NOTE EEE. 



ecclesiastical. But it is probable, that the deans and chapters stuck close to 

 the bishops in matters of profit and the world, and would not lose their hold ; 

 but in matters of jurisdiction, which they accounted but trouble and attendance, 

 they suffered the bishops to incroach and usurp ; and so the one continueth, and 

 the other is lost. And we see that the bishop of Rome, fas enim et ab hoste 

 doceri/ and no question in that church the first institutions were excellent, 

 performeth all ecclesiastical jurisdiction as in consistory. 



&quot; And whereof consisteth this consistory, but of the parish priests of Rome, 

 which term themselves cardinals, a cardinibus mundi, because the bishop 

 pretendeth to be universal over the whole world 1 And hereof again we see 

 many shadows yet remaining : as, that the dean and chapter, pro forma, 

 chooseth the bishop, which is the highest point of jurisdiction ; and that the 

 bishop, when he giveth orders, if there be any ministers casually present, calleth 

 them to join with him in imposition of hands, and some other particulars. And 

 therefore it seemeth to me a thing reasonable and religious, and according to 

 the first institution, that bishops, in the greatest causes, and those which require 

 a spiritual discerning, namely, in ordaining, suspending, or depriving ministers, 

 in excommunication, being restored to the true and proper use, as shall be 

 afterwards touched, in sentencing the validity of marriages and legitimations, 

 in judging causes criminous, as simony, incest, blasphemy, and the like, 

 should not proceed sole and unassisted : which point, as I understand it, is a 

 reformation that may be planted sine strepitu, without any perturbation at 

 all : and is a matter which will give strength to the bishops, countenance to the 

 inferior degrees of prelates or ministers, and the better issue or proceeding 

 to those causes that shall pass.&quot; 



NOTE EEE. 



Mar. 3, 1617. Rex invisit Cancellarium languentem, et ex invalida senect& 

 officio cedere volentem ; sigillumque in manus Regis lachrymantis tradidit. 

 Annalium Apparatus, Camdeni Epistolae, page 24, pub. 1691. 



Mar. 7, 1617. Sigillum magnum traditur Francisco Bacono Attornato 

 Regio ; anno ffitatis 54 quern Rex admonuit, ut nihil nisi deliberate sigillet, 

 ex equo et bono judicet, nee praerogativam Regiam nimio plus extendat. 

 Annalium Apparatus, Camdeni Epistolae, page 24, pub. 1691. But see his 

 speech upon taking his seat in Chancery, in which he states that there were 

 four admonitions, which he explains as stated in the text. 



In his address to the bar, upon taking his seat in Chancery, he said, &quot; The 

 king s charge, which is my Ian thorn, rested upon four heads. 



&quot; The first was that I should contain the jurisdiction of the court within its 

 true and due limits, without swelling or excess. 



&quot; The second, that I should think the putting of the great seal to letters 

 patents was not a matter of course after precedent warrants, but that I should 

 take it to be the maturity and fulness of the king s intentions ; and therefore 

 that it was one of the greatest parts of my trust, if I saw any scruple or cause 

 of stay, that I should acquaint him concluding with a quod dubites nefeceris. 



&quot; The third was that I should retrench all unnecessary delays, that the 

 subject might find that he did enjoy the same remedy against the fainting of the 

 seal, and against the consumption of the means and estate, which was speedy 

 justice, bis dot, qui cito dot. 



&quot; The fourth was that justice might pass with as easy charge as might be, 

 and that those same brambles that grow about justice of needless charge and 

 expense, and all manner of exactions might be rooted out so far as might be. 



&quot; These commandments, my lords, are righteous, and (as I may term them) 

 sacred; and therefore, to use a sacred form, I pray God bless the king for his 

 great care over the justice of the land ; and give me his poor servant grace and 

 power to observe his precepts.&quot; 



The Lord Chancellor Ellesmere about this time, weary of his public employ 

 ment, and weakened with age, desired the king s leave to retire, that he might 



