; he that will do it, shall be sure to have the
refusal of whatsoever comes to his hands, and so by that
means get many things, which otherwise he should never
have seen. So 'tis in giving a bawd her price.
2. In buying books or other commodities, it is not
always the best rule to bid but half so much as the seller
asks. Witness the country fellow, that went to buy two
shove-groat shillings ; they asked him three shillings, and 10
he offered them eighteen-pence.
3. They counted the price of the books (Acts xix. 19),
and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver; that is, so
many sestertii, or so many three-halfpence of our money ;
about three hundred pound sterling.
4. Popish books teach and inform ; what we know, we
1. 10. two shove-groat shillings?^ Shove-groat was one of the names
of a game played by driving a smooth coin with a smart stroke of the
hand along a table, at the further end of which nine partitions had
been marked off, with a number inscribed on each of them. The score
was reckoned according to the number on the partition in which the
coin rested. See Strutt, Sports and Pastimes, bk. iv. sec. 19.
Nares (Glossary, sub voce ' shove-groat ') adds that the shove-groat
shilling, the coin with which the game was played, was sometimes a
smooth shilling, sometimes a smooth groat, sometimes a smooth half-
penny ; and that any flat piece of metal would have answered the
purpose, and would have passed, therefore, as a shove-groat shilling.
1. 16. Popish books &c.] By 3 James I, ch. 5, sec. 25 the im-
portation is forbidden of popish primers, ladies' psalters, manuals,
rosaries, popish catechisms, missals, breviaries, portals, legends and
lives of saints containing superstitious matter, and the books them-
selves are ordered to be seized and burned.
It was one of the charges against Laud that he had connived at the
importation of popish books, and had restored them to their owners
when they had been seized by the searchers. His answer to the
charge is that great numbers of them had been burnt, and that if any
of them had been re-delivered to their owners it was by order not from
himself, but from the High Commission. Laud's Works, vol. iv. p. 347.
30 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
know much out of them. The fathers, church story,
school-men, all may pass for popish books ; and if you take
away them, what learning will you leave ? Besides, who
must be judge ? The customer or the waiter? If he dis-
allows a book, it must not be brought into the kingdom ;
then lord have mercy upon all scholars ! These puritan
preachers, if they have any thing good, they have it out of
popish books, though they will not acknowledge it, for fear
Whatever Laud may have done, or omitted to do, while he vs^as in
power, the Act against popish books was strictly enforced afterwards.
See Nalson's Collections, vol. ii. p. 690, Dec. 1, 1641. This day the
Bishop of Exon reported to the Lords' House, ' That the Committee
formerly appointed by their House,, have perused those books which
were seized on coming from beyond the seas . . . and finds them to
be of three several sorts.
' Such as are fit to be delivered to their owners and to be sold.
The Holy Table, name and thing.
Mr. Walker's Treaty of the Sabbath, &c.
' A second sort, fit to be sold to choice persons.
Thomas de Kempis, Of the following of Christ, &c.
' A third sort of superstitious tablets and books, which are fit to be
burnt, as
Missals, Primers, and Offices of Our Lady, &c. . . .
' Ordered . . . the second sort to be delivered over to safe hands, to
be sold to Noblemen, Gentlemen, and Scholars, but not to women.
' That the third sort be burned by the Sheriffs of London in Smith-
field forthwith.'
Selden's remark was probably made about the date at which this
more strict rule was put in force.
I 1.4. The customer] A collector and farmer of the customs. Conf.
'. Hakluyt's Voyages, i. 189-191 (ed. of 1809, 4to). ' In the ancient state
of Rome, the tenants of the empire paid for rent the tenth of their
corn, whence the publicans that hired it, as the customers do here the
king's custom, were called decumani.' Selden, Works, iii. 1098.
1. 4. ihe waiter] This probably means the tide-waiter, one of the
officers of the customs, whose duty it was to watch the landing of
goods arriving from abroad.
1. 6. These puritan preachers &c.] So the London Petition against
bishops, &c., complains of ' the Liturgy for the most part framed out
of the Romish Breviary, Ritualium, Mass Book, also the book of
Ordination, framed out of the Roman Pontifical.' Nalson, Collections,
i. 663.
CANON LAW.-CEREMONY. 31
of displeasing the people. He is a poor divine that cannot
sever the good from the bad.
5. It is good to have translations, because they serve as
a comment, so far as the judgment of one man goes.
6. In answering a book, 'tis best to be short ; otherwise
he that I write against will suspect I intend to weary him,
not to satisfy him. Besides in being long I shall give my
adversary a huge advantage ; somewhere or other he will
pick a hole.
7. In quoting of books, quote such authors as are usually 10
read ; others you may read for your own satisfaction, but
not name them.
8. Quoting of authors is most for matter of fact ; and then
I write them as I would produce a witness ; sometimes for
a free expression, and then I give the author his due, and
gain myself praise by reading him.
9. To quote a modern Dutchman where I may use a
classic author, is as if I were to justify my reputation, and
I neglect all persons of note and quality that know me, and
bring the testimonial of the scullion in the kitchen. 20
X.
CANON LAW.
If I would study the canon-law, as it is used in England,
I must study the heads here in use, then go to the prac-
tisers in those courts where that law is practised, and know
their customs. So for all the study in the world.
XI.
CEREMONY.
I. Ceremony keeps up all things ; 'tis like a penny glass
to a rich spirit, or some excellent water; without it the
water will be spilt, the spirits lost,
32 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
2. Of all people, ladies have no reason to cry down
ceremonies, for they take themselves extremely slighted
. without it ^ And were they not used with ceremony, with
I compliments and addresses, with legs, and kissing of hands,
! they were the pitifullest creatures in the world : but yet
i I (methinks) to kiss their hands after their lips, as some do,
' I is like little boys, that after they have eat the apple, fall to
the paring, out of a love they have to the apple.
XII.
CHANCELLOR.
o I. The bishop is not to sit with the chancellor in his
court as being a thing either beneath him or beside him,
no more than the king is to sit in the king's bench, when
he has made a lord-chief-justice.
2. The chancellor governed in the church, who was a
layman. And therefore 'tis false which they charge the
bishops with, that they challenge sole jurisdiction. For
the bishop can no more put out the chancellor, than the
1 Without it, H. a] without, H.
1. 4. with legSjl The ' leg ' is an old-fashioned bow or courtesy,
in which the leg is drawn back. The word occurs again in ' Poetry '
sec. 4 and in ' Thanksgiving.' Conf. ' I think it much more passable
to put off the hat and make a leg like an honest country gentleman,
than like an ill-fashioned dancing master.' Locke, Some Thoughts
concerning Education, § 196.
1. 10. The bishop is not to sit &c.] This seems aimed at Canon xi.
of the Constitutions and Canons of 1640, which ordains ' that hereafter
no bishop shall grant any patent to any chancellor . . . otherwise than
with express reservation to himself and his successors of the power
to execute the said place, either alone or with the chancellor, if the
bishop shall please to do the same.' Wilkins, Concilia, iv. 551.
The next clause in the Table Talk must have been spoken before
this Canon had been put out. The Canon clearly gives the bishop
a ' sole jurisdiction,' as often as he chooses to claim it.
CHANCELLOR.-CHANGING SIDES. 33
chancellor the bishop. They were many of them made
chancellors for their lives: and he is the fittest man to
govern, because divinity so overwhelms all other things.
XIII.
CHANGING SIDES.
1. 'Tis the trial of a man to see if he will change his
side; and if he be so weak as to change once, he will
change again. Your country fellows have a way to try if
a man be weak in the hams, by coming behind him, and
giving him a little blow unawares ; if he bend once, he
will bend again. i
2. The lords that fall from the king, after they have got
estates by base flattery at court, and now pretend con-
science, do as a vintner, that when he first sets up, you
may bring your wench to his house, and do your things
there; but when he grows rich, he turns conscientious,
and will sell no wine on the sabbath-day.
3. Colonel Goring serving first the one side and then
1. 2. for their lives] Singer suggests that 'for their learning'
would give a better sense here, but there is no authority for the
change.
1. 17. Colonel Goring &c.] Goring, in 1641, gave evidence in Par-
liament about a real or alleged plot of the King for bringing up
the army to London to surprise the Tower and overawe the
Parliament. His disclosures were thought so important that he
received public thanks ' for preserving the kingdom and the liberties
of Parliament.'
In 1642 we hear of him as Governor of Portsmouth, 'having
found means to make good impressions again in their Majesties of his
fidelity.'
In the course of the same year, having come under the suspicion
of the Parliament, and having been called to account by them, he
contrived so to clear himself that ' they desired him to repair to
his government, and to finish those works which were necessary
for the safety of the place.' They supplied him with money for
D
34 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
the Other, did Hke a good miller, that knows how to grind
which way soever the wind sits.
4. After Luther had made a combustion in Germany
about religion, he was sent to by the pope, to be taken
off, and offered any preferment in the church, that he
would make choice of: Luther answered, if he had
the purpose, and gave him a lieutenant-general's commission in the
Parliamentary army. On his return to Portsmouth he declared for
the King.
His next act was to surrender Portsmouth to the Parliament,
treacherously according to Clarendon, but certainly not without having
made strenuous efforts for its defence.
In 1643 he was appointed to a command in the King's army at
York ' by the Queen's favour notwithstanding all former failings,'
and from this date onwards he continued to serve the King. Claren-
don sketches his character and conduct in terms of great bitterness,
very unlike Selden's easy-going remark. See Hist, of Rebellion, i.
414-417, 651, 1114-1119 ; ii. 27, 212, 830 ff.
1. 3. After Luther had made a combustion &c.] The story of the
offers made to Luther by the Pope's legate, and of Luther's reply to
them, rests on the authority of Father Paul Sarpi. But Selden does
not tell it quite fairly to Luther. What Sarpi says is that in 1535
the legate, Vergerio, had a special commission to treat with Luther
and with other prominent persons among the reformers, and to make
all sorts of promises to them, if only he could bring them to terms.
Vergerio, accordingly, arranged a meeting with Luther at Wittemburg,
and threw out some very clear hints of what the Pope, Paul III,
would do to reward him if he would but cease from troubling the
Church and the world. Luther's answer was that the offers had
come too late, for he had been driven by the harshness with which
he had been formerly treated, to make a more exact enquiry into
the errors and abuses of the papacy, and knowing what he now
knew he could not in conscience refrain from telling it out to the
world. See Istoria del Concilio Tridentino, lib. i. sec. 53 (edition of
1835, in 7 vols.), Luther speaks of this interview in a letter to Jonas,
written in the same year, but he says only that he met the Pope's
legate by invitation, — ' sed quos sermones habuerim non licet homini
scribere.' (De Wette, Luther's Briefe, iv. 648.) Sarpi's story must be
taken for what it is worth. His authority is not by any means unim-
peachable, and Pallavicino (iii. c. 18) ridicules the tale as a romance.
I am indebted to the Bishop of Peterborough for all the abov?
references.
CHRISTIANS. 35
offered half as much at first, he would have accepted it,
but now he had gone so far, he could not come back.
In truth he had made himself a greater thing than they
could make him ; the German princes courted him ; he
was become the author of a sect ever after to be called
Lutherans. So have our preachers done that are against
the bishops, they have made themselves greater with the
people than they can be made the other way, and there-
fore there is the less probability of^ bringing them off.
Charity to strangers is enjoined in the text. By strangers lo
is there understood, those that are not of your own kin,
strangers to your blood, not those you cannot tell whence
they come; that is, be charitable to your neighbours
whom you know to be honest poor people.
XIV.
CHRISTIANS.
1. In the church of Jerusalem, the Christians were but
another sect of Jews, that did believe the Messias was
come. To be called, was nothing else but to become a
Christian, to have the name of a Christian, it being their
own language; for among the Jews, when they made a 20
doctor of law, 'twas said he was called.
2. The Turks tell their people of a heaven where there
is a sensible pleasure, but of a hell where they shall suffer
they do not know what. The Christians quite invert this
order ; they tell us of a hell where we shall feel sensible
pain, but of a heaven where we shall enjoy we cannot tell
what.
3. Why did the heathen object to the Christians, that
• Less probability of. Singer conjecturally] less charity probably of, MSS.
1. 28. Why did the heathen &c.] On the identification of Jews and
Christians, and on the reasons for it, Selden speaks in several places.
D 2
36 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
fhey worshipped an ass's head ? You must know, that
to a heathen, a Jew and a Christian were all one, that they
What he says in effect is that, since Christianity had its origin in
Judaea, since the early Christians were in great part Jews by race,
and worshipped the same supreme God as the Jews, and since they
preserved for some time the civil rites and ceremonies of their nation,
it was quite natural that the alien peoples, among whom they lived
and from whose worship they both alike kept markedly aloof, should
have seen no difference between them, and that in point of fact they
habitually included them both under the common name of Jews.
See Selden, Works, i. 59. H. Prolegomena, p. 10. H. 405 and 657.
The fiction about the ass's head was, Bochart says, started by
Apion, an Egyptian grammarian of the first half of the first century,
and he adds proof of the very wide credence which it received, about
the Jews first, and about the Christians afterwards. The origin of
the story he explains in several ways, but not very happily. See
Hierozoicon, pt. i, bk. ii. ch. xviii.
Morinus criticises Bochart and the authorities which Bochart
quotes, and then with some hesitation tries his own hand on the
problem. One of his conjectures is that the Hebrew words for a pot
(sc. of manna) and for an ass are so nearly alike as hardly to be dis-
tinguished, and that the pot of manna, with its two handles or ears,
preserved in the holy place, might itself be taken as an image of an
ass's head.
Conf Dissertationes Octo (Geneva, 1683), p. 157, on the question,
' Unde potuit venire in mentem gentium caput asininum esse Chris-
tianorum Deum ? '
The story, as told by Apion, takes two forms, viz. that the head of
an ass in gold, an object of worship among the Jews, was found in
the holy place of the Temple by Antiochus Epiphanes ; and again that
a man named Zabidus, in the course of a war between the Jews and
the Idumseans, managed to make his way into the Temple, and there
found and carried away the golden head. See Josephus against
Apion, bk. ii. ch. 7 and 10.
But if the calumny originated with Apion, and if the later versions
of it can, as Bochart says, be traced to him as their source, it seems
hardly worth while to enquire about it any further. Apion, it must
be remembered, was notorious as a hater of the Jews. He not only
wrote against them, but he was sent to Rome, on a special mission,
as the most fit person to plead before the Emperor Caligula on behalf
of the Alexandrian Greeks, in their quarrel with the Alexandrian
Jews, and he did his work so effectively that the Emperor refused
even to hear his opponent, Philo. The ass's head story, however
started, and with whatever accessories it was adorned, would hav^
CHRISTMAS. 37
regarded him not, so he was not one of them. Now that
of the ass's head might proceed from such a mistake as
this. By the Jewish law, all the firstlings of cattle were
to be offered to God, except a young ass, which was to be
redeemed ; a heathen being present, and seeing young
calves, and young lambs killed at their sacrifices, only
young asses redeemed, might very well think they had
that silly beast in some high estimation, and thence might
imagine they worshipped it as a God.
XV.
CHRISTMAS. lo
1. Christmas succeeds the Saturnalia, the same time,
the same number of holy days ; then the master waited
upon the servant, just like the lord of misrule.
2. Our meats and our sports (much of them) have rela-
tion to church-work. The coffin of our christmas pies, in
shape long, is in imitation of the cratch; our choosing
gained ready credence at Rome about a people of whom they knew
httle, and for whom they had no love. It was told first about the
Jews, and the identification of Jews and Christians explains suffi-
ciently how it came to be told about the Christians afterwards.
1. 13. the lord of misrule] Strutt gives a full account of this 'mock |
prince,' or ' master of merry disports,' of the manner of his appoint-
ment, of the length of his reign, and of the nature and privileges of
his office. He refers to and endorses Selden's opinion that all these
whimsical transpositions of dignity are derived from the ancient
Saturnalia, or feasts of Saturn, when the masters waited upon their
servants, who were honoured with mock titles and permitted to
assume the state and deportment of their lords. Sports and Pas-
times, bk. iv. chap. 3, sec. 1-8.
1. 16. the cratch'] An old English word for rack or manger. Fr. '
creche. It is frequently used for the manger in which Christ was
laid. Conf. ' And sche bare hir first borun sone, and wlappide hym in
clothis, and leide hym in a cratche.' Luke ii. 7 ; WycliiTe's Trans,
second version, as printed by Forshall and Madden.
38 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
king and queen on twelfth-night, has reference to the
three kings. So Hkewise our eating of fritters, whipping
of tops, roasting of herrings, jack of lents, &c. they were
all in imitation of church-work, emblems of martyrdom.
Our tansies at Easter have reference to the bitter herbs ;
though at the same time it was always the fashion, for a
man to have in his house a gammon of bacon, to shew
himself to be no Jew.
XVI.
CHURCH.
lo I. Heretofore the kingdom let the church alone, let
them do what they would, because they had something
else to think of, viz*, wars ; but now in time of peace, we
begin to examine all things, will have nothing but what we
like, grow dainty and wanton ; just as in a family, the heir
uses to go a hunting, he never considers how his meal
is dressed ; takes a bit ^, and away ; but when he stays
within, then he grows curious, he does not like this, nor
he does not like that, he will have his meat dressed his
own way, or peradventure he will dress it himself.
20 2. It hath ever been the gain of the church, when the
' Takes a bit, H. 2] take a bit, H.
\ 1. 3. Jack a len{\ Explained in Johnson's Dictionary as a puppet
formerly thrown at in Lent, like shrove-cocks. Conf. :
' Thou, that when last thou wert put out of service,
Travell'dst to Hamstead-heath, on an Ash Wednesday,
Where thou didst stand six weeks the Jack o' Lent,
For boys to hurl three throws a penny at thee.'
Ben Jonson, Tale of a Tub, Act iv. sc. 2.
1. 5. Our tansies] ' Tansy, a herb : also a sort of pancake or pud-
ding made with it.' Bailey, Old English Dictionary.
1. 20. the gain of the church] I am not sure that this is the correct
reading. The MSS. give gaine, which may quite possibly have been
a mistake for game, a word better suited to the sense here. So, in
Bacon's Essay ' Of Usury,' the unquestionably correct reading, ' at
CHURCH. 39
king will let the church have no power, to cry down the
king and cry up the church. But when the church can
make use of the king's power, then to bring all under the
king's prerogative. The catholics of England go one way,
and the court clergy the other ^.
3. A glorious church is like a magnificent feast, there
is all the variety that may be, but every one chooses out
a dish or two that he likes, and lets the rest alone. How
glorious soever the church is, every one chooses out of it
his own reUgion, by which he governs himself, and lets 10
the rest alone.
4. The laws of the church are most favourable to the
church, because they were the church's own making ; as
the heralds are the best gentlemen, because they make
their own pedigree.
5. There is a question about that article, concerning
^ The otker\ corrected in MSS. from ' an other.'
the end of the game,' appears in some copies of the edition of 1625
as ' at the end of the gaine.' So, too, in the Table Talk (Power,
State, end of sec. 7) the Harleian MS. 1315 reads, quite distinctly,
' comine,' instead of ' comme.'
1. 16. There is a question about that article &c.] The words in
question — ' The Church hath power to decree rites or ceremonies and,
authority in controversies of faith,' or, as they appear in the original
Latin, ' Habet Ecclesia ritus statuendi jus, et in fidei controversiis
auctoritatem ' — were certainly part of the Latin text as printed in 1563,
with the approval of the Queen. They were not in Archbishop Parker's
preparatory draft of the articles, but they certainly were in the copy
finally signed by the archbishop, the bishops and the clergy of the
Lower House, at the convocation on January 29, 1562 (1563). Their
subsequent history is not equally clear. They were not in the English
MS. signed by the bishops in the convocation of 1571. They were
in the Latin articles signed by the Lower House in the same year.
It appears, too, that in 1571 there were copies of the articles printed
in Latin and in English with the above words, and other copies,
certainly in English, without the words. The whole question is dis-
cussed, and a summary of the arguments pro and con given, in Hard-
wick's History of the Thirty-nine Articles, p. 141. See also Laud's
Works, vol. iv. 30, and vol. vi. 64 ff. A charge that the bishops had
40 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
the power of the church, whether these words (of having
power in controversies of faith) were not stolen in ;
but 'tis most certain they were in the Book of Articles
that was confirmed, though in some editions they have
been left out : but the Article before tells you, who the
church is ; not the clergy, but ccetus fidelium.
XVII.
CHURCH OF ROME,
1. Before a juggler's tricks are discovered we admire
him, and give him money, but afterwards we care not for
10 them : so 'twas before the discovery of the juggling of the
church of Rome.
2. Catholics say, we out of our charity believe they of
the church of Rome may be saved : but they do not be-
lieve so of us ; therefore their church is better according
to our own selves. First, some of them no doubt believe
as well of us, as we do of them ; but they must not say so.
Besides is that an argument, their church is better than
ours because it has less charity?
forged the clause and had foisted it into the articles, is dealt with
at length in Laud's speech at the censure of Burton, Bastwick, and
Prynne. Strype, in his Life of Archbishop Parker, bk. iv. chap. 5,
says that a Latin copy of the articles, printed in 1563, and containing
the disputed clause, 'is still extant in the Bodleian Library among
Mr. Selden's books . . . being found in Archbishop Laud's library,
from whence Mr. Selden immediately had it.' He adds, further, that
there were three editions of the Thirty-nine Articles in English,
printed in 1571 by Jugg and Cawood, all which have this clause ;
' which three editions, with the said clause, I myself saw, as well as
other inquisitive persons, at Mr. Wilkins's, a bookseller in St. Paul's
Church-yard.' ' So that at length an edition that appeared abroad in
the same year, printed by John Day, wanting the clause, hath been
judged (and that upon good grounds) to be spurious.'
1. 17. Besides is that an argument, &c.] Dr. Prideaux makes this
CHURCH OF ROME.— CHURCHES. 41
3. One of the church of Rome will not come to our
prayers. Does that argue he does not like them? I
would fain see a cathoHc leave his dinner, because a
nobleman's chaplain says grace. Nor haply would he
leave the prayers of the church, if going to church were
not made a note of distinction between a protestant^ and
a papist.
XVIII.
CHURCHES.
The way coming into our great churches was anciently
at the west door, that men might see the altar, and all the i
church before them ; the other doors were but posterns.
^ Protestant, H. 2] protest, H.
point in the course of a series of lectures to which Selden refers
elsewhere. See note on ' Predestination,' sec. 3.
1. 9. The way coming &c.] After the narthex (ante-temple) followed
that part which was properly called va6s, the temple, and navis, the
nave or body of the church . . . The entrance into it from the narthex
was by the gates, which the modern rituals and Greek writers call
nvKai apaiai and ^acrtXtKai, the ' beautiful and royal gates.' Here their
kings were wont to lay down their crowns before they proceeded
further into the Church. Bingham, Christian Antiquities, bk. viii.
ch. 5, sec. I.
These royal gates were usually at the west, since the churches
were usually built east and west, with the altar at the east end, but
the rule was not always observed. See Christian Antiquities, bk. viii.
ch. 3, sec. 2.
Bingham gives, in this chapter, the ground-plan of an ancient
church, showing the royal gates at the west, with the altar and all
the church in full view in front of them, and the other gates or
posterns at the sides. See also Selden's letter to Usher of
March 24, 1621 (22), asking 'whether we find" that any churches in
the elder times of Christianity were with the doors or fronts east-
ward ' (Works, ii. 1707), and Usher's reply of April 16, showing that
ancient churches were built in a variety of ways, some ' with the
doors or fronts eastward,' some standing north and south ; but that
for the most part they had the entrance at the west and the altar at
the east end. R. Parr's Life of Usher. Letters, p. 81. Letter 49.
42 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
XIX.
CITY,
1. What makes a city? Whether a bishoprick, or any-
thing ^ of that nature ?
Answer. 'Tis according to the first charter which made
them a corporation. If they are incorporated by name of
civitas, then they are a city; if by the name of burgum,
then they are a borough.
2. The lord mayor of London by their first charter was
to be presented to the king ; in his absence to the lord
'"chief justiciary of England ; afterwards to the lord chancel-
lor, now to the barons of the exchequer ; but still there
was a reservation, that for their honour they should come
once a year to the king, as they do still.
1 Anything, H. 2] any, H.
1. 8. The lord mayor of London &c.] The first notice of the
presentment of the lord mayor to the King occurs in the fifth
charter, granted by King John^ 1215. It grants to the barons of the
city of London that they may choose every year a mayor, ' so as, when
he shall be chosen, to be presented to us or our justice, if we shall
not be present.' By the sixth charter of Henry III, the mayor when
chosen is to be ' presented to the Barons of the Exchequer, we not
being at Westminster, so notwithstanding at the next coming of us or
our heirs to Westminster or London, he be presented to us or our
heirs, and so admitted mayor.' Edward I fixes the first presentation
to be to the ' Constable of our Tower of London, but to us at our next
coming to London.' See Noorthouck, Hist, of London, pp. 778, 782,
784. This rule is not varied in any later charters. For the practice,
as it had afterwards been settled, see Maitland's Hist, of London,
p. 1193 (fol. 1756). 'The Lord Mayor elect,' Maitland says, 'is
presented first to the Lord Chancellor, and afterwards to the Barons
of the Exchequer, when he has been sworn into his office.'
CITY.-CLERGY. 43
XX.
CLERGY.
1. Though a clergyman have no faults of his own, yet
the faults of the whole tribe shall be laid upon him, so he
shall be sure not to lack.
2. The clergy would have us believe them against our
Own reason ; as the woman would have had her husband
against his own eyes, when he took her with another man,
which she stoutly denied : What ! will you believe your
own eyes before your own sweet wife ?
3. The condition of the clergy towards the prince, and 10
the condition of the physician is all one : the physicians
tell the prince they have agaric and rhubarb good for him
and good for his subjects' bodies ; upon this he gives them
leave to use it ; but if it prove naught, then away with it,
they shall use it no more ; so the clergy tell the prince they
have physic good for his soul, and good for the souls of his
people ; upon that he admits them : but when he finds by
experience they both trouble him and his people, then
away with them, he will have no more to do with them.
What is that to them, or any body else, if a king will not go 20
to heaven ?
4. A clergyman goes not a dram further than this : you
ought to obey your prince in general. If he does he is
lost : how to obey him, you must be informed by those,
whose profession it is to tell you. The parson of the Tower
(a good discreet man) told Dr. Mosely (who was sent to
me, and the rest of the gentlemen committed 3d Caroli,
to persuade us to submit to the king) that they found no
I. 6. as the woman would have had &c.] This seems to refer either
to the story told in the first of the Adolphi Fabulse (quoted in the
Aldine ed. of Chaucer, vol. i. 232, Introductory Remarks), or to
Chaucer's adaptation of the story in the 'Merchant's Tale,' of January
and May.
44 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
such words, as parliament, habeas corpus, return, tower, &c.
neither in the fathers, nor in the schoolmen, nor in the text ;
and therefore, for his part, he believed they understood
nothing of the business. A satire upon all those clergymen
that meddle with matters they do not understand.
5. All confess there never was a more learned clergy.
No man taxes them with ignorance. But to talk of that, is
like the fellow that was a great wencher ; he wished God
would forgive him his lechery, and lay usury to his charge.
10 The clergy have worse faults.
6. The clergy and treaty together are never like to do
1. II. The clergy and treaty] This is the clear reading of the three
MSS. which I have examined. The printed editions have 'the
clergy and laity,' which gives an easier sense for the line, but does
not suit so well with the general drift of the section. Selden seems
to be referring to some attempted arrangement between two parties,
in which the interference of the clergy, on the one side and on the
other, was likely in his judgment to do harm by mixing up matters
which had better have been left out. There were several attempted
arrangements of which this might have been said. There was, e. g.,
the attempted treaty for peace between the King and the Parliament
in 1643, in which one of the proposals was ' that religion might be
settled with the advice of a synod of divines in such a manner as his
Majesty, with the consent of both Houses of Parliament, should
appoint ' (Clarendon, History, ii. 477). Again, there was the abortive
treaty of Newport, discussed in September, 1648, between the King,
with some divines among his advisers, and the Parliamentary com-
missioners, attended by a body of their divines. In the course of
this, questions about the church came prominently forward, and it
was mainly on these that the negotiations finally broke down (Clar-
endon, History, vol. iii. 324, 327, 338-9). The remark in the text, in
whichever form it stands, must clearly be limited to some such
instance as the above. It is not to be taken as condemning in every
case the joint action of clergy and laity. In ' Synod Assembly,' sec. 3,
Selden distinctly approves this, and indeed insists upon it as neces-
sary. He was himself a lay member of the Westminster Assembly of
Divines, a mixed lay and clerical body, for which religious matters
were the appointed business : so that ' the apothecary ' was in place
there, and his rhubarb and agaric were the proper ingredients of the
sauce. The reading, therefore,—' the clergy and treaty ' — though an
awkward collocation of words, seems to give a sense best suited to
HIGH COMMISSION. 45
well. 'Tis as if a man were to make an excellent feast, and
would have his apothecary and his physician should come
into the kitchen : the cooks, if they were let alone, would
make excellent meat ; but then comes the apothecary, and
he puts rhubarb into the sauce, and agaric into another
sauce and so spoils all. Chain up the clergj^ on both sides.
XXI.
HIGH COMMISSION.
Men cry out upon the high commission, as if only clergy-
men had to do in it ; when I believe there are more laymen
in commission there, than clergymen. If the laymen will 1°
not come, whose fault is that ? So of the star-chamber, the
people think the bishops only censured Prynne, Burton,
and Bastwick, when there were but two there, and one
spoke not in his own cause.
the whole passage, and most in agreement with Selden's judgment
elsewhere.
1. 8. as if only clergymen &c.] The Commissioners present in the
High Commission Court on e. g. Nov. 17, 1631, were six clerics and
four laymen ; on Nov. 24 there were seven clerics and five laymen ;
on Jan. 26, 163J, six clerics and four laymen ; on Feb. 9 there were
three clerics and eight laymen. See High Commission Cases (Cam-
den Society), pp. 239, 245, 261, 264. On the popular dislike of the
High Commission Court, and on the very good reasons for it, see
Clarendon, Hist., vol. i. p. 439. His statement is, in effect, that it had
come to meddle with things which did not properly concern it ; that
it had extended its sentences and judgments, in matters tryable
before it, beyond that degree which was justifiable, and had not only
neglected prohibitions from the supreme courts of law, but had re-
prehended the judges for doing their duty in granting them. The
growth of these abuses he ascribes to ' the great power of some
bishops at court.'
1. 12. people think the bishops only &c.] They were tried. Clarendon
says, ' in as full a court as ever I saw in that place.' The bishops pre-
sent were ' only the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of
London.' Hist. i. 310. The bishop who spoke was Laud, the arch-
46 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
XXII.
HOUSE OF COMMONS.
I. There be but two erroneous opinions in the House of
Commons ; that the Lords sit only for themselves ; when
the truth is, they sit as well for the commonwealth. The
knights and burgesses sit for themselves and others, some
for more, some for fewer. And what is the reason? Be-
cause the room will not hold all ; the Lords being few, they
all come ; and imagine the room able to hold all the Com-
mons of England, then the Knights and burgesses would
lo sit no otherwise than the Lords do. The second error is,
bishop. His speech is given at length in Laud's Works, vol. vi.
p. 41 if. The sentence was brutal, and it was carried out with brutal
and unusual severity. ' The report thereof,' says Rushworth, ' flew
quickly into Scotland, and the discourse among the Scots were, that
the bishops of England were the cause thereof.' Historical Collec-
tions, ii. 385. So Prynne, speaking from the pillory, ascribes the
whole business to the vexation of the bishops as the subjects of the
libels for which he and the others had been sentenced. Cobbett,
State Trials, p. 747. His statement is borne out by Whitelock's account
of the case.
' The King and Queen did nothing direct against him (Prynne) till
Laud set Dr. Heylin (who bore a great malice to Prynne for confuting
some of his doctrines) to peruse Prynne's book, &c. The archbishop
went with these notes to Mr. Attorney Noy, and charged him to pro-
secute Prynne, which Noy afterwards did rigorously enough in the
Star Chamber, and in the meantime the Bishops and Lords in the
Star Chamber sent Prynne close prisoner to the Tower.' Whitelock,
Memorials, p. 18.
The trial in the Star Chamber was in 1637. That court and the
High Commission Court were abolished in 1640. Selden's remarks
must therefore have been made at some time between the two dates.
1. 3. that the Lords sit only &c.] ' If they (sc. the bishops) vote for
the clergy, then they are to be elected by the clergy, as the members
of the Commons House now are ; but your Lordships, voting only for
yourselves, need no electors.' Solicitor St. John's speech at a confer-
ence of the two Houses, 1641. Nalson's Collections, ii. 501.
So, too, in Baillie's Letters and Journals, we find it stated that the
Lords represent none but themselves. Vol. i. 369.
1. 10. The second error is &c.] That a money bill must originate with
HOUSE OF COMMONS.— COMPETENCY. 47
that the House of Commons are to begin to give subsidies ;
yet if the Lords dissent, they can give no money.
2. The House of Commons is called the Lower House
in twenty acts of parliament : but what are twenty acts of
parliament amongst friends ?
3. The form of a charge runs thus, I accuse in the name
of all the Commons of England. How then can any man
be as a witness, when every man is made an accuser ?
XXHL
COMPETENCY.
That which is a competency for one man, is not enough 10
for another ; no more than that which will keep one man
warm will keep another man warm : one man can go in
the House of Commons is admitted on all hands. But whether the
opinion, that if the Lords dissent the Commons can give no money,
is, as Selden terms it, an error, is more than doubtful. ' It is true that
the Bill of Subsidy is offered by the Commons only ; but before that
stage is reached, it is sent up to the Lords, is thrice read by them, and
is then sent back to the Commons, and there it remaineth to be carried
by the Speaker, when he shall present it.' See Orders and Proceed-
ings of the Commons, ch. xv. Harleian MS. v. 266.
Sir Erskine May says expressly that ' A grant from the Commons is
not effectual, in law, without the ultimate assent of the Queen and of
the House of Lords.' Law, &c., of Parliament, p. 638 (9th ed.).
Indeed, that the Commons in Selden's day had a less independent
control over grants than they have gained since, appears from the fact
that although their right to originate grants was unquestionable, yet
bills of supply were, until 1671, liable to be amended by the Lords.
Ibid. p. 641.
1. 6. The form of a charge &c.] See, Message to the Lords re
Strafford, delivered by Mr. Pym at the command of the House : ' My
Lords .... I do here in the name of the Commons now assembled
in Parliament, and in the name of all the Commons of England, accuse
Thomas, Earl of Strafford, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, of High
Treason.' Nalson, Collections, vol. ii. p. 7.
There are other instances given at p. 796, and passim.
48 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
doublet and hose, when another man cannot be without a
cloak, and yet have no more clothes than is necessary for
him.
XXIV.
CONFESSION.
1. In the time of parliament it used to be one of the first
things the house did, to petition the king that his confessor
might be removed ; as fearing either his power with the
king, or else, lest he should reveal to the pope what the
house was in doing, as no doubt he did, when the Cathohc
lo cause was concerned.
2. The difference between us and the papists is, we both
allow contrition, but the papists make confession a part of
contrition; they say, a man is not sufficiently contrite, unless
he confess his sins to a priest.
3. Why should I think a priest will not reveal confession ?
I am sure he will do any other thing that is forbidden him,
haply not so often as I. The uttermost punishment is
deprivation. And how can it be proved, that ever any man
revealed confession, when there is no witness ? And no
20 man can be witness in his own cause. A mere gullery.
There was a time when 'twas public in the church, and
that is much against their auricular confession.
XXV.
GREAT CONJUNCTION.
The greatest conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter happens
but once in eight hundred years, and therefore astrologers
1. 24. The greatest conjunction &c.] ' Conjonction en Astronomie se
dit de la rencontre apparente de deux astres ou de deux planetes dans
le meme point des cieux, ou plutot dans le meme degre du zodiaque.
CONFESSION. — CONSCIENCE. 49
can make no experiments of it, nor foretell what it means ;
not but that the stars may mean something, but we cannot
tell what because we cannot come at them. Suppose a
planet were a simple, or an herb ; how could a physician
tell the virtue of that simple, unless he came at it, to
apply it ?
XXVI.
CONSCIENCE.
1. He that hath a scrupulous conscience, is like a horse
that is not well wayed ^ ; he starts at every bird that flies out 10
of the hedge.
2. A knowing man will do that which a tender con-
' Wayed, H. 2] weighed H.
The conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter, placed by astronomers among
the grand conjunctions, happens once in every twenty years. A less
frequent conjunction, placed among the very grand, is that of Saturn,
Jupiter, and Mars, which happens once in every five hundred years.
See Diderot and D'Alembert, Encyclopedic, under heading Con-
jonction.
If Selden is writing of astrological conjunctions (as it would appear
he is, from the remarks which follow) see, on the whole passage, —
Planetarum prima diversitas est in virtutibus propriis. Nam Saturnus
est frigidus et siccus, et omnis pigritiae et mortificationis et destruc-
tionis rerum causativus per egressum siccitatis et frigoris. Mars vero
est corruptivus propter egressum caliditatis et siccitatis et isti duo
planetae nunquam faciunt bonum nisi per accidens ; sicut aliquando
-venenum est bonum per accidens ....
Habent autem planetae virtutes alias a signis . . . . et iterum penes
aspectus, qui sunt conjunctio, oppositio, etc. Conjuncti dicuntur
planetae, quando sunt in eodem signo oppositi, quando unus est in
septimo ab alio .... Quando vero malus opponitur aut conjungitur
malo, tunc magnum malum est, &c. R. Bacon, Opus Majus, p. 237-8.
1.9. well wayed s\ Explained in Bailey's Etymological English Diet.
' to way a horse is to teach him to travel in the way.'
'Way'd Horse (with horsemen) is one who is already backed,
suppled and broken and shows a disposition to the manage.'
E
50 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
scienced man dares not do, by reason of his ignorance;
the other knows there is no hurt : as a child is afraid to go
in the dark, when a man is not, because he knows there's
no danger.
3. If we once come to leave that out-loose, as to pretend
conscience against law, who knows what inconveniency
may follow ? For thus, suppose an anabaptist comes and
takes my horse ; I sue him, he tells me he did according to
his conscience ; his conscience tells him all things are
10 common amongst the saints, what is mine is his ; therefore
you do ill to make such a law, if any man take another's
horse he shall be hanged. What can I say to this man ?
He does according to his conscience. Why is not he as
honest a man, as he that pretends a ceremony, established
by law, is against his conscience? Generally to pretend
conscience against law is dangerous ; in some cases haply
we may.
4. Some men make it a case of conscience, whether a
man may have a pigeon-house, because his pigeons eat
20 other folks' corn. But there is no such thing as conscience
in the business. The matter is, whether he be a man of
such quality, that the state allows him to have a dove-
house ; if so, there's an end to the business ; his pigeons
have a right to eat where they list themselves.
I. 21. The matter is, whether he he &c.] The law seems to have been
that— A lord of a manor might build a dove-cote upon his land, parcel
of his manor, and this he might do by virtue of his right as lord
thereof. It appears also from the obiter dicta in a case before the
King's Bench, that the parson had a like right. But the tenant of a
manor could not do it without licence, the reason assigned being that
he can have no right to any privilege that may be prejudicial to
others.
In every case, however, in which pigeons came upon a man's land,
he might lawfully kill them, the quality of their owner notwithstand-
ing. See Croke's Reports of cases in the reign of James I, pp. 382,
490, and Salkeld's Reports of cases in the reign of William and Mary,
vol. iii. p. 248, sub voce ' Nuisance.'
CONSECRATED PLACES. 51
XXVII.
CONSECRATED PLACES.
1. The Jews had a peculiar way of consecrating things
to God, which we have not.
2. Under the law, God, who was master of all, made
choice of a temple to be worshipped in, where he was more
especially present : just as the master of a house, who owns ^
all the house, makes choice of one chamber to lie in, which
is called the master's chamber ; but under the gospel there
is no such thing ; temples and churches are set apart for
the conveniency of men to worship in ; they cannot meet 10
upon the point of a needle, but God himself makes no
choice.
3. All things are God's already, we can give him no right
by consecrating any that he had not before, only we set it
apart to his service. Just as a gardener brings his lord and
master a basket of apricocks, and presents them ; his lord
thanks him for them, perhaps gives him something for his
pains, and yet the apricocks were as much his lord's before
as now.
4. What is consecrated, is given to some particular 20
man, to do God service ; not given to God, but given to
man to serve God. And there's not anything, lands, or
goods, but some men or other have it in their power to
dispose of as they please. The saying things con-
secrated cannot be taken away, makes men afraid of con-
secration.
5. Yet consecration has this power, when a man has
consecrated anything unto God, he cannot of himself take
it away.
' Owns] owes, MSS.
1. 20. What is consecrated, &c.] See note on ' Tithes,' sec. 5.
E 2
55 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
XXVIII.
CONTRACTS.
I. If our fathers have lost their liberty, why may not we
labour to regain it ?
Answer. We must look to the contract ; if that be rightly
made, we must stand to it. If we once grant we may recede
from contracts, upon any inconveniency may afterwards
happen, we shall have no bargain kept. If I sell you a
horse, and afterwards do not hke my bargain, I will have
my horse again,
lo 2. Keep your contracts. So far a divine goes, but how
- to make our contracts is left to ourselves ; and as we agree
about the conveying of this house, or that land, so it must
be. If you offer me a hundred pounds for my glove, I tell
you what my glove is, a plain glove, pretend no virtue in it,
the glove is my own, I profess not to sell gloves, and we
agree for an hundred pounds ; I do not know why I may
not with a safe conscience take it. The want of that com-
mon obvious distinction oi jus proeceptivum, and jus permts-
sivunt, does much trouble men.
20 3. Lady Kent articled with Sir Edward Herbert, that he
should come to her when she sent for him, and stay with
her as long as she would have him ; to which he set his
hand : then he articled with her, that he should go away
when he pleased, and stay away as long as he pleased ; to
which she set her hand. This is the epitome of all the
contracts in the world, betwixt man and man, betwixt prince
and subject ; they keep them as long as they like them, and
no longer.
1. 20. Lady Kent articled &c.] This probably means that Lady
Kent retained, or sought to retain, Sir Edward Herbert, an eminent
lawyer of the time, at a yearly salary, to do her legal work. Such
arrangements were not uncommon. See Aikin, Life of Selden,
p. 154, note.
CONTRACTS. — CREED. 53
XXIX.
CONVOCATION.
1. When the king sends his writ for a pariiament, he
sends for two knights for a shire, and two burgesses for
a corporation : but when he sends for two archbishops for
a convocation, he commands them to assemble the whole
clergy ; but they, out of custom amongst themselves, send
to the bishops of their provinces, to will them to bring two
clerks for a diocese, the dean, one for the chapter, and the
archdeacons; but to the king every clergyman is there
present. i
2. We have nothing so nearly expresses the power of
the convocation, in respect of the parliament, as a court-
leet, where they have a power to make bye-laws, as they
call them ; as that a man shall put so many cows or sheep
in the common ; but they can make nothing that is contrary
to the laws of the kingdom.
XXX.
COUNCIL.
They talk (but blasphemously enough) that the Holy
Ghost is president of their General Councils ; when the
truth is, the odd man is still the Holy Ghost. -
XXXI.
CREED.
Athanasius's creed is the shortest, take away the preface,
and the force, and the conclusion, which are not part of the
1. 6. they, out of custom amongst themselves, &c.] See note on
' Bishops in Parliament,' sec. 7.
54 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
creed. In the Nicene creed it is ei's ^KKkr^crCav, I believe in
the church ; but now our Common-prayer has it, I believe
one catholic and apostolic church. They like not creeds,
because they would have no forms of faith, as they have
none of prayer, though there be more reason for the one
than for the other.
XXXII.
DAMNATION.
1. If the physician sees you eat any thing that is not
good for your body, to keep you from it, he cries 'tis
lo poison. If the divine sees you do any thing that is
hurtful for your soul, to keep you from it, he cries you are
damned.
2. To preach long, loud, and damnation, is the way to
be cried up. We love a man that damns us, and we run
after him again to save us. If a man had a sore leg, and
he should go to an honest judicious surgeon, and he should
only bid him keep it warm, and anoint with such an oil (an
oil well known), that would do the cure, haply he would
not much regard him, because he knew the medicine before-
20 hand an ordinary medicine. But if he should go to a
surgeon that should tell him, your leg will gangrene within
three days, and it must be cut off, and you will die, unless
I. I. In the Nicene creed it is &c.] In the original Nicene creed
the words do not occur. They were introduced in 381 at the Council
of Constantinople — Trioreuo/iei' eij fxiav dyiav koBoKik^v Koi diroaToXiKriv
iKKKrf(TLav,
On the distinction, to which Selden refers, between ' I believe in '
and ' I believe,' Bishop Pearson shows that ' Credo sanctam Ecclesiam,
I believe there is an holy church ; or Credo in sanctam Ecclesiam is
the same; nor does the particle in added or subtracted make any
difference.' See Pearson on the Creed, vol. i. pp. 28, 504, and vol. ii.
p. 421.
DAMNATION. — DEVILS. 55
you do something that I could tell you; what Hstening
there would be to this man ! Oh, for the lord's sake, tell
me what this is, I will give you any content for your pains.
XXXIII.
SELF-DENIAL.
'Tis much the doctrine of the times, that men should not
please themselves, but deny themselves every thing they
take delight in ; not look upon beauty, wear no good clothes,
eat no good meat, &c. which seems the greatest accusa-
tion that can be upon the Maker of all good things. If
they be not to be used, why did God make them ? The 10
truth is, they that preach against them, cannot make use
of them themselves, and then again, they get esteem by
seeming to contemn them. But yet, mark it while you live,
if they do not please themselves as much as they can ; and
we live more by example than precept.
XXXIV.
DEVILS.
I. Why have we none possessed with devils in England ?
The old answer is, the protestants the devil has already,
and the papists are so holy, he dares not meddle with them.
Why then, beyond seas, where a nun is possessed, when 20
1. 20. Why then, beyond seas, Sec] The argument seems to be that the
alleged holiness of the papists is no sufficient safe-guard to prevent
the devil from daring to meddle with them, and that the hunting of
huguenots out of church is a proof of enmity between the devil and
his alleged friends or allies.
In the sixteenth and early in the seventeenth century, there were
several outbursts of demoniacal possession. In 1609 the Basque
56 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
a huguenot comes into the church, does the devil hunt
him out? The priest ^ teaches him; you never saw the
devil throw up a nun's coats ; mark that ; the priest will not
sufTer it, for then the people will spit at him.
2. Casting out devils is mere juggling. They never cast
out any but what they first cast in. They do it where, for
reverence, no man shall dare to examine it. They do it in
a corner, in a mortice-hole, not in the market-place. They
do nothing but what may be done by art. They make the
lo devil fly out at a window in the likeness of a bat, or a rat.
Why do they not hold him ? Why, in the likeness of a
bat, or a rat, or some creature that is ? Why not in some
shape we paint him in, with claws and horns? By this
trick they gain much, gain upon men's fancies, and so are
1 The priest, H. a] the devil, H.
country was the scene, and it was shifted, in the same year, to the
Ursuline convent at Aix. In 1613 the nuns of St. Brigitte, at Lille,
were tormented a second time by demons. They had suffered in the
same way about half a century before. But the most notorious of all
these attacks was the possession of the mother superior and some of
the nuns at the Ursuline convent at Loudun in 1632-4. The history of
this remarkable affair is given at length by Figuier. It appears to have
been the combined result of wild nymphomania and conscious fraud
on the part of the possessed nuns, probably aided by some sugges-
tive trickery on the part of other persons. It had, as it was intended
it should have, a tragical ending for the cure of Loudun, Urbain
Grandier, who was burnt alive in 1634, on a maliciously contrived
charge that he had introduced the devils into the bodies of the nuns.
For the full details of this awful story, see Figuier, Histoire du
Merveilleux, vol. i. pp. 81-257, ^'^^ Bayle, Dictionnaire, under the
heading ' Grandier.'
I find no mention anywhere of the possessed nuns hunting a
huguenot out of the church. The nearest approach to it is in the
account of the possession in 1552 of the nuns of the convent of
Kintorp near Strasbourg, in the course of which — ' Elles ne gouver-
naient plus leur volonte. Une fureur irresistible les portait a se
mordre, a frapper et a mordre leurs compagnes, a se precipiter sur
les etrangers pour leur faire du mal.' Introduction to the Histoire du
Merveilleux, p. 47.
DEVILS. 57
reverenced. And certainly if the priest can deliver me
from him, that is my greatest enemy, I have all the reason
in the world to reverence him.
Objection. But if this be juggling, why do they punish
impostors ?
Answer. For great reason ; because they do not play
their part well, and for fear others should discover them,
and so think all of them to be ^ of the same trade.
3. A person of quality came to my chamber in the
Temple, and told me he had two devils in his head ; [1 10
wondered what he meant] and just at that time, one of
them bid him kill me, [with that I begun to be afraid, and
thought he was mad] he said he knew I could cure him, and
therefore entreated me to give him something, for he was
resolved he would go to nobody else. I perceiving what
an opinion he had of me, and that 'twas only melancholy
that troubled him, took him in hand, warranted him, if he
would follow my directions, to cure him in a short time.
I desired him to let me be alone for an hour, and then to
come again, which he was very willing to. In the mean 20
time I got a card, and lapt it handsomely up in a piece of
taffata, and put strings to the taffata, and when he came,
gave it him, to hang about his neck ; withal charged him,
that he should not disorder himself neither with eating or
drinking, but eat very little of supper, and say his prayers
duly when he went to bed, and I made no question but he
would be well in three or four days. Within that time I
went to dinner at his house, and asked him how he did.
He said he was much better, but not perfectly well, for in
truth he had not dealt clearly with me : he had four devils 30
in his head, and he perceived two of them were gone with
that which I had given him, but the other two troubled him
still. Well, said I, I am glad two of them are gone ; I make
no doubt but to get away the other two likewise. So I
1 Think all of them to be, H. a] all of them thought to be, H.
58 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
gave him another thing to hang about his neck. Three
days after, he came to me to my chamber, and professed
he was now as well as ever he was in his life, and did
extremely thank me for the great care I had taken with
him. I fearing lest he might relapse into the Hke dis-
temper, told him that there was none but myself and one
physician more, in the whole town, that could cure the
devils in the head, and that was doctor Harvey (whom I
had prepared) and wished him, if ever he found himself ill
lo in my absence, to go to him, for he could cure this disease
as well as myself. The gentleman lived many years, and
was never troubled after.
XXXV.
DUEL.
I. A DUEL may still be granted in some cases by the law
of England, and only there. That the church allowed it
1. 14. A duel may still be granted &c.] See Selden, Analecta Anglo-
Britannica, Works, ii. p. 949.
But he adds that there is hardly an instance to be found in which
this form of trial has been actually used in civil cases, and very few
instances in which it has been used in criminal cases.
Blackstone mentions it as still in force in his day.
' The next species of trial is of great antiquity, but much disused ;
though still in force if the parties chose to abide by it ; I mean the
trial by wager of battle .... a trial which the tenant or defendant in
a writ of right, has it in his election at this day to demand.' Blackstone,
Commentaries, bk. iii. ch. 22, sec. 5. So too in criminal trials— bk. iv.
ch. 27, sec. 3.
These forms of trial, in civil and criminal cases, were done away
with by 59 George HI, ch. 56.
1. 15. That the church allowed it anciently, &c.] Ducange, Glossary,
sub voce ' Campiones ' (champions), mentions the ' Campionum obla-
tiones, in Charta Manassis Episc. Lingonensis, ann. 1185, quas ii, prius
quam in arenam descenderent, Ecclesiis offerebant, quo in duellis Deum
sibi propitium conciliarent.'
Also, sub voce ' Duellum,' he shows that — ' sacramenta quae in his
DUEL. 59
anciently, appears by this. In their pubHc liturgies, there
were prayers appointed for the duellists to say ; the judge
used to bid one of them go to such a church and pray, &c.
for the victory : and to the other go to such a prelate in
such a church, and pray, &c. But whether is this lawful?
If you grant any war lawful, I make no doubt but to con-
vince it. War is lawful, because God is the only judge
betwixt two that are supreme. Now if a difference happen
betwixt two subjects, and it cannot be decided by human
testimony, why may they not put it to God, to judge lo
between them, by the permission of the prince? Nay,
what if we should bring it down, for argument's sake, to
the sword-men. One gives me the lie ; 'tis a great disgrace
to take it, the law has made no provision to give remedy
for the injury, (if you can suppose any thing an injury for
which the law gives no remedy) why am not I in this case
supreme, and may therefore right myself?
2. A duke ought to fight with a gentleman. The reason
is this ; the gentleman will say to the duke, 'tis true, you
hold a higher place in the state than I ; there's a great 20
distance betwixt you and me ; but your dignity does not
occasionibus de more fiebant super sanctam crucem, sanctas reliquias,
aut sancta Evangelia, proferebantur coram sacerdotibus vel Ecclesiae
ministris.'
Canciani, in his Lex Costumaria Normannica, gives examples of
the oaths administered to the combatants that they are using no help
from sorcery or magical arts. Leges Barbarorum, vol. ii. p. 395, note.
Muratori shows that judicial combats were held anciently under the
full sanction of the Church, and that the clergy were sometimes parties
to them, either in person or more often by a champion chosen to
defend their cause. Antiq. Italicae, iii. p. 638, Dissert. 39.
Also, on p. 637, ' Tanta autem fuit divini patrocinii spes in abomi-
nandis hisce certaminibus ut (Johanne Sarisberiensi in Epistol. 169,
aliisque testibus) certaturi noctem praecedentem ducerent insomnem
in Templo ad tumulum alicujus sancti, ut eum in agone propitium
experirentur.' That they were again and again disapproved by the
Church and forbidden under heavy ecclesiastical penalties, hardly
needs proof. The proofs occur passim.
6o THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
privilege you to do me an injury ; as soon as ever you do
me an injury, you make yourself my equal, and as you are
my equal, I challenge you ; and in sense the duke is bound
to answer him. This will give you some light to under-
stand the quarrel betwixt a prince and his subjects.
Though there be a vast distance between him and them,
and they are to obey him according to their contract ; yet
he has no power to do them an injury. Then, they think
themselves as much bound to vindicate their right, as they
loare to obey his lawful commands. Nor is there any other
measure of justice left upon earth but arms.
XXXVI.
EPITAPH.
An epitaph must be made fit for the person for whom it
is made. For a man to say all the excellent things that
can be said upon one, and call that his epitaph, 'tis as if
a painter should make the handsomest piece that he can
possibly make, and say 'twas my picture. It holds in a
funeral sermon.
XXXVII.
EQUITY.
5 I. Equity in law is the same that the spirit is in religion,
what every one pleases to make it. Sometimes they go
according to conscience, sometimes according to law, some-
times according to the rule of the court.
1. 3. in sense the duke is bound] i. e. in reality ; in point of fact.
Selden uses this phrase elsewhere, see ' Preaching,' sec. 3 and
' Vows.'
EPITAPH. - EQUITY. 6i
2. Equity is a roguish thing. For law we have a
measure, know what to trust to ; equity is according to
the conscience of him that is chancellor, and as that is
larger or narrower, so is equity. 'Tis all one as if they
should make the standard for the measure we call a foot,
a chancellor's foot^ What an uncertain measure would
this be. One chancellor has a long foot, another a short
foot, a third an indifferent foot ; 'tis the same thing in the
chancellor's conscience.
3. That saying. Do as you would be done to, is often 10
misunderstood; for 'tis not thus meant, that I, a private
man, should do to you, a private man, as I would have you
to me, but do, as we have agreed to do one to another by
public agreement. If the prisoner should ask the judge,
whether he would be content to be hanged, were he in his
case, he would answer. No. Then says the prisoner. Do
• We call a foot, a chancelloi^s foot. Singer conjecturally] we call a chan-
cellor's foot, MSS.
1. 1. Equity is a roguish thing. &c.] This has ceased to be true, as
equity has come gradually to be administered under settled rules. On
the conflict between law and equity in Selden's day, and on the general
complaint about the aggressive and exorbitant authority of the Court
of Chancery, see e. g. Chamberlain's letter to Carleton, November 14,
1616. ' On Tuesday, one Bertram, an aged gentleman, killed Sir John
TyndaU, a master of the Chancery, with a pistol charged vnth three
bullets, pretending he had wronged him in the report of a cause, to
his utter undoing, as indeed he was not held for integerrimus. . . .
Mine author, Ned Wymarke, cited Sir William Walter for saying that
the fellow mistook his mark, and should have shot hailshot at the
whole court, which indeed grows great, and engrosses all manner of
cases, and breeds general complaint for a decree passed there this
term, subscribed by all the king's learned counsel, whereby that
court may receive and call in question what judgments soever pass
at the common law, whereby the jurisdiction of that court is enlarged
out of measure, and so suits may become as it were immortal. This
success is come of my Lord Coke and some of the judges oppugning
the Chancery so weakly and unreasonably that, instead of overthrowing
that exorbitant authority, they have more established and confirmed it'
Court and Times of James I, vol. i. 439 (2 vols. 1848).
62 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
as you would be done to. Neither of them must do as
private men, but the judge must do by him as they have
publicly agreed; that is, both judge and prisoner have
consented to a law, that if either of them steal they shall
be hanged.
XXXVIII.
EVIL SPEAKING.
1. He that speaks ill of another, commonly, before he is
aware, makes himself such a one as he speaks against ; for
if he had civility or breeding, he would forbear such kind
lo of language.
2. A gallant man is above ill words. An example we
have in the old lord of Salisbury, who was a great wise
man. Stone had called some lord about court, fool, the
1.13. Stone had called Sec] Doran (Court Fools, p. 196) says that this
remark is all that we know of Stone. It seems to have been suggested
by the unseemly passages of arms between Archbishop Laud and
Archibald Armstrong, the Court Fool of the time (1637). Their enmi-
ties had been of long standing. The Fool had on several occasions
offered public affronts to the Archbishop, with the result (according to
Francis Osborn) that Laud ' managed a quarrel with Archie the King's
fool, and by endeavouring to explode him the court rendered him at
last so considerable , . . as the fellow was not only able to continue
the dispute for divers years, but received such encouragement from
bystanders as he hath oft, in my hearing, belched in his face such
miscarriages as he was really guilty of, and might, but for this foul-
mouthed Scot, have been forgotten ; adding such other reproaches of
his own as the dignity of his calling and greatness of his parts could
not in reason or manners admit.' Osborn goes on to speak of the
Archbishop as ' hoodwinked with passion ' and as led by his too. low-
placed anger into no less an absurdity than an endeavour to bring the
fool into the Star Chamber, and as having at last through the mediation
of the Queen got him discharged the Court. Rushworth says, further,
that when news had come from Scotland that there had been tumults
about the new service-book, introduced at Laud's suggestion, ' Archir
bald, the King's fool, said to his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury,
EVIL SPEAKING. 63
lord complained, and has Stone whipped : Stone cries, I
might have called my lord of Salisbury fool often enough,
before he would have had me whipped.
3. Speak not ill of a great enemy, but rather give him
good words, that he may use you the better, if you chance
to fall into his hands. The Spaniard did this when he was
a dying ; his confessor told him (to work him to repentance),
how the devil tormented the wicked that went to hell : the
Spaniard replying, called the devil my lord ; I hope my
lord the devil is not so cruel : his confessor reproved 10
him. Excuse me for calhng him so, says the Don ; I
know not into what hands I may fall, and if I happen into
his, I hope he will use me the better for giving him good
words.
as he was going to the Council Table, ' Whea 's feule now ? doth not
your Grace hear the news from Striveling about the Liturgy ? ' with
other words of reflection. This was presently complained of to the
Council, and it produced an order from the King and the assembled
Lords that ' Archibald Armestrong, the King's fool, for certain scan-
dalous words of a high nature, spoken by him against the Lord Arch-
bishop of Canterbury, his Grace, and proved to be uttered by him by
two witnesses, shall have his coat pulled over his head and be dis-
charged the King's service and banished the Court.'— Rush worth.
Collections, ii. 470.
It may be questioned whether Rushworth is correct in thus limiting
the occasion of Archie's disgrace. ' Archye,' writes Mr. Gerrard to
Lord Strafford (Strafford Papers, vol. ii.), ' is fallen into a great mis-
fortune ; a fool he would be, but a foul-mouthed knave he hath proved
himself ; being at a tavern in Westminster, drunk as he saith himself,
he was speaking of the Scottish business, he fell a railing of my Lord
of Canterbury, said he was a monk, a rogue, and a traitor. Of this, his
Grace complained at Council, and the King being present, it was
ordered he should be carried to the Porter's Lodge, his coat pulled
over his ears, and kicked out of the Court,' &c.
We have also the well-known story of the fool's grace at dinner —
' Great praise be given to God, and little Laud to the devil.' See Doran,
Court Fools, 205-207.
64 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
XXXIX.
EXCOMMUNICATION.
I. That place they bring for excommunication, put away
from among yourselves that wicked person, i Cor. v. 13,
is corrupted in the Greek. For it should be t6 wowjpoV,
put away that evil from among you, not rbv irovqpov, that
evil person. Besides, 6 Trovrjpbs is the devil, in Scripture,
and it may be so taken there ; and there is a new edition
of Theodoret come out, that has it right to vovripov. 'Tis
true the Christians, before the civil state became Christian,
10 did by covenant and agreement set down how they would
live ; and he that did not observe what they agreed upon,
should come no more amongst them ; that is, be excom-
municated. Such men are spoken of by the Apostle,
Romans i. 31, whom he calls acrwderovs koL aa-irovbovs ; the
Vulgar has it, incompositos, et sine fcedere ; the last word
is pretty well, but the first not at all. Origen, in his book
against Celsus, speaks of the Christians' o-uz^^tjktj, the trans-
lator renders it conventus, as it signifies a meeting, when
it is plain it signifies a covenant, and the English Bible
20 turned the other word well, covenant-breakers. Pliny tells
us, the Christians took an oath amongst themselves to live
thus and thus.
1. 2. That place they bring &c.] Stanley, in his notes on the
Epistles to the Corinthians, remarks on this verse that — i^dpare rbv
novrjpov is the usual formula for punishment on great crimes. See
Deut. xiii. 5, xvii. 7, xxiv. 7, &c., also 2 Kings xxiii. 24. He adds,
however, that Theodoret and Augustine read t6 novrjpov, and
interpret it ' put away evil from amongst you.'
1. 16. Origen, in his hook &c.] Ourm 817 luii Xpiariavoi . . . avv6r)Kas
ITOiovvTai napa ra vevopicrfieva ra Sia^oXif kotci tov 8ia)3<iXou. Contra
Celsum, bk. i. ch. i. The word awdi^Kt] occurs several times in
this chapter, and in the sense which Selden gives to it.
1. 20. Pliny tells us, &c.] He reports it, in a letter to Trajan, as
a statement made to him by certain persons who had been brought
EXCOMMUNICATION. 65
2. The other place [die ecclestce] tell the church (Matt, xviii.
17), is but a weak ground to raise excommunication upon,
especially from the sacrament, the lesser excommunication ;
since when that was spoken, the sacrament was not insti-
tuted^. The Jews' ecclesia was their Sanhedrim, their
court : so that the meaning is, if after once or twice admo-
nition this brother will not be reclaimed, bring him thither.
3. The first excommunication was 180 years after Christ,
' Was not insHiuted\ was instituted, MSS.
before him charged with being Christians, and who had ceased so
to be. 'Adfirmabant autem, banc fuisse summam vel culpae suae vel
erroris, quod essent soliti state die ante lucem convenire ; carmenque
Christo, quasi Deo, dicere secum invicem, seque Sacramento non
in scelus aliquod obstringere, sed ne furta, ne latrocinia, ne adul-
teria committerent, ne fidem fallerent, ne depositum appellati ab-
negarent.' Epistles, bk. x. 97.
1. I. The other place, die ecclesiae &c.] Selden, in interpreting this
place, is following Erastus in his Explicatio gravissimae questionis
&c. (1589) where he discusses it at great length. Conf. e.g. ' Clarior
evadet tractatio si quae et qualis fuerit ilia Ecclesia, cui jussit dicere,
consideretur. In cujus rei declaratione hoc pro initio et fundamento
pono . . . Christum scilicet de Ecclesia loqui quae turn esset.'
Thesis 46.
' Die ecclesiae, id est. Die synedrio . . . Ego enim verba haec Die
ecclesiae idem significare assero, quod ista significant. Die magistratui
tuo, si non est impiae religionis defensor.' Confirmatio Thesium, p. 322.
See also Thesis 45 and 56.
I. 3. the lesser excommunication j\ There were two forms of ex-
communication — the lesser, involving mainly exclusion from the
eucharist, and the greater involving also exclusion from all inter-
course with the rest of the Christian body. See Erastus, Explicatio
gravissimae questionis, &c.. Thesis 7; and Selden's De Synedriis
veterum Ebraeorum, i. ch. 9. Works, vol. i. p. 918.
I. 8. The first excommunication &c.] This is not clearly and
probably not correctly reported. The excommunication in 180 a.d.
and that by Victor are distinct. Victor's, too, was much more than
what Selden is here made to term it. It was a wide sweeping
sentence, cutting off the whole of the Asiatic churches from com-
munion with the rest of the Church Catholic ; and though not the
first absolutely, was, in this respect, the first of its kind. See Selden,
De Synedriis veterum Ebraeorum, bk. i. ch. 9. Works, i. 916. But
F
66 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
and that by Victor, bishop of Rome. But that was no
more than this, that they should communicate and receive
the sacrament amongst themselves, not with those of the
other opinion : the controversy (as I take it) being about
the feast of Easter. Men do not care for excommunica-
tion because they are shut out of the church, or dehvered
up to Satan, but because the law of the kingdom takes
hold of them. After so many days a man cannot sue, no,
not for his wife, if you take her from him. And there may
lo be as much reason to grant it for a small fault, if there be
contumacy, as for a great one. In Westminster hall you
may outlaw a man for forty shillings, which is their excom-
munication, and you can do no more for ^^40,000.
4. When Constantine became Christian, he so fell in
love with the clergy, that he let them be judges of all things;
but that continued not above three or four years, by reason
they were to be judges of matters they understood
that there were excommunications earlier than this and earlier than
180 A. D..is clear from p. 920 and from the chapter passim.
1. 5. Men do not care &c.] See e.g. Nathaniel Fiennes' speech
in Parliament (1640) : ' Were it not for the civil restraints and penal-
ties that follow upon it (sc. Excommunication) no man will pur-
chase an absolution though he may have it for a half-penny. And
I have heard of some that have thanked the Ordinaries for abating
or remitting the fees of the Courts, but I never heard of any that
thanked them for reclaiming their souls to repentance by their ex-
communications.' Nalson, Collections, i. 760.
1. 9. there may he as much reason to grant it &c.] This is the
argument of the bishops in their answer to a book of articles in
1584. They urge that they do not excommunicate for two-penny
causes, ' though indeed there be as much in 2d. as in .^100,' but for
disobedience to the order, decree, and sentence of the judge. So,
in a temporal cause of 2d, a man is outlawed if he appear not or
obey not; but he is not outlawed for 2d, but for his disobedience
in a two-penny matter. Wilkins, Concilia, iv. 311.
1. 14. When Constantine became Christian &c.] The evidence for
this is found in a rescript, purporting to be addressed by Constan-
tine to the Prefect Ablavius. For the contents of this document,
and for the discussions which have been raised about it, see
Excursus A.
EXCOMMUNICATION. 67
not ; and then they were allowed to meddle with nothing
but religion. All jurisdiction belonged to him, and he
scantled them out as much as he pleased, and so things
have since continued. They excommunicate for three or
four things, matters concerning adultery, tithes, wills, &c.
which is the civil punishment the state allows for such
faults. If a bishop excommunicate a man ^ for what he
ought not, the judge has power to absolve, and punish the
bishop. If they had that jurisdiction from God, why does
not the church excommunicate for murder, for theft? If 10
the civil power might take away all but three things, why
may they not take awa^r them too ? If this excommunica-
tion were quite taken away, the presbyters would be quiet ;
'tis that they have a mind to, 'tis that they would fain be at.
' A man, H. 2] omitted in H.
1. 2. he scantled them out] i. e. simply — he measured them out.
The word involves no notion of a scanty measure, as the reading
in the printed editions — ' scanted ' — does.
1. 7. 1/ a bishop excommunicate &c.] Selden, in his De Synedriis
veterum Ebraeorum, bk. i. ch. 10, gives numerous examples in
support of his assertion that in this country, as in other Christian
states, the power of excommunication was fixed and strictly limited
by the lavf of the land. He shows that a sentence, illegally pro-
nounced, was liable to be annulled by the King's order ; that punish-
ment was threatened or inflicted on clerics who refused to obey the
order ; and that satisfaction in money was granted to the person
injured. This he traces from William I to his own day. Works,
vol. i. 977-990. See also note on Power, State, sec. 7.
1. 14. 'tis that they have a mind to, &c.] The Westminster assembly
of divines claimed for the Presbytery the uncontrolled right, jure
divino, to suspend from the sacrament such persons as they should
judge to be ignorant, or profane, or of scandalous lives. This they
first settled by a majority vote among themselves, Selden and his
friends dissenting, and then again and again pressed upon Parliament
to admit and ratify their claim. This, however, the Parliament refused
to do. After some delay it granted them the power they sought, but
added a provision that if any person suspended from the Lord's Supper
found himself aggrieved by the proceedings of the local Presbytery,
he should have the right to appeal to the Assemblies, and thence, in
F 2
68 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
Like the wench that was to be married; she asked her
mother when 'twas done, if she should go to bed presently ?
No, says her mother, you must dine first ; And then to bed
mother? No, you must dance after dinner; And then to
bed mother ? No, you must go to supper ; And then to bed
mother? &c.
XL.
FASTING DAYS.
1. What the Church debars us one day, she gives us
leave to take it out in another. First we fast, and then we
10 feast. First there is a carnival, and then a lent.
2. Whether do human laws bind the conscience? If
they do, 'tis a way to ensnare : If we say they do not, we
open a door to disobedience.
Answer. In this case we must look to the justice of
the law, and intention of the lawgiver. If there be not
justice in the law, 'tis not to be obeyed; if the intention of
the lawgiver be absolute, our obedience must be so too. If
the intention of the lawgiver enjoin a penalty as a compen-
sation for the breach of the law, I sin not if I submit to the
3o penalty ; if it enjoin a penalty, as a further enforcement of
obedience to the law, then ought I to observe it; which
may be known by the often repetition of the law. The
way of fasting is enjoined unto them who yet do not observe
it. The law enjoins a penalty as an enforcement to obedi-
ence ; which intention appears by the often calling upon
the last instance, to Parliament. See Whitelock, Memorials, pp. 129,
135, 164, 165, 169, 170 ; Neal's History of the Puritans, iii. 242, 246.
The exact words of the Parliamentary resolution are given in Rush-
worth, Collections, part iv. vol. i. 212. Selden's speech in the
debate, covering the same ground as his remarks in the Table Talk,
is given by Whitelock, p. 169. For the sequel of the dispute, see
' Presbytery,' sec. 4.
1. 25. which intention appears &c.] See Gibson, Codex, tit. x. ch. 6,
FASTING DAYS.— FAITH AND WORKS. 69
US to keep that law by the king, and the dispensation to
the Church to such as are not able to keep it, as young-
children, old folks, diseased men, &c.
XLI.
FATHERS AND SONS.
It hath ever been the way of fathers to bind their sons.
To strengthen this by the law of the land, every one, at
twelve years of age, is to take the oath of allegiance in
court-leets, whereby he swears obedience to the king.
XLII.
FAITH AND WORKS.
'TwAS an unhappy division that has been made betwixt 10
faith and works ; though in my intellect I may divide them,
just as in the candle, I know there is both heat and light ;
but yet put out the candle, and they are both gone : one
remains not without the other. So 'tis betwixt faith and
works. Nay, in a right conception, fides est opus. If I
believe a thing, because I am commanded, that is opus.
p. 254, where the successive statutes on fasting, with the penalties for
disobeying them and the provisions made for dispensations in case of
need, are set out at length.
1. 7. the oath of allegiance in court-leets\ ' The court-leet ... is a court
of record, held once in the year, within a particular hundred, lordship
or manor, before the steward of the leet ; being the king's court granted
by charter to the lords of those hundreds or manors. ... It was also
anciently the custom to summon all the king's subjects as they respec-
tively grew to years of discretion and strength to come to the court-
leet, and there take the oath of allegiance to the king.' Blackstone,
Comment., bk. iv. ch. 19, sec. 10.
That twelve was the age of discretion appears from the fact that
persons under that age were excused attendance at the court-leet.
70 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
XLIII.
FINES.
The old law was, that when a man was fined, he was to
be fined salvo contenemento, so as his countenance might be
safe ; taking countenance in the same sense as your
countryman does, when he says, if you will come unto
my house, I will shew you the best countenance I can,
that is, not the best face, but the best entertainment. The
meaning of the law was, that so much should be taken
from a man, such a gobbet sliced off", that yet notwithstand-
loing he might live in the same rank and condition he lived
in before. But now they fine men ten times more than
they are worth.
1. II. But now they fine men &c.] It was one of the grievances urged
against the High Commission Court that ' they imposed great fines
upon those who were culpable before them ; sometimes above the
degree of the offence .... which course of fining was much more
frequent and the fines heavier after the King had granted all that
revenue to be employed for the reparation of St. Paul's Church.'
Clarendon, Hist., i. 439. So, too, in the Star Chamber, part of the
sentence on Burton, Bastwick and Prynne was that they were fined
;£5ooo. Bishop Williams, for having received and divulged some
libellous letters, was fined ^8000. It was not paid, and could not have
been, owing to what the bishop termed 'the vacuity of his purse.'
Fuller, Church Hist., bk. xi. sec. 8, § 4.
Again, in 1641, when the High Commission Court and Star
Chamber had been swept away, and when judges and accused had
changed places, the fines were as heavy as before. Archbishop
Laud, e.g. for his part in framing and putting out the Canons of
1640, was sentenced by ParUament to pay a fine of ;^20,ooo ; Bishop
Juxon of London, and Bishop Wren of Ely to pay ;^io,ooo each ;
the rest of the offending bishops to pay £3x10. Rushworth, Col-
lections, iv. 235.
A fine of ^20,000 was imposed on Judge Berkley for his opinion in
favour of ship-money, and ^10,000 was actually paid by him and by
his fellow-culprit Baron Trevor. Clarendon, Hist. ii. 566.
FINES.— FRIARS. 71
XLIV.
FREE-WILL.
The Puritans who will allow no free-will at all, but God
does all, yet will allow the subject his liberty to do or not
to do, notwithstanding the king, the god upon earth. The
Arminians, who hold we have free-will, yet say, when we
come to the king there must be all obedience, and no
liberty must be stood for.
XLV.
FRIENDS.
Old friends are best. King James used to call for his 10
old shoes ; they were easiest for his feet.
XLVI.
FRIARS.
1. The friars say they possess nothing ; whose then are
the lands they hold ? Not their superior's, he hath vowed
poverty as well as they. Whose then ? To answer this
'twas decreed they should say they were the pope's. And
why must the friars be more perfect than the pope him-
self?
2. If there had been no friars, Christendom might have
continued quiet, and things remained at the stay.
If there had been no lecturers [which succeed the friars 20
in their way] the Church of England might have stood and
flourished at this day.
I. 20. If there had been no lecturers &c.] See note on ' Lecturers,'
sec. I.
72 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
XLVII.
GENEALOGY OF CHRIST.
1. They that say, the reason why Joseph's pedigree is
set down, and not Mary's, is, because the descent from the
mother is lost, and swallowed up, say something, for so it
was; but yet if a Jewish woman married with a Gentile,
they only took notice of the mother, not of the father.
But they that say they were both of a tribe, say nothing ;
for the tribes might marry one with another, and the law
against it was only temporary, in the time while Joshua
lowas in dividing the land, lest the being so long about it,
there might be a confusion.
2. That Christ was the son of Joseph is most exactly
true. For though he was the Son of God, yet with the
Jews, if any man kept a child, and brought him up, and
called him son, he was taken for his son ; and his land (if
he had any) was to descend upon him ; and therefore the
genealogy of Joseph is justly set down.
XLVIII.
GENTLEMEN.
I. What a gentleman is, 'tis hard with us to define. In
20 other countries he is known by his privileges ; in West-
minster-hall he is one that is reputed one ; in the court of
honour, he that hath arms. The king cannot make a
I. 7. But they that say &c.] This is a little obscure. It means,
apparently, that whether Joseph and Mary had been of the same
tribe, or of diiferent tribes (as they might lawfully have been), the
descent from the mother would equally have been ' lost and swallowed
up.' An assertion, therefore, that the pedigree was set down on the
father's side because they were both of a tribe would miss the real
point.
1. 8. the law against it] Numbers xxxvi. 8, 9.
GENEALOGY OF CHRIST.- GOLD. 73
gentleman of blood; [what have you said ?] nor God
Almighty ; but he can make a gentleman by creation. If
you ask which is the better of these two ; civilly, the gen-
tleman of blood ; morally the gentleman by creation may
be the better ; for the other may be a debauched man, this
a person of worth.
2. Gentlemen have ever been more temperate in their
religion than the common people, as having more reason,
the others running in a hurry. In the beginning of Chris-
tianity the fathers writ contra gentes, and contra gentiles, to
they were all one ; but after all were Christians, the better
sort of people still retained the name of Gentiles, through-
out the four provinces of the Roman empire ; as gentil-
homme in French, gentil-huomo ^ in Italian, gentil-huombre
in Spanish, and gentle-man ^ in English : and they, no
question, being persons of quality, kept up those feasts
which we borrow from the Gentiles ; as Christmas, Candle-
mas, May-day, &c. continuing what was not directly against
Christianity, which the common people would never have
endured. 20
XLIX.
GOLD.
There are two reasons given why those words, Jesus ^
autem transiens per medium eorum ibat, were about our old
' Gentil-huomo] gentel-homo, H. and H. 2.
^ Gentleman, H. 2] gentilman, H.
1. 22. There are two reasons &c.] The second reason given here is
not what Selden gives elsewhere. After mentioning the alchemical
reason for the inscription, he adds— 'alii opinati sunt . . . amulcri
vicem obtinuisse, et caedi et vulneribus averruncandis. Certe verba
ilia in iis quibus tortorum quaestioni subjecti interdum, dolori alle-
vando abigendoque, utuntur locum habere ex jurisconsultis aliquot
scimus.' Works, vol. ii. p. 1386.
Camden mentions the story told by the alchemists; but, with a
74 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
gold. The one is, because Ripley the alchymist, when he
made gold in the tower, the first time he found it, he spoke
these words, per medium eorum, that is, per medium ignis et
sulphuris. The other is, because these words were thought
to be a charm, and that they did bind whatsoever they were
written upon, so that a man could not take it away. To
this reason I rather incline.
L.
HALL.
The hall was the place where the great lord did use to
lo eat, (wherefore else were the halls made so big ?) where he
disregard of dates, he gives Raymond Lully as the successful pro-
jector in the Tower. He adds that others say that the text on the
coins was only an amulet used in that credulous warfaring age to
escape dangers in battle. See Camden, Remains, sub tit. ' Money,'
p. 242 (ed. 7, London, 1674).
We learn, too, that the rose nobles of other nations, as well as of
ours, had these words stamped upon them. They were used in
England first by Edward HI, and were copied on the coins of several
later reigns. Sometimes another passage of Scripture was used
instead of them; as e.g. 'A domino factum est istud, et est mirabile
in oculis nostris ; ' or ' per crucem tuam salva nos Christe redemptor.'
See Archbishop Sharpe, Dissertation on the Golden Coins of Eng-
land, sees. 4 and 6.
1. 9. The hall was the place &c.] See e. g. Household Statutes
(first half of thirteenth century), framed for Bishop Grossetest. ' Make
ye your own household to sit in the hall, as much as ye may. . . And
sit ye ever in the middle of the high borde (table) that your face and
cheer be shown to all men. And all so much as ye may, without
peril of sickness and weariness, eat ye in the hall before your men.
For that shall be to you profit and worship.' Manners and Meals in
Olden Time, Part I, p. 329, 331 (Early English Text Society).
The Eltham Ordinances for the government of the royal household
under Henry VIH are framed in view of the King's dining in Hall,
and they give special permission for private meals when the King
does not dine in the Hall. See chh. 44, 45, and 52, pp. 151, 153.
HALL.— HELL.
75
saw all his servants and his tenants about him. He eat not
in private, except in time of sickness ; when once he be-
came a thing cooped up, all his greatness was spilled.
Nay, the king himself used to eat in the hall, and his lords
sat with him, and then he understood men.
LI.
HELL.
I. There are two texts for Christ's descending into hell ;
the one. Psalm xvi. the other, Acts ii. where the Bible, that
But that the custom was ceasing to be observed appears from eh.
77, p. i6o, which gives rules which had become necessary ' by reason
of the seldom keeping of the King's Hall.'
The above are printed in A Collection of Ordinances for the
Government of the Royal Household (1790, 4to).
1. 7. There are two texts &c.] This is incorrect. There are other
texts which have been, rightly or wrongly, interpreted to prove the
descent. Conf. Ephesians iv. 9 : ' Now that he ascended, what is it
but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth ? '
and I Peter iii. 19 : ' By which also he went and preached unto
the spirits in prison.' In the Forty-two Articles of 1552, the descent
into hell is explained and confirmed by a reference to this pas-
sage : ' Quemadmodum Christus pro nobis mortuus est et sepultus,
ita est etiam credendus ad inferos descendisse. Nam corpus usque
ad resurrectionem in sepulchre jacuit ; spiritus ab eo emissus, cum
spiritibus qui in carcere sive in inferno detinebantur fuit, illisque
praedicavit, quemadmodum testatur Petri locus.' In the Thirty-nine
Articles of 1562, the Article on the descent ends with the words ' ad
inferos descendisse,' and omits all reference to the preaching to the
spirits in prison. At this date the authorised version of the Bible
was Cranmer's, or the great Bible (1539), in which (as in Tyndale's
earlier version) the reading in Acts ii. 27 is ' thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell.' The Thirty-nine Articles were confirmed or recognised
by Parliament in 1571, at which date, and up to 161 1, the authorised
version was the 'Bishops' Bible' (1568). In this version the text
remains unchanged—' because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell ' ;
and in the corresponding passage in Psalm xvi. 10 the word ' hell '
is marginally explained as 'in the state that souls be after this life.'
76 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
was in use when the Thirty-nine Articles were made, has
it (hell). But the Bible that was in Queen Elizabeth's time,
when the Articles were confirmed, reads it (grave), and so
it continued till the new translation in King James's time,
and then 'tis hell again. But by this we may gather the
Church of England declined, as much as they could, the
descent; otherwise they never would have altered the
Bible.
2. He descended into hell. This may be the interpretation
lo of it. He may be dead and buried, then his soul ascended
into heaven. Afterwards he descended again into hell, that
is, into the grave, to fetch his body, and to rise again. The
ground of this interpretation is taken from the Platonic
The text is changed in the Geneva Bible (1557) which reads ' grave '
for hell. This version was in common private use, and was most
favoured by the Puritan party, but it was not authorised or appointed
to be read in church. It does not appear, therefore, that the Church
of England at any time ' altered the Bible,' as Selden incorrectly says.
1. 13. the Platonic learning^ That a metempsychosis was a Platonic
doctrine is certain. It appears in the story of Er, the son of Arminius,
in Rep. x. and in the Phaedrus 248, 249, where, in one passage, the
soul which is to take a new body is said to fall to the earth. So
among the later Platonists, Porphyry speaks of ras yjrvxas els yivea-iv
Kariova-as (De Antro Nympharum, sec. 10), and again in his 'A^opnaX
irpos TO. vorjTa, sec. 32. Conf. also Plotinus, Enneades, Enn. 4, lib. 8,
Ilcpi Trjs els TCI (riifiaTa Kad68ov Ttjs \^ux^^> pdssttn : and especially in § 4.
EiAijTTTai ovi> {f] >/'UXv) T'eiToiitra, Koi npos ra Secrfia ovua . . . Tedd(j)6ai re
Xeyerai Kai ev (rirrjXaico etvaL,
But that these views affected the language of the early Christians,
and that they understood the descent into hell in .Selden's sense of
the words, there is nothing to show, and there is abundant evidence
to the contrary. On this subject the Greek and Latin fathers speak
with one voice. They understand Christ's descent into hell as a fact
distinct from his burial and resurrection. It is a literal visit to the
lower regions where the souls of the dead were detained, and from
which the souls of the old prophets and saints were liberated at
Christ's coming. Pearson, in his long and learned discussion on the
descent, puts the question, thus far, beyond all reasonable doubt.
Archbishop Usher, writing on the descent, shows out of Plato and
other philosophers and poets, that the word Hades is used to signify
HOLY-DAYS. 77
learning, who held a metempsychosis, and when a soul did
descend from heaven to take another body, they called it
Kara^aaiv ds abr)v, taking qbr}s for the lower world, the state
of mortality. Now the first Christians, many of them, were
Platonic philosophers, and no question spoke such language
as then was understood amongst them. To understand by
hell, the grave, is no tautology, because the creed first tells
what Christ suffered. He was crucified, dead, and buried ;
then it tells us what he did. He descended into hell, the
third day he rose again, he ascended, &c.
LH.
HOLY-DAYS.
They say the Church imposes holy-days. There's no
such thing, though the number of holy-days is set down in
some of our Common-pra3'er books ^. Yet that has rela-
tion to an act of parliament, which forbids the keeping of
any other holy-days. The ground thereof was the multi-
tude of holy-days in time of popery. But those that are
1 Books, H. 2] book, H.
a general invisible future state of the soul after it is separated from
the body, and he interprets the descent accordingly. Conf. Parr's
Life of Usher, Appendix 27. Selden's interpretation appears to be
entirely his own. I can find no other authority for it.
1. 15. an act 0/ parliament, which forbids &c.] This is the 5 and 6
of Edward VI, ch. 3, which enacts : ' that all the days hereafter
mentioned shall be kept and commanded to be kept holy-days, and
none other . . . and that none other day shall be kept and com-
manded to be kept holy-day, or to abstain from lawful bodily labour.'
The list given corresponds with that now in the Book of Cpmmon
Prayer. Selden's remark must have been made at some date before
June 8, 1647, when an Ordinance was put out by Parliament that
festivals called holy-days were no longer to be observed, any law,
statute, custom or canon to the contrary notwithstanding. Rush-
worth, Collections, vol. vi. p. 548.
78 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
kept, are kept by the custom of the country ; and I hope
you will not say the Church imposes that.
LIII.
HUMILITY.
1. Humility is a virtue all preach, none practise, and yet
every body is content to hear. The master thinks it good
doctrine for his servant, the laity for the clergy, and the
clergy for the laity.
2. There is humilitas qucedam in vitio. If a man does
not take notice of that excellency and perfection that is in
10 himself, how can he be thankful to God, who is the author
of all excellency and perfection ? Nay, if a man has too
mean an opinion of himself, 'twill render him unserviceable
both to God and man.
3. Pride may be allowed to this or that degree, else a
man cannot keep up his dignity. In gluttony ^ there must
be eating, in drunkenness there must be drinking; 'tis not
the eating, nor 'tis not the drinking that is to be blamed, but
the excess. So in pride.
LIV.
IDOLATRY.
) Idolatry is in a man's own thought, not in the opinion of
another. Pilt case I bow to the altar, why am I guilty of
^ Gluttony, S.] gluttons, H. and H. 2.
1. 21. Put case I bow &c.] This practice had been attacked as idola-
trous by Burton, in his Sermon for God and the King (p. 105), and had
been described by Prynne, in his Histrio-mastix (p. 236), as 'our
late crouching and ducking unto newly erected altars, a ceremony
much in use with idolatrous Papists heretofore, and derived by them
HUMILITY.— INVINCIBLE IGNORANCE. 79
idolatry ? Because a stander-by thinks so ? I am sure I do
not believe the altar to be God, and the God I worship may
be bowed to in all places, and at all times.
LV.
JEWS.
1. God at the first gave laws to all mankind, but after-
wards he gave peculiar laws to the Jews, which they only
were to observe. Just as we have the common law for all
England, and yet you have some corporations that, besides
that, have peculiar laws and privileges to themselves.
2. Talk what you will of the Jews, that they are cursed, 10
they thrive where'er they come ; they are able to oblige the
prince of their country by lending him money ; none of
them beg ; they keep together ; and for their being hated,
my life for yours, the Christians hate one another as much.
LVI.
INVINCIBLE IGNORANCE.
'Tis all one to me, if I am told of Christ, or some mystery
of Christianity, if I am not capable of understanding it, as
if I am not told at all, my ignorance is as invincible ; and
therefore 'tis vain to call their ignorance only invincible,
who never were told of Christ. The trick of it is to advance 20
the priest, whilst the Church of Rome says a man must be
told of Christ by one thus and thus ordained.
from pagan practices.' Laud, in his speech at the censure of Burton,
Bastwick and Prynne, justifies it at great length, and substantially for
the same reasons as Selden. See Laud's Works, vol. vi. p. 55 ff. But
he does not use Selden's phrase of bowing to the altar. What he
defends is carefully guarded as bowing towards the altar.
8o THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
LVII.
IMAGES.
1. The papists taking away the second commandment,
is not haply so horrid a thing, nor so unreasonable amongst
Christians as we make it. For the Jews, they could make
no figure of God but they must commit idolatry, because he
had taken no shape ; but since the assumption of our flesh,
we know what shape to picture God in. Nor do I know
why we may not make his image, provided we be sure what
it is : as we say St. Luke took the picture of the Virgin
10 Mary, and St. Veronica of our Saviour. Otherwise it would
be no honour to the king, to make a picture and call it the
king's picture, when 'tis nothing like him.
2. Though the learned papists pray not to images, yet
'tis to be feared the ignorant do ; as appears by that tale of
St. Nicholas in Spain. A countryman used to offer daily
to St. Nicholas's image ; at length by a mischance the
image was broken, and a new one made of his own plum-
tree ; after that the man forbore. Being complained of to
his Ordinary, he answered, 'tis true, he used to offer to the
20 old image, but to the new he could" not find in his heart
because he knew it was a piece of his own plum-tree. You
see what opinion this man had of the image ; and to this
tended the bowing of their images, the twinkling of their
eyes, the virgin's milk, &c. Had they only meant repre-
sentations, a picture would have done it without these
1. 2. The papists taking away &c.] The papists do not do this in
terms. They read the second Commandment continuously with the
first, and as forming part of the first. The first Commandment
they take as — ' Thou shalt have none other Gods before me, i. e. in
my presence,' and they interpret the second as enlarging upon and
explaining this. See e.g. the Douay Version— 'Thou shalt not have
strange Gods before me' (Latin Vulgate, coram me)— explained in
the notes to Haydocke's edition of the version as ='in my presence.
I shall not be content to be adored with idols.'
IMAGES.— IMPERIAL CONSTITUTIONS. 8i
tricks. It may be with us in England they do not wor-
ship images, because living among protestants they are
either laughed out of it, or beaten out of it by shock of
argument.
3. 'Tis a discreet way concerning pictures in churches
to set up no new, nor to pull down no old.
LVIII.
IMPERIAL CONSTITUTIONS.
They say imperial constitutions did only confirm the
canons of the Church ; but that is not so, for they inflicted
punishment, which the canons never did. Viz*. If a man 10
converted a Christian to be a Jew, he was to forfeit his
estate, and lose his life. In Valentinian's ' novels, 'tis said
Constat episcopos ^ forum legibus non habere, et judicant
tantum de religione ^.
' Valentiniati s\ Valentine's MSS. ' Episcopos, H. 2] episcopus, H.
' Religione, H. 2] religiones, H.
1. 8. confirm the canons of the Church'] Oea-mCoiiev rolvvv, rd^iv vojiav
€7re;^et;' tovs dyiovs eKKKT)<na(TTiKovs Kavovas tovs vno . rfiv dyicov Teacrdpaiu
avvodav iKredevras fj pe^aiadevTas. , . . Tav yap ■irpoeipt]fievaii' ayiau crvvodav , . .
rows Kai/6vas its vofiovs cftvKaTToiiev. Justinian's Novels, 131, cli. i.
1. 10. 1/ a man converted &c.] Conf. e.g. 'Judaeus servum Ciiris-
tianum nee comparare debebit nee largitatis titulo consequi . . .
Varum ceteros, quos rectae religionis participes constitutes in suo
censu nefanda superstitio jam videtur esse sortita . . . sub hac lege
possideat, ut eos, nee invitos, nee volentes, caeno propriae sectae con-
fundat: ita ut, si haec forma fuerit violata, sceleris tanti auctores
capitali poena, prescriptione comitante, plectantur.' Codex Theodo-
sianus, lib. 16, tit. 9, sec. 4.
1. 12. In Valentinian's novels &c.J See the novels of Valeutinian
the Third, tit. 34.
82 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
LIX.
IMPRISONMENT.
Sir Kenelm Digby was several times taken and let go
again, at last imprisoned in Winchester house. I can com-
pare him to nothing, but to a great fish that we catch and
I. 4. / can compare him to nothing, but to a great fish &c.] This
comparison seems to refer to Sir Kenelm Digby's bodily size and
bearing. ' He was a man of very extraordinary person and presence,
which drew the eyes of all men upon him, which were the more fixed
by a wonderful graceful behaviour, a flowing courtesy and civility,
and such a volubility of language as surprised and delighted ; and
though in another man it might have appeared to have somewhat of
affectation, it was marvellous graceful in him, and seemed natural to
his size and mould of his person, to the gravity of his motion, and
the tune of his voice and delivery.' Clarendon's Life, vol. i. p. 38.
(Oxford 1827.) 'His person,' says Anthony a Wood, 'was hand-
some and gigantic, and nothing was wanting to make him a complete
chevalier.' Athenae, iii. 689.
In 1638 Sir Kenelm Digby had been induced by Queen Henrietta
Maria to write a circular letter to the Roman Catholics of the country,
urging them to contribute liberally to the King's expenses in the matter
of the war with the Scotch. Rushworth, Collections, iii. 1327. In
January, 1640 (1641), he was called to account for this by the Parlia-
ment, and a Committee was appointed to prepare questions about
what he and others had done. Commons Journals, ii. 74. In March,
the two Houses presented a joint petition, praying that he and certain
others be removed from the Court, as popish recusants, ii. 106. In
May, 1641, six members were appointed with power to call before
them Sir Kenelm Digby and others, and to offer them the Oaths of
Allegiance and Supremacy, and if they refuse to take them, to give
orders that they shall be proceeded against according to law, ii. 158.
In June, 1641, a peremptory order was made for Sir Kenelm Digby to
attend the Committee for Recusants Convict, ii. 182. That he was, at
length, committed to Winchester House, appears by a letter, read in
Parliament from the Lord Mayor of London, concerning his committal,
and enclosing his petition for release. This petition the House
refused to grant. Journals, ii. 978. His release was due to the
intercession of the Queen Regent of France, as appears by a letter
from the two Houses. — ' We are commanded to make known to your
Majesty that, although the religion, the past behaviour, and the
abilities of this gentleman might give just umbrage of his practising
IMPRISONMENT.— INDEPENDENCY. 83
let go again ; but still he will come to the bait ; at last
therefore we put him into some great pond for store.
LX.
INCENDIARIES.
Fancy to yourself a man sets the city on fire at Cripple-
gate, and that fire continues by means of others, till it come
to Whitefriars, and then he that began it would fain quench
it ; does not he deserve to be punished most that first set
the town on fire ? So 'tis with the incendiaries of the state.
They that first set it on fire, [by monopolies, forest busi-
ness, imprisoning of the parliament-men 3" Caroli, &c.] are :
now become regenerate, and would fain quench the fire.
Certainly they deserved most to be punished, for being the
first authors of our distractions.
LXI.
INDEPENDENCY.
I. Independency is in use at Amsterdam, where forty
churches or congregations have nothing to do one with
another. And 'tis, no question, agreeable to the primitive
times, before the emperor became Christian. For either
we must say every church governed itself, or else we must
to the prejudice of the constitutions of this realm, yet nevertheless,
having so great regard to the recommendation of your Majesty, they
have ordered him to be discharged. Biographia Britannica, vol. iii.
p. 1706, note f.
I find no more distinct references to what Wood terms his ' activity
for the King's cause at the beginning of the civil wars,' or, as Selden
puts it, ' his coming again and again to the bait.'
1. 3. Incendiaries.] See Excursus B.
G2
84 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
fall upon that old foolish rock, that St. Peter and his suc-
cessors governed all. But when the civil state became
Christian they appointed who should govern whom ; before,
they governed by agreement and consent ; if you will not
do this, you shall come no more amongst us. But both the
independent man and the presbyterian man do equally
exclude the civil power, though after a different manner.
2. The Independents may as well plead they should not
be subject to temporal things, not come before a constable,
lo or a justice of peace, as they plead they should not be sub-
ject in spiritual things, because St. Paul says, Is it so, that
there is not a wise man amongst you ?
3. The pope challenges all churches to be under him.
The king and the two archbishops challenge all the Church
of England to be under them. The presbyterian man
divides the kingdom into as many churches as there be
presbyteries. And your independent would have every
congregation ^ a church by itself.
' Congregation, H. 2] congration, H.
1. 15. The presbyterian man divides the kingdom &c.] This is an
incomplete account. See the form of Presbyterial Church Govern-
ment agreed upon by the Westminster Assembly of Divines in
1645.
' Of Synodical Assemblies, the Scripture doth hold out another sort
of assemblies, for the government of the Church, besides classical and
congregational, all of which vs^e call synodical. Synodical assemblies
may lawfully be of several sorts, as provincial, national, and oecu-
menical.
' It is lawful and agreeable to the word of God that there be a sub-
ordination of congregational, classical, provincial, and national assem-
blies for the government of the Church.' Neal, Hist, of Puritans, vol. v.
app. ix.
1. 17. your independent &c.] The view of the Independents as
stated by themselves was that 'Every particular congregation of
Christians has an entire and complete power and jurisdiction over its
members, to be exercised by the elders thereof within itself. Apolo-
getical Narrative of Independents (1643), quoted by Neal, Hist, of
Puritans, vol. iii. p. 118.
Their main platform, says Fuller (Church History, bk. xi.), was
THINGS INDIFFERENT.— HUMAN INVENTION. 85
LXII.
THINGS INDIFFERENT.
In time of a parliament, when things are under debate,
they are indifferent ; but in a church or state settled, there
is nothing left indifferent.
LXIII.
PUBLIC INTEREST.
All might go well in the commonwealth, if every one in
the parliament would lay down his own interest, and aim
at the general good. If a man were sick, and the whole
college of physicians should come to him, and administer
severally, haply so long as they observed the rules of art, 10
he might recover ; but if one of them had a great deal of
scamony by him, he must put off that, therefore he pre-
scribes scaraony ; another had a great deal of rhubarb, and
he must put off that, and therefore he prescribes rhubarb,
&c. they would certainly kill the man. We destroy the
commonwealth, while we preserve our own private interest,
and neglect the public.
LXIV.
HUMAN INVENTION.
I. You say there must be no human invention in the
church, nothing but the pure word. 2
that churches should not be subordinate, parochial to provincial, pro-
vincial to national (as daughter to mother, mother to grandmother),
but co-ordinate, without superiority, except seniority of sisters, con-
taining no powerful influence therein.
86 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
Answer. If I give any exposition, but what is expressed
in the text, that is my invention : if you give another expo-
sition, that is your invention, and both are human. For
example, suppose the word \pgg\ were in the text ; I say,
'tis meant an hen-egg, you say a goose-egg ; neither of
these are expressed, therefore they are human invention ;
and I am sure the newer the invention the worse; old
inventions are best.
2. If we must admit nothing but what we read in the
lo Bible, what will become of the parliament ? For we do not
read of that there.
LXV.
GOD'S JUDGMENTS.
We cannot tell what is a judgment of God ; 'tis presump-
tion to take upon us to know. In time of plague we know
we want health, and therefore we pray to God to give us
health ^ ; in time of war, we know we want peace, and
therefore we pray to God to send us peace. Commonly we
say a judgment falls upon a man for something in him we
cannot abide. An example we have in King James, con-
1 And therefore we pray to God to give us health, H. 2] omitted in H.
1. 13. We cannot tell what is a judgment &c.] Suggested, possibl}',
by a book, published in 1636, under the title of 'A divine tragedie
lately acted,' or ' A collection of sundry memorable examples of God's
judgments upon Sabbath-breakers and other like libertines in their
unlawfull sports.' It gives fifty-five examples of some misfortune to
Sabbath-breakers in the course of two years, and it appeals confi-
dently to these as proof of direct divine interposition. It ends with
an account of the death of Mr. William Noy, closely following the
execution of the Star Chamber censure on the ' well deserving gen-
tleman, Mr. Prynne.' The book has been ascribed to Prynne, but it
does not bear his name or signature. It is entered as Prynne's in the
British Museum catalogue, and is so lettered on the cover.
GOD'S JUDGMENTS. — JUDGE. 87
cerning the death of Henry the IVth of France ; one said
he was killed for his wenching, another said he was killed
for turning his religion. No, says King James, (who could
not abide fighting) he was killed for permitting duels in his
kingdom.
LXVI.
JUDGE.
1. We see the pageants in Cheapside, the lions, and the
elephants, but we do not see the men that carry them. We
see the judges look big, look like Hons, but we do not see
who moves them. 10
2. Little things do great works, when great things will
not. If I would take a pin from the ground, a little pair of
tongs will do it, when a great pair will not. Go to a judge
to do a business for you ; by no means, he will not hear of
it ; but go to some small servant about him, and he will
dispatch it according to your heart's desire.
3. There could be no mischief done in the commonwealth
without a judge. Though there be false dice brought in at
the groom-porter's, and cheating offered, yet unless he allow
the cheating, and judge the dice to be good, there may be 20
hopes of fair play.
1. 17. There could be no mischief &c.] See note on ' The King,'
sec. 6.
1. 19. groom-porter\ 'An officer of the royal household, whose \ ^
business is to see the king's lodging furnished with tables, chairs, '
stools and firing : as also to provide cards, dice, &c., and to decide
disputes arising at cards, dice, bowling, &c.' Quoted by Nares {Glos-
sary, sub voce) from Chamb. Diet. Nares adds that 'formerly he
was allowed to keep an open gambling table at Christmas. . . . He is
said to have succeeded to the office of the master of the revels, then
disused.'
88 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
LXVII.
JUGGLING.
'Tis not juggling that is to be blamed, but much juggling,
for the world cannot be governed without it. All your
rhetorick, and all your elenchs in logic, come within the
compass of juggling.
LXVIII.
JURISDICTION.
1. There's no such thing as spiritual jurisdiction ; all is
civil, the church's is the same with the lord mayor's. Sup-
pose a Christian came into a pagan country, how can you
10 fancy he shall have power there? He finds fault with the
gods of the country. Well, they will put him to death for
it. Then he is a martyr ; what follows ? Does that argue
he has any spiritual jurisdiction ? If the clergy say the
church ought to be governed thus, and thus, by the word
of God, that is doctrine all, that is not discipline.
2. The pope, he challenges jurisdiction over all ; the
bishops, they pretend to it as well as he ; the presbyterians,
they would have it to themselves ; but over whom is all
this ? The poor layman.
LXIX.
JUS DIVINUM.
1. All things are held by jus divinum, either immediately
or mediately.
2. Nothing has lost the pope so much in his supremacy,
as not acknowledging what princes gave him. 'Tis a scorn
JUGGLING.— KING. 89
upon the civil power, and an unthankfulness in the priest.
But the church runs to jus divinum, lest if they should
acknowledge what they have, they have by positive law, it
might be as well taken from them, as given to them.
LXX.
KING.
1. A KING is a thing men have made for their own
sakes, for quietness' sake. Just as in a family one man is
appointed to buy the meat. If every man should buy, or
if there were many buyers, they would never agree ; one
would buy what the other liked not, or what the other had 1°
bought before, so there would be a confusion. But that
charge being committed to one, he according to his discre-
tion pleases all. If they have not what they would have
one day, they shall have it the next, or something as good.
2. The word king directs our eyes. Suppose it had
been consul or dictator. To think all kings alike, is the
same folly, as if a consul of Aleppo or Smyrna, should
claim to himself the same power that a consul at Rome
had. What, am not I consul ? Or a duke of England
should think himself like the duke of Florence. Nor can 20
it be imagined that the word ^aa-iXevs did signify a king
1. 15. directs our eyesi] This seems to mean, the word catches our
eyes and suggests the notion that it bears everywhere the same
sense.
This and the next clause seem directed against the Constitutions
and Canons Ecclesiastical of 1640, framed by the Convocations of
Canterbury and of York, in which the most high and sacred order of
Kings is said to be ' of divine right, being the ordinance of God
himself, founded in the prime laws of nature, and clearly established
by express texts both of the Old and New Testaments.' Wilkins,
Concilia, iv. 545.
90 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
the same in Greece, as the Hebrew word ^7!) did with the
Jews. Besides, let divines in their pulpits say what they
will, they in their practice deny that all is the king's.
They sue him, and so does all the nation, whereof they
are a part. What matter is it then, what they preach or
talk in the schools ?
3. Kings are all individuals, this or that king ; there is
no species of kings.
4. A king that claims privileges in his own kingdom,
10 because they have them in another, is just as a cook, that
claims fees in one lord's house because they are allowed
in another. If the master of the house will yield them,
well and good.
5. The text [Render unto Caesar the things that are
Caesar's] makes as much against kings as for them ; for
it says plainly that some things are not Caesar's. But
divines make choice of it, first in flattery, and then be-
cause of the other part adjoined to it [Render unto God
the things that are God's], where they bring in the
20 Church.
6. A king outed of his country, that takes as much
upon him as he did at home, in his own court, is as if
a man and I being upon different ground, I used^ to
lift up my voice to him, that he might hear me, at length
should come down to me and then expect I should speak
as loud to him as I did before.
' As if a man and I being upon &c., S. As if a man on high, and I
different ground, I used. Sec, H. 2] as if being upon the ground used, &c. Early
a man and I being upon the ground, printed editions. No one of all these
used, &c., H. As if a man upon a tree, is quite satisfactory. I have chosen
and I being upon the ground used, what seems the least faulty.
1.2. let divines in their pulpits Scc^ See, e.g., Dr. Manwaring's two
Sermons on the King's prerogative, in which he insists that the
King's power is not bounded by law; that it is the duty of his
subjects to obey his illegal commands ; and that if they are deprived
of property in their goods they have no choice but to submit. Fuller,
Church History, century xvii, bk. xi. sees. 61, 62, 63, in ann. i6a8.
KING OF ENGLAND. 91
LXXI.
KING OF ENGLAND.
1. The king can do no wrong : that is, no process can
be granted against him, you can have no remedy against
him. What must be done then ? Petition him, and the
king writes upon the petition Soit droit fait, and sends it
to the chancery, and then the business is heard. His
confessor will not tell him he can do no wrong.
2. There's a great deal of difference between head of
1. 2. The king can do no wrong] Explained by Blackstone as
meaning only ' that in the first place, whatever may be amiss in the
conduct of public affairs is not chargeable personally on the king ;
nor is he, but his ministers, accountable for it to the people : and
secondly, that the prerogative of the Crown extends not to do any
injury.' Commentaries, bk. iii. ch. 17, sec. i. Selden's remark deals
only with one incident of the maxim, and guards, in the last clause,
against one possible misinterpretation of it.
1. 8. There's a great deal of difference &c.] By 26 Henry VIII, cap. i.
it is declared and enacted that the King's Majesty is the only supreme
head in erthe of the Church of England. This Act was confirmed,
with penalties, by i Edward VI, cap. 12.
In ' our Canons,' i.e. in the Constitutions and Canons Ecclesiastical
of 1640, sec. I, Concerning the Regal Power, the words used are ' The
most high and sacred order of Kings is of divine right. ... A
supreme power is given to this most excellent order by God himself
in the Scriptures, which is that kings should rule and command in
their several dominions all persons of what rank and estate soever,
whether ecclesiastical or civil. . . .
' The care of God's church is so committed to Kings in the scripture
that they are commended when the church keeps the right way,
and taxed when it runs amiss, and therefore her government belongs
in chief unto Kings.' Wilkins, Concilia, iv. 545.
The difference of which Selden speaks is that the King, as head
of the Church, is the fountain or original of all spiritual authority in
his dominions, in the full sense in which he is the fountain of honour
and the fountain of law ; while the words of the Canon mean no
more than that the Church and its ecclesiastical rulerS are subject
to the civil power. This latter is all that was claimed by Elizabeth,
and all that was expressed in Article 37. On the other hand, every
Bishop in his Oath of Homage, taken when he obtains the tern-
92 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
the church, and supreme governor, as our canons call the
king. Conceive it thus; There is in the kingdom of England
a college of physicians, the king is supreme governor
of these, because they live under him, but not head of them,
nor president of the college, nor the best physician.
3. After the dissolution of the abbeys, they did much
advance the king's supremacy, for they only cared to
exclude the pope : hence have we had several translations
of the Bible put upon us. But now we must look to it,
10 otherwise the king may put upon us what religion he
pleases.
4. 'Twas the old way when the king of England had his
house, there were canons to sing service in his chapel :
so at Westminster, in St. Stephen's chapel, (where the
House of Commons sits) from which canons the street
Canon-row has its name, because they lived there ; and
he had also the abbot and his monks, and all these the
king's house.
5. The three estates are the lords temporal, the bishops
poralities of his see, acknowledges ' that I hold the said Bishopric,
as well the spiritualities as the temporalities thereof, only of your
Majesty.' This appears to be a survival of the earlier view.
1. 12. ' Twas the old way &c.] On the King's Chapel Establishment
see Excursus C.
1. 19. The three estates are &c.] Who formed the three estates was one
of the disputed questions of the time. See, e.g., a speech by Bagshaw
(Feb. 9, 1640) : ' (It was said) that episcopacy was a third estate in Par-
liament, and therefore the King and Parliament could not be without
them ; this I utterly deny, for there are three estates without them, as
namely the King, who is the first estate ; the Lords Temporal is the
second ; and the Commons the third. Nalson, Collections, i. 762.
Nalson quotes, on the other hand, from the Parliamentary Roll,
I Richard III, ' at the request and by the assent of the three estates of
the realm, that is to say the Lords Spiritual and Temporal and the
Commons of this land assembled in this present Parliament,' &c.,
i. 764. See, also, a proclamation by Queen Elizabeth (1588) which
speaks of ' the estate of the prelacy, being one of the three ancient
estates of this realm under her Highness.' Wilkins, Concilia,
iv. 340.
KING OF ENGLAND. 93
are the clergy, and the commons. The king is not one of
the three estates, as some would have it, [take heed of
that] , for then if two agree, the third is involved ; but he
is king of the three estates.
6. The king has a seal in every court ; and though the
great seal be called sigilhim Angliae, the great seal of
England, yet 'tis not because 'tis the kingdom's seal, and
not the king's, but to distinguish it from sigillum Hiberniae,
sigillum Scotiae.
7. The court of England is much altered. At a solemn 10
dancing, first you had the grave measures, then the coran-
toes, and the galliards, and all this is kept up with cere-
mony ; at length they fall to Trench-more^, and so to the
cushion dance, and then all the company dance, lord and
groom, lady and kitchen-maid, no distinction. So in our
court in Queen Elizabeth's time, gravity and state was
kept up; in King James's time things were pretty well;
' Trenchtnore] Frenchmore, MSS.
Nalson, in his remarks on Lord Say and Seal's speech (1641)
against Bishops, points out, as Selden does, the consequence which
would follow from counting the King as one of the three estates. The
opinion, he says, that the Bishops are not one of the three estates, in
Parliament, has been deservedly exploded by all persons of sense
and honour ' except such as would therefore have the King to be the
third estate, that so by bringing in a co-ordinancy of power, they may
the better accomplish their anti-monarchical designs, or at least reduce
the ancient and imperial Crown of these realms to the condition of a
Venetian seigniory.' Collections, ii. 269.
1. 13. Trench-tnore\ A kind of lively dance, in triple time, to which j
it was usual to dance in a rough and boisterous manner. Nares, !
Glossary. '
The reading in the MSS. is ' Frenchmore,' but there is no dance
so named, while ' Trenchmore,' the reading in the early printed ^
editions, is, as Nares shows, a name in common use. ,
1. 14. cushion dance] 'A dance of a rather free character, used '
chiefly, it would appear, at weddings.' Its character is distinctly
shown by a passage which Nares quotes from Taylor (1630) :— ' There
are many pretty provocatory dances, as the kissing dance, the cushion
dance," tEe shaking of the sheets, and such like.' Nares, Glossary.
94 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
but in King Charles's time, there has been nothing but
Trench-more and the cushion dance, omnium gatherum,
tolly polly, hoyte cum toyte.
LXXII.
THE KING.
1. 'Tis hard to make an accommodation betwixt the
king and the parliament. If you and I fell out about
money, you said I owed you twenty pounds, I said I
owed you but ten pounds, it may be a third party allow-
ing me 20 marks, might make us friends. But if I said,
10 1 owed you twenty pounds of silver, and you said I owed
you twenty pounds of diamonds, which is a sum innu-
merable, 'tis impossible we should ever agree ; this is
the case.
2. The king using the House of Commons, as he did
in Mr. Pym and his company; that is, charging them with
treason, because they charged^ my lord of Canterbury
and Sir George Ratcliflfe, it was just as much logic as the
boy, that would have lain with his grandmother, used to
his father : You lay with my mother, why should not I lie
20 with yours?
3. There is not the same reason for the king's accusing
men of treason, and carrying them away, as there is
for the houses themselves, because they accuse one of
themselves. For every one that is accused, is either a
peer or a commoner ; and he that is accused has his con-
sent going along with them ; but if the king accuses, there
is nothing of this in it.
4. The king is equally abused now as before ; then they
flattered him, and made him do ill things, now they would
30 force him against his conscience. If a physician should
tell me that every thing I had a mind to was good for
' Because they charged] ' because ' omitted in MSS,
THE KING. 95
me, though in truth 'twas poison, he abused me ; and he
abuses me as much, that would force me to take something
whether I will or no.
5. The king, so long as he is our king, may do with his
officers what he pleases ; as the master of the house may
turn away all his servants, and take whom he please.
6. The king's oath is not security enough for our pro-
perty, for he swears to govern according to law ; now the
judges they interpret the law; and what judges can be
made to do we know. i
1. 9. what judges can be made to do we know.] Selden had good
reason to know this. He was one of the members committed to prison
after Charles' third Parliament, having been refused bail by the
judges unless he would find sureties for his future good behaviour.
This he and the others rightly and manfully refused to do, and were
remanded to the Tower. Whitelock, Memorials, pp. 13, 14.
Again, in 1635 the King was advised by the Lord Chief Justice
Finch and others to require the opinion of his judges (on ship-money),
which he did, stating the case in a letter to them.
'After much solicitation by the Chief Justice Finch, promising prefer-
ment to some, and highly threatening others whom he found doubting
(as themselves reported to me) he got from them in answer to the
King's letter and case, their opinion . . . that when . . . the whole
kingdom is in danger, your Majesty may by writ command all your
subjects to furnish ships with men, victuals and ammunition, and
may compel the doing thereof. And that in such case your Majesty
is the sole judge both of the dangers and when and how the same
is to be prevented and avoided. This opinion was signed by twelve
judges.' Whitelock, Memorials, p. 25.
Clarendon remarks on this that ' The damage and mischief cannot
be expressed that the Crown and State sustained by the deserved
reproach and infamy that attended the judges, by being made use of
in this and other like acts of power.' Men heard the payment of
ship-money 'demanded in a court of law as a right, and found it,
by sworn judges of the law, adjudged so upon such grounds and
reasons as every stander-by was able to swear was not law.' He
traces the disregard of law afterwards as due very largely ' to the
irreverence and scorn the judges were justly in.' History, pp,
108, 109.
But the day of reckoning was at hand. In 1640, Judge Berkley,
one of the twelve, was impeaclied by the Commons for his opinion
96 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
7. The king and the parliament now falling out, are just
as when there is foul play offered betwixt gamesters ; one
snatches the other's stake, they seize what they can of one
another's. 'Tis not to be asked whether it belongs not to
the king to do this or that : before, when there was fair
play, it did, but now they will do both what is most con-
venient for their own safety. If two fall to scuffling, one
tears the other's band, the other tears his ; when they
were friends they were quiet, and did^ no such thing ; they
10 let one another's bands alone.
8. The king calling his friends from the parliament,
because he had use of them at Oxford, is as if a man
had use of a little piece of wood, and he runs down into
^ They ivere quiet, and did, H. 2] and ' and ' is written over the original
were quiet and did, H. The second 'they.'
in favour of ship-money, and was taken from his seat to prison by
black-rod ' which,' says Whitelock, ' struck a great terror in the rest
of his brethren.' Memorials, p. 40. Their turn came next, p. 47.
1. II. The king calling his friends &c.] In 1643 the King . . .
summoned all the members of both Houses of Parliament (except
only such as, having command in His Majesty's armies, could not be
absent from their charges) to attend upon His Majesty at Oxford,
upon a day fixed in January next. Clarendon, Hist. ii. 622.
Thither, accordingly, the King's friends went, and a Parliament at
Oxford was opened in due form. Meanwhile work of a diiferent kind
was in progress elsewhere ; so that the Earl of Essex, in reply to a
long letter from the absentees, written in the interest of peace and
assuring him of the King's gracious purposes and general good-will to
his subjects, was able to enclose with his curt answer a copy of 'a
national covenant solemnly entered into by both the kingdoms of
England and Scotland, and a declaration passed by them both together
with another declaration by the kingdom of Scotland.' Clarendon,
Hist. ii. 666.
These documents, the effect of which was to bind the signatories
to keep firm in their armed resistance to the King, are given by
Clarendon — the first at full length, the others (passed and published
about the very time that the overture for peace came from Oxford)
in substance ; pp. 560, 667, ff.
So true did Selden's words prove, that — 'when his friends are
absent, the King will be lost.'
KNIGHT'S SERVICE. — LAND. 97
the cellar, and takes the spiggot, in the meantime all the
beer runs about the house. When his friends are absent,
the king will be lost.
LXXIII.
KNIGHT'S SERVICE.
Knight's service in earnest means nothing, for the lords
are bound to wait upon the king when he goes to war with
a foreign enemy, with, it may be, one man and one horse; ;
and he that does not, is to be rated so much as shall seem
good to the next parliament. And what will that be ? So
'tis for a private man that holds of a gentleman. '
LXXIV.
LAND.
1. When men did let their lands under foot, the tenants
would fight for their landlords, so that way they had their
retribution ; but now they will do nothing for them ; nay,
be the first, if but a constable bid them, that shall lay the
landlord by the heels ; and therefore 'tis vanity and folly
not to take the full value.
2. Allodium is a law-word contrary to feudum, and it
signifies land that holds of nobody. So regna allodiata
are kingdoms that are not held in fee of any body. We ao
have no such lands in England. 'Tis a true proposition ;
all the land in England is held, either immediately or
mediately, of the king.
1. 12. underfoot] i. e. for less than their value. See Bacon, Essay
41, Of Usury : ' they would be forced to sell their means, be it lands
or goods, far under foot.'
H
93 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
LXXV.
LANGUAGE.
1. To a living tongue new words may be added, but not
to a dead tongue, as Latin, Greek, Hebrew, &c.
2. Latimer is the corruption of latiner, it signifies he
that interprets Latin ; and though he interpreted French,
Spanish, or Italian, he was called the king's latimer, that
is, the king's interpreter.
3. If you look upon the language spoken in the Saxon
time, and the language spoken now, you will find the differ-
loence to be just as if a man had a cloak that he wore plain
in queen Elizabeth's days, and since has put in here a piece
of red, and there a piece of blue, here a piece of green, and
there a piece of orange-tawny. We borrow words from
the French, Italian, Latin, as every pedantic man pleases.
4. We have more words than notions ; half-a-dozen words
for the same thing. Sometimes we put a new signification
to an old word, as when we call a piece, a gun. The word
gun was in use in England for an engine to cast a thing
1. 4. Latimer\ sometimes spelt Latiner or Latinier, has the diiferent
senses of interpreter, herald, and secretary, all based on the original
sense — one who knows several languages, and who is thus qualified
to act in any one of the above three capacities. See Warton, Hist, of
EngUsh Poetry, vol. i. p. 65, text and note (ed. 1840, in 3 vols.), where
numerous instances are given of its use by early English and French
writers.
1. 17. The word gun, &c.] Conf. :
'Theo othre into the wallis stygh (climb)
And the kynges men with gonnes sleygh.'
King Alisaunder, pt. i. chap. 12, 1. 3268.
The date of this poem is very early in the fourteenth century and
therefore before gunpowder was in use. See Warton, Hist, of English
Poetry, sec. 6. Weber's note on the passage is : —
' As to the word gonne, we have here perhaps the earliest use of it
that can now be adduced, and it certainly signifies a machine for
expelling balls of some kind. ... A gun might have originally been
a machine of the catapult kind ; and on the adoption of powder, having
LANGUAGE.— LAW. 99
from a man, long before there was any gunpowder found
out.
5. Words must be fitted to a man's mouth. 'Twas well
said of the fellow that was to make a speech for my lord
mayor ; he desired to take measure of his lordship's mouth.
LXXVI.
LAW.
1. A MAN may plead not guilty, and yet tell no lie ; for
by the law no man is bound to accuse himself: so that
when I say, Not guilty, the meaning is, as if I should say
by way of paraphrase, I am not so guilty as to tell you ; if 10
you will bring me to trial, and have me punished for this
you lay to my charge, prove it against me.
2. Ignorance of the law excuses no man ; not that all
men know the law, but because 'tis an excuse every man
will plead, and no man can tell how to confute him.
3. The king of Spain was outlawed in Westminster-hall,
changed its form, might still retain its name.' Metrical Romances, vol.
iii. p. 306 (Edinburgh, 1810).
See also Chaucer, in his description of a battle between Antony and
Augustus : —
'With grisly soune out gooth the grete gonne,
And hertely they hurtelen al attones.
And fro the toppe downe cometh the grete stones.'
Legend of Good Women. Legenda Cleopatrie, 1. 58.
This may, of course, be an anachronism, as the use of gunpowder
was known to Chaucer and is referred to by him elsewhere. But the
general drift of the passage makes for the earlier sense of the word.
That after the invention of gunpowder the word soon passed to the
sense which it now bears, appears from a passage in Grafton's
Chronicle in ann. 1380 : ' In this time, as saith Polidore in his boke De
Inventoribus rerum, gonnes were first in use, which were invented by
one of Germany. But, saith he, lest he should be cursed for ever that
was the author of this invention, therefore his name is hidden and not
known.' Chronicle, p. 429 (London, 1809).
H 2
joo THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
I being of counsel against him. A merchant had recovered
costs against him in a suit, which because it could not be
got, we advised to have him outlawed for his not appearing,
and so he was. As soon as Gondomar heard that, he
presently sent the money; by reason, if his master had
stood outlawed, he could not have had the benefit of the
law ; which would have been very prejudicial, there being
then many suits depending betwixt the king of Spain and
our English merchants.
5 4. Every law is a contract betwixt the king and the
people, and therefore to be kept. An hundred men may
owe me a hundred pounds, as well as one man, and shall
they not pay me because they are stronger than I ?
Objection. Oh ! but they lose all if they keep that law.
Answer. Let them look to the making of their bargains.
If I sell my lands, and when I have done, one comes and
tells me I have nothing else to keep me, I and my wife and
children must starve, if I part with my land : must I not
therefore let them have my land that have bought it, and
) paid for it ?
5. The parliament may declare law, as well as any inferior
court may, viz*, the king's bench. In this or that particular
case the king's bench will declare unto you what the law is ;
but that binds nobody but whom that case concerns : so
the highest court, the parliament, may do, but not declare
law, [that is] make law, that was never heard of before.
1. 25. but not declare law &c.] In a Declaration or Remonstrance
of the Lords and Commons (May, 1642), an uncontrolled power of
declaring law as they please is claimed for the Parliament in direct
terms. See, ' If the question be, whether that be law which the
Lords and Commons have once declared to be so, who shall be the
Judge ? Not his Majesty ; for the King judgeth not of matters of law
but by his courts, and his courts, though sitting by his authority,
expect not his assent in matters of law. Nor any other courts, for
they cannot judge in that case because they are inferior, no appeal
lying to them from Parliament, the judgment whereof is, in the eye of
the law, the King's judgment, in his highest court, though the King in
LAW OF NATURE. loi
LXXVII.
LAW OF NATURE.
I CANNOT fancy to myself what the law of nature means,
but the law of God. How should I know I ought not to
steal, I ought not to commit adultery, unless somebody had
told me so ? Surely 'tis because I have been told so. 'Tis
not because I think I ought not to do them, nor because
you think I ought not ; if so, our minds might change :
whence then comes the restraint? From a higher power;
nothing else can bind. I cannot bind myself, for I may
untie myself again ; nor an equal cannot bind me, for we lo
may untie one another. It must be a superior, even God
Almighty. If two of us make a bargain, why should either
his person be neither present nor assenting thereto.' Rushworth,
Collections, iv. 698.
This can hardly be distinguished from a claim to do what Selden
terms ' make law that was never heard of before.' Selden's restric-
tion appUes, of course, to Parliament sitting in its judicial, not in its
legislative capacity. See ' Power, State,' sec. 8, where he lays it down
that ' the Parliament of England has no arbitrary power in point of
Judicature, but in point of making law.'
1.2. I cannot fancy to myself Sic.'] This is Selden's position in
his treatise De Jure Naturali, &c., apud Ebraeos. He there treats the
Law of Nature as identical with certain precepts handed down by
Noah to his descendants. These precepts were of Divine origin, com-
municated by God to Adam, and by Adam to Noah. The same theory
win be found in Gratian's work on the Canon Law (written about 1150)
known as the Decretum Gratiani, and long an accepted authority for
the subject of which it treats. But it appears there in a different form
and without the laboured proofs which Selden accumulates from
Jewish traditional sources. See ' Humanum genus duobus regitur,
naturali videlicet jure et moribus. Jus naturae est, quod in lege et
evangelio continetur, quo quisque jubetur alii facere quod sibi vult
fieri, et prohibetur alii inferre quod sibi nolit fieri. Unde Christus
in Evangelio : " Omnia quaecunque vultis ut faciant vobis homines,
et vos, eadem facite illis. Haec est enim lex et prophetae."
' Hinc Isodorus in V libro Etymologiarum [c. 2] ait. Omnes leges
aut divinae sunt aut humanae. Divinae natura, humanae moribus
constant' Corpus Juris Canonici. Friedberg, vol. i. p. i (ed. 2, 1879).
[02 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
Df US stand to it ? What need you care what you say, or
svhat need I care what I say ? Certainly because there is
something about me that tells me fides est servanda, and if
sve after alter our minds, and make a new bargain, there's
Hdes servanda there too.
LXXVIII.
LEARNING.
1. No man is the wiser for his learning; it may admin-
ister matter to work in, or objects to work upon, but wit
and wisdom are born with a man.
2. Most men's learning is nothing but history dully
taken up. If I quote Thomas Aquinas for some tenet, and
believe it because the schoolmen say so, that's but history.
Few men make themselves masters of the things they write
or speak.
3. The Jesuits and the lawyers of France, and the Low
Countrymen, have engrossed all learning. The rest of the
world make nothing but homilies.
4. 'Tis observable, that in Athens where the arts
flourished, they were governed by a democracy ; learning
made them think themselves as wise as anybody, and they
would govern as well as others ; and they spake, as it were
by way of contempt, that in the east and in the north they
had kings. And why ? Because the most part of them fol-
lowed their business ; and if some man had made himself
wiser than the rest, he governed them, and they willingly
submitted to him. Aristotle makes the observation. And as
1. 26. Aristotle makes the observation] See JJapa ravTrjv &' aWo fiovapxw
eibos, oXai nap' iviois eltri fiacriKelai rav ^ap^apav. 'E^ovcn 8' aJrai tijk
hivajuv Traaai TrapairXrjiTiav TVpawiKJj, ela\ &' optas Kara vofiov Ka\ jrarpiKal' 8ia
yap TO 8ov\iKa)T€poi eivai ra ydr] (pvo'fi 01 fiiv /3ap|3apoi tS>v 'EXKrjvav, oi 8e Ttepi
TrjV 'Atrial' twv rrtpX ttjv Eipamriv, VTTop,ivov<Ti Tr)V hea'noTiKTjV apx^v oiiBcv
dvaxfpaivovres. — Politics, iii. 14. 6.
LEARNING. — LECTURERS. 103
in Athens, the philosophers made the people knowing, and
therefore they thought themselves wise enough to govern,
so does preaching with us, and that makes us aiTect a
democracy ; for upon these two grounds we all would be
governors ; either because we think ourselves as wise as
the best, or because we think ourselves the elect, and have
the spirit, and the rest a company of reprobates that belong
to the devil.
LXXIX.
LECTURERS.
I. Lecturers do in a parish church what the friars did 10
heretofore ; get away not only the affections, but the
bounty, that should be bestowed upon the minister.
Kai 8ia tovt' l(ras e^a<TiK€vovTO Trporepov, on irwaviou ^p evpiiv avhpas rroKv
SicupepovTas Kar' apeTTjv, aWtus re Kai tots piKpas olKoivTas noXeis. *Eri 8' aTr*
evfpyeirias KaSicrTiKrav tovs ^acriXeiy, oTTfp iaTiv fpyov tS>v ayadiov avbpSiv.
'ETret he <rvvc^aive yiyveadm jroXXois Spoiovs npos apeTr/v, ovkcti impepov aX\'
i^TjTovv Koivov Ti, Kai iTokiTfiav Kadlaraa-ap, — iii. 14. 11.
He shows elsewhere how at Athens successive popular leaders and
demagogues aimep rvpavpa Tu Srjpa xapt^opfpoi Tfjv iroXiTciav ds Tr]v vvv
StipoKpaTiav KariiTTqfTap. — ii. 12. 4 and 5.
1. 10. Lecturers do in a parish church &c.] In the early part of
Charles's reign, the lecturers were under the control of the bishops,
and we have frequent proof of the trouble which they caused, and of
the pains taken by Laud and by other bishops to keep a tight hand
upon them, and to see that they did not abuse the somewhat anomalous
position which they occupied as licensed trespassers on another man's
ground. By the parliamentary party they were regarded with great
favour, and were, so to say, established by an Order of the House
(Sept. 6, 1641) ' that it shall be lawful for the Parishioners of any Parish
in the Kingdom of England or Dominion of Wales, to set up a lecture,
and to maintain an orthodox minister at their own charge, to preach
every Lord's day where there is no preaching, and to preach one day
in every week where there is no weekly lecture.'
' Thus (says Nalson) did they set up a spiritual Militia of those
lecturers who were to marshall their troops . . . neither parsons.
104 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
2. Lecturers get a great deal of money, because they
preach the people tame [as a man watches a hawk] and
then they do what they list with them.
3. The lecture in Black-friars, performed by officers
of the armjf, tradesmen, and ministers, is as if a great
man should make a feast, and he would have his cook
dress one dish, and his coachman another, his porter a
third, &c.
vicars, nor curates, but like the order of the Friers Predicants among
the Papists, who run about tickUng the people's ears with stories of
legends and miracles, in the meantime picking their pockets, which
were the very faculties of these men.' Nalson, Collections, ii. 447, 8.
1. 2. as a man watches a hawk] i. e. forces it to watch ; keeps it
without sleep. For this obsolete use of the word, conf :
'Another way I have to man my haggard.
To make her come and know her keeper's call.
That is to watch her, as we watch these kites
That bate and beat and will not be obedient . . .
Last night she slept not, nor to-night she shall not,' &c.
Taming of the Shrew, iv. sc. i.
' my lord shall never rest,
I '11 watch him tame.' Othello, iii. sc. 3.
This is still a known method by which wild hawks are tamed : see
' I have trained haggards or wild hawks perfectly in three weeks.
This is done by keeping them awake at night and during the day,
until tame.' Corballis, Forty-five Years of Sport. Falconry, p. 463.
1. 4. The lecture in Black-friars &c.] By 1647, after a good deal
of alarm had been caused to the Presbyterian party by the grow-
ing influence of the Independents, and after several efforts had been
made to put down their unUcensed preaching in the army and else-
where, ' liberty of conscience was now become the great charter ; and
men who were inspired, preached and prayed when and where they
would. Cromwell himself was the greatest preacher ; and most of the
officers of the army, and many common soldiers, shewed their gifts
that way.' Clarendon, Hist. iii. 175.
Walker, in his History of Independency, gives a specimen of a
common soldier's sermon, preached in 1649; and tells how, on the
Sunday after Easter day, six preachers militant at Whitehall tired the
patience of their hearers, until at last the Spirit of the Lord called up
Oliver Cromwell, who spent an hour in prayer and an hour and a half
in a sermon. Part ii. pp. 152, 153 (ed. of 1660).
LIBELS. — LORDS BEFORE THE PARLIAMENT. 105
LXXX.
LIBELS.
Though some make slight of libels, yet you may see by
them how the wind sits. As take a straw and throw it up
into the air, you shall see by that which way the wind is,
which you shall not do by casting up a stone. More solid
things do not shew the complexion of the times so well as
ballads and libels.
LXXXI.
LITURGY.
1. There is no church without a liturgy, nor indeed can
there be conveniently, as there is no school without a 10
grammar. One scholar may be taught otherwise upon
the stock of his acumen, but not a whole school. One or
two that are piously disposed, may serve themselves their
own way, but hardly a whole nation.
2. To know what was generally believed in all ages, the
way is to consult the liturgies, not any private man's
writing. As if you would know how the Church of Eng-
land serves God, go to the Common-prayer book, consult
not this, or that man. Besides, Hturgies never compHment^,
nor use high expressions. The fathers oft-times speak 20
oratoriously.
LXXXII.
LORDS BEFORE THE PARLIAMENT.
I. Great lords, by reason of their flatterers, are the first
that know their own virtues, and the last that know their
' Compliment'] complement, MSS.
io6 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
own vices. Some of them are ashamed upwards, because
their ancestors were too great. Others are ashamed
downwards, because they are too mean.
2. The prior of St. John of Jerusalem is said to be
primus baro Anglice, the first baron of England ; because
being last of the spiritual barons, he chose to be first of
the temporal. He was a kind of an otter, a knight half
spiritual, and half temporal.
3. Question. Whether is every baron a baron of some
3 place ?
Answer. 'Tis according to his patent. Of late years
they have been made baron of some place, but anciently
not, called only by their sirname, or the sirname of some
family into which they have been married.
4. The making of new lords lessens all the rest. 'Tis
in the business of lords as 'twas with St. Nicholas's image :
the countryman, you know, could not find in his heart^ to
adore the new image, made of his own plum-tree, though
he had formerly worshipped the old one. The lords that
oare ancient we honour, because we know not whence they
were ; but the new ones we slight, because we know their
beginning.
5. For the Irish lords here to take upon them in Eng-
' In his heart, H. 2] in his own heart, H.
1. 4. The prior of St. John &c.] See Excursus D.
1. II. ' Tis according to his patent 8i.ci] See Seidell's Titles of Honour,
Part ii. ch. 5, sec. 28, where the whole subject is discussed at length,
and illustrations are given of the earlier and later forms of patents of
nobility. Works, iii. 774.
1. 23. For the Irish lords here &c.] In 1626 a petition was addressed
to the King, complaining that Scotch and Irish Lords, presuming on
a precedence which had been granted them by courtesy, ' do by reason
of some late created dignities in those kingdoms of Scotland and
Ireland, claim precedency of the peers of this realm, which tends
both to the disservice of your Majesty and these realms, and to the
great disparagement of the English nobility. . . .
' We therefore humbly beseech your Majesty that . . . some course
may be taken ... so as the inconvenience to your Majesty may be
LORDS IN THE PARLIAMENT. 107
land, is as if the cook in the friars ^ should come to my lady
Kent's kitchen, and take upon him to roast the meat there,
because he is a cook in another place.
LXXXIII.
LORDS IN THE PARLIAMENT.
I. The lords' giving protections is a scorn upon them.
A protection means nothing actively, but passively. He
• In the friars, H. original reading, 'friars' restored in the margin in a
with ' fayrs ' written over it, and with different hand] faires, H. 2 ; fayers, S.
prevented, and the prejudice and disparagement of the Peers and
nobility of this kingdom be redressed.' Rushworth, Collections, i. 233.
Among the reasons given in support of the petition is a statement
that these Scotch and Irish Lords, whatever titles they bear, are ' in
the eye of the Law no more than mere Plebeians.'
1. I. cook in the friars] After the death of the Earl of Kent, Selden
lived with the Countess Dowager, generally at her house in Whitefriars.
The obtrusive ' cook in the Friars ' may be understood therefore as
the cook from some neighbour's house. The var. lee. ' fair ' or ' fairs '
seems to have been put in by some one who did not bear in mind
where Selden had been domiciled.
1. 5. The lords' giving protections &c.] The effect of a protection was
that the person holding it could not be arrested for debt. It was right-
fully given to a servant of a member of either House, and was sought
and obtained and used by many persons who had no rightful claim to it,
and who used it to evade payment of their just debts.
In 1641 a petition was delivered to the Commons by divers citizens
of London, against the abuses of Parliamentary protections, alleging
that if there were not some speedy order for the calling in or regu-
lating the same, they would occasion the undoing of many families.
Rushworth, Collections, iv. 279.
It appears from the Lords' Journals that this petition was addressed
to both Houses, and was considered by both. A few days afterwards
a Committee of the House sat, and concluded that divers protections
should be annulled, some being surreptitiously obtained, others pro-
cured by persons of ability, on purpose to defeat their creditors, iv. 282.
This abuse of protections was felt by London tradesmen as a greater
grievance than ship-money, iv. 396.
io8 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
that is a servant to a parliament-man is thereby protected.
What a scorn is it to a person of honour to put his hand
and seal to two lies at once, that such a man is my servant,
and employed by me ; when haply he never saw the man
in his life, nor before never heard of him !
2. The lords' protesting is foolish. To protest is pro-
perly to save to a man's self some right. But to protest
as the lords protest, when they themselves are involved,
'tis no more than if I should go into Smithfield, and sell
lo my horse, and take the money ; and yet when I have your
money, and you my horse, I should protest this horse is
mine, because I love the horse, or I do not know why
I do protest, because my opinion is contrary to the rest.
Ridiculous! when they say the bishops anciently did
1.6. The lords' protesting is fooUshl. The first formal protest of the
Lords was on Sept. 9, 1641, against a resolution of the House for
printing and publishing a former order concerning Divine Service,
while a question was pending as to a conference between the two
Houses on the subject. Six lords protested, and their protest of dis-
assent to the vote was entered on the Journals of the House. Rogers,
Protests of the Lords, vol. i. p. 7.
There were two more protests in that year, and several in the year
following. Rogers defends the practice as being, at that time, a
courageous avowal of sympathy with the Parliamentary party. He
remarks, further, that under the old rules of the House of Lords, the
division lists were entered on the Journals, but that in 1641 this had
ceased to be done, so that a formal protest of dissent was then the
only method by which an adverse vote could be recorded.
1. 14. when they say the bishops anciently did protest &c.] This perhaps
refers to a speech which had been made by Hyde (better known as
Lord Clarendon) in defence of Geoffrey Palmer. After the vote of
the Commons in favour of the Remonstrance of 1641, and when the
motion before the House was that the Remonstrance should be
printed, Palmer, one of the minority, had, with others, claimed a
right to protest, in the event of the motion being carried. He was
called to account for this as a breach of privilege, and in the course of
the debate on the matter Hyde said : ' He was not old enough to know
the ancient customs of that House ; but that he well knew it was a
very ancient custom in the House of Peers, and leave was never there
denied to any man who asked that he might protest, and enter his
MARRIAGE. — MARRIAGE OF COUSIN-GERMANS. 109,
protest, it was only dissenting, and that in the case of the
pope.
LXXXIV.
MARRIAGE.
1. Of all actions of a man's life, his marriage does least
concern other people ; yet of all actions of our life, 'tis
most meddled with by other people.
2. Marriage is nothing but a civil contract. 'Tis true
'tis an ordinance of God ; so is every other contract ; God
commands me to keep it, when I have made it.
3. Marriage is a desperate thing. The frogs in iEsop 10
were extreme wise, they had a great mind to some water,
but they would not leap into the well, because they could
not get out again.
4. We single out particulars, and apply God's pro-
vidence to them. Thus when two are married, and have
undone one another, they cry it was God's providence
we should come together, when God's providence does
equally concur to everything.
LXXXV,
MARRIAGE OF COUSIN-GERMANS.
Some men forbear to marry cousin-germans out of this 20
kind of scruple of conscience, because 'twas unlawful
dissent against any judgment of the House to which he would not be
understood to have given his consent.' Clarendon, Hist. vol. i. 489.
1. 21. because 'twas unlawful before the Reformation &c.] The more
ancient prohibition of the Canon Law was to the seventh generation :
' De affinitate consanguinitatis per gradus cognationis, placuit usque ad
septimam generationem observari. And the same was the law of the
Church of England . . . But in the 4th Council of Lateran, which was
held in the year of our Lord 1215, the prohibition was reduced to the
fourth degree . . . which limitation was also the rule of the Church of
110 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
before the Reformation, and is still in the Church of Rome.
And so by reason their grandfather, or their great grand-
father did not do it, upon that old score they think they
ought not to do it ; as some men forbear flesh upon Friday,
not reflecting upon the statute, which with us makes it un-
lawful, but out of an old score, because the Church of
Rome forbids it, and their forefathers always forbore flesh
upon that day. Others forbear it out of a natural consider-
ation, because it is observed (for example) in beasts, if
two couple of a near kin, the breed proves not so good.
The same observation they make in plants and trees, which
degenerate being grafted upon the same stock. And 'tis
also farther observed, those matches between cousin-
germans seldom prove fortunate. But for the lawfulness,
there is no colour but cousin-germans in England may
marry, both by the law of God and man : for with us we
have reduced all the degrees of marriage to those in the
Levitical law, and 'tis plain there's nothing against it. As
for that that is said, cousin-germans once removed may not
o marry, and therefore, being a further degree may not, 'tis
presumed a nearer should not ^, no man can tell what it
means.
LXXXVI.
MEASURE OF THINGS.
I. We measure from ourselves, and as things are for our
use and purpose, so we approve them. Bring a pear to
' And therefore being a further degree is inserted after ' being.' Tlierestisas
may not, tis presumed a nearer should in S.
not, S.] omitted in H. In H. 2 ' it is '
England ; as appears, not only by this Statute (i. e. by 32 Henry VIII,
cap. 38, declaring as a new rule that all marriages are lawful if beyond
the Levitical degrees) but also by the frequent dispensations for the
fourth degree, and no further, which we meet with in our ecclesiastical
records, as granted here by special authority from the see of Rome.'
Gibson, Codex, p. 411.
MEASURE OF THINGS.— DIFFERENCE OF MEN. iii
the table that is rotten, we cry it down, 'tis naught ; but
bring a medlar that is rotten, and 'tis a fine thing ; and yet
I warrant you, the pear thinks as well of itself as the medlar
does.
2. We measure the excellency of other men, by some
excellency we conceive to be in ourselves. Nash, a poet
poor enough (as poets use to be), seeing an alderman with
his gold chain, upon his great horse, said by way of scorn to
one of his companions, Do you see yon fellow, how goodly,
how big he looks ? why that fellow cannot make a blank lo
verse.
3. Nay, we measure the excellency of God from our-
selves. We measure his goodness, his justice, his wisdom,
by something we call just, good, or wise in ourselves ; and
in so doing, we judge proportionably to the country-fellow
in the play, who said. If he were a king, he would live like
a lord, and have peas and bacon every day, and a whip that
cried slash.
LXXXVII.
DIFFERENCE OF MEN.
The difference of men is very great. You would scarce 20
think them to be of the same species, and yet it consists
more in the affection than in the intellect. For as in
the strength of body, two men shall be of an equal
strength, yet one shall appear stronger than the other,
because he exercises, and puts forth his strength ; the
other will not stir nor strain himself. So 'tis in the
strength of the brain ; the one endeavours, and strains,
and labours, and studies ; the other sits still, and is idle,
and takes no pains, and therefore he appears so much
the inferior. 3°
112 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
LXXXVIII.
MINISTER DIVINE.
1. The imposition of hands upon the minister, when all
is done, will be nothing but a designation of a person to
this or that office or employment in the church. 'Tis a
ridiculous phrase that of the canonists, conferre ordines.
'Tis cooptare aliquem in ordtnem, to make a man one of us
one of our number, one of our order. So Cicero would
understand what I said, it being a phrase borrowed from
the Latins, and to be understood proportionably to what
3 was amongst them.
2. Those words you now use in making a minister,
Receive the Holy Ghost, were used among the Jews in
1. 5. conferre ordines.] This is the phrase used by Aquinas
passim. Conf. e.g. Summa Theolog. Supplem. pt. iii. quaest. 34,
art. 3.
1. 12. were used among the Jews &c.] This seems to have been
somewhat loosely reported. Selden, in his In Eutychii Origines
Commentarius, treats at length of the process by which judges, and
elders, and chief doctors of the law, were appointed among the Jews.
' Quisquis in potestatem judiciariam seu causarum rite cognoscendarum
facultatem evehendus erat, is per manuum impositionem, verbis
insuper de creatione conceptis, dignitatem eam regulariter adipisce-
batur; adeo ut dein dignus seu idoneus haberetur qui in synedria,
sive vigintitriumviralia sive septuagintauniusvirale cooptari legitime
posset, ibique judiciis prseesse.' Works, vol. ii. p. 436.
He does not say that the words ' receive the Holy Ghost ' were any
part of the ceremony, but only that it was believed that the Holy
Spirit rested on those who had been thus duly appointed. ' Internus
ordinationis effectus habebatur eis ejusmodi, ut Spiritus Sanctus ....
super ordinatos quiesceret. De LXX Senioribus Mosi ejusmodi
ordinatione adscitis, et de eis qui seculis sequentibus rite ordina-
bantur, aiunt Et quievit super eos Majestas divina, quam et Spiritum
Sanctum vocitant.' p. 438.
Alting, like Selden, traces the custom from very early days, froni
the appointment by Moses of the seventy elders, and from the
appointment of Joshua as Moses' successor. Conf ' Tertius (ritus)
est manus impositio .... unde tota promotionis solennitas ....
MINISTER DIVINE. 113
making of a lawyer ; from thence we have them ; which is
a villainous key to something; as if you would have some
other kind of prefecture, than a mayoralty, and yet keep
the same ceremony that was used in making the mayor.
3. A priest has no such thing as an indelible character.
What difference do you find betwixt him and another man
after ordination ? Only he is made a priest (as I said) by
designation ; as a lawyer is called to the bar, then made a
X^ipoBea-la appellari consuevit.' Historia promotionum Academicarum
apud Hebraeos (1652), p. 108.
In an earlier part of the treatise, speaking of Joshua's appointment
per impositionem manus, he adds ' Atque hie notandum venit Sym-
bolum secundum in Magistrorum promotionibus adhibitum, x^i-po^ea-ias
ritus, a Deo ipso, si non usurpatus in Mosis inauguratione, saltern
huic praescriptus.' p. 82.
But there is no mention by Alting of the use of the ^vords, ' receive
the Holy Ghost,' fully and particularly as he describes every detail of
the ceremony in use. Nor do the words in the text, ' in making of a
lawyer,' adequately express the rank and authority conferred. That
the imposition of hands was copied by the Christians from the old
Jewish rite Selden does say, and this is probably what he ought here
to have been reported as saying. Works, ii. p. 439.
1. 5. an indelible character^] Aquinas insists on the indelible char-
acter of orders of all ranks, of the minor not less than of the priestly.
Summa Theolog. Supplem. pt. iii. quaest. 35, art. 2.
'If anyone saith that in the three Sacraments, Baptism to wit.
Confirmation, and Order, there is not imprinted in the soul a char-
acter, that is, a certain spiritual and indelible sign ... let him be
anathema.' Session vii. Of the Sacraments, Canon ix. Canons, &c.,
of the Council of Trent.
' Forasmuch as in the Sacrament of Order, a character is imprinted
which can neither be effaced nor taken away ; the holy Synod
condemns the opinion of those who assert that those who have once
been rightly ordained can again become Laymen.' Session xxiii. ch. 4.
On the other hand, Bingham, a very safe authority, quotes Calvin
as saying that the indelibility of orders ' was a fable, first invented in
the schools of the ignorant monks, and that the ancients were
altogether strangers to it : and that it had more of the nature of a
magical enchantment than of the sound doctrine of the Gospel in it,'
&c. Bingham himself concludes against it as a Romish superstition.
The whole subject is gone into very fully in Part ii. of his Discussion
on lay-baptism. Bingham, Works, vol. ix. p. 150 ff.
I
114 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
Serjeant. All men that would get power over others, make
themselves as unlike them as they can ; upon the same
ground the priests made themselves unlike the laity.
4. A minister when he is made, is materia prima, apt for
any form the state will put upon him ; but of himself he can
do nothing. Like a doctor of law in the university ; he
has a great deal of law in him, but cannot use it till he
be made somebody's chancellor: or like a physician,
before he be received into a house, he can give nobody
10 physic ; indeed after the master of the house has given
him charge of his servants, then he may. Or like a suf-
fragan, that could do nothing but give orders, and yet
he was a bishop^.
5. A minister should preach according to the articles of
religion established in the church where he lives. To be
a civil lawyer, let a man read Justinian, and the body of law,
to conform his brain to that way ; but when he comes to
practise, he must make use of it so far as it concerns the
law received in his own country. To be a physician, let
20 a man read Galen and Hippocrates; but when he practises,
he must apply his medicines according to the temper of
those men's bodies with whom he lives, and have respect
to the heat and cold of the climate ; otherwise that which
in Pergamus (where Galen lived) was physic, in our cold
chmate may be poison. So to be a divine, let him read the
whole body of divinity, the fathers and the schoolmen;
but when he comes to practise, he must use it and apply
it according to those grounds and articles of religion that
are established in the church, and this with sense.
30 6. There be four things a minister should be at ; the con-
' He was a bishop'] he ^vas no Bishop, MSS.
1. 12. and yet he was a bishop] The reading in the MSS. and in
the early printed editions is 'he was no Bishop.' This spoils the
argument and is untrue in fact. See ' Bishops before the Parliament '
MINISTER DIVINE. 115
denary part, ecclesiastical story, school divinity, and the
casuists.
(i) In the concionary part, he must read all the chief
fathers, both Latin and Greek, wholly ; St. Austin, St.
Ambrose, St. Chrysostom, both the Gregories, and ^ Ter-
tullian, Clemens Alexandrinus, and Epiphanius, which last
have more learning in them than all the rest, and write
freely.
(2) For ecclesiastical story, let him read Baronius, with
the Magdeburgenses, and be his own judge ; the one being 10
extremely for the papists, the other extremely for the pro-
testants.
(3) For school divinity, let him get Cavellus's^ edition of
Scotus or Mayro", where there be quotations that direct
you to every schoolman, where such and such questions
are handled. Without school divinity, a divine knows
nothing logically, nor will be able to satisfy a rational man
out of the pulpit.
(4) The study of the casuists must follow the study of the
schoolmen, because the division of their cases is according 20
to their divinity ; otherwise he that begins with them will
know little, as he that begins with the study of the reports
' The Gregories and H. 2] the ^ Cavellus] Javellus, MSS.
Gregories, &c., H. =■ Mayro] Mayco, MSS.
I. 13. Cavellus — Mayro] The reading of the MSS. and of the early
editions is ' Javellus ' and ' Mayco,' which (as Mr. Singer has pointed
out) must be incorrect. Some of Duns Scotus' writings were edited
in 1620 by Hugo Cavellus (i.e. Mac Caghwell) a Roman Catholic
Archbishop of Armagh. In 1639 there was a complete edition of
Duns Scotus published with variorum notes, in which H. Cavellus is
one of several commentators cited.
Mayro, or Franciscus de Mayronis, a voluminous ecclesiastical
writer, belongs to the first half of the fourteenth century. He was a
disciple of Duns Scotus, and was known among the Franciscans as
Doctor lUuminatus. A complete list of his writings will be found in
Wadding's Scriptores Ordinis Minorum.
I a
ii6 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
and cases in the common law, will thereby know little of
the law. Casuists may be of admirable use, if discreetly
dealt with, though among them you shall have many leaves
together very impertinent. A case well decided would
stick by a man, they would remember it whether they will
or no, whereas a quaint exposition dies in the birth. The
main thing is to know where to search ; for talk they what
they will of vast memories, no man will presume upon his
own memory for anything he means to write or speak in
I pubHc.
7. Go and teach all nations. This was said to all
Christians that then were, before the distinction of clergy
and laity ; there have been since men designed to preach
only by the state, as some men are designed to study the
law, others to study physic. When the Lord's Supper
was instituted, there were none present but the disciples.
Shall none then but ministers receive ?
8. There is all the reason you should believe your
minister, unless you have studied divinity as well as he,
> or more than he.
9. 'Tis a foolish thing to say, a minister must not meddle
with secular matters, because his own profession will take
up the whole man. May he not eat, or drink, or walk, or
learn to sing ? The meaning of that is, he must seriously
intend his calling.
10. Ministers with the papists [that is, their priests] have
much respect ; with the puritans they have much, and that
upon the same ground, they pretend to come both of them
immediately from Christ; but with the protestants they
> have very little ; the reason whereof is,— in the beginning
of the Reformation they were glad to get such to take
livings as they could procure by any invitations, things of
1. 25. intend] i. e. give his mind to.
1. 32. things of pitiful condition] Archbishop Parker, in a letter to
the Bishop of London, written circa 1560, says that owing to the
MINISTER DIVINE. 117
pitiful condition. The nobility and gentry would not suffer
their sons or kindred to meddle with the church, and there-
fore at this day, when they see a parson, they think him
to be such a thing still, and there they will keep him, and
use him accordingly ; if he be a gentleman born, that is
singled out, and he is used the more respectively.
II. That the protestant minister is least regarded,
appears by the old story of the keeper of the CHnk. He
had priests of several sorts sent unto him ; as they came
in, he asked them who they were ; who are you ? to the 10
first. I am a priest of the Church of Rome. You are
welcome, quoth the keeper, there are those will take care
of you. And who are you ? A silenced minister. You are
welcome too, I shall fare the better for you. And who are
you ? A minister of the Church of England. O God help
me (quoth the keeper) I shall get nothing by you, I am
sure you may lie and starve, and rot, before anybody will
look after you.
great want of ministers, the bishops had ' heretofore admitted into the
ministry sundry artificers and others not traded and brought up in
learning ; and as it happened in a multitude some that were of base
occupations.'
These men are termed 'very offensive to the people; yea, and to
the wise of this realm ; they were thought to do a great deal more
hurt than good ; the Gospel thereby sustaining slander.' Strype, Life
of Parker, bk. ii. ch. iv.
Even in Selden's day, the clergy were a mixed multitude, some of
them (according to Sir Edward Deering) ' so poor that they cannot
attend their ministry but are fain to keep schools, nay alehouses some
of them.' Nalson, Collections, vol. i. 760.
1. 8. the Clink] The clink, according to Stow, was a prison,
adjoining the Bishop of Winchester's House in Southwark, used in
old time for such as should brabble, fray, or break the peace. Survey
of London, bk. iv. p. 8 (ed. of 1720, 2 vols, folio). |
For the use to which it was put afterwards, see Foxe (Acts and
Monuments), who says that Bishops Hooper and Rogers, after being
questioned by the Bishop of Winchester, were ' carried to the Clink,
a prison not far from the Bishop of Winchester's house.' Vol. vi.
p. 650, and again, p. 691 (8 vols. 1849).
[i8 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
12. Methinks 'tis an ignorant thing for a churchman to
call himself the minister of Christ, because St. Paul, or the
A^postles called themselves so. If one of them had a voice
from heaven, as St. Paul had, I will grant he is a minister
of Christ, and I will call him so too. Must they take upon
them as the Apostles did ? Can they do as the Apostles
could ? The Apostles had a mark to be known by, spoke
tongues, cured diseases, trod upon serpents, &c. Can they
do this ? If a gentleman tell me he will send his man to
me, and I did not know his man, but he gave me this mark
to know him by, he should bring in his hand a rich jewel ;
if a fellow came to me with a pebble-stone, had I any reason
to beheve that he was the gentleman's man ?
LXXXIX.
MONEY.
1. Money makes a man laugh. A blind fiddler playing
to a company, and playing but scurvily, the company
laughed at him ; his boy that led him, perceiving it, cried.
Father, let us be gone, they do nothing but laugh at you.
Hold thy peace, boy, says the fiddler, we shall have their
money presently, and then we will laugh at them.
2. Euclid was beaten in Boccaline, for teaching his
1. 21. Euclid was beaten, &c.] See Boccalini, I Ragguagli di
Parnasso (Advertisements from Parnassus), Century H. Advert. 3 ;
p. 201 in the Earl of Monmouth's translation.
The book is a curious medley. The scene is laid at Apollo's court
on Parnassus — a great central Academy, at which news arrives, from
time to time, of all dates, and from all quarters of the world (as e. g.
in the text), and where various characters, ancient and modern, poets,
philosophers, politicians, and historians, come up to be judged and
have their proper rank assigned to them. It is a court of universal
reference, open perpetually to hear complaints and to settle literary
disputes. Sentence is given sometimes by Apollo in person, some-
times by his deputies. See also 'War,' sec. 11 and note.
MONEY. — MORAL HONESTY. 119
scholars a mathematical figure in his schools, whereby he
shewed that all the lives both of princes and private men
tended to one centre, con gentilezza handsomely to get
money out of other men's pockets, and put it into their
own.
3. The pope used heretofore to send the princes of
Christendom to fight against the Turk ; but prince and
pope finely juggled together ; the moneys were raised,
and some men went out to the holy war, but commonly
after they had got the money, the Turk was pretty quiet, 1°
and the prince and the pope shared it betwixt them.
4. In all times the princes in England have done some-
thing illegally, to get money. But then came a parliament,
and all was well; the people and the prince kissed and
were friends, and so things were quiet for a while. After-
wards there was another trick found out to get money,
and after they had got it, another parliament was called to
set all right, &c. But now they have so outrun the con-
stable
XC.
MORAL HONESTY. 20
They that cry down moral honesty, cry down that which
is a great part of religion, my duty towards God, and my
duty toward man. What care I to see a man run after
a sermon, if he cozen and cheat me as soon as he comes
home ? On the other side, morahty must not be without
religion, for if so, it may change, as I see convenience.
Religion must govern it. He that has not religion to
govern his morality, is not a dram better than my mastiff-
dog ; so long as you stroke him, and please him, and do
not pinch him, he will play with you as finely as may be, 3°
he's a very good moral mastiff; but if you hurt him, he
will fly in your face, and tear out your throat.
I20 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
XCI.
MORTGAGE.
In case I receive a .^looo, and mortgage as much land as
is worth ;^2ooo to you, if I do not pay the money at such
a day. I fail ; whether you may take my land and keep it
in point of conscience ?
Answer. If you had my land as a security only for your
money, then you are not to keep it ; but if we bargained so,
that if I did not repay your i^iooo, my land should go for
it, be it what it will, no doubt you may with a safe
lo conscience keep it; for in these things all the obligation
is, servare jidem.
XCII.
NUMBER.
All those mysterious things they observe in numbers,
come to nothing, upon this very ground ; because number
in itself is nothing, has nothing to do with nature, but is
merely of human imposition, a mere sound. For example,
■ when I cry one o'clock, two o'clock, three o'clock, that is
but man's division of time, the time itself goes on ; and it
had been all one in nature, if those hours had been called
209, 10, and II. So when they say the seventh son is
fortunate, it means nothing; for if you count from the
seventh backwards, then the first is the seventh ; and why
is not he likewise fortunate ?
1. 14. number in itself is nothing\ Numbering, Hobbes says, is an
act of the mind ; and by division of space or of time ' I do not mean
the severing or pulling asunder of one space or time from another
(for does any man think that one hemisphere may be separated from
the other hemisphere, or the first hour from the second?), but
diversity of consideration.' Hobbes, Computation or Logic, pt. ii.
ch. 7, sees. 3 and 5.
MORTGAGE. — OATHS. 121
XCIII.
OATHS.
1. Swearing was another thing with the Jews than with
us, because they might not pronounce the name of the
Lord Jehovah.
2. There is no oath scarcely, but we swear to things we
are ignorant of: for example, the oath of supremacy : how
many know how the king is king ? what are his right and
prerogative ? So how many know what are the privileges
of the parliament, and the hberty of the subject, when they
take the protestation ? But the meaning is, they will defend 1°
them when they know them. As if I should swear I would
take part with all that wear red ribbons in their hats ; it
may be I do not know which colour is red ; but when 1 do
know, and see a red ribbon in a man's hat, then will I take
his part.
3. I cannot conceive how an oath is imposed, where
there is a parity, viz', in the House of Commons ; they are
all pares inter se, only one brings a paper, and shews it the
rest, they look upon it, and in their own sense take it.
Now they are but pares to me, who am one of the house ^, 20
for I do not acknowledge myself their subject; if I did,
then, no question, I was bound by oath of their imposing.
'Tis to me but reading a paper in my own sense.
4. There is a great difference between an assertory oath
' One of the house'] none of the house, MSS.
1.9. when they take the protestation\ The form of oath agreed upon,
and taken by the members of the House of Commons, was as follows :
' I, A. B., do, in the Presence of Almighty God, promise, vow, and
protest, to maintain and defend .... the Power and Privileges of
Parliament, the lawful rights and liberties of the Subject, and every
person that maketh this protestation, in whatsoever he shall do in the
lawful pursuance of the same' (May 3, 1641). Commons Journals,
ii. 132.
122 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
and a promissory oath. An assertory oath is made to man
before God, and I must swear so, as man may know what
I mean. But a promissory oath is made to God only, and
I am sure he knows my meaning. So in the new oath it
runs [Whereas I believe in my conscience, &c. I will assist
thus and thus]; that whereas gives me an outloose, for if
I do not beUeve so, for aught I know, I swear not at all.
5. In a promissory oath, the mind I am in is a good inter-
pretation ; for if there be enough happened to change my
10 mind, I do not know why I should not. If I promise to go
to Oxford tomorrow, and mean it when I say it, and after-
wards it appears to me that 'twill be my undoing, will you
say I have broken my promise if I stay at home ? Certainly
I must not go.
6. The Jews had this way with them concerning a pro-
missory oath or vow ; if one of them had vowed a vow,
which afterwards appeared to him to be very prejudicial,
by reason of something he either did not foresee, or did
not think of, when he made his vow ; if he made it known
20 to three of his countrymen, they had power to absolve him,
though he could not absolve himself; and that they picked
out of some words of the text. Perjury has only to do
1. 3. a promissory oath is made to God only] There seems no
reason for this Hmitation, nor does it agree with what Selden says
elsewhere. See 'All oaths are either promissory or assentatory
(assertatory ?) ; the first being that which binds to a future perform-
ance of trust ; the second that which is taken for the discovery of a
past or present truth. The first kind they .... used in taking the
oath of all the Barons for the maintenance of the great charter,' &c.
&c. Works, iii. p. 1533.
The statement in the text must be understood, therefore, as part
and parcel of the argument in sec. 3, which, so helped out, seems to
run thus — that since the oaths imposed by Parliament are promis-
sory oaths, and since only a superior can rightfully impose such oaths
or can give his own sense to them, it follows that any member of Par-
liament taking a Parliamentary promissory oath, takes it to God only,
and in any non-natural sense which he himself chooses mentally to
put upon it.
ORACLES. 123
with an assertory oath, and no man was punished for per-
jury by man's law till Queen Elizabeth's time ; 'twas left to
God as a sin against him. The reason was, because 'twas
so hard a thing to prove a man perjured ; I might mis-
understand him, and he swears as he thought ^.
7. When men ask me whether they may take it in their
own sense, 'tis to me, as if they should ask whether they
may go to such a place with their own legs. I would fain
know how they can go otherwise.
8. If the ministers that are in sequestered livings will 10
not take the engagement, threaten to turn them out and
put in the old ones, and then I'll warrant you they will
quickly take it. A gentleman having been rambhng two or
three days, at length came home, and being abed with his
wife, would fain have been at something that she was un-
willing to, and instead of complying, fell to chiding him for 1
his being abroad so long : Well, says he, if you will not,
call up Sue (his wife's chambermaid) ; upon that she [
yielded presently.
g. Now oaths are so frequent, they should be taken like 20
pills, swallowed whole : if you chew them you will find them I ^"
bitter : if you think what you swear, 'twill hardly go down.
XCIV.
ORACLES.
Oracles ceased presently after Christ, as soon as nobody
beheved them. Just as we have no fortune-tellers, nor
1 As he thought, H. 2] as the thought, H.
1. I. no man was punished for perjury till Queen Elisabeth! s time']
This was by 5 Eliz. ch. 9, sec. 2. Earlier statutes had dealt only with
the suborning of false witnesses, and had left the false witnesses
themselves untouched.
124 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
wise men, when nobody cares for them. Sometime you
have a season of them, when people believe them ; and
neither of these, I conceive, wrought by the devil.
XCV.
OPINION.
1. Opinion and affection extremely differ. I may affect
a woman best, but it does not follow I must think her the
handsomest woman in the world. I love apples best of
any fruit ; it does not follow that I must think apples to be
the best of fruit. Opinion is something wherein I go about
loto give reason why all the world should think as I think,
Affection is a thing wherein I only look after the pleasing
of myself
2. 'Twas a good fancy of an old Platonic : the gods which
are above men, had something whereof man did partake,
[an intellect, knowledge] and the gods kept on their course
quietly. The beasts, which are below men, had something
whereof man did partake [sense, and growth] and the
beasts lived quietly in their way ; but man had something
in him, whereof neither gods nor beasts did partake, which
1. 13. 'Twas a good fancy Sic] This bears some resemblance to a
passage in the Phaedrus (p. 247-249), in which the Gods are described
as borne aloft by winged horses of pure and noble breed, and as thus
keeping steadily in their course and in the possession of true know-
ledge. Other souls, whose horses are unequally yoked, one noble and
the other ignoble, cannot easily follow the upward movement of the
Gods, but are troubled and confused by the wild tricks of the ignoble
horse ; and if they are thrown out of their course, and fall to earth,
they suffer many disadvantages and are fed with opinion {Tpotpij So^acxTy
XpS>vTai) in the place of true knowledge. If Selden's reference is to
some later Platonist, this must have been the original which he had
in mind. It is one out of many variations on the regular Platonic
theme of the distinction between real and phenomenal existence and
between the faculties by which they are severally known.
OPINION. — PARITY. 125
gave him all the trouble, and made all the confusion we
see in the world ; and that is opinion.
3. 'Tis a foolish thing for me to be brought off from an
opinion in a thing neither of us know, but are led only
by some cobweb-stuff; as in such a case as this, Utrum
angeli invicem coUoquantur ? If I forsake my side in such
a case, I shew myself wonderfully light, or infinitely com-
plying, flattering the other party. But if I be in a business
of nature, and hold an opinion one way, and some man's
experience has found out the contrary, I may with a safe 10
reputation give up my side.
4. 'Tis a vain thing to talk of an heretic, for a man for
his heart can think no otherwise than he does think. In
the primitive times there were several opinions ; nothing
scarce but some or other held : one of these opinions
being embraced by some prince, and received into his
kingdom, the rest were condemned as heresies^; and
his religion, which was but one of the several opinions
first, is said to be orthodox and to have continued ever
since the Apostles. ^°
XCVI.
PARITY.
This is the jugghng trick of parity ; they would have
nobody above them, but they do not tell you they would
have nobody under them.
* Heresies, H. 2] heretics, H.
1. 5. Utrum angeli invicem coUoquantur ?\ This is a point which
Aquinas discusses at length, and on which he concludes in the
affirmative. Summa Theolog. pt. i. quaest. 107, art. i and 2.
I. 21. parity\ A term, in general use, for a form of Church govern-
ment by a body of Presbyters or elders and lay assessors all equal in
power, as opposed to Church government by bishops. It is so ex-
126 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
XCVII.
PARLIAMENT.
1. All are involved in a parliament. There was a time
when all men had their voice in choosing knights. About
Henry the Sixth they found the inconvenience; so one
parliament made a law, that only he that had forty shillings
per annum should give his voice, they under should be
excluded. They made the law who had the voices of all, as
well under forty shillings as above ; and thus it continues
at this day. All consent civilly in a parliament ; women
10 are involved in the men, children in those of perfect age,
those that are under forty shiUings a year in those that
have forty shillings a year, those of forty shillings in the
knights.
2. All things are brought to the parliament, little to the
courts of justice ; just as in a room where there is a ban-
quet presented, if there be persons of quality there, the
people must expect, and stay till the great ones have done.
plained, e.g. by Laud, in his sermon before Charles' second Parliament :
' I know there are some that think the Church is not yet far enough
beside the cushion; that their seats are too easy yet and too high too.
A parity they would have ; no bishop, no governor, but a parochial
consistory, and that should be lay enough too. Well, first, this parity
was never left to the Church by Christ. He left Apostles, and disciples
under them. No parity. It was never in use with the Church since
Christ ; no Church ever, anywhere, till this last age, without a bishop.
. . . And there is not a man that is for parity — all fellows in the Church
— but he is not for monarchy in the State.' Laud's Works, vol. i.
pp. 82, 83.
1.4. so one parliament made a law Sec] The Act 8 Henry VI, ch. 7,
recites that elections of knights of shires have been made by large and
excessive numbers of persons of small substance, and that riots and
disturbances are likely thence to arise. It enacts, accordingly, that
knights of shires to come to Parliament be chosen by residents in the
shire having free land or tenement worth at least a clear forty shillings
by the year.
By 10 Henry VI, ch. 2, it is further expressly said that the qualifying
estate must be a freehold.
PARLIAMENT. 127
3. The parliament in flying upon several men, and then
letting them alone, does as a hawk that flies a covey of
partridges, and when she has flown them a good way,
grows weary and takes a tree ; then the falconer lures her
down, and takes her to his fist ; on they go again, hei ret ;
up springs another covey ; away goes the hawk, and as
she did before, takes another tree, &c.
4. Dissentions^ in parliament may at length come to a
good end; though first there be a deal of do, and a great
deal of noise, which mad wild folks make ; just as in 10
brewing of wrest-beer, there is a great deal of business
in grinding the malt, and that spoils any man's clothes
that comes near it ; then it must be mashed ; then comes
a fellow in and drinks off the wort, and he's drunk ; then
they keep a huge quarter when they carry it into the
cellar, and a twelvemonth after 'tis delicate fine beer.
5. It must necessarily be that our distempers must be
worse than they were in the beginning of the parHament.
If a physician comes to a sick man he lets him blood, it
may be he scarifies him, cups him, puts him into a great 20
disorder, before he makes him well; and if he be sent
for to cure an ague, and he finds his patient has many
diseases, a dropsy, and a palsy, he applies remedies to
them all, which makes the cure the longer, and the dearer :
this is the case.
6. The parliament men are as great princes as any in the
world, when whatever they please is privilege of parlia-
ment ; no man must know the number of their privileges,
and whatsoever they dislike is breach of privilege. The
' Dissentions. H. n, written above the line] dissenters, H. and S.
1. 14. drinks off the wort] i. e. drinks some from the wort.
1. 15. /hey keep a huge quarter] i. e. they make a great noise or
disturbance. See Halliwell, Glossary of Archaic Words ; sub voce
' Quarter.'
1. 29. breach of privilege] Clarendon remarks, with instances, on
the extent to which this claim was made, and condemns, as Selden
128 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
duke of Venice is no more than the speaker of the house of
commons ; but the senate at Venice are not so much as
our pariiament men, nor have they that power over the
people, who yet exercise the greatest tyranny that is any-
where. In plain truth, breach of privilege is only the
actual taking away of a member of the house; the rest
are offences against the house. For example, to take out
process against a parliament man, or the like.
7. The parliament party, if the law be for them, they call
lo for law ; if it be against them, they will go to a parliamen-
tary way : if law be for them ^, then for law again : like him
' If law be for them\ if no law be for them, MSS.
does, the notion ' that their being judges of their privileges should
qualify them to make new privileges, or that their judgment should
create them such.' This he terms ' a doctrine never before now (i. e.
before 1641) heard of.' Hist. vol. i. 618-620.
1. 9. if the law be for them &c.] This seems to refer to the pro-
ceedings at the trial of the Earl of Strafford. As Clarendon tells the
story, his accusers began in due form of law, and when there were
difficulties in the way of obtaining a conviction, they then resolved to
proceed by attainder. Later, when the Bill of Attainder had been
sent up to the Lords, and his accusers had promised 'to give their
Lordships satisfaction in the matter of law,' Mr. Solicitor St. John,
speaking on behalf of the Commons, urged inter alia, ' That, in that
way of bill, private satisfaction to each man's conscience was sufficient,
although no evidence had been given in at all, and as to pressing the
law, he said, it was true we give law to hares and deer because they
are beasts of chase, but it was never accounted either cruelty or foul
play to knock foxes and wolves on the head as they can be found,
because they are beasts of prey.' Clarendon, Hist. i. 337 ff.
St. John's speech, as Nalson relates it, points no less clearly to a
' Parliamentary way ' of overriding the law : ' My Lords, in judgment
of greatest moment, there are but two ways for satisfying those that
are to give them, either the lex lata, the law already established, or
else the use of the same power for making new laws, whereby the old
at first received life. . . . The same law gives power to the Parliament
to make new laws, that enables the inferior court to judge according
to the old. . . . What hath been said is, because that this proceeding of
the Commons by way of Bill implies the use of the meer legislative
power, in respect new laws are for the most part passed by Bill.'
Nalson, Collections, ii. 162.
PARSON. 129
that first called for sack to heat him ; then small drink to
cool his sack ; then sack again to heat his small drink.
8. The parliament party do not play fair play, in sitting
up till two of the clock in the morning, to vote something
they have a mind to. 'Tis like a crafty gamester that
makes the company drunk and then cheats them of their
money. Young men and infirm men go away. Besides,
a man is not there to persuade other men to be of his
mind, but to speak his own heart ; and if it be liked— so :
if not, there's an end. 1
XCVIII.
PARSON.
I. Though we write [parson] differently, yet 'tis but
person ; that is the individual person set apart for the
service of such a church, and 'tis in Latin persona, and per-
sonatus is a parsonage. Indeed with the canon lawyers,
personatus is any dignity or preferment in the church.
1.3. in sitting up till two of the dock] This was done in the debate
on the Remonstrance (1641). The Remonstrance was carried shortly
after midnight by 159 to 148 votes. Then came a new debate whether
the Remonstrance should be printed, and it was finally resolved that it
was not to be printed without the particular order of the House. The
attempt to introduce a further restriction that it was not to be ' printed
or published' did not succeed, the adverse votes being 124 to 101.
The House rose at two in the morning. See Cobbett's Parliamentary
History, and Forster's Grand Remonstrance, §§ 17 and 18. The
Commons Journals, ii. 322, record the debates and their result, but say
nothing about the hour at which a division was taken or at which the
House rose. Clarendon's account is exact as to the hours. Hist. i. 485.
1. 12. yet 'tis but person] ' Those words universae personae regni, I
interpret all Abbots, Conventual Priors, and the like . . . which yet time
and use with us hath long since confined only to the Rectors of Parish-
churches.' Selden, Titles of Honour, ii. 5, sec. 20 ; Works, iii. 732.
I. 14. personatus is a parsonage] ' Personatus et dignitas vere sup-
ponunt pro eodem ; licet in aUquibus locis rectores ecclesiarum
K
130 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
2. There never was a merry world since the fairies
left dancing, and the parson left conjuring. The opinion
of the latter kept thieves in awe, and did as much good
in a country as a justice of peace.
XCIX.
PATIENCE.
Patience is the chiefest fruit of study. A man by
striving to make himself a different thing from other
men by much reading, gains this chiefest good, that in
all fortunes he hath something to entertain and comfort
lo himself withal.
PEACE.
I. King James was pictured going gently down a pair
of stairs, and upon every step was written peace, peace,
peace; the wisest way for men in these times is to say
nothing.
. 2. When a country-wench cannot get her butter to
come, she says the witch is in her churn. We have
j been churning for peace a good while, and 'twill not
come ; surely the witch is in it.
2o 3. Though we had peace, yet 'twill be a great while
ere things be settled : though the wind lie, yet after a
storm the sea will work a great while.
vocantur Personae et sic habent personatum non tamen dignitatem.'
Ducange, Glossary, Personatus ; and see Selden, iii. 732.
That parson and person were once used indifferently, appears from
e. g. ' An Acte that no parson or psons shall susteyne any prejudice
by means of the attaynder of the Lord Cardinall.' 21 Henry VIII, cap.
25. So, too, in I Edward VI, cap. 12, sec. 5.
PATIENCE —PEOPLE. 131
CI.
PENANCE.
Penance is only the punishment inflicted, not peni-
tence, which is the right word; a man comes not to do
penance, because he repents him of his sin, but because
he is compelled to it ; he curses him, and could kill him
that sends him thither. The old canons wisely enjoined
three years' penance, sometimes more; because in that
time a man got a habit of virtue, and so committed that
sin no more, for which he did penance.
CII.
PEOPLE.
I. There is not anything in the world so much abused
as this sentence, Salus populi suprema lex esto ; for we
apply it, as if we ought to forsake the known law when
it may be most for the advantage of the people, when it
means no such thing. For first, 'tis not salus populi su-
prema lex est, but esto, it being one of the laws of the
twelve tables ; and after divers laws made, some for pun-
ishment, some for reward, then follows this, sahis populi
suprema lex esto; that is, in all the laws you make, have
a special eye to the good of the people ; and then what 20
does this concern the way they now go?
1. 2. penitence, which is the right word] This probably refers to
the English version of Article 33, in which the original Latin ' donee
per poenitentiam publice reconciliatus fuerit,' is wrongly rendered by
' until he be openly reconciled by penance.' Penitence would clearly
be ' the right word ' here.
1. 16. it being one of the laws of the twelve tables] The words, as
Selden states them, occur in Cicero de Leg. iii. 3, sec. 8 ; but, like the
other laws in the treatise, they are said not to be quoted from the
twelve tables ; ii. 7, sec. 18.
K 2
132 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
2. Objection. He that makes one, is greater than he that
is made ; the people make the king ; ergo, &c.
Answer. This does not hold. For if I have ;£'iooo per
annum, and give it you, and leave myself ne'er a penny,
I made you ; but when you have my land, you are greater
than I. The parish make the constable, and when the
constable is made, he governs the parish. The answer to
all these doubts is. Have you agreed so ? If you have,
then it must remain till you have altered it.
CHI.
PHILOSOPHY.
When men comfort themselves with philosophy, 'tis not
because they have got two or three sentences, but because
they have digested those sentences, and made them their
own. So, upon the matter, philosophy is nothing but
discretion.
CIV.
PLEASURE.
I. Pleasure is nothing else but the intermission of pain,
the enjoying of something I am in great trouble for till
I have it.
I. 14. upon the matter] i.e. in strict fact, really. See 'Subsidies,'
sec. 1, and : ' It was upon the matter an appeal to the people, and to
infuse jealousies into their minds.' Clarendon, Hist. i. 485. ' So that
upon the matter, in a great wit, deformity is an advantage to rising.'
Bacon, Essay 44, Of Deformity.
1. 17. Pleasure is nothing else &c.] This agrees with one of the
accounts of pleasure which Aristotle criticises in the 7th Book of the
PHILOSOPHY. — PLEASURE. 133
2. 'Tis a wrong way to proportion other men's plea-
sures to ourselves. 'Tis like a child's using a little bird,
[O poor bird, thou shalt sleep with me] so lays it in his
bosom, and stifles it with his hot breath; the bird had
rather be in the cold air : and yet too 'tis the most pleas-
ing flattery, to like what others like.
3. 'Tis most undoubtedly true, that all men are equally
given to their pleasure ; only thus, one man's pleasure lies
one way, and another's another. Pleasures are all alike,
simply considered in themselves. He that hunts, or he ">
that governs the Commonwealth, they both please them-
selves alike, only we commend that, whereby we our-
selves receive some benefit ; as if a man place his delight
in things that tend to the common good. He that takes
pleasure to hear sermons, enjoys himself as much as he
that hears plays ; and could he that loves plays endeavour
to love sermons, possibly he might bring himself to it as
well as to any other pleasure. At first it might seem
harsh and tedious, but afterwards 'twould be pleasing
and delightful. So it falls out in that which is the great 20
pleasure of some men, tobacco ; at first they could not
abide it, and now they cannot be without it.
4. While you are upon earth enjoy the good things
that are here, (to that end were they given) and be not
melancholy, and wish yourself in heaven. If a king
should give you the keeping of a castle, with all things
belonging to it, orchards, gardens, &c. and bid you use
Nicomachean Ethics, and which he proves to be incomplete by
showing that there are some kinds of pleasure to which it does
not apply. Conf, "En eirel rov ayadav to /ziv evepyeia to S' e^ir, Kara
(Tu/ii/SejSijKoy ai Kadia-raa-ai eh Trju (jivaiKijv e^iv rjSe'ial flail'. "Eort 8' 17 ivipy^ia
iv Tois iiTidviilais rrjs \mok\mov e^ecos Koi (jjiaeas, fVei fcai avev Xiirrjs Kal
eTridv/itas el(rtv fjboval, olov ai rov Beaipelv ivepyeiat, ttjs <^vaea>s ov< ivheovs
ovcrjjr Aio Ka\ ov Kokas 'i)(€i to alaBrjTrjv yivEuiv (fyavai eivai rrjv rjbovijv,
aXKa p-aXKov X(kt€ov ivepyeiav Trjs Kara (j)v(nv e^eas, am 8e ToO a.l(T6r)Tqv
avefvnobujTov. Eth. Nicom. vii. 13 (12), sec. 2 and 3.
134 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
them, withal promise you after ^ twenty years to remove
you to the court, and to make you a privy councillor ; if
you should neglect your castle, and refuse to eat of those
fruits, and sit down, and whine, and wish that I was a
privy councillor, do you think the king would be pleased
with you ?
5. Pleasures of meat, drink, clothes, &c. are forbidden
those that know not how to use them ; just as nurses cry,
pah! when they see a knife in a child's hand; they will
10 never say any thing to a man.
CV.
POETRY.
1. OviD was not only a fine poet, but, as a man may speak,
a great canon lawyer, as appears in his Fasti, where we
have more of the festivals of the old Romans than any
where else : 'tis pity the rest were lost.
2. There is no reason plays should be in verse, either in
blank or rhyme ; only the poet has to say for himself, that
he makes something like that which somebody made before
him. The old poets had no other reason but this, their
20 verse was sung to music, otherwise it had been a senseless
thing to have fettered up themselves.
3. I never converted but two, the one was Mr. Crashaw
from writing against plays, by telling him a way how to
understand that place, of putting on women's apparel, which
' Promise you after] promise you that after, H. and H. 2. In S. so
originally, with ' that ' deleted.
■ 1. 24. that place, of putting on women's apparel] Deuteron. xxii. 5.
I This text is explained by Selden, after Moses Maimonides, as intended
: to forbid certain magical or idolatrous rites, in the course of which
i females appeared in male dress, males in female dress, and as having
no reference, therefore, to the representation on the stage of female
POETRY. 135
has nothing to do with the business [as neither has it, that
the fathers speak against plays in their time, with reason
enough, for they had real idolatries mixed with their plays,
having three altars perpetually upon the stage]. The other
was a doctor of divinity, from preaching against painting,
which simply in itself is no more hurtful than putting on
my clothes, or doing anything to make myself like other
folks, that I may not be odious or offensive to the com-
pany. Indeed if I do it with an ill attention it alters the
case. So, if I put on my gloves with an intention to do 10
a mischief, I am a villain.
4. 'Tis a fine thing for children to learn to make verse,
but when they come to be men they must speak like other
men, or else they will be laughed at. 'Tis ridiculous to
speak, or write, or preach in verse. As 'tis good to learn
to dance, a man may learn his leg, learn to go handsomely;
but 'tis ridiculous for him to dance when he should go.
5. 'Tis ridiculous for a lord to print verses ; 'tis well
enough to make 'em to please himself, but to make them
public is foolish. If a man in a private chamber twirls his 20
bandstring, or plays with a rush to please himself, 'tis well
characters by male actors. See Works, ii. p. 365, De Venere Syriaca ; ^
and p. 1690, where Selden discusses it at length in a letter to Ben 1 X\t
Jonson. The text was used by Tertullian (e. g. De Spectaculis, cap.
23) and by Cyprian (Epist. 61, sec. i) in the sense which Selden dis-
allows ; and Prynne, in his Histrio-mastix, quotes and endorses both
these authorities, and adds reasons of his own against the practice
which they and he condemn. See, especially, p. 208 ff. (in the small
4to. ed. of 1633). It is clear that the objections to the practice do
not depend only on what the text in question may or may not mean.
1. I. as neither has it, that the fathers &c.] The objections urged
against stage-plays by the fathers were on account of their indecency
even more than of their idolatry, and were continued as forcibly as
ever at a time when the idolatry had ceased. See Bingham, Chris-
tian Antiquities, bk. XI. ch. v. §§ 6 and g ; and, especially, bk. XVI.
ch. xi. § 12. Prynne, in his Histrio-mastix, quotes numerous pas-
sages from the fathers in condemnation of stage-plays, some of which
are clearly open to Selden's remark, while others are not.
\ {,v 4' '.
136 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
enough ; but if he should go into Fleet-street, and sit upon
a stall, and twirl a bandstring, or play with a rush, then all
the boys in the street would laugh at him.
6. Verse proves nothing but the quantity of syllables ;
they are not meant for logic.
CVI.
POPE.
1. A pope's bull and a pope's brief differ very much, as
with us the great seal and the privy seal, the bull being the
highest authority the pope can give ; the brief is of less.
i°The bull has a leaden seal upon silk, hanging upon the
instrument ; the brief has sub annulo piscatoris upon the
side.
2. He was a wise pope, that when one that used to be
merry with him, before he was advanced to the popedom,
refrained afterwards to come at him, (presuming he was
busy in governing the Christian world) the pope sends for
him, bids him come again. And [says he] we will be merry
as we were before ; for thou little thinkest what a little
foolery governs the whole world.
2o 3. The pope in sending relics to princes, does as wenches
do by their wassail at new 3'^ear's tide ; they present you
with a cup, and you must drink of a slabby stuff ; but the
meaning is, you must give them moneys, ten times more
than it is worth.
4. The pope is infallible where he has power to com-
mand ; that is where he must be obeyed ; so is every
supreme power and prince. They that stretch this in-
fallibility further, do but they know not what.
5. When a protestant and a papist dispute, they talk like
30 two madmen, because they do not agree upon their prin-
ciples. The only way is to destroy the pope's power ; for
POPE. 137
if he has power to command me, 'tis not my alleging reasons
to the contrary can keep me from obeying : for example, if
a constable command me to wear a green suit to-morrow,
and has power to make me, 'tis not my alleging a hundred
reasons of the foolery of it, can excuse me from doing it.
6. There was a time when the pope had power here in
England, and there was excellent use made of it ; for 'twas
only to serve turns, as might be manifested out of the
records of the kingdom, which divines know little of. If
the king did not like what the pope would have, he would 10
forbid his legate to land upon his grounds. So that the
power was truly in the king, though suffered in the pope.
But now the temporal and the spiritual power (spiritual so
called because ordained to a spiritual end) spring both from
one fountain ; they are like two twists that —
7. The protestants in France bear office in the state,
because though their religion be different, yet they
acknowledge no other king but the king of France. The
papists in England they must have a king of their own,
a pope, that must do something in our king's kingdom ; 20
therefore there is no reason they should enjoy the same
privileges.
8. Amsterdam admits of all religions but papists, and
'tis upon the same account. The papists where'er they
live, have another king at Rome ; all other religions are
subject to the present state, and have no prince elsewhere.
g. The papists call our religion a parliamentary rehgion,
but there was once, I am sure, a parliamentary pope.
Pope Urban was made in England by act of parliament,
against pope Clement. The act is not in the book ofso
1. 15. they are like two twists that—I We may perhaps add here—
' are spun out of the same stuff.' If the metaphor of the one fountain
is to be continued, some other words must be used. The early printed
editions read ' they are like to twist that,' an unmeaning remark here.
1. 30. the act is not in the book of statutes] It is given in the folio
edition of the Statutes (1816), in the original Norman French, and
138 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
statutes, either because he that compiled the book, would
not have the name of the pope there, or else he would not
let it appear that they meddled with any such thing, but
'tis upon the rolls.
lo. When our clergy preach against the pope, and the
Church of Rome, they preach against themselves ; and
crying down their pride, their power, and their riches,
have made themselves poor and contemptible enough ;
they did it at first ^ to please their prince, not considering
lo what would follow. Just as if a man were to go a journey,
' They did it at first] altered in H. a reading which stands in S., and in
and H. 2 from ' they dedicate first,' — the early printed editions.
translated. A few words in the following extract have been changed
where the translation does not quite agree with the original text :
' Because our Sovereign Lord the King hath perceived, as well by
Letters Patent newly come from certain Cardinals, rebels against our
Holy Father Urban now Pope, as otherwise by common fame, that
division and discord was betwixt our said Holy Father and the said
Cardinals, which afforced them with all their power to depose our said
Holy Father from the state papal, .... our Sovereign Lord the King
caused the said letters to be showed to the Prelates, Lords, and other
great men of the realm being at the said Parliament .... and it was
pronounced and published by the said Prelates, by great and notable
reasons there showed in the full Parliament, .... that the said Urban
was duly chosen Pope, and that so he is and ought to be true Pope,
and ought to be accepted and obeyed as Pope and chief of Holy
Church. And this to be done all the Prelates, Lords and Commons
in the said Parliament do accord.' 2 Richard H, stat. i, ch. 7.
It appears from Walsingham's History that the interference of the
English Parliament had been expressly sought by both parties to the
dispute.
' Ad idem Parliamentum venerunt solemnes ex Italia papales nuntii
.... declarantes injurias et damna quae idem dominus Papa pertulit
insolentia apostatarum cardinalium, qui nitebantur eundem cum uni-
versa Ecclesia subvertere et infirmare. Venerunt et nuntii eorumdem
cardinalium .... allegantes fortiter pro iisdem. Sed Domino Deo
avente, qui cuncta juste disponit, repulsi sunt apostatici, et admissi
Papales, promissumque subsidium Domino Papae.' Thomas Walsing-
ham. Hist. Angl. p. 216, as printed in Camden's Anglica, Normannica,
&c., Script. (Francfort, 1603).
POPERY. 139
and seeing at his first setting forth the way clean, ventures
forth in his slippers, not considering the dirt and the
sloughs that are a little further off, or how suddenly the
weather may change.
CVII.
POPERY.
1. The demanding a noble for a dead body passing
through a town, came from hence. In time of popery,
they carried the dead body into the church, where the
priest said dirges ; and twenty dirges at fourpence a-piece
come ^ to a noble ; but now 'tis forbidden by an order 10
from my lord marshal, the heralds carry ^ his warrant
about them.
2. We charge the prelatical clergy with popery to
make them odious, though we know they are guilty of no
such thing: just as heretofore they called images mam- l^ixnfxn
mets, and the adoration of images mammetry; that is
Mahomets and Mahometry, odious names ; when all the
world knows the Turks are forbidden images by their
religion.
^ Come, H. 2] comes, H. '^ Carry, H. 2] carrying, H.
1. 10. but now 'tis forbidden &c.] That it continued or was revived
after Selden's day appears from the register of St. Clement's parish,
Oxford : 'The Earl of Conway being carried through the parish in a
hearse, and the minister of St. Clement's appearing in his surplice to
offer burial, he received for the same 6s. &d. The same he received
for Sir Lionel (Leoline?) Jenkins, whose corpse was brought through
the parish, and interred in Jesus College Chapel.' See Peshall's
Wood's City of Oxford, p. 284 (1773, 4to). The first and only Earl of
Conway died without issue in 1683. Sir Leoline Jenkins died in
1685, and was buried in Jesus College Chapel. I am indebted to
Mr. C. H. O. Daniel for the above reference.
I40 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
CVIII.
POWER. STATE.
1. There is no stretching of power. 'Tis a good rule,
eat within your stomach, act within your commission.
2. They that govern most, make least noise. You see
when they row in a barge, they that do the drudgery
work, slash, and puff, and sweat; but he that governs
sits quietly at the stern, and scarce is seen to stir.
3. Syllables govern the world.
4. All power is of God means no more than fides est
10 servanda. When St. Paul said this, the people had made
Nero emperor. They agreed, he to protect, they to obey.
Then God comes in, and casts a hook upon them, keep
your faith ; then comes in all power is of God. Never
king dropped out of the clouds. God did not make a
new emperor, as the king makes a justice of peace.
5. Christ himself was a great observer of the civil
power, and did many things only justifiable because the
state required it^, which were things merely temporary
for the time that state stood ; but divines make use of
20 them to gain power to themselves ; as, for example, that
of Die ecclesice, Tell the church; there was then a San-
hedrim, a court to tell it to, and therefore they would
have it so now.
6. Divines ought to do no more than what the state
permits. Before the state became Christian, they made
their own laws, and those that did not observe them, they
excommunicated, [naughty men] they suffered them to
' Required it, H. a] required, H.
I. 8. Syllables govern the world] Conf. 'Considerare debemus
quod verba habent maximam potestatem ; et omnia miracula facta
a principio mundi fere facta sunt per verba. Et opus animae rationalis
precipuum est verbum.' R. Bacon, Opus Tertium, cap. a6 (p. 96,
Brewer's ed.).
POWER. STATE. ' 141
come no more amongst them. But if they would come
amongst them, could they hinder them? By what law?
By what power? They were still subject unto the state,
which was heathen. Nothing better expresses the con-
dition of the Christians in those times, than one of the
meetings you have in London, of men of the same coun-
try, of Sussex-men, or Bedfordshire-men; they appoint
their meeting, and they agree, and make laws amongst
themselves [he that is not there shall pay double, ^c.\ and
if any one mis-behave himself, they shut him out of their lo
company; but can they recover a forfeiture made con-
cerning their meeting by any law ? Have they any power
to compel one to pay? But afterwards when the state
became Christian, all the power was in them, and they gave
the church as much, or as little as they pleased ; took
away when they pleased, and added when they pleased.
7. The church is not only subject to the civil power
with us that are protestants, but also in Spain, if the
church does excommunicate a man for what it should not,
the civil power will take him out of their hands. So in 20
France, the bishop of Angers altered something in the
1. 19. but also in Spain\ Selden, in his treatise De Synedriis
veterum Ebraeorum, offers full proof of the supremacy of the Civil
Power in France and Spain as well as in England. See Works, i.
975 if. In the Preuves des Libertez de I'Eglise Gallicane, a
work to which Selden refers as a leading authority, there are nu-
merous instances given in which French excommunications, illegally
pronounced, have been annulled by the civil power, or in which their
authors have been forced to revoke them. See ch. vi. p. 92 ff.,
and the Traitez des droits et libertez de I'Eglise Gallicane (a com-
panion volume to the Preuves), in which the subject is discussed
at length by several writers.
1.22. the bishop of Angers &c.] This was in 1602. See 'Arrest
de la Cour donne en I'audience, sur I'appel comme d'abus du change-
ment du Breviaire d'Anjou, ordonne par I'Evesque d'Angers en
rEghse de la Trinite audit Angers, de I'injonction par luy faite d'user
de celui du Concile de Trente.'
The case was heard on complaint by the Canons and Chaplains of
the Church, and the decree of the Court, as entered on the Registres
142 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
Breviary; they complained to the pariiament at Paris,
that made him alter it again, with a comme d'abus ^.
8. The parliament of England has no arbitrary power
in point of judicature, but in point of making law.
9. If the prince be servus natura, of a servile base spirit,
and the subjects liberi, free and ingenuous, often-times
they depose their prince, and govern themselves. On
the contrary, if the people be servi natura, and some one
amongst them of an ingenuous ^ free spirit, he makes him-
10 self king of the rest ; and this is the cause of all changes
in state, commonwealths into monarchies, and monarchies
into commonwealths.
ID. In a troubled state we must do as in foul weather
upon the Thames, not think to cut directly through ;
so, the boat may be quickly full of water; but rise and
fall as the waves do, give as much as conveniently
we can.
^ Comme d'abus] the MSS. and " Ingenuous] H. reads free and in-
printed editions go wild here ; comine genious, but gives ' ingenuous ' a line
abuse, H., come abuse, H. 2, com e or two afterwards. The words are
abuse, S., comme abuse, ist and 2nd confused here and elsewhere in the
editions. MSS.
de Parlement, was ' La Cour .... ordonne que le service divin
ordinaire en I'eglise de la Trinite soit continue ; at a fait et fait
inhibitions et defenses audit Evesque d'innover aucune chose en
I'exercise et celebration du service divin aux eglises de son diocese
sans rauthorite du Roi.' Preuves des Libertez de I'Eglise Gallicane,
ch. xxxi. p. 842.
The chapter is headed ' Que le changement des Missels et Brevi-
aires des Eglises particulieres de France, ne se peut faire sans ordre
et permission du Roy.' It gives several instances in which an
attempted change had been annulled.
1. 2. with a comme d'abus.] The appeal from the spiritual to the
temporal power is known as Vappel comme d'abus : the person pleading
it is described as appellant comme d'abus. Preuves des Libertez,
p. 104 and passim.
PRAYER. 143
CIX.
PRAYER.
1. If I were a minister, I should think myself most in
my office, reading of prayers, and dispensing the sacra-
ments; and 'tis ill done to put one to officiate in the
Church, whose person is contemptible out of it. Should
a great lady that was invited to be a gossip, in her place
send her kitchen-maid, 'twould be ill taken ; yet she is
a woman as well as she ; let her send her gentle-woman
at least.
2. You shall pray, is the right way, because according 10
as the' Church is settled, no man may make a prayer in
public of his own head.
3. 'Tis not the original Common-prayer Book. Why,
shew me an original Bible, or an original Magna Charta.
4. Admit the preacher prays by the spirit, yet that very
prayer is common-prayer to the people ; they are tied as
much to his words, as in saying Almighty and most mer-
ciful Father. Is it then unlawful in the minister, but not
unlawful in the people ?
5. There were some mathematicians, that could with one 20
fetch of their pen make an exact circle, and with the next
touch, point out the centre ; is it therefore reasonable to
banish all use of the compasses ? Set forms are a pair of
compasses.
6. God hath given gifts unto men. General texts prove
nothing : let him shew me John, William, or Thomas in
the text, and then I will believe him. If a man has a
voluble tongue, we say, he hath the gift of prayer. His
gift is to pray long, that I see ; but does he pray better ?
7. We take care what we speak to men, but to God we 30
may say any thing.
8. The people must not think a thought towards God,
144 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
but as their pastors will put it into their mouths. They
will make right sheep of us.
9. The English priests would do that in English, which
the Romish do in Latin, keep the people in ignorance ; but
some of the people out-do them at their own game.
10. Prayer should be short, without giving God Almighty
reasons why he should grant this, or that ; he knows best
what is good for us. If your boy should ask you a suit of
clothes, and give you reasons (otherwise he cannot wait
10 upon you, he cannot go abroad but he shall discredit you)
would you endure it ? You know it better than he ; let him
ask a suit of clothes.
11. If a servant that has been fed with good beef, goes
into that part of England where salmon is plenty, at first he
is pleased with his salmon, and despises his beef; but after
he has been there awhile, he grows weary of his salmon,
and wishes for his good beef again. We have awhile been
much taken with this praying by the spirit, but in time we
may grow weary of it, and wish for our Common-prayer.
20 12. 'Tis hoped we may be cured of our extemporary
prayers, the same way the grocer's boy is cured of his
eating plums, when we have had our bellies full of them.
ex.
PREACHING.
I. Nothing is more mis-taken than that speech, preach the
gospel; for 'tis not to make long harangues, as they do
now-a-days, but to tell the news of Christ's coming into the
1. 23. Preaching!] There are frequent instances of a demand for
' preaching ministers,' and of complaints that ministers do not preach
often enough, and that some, bishops especially, do not preach at all.
See, e.g. a formal complaint in the House of Commons that there
was a deficiency of preaching ministers, a matter which was thought
PREACHING. 145
world ; and when that is done, or where 'tis known already,
the preacher's work is done,
2. Preaching, in the first sense of the word, ceased as
soon as ever the gospels were written.
3. When the preacher says, this is the meaning of the
Holy Ghost in such a place, in sense he can mean no more
but this ; that is, I by studying of the place, by comparing
one place with another, by weighing what goes before,
and what comes after, think this is the meaning of the
Holy Ghost ; and for shortness of expression I say, the iq
Holy Ghost says thus, or this is the meaning of the Spirit
of God. So the judge speaks concerning the king's pro-
clamation, this is the intention of the king ; not that the king
has any other way declared his intention to the judge, but
the judge examining the contents of the proclamation,
gathers by the purport of the words the king's intention,
and then for shortness of expression says, this is the king's
intention.
4. Nothing is text but as it was spoken in the Bible, and
meant there for person and place ; the rest is application, 20
which a discreet man may do well ; but 'tis his scripture,
not the Holy Ghost's.
5. Preaching by the spirit, as they call it, is most es-
teemed by the common people, because they cannot abide
art or learning, which they have not been bred up in. Just
as in the business of fencing ; if one country fellow amongst
the rest, has been at school, the rest will undervalue his
skill, or tell him he wants valour [You come with your
school-tricks : there's Dick Butcher has ten times more
mettle in him]. So they say to the preachers. You come 3°
with your school-learning: there's such a one has the
spirit.
so important and so pressing that a Committee of the House was
appointed to enquire about and to find a remedy for it. Commons
Journals, ii. p. 54. See also note on ' Lecturers,' p. 103.
L
146 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
6. The tone in preaching does much in working on the
people's affections. If a man should make love in an
ordinary tone, his mistress would not regard him : and
therefore he must whine. If a man should cry fire, or
murder, in an ordinary voice, nobody would come out to
help him.
7. Preachers will bring any thing into the text. The
young masters of arts preached against non-residency in
the university ; whereupon the heads made an order, that
10 no man should meddle with any thing but what was in his
text. The next day one preached upon these words,
Abraham begat Isaac ; when he had gone a good way, at
last he observed, that Abraham was resident, for if he had
been non-resident, he could never have begot Isaac ; and
so fell foul upon the non-residents.
8. I could never tell what often preaching meant, after a
church is settled, and we know what is to be done : 'tis just
as if a husbandman should once tell his servants what they
are to do, when to sow, when to reap ; and afterwards one
2D should come and tell them twice or thrice a day what they
know already ; You must sow your wheat in October, you
must reap your wheat in August, &c.
9. The main argument why they would have two sermons
a day, is, because they have two meals a day ; the soul
must be fed as well as the body. But I may as well argue,
I ought to have two noses, because I have two eyes ; or
two mouths, because I have two ears. What have meals
and sermons to do one with another ?
10. The things between God and man are but a few,
30 and those, forsooth, we must be told often of; but the
things between man and man are many; those I hear
not of above twice a year, at the assizes, or once a
quarter at a sessions; but few come then, nor does the
minister ever exhort the people to go at these times
to learn their duty towards their neighbour. Often
PREACHING. 147
preaching is, sure, to keep the minister in countenance,
that he may have something to do.
11. In preaching, they say more to raise men to love
virtue than men can possibly perform, to make them do
their best : as if you would teach a man to throw the bar ;
to make him put out his strength, you bid him throw further
than 'tis possible for him, or any man else : throw over
yonder house.
12. In preaching, they do by men as writers of romances
do by their chief knights, bring them into many dangers, 10
but still fetch them off: so they put men in fear of hell, but
at last they bring them to heaven.
13. Preachers say, Do as I say, not as I do. But if the
physician had the same disease upon him that I have, and
he should bid me do one thing, and himself do quite
another, could I believe him ?
14. Preaching the same sermon to all sorts of people, is
as if a school-master should read the same lesson to his
several forms : if he read amo, amas, amavi, the highest
form laugh at him ; the younger admire him. So it is in 20
preaching to a mixed auditory.
Question. But it cannot be otherwise ; the parish cannot
be divided into several forms : what must the preacher then
do in discretion ?
Answer. Why then let him use some expressions by
which this or that condition of people may know such
doctrine does more especially concern them; it being so
delivered that the wisest may be content to hear it. For if
he delivers it all together, and leaves it to them to single
out what belongs to themselves (which is the usual way) 30
'tis as if a man would bestow gifts upon children of several
ages, two years old, four years old, ten years old, &c., and
there he brings tops, pins, points, ribbands, and casts them
all in a heap together upon a table before them : though
the boy of ten years old can tell how to choose his top, yet
L 3
148 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
the child of two years old, that should have a ribband, takes
a pin, and the pin ere he be aware pricks his fingers, and
then all's out of order. Sec. Preaching, for the most part,
is the glory of the preacher, to shew himself a fine man.
Catechising would be more beneficial.
15. Use the best arguments to persuade, though but
few understand ; for the ignorant will sooner believe the
judicious of the parish, than the preacher himself; and
they teach when they dissipate what he has said, and be-
10 lieve it the sooner, confirmed by men of their own side ;
for betwixt the laity and the clergy there is, as it were, a
continual driving of a bargain ; something the clergy would
still have us be at, and therefore many things are heard
at first from the preacher with suspicion [they are afraid
of some ends] which are easily assented to, when they
have it from one of themselves. 'Tis with a sermon as 'tis
with a play ; many come to see it, which do not under-
stand it ; and yet hearing it cried up by one, whose judg-
ment they cast themselves upon, and of power with them,
20 they swear and will die in it, that 'tis a very good play, which
they would not have done if the priest himself had told
them so. As in a great school, 'tis not the master that
teaches all ; the monitor does a great deal of work ; it
may be the boys are afraid to see their master: so in a
parish 'tis not the minister does all; the greater neigh-
bours teach the lesser, the master of the house teaches
his servant, &c.
16. First in your sermons use your logic, and then
your rhetoric. Rhetoric without logic is like a tree with
30 leaves and blossoms, but no root ; yet I confess more are
taken with rhetoric than logic, because they are catched
with a free expression, when they understand not reason.
Logic must be natural, or 'tis not at all: your rhetoric
figures may be learned. That rhetoric is best which is
most seasonable and most catching. An instance we
PREDESTINATION. 149
have in that old blunt commander at Cadiz, who shewed
himself a good orator, being to say something to his
soldiers (which he was not used to do) he made them a
speech to this purpose : What a shame will it be, you
Englishmen, that feed upon good beef and brewess, to let
those rascally Spaniards beat you, that eat nothing but
oranges and lemons : and so put more courage into his
men than he could have done with a more learned oration.
Rhetoric is either very good, or stark naught : there's no
medium in rhetoric. If I am not fully persuaded, I laugh 10
at the orator.
17. 'Tis good to preach the same thing again, for that's
the way to have it learned. You see a bird, by often
whistling to, learns a tune, and a month after records
to herself.
18. 'Tis a hard case a minister should be turned out of
his living for something they inform he should say in his
pulpit. We can no more know what a minister said in
his sermon ^ by two or three words picked out of it, than
we can tell what tune a musician played last upon the 20
lute, by two or three single notes.
CXI.
PREDESTINATION.
1. Is a point inaccessible, out of our reach ; we can
make no notion of it, 'tis so full of intricacy, so full of
contradiction ; 'tis in good earnest, as we state it, half a
dozen bulls one upon another.
2. They that talk nothing but predestination, and will
not proceed in the way of heaven till they be satisfied in
that point, do as if a man would not come to London,
'■ His sermon'] his sermons, H. and H. 2.
I50 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
unless at his first step he might set his foot upon the top
of Paul's.
3. Doctor Prideaux in his lectures, several days used
arguments to prove predestination ; at last tells his auditory
they are damned if they do not believe it ; doing herein
just as school-boys ; when one of them has got an apple,
1. 4. at last tells his auditory &c.] This is not quite so. Dr.
Prideaux gave a series of nine lectures on Romans ix. 10, 11, 12.
The first three treat of predestination, and several of the others touch
upon it. In none of these does he tell his auditory that they are
damned that do not believe it. But in the last lecture of the series,
against the Roman Catholics, he is provoked by their assertion that
he himself, as a Protestant, must be damned, and he retorts accord-
ingly, with some warmth of expression, that the fate in question is
much more likely to be theirs.
His imaginary opponent has been arguing (Dr. Prideaux, it will
be seen, conducts both sides of the dispute) as a point in favour of
the Roman Catholic Church, ' Fatentur Protestantes sub Papismo
quam plurimos salutem consequi. At Papistae damnatos pronuntiant
omnes Protestantes.' Dr. Prideaux rejoins, ' Respondeo. Hoc ipsum
arguit Protestantes non tantiim Religionis puritate, sed charitate
etiam esse adversariis superiores, qui distinguunt tamen inter se-
ductores et seductos, et inter seductos rursus in simplicitate cordium,
ante Lutheri reformationem, et obstinates sequentis seculi, qui moniti
ad obortam lucem claudunt oculos. Nam ut de istis dictat charitas ut
speremus optima ; ita de hisce nihil possumus praeter horrenda
polliceri, quamdiu characterem Bestiae in frontibus aut dextris prae-
ferunt. Inter sordes autem istas, ista quae summo cum periculo
expectetur salus, non ipsorum additamentis sed iis quae nobis habent
communia fundamentis, est attribuenda.' Lectures by John Prideaux
(Bishop of Worcester), p. 143 (ed. 3, 1648).
It seems probable from ' Church of Rome,' sec. 2, that Selden may
have had this passage in his mind.
Prideaux's first lecture on predestination ends, not with damnatory
threats, but with a defence of the doctrine of reprobation, attacking
no one in particular, and proceeding somewhat after the fashion of
Rabbi Busy with the puppet. ' Si cui haec sententia de absoluta
reprobatione videatur asperior, possem respondere cum Augustino.
.... Hoc scio, neminem contra istam praedestinationem, quam
secundum Scripturas sanctas defendimus, nisi errando disputare
posse.' p. 14. But he does not press this, and it cannot be the
passage to which Selden is referring.
PREFERMENT. 151
or something the rest have a mind to, they use all the
arguments they can to get some of it from him [I gave you
some th' other day : you shall have some with me another
time]; when they cannot prevail, they tell him he is a
jackanapes, a rogue, and a rascal.
CXII.
PREFERMENT.
1. When you would have a child go to such a place,
and you find him unwilling, you tell him he shall ride a
cock-horse, and then he will go presently : so do those
that govern the state deal by men, to work them to their 10
ends ; they tell them they shall be advanced to such or
such a place, and then they will do any thing they will
have them.
2. A great place strangely qualifies. John Read was
in the right [groom of the chamber to my lord of Kent].
Attorney Noy being dead, some were saying. How will the
king do for a fit man ? Why, any man, says John Read,
may execute the place. I warrant (says my lord) thou
thinkest thou understandest enough to perform it. Yes,
quoth John, let the king make me Attorney, and I would 20
fain see that man that durst tell me, there's anything I
understand not.
3. When the pageants are a coming, there's great thrust-
ing and riding upon one another's backs, to look out at the
windows ; stay a little and they will come just to you, you
may see them quietly. So 'tis when a new statesman or
officer is chosen ; there's great expectation and listening
who it should be; stay but awhile, and you shall know
quietly.
4. Missing preferment makes the presbyters fall foul 30
152 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
upon the bishops. Men that are in hopes and in the way
of rising, keep in the channel, but they that have none,
seek new ways. 'Tis so amongst lawyers; he that has
the judge's ear will be very observant of the way of the
court ; but he that has no regard will be flying out.
5. My lord Digby having spoken something in the
House of Commons, for which they would have ques-
tioned him, was presently called to the upper house. He
did by the parliament as an ape when he has done some
10 waggery; his master spies him, and looks for his whip,
but before he can come at him, whip says he to the top of
the house.
1. 6. My lord Digby &c.] Lord Digby, who had been one of the
accusers of the Earl of Straiford, afterwards, just before the final
vote, spoke strongly in his favour, declaring that he did, with a clear
conscience, wash his hands of that man's blood, and protesting : ' that
my vote goes not to the taking of the Earl of Strafford's life.' Excep-
tion was taken to this speech at the time when it was made (April,
1641) : the speech afterwards, by order of the House, was burnt by
the hand of the common hangman. Nalson, Collections, ii. 160.
Clarendon adds that when Lord Digby was questioned in the
House about his speech, he defended himself so well, and so much
to the disadvantage of those who were concerned, that from that time
they prosecuted him with an implacable rage and uncharitableness
upon all occasions. Hist. i. 359.
Clarendon's further account of his call to the Upper House and of
the reasons for it, will throw some light on this. He had made private
and secret offers of his service to the King, and the King being
satisfied both in the discoveries he had made of what had passed,
and in his professions for the future, called him by writ to the House
of Peers, from which time forward he did visibly advance the King's
service, i. 534, 535.
Forster thinks that Selden's image, of the ape who has done some
waggery, may have been suggested by the apish tricks of Lord
Digby's younger brother, member for Milborn Port. This young gentle-
man had perched himself upon a ladder in the House of Commons,
and was called to by the Speaker and ordered to come down and not
sit on the ladder as if he were going to be hanged. This happened
on the day when his brother would have been expelled the House,
if the King's letters patent had not issued the night before calling
him to the Lords. Forster, The Grand Remonstrance, p. 279.
PRiEMUNIRE. 153
6. Some of the parliament were discontented that they
wanted places at court which others had got ; but when
they had them once, then they were quiet. Just as at a
christening, some that get no sugar-plums, when the rest
have, mutter and grumble ; presently the wench comes
again with her basket of sugar-plums, and then they
catch and scramble, and when they have got them, you
hear no more of them.
CXIII.
PRAEMUNIRE.
There can be no praemunire. A praemunire (so called 10
from the word praemunire facial) was when a man laid an
action in an ecclesiastical court, for which he could have
remedy in any of the king's courts ; that is, in the courts
of common law ; by reason the ecclesiastical courts before
Henry the 8th were subordinate to the pope, and so it was
1. 10. There can be no prcemunire\ This statement, as reported, is
wider than the facts warrant ; and as the rest of the chapter shows, is
wider than Selden meant it to be. He is probably arguing against
Coke's opinion that a suitor in an ecclesiastical court might still incur
the penalties of a praemunire. The first Statute of Praemunire, that
of 27 Edward III (a. d. 1353), headed ' Statutum contra adnuUatores
judiciorum curiae Regis,' enacts that all subjects suing in a foreign
court for matters cognizable in the King's court, or questioning else-
where the judgments of the King's court, shall have warning to
answer for such contempt, and on non-appearance shall be outlawed,
forfeit their land and goods and be imprisoned. This Act was
repeated in more stringent form by 38 Edward III (1363-4), but the
offence against which the two Acts were directed was substantially
the same, and it was one which, as Selden points out, had become
impossible in his time. But a praemunire there still was, for several
other named offences, to which the old penalties of a praemunire had
been attached in express words. See Blackstone's Comm. Bk. IV.
ch. viii.
154 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
contra coronam et dignitatem regis ; but now the ecclesias-
tical courts are equally subordinate to the king. Therefore
it cannot be contra coronam et dignitatem regis, and so no
prcemunire.
CXIV.
PREROGATIVE.
1. Prerogative is something that can be told what it is,
not something that has no name. Just as you see the
archbishop has his prerogative court, but we know what is
done in that court. So the king's prerogative is not his
lo will, or what divines make it, a power to do what he lists.
2. The king's prerogative ; that is, the king's law. For
example, if you ask if a patron may present to a living
after six months by law? I answer. No. If you ask
whether the king may ? I answer he may by his preroga-
tive ; that is, by the law that concerns him in that case.
cxv.
PRESBYTERY.
I. They that would bring in a new government, would
very fain persuade us they meet it in antiquity ; thus they
1- 13- If you ask whether the king may &c.] In a case decided
2 James I, it was held that the King, as to the advowson, hath no
greater privilege than another person. This judgment was reversed
two years afterwards on the ground that the King had special privilege.
Croke, Reports, vol. ii. pp. 54, 123.
This later decision seems to be based on the general principle
that 'in the King can be no negligence or laches, and therefore no
delay will bar his right. Nullum tempus occurrit regi has been the
standing maxim upon all occasions.' Blackstone, Comm. Bk. I.
ch. vii.
PREROGATIVE.-PRESBYTERY. 155
interpret presbyters, when they meet the word in the
fathers. Other professions Hkewise pretend to antiquity.
The alchymist will find his art in Virgil's aureus ramus,
and he that delights in optics, will find them in Tacitus.
When Caesar came into England they would persuade us
they had perspective glasses, by which he could discover
what they were doing upon the land ; because it is said,
positis speculis : the meaning is, his watch or his sentinel
discovered this and this unto him.
1. 3. Virgil's aureus ramus] Aeneid, vi. 136-148.
Robertus Vallensis, in his De Veritate et Antiquitate Artis Chemicae
(Paris, 1561, the book is not paged), quotes this passage, together with
some others from Virgil, as if it proved or illustrated something in his
alchemical art, but he gives no precise interpretation to it.
Borrichius, writing a little before Selden's day, says of the lines :
' Haec de materia chemici magisterii fudisse cumaeam vatem opinio
est variorum, quos inter Robertus Vallensis, Glauberus, aliique ; nee
inficiendum sub illo fabulae involucre arcanum sensum delitescere,
forsan Virgilio ipsi, qui ex alio haec mutuatus est, incognitum.' The
golden bough reminds him of a passage in Acosta (Hist. Nat. lib. iv.
cap. i), in which the veins of metal are compared to the boughs of
plants, in their form and in the manner of their growth. De Ortu et
Progressu Chemicae, p. loi.
Wedel, a later writer, mentions and approves the alchemical inter-
pretation of the lines : ' Majori fide et applausu ad se nos vocant
chimicorum filii, qui suum faciunt hunc locum. Hos inter praecipuus
Robertus Wallensis .... quem secuti hinc non pauci alii. Instar
omnium sit Borrichius, chimicae decus summum.' See Georgii
Wolffgangi Wedelii propempticum inaugurale de aureo ramo
Virgilii.
1. 5. When Ccesar came into England &c.] See 'Possunt sic figurari
perspicua ut longissime posita appareant propinquissima .... Sic
enim aestimatur Julius Caesar super littus maris in Galliis, deprehen-
disse per ingentia specula dispositionem et situm castrorum et
civitatum Britanniae majoris.' R. Bacon, Epistola de secretis operibus
artis et naturae, cap. 5, Brewer's edition of Bacon's Opera inedita.
And again : ' Sic enim Julius Caesar, quando voluit Angliam expugnare,
repertur maxima specula erexisse, ut a Gallicano littore dispositionem
civitatum et castrorum Angliae praevideret.' R. Bacon, Opus Majus,
pars V. p. 357.
1. 8. positis speculis] There is some difficulty about these words.
As the text stands, Selden quotes them as having been misinterpreted
156 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
2. Presbyters have the greatest power of any clergy in
the world, and gull the laity most: for example, admit
there be twelve laymen to six presbyters, the six shall
govern the rest as they please. First, because they are
constant, and the others come in like churchwardens in
their turns, which is a huge advantage. Men will give
way to those that have been there before them. Next, the
laymen have other professions to follow ; the presbyters
make it their sole business ; and besides too, they learn
10 and study the art of persuading; some of Geneva have
confessed as much.
3. The presbyter, with his elders about him, is like a
young tree fenced about with three or four stakes ; the
stakes defend it, and hold it up; but the tree only prospers
and flourishes ; it may be some willow-stake may bear a
leaf or two, but it comes to nothing. Lay-elders are stakes,
the presbyter the tree that flourishes.
4. When the queries were sent to the assembly con-
by Roger Bacon, or by some other writer, and he then adds what he
considers to be their true sense. But the words do not occur in any
history of Caesar's invasion that I have seen, and I have searched for
them with some care. Nor do they seem to admit of the sense which
Selden is reported as putting upon them. I think it likely that there
has been some error in the report, and that the words in question are
a free rendering of what Roger Bacon himself says, and that the rest
of the clause ought to appear as Selden's own statement of the real
facts of the case, not as his interpretation of what ^ positis speculis '
means.
1. 18. When the queries were sent &c.] The power of the Presbytery
to pass sentence of excommunication had been limited by the final
appeal which the Parliament allowed to a body of lay commissioners
of its own appointment. The Westminster Assembly of Divines
petitioned against this appeal, and claimed jure divino a right to un-
controlled spiritual jurisdiction. The Parliament in reply sent them
a number of very searching queries, drawn up by a Committee of the
House, touching the point of jus divinum, and demanding exact
scriptural proofs for it (see Excursus E). The Assembly, however,
had no scriptural proofs ready, and they were in a great fright to
know what to do. They held a consultation, they proclaimed a fast,
PRIESTS OF ROME. 157
cerning the jus divinum of presbytery, their asking time to
answer them, was a satire upon themselves. For if it were
to be seen in the text, they might quickly turn to the place
and shew us it. Their delaying to answer makes us think
there's no such thing there. They do just as you have
seen a fellow do at a tavern reckoning, when he should
come to pay his share ; he puts his hands into his pockets,
and keeps a grabling and a fumbling and shaking, at last
tells you he has left his money at home; when all the
company knew at first he had no money there ; for every 10
man can quickly find his own money.
CXVI.
PRIESTS OF ROME.
I. The reason of the statute against priests, was this ; in
the beginning of Queen Elizabeth, there was a statute
and appointed committees of their own body to prepare an answer.
When the questions came before the committees, first the Inde-
pendents withdrew, then the Erastians entered their dissent from the
answer proposed to question i, and at length a form of words was
agreed upon by a majority vote. The rest of the questions were
discussed from May till late in July, but the answers, if any, were
never sent to Parliament, and the matter practically dropped, as far
as the Assembly had to do with it. Neal, Hist, of Puritans, iii. 253
and 278. See Appendix, Excursus E.
1. 14. in the beginning of Queen Elisabeth &c.] The statutes, of
which Selden speaks, strengthen and grow precise as they proceed.
By I Elizabeth, ch. i, sec. 27, penalties are fixed on those who
maintain or depend or endeavour to advance any foreign authority in
the Queen's dominions. To do this is made high treason on the third
offence. Then, 5 Elizabeth, ch. i, sec. 2 enacts more particularly
that any person maintaining the authority of the Bishop of Rome, in
any part of the Queen's dominions, shall come under the pains, &c.,
of the statute of provisions and praemunire ; and shall on the second
offence (sees. 10 and 11) be guilty of high treason. Next, 13 Eliza-
beth, ch. 2 declares that, notwithstanding the above statute, divers
158 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
made, that he that drew men from their civil obedience
was a traitor. It happened this was done in privacies and
confessions, when there could be no proof; therefore
they made another act, that for a priest to be in England
was treason, because they presumed that was his business
here, to fetch men off from their allegiance.
2. When Queen Elizabeth died, and king James came
in, an Irish priest does thus express it : Elizabetha in
orcum detrusa, successit Jacobus, alter hcereticus.
10 You will ask why they do use such language in their
church ?
Answer. Why does the nurse tell the child of raw-head
and bloody-bones ? To keep it in awe.
3. The queen-mother and count Rosset are to the
priests and Jesuits like the honey-pot to the flies.
seditious and very evil-disposed people have procured bulls and
writings from the Bishop of Rome to absolve all those that will be
content to forsake their due obedience to the Queen ; and enacts that
such people shall be deemed and adjudged high traitors to the Queen
and the realm and shall be punished by death and forfeiture. Then,
23 Elizabeth, ch. i makes it treason for any one to withdraw any
or to be himself withdrawn to the Romish religion. Lastly, 27 Eliza-
beth, ch. 2 declares that divers Jesuits, seminary priests and other
priests have come to this country for the purpose of withdrawing
men from their due obedience to her Majesty; and enacts that all
such persons are to leave the country, and that if being natural born
subjects of the Queen, they are found here or come here, they shall
suffer the penalties of high treason.
1. 14. The queen-mother and count Rosset &c.] i. e. Mary de Medici,
the French Queen-mother, who had sought a refuge at the English
Court. In May 1641 the Commons resolved to suggest to the
King — 'That her Majesty be moved to depart this kingdom, the
rather for the quieting of those jealousies in the hearts of his Majesty's
well-afFected subjects, occasioned by some ill instruments about the
Queen's person, by the flowing of priests and papists to her house,'
&c., &c. House of Commons' Journals, ii. 149.
Hobbes, in the Behemoth (pt. ii. beginning"), after speaking of the
belief, encouraged by the Parliamentary party, that it was the King's
purpose to introduce popery, goes on to say that—' the colour they
had for this slander was, first that there was one Rosetti, resident, at
PROPHECIES.— PROVERBS. 159
4. The priests of Rome aim but at two things, to get
power from the king, and money from the subject.
5. When the priests come into a family, they do as a
man that would set fire on a house : he does not put fire
to the brick-wall, but thrusts it into the thatch. They
work upon the women and let the men alone.
6. For a priest to turn a man when he lies a dying, is
just like one that has a long time solicited a woman, and
cannot obtain his end; at length makes her drunk, and
so lies with her. i
CXVII.
PROPHECIES.
Dreams and prophecies do thus much good ; they make
a man go on with boldness and courage, upon a danger or
a mistress ; if he obtain, he attributes much to them ; if he
miscarries, he thinks no more of them, or is no more
thought of himself
CXVIII.
PROVERBS.
The proverbs of several nations were much studied by
bishop Andrews ; and the reason he gave was, because by
and a little before that time, from the Pope, with the Queen ....
Also the resort of English Catholics to the Queen's chapel, gave
them colour to blame the Queen herself, not only for that, but
also for all the favours that had been shown to the Catholics.'
See also a letter from Secretary Windebank to the King (Sep. 7, 1640).
' I most humbly beseech your Majesty to give me leave to propose
your writing to the Queen that Rosetti may be advised to retire into
France, or some other foreign part, for awhile, and that the Capuchins
may likewise disperse,' &c. Clarendon's State Papers, vol. ii. p. 113.
i6o THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
them he knew the minds of several nations, which is a
brave thing : as we count him a wise man that knows the
minds and insides of men, which is done by knowing what
is habitual to them. Proverbs are habitual to a nation
being transmitted from father to son.
CXIX.
QUESTION.
When a doubt is propounded, you must learn to dis-
tinguish, and shew wherein a thing holds, and wherein
it does not hold. Aye, or no ^, never answered any ques-
lotion. The not distinguishing where things should be dis-
tinguished, and the not confounding, where things should
be confounded, is the cause of all the mistakes in the
world.
cxx.
REASON.
1. In giving reasons, men commonly do with us as the
woman does with her child ; when she goes to market
about her business, she tells it she goes to buy it a fine
thing, to buy it a cake, or some plums. They give us
such reasons as they think we will be catched withal, but
ao never let us know the truth.
2. When the schoolmen talk of recta ratio in morals,
^ Aye or no] I or no, MSS.
1. 21. When the schoolmen talk &c.] Selden follows here the same
Une of thought as when he says that the Law of Nature means only
the Law of God (p. loi). He urges, in effect, that moral rules must be
based on positive law, human or divine, and that without this they
have no sanction or meaning.
QUESTION. — RELIGION. i6i
either they understand reason, as 'tis governed by
a command from above; or else they say no more than
a woman, when she says a thing is so, because it is so ;
that is, her reason persuades her it is so. The other
acception has sense in it. As take a law of the land, I
must not depopulate; my reason tells me so. Why?
because if I do, I incur the detriment.
3. The reason of a thing is not to be enquired after, till
you are sure the thing itself is so. We commonly are at
what's the reason of it ? before we are sure of the thing. 10
It was an excellent question of my lady Cotton, when Sir
Robert Cotton was magnifying of a shoe, which was Moses's
or Noah's, and wondering at the strange shape and fashion
of it : But, Mr. Cotton, says she, are you sure it is a shoe ?
CXXI.
RELIGION.
1. King James said to the fly. Have I three kingdoms, ]
and thou must needs fly into my eye ? Is there not enough '
to meddle withal upon the stage, or in love, or at the table,
but religion ?
2. Religion amongst men appears to me like the learning 20
they got at school. Some men forget all, others spend
upon the stock, and some improve it. So some men forget
all the religion that was taught them when they were young,
others spend upon that stock, and some improve it.
3. Religion is like the fashion; one man wears his
doublet slashed, another laced, another plain ; but every
man has a doublet : so every man has his religion. We
differ about the trimming.
4. Men say they are of the same religion for quietness'
sake ; but if the matter were well examined, you would 30
M
i62 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
scarce find three anywhere of the same religion in all
points.
5. Every religion is a getting religion; for though I
myself get nothing, I am subordinate to them that do. So
you may find a lawyer in the Temple that gets little for the
present ; but he is fitting himself to be in time one of those
great ones that do get.
6. Alteration of religion is dangerous, because we know
not where it will stay ; it is like a millstone that lies upon
10 the top of a pair of stairs ; 'tis hard to remove it, but if it
once be thrust off the first stair, it never stays till it comes
to the bottom.
7. Question. Whether is the church or the scripture
judge of religion ?
Answer. In truth neither, but the state. I am troubled
with a boil ; I call a company of surgeons about me ; one
prescribes one thing, another another ; I single out some-
thing I like, and ask you that stand by, and are no surgeon,
what you think of it : you like it too ; you and I are the
aojudges of the plaister, and we bid them prepare it, and
there's an end. Thus 'tis in religion ; the protestants say
they will be judged by the scripture ; the papists they say
so too ; but that cannot speak. A judge is no judge, except
he can both speak and command execution : but the truth
is, they never intend to agree. No doubt the pope, where
he is supreme, is to be judge; if he says we in England
ought to be subject to him, then he must draw his sword
and make it good.
8. By the law was the Manual received in the church
1. 29. the Manual] was one of the many service-books in use before
the Reformation. See e. g. a decree of a synod at Exeter (1287), giving
a list of books with which every church was to be furnished, viz.
missale bonum, gradale, troparium, manuale bonum, legenda, anti-
phonale, psalteria, ordinate, venitare ympnare, collectare. Wilkins,
Concilia, ii. 139.
The manual contained the offices and rites and ceremonies which
RELIGION. 163
before the Reformation. Not by the civil law, that had
nothing to do with it; nor by the canon law, for that
Manual that was here, was not in France, nor in Spain ;
but by custom, which is the common law of England ; and
custom is but the elder brother to a parliament ; and so it
will fall out to be nothing that the papists say ; that ours is
a parliamentary religion, by reason the service-book was
established by act of parliament, and never any service-
book was so before. That will be nothing that the pope
sent the Manual. 'Twas ours, because the state received 10
it. The state still rnakes the religion, and receives into it,
what will best agree with it. Why are the Venetians
Roman Catholics ? Because the state Hkes the religion.
All the world knows they care not three-pence for the pope.
The Council of Trent is not admitted at this day in France.
g. Papist. Where was your religion before Luther, an
hundred years ago ?
Protestant. Where was America an hundred or six-score
years ago ? Our religion was where the rest of the Christian
Church was. ao
Papist. Our religion continued ever since the Apostles,
and therefore 'tis the better.
Protestant. So did ours. That there was an interruption
in it, will fall out to be nothing ; no more than if another
earl should tell one of the earls of Kent; He is a better
earl than he, because there was one or two of the family of
a parish priest in the discharge of his ordinary duties would be called
upon to perform, and a variety of other offices less frequently needed.
Maskell, in the preface to his Monumenta Ritualia, ch. v, gives a
copy of the table of contents of the manual according to the Salisbury
use. They were not quite the same as those in use elsewhere, but
the claim and belief of Roman Catholic writers is that together with
the other devotional books in public use, they represent, substantially
and very closely, the forms which Augustine received from Pope
Gregory, when he set out on his English mission.
Selden appears to use the word 'manual' here as equivalent to
service-book of every kind.
M 2
i64 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
Kent did not take the title upon them ; yet all that while
they were really earls; and afterwards a great prince
declared them to be earls of Kent, as he that made the
other family an earl.
lo. Disputes in religion will never be ended, because
there wants a measure by which the business should be
decided. The Puritan would be judged by the word of
God : if he would speak clearly, he means himself, but that
he is ashamed to say so ; and he would have me believe
lo him before a whole church, that have read the word of God
as well as he. One says one thing, and another another ;
and there is, I say, no measure to end the controversy.
'Tis just as if two men were at bowls, and both judged by
the eye : one says 'tis his cast, the other says 'tis my cast ;
and having no measure, the difference is eternal. Ben
Jonson satirically expressed the vain disputes of divines
by Rabbi Busy disputing with a puppet in his Bartholomew
1. 2. a great prince\ so in MSS. and early editions. Some later
editions read ' as great a prince.'
1. 17. Rabbi Busy disputing &c.] The dispute referred to is
between Rabbi Busy and a puppet belonging to Lanthorn Leather-
head, see Barthol. Fair, Act v. sc. 3. There are various readings of
the text of the Table Talk. The Harleian MS. 690, gives—' Inigo
Lanthorne disputing with a puppet in Bartholomew Fair.' The Sloane
MS. 2513 reads, 'in his Bartholomew Fair,' but otherwise agrees with
Harleian 6go. The early printed editions read — ' Inigo Lanthorne
disputing with his puppet in a Bartholomew Fair.' The reading
which I have followed — that of Harleian MS. 1315 — is the only one
which is not obviously incorrect. I am inclined to think that the
original reading may have been ' Rabbi Busy disputing with Inigo
Lanthorne his puppet, in his (sc. Ben Jonson's) Bartholomew Fair,'
and that this has been cut down and changed into the various forms
given above. Inigo Lanthorne is of course a half-way name between
Lanthorne Leatherhead and Inigo Jones, who is assumed to have
been satirized by Jonson under the name of Lanthorne Leatherhead.
Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones were for many years fellow-workers
for the stage, Jonson contributing the words of the masque or play,
and Jones undertaking the scenery and stage-properties. This un-
equal partnership lasted for more than ten years after Bartholomew
Fair was brought out (1614). How sharply they quarrelled afterwards.
RELIGION. 165
fair. It is so : it is not so : it is so : it is not so ; crying thus
one to another a quarter of an hour together.
11. In matters of religion, to be ruled by one that writes
against his adversary, and throws all the dirt he can in his
face, is, as if in point of good manners a man should be
governed by one whom he sees at cuffs with another, and
thereupon thinks himself bound to give the next man he
meets a box on the ear.
12. It is to no purpose to labour to reconcile religions,
when the interest of princes will not suffer it. 'Tis well if 10
they would be reconciled so far, that they should not cut
one another's throats.
13. There is all the reason in the world divines should
not be suffered to go a hair's breadth beyond their bounds,
for fear of breeding confusion, since there now be so many
religions on foot. The matter was not so narrowly to be
looked after when there was but one religion in Christen-
dom ; the rest would cry him down for an heretic, and there
was nobody to side with him.
14. We look after religion, as the butcher did after his 20
knife, when he had it in his mouth.
15. Religion is made a juggler's paper ; now 'tis a horse,
now 'tis a lanthorn, now 'tis a boat, now 'tis a man. To
serve ends, religion is turned into all shapes.
16. Some men's pretending religion, is like the roaring
boys' way of challenges : (their reputation is dear, it cannot
and what a mean opinion Ben Jonson had of his old partner, may be
seen from inter alia his ' Expostulation with Inigo Jones ' and his
verses 'To Inigo Marquis-would-be,' in which Inigo Jones is held up
to ridicule as a mere stage-property-man and puppet-play presenter
and would-be poet, very much as Lanthorn Leatherhead is shown in
Bartholomew Fair. The resemblance between the two, as Ben Jonson
has drawn them, is certain ; their intended identification is almost
certain. Selden knew Ben Jonson intimately, and if the words ' Inigo
Lanthorne' ever came from Selden's mouth, the proof may be
regarded as complete.
1. 25. like the roaring boys &c.] In O verbury's Characters, ' A roaring
i66 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
stand with the honour of a gentleman :) when, God knows,
they have neither reputation nor honour about them.
17. Pretending reUgion and the law of God, is to set all
things loose. When a man has no mind to do something
he ought to do by his contract with man, then he gets a
text, and interprets it as he pleases, and so thinks to get
loose.
18. We talk much of settling religion. Religion is well
enough settled already, if we would let it alone. Methinks
10 we might look after, &c.
19. If men should say they took arms for anything
I
j Boy ' is represented as a bullying cheating fellow. ' He sends chal-
1 lenges by word of mouth ; for he protests (as he is a gentleman and
j brother of the sword) he can neither read nor write .... Soldier
\ he is none, for he cannot distinguish between onion-seed and gun-
' powder : if he has worn it in his hollow tooth for the tooth-ache, and
j so come to the knowledge of it, that's all.' Overbury, Miscell. Works,
] p. 173 (ed. 1756).
In the old play, Amends for Ladies, Act iii. sc. 4, Whorebang,
', Bots, Tearchaps, and Spillblood appear as ' Roarers,' i. e. as noisy,
- cowardly bullies. Hazlitt's Old English Plays, vol. xi.
In the Dramatis Personae of Bartholomew Fair, Val. Cutting is
described as a Roarer or Bully.
His honour, his reputation, are words frequently in Bobadil's
' mouth (Every man in his Humour).
1. II. If men should say &c.] A care for religion was a chief reason
alleged in the Declaration of the Kingdom of Scotland to justify their
expedition into England in 1643. They said ' It was most necessary
that every one, against all doubting, should be persuaded in his mind
.... of the goodness of the cause maintained by him ; which they
said was no other than the good of religion in England, and the
deliverance of their brethren out of the depths of afQiction ; the pre-
servation of their own religion, and of themselves from the extremity
of misery.' They trusted, therefore, ' that the Lord would save them
from the curse of Meroz, who came not to help the Lord against the
mighty.' There is much more to the same effect in this Declaration,
and in a joint Declaration put out at the same time in the name of both
kingdoms, England and Scotland. ' Their confidence was in God
Almighty, the Lord of Hosts ... It was his own truth and cause
which they maintained against the heresy, superstition, and tyranny
of Anti- Christ: the glory of his name, the exaltation of the kingdom
NON-RESIDENCY. 167
but religion, they might be beaten out of it by reason ; out
of that they never can, for they will not believe you what-
ever you say.
20. The very arcanum of pretending religion in all wars
is, that something may be found out in which all men
may have interest. In this the groom has as much
interest as the lord. Were it for land, one has one thou-
sand acres, and the other but one ; he would not venture
so far, as he that has a thousand. But religion is equal to
both. Had all men land alike, by a lex agraria, then all 10
men would say they fought for land.
CXXII.
NON-RESIDENCY.
1. The people thought they had a great victory over the
clergy, when in Henry 8th's^ time they got their bill passed,
that a clergyman should have but two livings ; before, a
man might have twenty or thirty ; 'twas but getting a dis-
pensation from the pope's limitor, or gatherer of the Peter-
' Henry 8lk's, H. 2] H. 8th's in H.
of his Son, and the preservation of his church, was their aim, and the
end which they had before their eyes.' Clarendon, Hist. ii. 667 fF.
1. 4. The very arcanum &c.] ' The great pretences (in an alleged
design against episcopacy and monarchy) were liberty, property and
religion ; for, as Mr. Hambden, one of the principal grandees of the
faction, told a private friend, without that they could not draw the
people to assist them.' Nalson, Collections, ii. 234.
1. 15. that a clergyman should have &c.] The Act against pluralities
(21 Henry VIII, ch. 13) enacts that if a clerk, holding a living worth
£?, a year, takes another cure, his original living becomes ipso facto
void. But there are numerous exceptions to this rule. Vested rights
are respected in the case of actual holders of not more than four cures ;
and certain named classes and orders are allowed for the future to
hold, some three, some two cures.
1/
i68 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
pence, which was as easily got, as now you may have a
licence to eat flesh.
2. As soon as a minister is made, he hath power to preach
all over the world ; but the civil power restrains him ; he
cannot preach in this parish or in that ; there is one already
appointed. Now if the state allows him two livings, then
he has two places where he may exercise his function, and
so has the more power to do his office, which he might do
every where if he were not restrained.
CXXIII.
RETALIATION.
An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. That does not
mean, that if I put out another man's eye, therefore I must
lose one of my own, (for what is he the better for that ?)
though this be commonly received ; but it means, that
I shall give him what satisfaction an eye shall be judged
to be worth.
CXXIV.
REVERENCE.
'Tis sometimes unreasonable to look after respect and
reverence, either from a man's own servants, or from other
20 inferiors. A great lord and a gentleman talking together,
there came a boy by, leading a calf with both his hands ;
says the lord to the gentleman. You shall see me make the
boy let go his calf; with that he came towards him, thinking
1. 3. As soon as a minisier is made &c.] See ' Minister Divine,'
sec. 4.
RETALIATION. — SABBATH. 169
the boy would have put oflf his hat, but the boy took no
notice of him. The lord seeing that, Sirrah, says he, do
not you know me, that you use no reverence ? Yes, says
the boy, if your lordship will hold my calf, I will put off
my hat.
CXXV.
SABBATH.
Why should I think all the fourth commandment be-
longs to me, when all the fifth does not ? What land will
1. 7. Why should I think &c.] The right way of keeping Sunday
was among the standing points of dispute between High and Low
Church, between the Anglican party and the Puritans. Selden, who
belonged to neither side, follows his usual rule — nepi wanrus rr)v iXev-
d^piav, and pronounces against strict Sabbath observances. The
controversy had become marked towards the latter part of Queen
Elizabeth's reign, when Sunday, which used to be the regular day
for games, dances and sports, began to be kept more precisely. The
governing clergy exclaimed against the change. Archbishop Whitgift
and Chief Justice Popham did what they could to put down current
Sabbatarian writings, and declared that the Sabbath doctrine agreed
neither with the teaching of the Church nor with the laws and orders
of the kingdom. In 1618, James put out his declaration concerning
lawful sports to be used on Sundays after divine service ; and in 1635
it was ratified and republished by Charles, at Laud's instigation, and
encouragement was given to May Games, Whitsun Ales, and the like.
But with the rise of the Presbyterian party, all this was changed.
On March 5, 1641, Dr. Bray was sent for to the bar of the House of
Lords for having licensed Dr. Pocklington's books, called Sunday no
Sabbath and Altare Christianum, and he acknowledged his offence
and expressed regret for it. The obnoxious books were ordered
to be publicly burned. On May 5, 1643, it was ordered by the Lords
and Commons in Parliament that the book, concerning the enjoining
and tolerating sports on the Lord's day, be forthwith burned by the
hand of the common hangman in Cheapside and other usual places.
That this was in agreement with the popular sentiment of the day is
clear from Baxter's statement, that the publication of this book by the
Bishops was one of the reasons why ' serious godly people had been
alienated from them, and -had thought that they concurred with the
profane.' Laud's share in publishing this book and in punishing
170 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
the Lord give me for honouring my father? It was
spoken to the Jews with reference to the land of Canaan ;
but the meaning is, if I honour my parents, God will also
bless me. We read the commandments in the church-
service, as we do David's Psalms ; not that all there
concerns us, but a great deal of them does.
CXXVI.
SACRAMENT.
1. Christ suffered Judas to take the communion.
Those ministers that keep their parishioners from it, be-
lo cause they will not do as they will have them, revenge,
rather than reform.
2. No man living can tell whether I am fit to receive
the sacrament ; for though I were fit the day before, when
he examined me, at least appeared so to him, yet how can
he tell what sin I have committed that night, or the next
morning, or what impious atheistical thoughts I may have
about me, when I am approaching to the very table ?
CXXVII.
SALVATION.
We may best understand the meaning of o-uTTjpta, salva-
aotion, from the Jews, to whom the Saviour was promised.
They held that themselves should have the chief place of
happiness in the other world ; but the gentiles that were
ministers for not reading it in church, was among the charges brought
against him at his trial. See Rushworth, Collections, ii. 193, iv. 207,
V. 317. Fuller, Hist, of Church, xvii. xi. 32. Baxter's Life, p. 33.
Laud's Works, iv. 251-3.
SACRAMENT. — SIMONY. 171
good men, should likewise have their portion of bliss there
too. Now by Christ the partition-wall is broken down,
and the gentiles that believe in him, are admitted to the
same place of bliss with the Jews. And why then should
not that portion of happiness still remain to them who do
not believe in Christ, so they be morally good ? This is
a charitable opinion.
CXXVIII.
SHIP-MONEY.
1. Mr. Nov brought in ship-money first for maritime
towns ; but that was like putting in a little auger, that 10
afterwards you may put in a greater. He that pulls down
the first brick, does the main work, afterwards 'tis easy to
pull down the wall.
2. They that at first would not pay ship-money, till it
was decided, did like brave men, though perhaps they did
no good by the trial ; but they that stand out since, and
suffer themselves to be distrained, never questioning those
that do it, do pitifully ; for so they only pay twice as much
as they should.
CXXIX.
SIMONY.
The name of simony was begot in the canon law : the
1. 9. Mr. Noy brought in &c.] ' The King required a loan of money
and sent to London and the port towns to furnish ships for guard of
the sea. Noy, his attorney, a great antiquary, had much to do in this
business of ship-money.' Whitelock's Memorials, p. 7, in ann. 1626.
Next, 'by advice of his privy council and council learned, the King
requires ship-money. The writ for it was at first but to maritime
towns and counties ; but that not sufficing, other writs were issued
out to all counties to levy ship-money.' lb., p. 22, in ann. 1634.
172 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
first statute against it was in Queen Elizabeth's time.
Since the reformation simony has been frequent : one
reason why it was not practised in time of popery, was the
pope's provisions : no man was sure to bestow his own
benefice.
cxxx.
STATE.
In a troubled state save as much of your own as you
can. A dog had been at market to buy a shoulder of
mutton ; coming home, he met two dogs by the way, that
lo quarrelled with him ; he laid down his shoulder of mutton,
and fell to fighting with one of them ; in the meantime the
other dog fell to eating his mutton; he seeing that, left
the dog he was fighting with, and fell upon him that was
eating ; then the other dog fell to eat ; when he perceived
there was no remedy, but which of them soever he was
fighting withal, his mutton was in danger, he thought he
would save as much of it as he could; and thereupon
gave over fighting, and fell to eating himself.
1. I. the first statute against it &c.] This was 31 Elizabeth, ch. 6,
sees. 4 and 5, which declares void all simoniacal presentations to
benefices : and enacts, further, that in case of simony, the presenta-
tion devolves to the crown, and that both parties to the transaction
incur a fine of double the yearly value of the benefice.
1. 2. one reason why &c.] That the Pope used to present to
benefices in this country appears by, e. g., the Statutes passed to
forbid it. The Statute of Provisors, 25 Edward III, enacts that if the
Pope tries to appoint, the King shall present, and counterclaimants
to the King's presentment are made liable to fine and imprisonment.
So in 16 Richard II, the Pope is said to have proposed inter alia to
translate prelates out of the realm, or from one living to another.
All procuring such translations are put out of the King's protection,
forfeit lands and goods, and are brought to answer for it under former
statutes.
STATE.— SUPERSTITION. 173
CXXXI.
SUBSIDIES.
1. Heretofore the parliament was wary what subsidies
they gave to the king, because they had no accounts ; but
now they care not how much they give of the subjects'
money, because they give it with one hand and receive it
with the other ; and so upon the matter give it themselves.
In the meantime what a case the subjects of England are
in! If the men they have sent to the parliament mis-
behave themselves, they cannot help it, because the par-
liament is eternal. i
2. A subsidy was counted the fifth part of a man's
estate, and so fifty subsidies is five and forty times more
than a man is worth.
CXXXII.
SUPERSTITION.
I. They that are against superstition, oftentimes run
1. 3. but now they care not &c.] This change was one of the first
acts of the second Parliament of 1640. When they raised money they
did not follow what had been the usual way, of giving it immediately
to the King, to be paid into the exchequer, but provided for its pay-
ment into the hands of members of the House, named by them, who
were to take care to discharge all public engagements. The King
allowed the first money bill to pass with the names of Commissioners
inserted in it, who were to receive and dispense the money ; and
from that time there was no bill passed for the raising of money, but
it was disposed of in like manner, so that none of it could be applied
to the King's use, or by his direction. Clarendon, Hist. vol. i.
pp. 321-2 and 678.
1. 6. upon the matter\ i. e. in strict fact : really. See ' Philosophy '
and note.
174 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
into it on the wrong side. If I will wear all colours but
black, then am I superstitious in not wearing black.
2. They pretend not to abide the cross, because 'tis
superstitious ; for my part I will believe them, when I see
them throw away their money out of their pockets, and
not till then.
3. If there be any superstition truly and properly so
called, 'tis their observing the sabbath after the Jewish
manner.
CXXXIII.
SYNOD. ASSEMBLY.
I. We have had no national synod since the kingdom
hath been settled, as now it is, only provincial ; and there
1. 4. when I see ihem throw away their money &c.] ' The Parlia-
ment's gold coins are just like their silver ones, viz. on one side two
shields with the cross and harp.' Abp. Sharpe, Dissertation on the
Golden Coins of England, sec. 6.
The cross was a common impress on earlier English coins.
1. 7. If there be any &c.] See ' Sabbath ' and note.
1. II. We have had no national synod &c.] The London ministers,
in their petitions in 1641, prayed the Houses of Parliament to be
mediators to his Majesty for a free Synod. Neal, Hist, of Puritans,
iii. 43. The Commons accordingly included this among the requests
in the grand Remonstrance of December i, 1641 : — 'We desire that
there may be a general synod of the most grave, pious, learned, and
judicious divines of this island, assisted with some from foreign parts
professing the same religion with us, who may consider of all things
necessary for the peace and good government of the church.' Rush-
worth, iv. 450.
Selden's objections to the calling so many divines together, and to
the forming of a Synod to do work which could be done by the exist-
ing Convocation, seem to have been directed against this request.
It was not granted by the King ; but the Commons finally took the
matter into their own hands, and summoned, in 1643, the Westmin-
ster Assembly of Divines to advise with Parliament on the points for
which a general Synod had been prayed for. But it was not sum-
SYNOD. ASSEMBLY. 175
will be this inconveniency, to call so many divines to-
gether ; it will be to put power in their hands, who are too
apt to usurp it, as if the laity were bound by their deter-
minations. No ; let the laity consult with the divines on
all sides, hear what they say, and make themselves masters
of their reasons; as they do by any other profession, when
they have a difference before them. For example, gold-
smiths ; they enquire of them, if such a jewel be of such a
value, and such a stone of such a value; hear them, and
then, being rational men, judge themselves. 10
2. Why should you have a synod, when you have a
convocation already, which is a synod ? Would you have
a superfetation of another synod? The clergy of Eng-
land, when they cast off the pope, submitted themselves
to the civil power, and so have continued; but these
challenge to be jure divino, and so to be above the civil
power : these challenge power to call before their presby-
teries all persons for all sins directly against the law of
God, as proved to be sins by necessary consequence. If
you would buy gloves, send for a glover or two, not 20
Glovers' hall : consult with some divines, not send for
a body.
3. There must be some laymen in the synod, to over-
moned under the name of a Synod, indeed it was expressly claimed
for it that it was not a national Synod or representative body of the
clergy, but only a body to deliberate on matters submitted to it by
the House. Neal, Hist, of Puritans, iii. 43, 44, 49.
On the claim of the Presbyterian clergy of this body ' to be jure
divino, and so above the civil power,' see note on ' Presbytery,' sec. 4.
1. 23. There must be some laymen &c.] This takes us to a time, at
or about 1643, when the constitution of the Assembly of Divines had
not been finally settled, and when its name had not yet been fixed.
The next section shows that the point insisted upon in sec. 3 had
been so determined when the Assembly actually met. The Ordinance
(June, 1643) is termed : 'an ordinance for the calling of an assembly of
learned and godly divines and others ' ; but in the ordinance itself the
assembly is said to be : ' of learned, godly, and judicious divines.'
176 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
look the clergy, lest they spoil the civil work. Just as
when the good woman puts a cat into the milk-house to
kill a mouse ; she sends her maid to look after the cat,
lest the cat should eat up the cream.
4. In the ordinance for the assembly, the lords and com-
mons go under the names of learned, godly, and judicious
divines ; there is no difference put betwixt them, and the
ministers in the context.
5. It is not unusual in the assembly to revoke their votes,
10 by reason they make such haste, but 'tis that will make
them scorned. You never heard of a council revoked an
act of its own making. They have been wary of that, to
keep up their infallibility ; if they did anything, they took
away the whole council ; and yet we would be thought as
infallible as anybody. It is not enough to say, the House
of Commons revokes their votes, for theirs are but civil
truths, which they by agreement create, and uncreate,
as they please ; but the truths the synod deals in are
divine ; and when they have voted a thing, if it be then
aotrue, 'twas true before, not true because they voted it;
nor does it cease to be true, because they vote it other-
wise.
6. Subscribing in a synod, or to the articles of a synod,
is no such terrible thing as they make it ; because, if I am
of a synod, 'tis agreed, either tacitly or expressly, that which
the major part determines, the rest are involved in ; and
therefore I subscribe, though my own private opinion be
otherwise; and upon the same ground, I may without
scruple subscribe to what these have determined, whom
30 1 sent, though my private opinion be otherwise; having
respect to that which is the ground of all assembHes, The
major part carries it.
Selden, who was a member of the assembly, must have been a little
amused to find himself included in the description. Rushworth,
V. 337-
THANKSGIVING.— TITHES. 177
CXXXIV.
THANKSGIVING.
At first we gave thanks for every victory as soon as e'er
'twas obtained ; but since we have had many, now we can
stay a good while. We are just Hke a child ; give him a
plum, he makes his leg ; give him a second plum, he makes
another leg : at last when his belly is full, he forgets what
he ought to do ; then his nurse, or somebody else that
stands by him, puts him in mind of his duty, Where's your
leg?
cxxxv.
TITHES. I
I. Tithes are more paid in kind in England, than in all
Italy and France. In France they have had impropriations
a long time; we had none in England till Henry the 8th.
1. 13. we had none in England} They were, Selden shows, not
common in England till Henry VIII, but he mentions them as occa-
sionally found. Conf. ' Although in other states these infeodations or
conveyances of the perpetual right of tythes to laymen be very
ancient and frequent also, yet no such certain and obvious testimony
of their antiquity is in the monuments of England as can enough
assure us that they were before the statute of dissolutions in any
common use here. But some were, and, for ought appears in the
practice of the time, many more might equally have been. ... In
sum then we may affirm that some such ancient infeodations have
been in England as in other states.' Works, iii. 1274 ff.
' Neither hath the canon law wrought otherwise in Italy, but that
there also particular customs, as well of non decimando as in the
modus, are frequent. Multis Italiae locis, says Cajetan, contingit ex
consuetudine that nothing at all is paid. And so is the practice there
for the most part at this day, the parish priests being sufficiently
maintained by manse and glebe, and the revenues that are in some
places paid as according to a modus' iii. 1174.
' In that state (sc. France), against the whole course of the canon law
in this kind, they have, what by reason of ancient infeodations still
continuing, what through customs, allowed divers lands to be not at
N
178 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
2. To make an impropriation, there was to be the consent
of the incumbent, the patron, and the king ; and then 'twas
confirmed by the pope : without all this the pope could
make no impropriation.
3. Or what if the pope gave the tithes to any man, must
they therefore be taken away? If the pope gives me a
jewel, will you therefore take it from me ?
4. Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedec ; what then ?
'Twas very well done of him : it does not follow therefore
10 that I must pay tithes, no more than I am bound to imitate
any other action of Abraham's.
5. 'Tis ridiculous to say, the tithes are God's part, and
all subject to any tythes payable to the Church. For their infeoda-
tions . . are to this day remaining, and are conveyed and descend as
other lay inheritances. . . . Those infeodations of tythes are there
very frequent, and in very many parishes the tythes are taken only
by laymen.' iii. 1169.
' J'oseray encor mettre entre les privileges, mais non Ecclesiastiques,
le droict de tenir dixmes en fief par gens pur laics. Ce qu'on ne peut
nier avoir prins son origine d'une licence et abuz commence soubs
Charles Martel, Maire du Palais, et continue principalement soubs les
Rois de sa race.' Pithou, printed in Libertez de I'Eglise Gallicane,
vol. i. p. 19.
1. 2. then 'twas confirmed by the pope'] The consent of the provin-
cial primate was anciently needed for the alienation of Church
property. See ' Placuit etiam ut rem ecclesiae nemo vendat, Quod si
aliqua necessitas cogit, hanc insinuendam esse primati provinciae
ipsius, ut cum statute numero episcoporum, utrum faciendum sit
arbitretur.' Canon of the 5th Council of Carthage, quoted by Bingham,
Christian Antiquities, Bk. V. ch. vi. sec. 7.
In pre-Reformation days, when the Pope had an admitted primacy
in the Western Church, this right of final judgment naturally devolved
on him. That he could not move in the matter by his own mere will
was effectually settled in this countrj' by the Statutes of Provisors.
1. 12. ' Tis ridiculous to say, &c.] Selden's view is not that of t"he
sacerdotal champions of the Romish or of the English Church. See
e. g. Decrees of Pope Boniface I, sec. 3 : ' Nulli liceat ignorare quod
omne quod domino consecratur ... ad jus pertinet sacerdotum.' Labbe,
Conciliorum CoUectio, vol. iv. p. 397 ; and Laud's argument to prove
that the payment of tithes to the ministers under the Gospel is due
jure divino. Laud, Works, vi. 159.
TITHES. 179
therefore the clergy must have them : why, so they are if
the layman has them. 'Tis as if one of my Lady Kent's
maids should be sweeping this room, and another of them
should come and take away the broom, and tell for a reason,
why she should part with it ; 'Tis my lady's broom : as if
it were not my lady's broom, which of them soever had it.
6. They consulted in Oxford where they might find the
best arguments for their tithes, setting aside the jus divinum;
they were advised to my History of Tithes, a book so much
cried down by them formerly (in which, I dare boldly say, 10
1. 9. they were advised to my History of Tithes] by Gerard Lang-
baine, Provost of Queen's, who wrote the letter to which Selden here
refers :
'HoND. Sir,
' Upon occasion of the businesse of Tythes now under considera-
tion, some whom it more nearly concerns, have been pleased to
enquire of me what might be said as to the civil right of them ; to
whom I was not able to give any better direction than by sending
them to yowr History. Happily it may seem strange to them ; yet
I am not out of hopes but that work (like Pelias hasta) which was
lookt upon as a piece that struck deepest against the divine, will
afford the strongest arguments for the civil right : and if that be made
the issue, I do not despair of the cause. . . .
Ger. Langbaine.
Queen's Coll., Oxon.,
22 Aug. 1653.'
— Leland's Collectanea, Hearne, vol. v. p. 291 (ed. 1770).
1. 9. a book so much cried down by them formerly] Selden's
History of Tythes was published in 1617, and roused the anger of
the whole clerical party, mainly by its treatment of the tithe as a
matter of variable civil right, and not as due to the clergy jure divino.
So strong was the feeling against Selden that he found it necessary,
in order to escape being called before the Court of High Commission
— if indeed he did escape, which Dr. Tillesley denies— to express in
writing his sense of the error which he had committed in publishing
his History, and his grief that he had thereby incurred the King's
displeasure and that of the bishops and lay officials to whom his
'retractation' was addressed. The History was vehemently attacked
in print by champions of the jure divino right, a right which Selden
had ignored but had not denied, his end and purpose being ' to leave
that question of divine right to divines, to whom it properly pertains,'
N a
i8o THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
there are more arguments for them than are extant together
anywhere) : upon this, one writ me word, that my history
of tithes was now become Hke Pelias hasta ^, to wound and
to heal. I told him in my answer, I thought I could fit him
with a better instance. 'Twas possible it might undergo
' Pelias hasta] Peleus's hasta, MSS.
These numerous attacks Selden was for the time forced to suifer in
silence, for King James had told him that he would put him in prison
if he or any of his friends made any answer to them. But as he
insists, when he was at length able to reply to Dr. Tillesley's
' Animadversions,' he had been careful in making his submission to
retract nothing. ' I was and am,' he says, ' sorry that I pubhshed it,
and that I so gave occasion to others to abuse my history, by their
false application of some arguments.' A full account of the whole
matter will be found in Works, vol. i. Vita Authoris, p. v-viii. See
also vol. iii. pp. 1370, 1394 and 1452 if.
1. 3. like Pelias hasta]
' Vulnus in Herculeo quae quondam fecerat hoste,
Vulneris auxilium Pelias hasta tulit.'
Ovid, Remedium Amoris, 47.
1. 4. I could fit him with a better instance] See 'Ante annos scilicet
ccclx, aut circiter . . . prorsus damnati sunt ejusdem libri illi (sc.
Aristotelis physices et metaphysices libri) ut Christianismo nimis
dissoni ; quod a Rogero Bachone Franciscano, qui paulo post id
tempus floruit philosophus et mathematicus summus, didici. . . . Theo-
logi, inquit, Parisiis, et episcopus, et omnes sapientes jam ab annis
circiter quadraginta damnaverunt et excommunicaverunt libros
naturales et metaphysicae Aristotelis, qui nunc ab omnibus recipiuntur.
Et alibi idem — Scimus enim quod temporibus nostris Parisiis diu fuit
contradictum philosophiae naturali et metaphysicae Aristotelis per
Avicennam et Averroym expositis, et ob densam ignorantiam fuere
libri eorum excommunicati, et utentes eis, per tempora satis longa.'
De Jure Naturali et Gentium, lib. i. cap. 2 ; Works, i. pp. 98 and 947.
The former of these passages occurs in Roger Bacon's Opus Ter-
tium, p. 28 (Brewer's ed. 1859), the latter in the Opus Majus, cap. 9,
p. 14. The Opus Tertium was written in 1267, as Bacon expressly
states (p. 278). The sentence of excommunication, therefore, must
have been about 1227, and could not have been pronounced by
' Stephen, Bishop of Paris,' who did not become bishop until 1268, i. e.
a year after the Opus Tertium was written, and some forty years
after the sentence. See Ecclesia Parisiensis, in Sainte Martha's Gallia
Christiana, vol. vii. p. 108.
Bishop Stephen's name must have been introduced through some
TRADE. i8i
the same fate that Aristotle, Avicen, and Averroes did in
France, some five hundred years ago, which was excom-
municated by Stephen, bishop of Paris, (by that very
name, excommunicated,) because that kind of learning puz-
zled and troubled ^ their divinity : but finding themselves
at a loss, some forty years after (which is much about the
time since I writ my history), they were called in again,
and so have continued ever since.
CXXXVI.
TRADE.
I. There is no prince in Christendom but is directly lo
a tradesman, though in another way than an ordinary
tradesman. For the purpose, I have a man ; I bid him
lay out twenty shillings in such a commodity; but 1 tell
' Troubled, H. a] trouble, H.
confusion on the part of Selden's reporter, Milward. The controversy
in which Stephen figures had to do with the nature and origin of the
higher form of intelligence, Aristotle's vovs ttoititikos, Roger Bacon's
intelledus agens. The authority of Aristotle and of his Arabian com-
mentators, Avicenna, Averroes, and others, had been used, not
unfairly, to support the theory that this intelligence was no constituent
part of each human mind, but that it was of a divine nature, infused
into the mind, and the same in all minds, being a pre-existent entity
distinct from the human faculties properly so called, and quickening
them to the discovery of truth. This, which had long been the
accepted view, began to be called in question in the .thirteenth
century, and was publicly condemned at Paris by Bishop Stephen in
1270. The objections made to it, and the terms of compromise by
which the dispute was finally adjusted, are very fully set down in
Selden's De Jure Naturah et Gentium, lib. i. cap. 9 (Works, i. 154-
157)-
It is clear, from Langbaine's letter, that the discourse reported in
the text must have been towards the close of 1653 or in 1654, the year
of Selden's death.
i82 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
him for every shilling he lays out I will have a penny : I
trade as well as he. This every prince does in his customs.
2. That which a man is bred up in, he thinks no cheat-
ing; as your tradesman thinks not so of his profession,
but calls it a mystery. Whereas if you would teach a
mercer some other way to make his silks heavy than what
he has been used to, he would peradventure think that
to be cheating.
3. Every tradesman professes to cheat me, that asks for
10 his commodity twice as much as 'tis worth.
CXXXVII.
TRADITION.
Say what you will against tradition, we know the sig-
nification of words by nothing but tradition. You will
say the Scripture was written by the Holy Spirit, but do
you understand that language 'twas writ in? No. Then
for example, take these words. In principio erat verbum.
How do you know those words signify. In the beginning
was the word, but by tradition, because somebody has told
you so ?
CXXXVHI.
> TRANSUBSTANTIATION.
1. The fathers using to speak rhetorically, brought up
transubstantiation : as if because 'tis commonly said,
amicus est alter idem, one should go about to prove that
a man and his friend are all one. That opinion is only
rhetoric turned into logic.
2. There is no greater argument (though not used) against
transubstantiation, than the Apostles, at their first council,
TRADITION.— TRIAL. 183
forbidding blood and suffocation. Would they forbid blood,
and yet enjoin the eating of blood too ?
3. The best way for a pious man ^ is to address himself
to the sacrament with that reverence and devotion, as if
Christ were really there present.
CXXXIX.
TRAITOR.
'Tis not seasonable to call a man traitor, who has an
army at his heels. One with an army is a gallant man. My
Lady Cotton was in the right, when she laughed at the
Duchess of Richmond for taking such state upon her, when 10
she could command no forces. She a duchess ! there is in
Flanders a duchess indeed ; meaning the arch-duchess.
CXL.
TRIAL.
1. Trials are one of these three ways ; by confession ;
or by demurrer, that is, confessing the fact, but denying
it to be that wherewith a man is charged ; for example,
denying it to be treason, if a man be charged with treason :
or by a jury.
2. Ordalium was a trial, and was either by going over
' The best way for a pious man, &c.] with heading ' Transubstantiation ' to
This section appears in H. under which subject it seems more properly-
heading ' Sacrament.' In H. 2, it to belong,
appears as an appendix to the MS.
I. 19. Ordalium was a trial] There were several forms of the
ordeal. In the aquae frigidae judicium— una ex purgationibus vul-
garibus quas judicia Dei appellabant— the suspected or accused
person was plunged into deep water ; if he swam he was held guilty,
if he sank innocent. In the aquae ferventis judicium, the accused had
i84 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
nine red hot ploughshares, (as in the case of Queen Emma,
accused for lying with the bishop of Winchester, over which
she being led blindfold, and having passed all her irons,
asked when she should come to her trial;) or 'twas by
taking a red hot coulter in a man's hand, and carrying
it so many steps, and then casting it from him. As soon
as this was done, the feet or the hands w^ere to be bound
up, and certain charms to be said, and a day or two after to
be opened; if the parts were whole, the party was judged
10 to be innocent ; and so on the contrary.
3. The rack is used nowhere as in England. In other
countries 'tis used in judicature, when there is a semiplena
probatio, a half proof against a man ; then to see if they
can make it full, they rack him if he will not confess. But
here in England they take a man and rack him, I do not
to plunge his bare hand and arm into boiling water. Of the same
kind was the judgment by hot iron, to which Selden here refers.
See Ducange, Gloss., under Aquae and Ferrum Candens.
Muratori adds, under 'Judicium ferri candentis,' the passing blind-
fold over hot ploughshares, and a further form known as the judicium
crucis, in which the accused had to stand with his arms held out in
the form of a cross, while a chapter in the Bible or some of the
Psalms were read. If he could maintain the posture he was pro-
nounced innocent, if he gave way he was guilty. See Muratori,
Antiq. Ital. Dissert. 38, p. 611 ff.
1. I. as in the case of Queen Emma] The account of Queen
Emma's trial is given, as in the text, in Fabyan's Chronicle, pp. 224-5
(Ellis's ed. 1811). The ordeal, as might be assumed, was under the
management of her episcopal friends. The Archbishop, Robert,
who had declared against her, was not present.
1. 14. But here in England they take a man &c.] The infliction of
torture was certainly against the English common law and against
the Magna Charta, but it was no less certainly of regular and frequent
occurrence. As to its illegality, we have, e. g., the statement of Chief
Justice Fortescue, quoted and endorsed by Coke, and we have the
declared opinion of the judges in Felton's case (November, 1628) :
' That he ought not by the law to be tortured by the rack, for no
such punishment is known or allowed by our law.' 'And yet' (says
Jardine, in his Reading on the use of torture in England) ' it is an
historical fact that, anterior to the Commonwealth, torture was
TRINITY. 185
know why, nor when ; not in time of judicature, but when
somebody bids.
4. Some men before they come to their trial, are cozened
to confess upon examination, upon this trick. They are
made to beHeve somebody has confessed before them;
and then they think it a piece of honour to be clear and
ingenuous \ and that destroys them.
CXLI.
TRINITY.
The Second Person is made of a piece of bread by the
Papist ; the Third Person is made of his own frenzy, malice, 10
ignorance and folly, by the Roundhead. To all these the
spirit is intituled^. One the baker makes, the other the
cobbler ; and betwixt these two, I think the First Person
is sufficiently abused.
' Ingenuous] ingenious, MSS. * Intituled, H. 2] iutitled, H.
always used, as a matter of course, in all grave accusations, at the
mere discretion of the King and the Privy Council, and uncontrolled
by any law besides the prerogative of the sovereign.' He traces the
practice from Henry VIII's reign down to May 1640, Archer's case,
which is (he says) 'the last recorded instance of the infliction of
torture in England, and as far as I have been able to discover the last
instance of its occurrence.' Jardine holds that, though not lawful by
the common law, it was lawful as an act of prerogative, a power
superior to the laws and able to suspend the laws ; but it may be
fairly questioned whether this strain of prerogative over law can be
allowed to have been lawful in any sense. See ' Prerogative,' sec. i.
It is curious to find Grotius and other foreign jurists praising the
law of England for its singular humanity in conducting criminal pro-
ceedings without the use of torture, and devising ingenious reasons
to account for it ; while Selden, well acquainted with the facts, com-
pares English practice disadvantageously with that of other countries
— an opinion which Jardine confirms by contrasting in detail the
arbitrary and uncontrolled licence of the English method with the
limitations and definite rules which prevailed in countries whose
code was based on the Roman law. Reading, &c., p. 67.
i86 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
CXLII.
TRUTH.
1. The Aristotelians say, all truth is contained in
Aristotle, in one place or another. Galileo makes Sim-
plicius say so, but shews the absurdity of that speech,
by answering, that all truth is contained in a lesser com-
pass, viz', in the alphabet. Aristotle is not blamed for mis-
taking sometimes, but Aristotelians for maintaining those
mistakes. They should acknowledge the good they have
from him, and leave him when he is in the wrong.
lo There never breathed that person to whom mankind
was more beholden.
2. The way to find out the truth is by others' mis-
takings : for if I was to go to such a place, and one had
gone before me on the right hand, and he was out ; an-
other had gone on the left hand, and he was out; this
would direct me to keep the middle way, that peradven-
ture would bring me to the place I intended to go.
1. 3. Galileo makes Simplicius say so, &c.] The passage occurs in
the second of a series of imaginary conversations on mathematical
and physical science, between Salviati and Sagredo, the spokesmen
for modern science, and Simplicius, the Aristotelian commentator.
Simplicius asserts that, with the aid of the syllogistic method, the
man who can make a proper use of Aristotle's writings ' sapra cavar
da' suoi libri le dimostrazioni di ogni scibile, perche in essi e ogni
cosa.'
Sagredo replies, banteringly, ' Ma, Signor Simplicio mio . . . questo
che voi, e gli altri filosofi bravi, farete con i testi d'Aristotile, faro io
con i versi di Virgilio, o di Ovidio. . . . Ma che dico io di Virgilio, o di
altro poeta ? io ho un libretto assai piu breve di Aristotile e d'Ovidio,
nel quale si contengono tutte le scienze . . . e questo e 1' alfabeto ; e
non e dubbio che quello, che sapra ben accoppiare e ordinare questa
e quella vocale con quelle consonanti o con quell' altre, ne cavera le
risposte verissime a tutti i dubbj, e ne trarra gli insegnamenti di
tutte le scienze e di tutte le arti.' Opere di Galilei, vol. xi. p. 266
(Classici Italiani, Milan, 1808-1811, in 13 vols.).
TRUTH.— UNIVERSITY. 187
3. In troubled water you can scarce see your face ; or
see it very little, till the water be quiet and stand still.
So in troubled times you can see little truth. When
times are quiet and settled, then truth appears.
CXLIII.
UNIVERSITY.
1. The best argument why Oxford should have prece-
dence of Cambridge, is the act of parliament, by which
Oxford is made a body ; made what it is ; and Cambridge
is made what it is ; and in that act it takes place. Besides,
Oxford has the best monuments to show. j
2. 'Twas well said of one, hearing of a history lecture
to be founded in the university; Would to God, says he,
they would erect a lecture of discretion there, this would
do more good an hundred times.
3. He that comes from the university to govern the state,
1. 6. The best argument why Oxford &c.] This question of prece-
dence was raised in the House of Commons in January, 1640-1, when
' the Bill of four subsidies for the rehef of the King's army and the
northern counties having been drawn by a Committee, Cambridge
was placed before Oxford in the same.' This gave rise to a hot and
prolonged debate. Sir Simonds D'Ewes spoke at length in favour of
giving Cambridge the precedence, on the ground that Cambridge was
a renowned city before Oxford, and a nursery of learning before
Oxford, so that Cambridge was in all respects the elder sister. So
sharp was the contention that on that day ' the House came not to a
final determination in the reading of the Bill.' See, Two Speeches
by Sir S. D'Ewes (printed in 1642), and Nalson, Collections, i. 703.
1. 7. the act of parliament &c.] This is 13 Elizabeth, ch. 29, 'An
Act concerning the incorporations of the Universities of Oxford
and Cambridge,' in which Oxford is named before Cambridge in
several places. Once only, towards the end of the Act, we have 'the
said Universities of Cambridge and Oxford.'
i88 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
before he is acquainted with the men and manners of the
place, does just as if he should come into the presence all
dirty, with his boots on, his riding-coat, and his hat all
daubed. They may serve him well enough in the way,
but when he comes to court, he must conform to the
place.
CXLIV.
VOWS.
Question. Suppose a man find by his own inclination
he has no mind to marry, may he not then vow chastity ?
5 Answer. If he does, what a fine thing has he done ?
'Tis as if a man did not love cheese ; and then he would
vow to God Almighty never to eat cheese. He that vows
can mean no more in sense than this; to do his utmost
endeavour to keep his vow.
CXLV.
USURY.
1. The Jews were forbidden to take use one of another,
but they were not forbidden to take it of other nations.
That being so, I see no reason why I may not as well take
use for my money as rent for my house. 'Tis a vain thing
20 to say, money begets not money; for that no doubt it
does ^.
2. Would it not look oddly to a stranger, that should
' No doubt it does, H. 2] no doubt is does, H.
vows.— PIOUS USES, 189
come into this land, and hear in our pulpits usury preached
against ; and^ yet the law allow it ? Many men use it,
perhaps some churchmen themselves. No bishop nor
ecclesiastical judge, that pretends power to punish other
faults, dares punish, or at least does punish, any man for
doing it.
CXLVI.
PIOUS USES.
The ground of the ordinary's taking part of a man's
estate, who died without a will, to pious uses, was this ; to
give it somebody to pray that his soul might be delivered 10
out of purgatory. Now the pious uses come into his own
pocket. 'Twas well expressed by John o' Fowls in the
play, who acted the priest ; one that was to be hanged,
being brought to the ladder, would fain have given some-
thing to the poor ; he feels for his purse, (which John
o' Fowls had picked out of his pocket a little before) miss-
ing it, cries out, he had lost his purse now he intended to
have given something to the poor : John o' Fowls bid
him be pacified, for the poor had it already.
1. 12. 'Twas well expressed &c.] The same incident occurs in the
following, which is probably the passage which Selden had in
mind : —
' Malheureux (pinioned and led out to execution) :
My endless peace is made ; and to the poor —
My purse, my purse ! '
Codedemoy {who has just picked Malheureu:^ pocket) :
Ay, sir ; and it shall please you, the poor has your purse already.'
— Marston, Dutch Courtezan, Act v. sc. 3 (vol ii. p. 98 in Bullen's ed.
of Marston's works).
I am indebted to Mr. P. A. Daniel for this reference.
190 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
CXLVII.
WAR.
1. Do not undervalue an enemy by whom you have been
worsted. When our countrymen came home from fight-
ing against the Saracens, and were beaten by them, they
pictured them with huge, big, terrible faces, (as you still
see the sign of the Saracen's head is) when in truth they
were like other men. But this they did to save their
own credits.
2. Martial law in general, means nothing but the martial
lo law of this or that place ; with us 'tis to be used in fervore
belli, in the face of the enemy, not in time of peace ; then
they can take away neither limb nor life. The commanders
need not complain for want of it, because our ancestors
have done gallant things without it.
1. II. In the face of the enemy, not in time of peace\ The billeting of
great companies of soldiers and mariners, and the appointment of
special commissioners to deal summarily, ' as is agreeable to martial
law,' with them or with other dissolute persons joining with them to
commit murder, robbery, felony, mutiny, or other outrage or mis-
demeanour, are among the grievances set down in the ' Petition of
Right ' of 1628. The result of them is said to have been the illegal
execution of some persons by the commissioners, and the escape of
' sundry grievous oifenders,' against whom the judges refused to
proceed ' upon pretence that the said offenders were punishable only
by martial law,' &c. Somers, Historical Tracts, vol. iv. pp. 118, 119.
There are several speeches of Selden's on this matter, in which he
argues and brings proof that in time of peace there can be no martial
law ; that wherever the sheriff in the county can execute the king's
writs, there it is time of peace, though in other parts there be war ;
that in time of peace, so defined, soldiers are under the common law;
and that martial law, where it legitimately exists, is not the abroga-
tion of law but proceeds by settled rules. Works, iii. 1986 ff.
The subject was fully discussed in ParUament by several other
speakers, and the proclamation of martial law in time of peace was
condemned as unconstitutional and illegal. Rushworth, Collections,
vol. iii. Appendix, p. 76.
WAR. 191
3. Question. Whether may subjects take up arms against
their prince ?
Answer. Conceive it thus ; here Ues a shilling betwixt
you and me ; tenpence of the shilling is yours, twopence is
mine by agreement : I am as much king of my twopence,
as you of your tenpence : if you therefore go about to take
away my twopence, I will defend it ; for there you and
I are equal, both princes.
4. Or thus ; two supreme princes meet ; one says to the
other. Give me your land ; if you will not, I will take it 10
from you : the other, because he thinks himself too weak
to resist him, tells him, Of nine parts I will give you three,
so I may quietly enjoy the rest, and I will become your
tributary. Afterwards the prince comes to exact six parts,
and leaves but three ; the contract then is broken, and they
are in parity again.
5. To know what obedience is due to the prince, you
must look into the contract betwixt him and his people ; as
if you would know what rent is due from the tenant to the
landlord, you must look into the lease. Where the contract 20
is broken, and there is no third person to judge, then the
decision is by arms. And this is the case between the
prince and the subject.
1. I. Whether may subjects &c.J The right of subjects to take up
arms against their Prince was a natural subject of discussion in
Selden's day. The clergy pronounced against it. The new Canons
of 1640, put out by the two Synods and accepted and endorsed by the
King, speak very decidedly about it. ' For subjects to bear arms
against their Kings, offensive or defensive, upon any pretence what-
soever, is at least to resist the powers which are ordained of God ;
and though they do not invade, but only resist, St. Paul tells them
plainly, they shall receive to themselves damnation.' Constitutions
and Canons Ecclesiastical, sec. i. Wilkins, Conciha, iv. 545.
It was one of the charges against Archbishop Laud that he had
ordered the clergy to preach in the above sense four times in the year.
This order appears in the preface to the first Canon, and the doctrine
thus approved is defended at length in Laud's own history of his
troubles and trial. Conf. Laud's Works, vol. iii. pp. 366-370.
192 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
6. Question. What law is there to take up arms against
the prince, in case he break his covenant ?
Answer. Though there be no written law for it, yet there
is custom, which is the best law of the kingdom ; for in
England they have always done it. There is nothing
expressed between the king of England and the king of
France, that if either invades the other's territory, the
other shall take up arms against him ; and yet they do it
upon such an occasion,
lo 7. 'Tis all one to be plundered by a troop of horse, or to
have a man's goods taken from him by an order from the
Council-table. To him that dies, 'tis all one whether it be
by a penny halter, or a silk garter ; yet I confess the silk
garter pleases more ; and, like trouts, we love to be tickled
to death.
8. The soldiers say they fight for honour; when the
truth is they have their honour in their pocket. And they
mean the same thing that pretend to fight for religion.
Just as a parson goes to law with his parishioners, he
ao says, for the good of his successor, that the church may
not lose its right ; when the meaning is to get the tithe
into his own pocket.
9. We govern this war as an unskilful man does a cast-
ing-net ; if he has not the right trick to cast the net off" of
his shoulder, the leads will pull him into the river. I am
afraid we shall pull ourselves into destruction.
10. We look after the particulars of a battle, because we
live in the very time of the war. Whereas of battles past,
we hear nothing but the number slain. Just so for the
30 death of a man ; when he is sick, we talk how he slept this
night, and that night ; what he eat, and what he drank : but
when he is dead, we only say, he died of a fever, or name
his disease ; and there's an end.
11. Boccaline has this passage of soldiers; they came to
1. 34. Boccaline has this passage &c.] This is not quite correct.
WAR. 193
Apollo to have their profession made the eighth ^ liberal
science, which he granted. As soon as it was noised up
and down, in came the butchers, and they desired their
profession might be made the ninth : for, say they, the
soldiers have this honour for kilHng of men ; now we kill
as well as they; but we kill beasts for the preserving of
men, and why should not we have honour likewise done
us ? Apollo could not answer their reasons, so he reversed
his sentence, and made the soldier's trade a mystery, as the
butcher's is. i
• TheeightK] the eigth, H. and H. a.
The passage is as follows : — ' The precedency between Arms and
Learning is still obstinately disputed on both sides, between the
Literati and Military men in Parnassus. And it was resolved in the
last Ruota that the question should be argued if at least the name of
Science and Discipline might be attributed to the exercise of war.
. . . The business was very subtilly canvassed and argued, and the
Court seemed wholly to incline to the Literati ; but the Princes used
such forcible arguments, as it was resolved that military men in their
exercise of war might use the honourable names of science and
discipline. The Literati were much displeased at this decision . . .
when unexpectedly all the Butchers of the world were seen to appear
in Parnassus ; ... all besmeared with blood, with hatchets and long
knives in their hands. . . . Apollo, that he might know what they
meant, sent some Deputies to them. To whom those butchers stoutly
said, that hearing that the Court had decided that the art of sacking
and firing of cities, of cutting their inhabitants in pieces . . . and of
calling with sword in hand, mine thine, should be termed a science
and discipline, they also, who did not profess the killing of men . . .
but the killing of calves and muttons to feed men withal, demanded
that their art might be honoured by the same illustrious names. . . .
The same Signori Auditori di ruota, when they saw the butchers
appear in the Palace, and heard their demand, they were aware
of the injustice which but a little before they had done to all the
Virtuosi by their decision ; wherefore they again propounded the
same question, and unanimously agreed, that the mysterie of War,
though it were sometimes necessary, was notwithstanding so cruel
and so inhumane, as it was impossible to honest it with civil terms.'
Boccalini, Advertisements from Parnassus, Century i. Advert. 75.
Trans, by Henry, Earl of Monmouth, p. 143.
194 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
CXLVIII.
WIFE.
1. He that has a handsome wife, by other men is thought
happy; 'tis a pleasure to look upon her, and be in her
company ; but the husband is cloyed with her. We are
never content with what we have.
2. You shall see a monkey sometime that has been
playing up and down the garden, at length leap up to the
top of the wall, but his clog hangs a great way below on
this side: the bishop's wife is like that monkey's clog;
lo himself is got up very high, takes place of temporal barons ;
but his wife comes a great way behind.
3. 'Tis reason a man that will have a wife should be at
the charge of all her trinkets, and pay all the scores she
sets on him. He that will keep a monkey, 'tis fit he should
pay for the glasses she breaks.
CXLIX.
WISDOM.
1. A WISE man should never resolve upon anything, at
least never let the world know his resolution ; for if he
cannot arrive at that, he is shamed. How many things did
20 the king resolve in his declaration concerning Scotland,
never to do, and yet did them all ? A man must do accord-
ing to accidents and emergences.
2. Never tell your resolution before-hand ; but when the
cast is thrown, play it as well as you can to win the game
you are at. 'Tis but folly to study how to play size-ace,
when you know not whether you shall throw it or no.
3. Wise men say nothing in dangerous times. The lion,
WIFE. — WIT. 195
you know, called the sheep, to ask her if his breath smelt ;
she said, Aye^; he bit off her head for a fool. He called
the wolf, and asked him ; he said. No ; he tore him in pieces
for a flatterer. At last he called the fox, and asked him ;
Truly he had got a cold, and could not smell. King James
was pictured, &c.
CL.
WITCHES.
The law against witches does not prove that there be
any ; but it punishes the malice of those people that use
such means to take away men's lives. If one should pro- 10
fess that by turning his hat thrice, and crying buz, he could
take away a man's life (though in truth he could do nothing),
yet this were a just law made by the state, that whosoever
should turn his hat thrice, and cry buz, with an intention to
take away a man's life, shall be put to death.
CLI.
WIT.
1. Wit and wisdom differ ; wit is upon the sudden turn,
wisdom is in bringing about ends.
2. Nature must be the ground-work of wit and art;
otherwise whatever is done will prove but jack-pudding's 20
work.
3. Wit must grow like fingers ; if it be taken from
others, 'tis like plums stuck upon blackthorn ; there they
are for awhile, but they come to nothing.
4. He that will give himself to all manner of ways to get
' Aye] I, MSS.
O %
196 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
money may be rich ; so he that will let fly all he knows or
thinks, may by chance be sarcastically witty. Honesty
sometimes keeps a man from being rich ; and civility from
being witty.
5. Women ought not to know their own wit, because
then they will still be shewing it, and so spoil it ; like a
child that will be continually shewing its fine new coat,
till at length it all bedaubs it with its pah hands.
6. Fine wits destroy themselves with their own plots, in
10 meddling with great affairs of state. They commonly do
as the ape that saw the gunner put bullets in the cannon,
and was pleased with it, and he would be doing so too ; at
last he puts himself into the piece, and so both ape and
bullet were shot away together.
GUI.
WOMEN.
1. Let the woman'^ have power on her head, because of the
angels. The reason of the words, because of the angels, is
this; the Greek Ghurch held an opinion that the angels
fell in love with women ; an opinion grounded upon that
20 in Genesis vi, The sons of God saw the daughters of
men that they were fair. This fancy St. Paul discreetly
catches, and uses it as an argument to persuade them to
modesty.
2. The grant of a place is not good by the canon law
before a man be dead ; upon this ground, that some mis-
chief might be plotted against him in present possession,
by poisoning or some other way. Upon the same reason
a contract made with a woman during her husband's life,
was not valid.
' Let the woman, H. a and S.] Let the women, H.
WOMEN. — YEAR, 197
3. Men are not troubled to hear a man dispraised, be-
cause they know, though he be naught, there's worth in
others. But women are mightily troubled to hear any of
them spoken against, as if the sex itself were guilty of
some unworthiness.
4. Women and princes must both trust somebody ; and
they are happy or unhappy, according to the desert of
those under whose hands they fall. If a man knows how
to manage the favour of a lady, her honour is safe ; and
so is a prince. i
CLIII.
YEAR.
I. It was the manner of the Jews (if the year did not
fall out right, but that it was dirty for the people to come
up to Jerusalem at the passover, or that their corn was
not ripe for their first-fruits) to intercalate a month, and
so to have, as it were, two Februaries ; thrusting up the
year still higher, March into April's place, April into May's
place, &c. Whereupon it is impossible for us to know
when our Saviour was born, or when he died.
1. 18. Whereupon it is impossible for us &c.] Selden, in his review
of the 4th ch. of his book on Tithes, says : — 'The learned know that
until about cccc years after Christ . . . that day (sc. Dec. 25, as the day
of the Nativity) was not settled, but variously §bserved in the Eastern
Church. . . . And S. Chrysostom then learned the time of the 25th of
December (which yet most think not to be the exact time) from the
Western or Latin Church.' Works, iii. 1314.
This passage gave great offence to King James ; and Selden, after
several interviews with the King, wrote at his command a further
tract on the subject. In this, after discussing the authorities at length,
he concludes on a balance of evidence, ' It rests that we resolve on it
(sc. on the 25th of December being the correct day) upon as certain
and clear a truth of tradition, as by rational inference, by express
testimony of the ancients, by common and continual practice of
198 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
2. The year is either the year of the moon, or the year
of the sun ; there is not above eleven days' difference.
Our moveable feasts are according to the year of the
moon ; else they should be fixed.
3. Though they reckon ten days sooner beyond sea, yet
it does not follow their spring is sooner than ours; we
keep the same time in natural things, and their ten days
sooner, and our ten days later in those things, mean the
self-same time; just as twelve sous in French, are ten-
10 pence in English.
4. The lengthening of days is not suddenly perceived,
till they are grown a pretty deal longer ; because the sun,
though it be in a circle, yet it seems for a while to go in
a right line. For take a segment of a great circle espe-
cially, and you shall doubt whether it be straight^ or no.
But when the sun is got past that line, then you presently
perceive the days lengthened. Thus it is in the winter
and summer solstice ; which is indeed the true reason of
them.
20 5. The eclipse of the sun is, when it is new moon ; the
eclipse of the moon, when it is full. They say Dionysius
' Be straight, H. 2] be not straight, H. and S.
several churches, and by accurate inquiry, may be discovered.'
Works, iii. 1450.
The remark in the Table Talk shows that this forced retractation
was not seriously made.
1. II. The lengthening of days &c.] The sense of this passage is not
clear. Selden's meaning perhaps is that in winter so small a part of
the sun's orbit is visible above the horizon, that the sun appears to
the eye to be travelling in a right line. In the much larger summer
orbit, the curvature is distinctly seen. But that the lengthening of the
days is on this account suddenly perceived, does not seem to follow.
It is likely enough that the passage has been incorrectly reported.
1. 21. They say Dionysius &c.] The story is found in a letter
written as from Dionysius the Areopagite to Polycarp, Bishop of
Smyrna. It says that he and the Sophist Apollophanes were to-
gether at Heliopolis at the time of the Crucifixion, and that they then
ZEALOTS. 199
was converted by the eclipse that happened at our Saviour's
death, because it was neither of these, and so could not be
natural.
CLIV.
ZEALOTS.
One would wonder Christ should whip the buyers and
sellers out of the temple, and nobody offer to resist him,
considering what opinion they had of him ; but the reason
was, they had a law, that whosoever did profane sanctitatem
Dei, aut tempH, the hohness of God, or the temple, before
ten persons, it was lawful for any of them to kill him, or 10
to do any thing on this side kiUing him, as whipping him,
or the like. And hence it was, that when one struck our
Saviour before a judge, (where it was not lawful to strike,
and there observed the moon pass in an unaccountable way over the
face of the sun, and so remain from the sixth hour until the evening.
Apollophanes, he remarks, must know that such an event as this,
happening out of the ordinary course of nature, must have been due
to direct divine interposition. Indeed, Apollophanes himself had
admitted this, for at the time of the eclipse he said to Dionysius that
what they saw must be the consequence of matters which concerned
the Gods {Belav dixoi^ai TT/jay/Liarffly). The actual conversion of Diony-
sius is ascribed to the preaching of St. Paul at Athens, Acts xvii. 34.
The unseasonable eclipse is referred to by Dionysius in his letter as
supplying an argument which Polycarp is to press on the scoffing
sophist Apollophanes. The result is said to have been that Apollo-
phanes too became a Christian. See S. Dionysii Epistola 7, in vol. iii.
of Migne's Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Series Graeca, and Epistola
II, extant only in Latin and marked by Migne as spurious — as indeed
the rest of the writings ascribed to Dionysius commonly are.
1. 7. the reason was, they had a law &c.] Selden, in his De Jure
Naturali, refers at length to this law, and to its enforcement by the
Zealots. He gives, among instances of its being put in force, the
well-known case of Phineas, and the case of Mattathias who, in-
flamed with zeal, slew a Jew who was about, in the sight of all, to offer
sacrifice on a pagan altar (i Maccabees, ch. ii. 23-26). The stoning of
Stephen, and the oath taken against Paul's life, are other instances in
point. See Works, i. 456 ff.
zoo THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
as it is not with us at this day), he only rephed, If I
have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil ; but if well,
why smitest thou me? He says nothing against their
smiting him, in case he had been guilty of speaking evil,
that is, blasphemy, and they could have proved it against
him. They that put this law in execution were called
zealots ; but afterwards they committed many villanies.
I. 7. afterwards they committed many villanies\ See Josephus,
Wars of the Jews, bk. iv. chs. 4, 5, 6, 7, for an account of the whole-
sale murders and robberies which they committed during the great
war with the Romans.
APPENDIX
EXCURSUS A.
EXCOMMUNICATION : p. 66.
Note on sec. 4. The evidence for this is found in a rescript, ^'c.
CoNSTANTiNE in this rescript states it as law, that in every
cause the judgment pronounced by bishops is to hold good
absolutely and without appeal, that either of two disputants may
carry the case to the bishop's court, whether his opponent
wishes it or not ; and further, that the evidence of any one
bishop is to be accepted as final, and that when a bishop has
given his testimony, no other witness is to be heard.
That there is fraud or error attaching to this rescript seems
certain, for it is found inserted in the later Codex Theodosianus,
which contains laws wholly inconsistent with it. These show
that if it was written by Constantine — and this is a disputed
point — the law which it recites must have been abrogated some
fifty years before the Codex Theodosianus was compiled.
Sirmondi, however, includes it in his Appendix Codicis Theo-
dosiani. Selden, here and in his treatise De Synedriis Veterum
Ebraeorum (Works, i. 956), accepts it as Constantine's, but he
insists that it was fraudulently inserted in the Codex Theodo-
sianus, of which it could not possibly have formed part. See
Works, ii. 830 and 1067. Godefroy, in his edition of the Codex,
prints it under the heading, Extravagans seu subdititius titulus
de Episcopali Judicio, and he gives reasons (endorsed by
Gibbon, Decline and Fall, ch. xx. sec. 4, note) for rejecting it
as an entire forgery, vol. vi. 303-308 (ed. 1665 fol.). Haenel
does not include it in his edition of the Codex, but he prints it
at the end of his volume as forming part of Sirmondi's
202 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
Appendix, and he prefaces the Appendix with a discussion of
his own, concluding in favour of the rescript as the genuine
work of Constantine, but rejecting it from the Theodosian Code.
He adds also a list of the various authorities who may be con-
sulted on the above points.
The rescript runs thus : ' Sanximus namque, sicut edicti
nostri forma declarat, sententias episcoporum, quolibet genere
latas, . . . inviolatas semper incorruptasque servari, scilicet ut
pro Sanctis semper ac venerabilibus habeatur quicquid episco-
porum fuerit sententia terminatum. . . . Quicunque itaque litem
habens, sive possessor sive petitor erit, . . . judicium eligit sacro-
sanctae legis antistitis, illico sine aliqua dubitatione, etiamsi alia
pars refragatur, ad episcopum cum sermone litigantium dirigatur.
. . . Omnes itaque causae, quae vel praetorio jure vel civili
tractantur, episcoporum sententiis terminatae, perpetuo stabili-
tatis jure firmentur, nee liceat ulterius retractari negotium, quod
episcoporum sententia deciderit. Testimonium etiam, ab uno
licet episcopo perhibitum, omnes judices indubitanter accipiant,
nee alius audiatur cum testimonium episcopi a qualibet parte
fuerit repromissum.' Constitutiones Sirmondi, Appendix, cap. i.
On the other hand, conf. e. g. a law of Arcadius and Honorius,
which was certainly part of the Codex : ' Quoties de religione
agitur, episcopos convenit agitare ; ceteras vero causas, quae ad
ordinarios cognitores, vel ad usum publici juris pertinent, legibus
oportet audiri.' Codex, lib. xvi, tit. xi. sec. i.
The Novels of Valentinian III, of later date than the Codex,
are not less conclusive. 'Constat episcopos forum legibus non
habere, nee de aliis causis (secundum Arcadii et Honorii divaha
constituta) praeter religionem posse judicare.' Tit. xxxiv.
EXCURSUS B.
INCENDIARIES : p. 83.
1. 9. They that first set it on fire &c.] The King's chief
advisers in the matters which brought about the conflict with
the Parliamentary party were, or were assumed to have been,
the Duke of Buckingham, the High Treasurer, Sir Richard
Weston, the Earl of Strafford, and Archbishop Laud. It is
EXCURSUS B. 203
not clear to what time Selden is referring, when he says that
they had now ' become regenerate ' ; it is perhaps to the early
part of the second Parliament of 1640, when the punishment of
Strafford and Laud had already been taken in hand, and when
it was clear that the Commons were in no temper to be trifled
with. The Duke of Buckingham and Sir Richard Weston were
both dead — unregenerate in Selden's sense of the word. On
the death of the High Treasurer, Laud had been made one of
the Commissioners of the Treasury and Revenue, which (says
Clarendon) he had reason to be sorry for, because it engaged
him in civil business and matters of state, wherein he had little
experience and which he had hitherto avoided. Hist. vol. i.
152.
It appears, however, from Whitelock's Memorials, that he
had long before this been credited with interfering in matters of
state. On the imprisonment of the members (3*'° Caroli), 'the
people were discontented. Libels were cast abroad especially
against Bishop Laud, and Weston the Treasurer. . . . My father
(i. e. Justice Whitelock) said that if Bishop Laud went on in his
way, he would kindle a flame in the nation,' p. 13. The charge
of being an incendiary is urged again in 1640, by the same
authority, on general and on special grounds. ' He (Laud)
was more busy in temporal affairs and matters of state than his
predecessors of later times had been. My father, who was
anciently and thoroughly acquainted with him and knew his dis-
position, would say, " He was too full of fire, though a just and
good man ; and that his want of experience in state matters, and
his too much zeal for the Church, and heat, would set this
nation on fire."
'By his council chiefly (as it was fathered upon him) the
Parliament being dissolved,' &c. Whitelocke, Memorials, p. 34.
Curiously, too, in the same year, we find the term ' incendiary '
used about him by the Scotch Commissioners, and a charge
brought by them in the Upper House in proof of it. Laud's
Works, iii. 238.
1. 9. Monopolies^ How numerous these monopolies had
been will appear from the King's proclamation (April 15, 1639)
revoking some of them. See also Sir John Culpeper's speech
in the Parliament which met on November 3, 1640 : ' I have but
one grievance more to offer unto you, but this one comprizeth
204 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
many. It is a nest of wasps or swarm of vermin which have
overcrept the land. I mean the monopolies and polers of the
people ; these, like the frogs of Egypt, have gotten possession
of our dwellings, and we have scarce a room free from them.
They sup in our cup. They dip in our dish. They sit by our
fire. We find them in the Dye-fat, Wash-bowl, and Powdring-
tub. They share with the butler in his box. They have marked
and sealed us from head to foot. Mr. Speaker, they will not
bate us a pin. We may not buy our own cloaths without their
brokage. These are the leeches that have sucked the common-
wealth so hard that it is almost become hectical,' &c. Rush-
worth, Collections, ii. 915-917.
Clarendon, like Selden, traces the troubles of his day to the
arbitrary and unwise proceedings in the early years of Charles's
reign. ' And here I cannot but let myself loose to say that no
man can shew me a source from whence those waters of bitter-
ness we now taste have more probably flowed, than from these
unreasonable, unskilful, and precipitate dissolutions of Parlia-
ments . . . And whoever considers the acts of power and injustice
of some of the ministers in those intervals of parliament, will
not be much scandalized at the warmth and vivacity of those
meetings.' Clarendon, Hist. vol. i. p. 6.
These points, with many others, are referred to in the
'Remonstrance' of 1641. They reproached his Majesty . . .
' with the enlargements of forests, and compositions thereupon ;
the ingrossing gunpowder and suffering none to buy it without
licence ; with all the most odious monopolies of soap, wine, salt,
leather, sea-coal and the rest.' They remembered ' the dissolu-
tion of the Parliament in the fourth year of his reign . . . the
imprisoning divers members of that Parliament after the disso-
lution, and detaining them close prisoners for words spoken in
Parhament; sentencing and fining them for those words.'
Clarendon, Hist. i. 492, 493.
1. 9. forest business] This was the extortion in 1630 and
subsequent years of large sums of money on account of alleged
encroachments on the royal forests, although the lands thus
reclaimed for the King had been held without dispute under an
adverse title dating back for three or four centuries. In 1630,
Clarendon says, ' the old laws of the forest were revived, by
which not only great fines were imposed, but great annual rents
EXCURSUS C. 205
intended and like to be settled by way of contract, which burden
lighted most upon persons of quality and honour, who thought
themselves above ordinary oppressions, and were therefore
likely to remember it with more sharpness.' Clarendon, Hist.
i. 105.
This grievance was finally put an end to by the Act of 1640,
' that from henceforth the Meets, Meers, Limits, and Bounds of
all and every the Forests shall be adjudged and taken to extend
no further respectively than the Meets, Meers, Limits, and
Bounds in the several counties respectively, wherein the said
Forests were commonly known, reputed, used, or taken, in the
2oth year of the reign of the late king James and not beyond, &c.'
Rushworth, Collections, iii. 1386.
1. 10. parliament men "3° Caroli\ Whitelocke in his Memorials
for this year speaks of 'Warrants of the Council issued for Hollis,
Selden, Robert, Elliot, and other Parliament men to appear
before them ; Hollis, Curriton, Elliot, and Valentine appeared,
and refusing to answer out of Parliament, they were committed
close prisoners to the Tower, and a Proclamation for appre-
hending others went out, and some of their studies were sealed
up. All the judges were contented that the prisoners should be
bailed, but they must also find sureties for their good behaviour.
This, at Selden's instance, they refuse to do, and are remanded
to the Tower.' Memorials, pp. 13 and 14.
EXCURSUS C.
THE king's chapel ESTABLISHMENT : p. 92. SeC. 4.
1. 12. 'Twas the old way &c.] In the Ordinances for the Govern-
ment of the Royal Household (1790, 4°), there are frequent
references to the King's Chapel establishment. In the household
of Henry VI it consisted of i dean, 20 chaplains and clerks, and
7 children, p. 17. In the Liber Niger Domus Regis Edw. IV,
the duties, &c. of the dean, chaplains, yeomen and children of
the chapel are set out, pp. 49, 50. The whole subject is
treated at length in the Ordinances made at Eltham in 1526.
'The King's pleasure is that at all times when his Highness
shall lie in his castle of Windsor, his Manors of Bewlye, Rich-
2o6 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
mond, and Hampton Court, Greenwich, Eltham or Woodstock,
his hall shall be ordinarily kept and continued, and at all
such times of keeping the said hall, the King's noble chapel to
be kept in the same place. Nevertheless, forasmuch as ... it
would not only be a great annoyance, but also excessive labour,
travell, charge and pain, to have the King's whole chapel con-
tinually attendant upon his person . . . specially in riding
journeys and progresses it is . . . ordained that the master of the
children, and six men with some officers of the vestry, shall give
their continual attendance in the King's court . . . for which
purpose no great carriage either of vestments or books shall be
required,' p. i6o. See, too, Jebb, Choral Service of the Church
(1843), pp. 147, 148.
1. 14. In St. Stephen's Chapel &c.J On the 6th of August,
1348, 22 Edward III, that King, by his royal charter recited,
' that a spacious chapel, situate within the palace of Westmin-
ster, in honour of St. Stephen, protomartyr, had been nobly
begun by his progenitors and had been completed at his own
expense — which he appointed to be collegiate; and that there
should be established therein a dean, twelve secular canons,
with the same number of vicars and other sufficient ministers,
to celebrate divine service for the King, his progenitors and
successors for ever.' A statement follows of the endowments
successively granted to the above-named dean, canons, and
college. ' Canon Row, since by corruption called Channel
Row, belonged also to the said dean and canons, where they
had sometimes lodged.' This college was suppressed and
surrendered in i Edward VI. The chapel was soon afterwards
fitted up for the meeting of the House of Commons, which had
before usually assembled in the Chapter House of the Abbey of
Westminster. Dugdale, Monasticon, vi. 1348-49. The chapel
was burnt in the fire of 1835.
EXCURSUS D.
LORDS BEFORE THE PARLIAMENT : p. Io6. SeC. 2.
1. 4. The Prior of St. John &c.J ' The Lord Prior here *
(i.e. of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem near Clerkenwell)
EXCURSUS D. 207
'had precedence of all the lay barons in Parliament, and chief
power over all the Preceptories and lesser Houses of this order
throughout England.' Dugdale, Monasticon, vi. 799.
In Camden's Britannia (Cough's trans.), the list of abbots who
were barons of Parliament ends with 'the Prior of St. John of
Jerusalem, commonly called Grand Master of the Knights of
St. John, and claiming to be the first baron of England.' Intro-
duction, cap. on Orders in England.
In the sixteenth century, this claim had certainly been
admitted. In the Journals of the House of Lords, giving a list
of the Lords present at each Parliament in the reign of Henry
VIII, the Prior of St. John of Jerusalem appears always among
the temporal peers, immediately after the Earls and higher
nobles, and above the Barons. This order is invariably
observed down to 1536, the date at which the Priory was sup-
pressed, after which the Prior's name disappears from the lists.
In 1556 (4 & 5 Phil, and Mary) it reappears in its old place, the
Priory having been restored by the Queen, and it finally dis-
appears in the course of 1558 after the accession of Elizabeth.
Conf. Journals of the House of Lords, vol. i.
At an earlier date, the Prior's position is not thus fixed. In
the Parliamentary Roll of 13 Edward III his name comes last
but one in the list of spiritual peers ; the Abbot of Westminster
is below him. Conf. Rotuli Parliamentorum, printed by order
of- the Lords. In the writ of summons to Parliament of 23
Edward I it is clear that the Prior was then included among the
spiritual peers. Conf. Dugdale : A perfect copy of all the sum-
monses of the nobility, p. 8 (ed. 1685). In 13 and 49 Henry VI,
he is the last of the spiritual barons, and he is addressed as they
are in the summons to Parliament — in fide et dilectione quibus
nobis tenemini ; the form for the temporal barons being in fide et
homagio, p. 161. But, as the head of a military order, his office
must at all times have been lay rather than clerical. 'The
Templars and Hospitalers,' says Selden, 'were devout soldiers
only. . . . Their prayers or devotions in private were not the
services expected from them in the Church, but their swords
and valour only gave the desert.' Hist, of Tythes, vol. iii.
p. 1 140.
2o8 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
EXCURSUS E.
Presbytery, sec. 4. When the queries were sent to the Assembly.
The questions sent (April 1646) were as follows : —
'The House of Commons desires to be satisfied by the
Assembly of Divines in the questions following : —
' I. Whether the Parochial and Congregational Elderships,
appointed by ordinance of Parliament, or any other Congrega-
tional or Presbyterial Elderships are jure divino, and by the will
and appointment of Jesus Christ ? and whether any particular
Church Government be jure divino ? and what that govern-
ment is ?
' 2. Whether all the members of the said Elderships, as mem-
bers thereof, or which of them, art jure divino, and by the will
and appointment of Jesus Christ?
' 3. Whether the superior Assemblies or Elderships, viz. the
Classical, Provincial, and National, whether all, or any of them,
and which of them axe jure divino, and by the will and appoint-
ment of Jesus Christ ?
'4. Whether the appeals from Congregational Elderships to
the Classical, Provincial, and National assemblies, or any of
them, and to which of them zxejure divino, and by the will and
appointment of Jesus Christ ?
' 5. Whether (Ecumenical assemblies are jure divino ? and
whether there be appeals from any of the former assemblies to
the said (E.cvim.em.ca\, jure divino, and by the will and appoint-
ment of Jesus Christ ?
'6. Whether by the Word of God the power of judging and
declaring what are such notorious and scandalous offences, for
which persons guilty thereof are to be kept from the Sacrament
of the Lord's Supper, and of conventing before them, trying, and
actual suspending from the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper
such offenders accordingly, is either in the Congregational
Eldership or Presbytery, or in any other Eldership, Congrega-
tion, or persons ; and whether such powers are in them only, or
any of them, and in which of them, jure divino, and by the will
and appointment of Jesus Christ ?
' 7. Whether there be any certain and particular rules expressed
EXCURSUS F. 209
in the Word of God to direct the Elderships or Presbyteries,
Congregations, or persons, or any of them, in the exercise and
execution of the powers aforesaid, and what are those rules ?
'8. Is there anything contained in the Word of God that the
supreme magistracy in a Christian State may not judge and de-
termine what are the aforesaid notorious and scandalous offences,
and the manner of suspension for the same ; and in what parti-
culars concerning the premisses is the said supreme magistracy
by the Word of God excluded ?
'9. Whether the provision of Commissioners to judge of
scandals not enumerated (as they are authorized by the ordin-
ance of Parliament) be contrary to that way of government
which Christ has appointed in his Church, and wherein are they
so contrary ?
' In answer to these particulars, the House of Commons desires
of the Assembly of Divines their proofs from Scripture, and to
set down the several texts of Scripture in the express words of
the same : and there were orders added that every Minister
present at the debate of any of these questions, shall put his
Christian name to the answer, in the affirmative or negative ;
and that those who dissent from the major part shall set down
their positive opinions, with express texts in proof of them.'
Rush worth. Collections, vi. 260.
Selden, who had had a hand in framing these queries, was
well aware that search as they would, they would never find
answers to them in the text of Scripture.
EXCURSUS F. ^rM t". ^^
Errors in Former Texts. / f
I APPEND some instances of obvious blunders in former texts,
which have been corrected in this edition on the authority of
tfie Harleian MSS. In 'Holy-Days,' for example, the old
reading is : ' Yet that has relation to an Act of Parliament
which forbids the keeping of any Holy-days in time of popery.'
There is no such Act, and the alleged prohibition is, on the
face of it, absurd. The reading, as restored from the MS., is :
' Yet that has relation to an Act of Parliament which forbids the
keeping of any other Holy-days. The ground thereof was the
P
2IO THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
multitude of Holy-days in time of popery.' This makes sense,
and is in agreement with the language of the Act. Again, in
' King of England,' sec. 5, the old editions of 1689 read : ' The
three estates are the Lords Temporal, the Bishops are the clergy,
and the Commons, as some would have it [take heed of that]
for then if two agree the third is involved, but he is king of the
three estates.' This jumble of nonsense is cured in the MS. by
the insertion of a full stop after ' Commons.' Then follows :
' The King is not one of the three estates, as some would have
it [take heed of that] for then,' &c., &c. In sec. 3 of the same
discourse, the reading ' they did not much advance the king's
supremacy' makes the statement at once incorrect and irrelevant.
Again in ' Bishops out of the Parliament ' sec. 13, we have : ' If
the Parliament and Presbyterian party should dispute, who should
be the judge ? ' a question which Selden would certainly never
have asked, and which was answered effectively more than once
when such a dispute did happen. The reading should be : 'If
the Prelatical and Presbyterian party' &c., for, as Selden says
(Religion, sec. 10), 'Disputes in religion will never be ended,
because there wants a measure by which the business should be
decided .... One says one thing, and one another : and there
is, I say, no measure to end the controversy.'
In ' Learning,' sec. 2, the old reading is : ' Most men's learn-
ing is nothing but history duly taken up.' It should be ' dully
taken up.'
In ' Oaths,' sec. 3. — ' 'Tis to me but reading a paper in their
own sense' corrected to ^m. my own sense,' as the argument
clearly requires.
In ' Devils,' sec. 2 — ' and so all of them ought to be of the same
trade,' an absolutely unmeaning remark, is corrected in the
Harleian MS. 1315 to 'thought to be of the same trade.' But
the reading of MS. 690, 'and so think all of them to be of the
same trade,' seems preferable here.
In several places a faulty punctuation has marred the sense,
as e. g. in ' Devils,' sec. 2—' Why in the likeness of a bat or a rat
or some creature ? That is, why not in some shape we paint
him in,' &c. This should be 'Why in the likeness of a bat, or
a rat, or some creature that is ? ' i. e. some creature that exists
and that could therefore be more easily produced on occasion
than a real live Devil with claws and horns.
EXCURSUS G. 211
So, too, in 'Bible,' sec. 3, we have: 'There is no book so
.translated as the Bible for the purpose.' Here the full stop
should come after 'the Bible,' and 'For the purpose,' a regular
Seldenian phrase =' for example,' should begin the next
clause. Again, in ' Preaching,' sec. 15, we have : ' many things
are heard from the preacher with suspicion. They are afraid
of some ends, which are easily assented to when they have it
from some of themselves.' This piece of nonsense is cured in
the MS., which puts a comma after 'suspicion,' brackets off the
words [they are afraid of some ends] and thus makes the things
easily assented to not 'some ends,' but the things which had
been heard from the preacher with suspicion.
There are other changes introduced in the present text, but
most of them are wholly unimportant, and adopted only because
the MSS. so read. One or two are doubtful, as e.g. 'Treaty'
for ' Laity ' in ' Clergy,' sec. 6.
EXCURSUS G.
Testimonies to Selden, and Criticisms of Selden's Style.
Dr. Wilkins, in the preface to his edition of Selden's Works,
and in his life of the author, has collected proofs of the high
esteem in which Selden was held, not only by his own country-
men, but by the learned of all countries.
The following are among the notices which he quotes : 'Grotius
eum honorem Britanniae appellat. Conringius vocat virum stu-
pendae lectionis. Boeclerus ita — Equidem Seldeni opera laiidare
velle, nihil aliud esset quant Soli testimonium splendoris meditari.
In Lexico Historico Universali Germanico, quod a J. F. Buddeo
appellari solet, dicitur communiter appellatus magnus dictator
doctrinae gentis Anglorum.' Other testimonies follow. See
Works, vol. i. Prcefatio, pp. i & 11, and Vita authoris, p. xlix.
If I have ventured in my Introduction to speak disparagingly
of Selden's style and method, I have good warrant for what I
have said. Clarendon, e. g., writes, — ' His style in all his writings
seems harsh and sometimes obscure : which is not wholly to be
imputed to the abstruse subjects of which he commonly treated,
out of the paths trod by other men ; but to a little undervaluing
p a
212 THE DISCOURSE OF JOHN SELDEN.
the beauty of a style, and too much propensity to the language
of antiquity.' Clarendon, Life, i. p. 35.
Le Clerc writes more severely — ' Selden, un des plus savans
que I'Angleterre ait eus, est I'un de ceux qui gardoit le mains ce
que Von a dit touchant I'ordre, ce qui fait que ses e'crits, quoique
savans et utiles, sont lus par peu de gens d'un bout a V autre ' :
and again — 'Quoique je ne voulusse pas imiterla methode confuse,
ni le stile de Selden . . . . les bonnes choses qu'il dit, et I' erudition
qu'il fait paroitre par tout, surpassent de beaucoup en utilite' ce
qu'il y a d'ailleurs defectueux dans ses ouvrages.' Most severe
of all is the judgment in the Ars Critica — 'Apparet eum ita
studia sua perturbasse, ut eodem tempore de rebus toto genere
diversis cogitaret ; digressiones enim captat adeo remotas,
et interdum tarn longas, ut nisi ita studia instituisset, non
potuisset tantam ordinis et rerum perturbationem ferre. Ac
sane dum ordinem et perspicuitatem negligit, non parum taedii
lectoribus creat.' And Le Clerc goes on to complain that where
Selden errs, as he is said to do in some parts of the De
Synedriis Veterum Ebraeorum, it is hardly possible to trace out
how he has got wrong, since ' confusio, digressiones, testimonia
aliena, et immensa ilia eruditionis congesta farrago, facile fucum
faciunt, et perspicaces etiam obruunt.' Quoted in Works, vol. i.
Prefatio, p. 2.
INDEX
The Arabic numerals refer to the pages of Text of Table Talk, the Roman to those of
the Introduction. The letter n refers to the notes to the Text.
A.
Abbeys, spoliation of, 3, 4.
Abraham, example of, not now bind-
ing, 178.
Acta Eruditorum, praise of Selden in
the, XXV.
AiJection, nature of, 124.
Alchemists find their art in Virgil's
aureus ramus, 155.
Allodium, meaning of, 97.
Altar, bowing to or towards, whether
idolatrous, 78 and n.
Amsterdam, independency in use at,
83-
An eye for an eye, &c., meaning of
command, 168.
Andrews, Bishop, much studied pro-
verbs, why, 159.
Angers, Bishop of, attempts to change
the Breviary, 141.
Anglican religion, antiquity and con-
tinuity of the, 163.
Apocrypha, 12.
Aquinas on unbaptized children, 7 n.
— on admission of bastard to orders,
8«.
Archer, the last person tortured in
England, 185 n.
Aristotelians, absurd saying of the,
186.
Aristotle excommunicated in France,
181.
— quotations from, 102 n., 132 n.
Armstrong, the king's fool, insolent to
Abp. Laud, 62 n.
Article, changes made in the, on the
Descent into Hell, 75 n.
— concerning Power of Church, ques-
tion about the, 39 and n.
Articles, the Thirty-nine, 5.
Articles, English translation of, faulty,
5 and n.
— subscription to, 6 and n.
Ass's head, alleged Christian worship
of, 35 and «.
Assemblies, different sorts of synodical,
84.
Assembly of Divines, lay members of,
how described, 176.
— open to scorn for revoking their
votes, 176.
Athens, why governed by a democracy,
B.
Bacon, Sir Nicholas, judge in an
ecclesiastical dispute, 27 and n.
■ — Roger, on Astrological Conjunc-
tions, 49 n.
on Caesar's use of perspective
glasses, 155 n.
on the change of opinion among
theologians about Aristotle, 180 n.
Baillie, Robert, complains of Selden's
antagonism, xix.
Bancroft, Bishop, changes subscription
to Articles, 6 and n.
Baptism in the Church of England, 7.
— in the Church of Rome, 7 and n.
Bastard, not to enter into the con-
gregation of the Lord, 8.
— not admitted to Orders in Church
of Rome, 8 and n.
— appointment of, to See of Worces-
ter, letter on, 8 and n.
Baxter on Selden's religion, xxi.
Bible, how to be judged, 9, sec. 1, and
n.
214
INDEX.
Bible, English translation of the, 9, 10.
— how misprinted, 12 and n.
Bishops, nature of jurisdiction of, 13.
— confirmation of, 13 n.
— not to preach, 14.
— failure of reforms attempted by, 14,
sec. 5, and 16, sec. 6.
— seat of, in Parliament, 16, 17.
— subject to lay jurisdiction, 18.
— right of, to vote in ' cases of blood,'
19 and n.
— may meddle with temporal affairs,
20.
— contrast between old and new, 22,
sec. 8.
— unfit to govern, 2a.
— votes of, whether to be taken away,
22, 23.
— originally the same as presbyters,
23, 24, 25.
— whether ' jure divino,' 25, sec. 4,
and n. ; 26.
— stand best with monarchy, 26, sec. 8.
— Protestants in France have not, 26.
— to be retained, 26, sec. 8 ; 27, sees.
II and 12; 28, sec. 14.
— lands of, 27, sec. 10.
Boccalino, story about Euclid, 118.
— precedence of scholars, soldiers,
and butchers, how settled in, 192.
Books, value of Popish, 29.
— hovsr to be answered, 31, sec. 6.
— what, are to be quoted, 31, sees. 7-9.
Borrichius interprets Virgil's 'golden
bough ' alchemically, 155 n.
Caesar said to have used perspective
glasses, 155.
Cambridge, why Oxford to have prece-
dence of, 187.
Canon law, how to be studied, 31.
Canons, how far received in England,
19-
Catholics uncharitable, 40.
Cavellus, an editor of Duns Scotus, 115.
Ceremony, use of, 31.
— not to be decried by ladies, 32.
Chancellor, bishop's, his jurisdiction,
32-
Chapel establishment, the king's, 92,
205.
Christ, a great observer of the civil
power, 140.
— exact birth and death of, cannot be
known, 197.
— acted lawfully in whipping buyers
and sellers out of the temple, 199.
Christian, punishment for converting,
to be Jew, 81.
Christians identified with Jews, 35.
— why believed to worship an ass's
head, 35 and «.
— their views about Heaven and Hell
contrasted with those of the Turks,
35-
— position of, before the state became
Christian and after, 140,
Christmas succeeds the Saturnalia, 37.
Church, policy of, about royal prero-
gative, 38.
Church subject to the civil power in
England, Spain, and France, 141.
Churches, main entrance to, by the
west door, 41 and «.
City, what makes a, 42.
Clergy, claim of, to teach, how far
admitted, 43.
— a learned body, 44.
— interference of, sometimes mis-
chievous, 44.
Clink, keeper of the, story about, 117.
Cocledemoy, probably referred to by
Selden, 189 n.
Coleridge, S. T., remarks by, on
Selden's Table Talk, xxv.
Commandment, the second, view of
Papists about, 80 and n.
Comme d'abus, 142.
Commendams, use and abuse of, 14.
Commission, High, a mixed lay and
clerical court, 45.
Commons, House of, erroneous
opinions in, 46.
Confession, 48.
Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn,
48.
Conscience, a scrupulous, a tender, 49.
— not to be pretended against law, 50.
— special case of, 50 and n.
Consecration, its effect, 51.
Constantine, alleged rescript of, 66
and n.; how far genuine. Excursus
A, 201.
Constitutions, Imperial, punishments
inflicted by, 81.
Contracts, not to be receded from, 52.
— always to be kept, 100.
— some not valid, 196.
Convocation, who to be members of,
53, 21 and n.
Cotton, Sir Robert, story about, 161.
Councils, general, swayed by a
majority of votes, 53.
Court of England, change of manners
in the, 93.
Crashaw, Mr., how converted from
writing against plays, 134.
INDEX.
215
Creed of St. Athanasius, 53.
-^ Nicene, how^ altered, 54.
Creeds, why disliked, 54.
Crucifixion, exact date of the, cannot
be known, 197.
Crusades, frauds about the, 119.
Cushion-dance, 93 n.
D.
Damnation, preachers of, liked and
run after, 54.
Dead body passing through a town,
money charged for, 139.
Devils, why none possessed with, in
England, 55.
— nuns possessed by, 55 and n.
— casting out of, is mere juggling,
why practised, 56.
— man possessed by, how cured by
Selden, 57.
Die ecclesiae, meaning of, 65, 140.
Difference of men, in what it consists,
III.
Digby, Sir Kenelm, 82 and n.
— Lord, offends the Commons and is
called to the Upper House, 152.
Dionysius the Areopagite, conversion
of, 198.
Do as you would be done to, how to
be understood, 61.
Dreams, good done by, 159.
Duel, how far allowable, 58.
Duellists, prayers appointed for, 59.
Eclipses, when they occur, 198.
Emma (Queen), ordeal of, 184.
Enemy, a powerful, not to be abused,
63 ; not to be undervalued, 190.
Epitaph ought to fit the person, 60.
Equity, uncertain and roguish, 60,
61.
Erasmus, Scaliger on, 15.
Estates, the three, 92.
Euclid, story about, in Boccalino,
118.
Excommunication, whether enjoined
in Scripture, 64, 65.
— first instance of, 65 and n.
— legal effect of, in England, 66.
— why disliked, 66.
— how limited by law, 67 and n.
— power of, sought by presbytery,
67.
Exposition of Scripture, when human,
86.
Faith and works, not to be divided, 69.
Fasts, commanded absolutely by law,
68 and n.
Fines, moderate and excessive, 70 and
«.
Forest laws, revival of the, 204.
Freewill, paradoxical views about, 71.
Friars, their vows of poverty ques-
tioned, 71.
— disturbers of the peace of Christen-
dom, 71.
— aliens, 5 and n.
Friends, old, are best, 71.
Frogs, fable of, in jEsop, 109.
Fuller, remarks of, on Selden, in the
Westminster Assembly, xix.
G.
Galileo, quotation from, 186 and «.
Genesis vi. 2, how interpreted by
Greek Church, 196.
• — St. Paul's argument based
upon, 196.
Gentiles, meaning and survival of
word, 73.
Gentlemen temperate in their religion,
73-
Gold coin, reasons of inscription on,
73 and n.
Goring, his changes of sides, 33 and n.
Gregory IX, letter on appointment of
bastard to See of Worcester, 8 n.
Groom-porter, his office and business,
87 n.
Grossetest, Bishop, household statutes
of, 74 n.
Gun, old meaning of, 98 and «.
H.
Hall, its use in old times, 74 and n.
Hell, Christ's descent into. Scriptural
proofs of, 75 and n.
— how explained by Selden, 76.
— how understood by the first
Christians, 77 and n. on 76.
Henry V puts away friars aliens, 5.
— Vni, law about reading the Scrip-
tures, 10.
Heretic, a vain thing to talk of a, 125.
Hobbes, alleged contests between
Selden and, xxi.
— story of, at Selden's death-bed,
xxii.
2l6
INDEX.
Holy-days, statute limiting number of,
77 and n.
Honesty must not be without religion,
119.
Hospitallers, priory of, 4 and n.
House of Commons, erroneous
opinions in, 46.
Humility, all think it good for other
people, 78.
— excess of, is a vice, 78.
I.
Idolatry, true nature of, 78.
Ignorance, invincible, nature of, 79.
Image of St. Nicholas, story about, 80,
106.
Images, use of, whether defensible, 80.
— whether worshipped by Papists, 80.
Imperial constitutions, punishments
inflicted by, 81.
Impropriations of Tithes, 177, 178.
Incendiaries of the State, 83, 202.
Independency, nature and antiquity
of, 83.
Independents, claim of, to be above the
law, 84.
Irish Lords, rank of, in England, 106.
J.
James, King, his opinion about the
death of Henry IV, 86.
Jardine, reading on torture in Eng-
land, 184 n.
Jesuits, learned, 102.
Jewish year, how reckoned, 197.
Jews are cursed and hated, but thrive,
79.
Jews, how a doctor of law was made
among the, 112.
John O'Powls, 189.
Johnson, praise of the Table Talk by,
XXV.
Jonson, Ben, his satire on the disputes
of divines, 164.
Joseph, Christ's pedigree, why traced
through, 72.
Judges, rascality of, the cause of all
mischief in the commonwealth, 87.
Judgments of God, presumptuous to
pronounce about, 86.
Juggling necessary for government,
88.
Jurisdiction in the Church, not spiritual
but civil, 88.
Jus Divinum, why claimed by the
Church, 89.
K.
King, made for quietness' sake, 89.
— banished, must not claim same
respect, go.
— can do no wrong, meaning of, 91.
— his headship or supremacy over the
Church, 92.
— his chapel establishment, 92, 205.
— not one of the three estates, 93.
— all land in England held of the, 97.
Kings, not all alike, 89.
King's oath, why not to be relied upon,
95-
Knight's service, duties attaching to,
97-
Ladies dependent on ceremonies and
compliments, 32.
Land in England all held of the King,
97-
Langbaine (Provost) , recommends Sel-
den's History of Tithes, 179 n.
Latimer, meaning of, 98.
Laud quarrels with Archibald Arm-
strong, 62 n.
— his defence of bowing towards the
altar, 78 n.
— accused for his sanction of sports
on Sundays, 169 n.
— Justice Whitelock's opinion about,
203.
Law, human, when binding on the
conscience, 68.
— ignorance of, why no excuse, 99.
— of nature, meaning of, loi.
— martial, nature and limit of, igo.
— a contract , between king and
people, 100.
Lawyers of France, learned, 102.
Le Clerc severely criticises Selden's
style and method, 212.
Learning, what use it is, what it com-
monly is, 102.
Lecturers, harmful to the English
Church, 71.
— defraud the parochial ministers,
103.
— why favoured by the parliamentary
party, 103 n.
Libels, indications given by, 105.
Liturgies prove general beliefs, 105.
INDEX.
217
Liturgy, no Church ■without a, 105.
London, Lord Mayor of, how inducted
into office, 42.
Lords, self-ignorance of great, 105.
— Irish, rank of, in England, 106.
— protests of, 108.
Low Countrymen, learning of the, 103.
Luther, refuses preferment offered by
Pope, 34 and n.
M.
Manual, how received in England be-
fore the Reformation, 162.
Marriage is a civil contract, 109.
— is a desperate thing, 109.
— of cousins-german not unlawful,
109.
Marston, quotation from a play of,
189 K.
Martial law, nature and limit of, 190.
Mayro, writings of, 115.
Metempsychosis believed in by Plato-
nists, 76 and n.
Minister, ordination of, its force and
the terms by which it is properly
described, 112.
— his position when ordained, 114.
— course of study recommended for,
ii4ff.
— degree of respect shown to, among
Protestants, 116, 117.
— how his claims can be tested, 118.
■ — limits of his right to preach, 168.
Money illegally got by English princes
at all times, 119.
Monopolies, Sir John Culpeper's
speech about, 203.
Mortgage, incidents of a, 120.
N.
Nash, a sensible remark by, iii.
Nativity of Christ, date of the, cannot
be known, 197.
Non-residency a favourite topic with
the young M.A.s, 146.
— forbidden by statute, 167.
Noy brings in ship-money, 171.
Number is nothing in itself, 120.
Nuns, possessed, 55 and n.
O.
Oath, the King's, not security enough,
why not, 95.
Oath of allegiance, when and by whom
taken, 69.
Oaths taken without knowledge of
their meaning, 121.
— cannot be imposed where there is
a parity, 121.
— different kinds of, 121.
— may be broken if their observance
is very prejudicial, 122.
— rule concerning, among Jews, 122.
— to be taken in the swearer's own
sense, 123.
— so frequent that they should be
'swallowed whole,' 123.
Obedience due to a prince, how to be
determined, igi.
Opinion, nature of, 124.
Oracles ceased after Christ, why, 123.
Ordeals, 183 and «.
Ovid, judgment about, 134.
Oxford, the King's friends summoned
to, 96.
■ — why to have precedence of Cam-
bridge, 187.
P.
Papists, why not to be admitted to
office in England, 137.
— why under disabilities at Amster-
dam, 137.
Parity, juggling trick of, 125.
Parliament, all consent to decisions of,
126.
— right of electing to, how fixed, and
why, 126.
— its power as a court of law, 100,
142.
— privilege of, its asserted and its
true nature, 137.
Parliamentary party, unfair tactics of
the, 128, 129.
Parson, meaning of word, 129.
■ — conjuring by, did much good, 130.
Pelias hasta, Selden's History of Tithes
compared to, 180.
Penance, not to be confused with
penitence, 131.
People, good of the, to be studied by
lawgiver, 131.
Perjury first punished in Queen Eliza-
beth's time, 123.
Personatus, meaning of word, 129.
Philosophy, how useful, 132.
Pictures in churches, a discreet rule
about, 81.
Pigeon-house, who licensed to keep,
50 K.
2l8
INDEX.
Pious uses, perversion of, 189.
Place, a great, often qualifies its holder,
151-
Platonic, fancy of a, 124.
Plays, why written in verse, 134.
Pleasure, the nature of, 132.
Pleasures sought after by all men, 133.
• — ■ ought to be enjoyed, 133.
Pocklington (Dr.), his books burned,
169 n.
Pope, limit of infallibility of the, 136.
— English clergy inconsiderate in
preaching against the, 138.
Popery, the prelatical clergy falsely
charged with, 139.
Possession, diabolical, 55 and n.
Power, all, is of God, meaning of
words, 140.
Praemunire, nature of, 153.
Prayer, defence of set forms of, 143.
— should be short, wfhy, 144.
Preach the Gospel, how command is
to be obeyed, 144.
Preaching often, condemned, 146 ; ap-
proved, 149.
— democratic influence of, 103.
— by the Spirit, why most esteemed
by the common people, 145.
— some rules for, 147, 148.
Predestination, a point out of our
reach, 149.
Preferment, prospect of, makes men
obedient, 151.
— not getting, makes the presbyters
discontented, 151.
— some Parliament men discontented
until they got, 153.
Prerogative, nature and limit of the
King's, 154.
Presbyters, their power over the laity
and lay-elders, 156.
■ — claim to he jure divino, 175.
Presbytery, queries concerning jus
divinum of, 156, 208.
Pride, how far permissible, 78.
Prideaux, his lectures on Predestina-
tion, 150.
Priest has no indelible character,
113-
— an Irish, on the accession of James
the First, 158.
Priests, reason of statutes against,
157 and n,
— of Rome, their objects and methods,
159-
Prior of St. John's, 4 and n.
— his rank as a temporal baron, 106,
206.
Priories, spoliation of, 3, 4.
Prophecies, use of, 159.
Protections, their nature ; abuses of,
107 and n.
Protestants and Papists, a dispute be-
tween, 27 and n.
Protestants, why rightly admitted to
office in France, 137.
Protests of the Lords, 108.
Proverbs, use and value of, 159.
Prynne censured in Star-Chamber,
45-
Queen-mother (Mary de Medici) draws
priests and Jesuits about her, 158.
— Commons suggest that she be moved
to leave England, 158 n.
Queries sent to the Assembly on jus
divinum of presbytery, 156, 208.
R.
Rabbi Busy disputes with a puppet,
164.
Rack, how used in England, 184.
Reasons commonly fictitious, 160.
— must be enquired about after the
fact is known, 161.
Recta ratio, meaning of, in the school-
men, 160.
Regna allodiata, 97.
Religion, meddled with at unfit times,
161.
— very little agreement about, 161.
— alteration of, dangerous, 162.
— who have the right to judge about,
162.
— disputes about, between Protestants
and Papists, 27, 163.
— disputes about, must be intermin-
able, 164.
— is turned into all shapes to suit
ends, 165.
— nature of some men's pretence of,
165-
— why men say they fight for, 166,
167.
Religions, when impossible to recon-
cile, 165.
Reverence, it is sometimes unreason-
able to demand, 168.
Ripley the alchemist, story about,
74-
Robertus Vallensis on Virgil's aureus
ramus, 155 n.
Rosset (Rosetti), Count, 158.
INDEX.
219
s.
Sabbath, observance of the, 169 and n.
Sacrament taken by Judas, 170.
— no one can judge about another's
fitness to receive, 170.
Saint John of Jerusalem, Prior of, 4,
106, 206.
Saint Nicholas, image of, 80, 106.
Salisbury, Lord, was above ill words,
62.
Salus populi suprema lex esto, 131.
Salvation, how understood by the
Jews, 170.
— Selden's charitable opinion about,
170.
Saracens, how pictured by Crusaders,
and why, igo.
Scaliger on Erasmus, 15.
Scripture, interpretation of, 11, 145.
— allegories in, 11.
— different readings in, how to be
judged, II, 12.
Selden, some laudatory notices of, 211.
— criticisms of style and method of,
211, 212.
Self-denial not meritorious, 55.
— more pretended than practised, 55,
Ship-money, how brought in. Selden
on refusals to pay, 171.
Simplicius on Aristotle, 186.
Simony first forbidden in Queen
Elizabeth's time, 171.
— why not practised in time of
Popery, 172.
Soldiers, dispute about profession of,
192.
Spain, the King of, outlawed in West-
minster Hall, 99.
Spaniard, a, his death-bed prudence,
63.
Sports, how related to church-work,
37-
— declaration about lawful, on Sun-
days, 169 n.
offends serious, godly people,
169 n.
State, rule for conduct in a troubled,
172.
Stephen, bishop of Paris, said to have
excommunicated Aristotle, 181 and
n.
Stone, a court fool, 62 and n.
Subjects may take up arms against
their prince, 191, 192.
Subsidies, not now given to the King,
amount of, how calculated, 173.
Suffragans, 13.
Superstition, mistakes and pretences
about, 174, 175.
Synod, national, why not to be sum-
moned, 174.
— why there must be laymen in, 175.
— meaning of subscription to articles
of, 176.
T.
Table Talk, blunders in printed edi-
tions of, 209.
— manuscript copies of, xi.
Tithes, impropriations of, 177.
— impropriations of, by what authority
made, 178.
— need not belong to the clergy, 178.
— Selden's History of, 179.
Tradesman, every prince is a, 181.
Tradesmen, tricks of, 182.
Tradition, importance of, 182.
Traitor, he who can command an army
is not to be called a, 183.
Transubstantiation, arguments about,
182.
Trenchmore, a dance so termed, 93 «.
Trent, Council of, not admitted in
France, 163, 141 n. on line 22.
Trial, various kinds of, 183.
Trinity, the three Persons of the, 185.
Truth, all, said to be contained in
Aristotle, 186.
Turks, their notions about Heaven and
Hell contrasted with those of the
Christians, 35.
— are forbidden to use images, 139.
U.
Parliamentary
Urban the Sixth,
Pope, 137.
Uses, pious, perversion of, 189.
Usury, how far forbidden among the
Jews, 188.
— defence of, 188.
V.
Valentinian's Novels, 81.
Vallensis, Robertus, his references to
Virgil, 155 n.
Venetians, why Roman Catholics, 163.
Verse, well for children to learn how
to make, 135.
— ridiculous for a lord to print, 135.
Virgil's aureus ramus, how interpreted
by the alchemists, 155.
Vows, instances of absurd, 188.
220
INDEX.
W.
Wayed, word explained, 49 K.
Wedel interprets Virgil's ' golden
bough ' alchemically, 155 n.
Whitelock on Selden's speeches in
the Westminster Assembly, xviii.
Wife, remarks on' a handsome, 194.
— a bishop's, compared to a monkey's
clog, 194.
— compared to a mischievous female
monkey, 194.
Wisdom, some rules of, 194.
— how different from wit, 195.
Wit, nature of, 195.
— should be restrained by civility,
196.
— fine, sometimes injurious to its pos-
sessor, 196.
Witches, remarks about, 195.
Women ought not to know their own
wit, 196.
— and angels, opinion in Greek Church
about, 196.
— are sensitive about dispraise of
other women, 197.
— must trust somebody, 197.
Year, the Jewish, how reckoned, 197.
Zealots, Jewish law about, 199.
— committed many villainies, 200.
THE END.
Cfatenbon {pUBB^ O)cfoxt>,
I. LITERATURE AND PHILOLOGY.
SECTION I.
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ANG-LO-SAXON. An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, based on tlie
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W. D. Macbay, M.A., E.S.A. Medium Svo, bevelled boards, gilt
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IV. Marlowe's Edward II. With Introduction, Notes, &c.
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V. Marlowe and Greene. Marlowe's Tragical History
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Eriar Bungay. Edited by A. W. Ward, Litt. D. New and enlarged
Hdition. Crown Svo, 6s. 6d.
london : Hbnby Feowde, Amen Corner, E.G.
lo /. Literature and Philology.
SHAH:I:SF!EABE. Select Plays. Extra foap. 8vo, stiff covers.
Edited by "W. G. Clark, M.A., and "W. Aldis Weight, D.C.L.
The Merchant of Venice, is. Macbeth, is. 6i.
Eichard the Second, is. (>d. Hamlet. 2s.
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The Tempest, is. dd. Midsummer Night's Dream, is. fsd.
As You Like It. is. 6c^. Coriolanus. 28. dd.
Julius Caesar. 2S. Henry the Fifth. 2s.
Eichard the Third. 2 s.6d Twelfth Night, is. 6i.
King Lear. is. (>i. King John. is. dd.
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Bacon.
I. Advancement of Learning. Edited by W. Aldis
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II. The Essays. Edited, with Introduction and Illustrative
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MILTOW.
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II. Poems. Edited by R. C. Browne, M.A. In two
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IV. Samson Agonistes. Edited, with Introduction and
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A Series of English Classics. 1 1
Bunyan.
I. The Pilgrim's Progress, Grace Abounding, Eelation
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An Essay of Dramatic Poesy. Edited, with Notes, by
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Locke. Conduct of the Understanding. Edited, with Intro-
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Addison. Selections from Papers in the Spectator. With
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Steele. Selections from the Tatler, Spectator, and Guardian.
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Swift. Selections from his Works. Edited, with Life, In-
troductions, and Notes, by PIeney Ceaik. In two. Volumes. Crown Svo.
Vol. I. Bevelled boards, gilt top, 7s. 6d. Vol. II. Immediately.
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Maek Pattison, B.D.
I. Essay on Man. Extra fcap. Svo, is. 6d.
II. Satires and Epistles. Extra fcap. Svo, 2S.
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The Castle of Indolence. By the same Editor. Extra
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Chesterfield. Lord Chesterfield's Worldly Wisdom. Selec-
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Goldsmith.
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JOHNSOlf.
I. Rasselas. Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by
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in Parchment, 4*. dd.
II. Rasselas ; Lives of Dryden and Pope. Edited by
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of Deyden and Pope only, stiflf covers, 2s. 6d.
III. Life of Milton. Edited by C. H. Pieth, M.A. Extra
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IV. Wit and Wisdom of Samuel Johnson. Edited by
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V. Vanity of Human Wishes. With Notes, by E. J.
Payne, M.A. Paper covers, 4d.
VI. Letters of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. Collected and
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roan, 2Ss.
BOSWELL.
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broke College. 6 vols. Medium Svo, half-bound, 3L 3s.
Cowper. Edited, with Life, Introductions, and Notes, by
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I. The Didactic Poems of 1783, with Selections from
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II. The Task, with Tirocinium, and Selections from the
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A Scries of English Classics. 13
Burke. Select Works. Edited, with Introduction and
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Burns. Selected Poems. Edited, with Introduction, Notes,
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14 /. Literature and Philology.
SECTION III.
EUROPEAN LANGUAGES, MEDIAEVAL AND
MODERN.
(1) FRENCH AND ITALIAN.
Brachet's Etymological Dictionary of the French Language.
Translated by G. W. KiTOHiN, D.D. Third Edition. Crown 8vo, Js. 6d.
Historical Grammar of the French Language. Trans-
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Saintsbury. Primer of French Literature. By George
Saintsbuet, M.A. Extra fcap. 8vo, 2e.
Short History of French Literature. TMrd Mition.
Crown Svo, log. 6d.
Specimens of French Literature, from Villon to Hugo.
Second Edition. Crown Svo, gs.
Song of Dermot and the Earl. An Old French Poem.
Edited, with Translation, Notes, &c., by G. H. Oepen. Extra fcap. Svo
8*. 6d. '
Toyntaee. Specimens of Old French (ix-xv centuries).
With Introduction, Notes, and Glossary. By Paget To-jnbee, M.A.
Crown Svo, i6«.
Beaumarchais' Le Barbier de Seville. Edited, with Intro-
duction and Notes, by Adstin Dobson. Extra fcap. Svo, 2s. M.
Corneille's Horace. Edited, with Introduction and Notes,
by GE0B6E Saintsbubt, M.A. Extra fcap. Svo, 2s. 6d.
Moliere's Les Precieuses Ridicules. Edited, with Introduction
and Notes, by Andrew Lano, M.A. Extra fcap. Svo, is. M.
Musset's On ne badine pas avec 1' Amour, andFantasio. Edited,
with Prolegomena, Notes, &c., by W. H. Pollock. Extra fcap. Svo, 2s.
Oxford : Clarendon Press.
French and Italian. 15
Bacine's Esther. Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by
Geoege Saintsbukt, M.A. Extra fcap. 8vo, 2«.
Voltaire's Merope. Edited, with Introduction and Notes,
by George Saintsbuet, M.A. Extra fcap. 8vo, 23.
*** The above six Plays may he had in ornamental case, and bound
in Imitation Parchment, price 12s. 6d.
Moli&re. Le Misanthrope. Edited by W. H. G. Markheim,
M.A. Extra fcap. 8vo, 3s. 6d.
MASSON'S FRENCH CLASSICS.
Edited ly Gustave Masson, B.A.
Corneille's Cinna. With Notes, Glossary, &c. Extra fcap.
8vo, 2s. ; stiff covers, is. dd.
Louis XIV and his Contemporaries; as described in Extracts
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Maistre, Xavier de, &c. Voyage autour de ma Chambre,
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Voyage autour de ma Chambre, Limp, is. 6d.
MoliSre's Les Fourberies de Scapin, and Racine's Athalie.
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Les Femmes Savantes. With Notes, Glossary, &c.
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Racine's Andromaque, and Corneille's Le Menteur. With
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Regnard's Le Joueur, and Brueys and Palaprat's Le Gron-
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Sevign6, Madame de, and her chief Contemporaries, Selections
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1 6 ' /. Literature and Philology.
Blouet. L'Eloquence de la Chaire et de la Tribune Frangaises.
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Gautier, Theopliile. Scenes of Travel. Selected and Edited
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Perrault's Popular Tales. Edited from the Original Editions,
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Quinet's Lettres a sa Mere. Selected and Edited by George
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Sainte-Beuve. Selections from the Causeries d'u Lundi.
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Dante. Selections from the Inferno. With Introduction
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Tasso. La Gerusalemme Liberata. Cantos i, ii. With In-
troduction and Notes. By the same Editor. Extra foap. 8vo, 2S. dd.
(2) GERMAN AND GOTHIC.
Max Miiller. The German Classics, from the Fourth to the
Nineteenth Century. With Biographical Notices, Translations into
Modern German, and Notes. By F. Max MiJLLER, M.A. A New
Edition, Revised, Enlarged, and Adapted to Wilhelm Sohbebe's
' History of German Literature,' by F. Liohtbnstbin. 2 vols. Crown
8vo, 2 IS.
Seherer. A History of German Literature by Wilhelm
ScHEBEE. Translated from the Third German Edition by Mrs. F.
C. CoNTBEABE. Edited by F. Max M-ulleb. ■' vols. 8vo, 21s.
A History of German Literature, from the Accession of
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Skeat. The Gospel of St. Mark in Gothic. By W. W.
Skeat, Litt.D. Extra foap. 8vo, cloth, 4*.
Wright. An Old High German Primer. With Grammar,
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A Middle High German Primer. With Grammar,
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A Primer of the Gothic Language. With Grammar,
Notes, and Glossary. By the same Author. Extra foap. 8vo, 4s. M.
Oxford : Clarendon Press.
German and Gothic. 17
LANGE'S GERMAN COURSE.
By HERMANN LANGE, Lecturer on French and German at the Manchester
Technical School, and Lecturer on German at the Manchester Athenwum.
I. Germans at Home ; a Practical Introduction to German
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II. German Manual ; a German Grammar, Reading Book,
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III. Grammar of the German Iianguage. 8vo, 3s. 6d.
IV. German Composition ; A Theoretical and Practical Guide
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8vo, 4s. 6d.
*^* A Key to the above, price js.
German Spelling; A Synopsis of the Changes which it
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BUGHHEIM'S GERMAN CLASSICS.
Udited, with Biographical, Historical, and Critical Introductions, Arguments
(to the Dramas), and Complete Commentaries, by C. A. Boohheim, Phil.
Doc, Professor in King's College, London.
Becker (the Historian). J?riedrich der Grosse. Edited, with
Notes, an Historical Introduction, and a Map. 5*. 6d.
Goethe :
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(6) Iphigenie auf Tauris. A Drama. 3s.
Heine :
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Iiessing :
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Schiller :
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Loudon : Heney Frowde, Amen Comer, E.G.
C
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Modern German Reader. A Graduated Collection of Ex-
tracts from Modern German Authors : —
Part I. Prose Extracts. With English Notes, a Grammatical
Apjjendix, and a complete Vocabulary. Fourth Edition. 2s. 6d.
Part II. Extracts in Prose and Poetry. With English Notes
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German Poetry for Beginners. Edited with English Notes
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Chamisso. Peter Schlemihl's Wundersame Gesehichte.
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Lessing. The Laokoon ; with English Notes by A. Ham ANN,
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Extra fcap. 8vo, 4«. 6d.
Wiebuhr : Griechische Heroen-Geschichten (Tales of Greek
Heroes). With English Notes and Vocabulary, by Emma S. Buohheim.
Second, Revised Edition. Extra foap. 8vo, cloth, 2s. ; stiif covers, is. 6d.
Edition A. Text in German Type.
Edition B. Text in Roman Type.
Riehl's Seines Vaters Sohn and Gespensterkampf. Edited
with Notes by H. T. Geekans. Extra fcap. 8vo, as.
Schiller's Wilhelm Tell. Translated into English Verse by
E. Massib, M.A. Extra fcap. 8vo, 5s.
(3) SCAWDIIirAVIAN.
Cleasby and Vigfusson. An Icelandic-English Dictionary,
based on the MS. collections of the late Riohakd Cleasby. Enlarged
and completed by G. ViGPx'rssON, M.A. With an Introduction, and Life
of Richard Cleasby, by G. Webbe Dasent, D.C.L. 4to, 3^. 7*.
Sweet. Icelandic Primer, with Grammar, Notes, and
Glossary. By Henry Sweet, M.A. Extra fcap. 8vo, 3*. 6d.
Vigfiisson. Sturlunga Saga, including the Islendinga Saga
of Lawman Storla Thokdsson and other works. Edited by Gudbkand
Vigfusson, M.A. In 2 vols. 8vo, 2I. 2s.
Vigfiisson and Powell. Icelandic Prose Reader, with Notes,
Grammar, and Glossary. By G. VlGrussou, M.A., and F. Yoke
Powell, M.A. Extra fcap. 8vo, 10*. 6d.
Corpvs Poeticvm Boreale. The Poetry of the Old
Northern Tongue, from the Earliest Times to the Tliirteenth Century.
Edited, classified, and translated, with Introduction, Excursus, and Notes,
by GuBBKAND Vigfusson, M.A., and E. Yobk Powell, M.A. 2 vols.
8vo, 2I. 2S.
Oxford : Clarendon Press.
Latin : Standard Works. 1 9
SECTION IV.
Clk^^lCAl LANGUAGES.
(1) LATIN.
STANDARD WORKS AND EDITIONS.
Eing and Cookson. The Principles of Sound and Inflexion,
as illustrated in the Greek and Latin Lanfjuages. By J. E. King, M.A.,
and CHEiSTorHEK Cookson, M.A. 8vo, i,8s.
Lewis and Short. A Latin Dictionary, founded on Andrews'
edition of Ereund's Latin Dictionary, revised, enlarged, and in great
part rewritten by Chaelton T. Lewis, Ph.D., and Chaeles Shoet,
LL.D. 4to, il. IS.
Merry. Selected Fragments of Roman Poetry. Edited with
Introduction and Notes by W. W. Merey, D.D. Crown 8vo, 6s. (id.
Nettleship. Contributions to Latin Lexicography. By
Henet Nbttleship, M.A. 8to, 21s.
Lectures and Essays on Subjects connected with
Latin Scholarship and Literature. Crown 8vo, "js. 6d.
— The Eoman Satura. Svo, sewed, is.
— Ancient Lives of Vergil. 8vo, sewed, 2*.
Papillon. Manual of Comparative Philology. By T. L.
Papillon, M.A. Third Edition. Crown Svo, 6s.
Pinder. Selections from the less known Latin Poets. By
North Pindee, M.A. Svo, 15s.
Sellar. Roman Poets of the Republic. By W. Y. Sellae,
M.A. Third Edition. Crown 8vo, los.
Roman Poets of the Augustan Age. Viegil. Feii'
Edition. Crown Svo, 9s.
Hoe ACE and the Elegiac Poets. With a Memoir
of the Author by Andeew Lang, M.A., and a Portrait. Svo, cloth, 14s.
Wordsworth. Fragments and Specimens of Early Latin.
With Introductions and Notes. By J. Wobdswoeth, D.D. Svo, 1 8s.
London : Henkt Feowde, Amen Comer, E.G.
C 2,
20 /. Literature and Philology.
Avianus. The Fables. Edited, with Prolegomena, Critical
Apparatus, Commentary, &c., by K. Ellis, M.A., LL.D, 8vo, 8*. 6(i.
CatuUi Veronensis Liber. Iterum reeognovit, apparatum
criticumprolegomenaappendicesaddidit, Robinson Ellis, A.M. Svo, i6«.
Catullus, a Commentary on. By Robinson Ellis, M.A.
Second Edition. Svo, 1 8s.
Cicero. De Oratore Libri Tres. With Introduction and Notes.
By A. S. WiLKiNS, Litt.D. Svo, i8s.
Also separately/ : —
Book I, 7«. 6d, Book II, g*. Book III, 6s.
Philippic Orations. With Notes. By J. R. King, M.A.
Second Mdition. Svo, los. 6d.
Select Letters. With English Introductions, Notes, and
Appendices. By Albert Watson, M.A. Fourth Edition. Svo, i8
Horace. With a Commentary. Vol. I. The Odes, Carmen
Seculars, and Epodes. By E. C. Wiokham, M. A. Second Edition. Svo,i2j.
Vol. II. The Satires, Epistles, and De Arte Poetica. By
the same Editor. Svo, I2s.
Livy, Book I. With Introduction, Historical Examination,
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Manilius. Noctes Manilianae ; sive Dissertationes in Astro-
nomica Manilii. Accedvnt Conieotvrae in Germanici Aratea. Scripsit
R. Ellis. Crown Svo, 6s.
Ovid. P. Ovidii Nasonis Ibis. Ex Novis Codicibus edidit,
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P. Ovidi Nasonis Tristium Libri V. Recensuit S. G,
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Persius. The Satires. With a Translation and Commen-
tary. By John Conington, M.A. Edited by Henkt Nbttlbship,
M.A. Second Edition. Svo, 'js. 6d.
Plautus. Rudens. Edited, with Critical and Explanatory
Notes, by E. A. Sonnenschein, M.A. Svo, 8s. 6d.
Bentley's Plautine Emendations. From his copy of
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Quintilian. Institutionis Oratoriae Liber X. Edited by
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Scriptores Latini rei Metricae. Ed.T.GAiSFOiiD,S.T.P. Svo, 58.
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Latin : Educational Works. 2 1
Tacitus. The Annals. Books I-VI. Edited, with Intro-
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Books XI-XVI, By the same Editor. 8vo, %os.
LATIN EDUCATIONAL WORKS.
Gkammars, Exercise Books, &c.
ALLEH.
Rudimenta Latina. Comprising' Accidence, and Exercises
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An Elementary Latin Grammar. By the same Author.
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III. Eumenides. By the same Editor. 3s.
IV. Prometheus Bound. With Introduction and Notes,
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I. The Acharnians. Third Edition, 3*.
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III. The Frogs. Second Edition, 3.9.
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V. The Birds. 3s. 6d.
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34 /. Liter ahire and Philology.
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Selections. Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by
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Homer.
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Plato. With Introduction and Notes. By St. George
Stock, M.A. Extra fcap. Svo.
The Apology, 2s. 6d. Crito, 2S. Meno, 2s. 6d.
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Plutarch. Lives of the Gracchi. Edited, with Introduction,
Notes, and Indices, by G. E. XJndekhili,, M.A. Crown Svo. 5s.
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Greek: Edttcational Works.
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I
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by J. Makshali, M.A. Extra fcap. 8vo, 4s. 6cl. M-
London ; Hekry Frowct;, Amen Comer, E.G.
2,6 I. Literature and Philology.
SECTION V.
ORIENTAL LANGUAGES*.
THE SACRED BOOKS OP THE EAST.
Tbanslated by various Oeiental Scholabs, and edited by
F. Max Mullek.
First Series, Vols. I— XXIV. Demy 8vo, cloth.
Vol. I. The Upanishads. Translated by F. Max Muller.
Part I. los. 6d.
Vol. II. The Sacred Laws of the Aryas, as taught in the
Schools of Apastamba, Gautama, VasishiAa, and BaudhSyana. Trans-
lated by Prof. Geobs Buhleb. Part I. log. 6d.
Vol. III. The Sacred Books of China. The Texts of Con-
fucianism. Translated by James Legge. Parti. 12s. 6d.
Vol. IV. The Zend-Avesta. Part I. The Vendidad. Trans-
lated by James Dakmesteteb. I OS. 6 A
Vol. V. The Pahlavi Texts. Translated by E. W. West.
Part I. I as. 6d.
Vols. VI and IX. The Qur'an. Translated by E. H.
Palmer. 21s.
Vol. VII. The Institutes of Vishreu. Translated by Julius
Jolly, ios. 6d.
Vol. VIII. The Bhagavadgita^ with The Sanatsn^atiya, and
The Anuglta. Translated by Kashinath Tbimbak Telang. io«. 6d.
Vol. X. The Dhammapada, translated from Pali by F. Max
MiJLLER ; and The Sutta-NipSta, translated from P41i by V. Pausboll ;
being Canonical Books of the Buddhists. los. 6d.
Vol. XI. Buddhist Suttas. Translated from Pali by T. W.
Bhys Davids. io«. 6d.
Vol. XII. The jSatapatha-Brahmawa, according to the Text
of the Madhyandina School. Translated by JoLlus Eggehng. Part I.
Books I and II. 12s. 6d.
Vol. XIII. Vinaya Texts. Translated from the Pali by
T. W. Ehys Davids and Hebmann Oldenbebg. Part I. los. 6d.
* See also Aneodota Oxon., Series II, III, pp. 41-42, below.
Oxford : Clarendon Press.
Sacred Books of the East. 37
The Sacred Books of the East (continued).
Vol. XIV. The Sacred Laws of the Aryas, as taught in the
Schools of Apa"5taniba, Gautama, Vasishtta and BaudliS,yana. Translated
by Georg Buhler. Part II. io«. dd.
Vol. XV. The Upanishads. Translated by F. Max Mullek.
Part II. I OS. dd.
Vol. XVI. The Sacred Books of China. The Texts of
Confacianism. Translated by Jame8 Lbgge. Part II. \os. 6d.
Vol. XVII. Vinaya Texts. Translated from the Pali by
T. W. Ehts Davids and Hermann Oldenberg. Part II. lo*. 6d.
Vol. XVIII. Pahlavi Texts. Translated by E. W. West.
Part II. I2S. 6d.
Vol. XIX. The Fo-sho-hing-tsan-ldng. A Life of Buddha
by Asvagbosba Bodhisattva, translated from Sanskrit into Chinese by
Dharmaraksha, a.d. 420, and from Chinese into English by Samuel
Beal. I OS. 6d.
Vol. XX. Vinaya Texts. Translated from the Pali by T. W.
Khts Davids and Hermann Oldenberg. Part III. los. 6d.
Vol. XXI. The Saddharma-puwi'/arika ; or, the Lotus of the
Trne Law. Translated by H. Kern. 12s. 6d.
Vol. XXII. (?aina- Sutras. Translated from Prakrit by
Hermann Jacobi. Part I. los. 6d.
Vol. XXIII. The Zend-Avesta. Part IL Translated by James
Dakmestetee. I OS. 6d.
Vol. XXIV. Pahlavi Texts. Translated by E, W. West.
Part III. I OS. 6d.
Second Series.
Vol. XXV. Manu. Translated by Geokg Buhlee. 21s.
Vol. XXVI. The Aitapatha-Brahmawa. Translated by
Julius Eggeling. Part II. 1 2s. 6d.
Vols. XXVII and XXVIII. The Sacred Books of China.
The Texts of Confucianism. Translated by James Legge. Parts III and
IV. 25s.
Vols. XXIX and XXX. The Grihya-Sutras, Rules of Vedic
Domestic Ceremonies. Translated by Hermann Oldenberg.
Part I (Vol. XXIX). I2S. 6d.
Part II (.Vol. XXX). 1 2S. 6cl. Just PuhlisAed.
London: Henky Fbowde, Amen Corner, E.C.
1. Literahire and Philology.
The Sacred Books of the East {continued).
Vol. XXXr. The Zend-Avesta. Part III. Translated by
L. H. Mills, us. 6d.
Vol. XXXII. Vedic Hymns. Translated by F. Max
MULLEK. Part I. iSs. 6d.
Vol. XXXIII. Narada, and some Minor Law-books.
Translated by Julius Jolly, ios. 6d.
Vol. XXXIV. The Vedanta-Sutras, with Ankara's Com-
mentary. Translated by G. Thibaut. i 28. 6d.
Vol. XXXV. Milioda. Translated by T. W. Rhys Davids.
Parti. IOS. 6d.
Vols. XXXIX and XL. The Sacred Books of China. The
Texts of Taoism. Translated by James Leoge. 2 is.
Vol. XXXVII. Pahlavi Texts. Translated by E. W. West.
Part IV. I5«. Jud Published.
In the Press : —
Vol. XXXVI. Milinda. Translated by T. W. Rhys Davids.
Part II.
Vol. XLI. /Satapatha-Brabmawa. Translated by Julius
Eggelinq. Part III.
ARABIC. A Practical Arabic Grammar. Part I. Compiled
by A. 0. Gkeen, Brigade Major, Royal Engineers. Second JEdition,
Enlarged. Crown 8vo, 'js. 6d.
BENGALI. Grammar of the Bengali Language ; Literary
aud Colloquial. By John Beames. Crown 8vo, cloth, 4s. 6d.
CHINESE. The Chinese Classics: with a Translation,
Critical and Exeget'cal Notes, Prolegomena, and Copious Indexes. By
James Lkgge, D.D., LL.D. In Seven Volumes. Royal 8vo.
Vol. I. Confucian Analects, &c. Reprinting.
Vol. II. The Works of Mencius. xl. 10s.
Vol. III. The Shoo-King ; or, The Book of Historical
Documents. In two Parts. iZ. los. each.
Vol. IV. The She-King ; or, The Book of Poetry. In
two Parts. I?. IOS. each.
Vol. V. The Ch'un Ts'ew, with the Tso Chuen. In two
Parte, i^ los. e.ach.
Oxford : Clarendon Press.
Oriental Languages. 39
CHINESE. The Nestorian Monument of Hsi-an Fu iu
Shen-hal, China, relating to tlie LiiTusion of Ciiristianity in Ciiina in
the Seventh and Eighth Centuries. By Jambs Legge, D.D. LL.D.
Paper covers, 2s. 6d. '
Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms; being an Account
by the Chinese Monk Fa-hien of his travels in India and Ceylon (A.D.
399-414) in search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline. Translated and
annotated, with a Corean recension of the Chinese Text, by James Legge,
M.A., LL.D. Crown 4to, boards, los. 6rf.
■ Catalogue of the Chinese Translation of the Buddhist
Tripi^aka, the Sacred Canon of the Buddhists in China and Japan.
Compiled by Bunyid Nanjio. 4to, il. 12s. 6d.
Handbook of the Chinese Language. Parts I and II.
Grammar and Chrestomathy. By James Summers. 8vo, il. 8s.
CHALDEE. Book of Tol)it. A Chaldee Text, from a
unique MS. in the Bodleian Library; with other Eabbinical Texts,
English Translations, and the Itala. Edited by Ad. Neubaueb, M.A.
Crown Svo, 6s.
COPTIC. Libri Prophetarum Majorum, cum Lamentationibus
Jeremiae, in Dialecto Linguae Aegyptiacae Memphitioa sen Coptica.
Edidit cum Versione Latina H. Tattam, S.T.P. Tomi II. Svo, 17*.
• Libri duodecim Prophetarum Minorum in Ling. Aegypt.
vulgo Coptica. Edidit H. Tattam, A.M. Svo, 8«. 6d.
■ ■ Novum Testamentum Coptice, cura D. Wilkins. 1716.
4to, I2S. 6d.
HEBREW. Psalms in Hebrew (without points). Ci\ Svo, 2*.
Driver. Notes on the Hebrew Text of the Books of
Samuel. Ey S. R. Dbiveb, D.D. Svo, 14*.
• Treatise on the use of the Tenses in Hebrew.
By S. B. Deiver, D.D. Third Edition. Crown Svo, 7s. 6rf.
Commentary on the Book of Proverbs. Attributed
to Abraham Ibn Ezra. Edited from a Manuscript in the Bodleian
Library by S. E. Deivee, D.D. Crown Svo, paper covers, 3s. 6d.
Gesenius' Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old
Testament, with an Appendix containing the Biblical Aramaic.
Translated and Edited by E. EoBiNSON, Eeanois Beown, S. E.
Dbivee, and C. A. Bbiggs. Part I (Aleph). Small 4to. 2s. 6c/. —
Part II. Immediately.
Weubauer. Book of Hebrew Roots, by Abu '1-Walid
Mai-wan ibn Jan^h, otherwise called Eabbi Yonah. Now first
edited, with an Appendix, by Ad. Neubaueb. 4to, 2I. 7s. dd.
London : Henky Fkowde, Amen Corner, E.C,
40 /. Literature and Philology.
HEBREW {continned).
SpurreU. Notes on tHe Hebrew Text of the Book of
Genesis. By G. J. SrUEKELL, M.A. Crown 8vo, los. 6d.
Wickes. Hebrew Accentnation of Psalms, Proverbs, and
Job. By William Wickes, D.D. 8vo, 5*.
Hebrew Prose Accentuation. 8vo, \os. td.
SANSKRIT. — Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Etymologically
and Philologically arranged, with special reference to Greek, Latin,
German, Anglo-Saxon, English, and other cognate Indo-European
Languages. By Sir M. Monieb- Williams, D.C.L. 4to, 4?. 14*. 6d.
Practical Grammar of the Sanskrit Language, arranged
with reference to the Classical Languages of Europe, by Sir M. Mokibr-
WiLLlAMS, D.C.L. Fourth Edition. Svo, 15s.
Nalopakhyanam. Story of Nala, an Episode of the Maha-
bh^rata ; Sanskrit Text, with a copious Vocabulary, and an improved
version of Dean Milman's Translation, by Sir M. MOKIEK- Williams,
D.C.L. Second Mdition, Reoised and Improved. Svo, 15J.
Sakuntala. A Sanskrit Drama, in seven Acts. Edited
by SiK M. MoNiER- Williams, D.C.L. Second Edition. Svo, i?. i».
SYRIAC. — Thesaurus Syriaeus : collegerunt Quatremere,
Bernstein, Lorsbaoh, Arnoldi, Agrell, Field, Eoediger : edidit R. Payne
Smith, S.T.P. Vol. I, containing Ease. I-V. Sm. fol. 5?. 5*.
Ease. VI, il. is. Ease. VII, il. lis. 6d. Ease. VIII, il. 16s.
The Book of KalUah and Dimnah. Translated from
Arabic into Syriac. Edited by W. Weight, LL.D. Svo. il. is.
Cyrilli Archiepiscopi Alexandrini Commentarii in Lueae
Evangelium quae snpersunt Syiiace. E MSS. apud Mua. Britan. edidit
E. Payne Smith, A.M. 4to, il. as.
Translated by E. Payne Smith, M.A. 2 vols. Svo, 148.
— Ephraemi Syri, Babulae Episcopi Edesseni, Balaei, &c.,
Opera Selecta. E Codd. Syriacis MSS. in Museo Brilannioo et Bibliotheca
Bodleiana asservatia primus edidit J. J. Ovebbeok. Svo, il. is.
— John, Bishop of Ephesus. The Third Part of his Eccle-
siastical History. [In Syriac] Now first edited by William Cuketon
M.A. 4to, il. I2S. '
Translated by R. Payne Smith, M.A. Svo,
TAMIL.. First Lessons in Tamil. By G. U. Pope, D.D.
Fifth Edition. Crown Svo, 7«. 6d.
Oxford : Clarendon Press.
Anecdota Oxoniensia. 41
SECTION VI.
ANECDOTA OXONIENSIA.
(CrowTi 4to, stiff covers.)
I. CLASSICAL SBBIES.
I. The English Maimscripts of the Nicomachean Ethics.
By J. A. Stbwaet, M.A. 3*. 6d.
II. Nonius Mareellus, de Compendiosa Doctrina, Harleian
MS. 2719. Collated by J. H. Onioks, M.A. 3s. 6d.
III. Aristotle's Physics. Book VII. With Introduction by
K. Shute, M.A. 2s.
IV. Bentley's Plautine Emendations. From his copy of
Gronovius. By B. A. Sonnenschein, M.A. zs. 6d.
V. Harleian MS. 2610 ; Ovid's Metamorphoses I, II, III.
1-622 ; XXIV Latin Epigrams from Bodleian or other MSS. ; Latin
Glosses on Apollinaris Sidonius from MS. Digby 172. Collated and
Edited by Robinson Ellis, M.A., LL.D. 4*.
VII. Collations from the Harleian MS. of Cicero 2683. By
Albeui C. Claek, M.A. 7s. 6d.
II. SEMITIC SEKIES.
I, Commentary on Ezra and Nehemiah. By Rabbi
Saadiah. Edited by H. J. Mathews, M.A. 3*. 6d.
II, The Book of the Bee. Edited by Ernest A. Waliis
Budge, M.A. 21*.
Ill A Commentary on the Book of Daniel. By Japhet Ibn
AU. Edited and Translated by D. S. Mabgoliodth, M.A. 2 is.
IV. Mediaeval Jewish Chronicles and Chronological Notes.
Edited by Ad. Neubauee, M.A. 14s.
London : Henry Fkowdb, Amen Corner, E.G.
42 /. Literature and Philology.
AWECDOTA OXOWIENSIA {continued).
III. AETAIT SERIES.
I. Buddhist Texts from Japan, i. Va^raMiedika. Edited
by F. Max Mdllee. 3s. dd.
II. Buddhist Texts from Japan. 2. Sukhavati Vyuha.
Edited by F. Max Mullek, M.A., and Buntiu Nanjio. 7«. 6d.
III. Buddhist Texts from Japan. 3. The Ancient Palm-
leavea containing the Pra^»i-Paramita-HHdaya-Slltra and the
UBh»isha-Viga.ya-Dhara«l, edited by P. Max Mulleb, M.A., and
BuNYiu Nanjio, M.A. With an Appendix by G. Buhleb. 10*.
IV. Katyayana's SarvanukramaKi of the Kigveda. "With
Extracts from Shaiigurujishya's Commentary entitled VedHrthadlpika.
Edited by A. A. Maodonell, M.A., Ph.D. i6«.
V. The Dharma Sawzgraha. Edited by Kenjiu Kasawaea,
F. Max Mullek, and H. Wbnzel. 1$. 6d.
IV. MEDIAEVAL AND MODEBW SEBIES.
I. Sinonoma Bartholomei. Edited by J. L. G. Mowat,
M.A. 3«. 6d.
II. Alphita. Edited by J. L. G. Mowat, M.A. 12s. 6d.
III. The Saltair Na Rann. Edited from a MS. in the
Bodleian Library, by Whitley Stokes, D.C.L. ys. dd.
IV. The Cath Pinntraga, or Battle of Ventry. Edited by
KuNO Meyee, Ph.D., M.A. 6s.
V. Lives of Saints, from the Book of Lismore. Edited,
with Translation, by Whitley Stokes, D.C.L. il. 11s. 6d.
Oxford : Clarendon Press.
The Holy Scriphires, &c.
II. THEOLOGY.
A. THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, &c.
COPTIC. Libri Prophetarum Majorum, cum Lamentationibus
Jeremiae, in Dialeoto Linguae Aegyptiaoae Memptitica sen Coptica.
Edidit cum Versione Latina H. Tattam, S.T.P. Tomi II. 8vo, 17s.
Libri duodecim Prophetarum Minorum in Ling. Aegypt.
vulgo Coptica. Edidit H. Tattam, A.M. 8vo, 8s. 6d.
Novum Testamentum Coptice, cura D. Wilkiks. 17 i6.
4to, 12s. 6d.
ENGLISH. The Holy Bible in the Earliest English Versions,
made from the Latin Vulgate by John Wyolifpe and his followers :
edited by Fokshall and Madden. 4 vols. Eoyal 4to, 3!. 3s.
Also reprinted from the above, with Introduction and Glossary
by W. W. Skeat, Litt.D.
I. The Books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and
the Song of Solomon. Estra fcap. 8vo, 3s. 6d.
II. The New Testament. Extra fcap. 8vo, 6s.
■ The Holy Bible : an exact reprint, page for page, of the
Authorised Version published in the year 1611. Demy 4to, half-
bound. iZ. I*.
The Holy Bible, Revised Version*.
Cheap editions for School Use.
Eevised Bible. Pearl l6mo, cloth boards, is. 6d.
Revised New Testament. Nonpareil 32mo, 6d. ; Brevier i6mo, i*. ;
Long Primer 8vo, i«. 6d.
The Oxford Bible for Teachers, containing supple-
mentary Helps to the Study of the Bible, including Summaries of the
several Books, with copious explanatory notes ; and Tables illustrative of
Scripture History and the characteristics of Bible Lands, with a complete
Index of Subjects, a Concordance, a Dictionary of Proper Names, and a
series of Maps. Prices in various sizes and bindings from $s. to 2I. 5s.
* The Sevised Version is the joint property of the Universities of
Oxford and Cambridge.
London : Henky Fkowde, Amen Corner, E.G.
44 II- Theology.
ENGLISH {continued).
Helps to the Study of the Bible, taken from the
OxFOED Bible fob Teachers. Crown 8vo, 3s. M.
The Psalter, or Psalms of David, and certain Canticles,
with a Translation and Exposition in English, by Kiohakd Eolle of Ham-
pole. Edited by H. E. Bramlet, M.A., Fellow of S. M. Magdalen College,
Oxford. With an Introduction and Glossary. Demy 8vo, il. is.
Studia Biblica et Ecclesiastica. Essays in Biblical
and Patristic Criticism, and kindred subjects. By Members of the Uni-
versity of Oxford. 8vo.
Vol. I, los. 6d. Vol. II, i2s. 6d. Vol. Ill, 16s.
Lectures on the Book of Job. Delivered in Westminster
Abbey by the Very Eev. G. G. Bradley, D.D. Crown Bvo, 'js. 6d.
Lectures on Ecclesiastes. By the same Author. Cr. 8 vo,
4s. 6d.
The Book of Wisdom : the Greek Text, the Latin Vul-
gate, and the Authorised English Version ; with an Introduction, Critical
Apparatus, and a Commentary. By W. J. Deane, M.A. 4to, 12s. 6d.
The Pive Books of Maccabees, in English, with Notes
and Illustrations by Henry Cotton, D.C.L. 8vo, ids. 6d.
List of Editions of the Bible in English. By Heney
Cotton, D.C.L. Second Edition. Bvo, Ss. (>d.
Bhemes and Doway. An attempt to show what has
been done by Roman Catholics for the diffusion of the Holy Scriptures in
English. By Henry Cotton, D.C.L. 8vo, 9^.
GOTHIC. Evangeliorum Versio Gothica, cum Interpr. et
Annott. E. Benzelii. Edidit E. Lye, A.M. i^to, iis.ftd.
The Gospel of St. Mark in Gothic, according to the
translation made by Wulfila in the Fourth Century. Edited by
W. W. Skeat, Litt.D. Extra fcap. 8vo, 41.
GREEK. Old Testament. Vetus Testamentum ex Versione
Septuaginta Interpretum secundum exemplar Vatioanum Komae editum.
Aooedit potior varietas Codiois Alexandrini. Tomilll. i8mo, 18*.
Vetus Testamentum Graece cum Variis Lectionibus.
Editionem a R. Holmes, S.T.P. inchoatam continuavit J. Parsons STB
Tomi V. folio, ^l.
Oxford : Clarendon Press.
The Holy Scriptures, &-c. 45
GREEK {continued).
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