SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
499
1643. 7%e Journal of William Dowring, of Stratford,pwrliamentary viiitor, appointed wider a warrant from the earl of Manchester, for abolishing (A« mpentitiout picture* and ormt' menu of churches, Src, leithin the county of Suf- folk, in the years 1643, 1644.
William Dowsing was a fanatical Quixote, to whose intrepid arm manv of our noseless saints, Bculptored on our cathedrals, owe their misfor- tunes, as detailed by himself with a laconic conciseness, and it would seem with a little dry humour. He and his deputies scoured one him- dred and fifty churches, breaking windows, de- facing monuments, dining down the steps, and taking up inscriptions, &c. It has been humour- ously conjectured, that from the ruthless devast- ation of this redoubtable Goth, originated the phrase to give a Doming.
During the civil wars the fury of the people was carried to such a pitch, that all resistance proved futile : the deans and canons were turned out of their stalls, the fonts were pulled down, and sold piecemeal; inscriptions, statues, coats of arms in brass, were torn from their ancient tomb- stones, and the very graves ransacked for the sake of plunder ; in short, whatsoever remained of beauty was despoiled by the outrageous hands of sacrilegious profanation. In this forlorn state many churches remained for some years, when the committee of government took possession of the edifices and revenues accruing to the same. In 1649, an ordinance of the state passed for the pulling down and sale of the materials of all catheoial churches. In January, 1644, an ordi- nance was passed for the reform of the university of Cambridge. The earl of Manchester had the snperintendence of this mandate, and ten heads of colleges, with sixty-five fellows only, were ex- pelled ; but upon the general's departure a more zealous committee increased the number.
Speaking of the sabbatical institutions of these times, Mr. D'Israeli observes, that they were acts of persons who imagine that they become more spiritual in the degree that they remove themselves from all corporeal humanity ; as if mortals were bom, so dead to all the affections of their nature! In transferring the rigours of the Jewish sabbath to the Lord's day, ue con- trast among the people was not only melancholy, but even ridiculous. All the business and re- creations of life suddenly ceased ; no cattle were led to the water, no provender was procured for the horse, no wine was to be sold, and if a godly servant could be prevailed on to prepare the Sunday dinner, she saved herself from the sin of washing the dishes. A Sabbatarian lady had all her days longed to bless her eyes with the sight of royalty ; when Charles and Henrietta were on a progress, Heylyn offered to procure her this favour ; but the lady refused seeing a king and queen on a sabbath day. — Lf Israeli.
The following copy of Echo Verses exhibits a carious picture uf toe state of religious ianatics, the Roundheads of Charles I., and are an evidence that in the hands of a wit oven such thing^s can be converted into instnuncnts of wit. They
occur at the end of a comedy presented at the entertainment of the prince, Dy the scholars of Trinity college, Cambridge, in March, 1641 ; printed for James Calvin, 1642. The anthor, Francis Cole, holds in a print a paper in one hand, and a round hat in another. At the end of all is this humourous little poem :
THE ECHO!
Now, Echo, on what's rdicioo groanded \
Bound-head t Whoae its pnleuon most coiuldenble '
RaUle! How do these tuore themselves to be the gxidly {
Oddlgl Bat ther in Ufc uc known to be the holy.
Olitl Who are these presdien, men or women-common ?
Common I Come ther ftom any nnivenitis i
C<M«.' Do they not learning (torn thdr doctrine sever ?
B—rl Yet ther pretend that they do edille :
0;le.' What do you call it then, to frncUfyr
What dtnrefa have they, and what polpits ?
PUIS I But now in diamben the Conventicle ;
TiekUl The (odly sisters shrewdly are belied.
BeUiedl The godly nomber then will soon transcend.
End I As for the temples they with zeal embrace them.
Rate them f What do they make of bishop's hierarchy )
AreUe*! Are crosses, images, ornaments their acandall I
AttI Hot will they leave ns many ceremonies.
Monies I Most even religion down for satisfaction^)
FacUo*. How stand they aifScted to the government civil (
Xmll But to the king they are moat loyal.
Then Qod keep king and state born these same men. Amen I
1643. Five hundred and thirty-nine ounces of plate, belonging to the company of stationers, were pledg^ for £120, to answer the assess- ment of £5 a week for three months; and on account of the present distractions, there shall be no dinner on the 6th of May, usually called Lamb's Feast ; nor procession, or livery gowns. Only the company to meet at St. Faith's church, to hear the sermon.
1643. Manchester's Joy for Barbie's Overthrow, or an exact relation of a famous Victory obtained by the Manchester Tories against the Lord Strange, Earle of Derby. 4to. Oxford.
1643. The Welshman's Declaration, declaring her resolution to pe revenged on her enemies for te great overthrow of her cousitu and countrymen in Tetme forest, Ctoucestershire. 4to.
1643, Jan. 1. MercuriuM Aulicus: a Diurnal, communicating the intelligence and affairs of the court to the use of the kingdom, from Ox-
- An allusion probably to Archibald Armstrong, the fool
or privileged Jester of Cbarles I., usually called ^tfrcAjr, who had a quarrel with archbishop Land, and of whom many are* things are on record. Tbae is a little Jest book, very high priced, and of Uttle worth, which bears the title of ilrcJkie's Jest*. He died April 1, l«7a.
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