thefe be fo wonderful, What is the Sight of him, for whom and by whom all was created of whofe Glory to behold the Thousand Thoufand Part, the moft pure, Intelligences are fully fatiated and with Wonder and Delight reft amazed, for the Beauty of His Light, and the Light of His Beauty are incomprehenfible? Here doth that earnest Appetite of the Understanding con tent it felf, not feeking to know any more: For it feeth before it, in the Vifion of the Divine Effence, (a Mirror in which not Images or Shadows, but the true and perfect Effence of every Thing created, is more clear and confpicuous, than in it felf) all that may be known or undertood And whereas on Earth our Senfes fhow us the Creator by his Creatures, here we fee . the Creatures by the Creator. Here doth the Will paufe it felf, as in the Center of its eternal Reft, glowing with a fervent Affection of that infinite and all-fufficient Good; which being fully known, cannot (for all the infinite Motives and Caufes of Love which are in him) but be fully and perfectly loved: As he is only the true and effential Bounty, fo is he the only effential and true Beauty, deferving alone all Love and Admiration, by which the Creatures are only in fo much fair and excellent, as they participate of his Beauty and excelling Excellencies. Here is a bleffed Company, every one joying as much in another's Felicity, as in that which is proper, because each feeth another equally loved of God; thus their diftinct Joys are no fewer,than the Copartners of the Joy. And as the Affembly is, in Number, answerable to the large Capacity of the Place, fo are the Joys anfwerable to the numberless Number of the Affembly. No poor and pitiful Mortal, confined to the Globe of Earth, who hath never feen but Sorrow, or interchangeably fome painted fuperficial Pleasures, and had but Gueffes of Contentment, can rightly think on, or be fufficient to conceive the termless Delights of this Place:So many Feathers move not on Birds, fo many Birds dint not the Air,fo many Leaves tremble not on Trees, fo many Trees grow not in the folitary Forests, so many Waves turn not in the Ocean, and fo many Grains of Sand limit not thofe Waves, as this triumphant Court hath Variety of Delights, and Joyes exempted from all Comparifon. Happiness at once here is fully known n and fully enjoyed, and as infinite in and as infinite in Continuance as Extent. Here is flourishing and never-fading Youth without Age, Strength without Weaknefs, Beauty never blafting, Knowledge without Learning, Abundance without Loathing, Peace without Disturbance, Participation without Envy,Reft without Labour, Light without rifing or fetting Sun,Perpetuity without Moments; for Time (which is the Measure of Duration) did never enter into this fhining Eternity. Ambition, Disdain, Malice, Difference of Opinions, cannot approach this Place. And refembling thofe foggy Mifts, which cover thofe Lifts of Sublunary Things, all Pleafure,paragon'd with whar is here,is Pain, all Mirth Mourning,all Beauty Deformity. Here one Day's Abiding, is above the Continuing in the most Fortunate Estate on the Earth many Years, and fufficient to countervail the extreameft Torments of Life. But, although this Blefs of Souls be great, and their Joys many, yet fhall they admit Addition, and be more full and perfect, at that long wifhed and general Metting with their Bodies.

Amongst all the Wonders of the Great Creator, not one appeareth to be more wonderful (replied I) than that our Bodies fhould arife, having suffered fo many Changes, and Nature denying a Return from Privation to a Habit.

Such Power (faid he) being above all that the Understanding of Man can conceive, may well work fuch Wonders, For if Man's Understanding could comprehend all the Secrets and Counfels of that Eternal Majefty, it must of Neceffity be equal unto it. The Author of Nature is not thralled to the Laws of Nature, but worketh with them or contrary to them, as it pleateth him:What He hath a will to do,He hath a Power to perform. To that Power, which brought all this All from Nought, to bring again in one Instant any Substance which ever was in it, unto what it was once, fhould not be thought impoffible; for who can do more can do lefs, and his Power is no lefs,after that, which was by him brought forth, is decayed and vanifhed, than it was before it was produced; being neither reftrained to certain Limits, or Inftruments, or to any determined and definite Manner of Working: Where the Power is without Restraint, the Work admitteth no other Limits, than the Worker's will. This World is as a Cabinet to God, in which the fmall Things (however to us hid and fecret) are nothing less kept than the great. For, as he was wife and powerful to create, fo doth his Knowledge comprehend his own Creation; yea every Change and Variety in it, of which it is the very Source. Not any Atome of the fcatter'd Duft of Maukind, though daily flowing under new Forms, is to him unknown: And his Knowledge doth distinguish and difcern, what once his Power fhall awake and raife up. Why may not the Arts-Mafter of the World, like a Moulder,what he hath framed in divers Shapes, confound into one Mafs,and then feverally Fashion them again out of the fame? Can the Spagyrick by his Art reftore, for a Space, to the dry and withered Rofe, the natural Purple and Blush; and cannot the Almighty raife and refine the Body of Man, after never fo many Alterations on the Earth? Reafon her felt finds it more poffible for infinite Power to caft out from it felt a finite World, and reftore any Thing in it, though decayed and diffolved, to what it was firft, than for Man, a finite Piece of reafonable Mifery, to change the Form of Matter made to his Hand: The Power of God never brought forth all that it can,for then were Kk 2

it

it bounded, and no more infinite. That Time doth approach (Ohafte ye Times away) in which the Dead fhall live, and the Living be changed, and of all Actions the Guerdon is at Hand, then fhall there be an End without End, Time hall finish, and Place fhall be altered Motion yielding unto Reft, and another World of an Age eternal and unchangeable fhalf arife. Which when he had faid, (methought) he vanifhed, and I all astonished did awake.

MEMORIALS

MEMORIALS

OF

STATE

December

1632.

T

Confiderations to the KING.

HERE is nothing more dangerous to a King,than to fuffer Majefty, and that facred Refpect which a Subject oweth him, to be violated, and his Fame and Reputation leffened by other Mens Boldness, whofe Prefumption may lead them forwards not only to dally with his Perfon, but with his Crown. But his Ears are fo often guarded by thefe Men, that he never heareth Verities, till he hath granted what he cannot well amend, and his Wounds be incurable. If a Prince hold any Thing dear, it fhould be the Right and Title of his Crown, which concerneth not only himself but his Polterity; out of which a small Jewel taken away, maketh it the lefs Radiant ; And to all Subjects that fhould be as Mount Sinai, not to be approached. In every Cafe we should take greater Heed to what in it is hurtful, than to what is in it profitable; for what Profit and Commodity any Thing carrieth with it, eafily prefenteth it felf unto us, but any one Point which may hurt us, unless it be obferved and carefully taken away, may overthrow and bring to nought all that hath been rightly intended.

The reftoring of the Earl of Menteith in Blood, and allowing his Defcent and Title to the Earldom of Strathern, is thought to be difadvantageous to the King's Majefty, and that a more dangerous Blow could not be given to the Nobleman himself. We may eafily conjecture of Things to come, and imagine them by thefe of the like Nature which have preceeded. The Stage of the World is the fame ftill, though in Times the Actors be changed, and come about

again.

For the King's Majefty, it would be confidered,if Henry VI. King of England would, if it had been in his Power, have reclaimed the Approbation, reftoring in Blood, and allowing of the Defcent and Title of Richard Duke of Tork; who,openly in Parliament, thereafter made Claim for the Crown, as in his own Right, laying down thus his Title :

The Son of Anne Mortimer who came of Philip the Daughter and fole Heir of Lionel Duke of Clarence, Third Son to King Edward III. is to be preferred,by very good Right in Succeffion of the Kingdom,before the Children of John of Gaunt the Fourth Son of the faid Edward HI: Bur Richard Duke of Tork is come of Philip the Daughter and fole Heir of Lionel Duke of Clarence, Third Son to K. Edward III. then to be preferred before the Children of the Fourth Son who was Henry.

The like Reafon may be alledged in the Title of the Earl of Strathern. The Children of a First Marriage, by the Common Law, are to be preferred in the Succeffion before the Children of the Second Marriage; for the Marrying of Elizabeth Mure did but Legitimate and make her Children to fucceed after the Children of the First Marriage.

Our Author (being mifled by our Hiftorians Boethius, Lefly and Buchanan) goes upon a wrong Suppofition, that Elizabeth Mure was only Robert II's Second Wife, but the contrary of this is clearly demonftrared by the Earl of Cromerty, Mr. Rymer, Dr. Innes, and particularly in the ' new Introduction prefix'd to our Author's Hiftory of the Five King James's.

As for the Authority of a Parliament, it would be confidered, Whether or not the Authority of a Parliament may confer and entail a Crown from the lawful Heir thereof, to the next apparent Heirs? Or, If an Oath given unto a King by Man's Law fhould be performed, when it tendeth to the Suppreffion of Truth and Right, which stand by the Laws of God? Then, if one Parliament hath Power to entail a Crown, Whether may not another Parliament, upon the like Confiderations, reftore the fame to the righteous Heirs?

But the Subject refigneth all his Right to his King. It would be confidered, whether a Subject may fafely capitulate with his Prince, that is to fay, give over and quit-claim all Right and Title which he hath to his Sovereign's Crown, his Right being Sufficient, and if by his Capitulation his Heirs be bound, and if it be Honourable for a Prince to accept his Condi

.tions?

The Trouble which Edward Baliol raifed in Scotland, is yet recent to the Readers of Hiftories." Notwithstanding that his Father John Baliol had refigned unto Robert, King of Scotland, all the Right and Title which he or any other of his had, or thereafter might have, to the Crown of Scotland, concerning any Intereft or Claim which might be avouched for any Caufe or Confideration: He, Anno 1355. gave to Edward III. King of England, a full Refignation of his pretended Right to the Crown of Scotland; 2s before, being affifted by the faid King and the Confederate Gentlemen of Scotland, in a Parliament holden at Perth, he had been confirmed King of Scotland by the Three Eftates.

It would be confidered, if the Pope, the Kings of Spain or France, after fome. Revolutions of Years, feeking to trouble the Estate and Peace of this Ifle, fhould entertain and maintain One of the Heirs of the Earls of Strathern (as Queen Elizabeth did Don Antonio the Prior of Crato, who claimed the Crown of Portugal, to reclaim whofe Kingdom She feat the Earl of Effex and Drake) or fhould marry One of them to their nearest Kinfwomen, and fend him armed with Power to claim his Title to the Crown of Scotland, as King James IV. of Scotland practifed upon Perkin Warbeck naming himself Richard Duke of Tork; to whom he gave in Marriage Lady Katharine Gordon, Daughter to the Earl of Huntley, and thereafter with all his Forces, to eftablish his faid Ally in his Title, invaded England. It would be confidered whether they had a fair Bridge to come over to this Ifle?

It would likewife be confidered, if the Earl of Strathern, though a mean Subject, thefe Two Hundred Years, having been debarred from all Title to the Crown, and now by the Indulgence and exceeding Favour of the Prince, being reftored to his Defcent in Blood, and ferved Heir to his great Progenitors, and indirectly, as by Appendices, to the Crown; if either out of Difpleafure, or for want of Means to maintain their Eftates, he or his fhould fell and difpofe their Rights and Titles of the Kingdom of Scotland to fome Mighty and Foreign Prince, fuch as is perhaps this Day the King of Sweden, who wanteth nothing but a Title to Invade a Kingdom, not knowing whither to difcharge hisvictorious Forces: It would be confidered,if that Title, difpofed to that Prince,were fufficient to make him King of Scotland. Or,if eftablishing his Right. upon fair Conditions, fuch as is Liberty of Confcience, Abfolution and Freedom from all Ťaxes and Subfidies, the transferring of Ward-lands into few'd; the People of Scotland might give him their Oath of Allegiance; or if he might oblige the King of Scotland to give him Satisfaation and compound for his Right to the Crown of Scotland?

It would to thefe be confidered, IfTimes fhould turn away the Minds of Subjects from their Prince, by Superftition, Sedition and abfolute Rebellion, (as what may not befal an inconftant ever wavering Nation ?) to an Aristocracy, Oligarchy, Democracy, or abfolute Anarchy, If the Rebellious Subjects and abufed Populace might not make Advantage of fuch Men, who draw their Titles from Evander's Mother,to trouble the prefent Times >

That nothing could be more dangerous to the Nobleman himself than this Service, may be understood by the like Examples.

Clouis King of France, having understood that a Nobleman of Artois named Canacare, blown up by Power, had vaunted that he was come and lineally defcended from Clodion le Chevelu, and by that fame Succeffion was Heir of the Crown of France, clofed not his Ears to it (fays the Hiftory) but caufed extirpate that Sower of Impoftures, and all his Race.

Henry IV. King of England,after the Depofure of King Richard II. kept Edmond Mortimer Earl of March, who had a jult Title to the Crown, under fuch Keepers,that he could never do, nor attempt any Thing, till he died. But Henry VII. King of England took away Edward Planta-. genet. Duke of Warwick, Heir to George Duke of Clarence, by Reafon of his Jealousy of Succeffion to his Uncle Edward IV.

Margaret Plantagenet his fole Daughter (married to Sir Richard Pole Knight) by Henry VIII. reftored to the Earldom of Salisbury, was attainted Threefcore and Two Years after her Father had fuffered, and was in the Tower of London beheaded; in whofe Perfon died the Sirname. of Plantagenet.

Anne Plantagenet, Daughter to Edward IV. being married to Thomas Howard Earl of Surrey and Duke of Norfolk, was the Ground and chief Caufe wherefore King Henry VIII. cut off the

Head

Head of Henry Earl of Surrey, though the pretended Caufe whereon he was arraigned, was the bearing certain Arms of the Houfe of Tork, which only belonged to the King.

Mary Queen of England cut off the Head of Lady Jane Gray and the Lord Guilford her Huf band, for their Title to the Crown; and that fame Reafon was the Overthrow and final Deftruction of Mary, Queen of Scotland, by Queen Elizabeth.

The Duke of Gufe, by a Genealogy deduced from Charles the Great, in the Reign of Henry III. the French King, was thought to afpire to the Crown of France, and fuffered at laft for this and his other Prefumptions.

It is notoriously known, that, thefe Two Hundred Years, the Race of Eupheme Rofs, in her Children David Earl of Strathern and Walter Earl of Athole, and all their Succeffion by all the King's of Scotland fince, have been ever fupprefs'd and kept under, and for Reafon of State fhould ftill be kept low and under, unless a Prince would for greater Reafon of State advance them, to give them a more horrible Blow, and by fuborning mercenary Men, make them aim above their Reach to their laft Extirpation.

Dum nefciunt diftinguere inter fumma & præcipitia.

Princeps, quem perfequitur, bonorat & extollit in altum.

An intended SPEECH at the Weft Gate of Edinburgh to King CHARLES Í

Anno 1633.

SIR,

I.

F Nature could fuffer Rocks to move, and abandon their natural Places, this Town, founded on the Strength of Rocks (now by the chearing Rays of your Majefty's Prefence, tak ing not only Motion but Life) had with her Caftle, Temples and Houses, moved towards you, and befought you to acknowledge her yours, and her Indwellers your most humble and affectionate Subjects; and to believe, how many Souls are within her Circuits, fo many Lives are devoted to your facred Perfon and Crown. And here, Sir, fhe offers by me, to the Altar of your Glory, whole Hecatombs of moft happy Defires, praying all Things may prove profperous unto you; that every Virtue and Heroick Grace, which make a Prince eminent, may with a long and bleffed Government attend you; Your Kingdoms flou rifhing Abroad with Bays, at Home with Olives: Prefenting you, Sir, who are the ftrong Key of this little World of Great Britain, with thofe Keys which caft up the Gates of her Affection, and defign you Power to open all the Springs of the Hearts of thefe her molt Loyal Citizens. Yet this almoft is not neceffary; For as the Rofe, at the fair appearing of the Morning Sun, difplayeth and fpreadeth her Purples; So at the Noife of your happy Return to this your tive Country, their Hearts (if they could have fhined through their Breafts) were with Joy and fair Hopes made fpatious: Nor did they ever in all Parts feel a more comfortable Heat, than the Glory of your Prefence at this Time darteth upon them.

Na

The old forget their Age, and look fresh and young at the Appearance of fo Gracious a Prince; the Young bear a Part in your Welcome, deliring many Years of Life, that they may ferve you long; all have more Joys than Tongues. For, as the Words of other Nations far go beyond and furpats the Affection of their Hearts; fo in this Nation the Affection of their Hearts is far above all they can expreis by Words. Deign then, Sir, from the highest of Majefty, to look down on their Lowacfs and embrace it; accept the Homage of their humble ; accept their grateful Zeal, and for Deeds accept that great good Will which they and your have ever carryed to the high Deferts of your Ancestors, And fhall ever to your own, Royal Race, whilft thofe Rocks fhall be overfhadowed with Buildings, thefe Buildings he inhabited by Men, and while Men be indued either with Counsel or Courage, or enjoy any Piece of Reason, Senfe, or Life.

Minds

L12

An