fortnight,' quoth I, 'he reeled from one side of the street to the
other; here is the witness to prove it:' who, presently, before the
committee, being sworn, made it good, and named the place and street
where he was drunk. So he was adjudged scandalous, and outed of his
benefice, and our minister had the parsonage.

You cannot imagine how much the routing of this drunken parson pleased
Mr. Pennington, who paid all charges munificently and thankfully.

But now follows the last and greatest kindness I ever did him.
Notwithstanding the committee for sequestrations in Cumberland were his
very good friends, yet the sub-sequestrators, of their own heads, and
without order, and by strength of arms, secured his irons, his wood, and
so much of his personal estate as was valued at seven thousand pounds.
Now had I complaint upon complaint: would I suffer my old friend to be
thus abused? it was in my power to free him from these villains.

I hereupon advised what was best to do, and was counselled to get Mr.
Speaker Lenthall's letter to the sub-sequestrators, and command them to
be obedient to the committee of the county.

Whereupon, I framed a letter myself, unto the sub-sequestrators
directed, and with it, myself and Mr. Laurence Maydwell (whom yourself
well knew) went to Mr. Speaker, unto whom we sufficiently related the
stubbornness of the officers of Cumberland; their disobedience to the
committee; and then shewed him the letter, which when he had read over,
he most courteously signed, adding withal, that if they proceeded
further in sequestring Mr. Pennington, he would command a Serjeant at
Arms to bring them up to answer their contempts: I immediately posted
that letter to my friend, which when the absurd fellows received, they
delivered him possession of his goods again; and, for my pains, when he
came to London, gave me one hundred pounds; he died in 1652, of a
violent fever. I did carefully, in 1642 and 1643, take notice of every
grand action which happened betwixt King and Parliament, and did first
then incline to believe, that as all sublunary affairs did depend upon
superior causes, so there was a possibility of discovering them by the
configurations of the superior bodies; in which way making some essays
in those two years, I found encouragement to proceed further, which I
did; I perused the writings of the ancients, but therein they were
silent, or gave no satisfaction; at last, I framed unto myself that
method