it I say that the Authority of Papal Bulls and Royal Confirmations and a Provision in a Statute made in a Reign that some take pleasure now to decry should be thought strong enough to authorize Deans and other Exempted persons to do all the Acts of Episcopal Jurisdiction If Ecclesiastical Authority is only of human Original indeed all this may be excused and born with But if our Plea for a Divine Original is well founded then since no human Law nor Custom can derogate from the Divine Law let those who are concerned in these things see how they can reconcile our Principles to their Practices Here are Presbyters acting in most parts of the Episcopal Functions as Bishops without any Subordination to them If all is founded on a Divine Right then by the same Authority that they do invade many Acts of Episcopal Jurisdiction they might as well have invaded all the rest and if the one would be condemned as a sacrilegious attempt it will not be easy to excuse much less to justify the other Upon all these things I wish that Men would apply their Thoughts more carefully and direct their Zeal a little better and that they would lay all the ends of their System together that it may appear that all is coherent and hangs well together And therefore it is not very fairly done to bring some Authorities from Ancient Authors and Councils of Presbyters assisting their Bishops and from thence immediately to conclude for the Right of a Convocation constituted as ours is I must acknowledge this Author confines himself chiefly to our own Laws and Customs In which I will not trace him but shall leave that to others who may be more at leisure to follow him only I must in general remark one thing which I find some are beginning to observe with no kind Intentions The Clergy are now generally admitted as Freeholders to chuse the Representatives of the Commons in Parliament and I believe they would look on it as a very unfriendly Office if any Doctrines were laid down that might exclude them from this But it passes for a Maxim That those who constitute any other State or part of the Parliament how great soever their Estates or Freeholds may be cannot Vote in the Elections to Parliament how far the Doctrine that is so much laboured by this Author may have an influence in this matter I will not determine If it does I doubt not but that since mens Affections do as we have already observed very much biass their Judgments the Opinion of the World concerning this performance may come to be changed from what it is at present I have neither Leisure nor Inclination to enter further into the discussion of this pretended Right of the Convocation's sitting and being Constituted into a Body and of their preparing and proposing of Matters I will only offer some Historical Observations upon which it will be easy to make Remarks to shew that there is nothing new in the present Administration how heinously soever it may be complained of I will avoid saying any thing with relation to King Henry the VIIIth's Reign because of the Prejudices that these Men have against it and I will refer a very material part of King Edward's Reign to the end of these Reflections The Debates with the Puritans and the Disciplinarian Controversy was that which occasioned great Heats during Queen Elizabeth's Reign But the Convocation never medled with this it was left wholly with the Queen she appointed some Bishops and others of the Clergy who were of the High-Commission to settle Rules in those Matters They did it and their Decisions are Printed and may be seen in the later Editions of Bishop Sparrow's Collections I have an Edition of them Printed in that Reign so here a matter of very great consequence was settled by a few Bishops and others acting by the Queen's Commission and this was the Rule that the Church was Governed by till the late Civil Wars Here was a good Plea for the Puritans which this Author has found for them that none of themselves made use of The next Subject of dispute was during a great part of King James the First 's Reign and all King Charles the First 's till the War concerning Predestination In this the Calvinists appealed to the Articles and seemed to have a strong Plea from them This was a point of Doctrine and the Dispute being about the sense of Articles that had been agreed on in Convocation it seemed very natural to make the Appeal to that Body but yet that was not done Our Kings made Declarations in this matter and gave Directions to the Bishops It was generally thought that in King James's Reign the much greater number of both Houses were the followers of St. Austin's Doctrine if not of Calvin's Yet I never found this among the Complaints of the Angry Men of that time that the Decision of the matter was not left to a Convocation And among all the Remonstrances how warm soever that were Voted in the House of Commons I do not find this is ever named Nor is Archbishop Laud ever Charged with this though that was a time in which all his Actions were severely descanted on There was then in the House of Commons a Set of Men who by reason of the Ship-money and some other Disputes had examined further into the Original of our Constitution than ever was done before or since So in this particular a Negative Argument is of great force to shew that they had not those Notions of our Constitution which this Writer suggests After the Corrections of the Liturgy that were made upon the Restoration of King Charles the Second there was not a Line published and scarce a word muttered demanding a Convocation Then the danger of Popery's breaking in upon us appeared in very eminent Instances and though some apprehended that sooner than others yet none doubted of it after the Declaration in the year 1672. But during both that and the late Reign among all the zealous Attempts that were made for securing us from it not any one was offered at for a Convocation's medling in it even among the indiscreet Instances of ill-governed Zeal this was not so much as once mentioned This Writer names among other reasons for one now the growth P. 102. of Popery It may justly seem strange if this is a good one now that it was not thought on when the Danger was so Threatning and Visible There was no want of a just and well-governed Zeal in that time But the men that managed it knew what they had a Right to and what they could Legally both demand and maintain If there were any just grounds to fear that Popery was beginning again to be active and insolent among us when this Book was Written I suppose the Act pass'd in the last Session has put such an effectual stop to it that there will be little occasion given any more to reckon that among
the reasons of calling for a Convocation Thus it has appeared that for above 140 Years the Crown has been in possession of a Right of making use of a Convocation or of settling matters of Religion without it at Discretion Queen Elizabeth made use of one to settle our Doctrine and little more was done in Convocation in her time King James the First made use of one to make a Body of Canons but took all other matters under his own care King Charles the First followed the same method And though in the Year 1640. some things were done that must be put on the heat of that time yet the Declaration that was made of the extent of the King's Authority as it was all managed by Archbishop Laud and Directed by that King so it shews plainly what the Sense of this Church was as to that Matter Which had been indeed the Sense and Language of their Predecessors for above an 100 Years before that time In King Charles the Second's time the Convocation was allowed to consider what Alterations ought to be made in the Liturgy and after that there was no more work given them only they Met on Wednesdays and Frydays to Read the Litany which I am sure I heard many who were then required to Attend that so there might be a Face of a Meeting answering the great name that it bare complain of as oâ— a very uneasy and troublesome Attendance that was of no sort of use But now to come to the Present Reign a Convocation was opened in it and a Secretary of State brought a License from His Majesty and the late Blessed Queen to them to consider of such things as should be laid before them in order to the healing the Schisms and Breaches that were among us The Bishops in the former Reign had in that Petition upon which they Suffered so Gloriously expressed a readiness to come to a just Temper in all the matters of Difference among us when they should be brought before them in Convocation or Parliament and among other Messages that were sent over to the King being then Prince of Orange one was That he would use all his Interest among the Dissenters to hinder them from running in to the Declaration and to the design that was then promoted of animating them against the Church Of this I may be allowed to speak confidently because it passed through my own hands and I drew the directions that were given to an Eminent Person who was Employed in it Upon these reasons it was that the Prince now King promised in his Declaration with which he came over that he would use his endeavours to bring about the so much desired Union between the Church of England and the Dissenters So their Majesties were under Engagements to make the Experiment It is true it did not succeed a formed Resolution of consenting to no Alterations at all in order to that Union made that the attempt was laid aside I will not enter into any further Reflections on mens Behaviour at that time it plainly appeared it was not a proper season to try to make Peace Attempts that way were more likely to create new rents than to heal the old ones I shall only touch on one particular which will shew that when Men are disposed to be jealous they will suspect every thing even that which at another time would be thought the most effectual method to prevent or to cure jealousy Princes do commonly prepare the matters which they propose to such Assemblies with the advice of their Council But upon that occasion the King and Queen did create a Council by a special Commission of all the Bishops who owned their Authority and of the most Eminent of the Clergy gathered from the several parts of the Kingdom that they might consider and prepare such things as should be offered by them to the King and Queen that so their Majesties might propose these to the Convocation This surely was done in favour of the Church But even this was cried out upon as a limiting the Convocation with many other hard words which I do not love to repeat It did then appear in so many visible Instances that our Wounds were then too tender to be either handled or healed so it was thought fit to let the matter sleep and to give no new occasion to Heat or Animosity But at the same time to keep the Clergy still ready upon call if there should be any occasion for them during the Sessions of Parliament yet not to charge them with a needless Attendance when the Publick occasions put them under so many heavy Taxes It being also observed that in a hot time all unnecessary Assemblies are to be avoided for if they have no business one way they commonly make it another And now after this short but true and clear account of this matter what is to be said of the fruitfulness of a man's Imagination who could make so great a Book and such heavy complaints for no other cause but this because by a possession of above an 140 Years founded upon a Statute that has been understood at least by both Divines and Lawyers in favour of the Crown for I leave the Examining the Importance of the Words of the Act to those whose Profession leads them to Expound them best it is at the King's Discretion whether he will allow a Convocation to Treat of matters or not and upon a Trial his Majesty found it not convenient either to carry the thing further at that time or to repeat the Experiment hitherto and since he did not intend this he has thought fit to free them from the charge and trouble of an unprofitable Attendance What is in his discretion to do or not to do must be left there But since some do not rightly apprehend his Care and Kindness in delivering them from a fruitless Trouble it were a great pity that this should be any longer misunderstood but that either the Clergy should understand the thing as it is truly meant or that they should return to that toil of which they were generally so weary not many Years ago Upon the whole matter let men vex themselves as long as they please in fixing the limits of the Civil and the Ecclesiastical Authority I believe no other will ever be found but this That the Magistrates Authority must go to every thing that is not contrary to the Law of God so that no bounds can be set to it but those which God himself has set and this is of the same extent in Spiritual as well as in Civil matters a Law in Temporal concerns that is contrary to the eternal Laws of Morality of Justice and Truth is void of its self Because it is contrary to a Superior Authority which cannot be controul'd by a Subaltern Upon the same reasons a Law made contrary to any Rule in the Gospel that is delivered as a perpetual Law binding to all Christians is void of it self and ought
not to be Obeyed upon this ground that Christ is the King of kings and the Lord of lords and no Power upon earth can derogate from the Authority of his Laws or oblige men to act in opposition to them In temporal matters the Legislature is free and without controul yet where this is prudently managed with due regards to those who are subject to it they will take care to hear all who may be concerned and consult such Bodies whose Profession it may be to study the matters that are in agitation before them But if this should not be observed though the Legislature may be thought in such a case not to be managed with a just care yet still Laws so made must be Obeyed if the matter of them is not unjust or unlawful In the same manner it is a method highly becoming those with whom the Legislature is lodged to consult the Clergy either in one or more Bodies or otherwise as they think fit that so all things may be well weighed and duly prepared before any Law is made relating to them but if this caution should not be observed yet unless Laws so made are contrary to any of the Laws that were given the world by Christ and his Apostles they must be submitted to and obeyed In consequence to the general obligation that lies on all men to be subject to the Government by which they are Protected which is likewise one of the Laws of our Religion let every soul be subject to the higher powers So far I have gone over the main design of this Book and have delivered my sense very freely both of the Author's way of handling his matter and of the design it aims at I come now in the last place to that in which I my self am more particularly concerned in The main design of the Book is levelled at Dr. Wake he is of Age and can answer for himself I will not let my selt into Panegyricks but this I am sure I may well say that his whole course of life since I first knew him now for Seventeen Years has been so Exemplary both abroad and at home his Labours both from the Press and in the Pulpit have been so useful and edifying and his Discharge of his great care has been so eminent that he had upon these and many more reasons a Right to be used with Decency and Respect by any who thought fit to Write against him And as to his Ambitious Designs I have very particular grounds to clear him of these He needed no addition to the consideration he was already held in to recommend him and was as free from all aspirings as others seem to be full of them The occasion that I had to know this was particular so that I look on my self as Bound in justice to own it in so publick a manner Every body understands at whom that indecent expression is levelled that he is not the first who has been writ out of his Reputation into his Preferment and must know how unjust it is For the diverting the Town with some Mirth does not destroy a Reputation that has a deep and solid Foundation But some mens Ambition may lead them to write themselves out of their Reputation that a Good man ought to value more than all the Applauses that can be given either to his Industry Learning or Wit I mean the Reputation of writing as becomes an Humble and a Candid a Modest and a Charitable Christian. There is a way of Writing that runs quite counter to all these upon which I do heartily wish that this Author may make serious Reflections I come now in the last place to consider the Treatment that both I my self and my History have met with from him As to what relates to my self I let it all go without any sort of Answer I will take no pains to lay open his more disguised strokes and hints of which there are very many that perhaps few Readers will apprehend But as for my History I think the supporting of that is of some Consequence to the Publick and therefore I am much more concerned in the pains he is at to undermine the Reputation it has gained in the World Besides many very detracting passages there is one that seems to give a Character of the whole that I will set down in his own Words and then discuss them a little If the main Facts he professes P. 243. to relate are right if there be no premeditated Omissions or Disguises of material Truths no designed Compliances with popular Mistakes and Prejudices if that Air of Impartiality which at first sight seems to run through the relation be undissembled and not only a more artificial way of conveying false Principles and Characters into the minds of the Reader if I say in these which are the most essential Vertues and Beauties of good History his Lordship's Labours will bear the Test which his Lordship's Friends do not much doubt though it should after this be granted that Mistakes of a Lesser size and importance abound there without number and particularly that the Digressive part of the Book has little of Exactness in it this would not however sink the Reputation of the Work It is what considering the hast of the Composure was not to be wondered at and may easily be excused A few Lines before he diverts himself with pretending that I had excused my self from the Neglect of the Transcriber upon whom he says he finds I lay very great Blame which by the by is not to be sound in the Letter he Cites but much to the contrary To which he adds And indeed if he stands answerable for all the Neglects that are or may be Charged I think very deservedly And as if all this were not enough to blast that Work he gives two dashes as intimating thereby that he had a great Et caetera in store behind The Artifice in putting the Ifs to so severe a Charge is too baresaced to think it can pass on any man all must see what the Writer intended in it that they should understand the whole period as Simple and Absolute so that this Charge against the whole in the Main parts of it as well as against the Mistakes of a lesser size that abound without Number and against the Digressive part of the Work as having little Exactness in it is very visibly meant not to be conditional or as a Supposition but to be full and home I have reason to take it so because I find every body else does it and if he did not mean it so the contexture of the whole Period is Malicious and Dishonest both and that Parenthesis which his Lordship's Friends do not much doubt is so poor a Reserve or rather so gross an Abuse that I have not so mean an Opinion of the Author's Sagacity as not to conclude That he hoped as well as that he intended that his Reader should understand him aright and judge that he
short stay I was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make there so he gave me ever after that free access to it But since the first Volume was so well received I made no more use of it with relation to the matters belonging to that time unless when I was seeking Materials for the second Volume I found them in my way Thus I was obstructed in my search by some Men of the same temper I had almost said of the same House with those who have since that time reproached me for that which was not my fault but theirs For they who had shut the Library against me concluded that I must have laid aside all thoughts of that Work since without help from thence it was not possible to be well furnished and indeed I had not the fourth part of the time that was necessary to examine every thing in it that related to my subject It cannot be imagined that twenty years being now past since I finished that History I can carry in my mind all the Grounds I went on nor can the Station and Service I am now in leave it possible for me to go and follow this Writer in every thing that he is pleased to quarrel with me for When he has poured out all he has laid together I will then be better able to judge whether it will deserve that I should be at any pains my self or imploy any other to search after him for he has given me great cause to conclude that his exactness is no way to be depended upon I will single out only one particular because as it is of the greatest Moment so I seem in my late Book on the Thirty nine Articles to retract what I had admitted in the second Volume of my History That in Edward the Sixth's time the Articles of Religion were past in Convocation but own now that they were Published by the Regal Authority without mentioning a Synodal consent Upon this he gives a long Extract of a Journal of that Convocation that mentions a Regular P. 377. Progress of the Convocation with Relation to the Catechism and Articles both which he acknowledges P. 196. here and elsewhere that they went together P. 197. He likewise urges the Martyr Philpot's authority who when D. Weston urged in the Convocation 1 Marioe that a Catechism was put forth without their consent answered That the House had granted an Authority to make Ecclesiastical Laws to certain persons to be appointed by the King's Majesty and that what was set forth by them might well be said to be done in the Synod of London altho the House had no notice thereof before the Promulgation Upon this the Writer says that we have lost the Time and Circumstances of appointing this Committee Howsoever he thinks the whole thing is plain and so leaves it with one of his usual strains of Detraction Yet he did well to set this and the Journal at a considerable distance from one another for if there is any credit due to that Journal as indeed there is none for it is a plain Forgery this discourse of Philpot's was idle and needless Here I will give a tast of this Writer's way of delivering matters without adding any sharp or aggravating words to it but from thence his Readers will see what Judgment is to be made of his Collections In Fox from whom he vouches this at the beginning of Philpot's Speech he leaves out those words That the Catechism beareth the Title of the last Synod of London before this altho' many of them which then were present were never made Privy thereof in seting it forth This Confession of his ought not to have been suppressed This matter was handled more particularly 〈◊〉 3 Vo. when Cranmer was before the Convocation at P. 80. Oxford where Weston objected to him in these words Also you have set forth a Catechism in the name of the Synod of London and yet there be fifty which witnessing that they were of the Number of the Convocation never heard one word of this Catechism To which Cranmer answered I was ignorant of the setting to of that Title and as soon as I had knowledg thereof I did not like it Therefore when I complained thereof to the Council it was answered me by them That the Book was so intitled because it was set forth in the time of the Convocation And in the Interrogatories that were exhibited to him in order to his final censure the Seventh ends That he did Compile and Fox p. 657. caused to be set abroad divers Books The last part of his answer set down to this is thus As for the Catechism the Book of Articles with the other Book against Winchester he grants the same to be his doings This I think decides the Point so that it will admit of no more debate This Author does not know when the Commission was to the 32 granted If he had looked into King Edward's Journal he would have seen it was on the 10th of February very near the end of the Year 1552. And if either the Words of that Journal or rather of the Statute pursuant to which that Commission was issued out are considered it will appear that their Power did not extend to Matters of Faith and Worship but was restrained to the Courts and to Proceedings in them So that it is plain that Philpot alledged this being pressed with an Objection to which he had no other Answer ready He knew there was such a Commission and so he fancied that they had prepared these Books Cranmer's Sincerity appears in this as well as in all the other parts of his Life and indeed the Title with which the Articles were printed had a Visible ambiguity in it In Latin it is Articuli de quibus in Synodo Londinensi Anno Dom. 1552. Ad tollendam Opinionum dissensionem consensum veroe Religionis sirmandum inter Episcopos alias Eruditos viros convenerat In English Articles agreed upon by the Bishops and other Godly and Learned Men in the last Convocation at London in the Year of our Lord 1552. To root out the Discord of Opinion and establish the Agreement of true Religion Different from this is the Title given to what did indeed pass in Convocation Ten years after Articles agreed upon by the Archbishops and Bishops of both Provinces and the whole Clergy in the Convocation holden at London in the Year of our Lord 1562. It is trifling and unbecoming this Author who writes more to purpose when his Cause will bear it to prove that because Divines in a Convocation are in Respect called Learned Men that therefore a Title importing an Agreement between the Bishops and other Learned Men can be understood as the Title of an Act pass'd in Convocation The Popish Bishops with the rest of that Party of the Inferior Clergy continued all that Reign opposing every thing as long as they might safely do it but complying with every thing when it was once