Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	absence_n	absent_a	fit_a	15	3	5.8498	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A66232	A second letter to a bishop from a minister of his diocess	F. W., 17th cent.	1692 (1692)	Wing W25; ESTC R27048	13,572	38

all their Skill to find means to be admitted into Holy Orders by some other hand A due Care of this Matter would go a great way in that Reformation which all good Men desire and justly hope from the present Bishops And this is no more than what is in your Power to do IV. A due Care of the Lives of the Clergy and to see that they Reside on their Cures and do their Duty This is a great part of the Bishops work And they may do very much in it and the Necessities of the Church and the Souls of Men call for it at your Hands A wicked Clergy-Man does unspeakable Mischief I know a considerable Town that was some Years since in good order the People came constantly to Church and they all did so At the usual times they came to the Sacrament also But a lewd and scandalous Minister is now the Incumbent of that Place one that is often disordered with Drink and swears commonly The People are now dispersed They are run into separate Meetings and in a word the Town is ruined I know the Truth of this and can name several Places in your Lordship's Diocess where there is something of this thô I know no Place where it is so notorious as in that considerable Town 'T will be needful that some Remedy be found out for so great an Evil. I will not undertake to Direct your Lordship 'T is too evident how much the Church hath lost by such bad Men. Another Care is that of Residence which is notoriously neglected There are a great Number of Parishes that have no resident Minister or Curate Instead of that the Minister comes or sends every Sunday and the Parishioners are destitute the rest of the Week There are many more Parishes which are great and have a considerable Revenue which are supplied by some cheap and very unfit Curates By reason whereof the People are scattered Parsonage-Houses are dilapidated Hospitality disused and which is the saddest Consideration of all the Souls neglected There are a Number of Ministers in England that do not Reside on their Livings Some chuse to live from their People in some great Towns at a distance for the sake of Conversation or Air or upon some other Pretence Some become Curates or Lecturers in other Places and forsake their own Charge Some are at the Universities on pretence of better fitting themselves Some lie about London hunting after another Living or some Lecture there Some are in the Families of Persons of Honour others hang about the Court and some are in Cathedral-Churches in some Employment there and notoriously neglect their cure of Souls in the mean time I know some that are perfect Strangers to their People that see them not in several Years and upon the matter never preach with them I know a Person that hath one of the best Livings in England and hath had for sixteen Years last past and never preached among them not for want of Ability or Leisure or because he hath any other Cure or Publick Employment but because he is not reconciled to the Labour of his Calling I could enlarge very much on this Head and yet not borrow Materials from others I have seen and do very well know many of the Neglects of this kind I am amazed when I seriously consider it and wonder how these Men can look up to Heaven or with what Brow they can look honest Men in the Face when they are conscious of so great a Sin 'T is time for the Bishops to look after this Matter as they would not have the Blood of the neglected Souls lie upon them But your Lordship will say How can this be prevented For a great Number of these Persons have Qualifications and Dispensations and some others are absent for Health or Studies and other reasonable Causes To which I answer That this will not excuse them that have no reasonable Cause for their Absence nor any longer than that Cause continues I know several Men that live at the Universities to a considerable Age and are never like to be more fit than they are These Men ought to go to their Cures and so should those Men too who withdrew for want of Health when their Health is restored The Dispensations to hold two Livings will not excuse a Man from not residing upon either And that hath too often been the Case Besides 't is very fit those Dispensations should be very rarely given and 't is in the Power of the Archbishop to restrain them 'T is no creditable thing for a Man to need a Dispensation generally speaking And thô where one Living is not a Maintenance and another small one is near it a Dispensation to hold those two may be a very allowable thing yet this will not excuse the promiscuous allowance of Dispensations I know a great Number of Men that have Plurality of the best Livings and those too at a considerable distance and the same Men that have two great Livings apiece have many of them besides one some two or three Dignities apiece Great have been the Mischiefs of Non Obstante's and Dispensations They were first used in the Court of Rome Vid. Godolphin Repertor Canonic p. 300. 'T was an ill President and Mischievous to all the Commonwealths of Christendom For the Temporal Princes perceiving that the Pope dispensed with Canons in imitation thereof have used their Prerogative to Dispense with their Penal Laws and Statutes when as before they caused their Laws to be Religiously observed like the Laws of Medes and Persians which cannot be dispensed with For this reason it was that a Canonist said Dispensatio est vulnus quod vulnerat jus commune Another saith That all Abuses of this kind would be reformed Si duo tantùm verba non Obstante non Impedirent And Matth. Paris having recited certain Decrees made in the Council of Lyons which were beneficial for the Church of England addeth Sed haec omnia alia per hoc repagulum non Obstante infirmantur After all 't is certain that there are very many Non-residents who have no Dispensation nor Excuse that is reasonable 'T is pity but these should be obliged to reside or proceeded against according to the Statutes in that behalf If they were duly punished according to Law we should soon find the good Effects of it I have heard some wise Men affirm who understand the present Posture of things in the City of London that there are a considerable Number of Men there who are Curates or Lecturers or Readers or at least Candidates for such Places that have Cures in the Country which they leave and some of those Cures not well provided for If this be so I am sure 't is a great Evil But this is an Evil easily cured The Bishop of London may put a stop to it when he pleaseth And I believe he will do it because I know he is a Prelate of great Vertue of most Exemplary Diligence and Care

and of so great Wisdom besides that he cannot but discern the Mischievous Effects of such a Permission Were he put in Mind of this Matter certainly he would never License any Curate or Lecturer there who had a Cure elsewhere And did he once take up this Resolution he would soon discourage this sort of Men. 'T is of vast Consequence that the City of London should be well supplied And that it may be without employing Men that have Cure of Souls already And this I must needs say That thô I have sometimes heard that there are such Men employed in the City I cannot believe they are Approved or Licensed by that Eminent Bishop But your Lordship is not only to take Care that your Clergy Reside but that they do their Duty also And that amounts to a great deal more than Preaching every Sunday and Reading Prayers on Wednesdays Fridays and Holy-days Sick People are to be visited the Poor to be provided for young Ones to be instructed the Good to be encouraged the Afflicted to be comforted the Criminals to be admonished the Contentious to be reconciled There are many Emergencies to be provided for The Minister is the common Father of his People He is always wanted and the utmost Care he can take the most Time he can spare will be all little enough to spend among them The very Catechizing the Youth of his Parish preparing them for Confirmation first and then for the Sacrament of the Lord's-Supper will require great Thought and Pains The bare saying the Catechism is not enough They must be brought to Understand their Religion and made sensible how much 't is their Interest and their Duty The least Parish will need the Presence and Labour of its Pastor This is not to be left to a raw Curate We affront Almighty God by taking this Course and do in this greatest Concern what is never allowed in things of less Moment When we have retained a learned Physician or Lawyer we will not give them the liberty to substitute and put upon us some unskilful Apothecary or young Attorney Our Concerns are of greater Value than to be thus left And sure our Souls are of greater Worth than our Lives or Estates V. A greater Care concerning Confirmation of those who have not been confirmed before The Truth of it is that this hath been often huddled over and with little Fruit. Whereas it is not only an excellent Institution of it self but may be so managed also as to be of unspeakable Use Those that are to be Confirmed had need be prepared for it and the Thing ought to be done with great Solemnity To that purpose I humbly offer the following Particulars to your Lordship's Consideration First That there should be Notice given of a Confirmation some considerable time before and that the Minister be required to Prepare the Youth of his Parish for it That he have Notice to Instruct them with great Care not only in the bare getting the Catechism by Heart but in enabling them to give such an Account of the Meaning of what they say and so possessing them with the Obligation lying upon them from their Baptismal Vow that they may be fitly disposed to receive great Benefit thereby Secondly That none be offered to the Bishop but such as the Minister of the Parish hath thus prepared And to this purpose the Minister may be obliged to deliver to the Bishop a List or Catalogue of those who are to be Confirmed by him together with a Certificate under his Hand and Seal at the bottom of it in which he shall Testifie that he hath Examined and does Approve of the Persons above-named in Number ........ and judgeth them fit to be Confirmed It is to be supposed no Minister will give this Certificate without good Cause However the Bishop may upon occasion so order the matter that he may have some of them for trial Examined before they are Confirmed that he may find out the Fraud if he think it fit and have any cause to fear due Care hath not been taken By this course they who are to be Confirmed may be called by Name and the Bishop will not be crowded by those who are not Instructed and by those who have been Confirmed before For it hath been observed that many will be Confirmed often and many others before they are Instructed and others that are so young that they cannot understand what they do Thirdly 'T is very fit there should be a Sermon preached on this Solemn Occasion setting forth the Grounds upon which Confirmation is Built the Advantages of it with a particular Address to those who are to be Confirmed or else the Preacher may discourse of the Baptismal Vow and of the Reasonableness of taking that Obligation upon our selves which was promised in our Infancy by our Sureties But your Lordship may chuse a wise and good Man for this Service and then he will be at no loss for his Argument Fourthly Your Lordship may consider also whether it might not be fit some little Book should be devised by common Consent of the Bishops which might be of after-use to them who are Confirmed which Book may be delivered to each of them at the time of their Confirmation gratis by the Bishop's own Hand with an Obligation laid upon them to read it In this Book there ought to be some Prayers and Instructions towards the Preparing for the Holy Sacrament Fifthly The several Ministers are to be strictly charged to have a watchful Eye over those who are thus Confirmed and to Prepare them for the Sacrament of the Lord's-Supper as soon after as is fit and convenient These are my sudden Thoughts of this Matter Your Lordship is the best Judge of the whole Thus much is certain that if this Care were taken or some better those who now despise it would be very glad of this blessed Opportunity of engaging Themselves their Children and their Servants to the Obedience of Christ and his Holy Laws This Service might be so managed that it would be of great Use to the Souls of Men. Sixthly There ought to be the utmost Care taken of Market-Towns that they be well provided if possible with able Ministers and Men of a good Life and Men that shall preach twice a-day also For if they be well provided the little Parishes about them will be the better for it For as good Preaching in London a Place of great Resort from all Parts of the Kingdom hath a mighty Influence upon the whole Nation so in proportion it must be in all Market-Towns to which the Country People come and the Ministers of the Villages also A wise Man there is consulted upon Occasion by the other Clergy-Men and a great Example of Vertue in an Eminent Place goes farther than the same in a Village or little Hamlet I confess the Maintenance here is generally small but then they ought to be encouraged by what other Helps the Bishops can afford them And