II. ye should do God good service, and a great good turn to CHAP. "the country. For in my opinion they love but to wait for "a day; and in the mean time bolster ill subjects in their Anno 1581. "obstinacy and contempt. He hath some fellows: I would "to God more zealous men were put in their places. And "so leaving the further consideration thereof under their “honourable wisdoms, he humbly took his leave. Written "from Eccleshal, the 15th of Jan. 1581. Subscribing, His "lordship's most bounden, "W. Coven. and Litch." CHAP. III. Cox, bishop of Ely, dies: his will. And Barkley, bishop He Death of bi shop Cox. he His lega 1. BOOK poor in Buckingham town, 57. To the poor of Harrow of the Hill, in Buckinghamshire, of Wickendove, three miles Anno 1581. by Stony Stratford, of Whaddon, of Nash, in the parish of Whaddon; to each 107. To the poor scholars of Peterhouse, and of another college in the university, 5l. each. To Mrs. Parker, to Mrs. Collet, and to Mrs. Bullingham, 207. apiece. To John Parker, archdeacon of Ely, 40l. To Richard Arkenstal, Richard Upsher, John Chapman, Henry Mannox, William Rente, his servants, 57. 67. 138. 8d. 41. 40s. These legacies amounted to 1557. 13s. 4d. In plate to Mr. Richard Cox, and Mrs. Rachel Cox, 201. The whole sum of his legacies came to 9457. 3s. 4d. These particulars I take from a copy of his will. Made arch- tion.Rymes. Sutton children. He was made archdeacon of Ely, anno 1540, in the room of Tho. Thirleby, the king's chaplain, made bishop of Westminster: the presentation being in the king, by reason of the removal of the said Thirleby to that bishopric, 32 Henry VIII. For so that king's writ ran, Dilectum capellanum nostrum, Richardum Cox clericum, vobis præsentamus: directed to the reverend father in Christ, Thomas [Goodrich] bishop of Ely. Witness the king at Westminster, November 24. One remark I add concerning this good bishop: that leaves legacies to bi- Thomas Sutton, the founder of the Charter-house, school shop Cox's and hospital, by his last will and testament, among the rest of his legacies, gave certain legacies to the children of that bishop and that out of gratitude to his old schoolmaster. For when Cox was master of Eaton school, he had this Sutton his scholar for three years. And then he went to Magdalen and Jesus colleges in Cambridge. The words of his will are these. Item, I give to every one of the children of Richard Cox, late bishop of Ely, who shall be living at the time of my death, 107. apiece of lawful money of England. This bishop's learning, his piety, his zeal for true religion, his exile, how instrumental he was in promoting the reformation at court, (whither he was preferred by king Henry VIII. to be the instructor of the young prince, and his almoner,) and what reputation he had then for a sin III. ed in a copy gular scholar, just and good man, may be gathered from a CHAP. copy of verses of Leland, written to Thomas Legh, of Adlington, esq. who had required Leland to tell him, if he Anno 1581. knew any person in the world (that so generally abounded Commendwith wicked, false men) that might be in all respects said of verses to be endued with faithfulness and integrity: Leland gives made by Lehim answer, that he knew one such, and that was Cox. Which he elegantly shewed in a copy of verses, viz. land. Ad Thomam Leghum, armigerum, Adlingtonensem, de Ric. 28 Cum fucis adeo laboret orbis Totus, me rogitas, amice, narrem Si dum reppererim, omnibus fidelem Omni ex parte fidelis integerque, &c. Bath and Matt. Hut This year also, November 2, died Gilbert Barkley, bishop Bishop of of Bath and Wells, in his episcopal house in Wells: whose Wells dies: register began April the 20th, 1560, and ended October 28, 1581. Wherein I observe, at a royal visitation, anno 1560, Collect. a sentence of deprivation given by John Cottrel, LL.B. ton. archdeacon of Wells, and the bishop's vicar-general, against Bourneford, prebendary, and rector of Clotworthy; Cratford, rector of Lediard Laurence; Giles Hillinge, prebendary, and rector of Shillgate; and Bartholomew Blithman, prebendary, and rector of Cosington; by reason of their absence, and contempt regiæ visitationis. BOOK I. December 15, 1561, Tho. Maister was presented to the church of Sutton Bingham, united, annexed, and incorpoAnno 1581. rated to the church of Chilton, during the time of his incumbency in the same, authoritate Matthæi Cantuar. archiepiscopi, et regiæ majestatis confirmatione. This Tho. Maister had been presented the year before, May 17, by the queen to the said church of Chilton. This Maister was son, or some relation, to Dr. Maister, the queen's physician. The bishop's character, I meet with a pretty strange dispensation in this bishop's register, under the year 1564, July the 12th. When Tho. Harrington was presented to the church of Kilston, by the death of Henry Simmons, at the presentation of John Harrington, esq. he was a scholar of Oxon, of eighteen years old, nullo clericali ordine insignitus; and obtained licence of the archbishop of Canterbury to retain the same church to lawful age: and then, if he were promoted to holy orders, to the title of the perpetual benefice. But these letters of the archbishop's were to be of no avail, unless confirmed by letters patents from the queen; dated July 28, 1564: which was done the same day. This Simmons was presented to this church of Kilston, anno 1560, by the resignation of Mr. Geo. Carew, at the presentation of John Harrington, of London, esq. We dismiss this bishop Barkley with this character: that he was a man of great gravity, and singular integrity of life; and being an exile under queen Mary, resided with many other worthy confessors at Frankfort, in Germany: and advised Dr. Traheron, who read lectures there to the English upon Revelations, chap. iv. to print his readings: which he did. This bishop had a charter for the settling of his bishopric; but not so full as the charter granted by queen Mary to his predecessor, Gilbert Bourne, many things being left out in the last charter to this bishop. In the year 1572, he had a long fit of sickness for nine or ten weeks. After 29 that, not able to ride, nor well to go, keeping his chamber, as a lame man, of the sciatica in his left leg; doubting in himself then, whether he should ever have the use of it again, III. as he wrote in December, 1572, to his friend bishop Park- CHAP. hurst: though he made shift to hold out to this year, being eighty years of age; as Godwin writes. Anno 1581. I shall leave one remark of him: which shewed him to Stops a parbe an honest as well as a stout man for the good of the songe from being imchurch, by seasonably stopping a part of the church's pa-propriated. trimony from running into a layman's purse; when the lord Tho. Pawlet, dwelling within the county of Somerset, patron of a good parsonage, viz. West Monkton, endeavoured to impropriate it to himself and his heirs for ever, as was related at large, vol. ii. under the year 1578. it sion for con Now was coming forth another commission from the queen Commisfor recovering such lands and revenues as formerly belonged cealed to churches, religious houses, colleges and hospitals, granted lands. by parliament to the crown. Many of which being concealed in this queen's reign, she, to gratify some of her courtiers, had granted them, or some good portions of them; namely, what they could by search discover and find out: which commissions made great havock sometimes of the small livelihoods of the livings and salaries of ministers and chaplains, the poor inhabitants of hospitals, &c. in case it was found they were given for superstitious uses. Therefore, as such a commission had been granted to Edward Stafford, esq. Granted to and some other gentlemen pensioners, was called in, as Edward seems, another was made this year for his use and benefit, with more tenderness and caution towards many that might suffer by it; but still with certain rents payable by him to the queen. It was called, A warrant to Edward Stafford, esq. for parsonages, chapels, guilds, &c. dissolved: the copy whereof shall be exemplified from the minutes, with the lord treasurer's hand interlined in some places, (which I have enclosed in crotchets ;) intended by him for the moderating of this grant, and stopping the violences that these concealers, as they were called, would have been apt to use towards the churches and the clergy thereof, the hospitals and chapels. Stafford. It specified, "A lease, granted by the queen to this Ed-The con"ward Stafford, one of her gentlemen pensioners, of all tents of a lease granted him. |