THE AUTHORITY OF Christian Princes Over their Ecclesiastical Synods ASSERTED With Particular Respect to the CONVOCATIONS OF THE CLERGY of the REALM AND Church of England Occasion'd by a late Pamphlet intituled A Letter to a Convocation Man c. By William Wake D. D. and Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty LONDON Printed for R. Sare at Grays-Inn-Gate in Holborn 1697. TO THE Most Reverend Father in God THOMAS By Divine Providence Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Primate of all England AND Metropolitan c. My LORD THAT I presume to Prefix your Graces Name to so Rude and Hasty a Production it is not because I think the following Treatise deserves your Acceptance but because I fear it may need your Patronage To appear against an Author who pretends to be the Champion of the Church of England and to stand up in Defence of the long Neglected Rights and Priviledges of its Clergy has something in it so Improper in Any but especially so Unbecoming a Minister of that Church that I thought it would be Requisite for me to take all the Care I could to Remove those Prejudices which this might be apt to raise in some against the very Design of my Discourse And I knew no Way more effectually to do this than by begging leave to Inscribe what I had done to your Grace who as by Providence you are placed in the First and Highest Station in Our Church so have you upon all Occasions no less eminently signalized your self in the Defence of it It would my Lord look too much like Vanity in me to say that I here publish nothing but what has in some Measure been before Approved of by your Grace It shall suffice me if I may be allow'd to declare thus much That the Principles upon which I go are such as in your Graces Judgment have nothing in them that is either Contrary to the Doctrine of the Church of England or otherwise injurious to the Rights and Liberties of it Who the Person against whom I Write is I neither do Know nor am at all Sollicitous to Discover But as his Principles seem but too much to look towards a Party against which the Church of England ever has and I am perswaded will always be ready Vigorously to oppose her self so the Disaffection which appears in the whole Process of his Discourse to the present Establishment sufficiently shews that He had some farther Design in the publishing of it than barely to assert the Rights of the Clergy and Convocation But of this let every One judge as he sees Cause My Business is with his Book not with his Person or Design In my Reply to which as I have endeavour'd according to my Ability to defend the Cause both of the King and Church so for the Arguments sake if for nothing else I thought I might presume to commend the Protection of it to your Grace Who have so Great a Zeal for Both and will therefore I hope be the rather disposed to favour this Honest though but Imperfect Performance of Him who with all possible Duty and Respect shall ever remain My LORD Your Graces Most Humble and Obedient Servant WILLIAM WAKE ERRATA PReface page iii. line 23. read Of divine p. vi l. 17. r. fell Book p. 7. l. â—4 r. yet p. 24. marg l. 8. r. Masticon p. 49. l. 13. r. Ariminum p. 81. l. 20. r. how far p. 91. l. 12. r. of Their p. 92. marg l. 10 r. placeâ—it ibid. l. 16. r. defined p. 95. l. 8. r. Countries p. 99. l. 5. r. Convocation p. 101. l. 24. add Consent p. 109. l. 14. r. Canons p. 175. l. 11. r. Gervilio p. 203. marg l. 9. r. 271 l. 15. r. 502 p. 237. l. ult r. two p. 270. l. 22. r. than p. 293. l. 27. to r. for p. 311. l. 5. r. these p. 376. l. 20. r. Annihilate THE PREFACE I Am so well assured that I have asserted nothing in the following Discourse but what is agreeable to the Principles of the Church of England that I shall not make the least Apology for declaring my self against an Author whose Notions neither our Own nor any other Reformed Church that I know of has ever approved nor is there any Reason to expect that any Christian Prince should be content to allow of them How this Gentleman came to be Engaged to write in Defence of the supposed Rights of our Convocations I cannot tell But sure I am he has done it in such a manner as is not much for the Benefit of the Church nor will I suppose at all encourage any One to stand up in Defence of Him That his main Assertion is New and Paradoxical Contrary to the Sense of all the Learned in the Law and Repugnant to the Constant Practice of our Convocations ever since the time of Henry VIII is certain nor does He himself deny it One would therefore have hoped that his Arguments should have born some proportion to his Allegations and that there should have been at least as much Weight in the One as there was Assurance in the Other But when I came to examine them I found there was nothing formidable in this Author but his Confidence and that like some empty Spectre his power was only to fright such as had not the Resolution to Speak to him If any one shall ask how I came to Oppose so large an Answer to a Letter so little in Bulk and so much yet less in Weight and Substance He may please to know that the much Greatest as well as most Useful part of the following Book has no concern at all with it but was only Written upon Occasion of it I was willing to lay hold on the Opportunity which this Author had given Me to search as far as my Leisure would permit into this Subject and having so done I was no less willing to communicate what I had met with to the World not knowing but that some others might receive as much Satisfaction from these Researches as I was sensible I my self had done It has been complain'd of by this Gentleman as no small Neglect in Those of our Profession that they are for the most part but little acquainted with the Rights and Power of an English Convocation And indeed a Subject it is that has but very little been searcht out by them or Examined by any Others of our Antiquaries for Them I may presume to say I have here published more than I have ever yet met with in any One Piece upon this Argument But yet when that is said I am not so carried away with an undue Opinion of my own Performance as not to know that what is here publish'd is at most but an imperfect Essay and like the first Lines of a Draught shews rather what I design'd than what I have been able in any tolerable manner to finish I cannot deny but that next to the Knowledge in Divine things there is nothing I should rather
desire to Understand than the Laws and Antiquities of the Country in which I live but especially of the Church in which I minister And I am not a little pleas'd to see that there are at this time so many Persons of Excellent Parts no less addicted to these Researches and much better Able to pursue them than I am It may possibly be some provocation to One or Other of These to give us a more perfect Account of the present Subject to see how little is here done in it The Argument certainly deserves Consideration and I heartily wish it a better Hand and a better Head too than any that has yet appear'd upon it In the following Treatise having first stated the Subject I was to go upon and settled the Method I thought most proper to be observed in the prosecution of it I in the next place go on to lay the Foundation of what I had to say with Reference to our own Laws and Constitutions upon the Practice and Opinions of the Antient Church and of all the Christian Countries round about us for above 800 years after Christ. I consider'd that the Church of England beyond most Churches in the World has a peculiar Veneration for the Discipline as well as Doctrine of the Primitive Church And I thought it would be no small Evidence of my good Intentions towards it upon this Occasion to shew that I pretended to nothing in behalf of our own Kings but what the Bishops and Clergy from the fourth Century downwards had readily allow'd to their Emperours And what all Other Christian Princes continued to Enjoy till the Papal Authority prevail'd over Them and deprived them of that Supremacy in Ecclesiastical matters which They originally had and to which the Reformation has again so justly restored them And now having laid so good a Foundation I thought I might proceed the more freely to Enquire into the Case of our own Country and see what Authority the King of England has over his Convocations and by what Law or Custom he enjoys that Authority In this I was forc'd to confine myself within the time of the Reformation because it was about the Beginning of that that Our Kings were restored to their Supremacy in this as well as in other matters or at least had their Authority more solemnly recognized by the Clergy and established by the Parliament than ever it had been before But lest such a Supremacy as this should seem to depend rather upon the Authority of an Act of Parliament than to be derived from that Original Power in Ecclesiastical Causes which belongs to all Christian Princes and to Ours as well as to any and which was Exercised by them many Ages before any Statute was made to intitle them thereunto Having shewn what the Law as to these matters now is I thought it might not be amiss to enlarge my Enquiry and to see how the Case has stood in this particular from the first Conversion of the Saxons to the time wherein I began my former Disquisition And upon search I found and I think have plainly made it appear that the Authority I here assert to the King is no other than what our most antient Princes till about 1100 years after Christ continued to exercise and even then claim'd a Right too when they were not any longer permitted to excercise it If in pursuing of this Enquiry through so many past Ages I have sometimes taken the liberty to fill up those Vacancies which through the want of Materials proper for such an Undertaking often fall in my way with Reflections a little foreign to my proper Business I hope it will not be taken for any great Offence in a Work of this Nature especially considering that my very Digressions are rather not directly to the purpose of my present Subject than altogether distant from it As for the remainder of my discourse which is spent in Answering the Letter to a Convocation-man I shall only say thus much that I have not designedly either over-look'd any of its Arguments or made an imperfect much less a false Representation of them I have examined every thing that seem'd considerable enough to be taken notice of and I hope have fully answered what I have examined I am not aware that in doing of this I have given my Adversary any hard Treatment tho' I cannot but say He has taken care oftentimes to deserve it But I thought it unreasonable to be guilty of that my self which I look'd upon to have been a fault in Him 'T is true I have all along spoken my mind with great freedom and where I sound any thing amiss have not stuck to own it tho'it seemed to reflect upon those of my own Order Till Clergy-men cease to be Men they will be guilty not only of Follies and Imprudencies but of Sins too as well as others and to what purpose should I dissemble that which whether it be confess'd or not all the World knows to be but too True Were our Faults so private that to allow of them were to publish them I am sure no One should be more careful to hide them than I would be But I cannot conceive it to be either for the Credit or Interest of the Church to dissemble those Vices which those who Commit them take no Care to Conceal If any one should be so unreasonable as to take occasion from hence to think hardly of our Profession or to be scandalized at our Religion for the Faults of those who minister in It I would only desire them to consider that we live in an unhappy Age and make up a large Number of Men and it can hardly be thought but that where so many thousands wait at the Altar some there should be who are much fitter to be cast out of the Church than to officiate in it In the mean time God be thanked Many there are who are as Eminent for their Piety as some others are Notorious for their Irregularities and this Advantage they ought to have to recommend our Religion beyond what the others should have to defame it that these live agreeably to the Rules of their Holy Profession whereas the others must be confess'd to have scandalously departed from them To conclude the following Treatise as it was truly intended for the Service of the Church of England so I hope it may be of some Use to many in it At least it will satisfie Those who have taken Offence at the Letter here examined that it speaks not the Sense of All if of any of our Clergy And shew that many there be who no less disapprove the Assertions of this Author than they are justly offended at his Bold and Scandalous Reflections THE CONTENTS CHAPTER I. THE Design of the following Treatise with a short Account of the Method that is proposed to be observed in the Prosecution of it The Order of the Questions proposed in the Letter to a Convocation man changed and an Enquiry design'd to
that judges him Whether he is to be judged by the Votes of the two Houses or whehe is to be judged by the upper House alone and the lower to stand in the nature of Prosecutors against him Or lastly Whether the Archbishop alone does properly judge and the rest concurr as Assistants to him and assent to what he does In answer to which Enquiry if I may be allow'd to offer my own Conjecture I do conceive that in such cases as these it is not so much the Convocation that judges as the Archbishop in Convocation For besides that it was never known that the inferiour Clergy were allow'd a Jurisdiction in such cases nor is there any reason why they should have it here First The very words of the Writ upon which Sautrey was burnt seem to speak in such a manner of his Conviction in Convocation as shew the power of Judicature to have been eminently in the Archbishop and that the rest were only of Council to him and consented to what he did Cum venerabilis Pater Thomas Archiepiscopus Cant. totius Angliae Primas Apostolicae sedis legatus de Consensu Assensu ac Consilio Episcoporum confratrum Suffraganeorum suorum necnon totius Cleri provinciae suae in Concilio suo Provinciali congregati per suam sententiam definitivam Haereticum manifestum pronunciavit declaravit c. Nor can this be sufficiently accounted for by looking upon the Archbishop as President of the Convocation and so acting as Speaker in it When the Lord Keeper in the House of Lords or the Lord High Steward in the Commission for Tryal of a Peer determine or give Sentence in any civil or criminal Cause we do not find it said That they with the Counsel and Assent of the Lords pronounce or award so or so but they deliver the Sentence of the Lords and declare that this or that is their Judgment And the same ought to have been the case here supposing that the Convocation or even the upper House had equally judged with the Archbishop The Writ must have run in the Name of the whole Body Whereas the Archbishop and Bishops with the rest of the Clergy of the Province of Canterbury in Convocation assembled have by their definitive Sentence pronounced c. Nor can any good reason I believe be given why the Writ did not run in this manner but because the Archbishop even in Convocation still retain'd the power of Judicature which I shall presently shew was peculiar to him and by vertue thereof judged of him And this will yet more clearly appear Secondly From the acts of the Convocation under K. Henry the Fifth Anno 1413 and the Process made against the Lord Cobham therein For first Upon several Provocations given and Affronts put upon the Clergy by the Lollards and that at the very time that the Convocation was sitting The Archbishop was required in behalf of the whole Clergy that he would vouchsafe to proceed against the Lord Cobham upon and concerning the Premises In pursuance of this request the Archbishop with a great part of the Convocation apply to the King for leave to proceed against him both because he was a Person in great credit with his Majesty and to be consider'd upon the account of his Own Honour and Quality Having obtain'd leave of the King to proceed against him it is said all along that my Lord of Canterbury summon'd him to appear before him in Convocation That when the Summons could no otherwise be executed upon him he orderâ—d it to be fix'd upon the doors of the Church of Rochester That upon the eleventh of September the day appointed for his appearance the Archbishop excommunicated him and after a farther process at last came to a final Sentence against him 'T is true tho' this process began in Convocation yet it was carry'd on and ended out of it But withal it is plain that tho' the Convocation was risen yet still the Archbishop continued the same process that began in it He sate in the Chapter House of St. Paul's he took the Bishops of London and Winchester first and then to them added the Bishop of Bangor for his Assistants Besides these a great number of the inferiour Clergy was present And when at last the Lord Cobham was brought before him the Archbishop took notice to him how he had been discover'd and accused in Convocation i. e. had been accused to himself in Convocation when they first desired him to proceed against him To all which let me add the Preamble to the Sentence which the Archbishop at last pass'd upon him and which shews that both in and out of Convocation the judgment of this matter lay before him We Thomas by Divine Permission c. in a certain Cause or Matter of Heretical Pravity of and concerning divers Articles upon which Sir John Oldcastle Knight Lord Cobham was accused before Us in the last Convocation of the Clergy of our Province of Cant. c. Nor let any one think that in asserting such an Authority to the Archbishop in these matters any injury is done to his Suffragan Bishops but rather were it otherwise the Convocation must apparently have encroach'd upon that eminent power of judging which the Archbishop heretofore had For tho' since the Statute of the 23 of Henry the Eighth the power of the Archbishop is very much restrain'd and he cannot now call whatever causes he pleases to his own judgment but only under the Limitations provided in that Act and therefore since that time the right of judging in this case would in the first instance have belonged to the Bishop of Rochester and to the Archbishop no otherwise than either by way of Appeal or upon some negligence or defect in the Diocesan to judge of it yet before that Statute the Archbishop had a power to call any cause immediately before himself and when therefore in his Syned he did do so we ought not to question but that it was he who properly speaking did judge and that the rest of the Bishops were only his Assistants in it I conclude then that tho' the person in such a case were try'd in Convocation yet precisely speaking it was the part of the lower House to discover and accuse of the Bishops to counsel and assist but of the Archbishop to hear and judge But still the main question remains to be consider'd namely Whether the Convocation howsoever it be that it judges may proceed in these cases without the King's leave or whether his Commission be necessary to justifie them in it That they are not restrained by vertue of that Statute which has so much retrench'd their power in other respects is confidently affirm'd Nor shall I deny but that the intention of that Act seems rather to restrain them from making any New Canons or Constitutions than from judging in causes Ecclesiastical according to the Canons already made That they had heretofore a power to judge
in such Cases my Lord Coke delivers as certain in point of Law and from thence calls it the Court of Convocation Nor can I see what injury it would be to the Crown to allow the same power to the Convocation still that by Law may be exercised in any other Ecclesiastical Court and which must needs be inseriour in dignity to this But still the question is Whether of Right the Convocation ever had a power to judge any more than to make Canons without the King's Assent And by consequence whether though the Statute of Henry the Eighth should not have deprived them of that power yet the King's Prerogative be not against it For should this be so then whatever Laws have restored the King to his supreme Authority in Ecclesiastical Matters will lie against this presumed Right of the Convocation too and so though that Law should not yet some others may have limited their power in this respect also And here I shall not presume to determine any thing but only offer these following Observations First That in several of the Convocations in which the persons before-mention'd were judged the Process was made either by the express Command or Leave of the King And in all of them for ought we know it may have been so And Secondly That in the Commissions by which our Convocations are now enabled to act the King gives them leave to conferr debate treat consider consult and agree of Matters and Causes as well as of Canons Orders and Constitutions and which seems to imply that they need the King's License as much to judge of the one as to deliberate about the other But be this as it will thus much I take to be out of all doubt that as by our Ancient Customs recognized by the Lords Spiritual as well as Temporal in the Great Council at Clarendon Anno 1164 It was among other things resolved that none of the Servants of the King or of such as held of him in capite might be Excommunicated without his leave And again that in Case of Appeals any person who thought himself injured might appeal from the Arch Deacon to the Bishop from the Bishop to the Archbishop and from him to the King by whose order the affair was finally to be determined in the Court of Arches and not be suffer'd to proceed any farther without leave of the King so in Conformity both to these Principles and to that power which I have before shewn has ever been claimed and exercised by Christian Princes in this respect I do presume that the King may not only lay a Prohibition upon the Convocation not to proceed in judgment against any person whom he shall think fit to take into his special Protection but after they have judged any one may receive an Appeal from them and order an Enquiry to be made whether they proceeded Fairly and Canonically with him and either confirm suspend or annul their Sentence as he shall find it reasonable for him to do This I am sure the ancient Emperors did and the Bishops and Councils not only submitted to it but allowed of it And if this our Kings may not do I shall be glad to be inform'd by what particular Law or Custom this Power has been taken from them And this brings me to the last point now to be consider'd 3dly What Authority our Kings have over their Convocations after they have done what they were called for That the Convocation cannot meet without the King 's Writ I have before shewn from the express Authority of an Act of Parliament And that the same Authority is required to the Dismission as to the Calling of it has been the declared opinion of our greatest Lawyers in this Case When a Question was raised by some few in the lower House of Convocation Anno 1640. Whether they might lawfully continue to sit after the Parliament was Dissolved The Arch-Bishop besought His Majesty that for their better Assurance his learned Council and some Other Persons of Honour well acquainted with the Laws of the Realm might deliver their Judgment upon it This His Majesty Graciously Approved and the Question was accordingly put to Them They answer'd as followeth under their Hands The Convocation being called by the King 's Writ under the Great Seal doth continue untill it be Dissolved by Writ or Commission under the Great Seal And accordingly we know that not only upon their Dissolution but for Every Prorogation that is made of it there is a Writ sent by the King to the Arch-Bishop and They cannot break up when they please but must continue to Sit as long as the King shall think fit to Require Them so to do Such Authority has His Majesty over their Assemblies nor has He any less over their Acts. It is I think agreed on all hands that no Acts of Convocation are of any force untill they are Confirm'd by the Royal Authority And that is all I am now concern'd to determine How far or What persons they will oblige when Confirm'd by the King without the Concurrence of the Parliament is another Question in which I am not at present concern'd to Engage But tho' of this therefore in General there be no doubt yet I cannot tell whether some Men may be willing to allow the King all that Authority which I have before shew'd Other Princes have claim'd and which I see no Reason why our Own Kings should not Enjoy It is expressly provided by the 25th of Hen. 8th That the Convocation shall not only not presume to make any Canons without the King's permission but that having made Them They shall not presume to promulge or execute any such Canons Constitutions or Ordinances Provincial or Synodal unless the same Clergy may have the King 's most Royal Assent and Licence to promuige and execute the same And even then it is farther Provided by the same Act That No Canons Constitutions or Ordinances shall be made or put in execution within this Realm by Authority of the Convocation of the Clergy which shall be Contrariant or Repugnant to the King 's Prerogative-Royal or to the Customs Laws or Statutes of this Realm And from whence as they are naturally deduced so were these two Points deliver'd by the Judges before the Committee of the Lords as the Law with reference to this Matter 1. That when upon Conference the Convocation has concluded any Canons yet they cannot execute any of their Canons without the Royal Assent And 2. That they cannot execute Any after Royal Assent but with these Four Limitations 1st That they be not against the Prerogative of the King 2dly Nor against the Common-Law 3dly Nor against any Statute-Law 4thly Nor against any Custom of the Realm And this the learned Reporter tells us was but an Affirmance of what was the Law before the said Statutes as appears by the 19 Ed. 3. Title Quare non Ad 〈…〉 isit 7. Where it is held
That if a Canon-Law be against the Law of the Land the Bishop ought to Obey the Commandment of the King according to the Law of the Land Now these two Things being supposed and in which the Law at the present cannot be doubted to be very clear That no Acts of Convocation can be put in Execution or be promulged in Order to a Publick Observance without the King's Licence And that the King's Licence cannot give the Convocation any Authority to promulge or execute any Canons but what are Agreeable to the Laws and Customs of the Realm it must of Necessity follow 1st That the King has not only a Right to Review the Acts of Every such Convocation but ought moreover to submit Them to the Examination of his Learned Council in the Law That so he may the more securely be able to judge Whether they be Consistent with the Laws of his Realm and by Consequence capable of receiving any Enforcement from Him Forasmuch as it would be not only too Rash and Unseemly but even a Vain Thing for the King to expose his Prerogative by undertaking to give Authority to that which by being contrary to the Laws already Establish'd has such a natural defect in its Original Constitution as will not suffer it to be Capable of Any 2dly That notwithstanding the Resolution of the Clergy in their Convocation yet still the King is to remain the last Judge not only of the Lawfulness but of the Expediency too of their Constitutions and has Authority either to Ratifie or Reject Them as He with the Advice of his Council shall think Them either Usefull or Otherwise to the Church When His Majesty gave Liberty to our last Convocation to consider of the several Points which in his Commission he proposed to Them and permitted Them to draw into Forms Rules Orders Ordinances Constitutions and Canons such Matters as to Them should seem Necessary and Expedient for the Purposes which He had before proposed to Them and the same being set down in Writing from time to time to Exhibit and Deliver or to Cause to be Exhibited and Delivered to Him He thus goes on to declare what was to be done after such their Resolutions should be delivered in by Them To the End that We as Occasion shall Require may thereupon have the Advice of our Parliament and that such and so many of the said Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions Matters Causes and Things as shall be thought Requisite and Convenient by our said Parliament may be presented to us in due Form for Our Royal Assent if upon Mature Consideration thereof We shall think sit to Enact the same And from whence it appears to have been His Majesty's Intention had that Convocation proceeded to any Resolutions to have submitted the Examination of their Acts not only to his Parliament but that being done to have Reserved the final Judgment of Them to his Own Consideration And we cannot doubt but that it was upon the best Advice of his Learned Council in the Law that He so Intended But more full and express to this purpose is the Commission of King Charles the First to the Convocation of 1640 before mentioned Wherein having granted the same Liberty we here meet with to his Clergy To set down in Writing and to Exhibit or Cause to be Exhibited to Him All and Every the said Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions Matters Causes and Things to be by Them from time to time Conferr'd Treated Debated Consider'd Consulted and Agreed upon He adds To the end that We upon mature Consideration by Us to be taken thereupon may Allow Approve Confirm and Ratifie or Otherwise Disallow Annihilate and Make Void such and so many of the said Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions Matters Causes and Things or Any of Them so to be by force of These Presents Consider'd Consulted and Agreed upon as We shall think Fit Requisite and Convenient But this is not yet all In the close of his Commission he again Reserves to Himself the same Power in these Remarkable Words Provided always and our Express Will Pleasure and Commandment is That the said Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions Matters Causes and Things or Any of Them so to be by force of These Presents Consider'd Consulted or Agreed upon shall not be of Any Force Effect or Validity in the Law but only such and so many of Them and after such time as We by our Letters Patent under our Great Seal of England shall Allow Approve and Confirm the same These are the Limitations under which that Convocation Acted and from which these three Conclusions will Unavoidably follow 1st That the King by granting the Convocation license to consider and draw up any Canons Orders or Constitutions or to determine any Matters or Causes do's not give them any final decisive Power of Concluding those affairs but Empowers them only to deliver their Judgment to Him which He may either Approve or Reject as He shall afterwards see Cause to do 2dly That in determining concerning their Resolutions He is not obliged either to Approve and Confirm or else to Reject and Annihilate ALL that they have done but may judge distinctly of Every particular Point or Matter debated by Them and severally pass his judgment upon Them May give Force and Authority to some things and at the same time make Void and disallow of Others And this 3dly Not only upon his Own private judgment or upon the Advice of any select persons of his Clergy tho' it be a matter Ecclesiastical but with the advice of his Council who by his Command are also Empowred to judge of what the Convocation has done and whose Opinion if He approves of it He may preferr to that of his Clergy But we will go on with the History of this Convocation and see how these several Conclusions may be yet farther clear'd and confirm'd by it When by Vertue of this Commission the Convocation had drawn up such Canons and agreed upon such Orders as to them seem'd most proper to answer the Ends proposed by the King to Them We are told by His Majesty in His Declaration of June 30th following that according to His direction They had Offered and Presented the same to Him desiring Him to give His Royal Assent to what They had done Now as hereby they plainly acknowledged His Majesty to have all that Authority as to this matter which in His Commission he had pretended to so we find the King still proceeded according to the same measures he had first laid down to the Ratification of what they presented to Him For thus the Declaration goes on We having diligently with great Content and Comfort Read and Consider'd all the said Orders Ordinances and Constitutions agreed upon as is before express'd And finding the same such as We are persuaded will be very profitable not only to Our Clergy but to the whole Church of this Our Kingdom and to All the true Members
any Pope but such as was agreeable to his Will and Pleasure And particularly that he would not endure any Synod to be held by the Bishops of England or any thing to be determined in any Ecclesiastical Causes without Leave and Authority first had from him to empower them so to do And the same was the Resolution of his Sons after him And tho' being necessitated for the sake of their civil Interests to yield a little some of our following Princes did submit to the Papal Usurpations yet no sooner was their Government grown strong and their Peace setled but both our Kings and our great Men presently began to assert their Freedom and to cast off those Chains which the Pope had watch'd his Opportunity to put upon them So that now then to give a short account of the method of managing the Affairs of the Church in this Period it was briefly this In the great Council of the Realm and which tho' alter'd in some circumstances by the Conquerour from what it was before yet still continu'd in the main the same as the Bishops and most considerable of the Abbots had a place so now as heretofore Ecclesiastical as well as civil Causes were handled by them and Laws pass'd for the Government of the Church no less than of the State In the other and more select Councils of our Kings which in this Period were held sometimes at the great Feasts and sometimes at such other Seasons as our Princes thought sit and to which they took such of their great Men only both Ecclesiastical and Secular as themselves thought sit many Affairs of the Church were also debated tho' not with such Authority as in the other more general Councils Besides these Assemblies as from the beginning of this Period Ecclesiastical Synods did often meet so in them were the rest of those Matters transacted which appertain'd to the Church But then these as they met not without the King's Licence so neither did they determine any thing but by his Consent nor were their Acts of any Authority until they were confirm'd by him This was the State of the Church in the beginning of this Period whilst it as yet stood free from the Usurpations of the Bishop of Rome How it came to be enslaved afterwards will better appear from that particular view we are now to take of those Councils in which any thing of greater Moment relating to the Church has been concluded I have before observed how our Princes very early began with great Solemnity to keep the three chief Festivals of the Year and to be attended by their Bishops and Lords at them At one of these Seasons presently after he was setled in the Government the Conquerour commanded a Synod to be held and made use of the Pope's Au 〈…〉 rity and the Presence of his Legats to strengthen what he had to do in it Having thus assembled the Bishops apart into an Ecclesiastical Council he proceeded not only to deprive Stigand Archbishop of Canterbury who in some measure deserved it but several others of the Clergy for no other real reason but only that he did not love them or else wanted to have his Normans in their places And having thus proceeded as far as he thought good in this Council he stopt still the next solemn Festival And then in another Synod of the same kind and assembled by the same Authority he went on to farther Deprivations after the like manner as he had done before It was at a like meeting of his Bishops and Lords about two years after that resolving the great Council into an Ecclesiastical Synod he determined the Primacy of the Archbishop of Canterbury over the Archbishop of York and subscribed his Name to the Acts of it What that Synod was which Lanfrank sometime after held at Westminster we are not told This we are inform'd that it was call'd by the King's Command and that he was present at this as he had been at the other two Whether this were the same Council which we find recorded by Malmsbury in the life of Lanfranc or whether there was another assembled the same year I cannot tell But that a Synod was held about this time at London we are well assured In this many ancient Canons were revived and the foundation laid for renewing the Ecclesiastical Discipline of the Church And because this had not sufficiently determined what was necessary to be done the next Year after he held another at Winchester in which several usefull Constitutions were establish'd the Heads of which still remain to us These are the chief of those Ecclesiastical Synods that we are told were assembled under K. William the Conquerour And the last of which however said to have been call'd by Lanfranc who also presided in them yet still we must remember what we have before in general observed of this King that the Archbishop call'd them by his Command Who also approved their Acts before he suffer'd them to have any Authority in this Realm For the farther Confirmation of which Remark let us only cast our Eye upon the Conduct of this Prince as to these matters in his own Dutchy of Normandy and from thence we shall be able the more certainly to judge what Power he claim'd over his Clergy in his new Dominions And here we find that at Whitsontide Anno 1086 he assembled his Parliament at Roan The Members who composed it were the same that in those days made up ours There were present the Archbishop Bishops and Abbots of his Territories and with them the great Lords of the Laity Being met they made several Laws for the Government both of the Church and State and he was both present at their Debates and by his Authority confirm'd what had been agreed on by them And when some time before the Archbishop of Roan held a Provincial Synod with his Bishops and Clergy purely to consult of the Affairs of the Church and several Canons were compiled by them the Acts of it observe that the Conquerour was himself both present at the making of them and that he afterwards confirm'd them by his Command Such was the Authority which this Prince exercised over his Synods As for his Successor King William the Second he was not at all less but rather was more stiff in asserting his Rights as to these matters than ever his Father had been Insomuch that being on a time desired by Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury To employ his Authority to the restoring of Christianity almost utterly defaced in his Realm He ask'd him What he would have him do Command says Anselm Councils to be renew'd according to ancient Custom There let it be enquired what has been done a miss and let a seasonable Provision be made for the remedying of it There has not been held a general Council of Bishops since you came to the Crown nor for some time before Through this defect many
times they have appear'd there as Spiritual Assistants to consider consult and consent Only he affirms that they never had Voices there because they were no Lords of Parliament the force of which Argument I shall leave to the House of Commons to answer In the mean time I must observe that in the case of Bird and Smith Trin. 4. Jac. 1. upon a Deprivation made of Smith by the High Commissioners for not Conforming to the Canons of the Church the Lord Chancellour having call'd Popham Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench Coke of the Common Pleas and Fleming Lord Chief Baron to his assistance it was agreed to by all the three without any Exception That the Canons of the Church made by the Convocation and King without the Parliament shall bind in matters Ecclesiastical as well as an Act of Parliament Because the Convocation of the Clergy was once a Member of the Parliament but afterwards for Convenience separated and therefore does carry its peculiar Jurisdiction along with it in the Convocation House For which reason also a Clergy-man cannot be chosen a Member of the House of Commons nor a Lay-man of the Convocation as Coke then declared had been resolved in a Conference of the two Houses 21 Hen. 8. And as concerning the other part of my Lord Coke's Assertion that the Proctors of the Clergy never had Voices in Parliament because in the Writ of Summons it is said that they were call'd Ad consentiendum his quae tunc ibidem de communi consilio dicti regni nostri contigerit ordinari it may suffice to observe that tho' this be indeed the present Form yet when both the Clergy and Commons were first called to this great Council they were both summon'd to another purpose and in words that did expresly intitle them to act in it In the 23d Edw. 1. the first Summons for ought appears that was ever regularly issued out for them they were called Ad Tractand Ordinand Faciend nobiscum cum caeteris praelatis proceribus aliis incolis Regni nostri In the 4th Edw. 3. Ad Faciend Consentiend And this continued to be the usual Form afterwards And these are the very Words that were used in the Commons Writs in the same Parliament 4 Edward 3 And which tho' alter'd about the 26th of that King into others of greater force Ad Tractand Consulend Faciend Yet that Form lasted not very long but in the 46 of the same King it again was worded Ad Faciend Consulend and so has continued to this day And a more ancient Authority than this in my Lord Coke's Account has told us that the Clergy were call'd Ad Tractand Deliberand That their names were call'd over the beginning of every Parliament that they had a Voice in it and made a part of the Commons there But because this is a point that will best be clear'd by matter of Fact we will enquire a little what the Clergy were wont heretofore to do there For as for the Forms of Summons tho' I conceive at first they were very properly drawn and do mark out to us the undoubted Rights of those to whom they were sent as they were allow'd of in those ancient times yet how little they may signifie now the Form of our Parliamentary Writs in the Praemonentes to the Bishop does alone too evidently shew In the 6 Edw. 3. after the Archbishop of Cant. and Bishop of London had declared how that the French King designing an Expedition to the Holy Land had desired our King to go along with him and that this was the cause of calling that Parliament Sir Jeffery le Scroop added by the King's Commandment that the same was called as well to redress the Breach of the Laws and Peace as for the King 's going to the Holy Land The Bishops answer'd That it did not properly appertain to them to counsel in matters of Peace and to prescribe for the punishment of Evils And so together with the Proctors of the Clergy they went apart to consult about the Matters proposed to them In the 13th of the same King the King appointing Commissioners in his stead to begin and continue the Parliament we find the Dean of York as Treasurer standing next to the Archbishop in the Commission And in the Parliament which met the Michaelmas before it being resolved to hold another upon the Octaves of Hilary the Archbishops were order'd to summon their respective Convocations to be ready to meet with it In the 18th of the same Edw. 3. at the opening of the Parliament complaint was made that sundry of all Estates were absent whereat the King did no less muse than he was thereat offended Wherefore he charged the Archbishop for his part to punish the Defaults of the Clergy and he would do the like touching the Parliament And in the same Session the Resolution being taken that the King should end the War he was engaged in either by Battle or an Honourable Peace the King agreed And in order thereunto the Clergy of Cant. granted him a Triennial Disme and the Commons two fifteens of Counties and two Dismes of Cities and Towns It was the usual custom of the Commons in those days to begin such Bills as they thought necessary to have pass'd by Petition to the King in Parliament Thus they did in this Parliament 18 Edw. 3. which being ended the Bishops and Clergy exhibited their Petitions also being in number seven whereto the King answer'd and the same comprized in the Statute for the Clergy still extant In the Preamble of which the King takes notice of the Triennial Disme granted to him by the Prelates and Procurators of the Clergy of both Provinces In the 1 Rich. 2. we again find the Clergy petitioning in like manner And in the 21st of the same King the Commons by Sir John Bussey their Speaker pray the King that forasmuch as divers Judgments were heretofore undone for that the Clergy were not present therefore they pray'd the King that the Clergy should appoint some to be their common Proctor with sufficient Authority thereunto And the Bishops thereupon appointed Sir Thomas Piercie their Proctor to assent in the name of the Clergy And by vertue whereof when the Parliament took a new Oath to the King the Bishops and Abbots themselves took it and Sir Thomas Piercie as Proctor for the Clergy was sworn to the same And when in the same Parliament Sir John Bussey offer'd the King a Subsidy from the Commons and thereupon desired his general Pardon the Clergy gave the like power to Sir William â—e Scroop of Wilts to answer for them that they late did to Sir Thomas Piercie And when finally upon the advice of Sir John Bussey the Lords were required again to swear not to alter any thing of what was done in this Parliament not only the Bishops and Temporal Lords did so but sundry
himself acknowledges And I am sure whenever the King shall think fit to let them Meet He will send Them his Licence to Act too If they accept his Licence and proceed to Act by vertue of it this will afford us a new Argument to prove that we are not mistaken in the Sense we give of this Statute If not we shall then in all probability be set Right in it and upon a Judicial determination which this Author tells us was wanting in Cokes Report be satisfied what Skill this positive Man has in Interpreting of Acts of Parliament And whether tho' there be No Sense yet there may not be Good Law on the side of the King's Prerogative And now I may venture to say we have seen the utmost of what this Author can do As for what he next catches at That my Lord Coke affirms that the King had heretofore a Right to send Commissioners to sit with the Clergy in Convocation tho' Quo jure he says it do's not Appear And therefore it must be supposed that the Clergy had a Right to debate of what they pleased because else it would have been needless to send a Commissioner to Watch them I must needs say I do not see by what Rules of Reason any such Consequence will follow from it Unless we should suppose that because Men are limited to Act by certain Rules therefore there is no danger of their transgressing of Them The ancient Emperours we are well assured tied up their Councils to very Strict Rules Yet so dull were They that for that very Reason they sent Commissioners to sit with their Bishops that so they might take Care to keep them within bounds and see that they acted according to the Rules they had prescribed to Them 'T is true the Clergy in those days did take the Liberty to transact many things in their Convocations without any particular Licence from the King to warrant Them so to do And this rendred the presence of such Commissioners more necessary heretofore than it is Now. But that they did take upon them to do this is no proof that they had a Right to do it any more than their attempts in many other instances prove that they ought to have enjoy'd all those priviledges by which it is on all hands allow'd that they did oftentimes notoriously Usurp upon the Royal Authority There is yet a little spiteful Suggestion for I cannot call it an Argument drawn from Magna Charta and the King's Coronation-Oath But these things will then be fit to be Consider'd when He shall first have proved the Church to have such a Right as he supposes but has not yet offer'd one tolerable proof of unless we should take a Confident Assertion for proof in which it must be confess'd he has not been Wanting In the mean time whilst the Church is deprived of no Liberty that either the Laws have given it or it ought of Right to enjoy the King may keep his Coronation-Oath and Magna Charta be as sacredly observed as any One could Wish it should be tho' the Clergy be not allow'd all that unreasonable Liberty which some Men plead for on their Behalf but which neither the Clergy nor Convocation have Themselves ever pretended to But whatever Restraints may be pretended to be laid upon the Convocation by this Act with regard to the making of Laws and Constitutions For Laws this Author will have the Convocation to make as well as the Parliament yet the Exercise of their Jurisdiction as they are a Court properly so called is certainly left free and intire to them This He takes for Granted and never so much as attempts a Proof of it And therefore there is no more for me here to do after what I have already said as to this matter If the Case be so as it is here supposed If neither the King's Supremacy in Ecclesiastical Causes nor the Laws of the Realm nor the Custom of Convocations which like that of the Parliament is I conceive the Law of Convotion have restrained the Clergy as to these Matters I am sure I shall be far from desiring to lay any Restraint upon them I shall conclude this whole Chapter with a Relation which I meet with in One of our Ancient Reports and which being added to what I have before observed may contribute a little to the better understanding of the power of the Convocation in the Particular we are now upon In the 4. H. 8. An Act of Parliament was made to deny the benefit of the Clergy to certain Malefaâ—â—ors therein mentioned The Clergy being angry at this as intrenching too much on the Rights of the Church for the Church in those Days was always wont to be very tender of her Rights whether they were for the publick Good or no About three years after the Parliament then sitting the Abbot of Winchomb in a Publick Sermon at Pauls Cross not only Preach'd against the said Act and all Those who had Consented to the Passing of it but farther Affirm'd that All Clerks who have once been admitted into any Holy Orders whether Greater or Lesser were from thenceforth Exempt from all temporal Punishment before any Temporal Judge for any Criminal Cause whatsoever The Lords Temporal and Commons being alarum'd at this Petition the King that he would order this Point to be publickly argued by Divines and Canonists on both sides And thereupon a Certain Day was appointed by the King for that purpose at the Black-Fryars London Among the Council for the King was Doctor Henry Standish a Learned Man and Guardian of the Mendicant Fryars in London The Cause was handled and many Members of both Houses were present And in the Opinion of all who heard it Dr. Standish had so much the Better of the Council that argued for the Clergy that it was moved to the Bishops that they should Oblige the Abbot Publickly to Recant his Assertions At Michaelmas following the Clergy sitting in Convocation cited Dr. Standish to appear before them to answer to such Articles as should there be Exhibited against Him He appeared as he was order'd and four Articles were first proposed by the Archbishop to Him and being afterwards encreased to six were deliver'd to Him in Writing All tending to the purport of what he had before Asserted in defence of the King's Authority And he was Required upon a Certain Day to Answer to Them It seems to assert the King's Authority over the Clergy was accounted in those days to be no less than Heresie and perhaps may still be thought by some Men to come near to it Doctor Standish easily perceived what the Convocation drove at And being sensible that He should not be Able to withstand their Malice and Authority put Himself under the King's Protection and referr'd his Cause to Him The Clergy being a little surprised at this protest to the King that their Process against Him was not for any thing he
claim or put in ure any Constitutions or Ordinances Provincial or Synodals or any other Canons Nor shall enact promulge or execute any such Canons Constitutions or Ordinance Provincial by whatsoever Name or Names they may be called in their Convocations in Time Coming which alway shall be Assembled by Authority of the King 's Writ unless the same Clergy may have the King 's most Royal Assent and Licence to make promulge and execute such Canons Constitutions and Ordinances Provincial or Synodal upon pain of every one of the said Clergy doing contrary to this and being thereof convict to suffer Imprisonment and to make fine at the King 's Will. Provided alway that no Canons Constitutions or Ordinances shall be made or put in Execution within this Realm by Authority of the Convocations of the Clergy which shall be Contrariant or Repugnant to the King's Prerogative Royal or the Customs Laws or Statutes of this Realm any thing contained in this Act to the contrary hereof notwithstanding V. The Commission sent by King Charles Ist. to the Convocation of 1640. 1. CHarles by the Grace of God c. To all whom these Presents shall come Greeting Whereas in and by One Act of Parliament made at Westminster in the 25th Year of the Reign of King Henry VIIIth reciting that whereas the King 's Humble and Obedient Subjects the Clergy c. Reciting all verbatim as in the Extract Numb iv And lastly it is provided by the said Act that such Canons Constitutions Ordinances and Synodals Provincial which then were already made and which then were not Contrariant or Repugnant to the Laws Statutes and Customs of this Realm nor to the Damage or hurt of the King 's Prerogative-Royal should then still be used and executed as they were before the making of the said Act until such time as they should be view'd search'd or otherwise Order'd and Determin'd by the Persons mention'd in the said Act or the more Part of them according to the Tenour Form and Effect of the said Act as by the said Act amongst divers other things more fully and at large it doth and may Appear 2. Know ye that we for divers urgent and weighty Causes and Considerations us thereunto especially moving of Our especial Grace certain Knowledge and meer Motion have by Vertue of our Prerogative Royal and Supreme Authority in Causes Ecclesiastical given and granted and by these Presents do Give and Grant full free and lawful Liberty Licence Power and Authority unto the most Reverend Father in God William Lord Bishop of Canterbury Primate of all England and Metropolitan President of this present Convocation for the Province of Canterbury during this Present Parliament now assembled and to the Rest of the Bishops of the same Province and all Deans of Cathedral Churches Arch-deacons Chapters and Colleges and the whole Clergy of every several Diocess within the said Province That they the said Lord Archbishop of Canterbury President of the said Convocation and the Rest of the Bishops and other the said Clergy of this present Convocation within the said Province of Canterbury or the greater Number of them whereof the said President of the said Convocation to be always One Shall and may from Time to Time during the present Parliament Propose Conferr Treat Debate Consider Consult and Agree upon the Exposition or Alteration of any Canon or Canons now in force and of and upon any such Other New Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions as they the said Lord Bishop President of the said Convocation and the rest of the said Bishops and other the Clergy of the same Province or the Greater Number of them whereof of the said Lord Bishop of Canterbury President of the said Convocation to be One shall think necessary fit and convenient for the Honour and Service of Almighty God the Good and Quiet of the Church and the better Government thereof to be from Time to Time observ'd perform'd fulfill'd and kept as well by the said Lord Bishop of Canterbury the Bishops and their Successors and the rest of the whole Clergy of the said Province of Canterbury in their several Callings Offices Functions Ministries Degrees and Administrations as also by all and every Dean of the Arches and other Judges of the said Bishops Courts Guardians of Spiritualties Chancellors Deans and Chapters Archdeacons Commissaries Officials Registers and all and every Other Ecclesiastical Officers and their Inferiour Ministers whatsoever of the same Province of Canterbury in their and every of their distinct Courts and in the Order and Manner of their and every of their Proceedings and by all other Persons within this Realm as far as lawfully being Members of the Church it may concern them And further to conferr debate treat consider consult and agree of and upon such other Points Matters Causes and Things as We from Time to Time shall deliver or cause to be deliver'd unto the said Lord Bishop of Canterbury President of the said Convocation under our Sign-manual or Privy-Signet to be debated consider'd consulted and concluded upon the said Statute or any Other Statutes Act of Parliament Proclamation Provision or Restraint heretofore had made provided or set forth or any other Cause Matter or thing whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding 3. And we do also by these Presents give and grant unto the said Lord Bishop of Canterbury President of the said Convocation and to the Rest of the Bishops of the said Province of Canterbury and unto all Deans of Cathedral Churches Arch-deacons Chapters and Colleges and the whole Clergy of every several Diocess within the said Province full free and lawful Liberty Licence Power and Authority that They the said Lord Bishop of Canterbury President of the said Convocation and the rest of the said Bishops and other the Clergy of the same Province or the greater Number of them whereof the said President of the said Convocation to be One all and every the said Canons Orders Ordinances Constitutions Matters Causes and things so by them from Time to Time conferr'd treated debated consider'd consulted and agreed upon shall and may set down in Writing in such Form as heretofore hath been accustom'd and the same so set down in writing to exhibit and deliver or cause to be exhibited and delivered unto Us to the End that we upon mature Consideration by Us to be taken thereupon may Allow Approve Confirm and Ratifie or otherwise Disallow Anhillate and make void such and so many of the said Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions Matters Causes and Things or Any of them so to be by force of these presents consider'd consulted and Agreed upon as we shall think fit requisite and convenient 4. Provided always that the said Canons Orders Ordinances Constitutions Matters and Things or Any of them so to be consider'd consulted and agreed upon as aforesaid be not contrary or repugnant to the Liturgy establish'd or the Rubricks in it or the xxxix Articles or any Doctrine Orders and Ceremonies
of the Church of England already establish'd 5. Provided also and our express Will Pleasure and Commandment is That the said Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions Matters Causes and Things or any of them so to be by force of these presents consider'd consulted or agreed upon shall not be of any Force Effect or Validity in the Law but only such and so many of them and after such Time as we by our Letters Patents under our great Seal of England shall allow approve and confirm the same Any thing before in these Presents contain'd to the contrary thereof notwithstanding In Witness whereof we have caused these our Letters to be made Patent Witness our self at Westminster the 15th Day of April in the xvith Year of our Reign Per ipsum Regem Willis The Canons and the King's Declaration in Confirmation of them made hereupon are already extant in Sparrow's Collection pag. 335. VI. A Specimen of Convocations anciently held without Parliaments or at different Times from Them till the latter End of King Henry viiith's Reign ANno 1297. The Convocation sate March 26 But the King was then absent upon his Expedition in Scotland and held not his Parliament till the End of the Summer first at Berwick and after that at St. Edmunds-bury November 3. Wals. p. 68. Anno 1316. 9. Ed. 2. The Writ of Summons to the Convocations bears date Febr. 17. to meet post xv Pasch. The Parliament was summon'd the 16 Octob. before to meet in Quinden S. Hilarii Anno 1328. The Convocation was held at London the Fryday after the Purification The Parliament was held at Winchester the first Week in Lent after Wals. p. 129. Anno 1342. The Convocation met Oct. 10. But I do not find that any Parliament sate that Year Anno 1408. A Convocation and Parliament The Dates I have not But the former met at Oxford the latter at Gloucester Anno 1413. The Convocation met on Trinity Sunday The Parliament sate May the 15th being the Third Week in Easter foregoing Anno 1417. The Convocation met November 6. The Parliament sate not till November 16th Anno 1439. The Convocation met November 1. I find not any Parliament that Year Anno 1463. The Parliament sate April the 29th The Convocation met not till July 6. Anno 1466. The Convocation sate April 26. I find no Parliament this Year Anno 1486. The Convocation met February 13 The Parliament sate November 7. foregoing Anno 1538. A Convocation No Parliament Thus stood this matter till about the End of King Henry viiith's Reign Since which excepting in the Case of the Convocation of 1640 it has I think been the usual Custom for the Convocation to sit only in Time of Parliament VII An Abstract of several things relating to the Church which have been done since the 25 H. 8. by Private Commissions Or Otherwise out of Convocation 25 H. 8. THirty two Persons Appointed to Review c. the Canons of the Church and to Gather together out of them such as should from thenceforth alone be of force in it See the Act. c. 19. 1536. Injunctions by the King Bishop Burnet Hist. Ref. pag. 225. Order for the Translation of the Bible Ibid. pag. 195 249 302. 1538. New Injunctions Ibid. 249. Explication of the chief Points of Religion publish'd at the Close of the Convocation but not by it Ibid. p. 245. 1539. A Committee of Bishops appointed by the Lords at the King's Command to draw up Articles of Religion Ibid. p. 256. The vi Articles on which the Act passed brought in by the Duke of Norfolk and wholly carried on by the Parliament Ibid. p. 256 c. 1540. A Committee of Divines employed to draw up The necessary Erudition of a Christian Man Ibid. p. 286. Another Commission appointed to examine the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church Ibid. p. 294. 1542. The Examining of the English Translation of the Bible being begun by the Convocation is taken by the King out of their Hands and committed to the two Universities Ibid. p. 315. 1544. The King orders the Prayers for Processions and Litanies to be put into English and sends them to the Archbishop with an Order for the Publick Use of Them Ibid. p. 331. King Edward VI. 1547. The King orders a Visitation over his whole Kingdom and thereupon suspends all Episcopal Jurisdiction while it lasted Bishop Burnet Hist. Ref. Vol. II. p. 26. The Homilies composed Ibid. p. 27. Articles and Injunctions set forth p. 28. 1548. New Injunctions Ibid. Append. p. 126. An Order of Council for Removing Images Ibid. p. 129. Directions by the Council to the King's Preachers Ibid. p. 130. A Committee of Select Bishops and Divines appointed to Examine and Reform the Offices of the Church Ibid. Hist. p. 61 71. A new Office of Communion set forth by them Ibid. p. 64. This made way for the Act of 1548. p. 93. and 1551. Ibid. p. 189. 1549. An Order of Council forbidding Private Masses Ibid. p. 102 103. The Forms of Ordination Appointed by Act of Parliament order'd to be drawn up by a special Committee of Six Bishops and Six Divines to be named by the King Ibid. p. 141 143. 1552. The Observation of Holydays order'd by Act of Parliament Ibid. p. 191. 1553. A new Catechism by the King's Order required to be taught by Schoolmasters Ibid. p. 219. Queen Elizabeth 1559. The Queen's Injunctions q. v. Ibid. p. â—98 King James I. 1603. The Conference at Hampton-Court Fuller Ch. Hist. p. 21. 1607. An Order for a new Translation of the Bible the King directs the whole Process of it Ibid. p. 44. c. 1618. A Proclamation by the King concerning Sports and Recreations to be allow'd of on the Lords-Day Ibid. p. 74. King Charles I. Directions concerning Preaching with respect to the Arminian Points I have set down these Remarks in this and the foregoing Number for the most part as they lay in my Collections and I hope they are Exact Tho' at present I have not either Time or Opportunity to make so careful an Examination as I ought to do of several of Them FINIS Books printed for Richard Sare at Grays-Inn-Gate in Holborne THE Genuine Epistles of St. Barnabas St. Ignatius St. Clement St. Polycarp the Shepherd of Hermas c. Translated and published in English 8 â— A Practical Discourse concerning Sweâ—ring 8 o. A Sermon on the Publick Thanksgiving for Preservation of his Majestie 's Person These three by the Reverend Dr. VVake Also several Sermons upon several Occasions By Dr. VVake Fables of Aesop and other eminent Mythologists with Morals and Reflections Folio Erasinus Colloquies in English 8 o. The Visions of Dom. Froncisco de Quevedo 8 o. The three last by Sir Roger L'Estrange Epiâ—â—eâ—u's Morals with Simpliciâ—â—'s Comment translated by Mr. Stanhope 8 o. Compleat Sets consisting of 8 Volumes of Letters writ by a Turkish Spy who lived 45 Years undiscovered at Paris 12 o Humane Prudence or the Art by which a man may raise himself