In the thirty-third of Queen Elisabeth, one William Hacket was hanged for professing himself to be Christ, 1591.

In the ninth year of King James, the eleventh of April, 1611, one Edward Wightman was burned a Litchfield for Arianism.

So much have I written concerning sects and heresies, which have been in this kingdom in his time; now I treat of some other passages.

He had outlived six great plagues. He was born long before we had much use of printing: For it was brought into this kingdom, 1472, and it was long after before it was in use.

He was above eighty years old before any guns were made in England, 1535.

The vintners sold no other sacks, muscadels, malmsies, bastards, Alicants, nor any other wines but white and claret, till the thirty-third year of King Henry the Eighth, 1543, and then was old Parr sixty years of age: All those sweet wines were sold till that time at the apothecaries for no other use, but for medicines.

There was no starch used in England, till a Flanders woman, one Mistress Dinghen Vanden Plasse, brought in the use of starch, 1564: And then was this man near eighty years old.

There were no bands wore till King Henry the Eighth's time; for he was the first king that ever wore a band in England, 1513.

Women's masks, busks, muffs, fans, perriwigs, and bodkins were invented by Italian courtezans, and transported through France into England, in the ninth of Queen Elisabeth.

Tobacco was first brought into England by Sir John Hawkins, 1565, but it was first brought into use by Sir Walter Rawleigh many years after.

He was eighty-one years old before there was any coach in England: For the first, that ever was seen here, was brought out of the Netherlands, by one William Boonen, a Dutchman, who gave a coach to Queen Elisabeth, for she had been seven years a Queen before she had any coach; since when, they have increased, with a mischief, and ruined all the best house-keeping, to the undoing of the watermen, by the multitudes of hackney or hired coaches: But they never swarmed so thick to pester the streets, as they do now, till the year 1605, and then was the gunpowder treason hatched, and at that time did the coaches breed and multiply.

He hath out lived the fashion, at least forty times over and over. He hath known many changes of scarcity, or dearth, and plenty: But I will speak only of the plenty.

In the year 1499, the fifteenth of Henry the Seventh, wheat was sold for 4s. the quarter, or 6d. the bushel, and bay salt at 4d. and wine at 40 shillings the ton, which is about three farthings the quart.

In the first of Queen Mary, beer was sold for sixpence the barrel, the cask and all, and three great loaves for one penny.

In the year 1557, the fifth of Queen Mary, the penny wheaten loaf was, in weight, fifty six ounces, and in many places people would change a bushel of corn for a pound of candles,

So much shall suffice for the declaring of some changes and alterations that have happened in his time.

Now, for a memorial of his name, I will give a little touch. I will not search for the antiquity of the name of Parr, but I find it to be an honourable name in the twelfth year of King Edward the fourth; the King sent Sir William Parr, Knight, to seize upon the archbishop of York's goods, at a place called the Moor in Hartfordshire, 1472: This Sir William Parr was knight of the right honourable order of the garter. In the twenty-second of Edward the Fourth, the same Sir William Parr went with an army towards Scotland, with Richard Duke of Gloucester.

In the year 1543, the thirty fifth year of King Henry the Eighth, July 22, the King was married to Lady Catharine Parr; and, the 24th of December following, the Queen's brother, William Lord Parr, was created Earl of Essex, and Sir William Parr, their uncle, was made Lord Parr of Horton, and chamberlain to the Queen; and the first of King Edward the Sixth, William Parr, Earl of Essex, was created Marquis of Northamption; and in the fourth year of King Edward's reign, 1550, the said marquis was made lord great chamberlain of England, and on the last of April, 1552, he, amongst other lords, mustered one-hundred brave well appointed horsemen of his own charge before King Edward, in the park at Greenwich, his cognisance or crest being the Maidenhead; in the first of Queen Mary, he took part with the lady Jane against the Queen, for which he was taken and committed to the Tower, July 26, and, contrary to expectation, released again shortly after, March 24.

Also, the first Queen Elisabeth, William Parr, Marquis of Northampton, sat, in Westminster Hall, lord high steward, upon a tryal of William Lord Wentworth, who came off most honourably acquitted, April 22.

After the death of King Henry the Eighth, Queen Catharine Parr was married to Sir Thomas Seymor, Lord high admiral, and she died, the second of September, 1548.

And thus I lay down the pen, leaving it to whomsoever can, or will, make more of this old man, than I have done.

A BRIEF RELATION

OF

CERTAIN SPECIAL AND MOST MATERIAL PASSAGES

AND

SPEECHES IN THE STAR-CHAMBER;

Occasioned and delivered, June the fourteenth, 1637, at the censure of those three worthy Gentlemen,

DR. BASTWICKE, MR. BURTON, AND MR. PRYNNE,

As it hath been truly and faithfully gathered from their own mouths, by one present at the said censure.

Printed in the Year 1638.

Quarto, containing twenty-eight Pages. See number fifty-two in the catalogue.

BET

ETWEEN eight and nine o'clock in the morning, the fourteenth of June, the lords being set in their places in the said court of Starchamber, and casting their eyes upon the prisoners, then at the bar, Sir John Finch, chief justice of the Common Pleas, began to speak after this manner.

I had thought Mr. Prynne had had no ears, but methinks he hath ears, which caused many of the lords to take the stricter view of him; and, for their better satisfaction, the usher of the court was commanded to turn up his hair, and shew his ears; upon the sight whereof the lords were displeased they had been formerly no more cut off, and cast out some disgraceful words of him.

To which Mr. Prynne replied, My Lords, there is never a one of your honours, but would be sorry to have your ears as mine are.

The Lord Keeper replied again, In good faith he is somewhat saucy. I hope, said Mr. Prynne, your honours will not be offended, I pray God give you ears to hear.

The business of the day, said the Lord Keeper, is to proceed on the prisoners at the bar,

Mr. Prynne then humbily desired the court to give him leave to make a motion or two; which being granted, he moves,

First, That their honours would be pleased to accept of a cross bill against the prelates, signed with their own hands, being that which stands with the justice of the court, which he humbly craved, and so tendered it.

Lord Keeper. As for your cross bill, it is not [the business of the day; hereafter if the court should see just cause, and that it savours not of libelling, we may accept of it; for my part I have not seen it, but have heard somewhat of it.

Mr. Prynne. I hope your honours will not refuse it, being it is on his Majesty's behalf; we are his Majesty's subjects, and therefore require the justice of the court.

Lord Keeper. But this is not the business of the day.

Mr. Prynne. Why then, my Lords, I have a second motion, which I humbly pray your honours to grant, which is, That your lordships will be pleased to dismiss the prelates, here now sitting, from having any voice in the censure of this cause, being generally known to be adversaries, as being no way agreeable with equity or reason, that they, who are our adversaries, should be our judges; therefore we humbly crave they may be expunged out of the court.

Lord Keeper. In good faith, it is a sweet motion: Is it not? Herein you are become libellous; and, if you should thus libel all the Lords and reverend judges, as you do the most reverend prelates, by this your plea, you would have none to pass sentence upon you for your libelling, because they are parties.

Mr. Prynne. Under correction, my lord, this doth not hold; your honour need not put that for a certainty which is an uncertainty; we have nothing to say to any of your honours, but only to the prelates.

Lord Keeper. Well, proceed to the business of the day: Read the information.

Which was read, being very large, and these five books annexed thereunto, viz. A book of Dr. Bastwicke's written in Latin.

The second, a little book entitled, News from Ipswich. The third, intitled, A Divine Tragedy, recording God's fearful judgments on Sabbath-breakers. The fourth, Mr. Burton's book, intitled, An Apology of an Appeal to the King's most excellent Majesty, with two Sermons for God and the King, preached on the fifth of November last. The fifth and last, Dr. Bastwicke's Litany.

The King's council, being five, took each of them a several book, and descanted there, at the bar, upon them, according to their pleasure.

Mr. Attorney began first with Dr. Bastwicke's Latin book, picking out here, and there, particular conclusions, that best served for his own ends, as did all the other council, out of the former other books, to the great abuse of the authors; as themselves there immediately complained, intreating them to read the foregoing grounds, upon which the said conclusions depended, without which they could not understand the true meaning of them.

Next unto the attorney, Serjeant Whitfeild falls upon the reverend Mr. Burton's book, who vented much bitterness against that unreproveable book, as all that read it, with an honest and orthodox heart, may clearly perceive, swearing, in good faith, my lords, there is never a page in this book, but deserves a heavier and deeper censure than this court can lay upon him.

Next followed A. B. who in like manner descanted upon the News from Ipswich, charging it to be full of pernicious lyes, and especially vindicating the honour of Matthew Wren, Bishop of Norwich, as being a learned, pious, and reverend father of the church.

In the fourth place follows the King's sollicitor, Mr. Littleton, who acts his part upon the Divine Tragedy; to which part of it, concerning God's judgments on sabbath-breakers, he had little to say, but only put it off with a scoff, saying, That they sat in the seat of God, who judged those accidents, which fell out upon persons suddenly strucken, to be the Judgment of God for sabbath-breaking, or words to the like effect; but enlarged himself upon that passage, which reflected upon that late reverend, as he termed him, and learned professor of the law, and his Majesty's faithful servant, Mr. William Noy, his Majesty's late attorney, who, as he said, was most shamefully abused by a slander laid upon him; which was, that it should be reported, that Gods judgment fell upon him for so eagerly prosecuting that innocent person Mr. Prynne; which judgment was this, that he, laughing at Mr. Prynne, while he was suffering upon the pillory, was struck with an issue of blood in his privy part, which, by all the art of man, could never be stopped unto the day of his death, which was soon after: But the truth of this, my lords, saith he, you shall find to be as probable as the rest; for we have here three or four gentlemen, of good credit and rank, to testify, upon oath, that he had that issue long before; and thereupon made a shew, as if he would call for them in before the lords, to witness the truth thereof, with these particular words, Make room for the gentlemen to come in there, but no one witness was seen to appear; which was pretty delusion, and worth all your observations that read it; and so concluded, as the rest, that this book also deserved a heavy and deep censure.

Lastly, follows Mr. Herbert, whose descant was upon Dr. Bastwicke's Litany, picking out one or two passages therein; and so drawing thence his conclusion, that, jointly with the rest, it deserved a heavy censure.

The King's council having all spoken what they could, the Lord Keeper said to the prisoners at the bar;

You hear, gentlemen, wherewith you are charged; and now, lest you should say, you cannot have liberty to speak for your selves, the court gives you leave to speak what you can, with these conditions: First, Thet you speak within the bounds of modesty. Secondly, That your speeches be not libellous.

Prisoners. They all three answered, They hoped so to order their speech as to be free from any immodest or libellous speaking.

Lord Keeper. Then speak in God's name, and shew cause why the court should not proceed in censure, as taking the cause pro confesso, against you.

Mr. Prynne. My honourable good lords, such a day of the month, there came a Subpæna from your honours, to enter my appearance in this court; which being entered, I took forth a copy of the information; which being taken, I was to draw my answer; which I endeavoured to do, but, being shut up close prisoner, I was deserted of all means,