26 H. 8. Extract è Record Primitiarum per annum ultra lx s. solut pro feud Raphael Rawlins Collect. dict proum Cenag cum Pentecostal 64 l. 10 s. x 2 inde 6 l. 9 s. Here is plainly set down the true worth and full value of the Archdeaconry of Gl. in Procurations Synodals and Pentecostals to wit 64 l. 10 s. And for prevention of future cavil as if the present opposition had been so many years agoe foreseen it is expressed per annum too for that 's the matter of grievance so much yearly worth And what would we more to make the matter plain He doth in my opinion little other then Nodum in scirpo quaerere and consequently beat the aire that useth means to evade a payment so apparently clear and evident Add to all this continual perception and collection of these duties by Archdeacons even from the time of the valuation of them in Anno 26 H. 8. unto this present and tenths as before I have said paid out of them yearly to the Crown for all that time I suppose there is none alive that can contradict it et quod non disprobatur praesumitur such Books and Acquittances as I have seen and I have seen some that are ancient all testifying the same Besides I never heard of any that stood out a suit against this payment that upon a judiciall hearing or trial ever prevailed in the principal cause and point of right but was alwayes overthrown in the litigation and comepelled to pay charges And as for the Act of Parliament Thus much I find conducing to my purpose in Anno 34 Hen. 8. c. 16. IF any person or persons being Farmer or Occupier of any Manors Rastal Abridgment Pensions Lands Tenements Parsonages Benefices or other Hereditaments of any of the said late Monasteries or Ecclesiasticall houses or places or belonging to them or any of them by the Kings Highness gift grant sale exchange or otherwise out of which premisses any such Pensions Portions Corrodies Indemnities Synodies or Proxies or any other profits have been heretofore lawfully going out answered or paid to any of the Archbishops Bishops Archdeacons and other Ecclesiasticall persons above-said doe at any time after the first day of April next comming wilfully deny the payment thereof at the dayes of payment heretofore accustomed of any of the said Pensions Portions Corrodies Indemnities Synodies Proxies or any other profits whereof the said Archbishops Bishops Archdeacons or other Ecclesiastical persons were in possession at or within ten years next before the time of the Dissolution of any such Monastery or other Ecclesiastical houses or places that then it shall be lawfull for the same Archbishops Bishops Archdeacons or other Ecclesiasticall persons aforesaid being so denied to be satisfied and paid thereof and having right to the same thing in demand to make such process as well against every such person and persons as shall so deny payment of the same Pensions Portions Corodies Proxies Indemnities Synodies or any other profits which of right ought to be paid as is aforesaid as against the Church or Churches charged with the same as heretofore they have lawfully done and as by and according to the Laws and Statutes of this Realm they may now lawfully doe for the true payment and recovery thereof And if the party Defendant be lawfully convict in any such suit cause or matter according to the Ecclesiasticall Lawes then the party Plaintiffe shall have and recover against the party Defendant the thing in demand and the value thereof in dammages with his costs for his Suit c. By this Act it is plain that all such payments as issued out of Parsonages Benefices or other Hereditaments of the said late Monasteries to any Archbishop Bishop Archdeacon c. at or within ten years next before the time of the Dissolution should be still continued and duly paid as before Now the Procurations or Proxies were yearly due The Record hath its ground from an Act of Parliament of 26 H. 8. The suppression of Abbies follows in 31 ejusdem Regis and paid within lesse then six years before the Dissolution appeareth plainly by the preceding Record Therefore yet to be paid according to the fore-recited Act. But perhaps it will be objected Why was there a Provision made by Act of Parliament for payment of these duties out of Parsonages c. belonging unto Monasteries and not out of others in like manner in the then possession of spirituall Incumbents I answer It seems to me that this Proviso was made by the clemency of the King and the indulgency of the Parliament to secure the rights of the Church to the true owners thereof that haply might be passed away and in hazard to be utterly lost by the Kings Grant to Lay-persons And this to be the ground and reason of that Provision is clearly demonstrated in the latter part of the same Act of 34. Hen. 8. where there is a course prescribed how such persons in such Cases should have remedy and in what Court they should commence suit for the recovery of their subtracted rights viz. in the Court of Augmentation of the Revenue of the Kings Crown and not elsewhere These be the words of the Act whereunto I referre the Reader Now there needed no such Act or caution as before is mentioned no such Proviso to secure the Visitors duties from the invasion of spiritual Incumbents of whose Promotions or Benefices the King made no sale nor medled withal but left them entire reserving to himself upon the return of the Certificate of their true value only an yearly Tenth but with an exact deduction first of all such summe or summes of money Procurations or whatever else he then found them yearly charged withall which being so allowed to the spirituall Incumbent I conceive that those that the Lawes and Statutes of this Realm have qualified and made capable of such receits and such are Archbishops Bishops Archdeacons c. may lawfully at their respective accustomed times according to the fore-recited Act require and so ought to receive them till authority shall alter the course But to this point I hope there is enough said already To draw now towards a conclusion These Reasons that I have here urged together with those formerly mentioned make me to think that Procurations are not payable as my friend thinks Ratione lummodo visitationis no but sometimes Custome hath its place as all Canonists that I have read upon the point doe unanimously acknowledge yea those or suck like reasons moved a very learned Civilian Dr. Cosens sometime Dean of the Arches writing of the quality of rights Ecclesiastical and how they became due amongst other things saith D Cosen Polit. Ecclesiae Angl. â—ab 8. Pensiones indemnitatis Procurationes ratione visitationis PLERUNQ praestandae He doth not say as my friend saith that they are only so due but Plerunque so Now what Plerunque signifies is a little to be enquired after That it comes near to the signification which corresponds to his fancy no Grammarian I am sure will allow Plerunque is never found to carry the sense that solummodò doth but that it yieldeth the same sense and signification that interdum doth Civilians well know Vlpian l. Falsus ff de Furtâ—s and I acknowledge And in so doing I render him but small advantage and my self as little prejudice I hold my assertion still There is jus consuetudinarium a right of Custome by which Procurations are sometimes and ought as I suppose so to be And the sole reason of that payment dependeth not upon the Act of Visitation only alwaies as my friend would have it I have done with this business God grant that what it aims at it may effect Peace peace I say either by submitting to Truth or convincing by Truth Amen Amen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 LEt the Reader be pleased to take notice as fit to be known that the aforegoing Discourse and Appendix were written in the time of Dr. Robinson late Archdeacon of Gloucester deceased and not altered in this Impression from what they then were examined and prepared in Order to the Presse except the mistakes in Printing of which the most material I have here noted others of mispointing and misaccenting with some other literal escapes I pray the courteous Reader to make use of his Pen to amend or his Patience to forbear what 's amiss Page 7. line 4. read came Pa. 9. l. 11. r. us Pa. 10. l. 21. r. Lions Pa. 19. l. 3. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pa. 23. l. 16. r. Praelatus Pa. 24. l. 16. r payment Pa. 26. l. 8. r. subsistit Pa. 26. l. 15. r. praescripta Pa. 31. l. 13. r. is l. 24. r. imputari Pa. 85. l. 21. r. Parochial and so elsewhere Pa. 90. l. 6. r. rise Pa. 126. l 6. r. Nathaniel Pa 128. l. 15. r. this Pa. 132. l. 24 r. personaliter Pa. 136. l. 6. r. Canon
the same time Offerings have bin anciently brought as before is mentioned this custome of Pentecostall Offerings may in some probability have its original derivation thence And in this guess Gulielmus Durandus runs along thus far in agreement with me Ritus igitur saith he Synagogae transivit in ReligioneÌ„ Ecclesiae sacrificia carnalis populi mutata sunt in observantiam populi spiritualis Durand Rationale divinorum Offic. l. 4. c. 30. Numb 34. Thus he writing about the offerings of the old Law And surely it is not vainly conceived the Jews might be the Authors of this Custome Nor needs any man to be ashamed to follow their steps in so good an example though the worst of men Gens sceleratissima Aug de Civit. Deiâ— 6. ca. 11. Synes in Epist Epist 4. as St. Augustine out of Seneca 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Synesius pleaseth to stile them But to come back to our business To the principall Mother-Churches then these Oblations were especially made and being thither brought the Bishops as before is set forth and declared had them solely to dispose of as whatsoever else were offered in or brought unto other Baptismal and Parochial Churches 16. q. 1. c. Statuimas yea and Chappels too for in such also Oblations were made consentiente Episcopo not otherwise came within the compass of his distribution So I find that Eugenius the Third did by his Diplâ—ma or Letters Patents grant the fourth part of the offerings made upon the greater Altar of the church of St. Peter in Rome Baron annal ad ann Chr. 1153. to the Archpriest and Canons of the same church This of the Bishop of Rome 12. q. 3. c. Episcopus And that the Bishops elsewhere did or might doe the same I see no cause to doubt though the Pope whose power and authority in this Kingdome and elsewhere was once so great as being forsooth Caput omnium Pontificum a quo illi tanquam à capite membra descendunt as Durandus overlasheth Durand Ratioonaâ— de minâ—str ordin Eccl. l. 1. fol. 31. and as having within the compass and limits of his jurisdiction above an hundred and twenty Archbishopricks and above a thousand Bishopricks as Stapleton vaunts Stapleton de Magnitud Rom. Eccl. l. 1. c. 3. did ex plenitudine potestatis sometimes interpose and order and dispose things in the Church according to his own will giving to this body or that member as he saw cause but ever to the Clergy to whom and to those uses before expressed by the Canon Law these Offerings were and are only due and otherwise interdicted to the Laity sub districtione Anathematis 10. q. 1. c. Quia Saâ—erdoâ—es e. Sanct. Patrumibi And hence it may be that in some places the Deans and Praebendaries of Cathedral Churches have them In other places Praebends are founded upon them to instance two if credible report deceive me not in the Cathedral Church of Salisbury a greater and a lesse distinguished and known by this difference of Major Minor pars Altaris And in some Dioeceses again they are settled upon the Bishop and Archdeacon and made part of their Revenue for which the King hath Tenths and Subsidies An instance hereof The Cathedrall or mothrr Church of Worcester was anciently before the dissolution a Priory and among other Revenues belonging to the same Church it had those Pentecostalia or Whitsun-farthings yearly brought unto it under the name of Oblations or spirituall profits tempore Pentecostes And after the Dissolution when King Henry the eighth about the 33 year of his reign did found anew and reendow the said Church he returned these Pentecostalia after he had kept them about a year in his own hands in express terms back again to the said Church which the Dean and Prebendaries there receive unto this day as I am informed and appeareth due by the * Henricus Octavus c. Sciatis quod nos de gratia nostra speciall ac ex certa scientia ac meâ—o motu nostris dedimus concessimus ac per praesentes damus concedimus Decano Capitulo Ecclesiae cathedralis Christi beatae Mariae Virginis Wigorn omnes illas Oblationes Obventiones sive spiritualia pâ—oficua vulgariter vocat Whitsun-farthings annuatim collect sive recepta de diversis villatis in Comitat nostris Wigorn. Warwic Heref. infra Archidiaconatum Wigorn. tempore Pentecost oblata dicto nuper Prioratui bâ—atae Mariae Wigorn. modò dissolut dudum spectan pertinen c. Ex Archâ—vâ—s Decani Capit. Wigorn. Letters Patents But in Gloucester it is otherwise for there the Bishop and Archdeacon only receive them neither can the Dean and Prebendaries that now are of the Cathedral nor could the Abbat Monks of that Church before them ever make just claim to them For before the suppression these Pentecostals inter alia were valued to the Archdeacon in the Kings books as part of the revenue of the Archdeaconry even when Procurations and Synodals were and for ought I know to the Bishop too but I leave that to the Record and would here end But as he that after a long night desires to behold the appearance of the morning Sun so my self not yet sufficiently satisfied with what hath been formerly produced in this obscure passage and desirous vel in minutioribus to behold the brightness of truth then which nothing can be more desireable Upon the apprehension of some conceived light beginning to discover it self in this particular 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euripid. in Phoeniss Hope to finde gives me encouragement and makes me yet eager to seek Fabianus a certain Bishop moves two questions to Pope Gelacius which as I conceive doe somewhat concern our present business The former of the two was 10. q. 3. c. Nec numerus Gloss 161. Whether a Bishop might require pro Cathedratico ultra antiquam consuetudinem To this the Pope answereth no he might not And the later was this What part of Oblations he ought to receive And the Pope refers him to the Custome observed in other Churches whether a moytie or third part Not the moity or third part generally of all the Oblations made that questionless is not the question in this place but only of such as were brought in Polydor. Virg. de Invent. â—erum l. 6. c. 8. 18 q. 2. c. Fleutherius â—e consecâ— Distinct 1. c. Slennit Dedicatâ—onum in die annâ—versariae dedicationis for this solemnity was annual and all upon that day vicatim made holy day as Polydor hath it vel alterius solennitatis as the Bishop and Founder or Priest did covenant and agree at the time of the Dedication of that Church so the Gloss explains the Case And surely this is it that Hostiensis specially aims at if I mistake not when writing of the time of the imposition of Church Censes he thus saith That their imposition was
consuetudinem Episcopalem quandoque Synodalia quandoque Denarios Paschales appellantes The Archdeacons and Deans the rather as it should seem to obtain their unjust demands shrowded them under such specious Titles of dues as they knew were currantly warrantable and would not be denyed This I take the sense to be And admit it comes not off so clear but that some dregs of prejudice in respect of the Exactors might in some sort obscure the equity of this Synodal demand yet this I hold to be a clear truth that as the abuse of a thing ought not to take away or abolish a necessary or convenient use so neither can or ought any unjust receipt impeach or make void a just demand For it will be granted I suppose that no Archdeacon or Dean hath right of claim Jure communi Ecclesiastico to the Synodal payment but only by composition with or prescription from the Bishop so that if under colour and pretence of such right the Archdeacon or Dean shall require Synodalia as a due by Law peculiar appropriate to themselves it may wel be accounted extortion in them which bonâ fide by them demanded in the right of the Bishop or in their own names and right by lawfull prescribed custome from the Bishop would be a just demand so that hence I conclude there is Synodale a payment and that Pope Alexanders reprehensive Epistle as to the equity of that due to be in no particular repugnant or contradictory But I will stay no longer upon this point let the judicious Reader examine the place and satisfie himself I proceed This Synodal and Synodical due had antiently two other names whereby it was known and distinguished which time hath now worn out from common use The one imposed from the original cause and reason of the pay being ob honorem Cathedrae Episcopalis and so termed CATHEDRATICUM The other assuming a name from its time of payment and is called Synodaticum both one and the same thing excepting the nominal difference and so are they taken in the Law being found ofttimes to go together 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the one expounding the meaning of the other Instance hereof I shall not need to insist upon in this place as a matter of principall proof but pass it over intending in the solution and answers to certain questions following ex incidenti to speak something of it The questions are I. What this payment couched under the terms of Cathedraticum and Synodaticum anciently was II. The reason why payd III. The time when it was first imposed IV. The time when it was usually paid V. How and by what Law it came to be imposed upon the Church and paid by the Clergie VI. and lastly What relative neerness our Synodale now hath unto this antient Cathedraticum To each of these questions a brief solution I begin with the first namely What this Cathedratick payment was and to this I answer That as well by the Acts of certain Councels before mentioned to wit Bracar and Toledo as by the Constitutions and Rescripts of Popes Cathedraticum appears to be a cense or summe of money of two shillings payd to the Bishop by the inferiour Clergy Illud te volumus modis omnibus custodire ne qui Episcoporum Siciliae de Parochiis ad se pertinentibus nomine Cathedratici amplius quà m duos solidos praesumant accipere 10. q. 3. c. Illud c. placuit ibi c. inter caetera eod 1. Thus Pope Pelagius to Cresconius the Illustrious So in a difference that fell out bewteen the Bishop of Ascisi Assisinatin the Decreatals read which Ortelius from Leander gathers to be Assisi a Town within the confines of Vmbria in Italy and the Governour of St. Benet not farre from thence about Episcopal rights Honorius the third Ext. de officico Judicis Ordinarii c. conquerent Gloss ibid. in v. Duos selidos upon complaint made unto him against the Bishop sets down what dues and duties did of right appertain unto the Bishop from the Churches and Chappels belonging unto the said Monastery and amongst the rest expresseth seth Two shillings nomine Cathedratici which is a Pension payd to the Bishop à qualibet Ecclesiâ socundum loci consuetudinem Abb. c. conquerent de officio Judicis Ordinarii as Panormitan upon the Text there Two shilings then was the usuall summe payd but why payd the reason is yet to render Hostiensis answers to it and saith II. Hostiens insum de Censibus §. Ex quibus ver Cathedraticum autem that it was payd in argumentum subjectionis ob honorem Cathedrae so he And the Councel of Bracar cited in the Decree Placuit ut nullus Episcoporum per suas Dioeceses ambulans praeter honorem Cathedrae suae id est 10. q. 3. c. Placuit Duos solidos aliud aliquid per Ecclesias tollat Thus there for honour then of the Episcopall Chair and in token and argument of subjection to the Bishop was this sum anciently payd And no marvel if we rightly weigh the dignity of his person the amplitude of his power and the great authority that he had in former dayes For considered first jure ordinis Ext. de Religiosiâ— Domibus c. Constitutos he had the Ordination of Clerks Consecration of Altars and Churches with such like Prerogatives Secondly considered respectu * 10. q. 1. in casu jurisdictionis and so he had the power of correcting and excommunicating yea unto him belonged Institution and Destitution of Clerks in a word the jurisdiction of all causes by Law appertaining ad forum Ecclesiasticum Ext. de Officio Judicis Oâ—dmarii c. Conquâ—rent Lastly considered with respect to the power that he had Lege Dioecesana as he was the a 10. q. 1. in casa Dioecesan and so he had Jus Census Cathedraticum exigendi to leave other Priviledges unnamed and Jus imponendi too as b Hostiens de censibus §. Quis imponere potest Duaren de sacris Eccl. ministeriis b neficiis l. 7. c. 5. Hostiensis adds which shews that the Bishop in time past was to say no more 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But Duarenus explains the reason of this payment a little further for thus he writes Dicitur hoc jus vulgo Cathedraticum quod Cathedrae id est honori Episcopali debeatur Cathedra enim in jure Pontificio pro honore ac munere Episcopali saepe accipitur propterea quòd olim Episcopi quorum munus propâ—ium ac praecipium est docere sedentâ—s in solio Cathedra docebant Thus he which shall be the close of my answer to the second question The third follows to wit The time when is was first imposed To this question I bring Duarenus again whose words I will here set down Postquam saith he reditus Ecclesiae qui antiquitùs erant communes Duaren ut supra l. 2. c. 1. fol. 53. ab
hath could not fully effect what it willed till an opportunity also not expected imposed a production Some few years agoe I had the collection of Procurations and such other rights and duties as have been anciently belonging unto and are vested in the Archdeaconry of Gloucester for the Archdeacon that now is there as for many years I had before in his Predecessors time my very dear Friend The harsh entertainment that I found from some of the Clergy upon the demand of Procurations for the Archdeacon in the year of the Metropoliticall visitation of the L. Arch-bishop of Canterbury that now is when by Sir Nathan Brent his Vicar-General he visited the Dioeces of Gloucester put me forward seriously to enquire after the reason of that payment but especially of its due in the years of Episcopal triennial visitation which though for many years it had been yearly without intermission or interruption payd acquittances to that purpose I have by me of above 60. years antiquity have seen some more ancient yet was it then even then vehemently oppugned The Visitation ended my self gotten out of the storm I adventured with such poor faculties ad I had to make triall how farre forth I could be able to give satisfaction to those that for the time to come should require a reason of the payment and travelling a while in this study at last I cast up the reckoning of my labour and found it to amount to this Qualecunque sit call it what you please that goes before And albeit in respect of the subject matter it may fall out to displease some I cannot avoid it it comes so near the purse yet as of the Fig-tree 't is observed that though it be very bitter 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 produceth notwithstanding sweet fruit Plutar. 5o. Symâ—os Probl. 9. so if the groundwork of this Discourse lie right be the superstructure as it may it will in the end doubtless prove profitable how unpleasing how bitter soever it may seem for the present by forewarning those that are â—â—able to such payments to avoid opposition that will necessitate both expense of time time I say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Latâ—tius in vita Theophrasâ—i a pretious and costly expense as Theophrastus was wont to say yea and somewhat else though farre less in value yet of no little account especially in these dayes Money too and if so I shall be I hope distastefull to none nor to speak in the Apostles phrase become his enemy to whom I tell the truth Galat. 4.16 For my part I thought it sufficient praise I seek not to endeavor towards the way of Pacification it was and is my only proposed end And however I may fall short of the scope I aimed at yet as in all acts Civil or Religious or whatever else velle to be willing only where ability is wanting amounts to a performance in acceptation so I nothing fear the censure of the ingenuous and candid Reader whose charity receiving information but from the rules of natural reason hath learned him to excuse imperfections with a Si desunt vires tamen est laudanda voluntas But I wheel too far about The occasion of that Post-script is briefly this to wit a certain Manuscript that is carried up and down and passeth through many mens hands I had only a cursory view of it and that by chance upon the same subject with this of mine but directly in divers material passages opposit to it The Author of this book is or seems to be my friend betwixt us for three or four years last past there hath continued an intercourse of much familiarity so far forth that each from other might challenge ordinary Courtesies Now that which to me herein relisheth ill and in him indeed seemeth absonum untunable and out of square and friendly compasse is First that he having had the perusal of those Papers of mine so many weeks together till he had transcribed them and taking advantage belike from the insufficiency or surmised partiality of my arguments which yet lay hidden and hurt no man he I say should without provocation write and undertake to defend upon supposition of wrong so it is presented such a cause as neither hath or ever shall wittingly and de industriâ be impeached by my tongue or pen namely the cause of the Clergy I fear not to say because I can truly say I know not I thank God to prevaricate and hope never to be so unhappy as to learn Secondly and that which indeed is the All if I may not be thought 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to meddle in a business wherin I have so little to doe for now indeed I have not equall cause nor like encouragement to write that formerly I had is this That he goeth about by this book of his to alter yea utterly to a abolish a course of payment so long continued by suggesting out of the Canon Law and Provincial Constitutions that injury is done by Archdeacons not visiting and yet requiring and receiving Procurations in the Episcopall years of Visitation wherin I confess he hath done the Clergy either much good or very bad service If his arguments be as prevalent as the title of his book is plausible Clergy grievances discussed c. I envy not unto him the praise of his good demerits God forbid that error committed should be either countenanced or continued he deserves recompence equivalent that discovers it but if otherwise those that are perswaded by him may haply suffer by him by his labour I mean how zealous soever he seemeth to be in the Clergies cause For the man to give him his due he is ingenuous and not as Calvin said somewhere of Osiander futiliter vainly or unprofitably No the contrary sure dexterous also in his employments and of ready dispatch But I wish in this particular being a business of moment and importance that more consideration had been taken before he had made it so publick as it is or importuned towards the Press to make it more The Greeks amongst them had a Law against 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Uâ—pian in argument Orat. An. dâ—ogit p. 380. apud Demostheâ— and that no Decree should goe forth inconsiderately So also had the Emperor Augustus a Speech which he frequently used 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sueton. in August c. 25. implying that no determination could be unquestionably currant that had not its settlement upon the basis or bottom of mature and deliberate counsell Had these or such other lessons to the same purpose whereof there are many which the wisedome of former times hath advisedly recorded and recommended to posterity for imitation been seriously thought on this hasty onset of my friend might have been forborn Doubtless in this case he might have done better to have spared his pains I say in this case wherein except error certain had been found and then as in civil broyls and discords facto potius quà m consulto opus esset Tacit. 1. Histâ—r