which all humane Constitutions are exposed that tho' I have before sufficiently shewn what the Nature of our Convocation at present is and what Authority our Kings have over it yet we can by no means from thence conclude that this was always the case of it or that the Act of the 25th of King Henry the VIII did only restore our Kings to their ancient Rights over their Clergy and not rather give them a greater Power than ever they before had or than the Parliament ought to have put into their hands To clear this matter and withal to shew how Ecclesiastical Affairs have heretofore been transacted in this Realm I shall here take a short View of the State of our Convocation in times past and of the method that was wont to be observed in making of Canonical Orders and Constitutions from the Conversion of the Saxons to the settlement of it in that Form under which it continues to this very day And the Method I shall take for the better clearing of this matter shall be this I. I will consider how the Affairs of the Church were managed from the first Conversion of the Saxons to the time of the Norman Conquest II. From the coming in of K. William the Conquerour to the 23d of Edward the First About which time both the Parliament and the Convocation seem to have been fully setled upon the same foot on which they have both continued to stand ever since III. From the 23d of Edward the First to the 25th of Henry the Eighth When the Parliament and Clergy restored the Crown to those Rights which the Usurpations of the Court of Rome had before in great Measure deprived it of And IV. From the 25th of Henry the Eighth to our own times I PERIOD And First Let us enquire how the Affairs of the Church were transacted from the first Conversion of the Saxons to the time of the Norman Conquest It is evident to any one who has ever consider'd by what Authority and after what Manner our Clergy are called together in Convocation that when those Writs were framed which we still continue to make use of they referr'd to a double end and it was intended the Clergy should meet together under a double Capacity by vertue of them When the King issues out his Parliamentary Writs and summons the Bishops to come to that great Council every Bishop is thereby distinctly required To give notice to the Dean and Chapter of his Cathedral Church and to the Arch-deacons and Clergy of his Diocess of the King's Pleasure to the end that they the said Dean and Arch-deacon in their proper persons their Chapter by one and the Clergy of every Arch-deaconry by two Proctors lawfully chosen and empowered may together with the Bishop attend upon the King in Parliament and there consent to such things as shall be agreed upon for the good of the Church or State Now this Clause as it equally requires the inferiour Clergy as the rest of the Writ does the Bishop himself to come to Parliament so has the necessity of it been accounted so great that some have thought this to be the reason why if the See be Vacant the Writ shall in such a case bedirected to the Guardians of the Spiritualties viz. That by this means the Proxies of the Clergy may by them be proemonished to come to the Parliament according to their duty and as of ancient Custom they have been required to do It must therefore be allow'd and accordingly it is indeed confessed by those who have been the best acquainted with the Nature of our Constitution that the Clergy were anciently a part of the Parliament and that the Dignitaries and Proxies of the Lower Order did together with the Spiritual Lords make up the third Estate in it But now together with this Parliamentary Writ sent out to every Bishop in particular There is another general Order directed only to the Archbishop of each Province to call together the whole Clergy of their several Provinces to another place and usually upon another day The Copy of this Writ the Archbishop of Canterbury sends to the Bishop of London as Dean of the Episcopal College and requires him to summon the Clergy of his Province and to attend himself with the Clergy of his own Diocess according to the King's Command And this is more properly a Provincial Synod tho' at present it consists of the same Persons and was oftentimes heretofore employed to the same ends that the Clergy who came to the Parliament were and consulted at once both of the State of the Church and how to supply the Prince's Wants And as this is the case of the Clergy at the present so if we look back to those first Times we are now particularly to consider we shall find the foundation of this difference laid in them and clearly see how it came to be derived down from thence to the Times that follow'd after It has ever been the Wisdom as well as Piety of Christian Princes to pay a just deference both to the Judgment and Integrity of their Church-men And to think none more proper to advise with even in their civil Concerns and ostentimes to intrust too with the management of them than those whose Profession at once disposes them both to a greater extent of Knowledge and to a quicker sense of their duty than is ordinarily to be met with in other Men. And I believe there is no Nation where the Gospel of Christ has prevailed in which Ecclesiastical Persons have not been by a kind of general Consent admitted to the Management of civil Affairs and been advised with as well in matters relating to the State as in those which concern the Church Now as this first brought them into the Great Councils of Princes so was it the same opinion of their Ability and Integrity which first gave original to that part they now have and ever did enjoy in the Parliaments of this Nation For as our Princes from the beginning were wont to do all things of greater Moment with the Advice of their great Councils so in all those Councils the Clergy still had the chiefest place as in the progress of these remarks I shall have occasion very plainly to shew Nor were the Laity any losers at all by this For the Bishops and great Clergy-men being by these means present at their Councils and the King by his very Office having an original Right to deliberate concerning the Affairs of the Church as well as of the State it came to pass that these great Councils by degrees transacted both They deliberated as well of Ecclesiastical as of civil Affairs and the causes that concerned the Church were no less determined by the Judgment and Authority of the Laity than the civil ones were by the Advice of the Clergy But because it may be of some advantage to the right understanding of this whole subject to have a clear
Allowance to them Was it because they had a Right to demand it Or that He had no Right to refuse it Was it because it had always been Customary for them to Sit when the Parliament met and to have such a Commission sent to them as often as they sat Nothing of all this But for divers Urgent and Weighty Causes and Considerations Him thereunto especially moving Out of his especial Grace and meer Motion That he granted it by virtue of his Royal Prerogative and of that Supreme Authority in Causes Ecclesiastical which gave him the same Power over his Clergy that all other Christian Princes were wont to exercise over Theirs And which how Great it was as to these matters I have before particularly shewn But to go on with this Commission The King having thus asserted his Authority now by virtue thereof gives leave to that Convocation Always provided that the President and greater number of the Bishops were present during the Session of the Parliament then Assembled to Propose Confer Treat Debate Consider Consult or Agree upon the Exposition or Alteration of any Canon or Canons then in force and of and upon any such other New Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions as they should 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 observed fulfill'd and kept c. And further to Confer Debate Treat Consider Consult and Agree of and upon such other Points Matters Causes and Things as himself from time to time should deliver or cause to be deliver'd unto the said Lord Bishop of Canterbury President of the said Convocation under his Sign Manual or Privy Signet to be Debated Consider'd Consulted and Concluded upon This was the Business for which that Convocation sat and which they were accordingly licensed to enter upon But the Restrictions under which they were allowed to Act are yet more narrow than Those which his present Majesty laid upon our late Convocation For all this They were required to do not only under the same Conditions that I have beforeshewn were laid upon the Other but with these further Limitations namely 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 should not be contrary or repugnant to the Liturgy Established or to the Rubricks in it or to the 39 Articles or to any Doctrine Orders and Ceremonies of the Church of England already Established Thus did this Prince give such Orders for the Proceedings of this Convocation as he thought expedient to be observed by Them And when for the more effectual suppressing and preventing of the Growth of Popery He resolved an Oath should be framed for the Clergy to take of their firm adherence to the Doctrine and Discipline of the Church of England And that a Canon should be drawn to enforce the taking of it He sent a new Order to them May 17 to empower them to enter on that Debate and to require them to Prepare and present such an Oath and Canon to Him But other Princes have gone yet farther than this They have not only prescribed to their Convocations what they should go about but have actually drawn up beforehand what they thought convenient to have Establish'd and have required them to Approve of it In the Convocation which met May 18 1 Jac. 1 The King sent his Letters with the Articles of 1562 to Them to be Approved and Allowed of by Them And to another Convocation about four Years after the same Prince signified to both Houses his Pleasure for Singing and Organ Service to be settled in Cathedral Churches without ever submitting it to their Judgment whether they approved of it or no. I shall conclude these Remarks with the Opinion which the Lower House of Convocation had of the Necessity of the King's Authority to Empower Them to enter with Security on their Debates about Matters of Religion in the first Year of King Edward the Sixth At the first Meeting of which we find this Order among some others made by them That Certain be appointed to know whether the Arch-bishop has obtain'd Indemnity for the House to intreat of Matters of Religion in Cases forbidden by the Statutes of this Realm to treat in But there is another Particular in which I have before shewn that Christian Princes had upon Occasion exercised an Eminent Authority over their Synods Whilst for the better Observance of the Orders which they gave to Them They asserted a Right either in Person or by their Commissioner to sit with and to preside over Them That our Kings heretofore did meet and sit together with their Clergy is not to be deny'd And our Great Oracle of the Law has told us That they did oftentimes appoint Commissioners by Writ to sit with them at the Convocation and to have Conusance of such Things as they meant to Establish that nothing might be done in prejudice of their Authority 'T is true since the Restriction laid upon the Clergy by the Statute of K. Henry 8 the King is now become so secure of them that He has no great need to send any such Commissioner to them to regulate their Proceedings For being neither at liberty to enter upon any Synodical Act but what he gives them leave to go upon Nor when they have concluded upon any Point being allow'd to Promulge or put it in Execution unless it shall be approved of and confirmed by Him He has nothing left to apprehend from them but is by his Commission as effectually President over their Debates as if he were present in Person among them And yet tho' this Act has therefore render'd the Exercise of such an Authority less necessary than it was before it has not depriv'd the King of it For even after the passing of this Statute K. Henry 8 by his Vicar General not only presided together with the Archbishop over the Convocation but Deliberated Voted and to all intents and purposes Acted together with his Clergy in it This is manifest from the Acts of the Convocation of the year 1536 and of which it may not be amiss to give a short account upon this Occasion Upon the 9th day of June 1536. Mr. William Peter came into the Convocation and alleged That for as much as this Synod was called by the Authority of the most illustrious Prince K. Henry 8 and that the said Prince ought to have the first Place in the said Convocation and in his Absence the Honourable Master Thomas Cromwel his Vicegerent being Vicar General in Ecclesiastical Causes ought to possess his Place Therefore he desired that the said Place might be assigned to Him And at the same time presented his said Master's Letters Sealed with the Seal of his Office as Vicar General Which being read the most Reverend the Archbishop assign'd him a Place besides
Archbishop and Legate held a Synod at Merton upon St. Barnabas's day The Pope had the year before granted to the King the Tenths of the Clergy for three years But the Clergy tho' they Honour'd the Pope much yet resolved not to part with their Money And the Archbishop held this Synod on purpose to Oppose the payment of what he had granted Upon another Legate's being sent hither Anno 1261 several Councils were this year call'd and held in Our Country The two Archbishops Assembled their Respective Clergy at London and Beverley And Boniface held another distinct Council at Lambeth and publish'd many excellent Constitutions in it But most famous in these times as of chiefest Authority afterwards was the Council Assembled by Ottobon another Legate about the Year 1268. He had two years before at the Parliament at Northampton Assembled the Clergy who met there and with Them Excommunicated all such as should adhere to Simon Montfort and his Party And now he held this Other at London with the Clergy of the whole Kingdom and therein publish'd those Notable Constitutions we still have under his Name It was now become a matter of Custom and accounted a matter of Right for the Legates Extraordinary and the Archbishop of Canterbury as Legate of Course to Summon the Clergy to Convocations Insomuch that we do not find this Great King who otherwise was sensible enough of the Encroachments that had been made and were daily making upon the Royal Authority to have been at all Offended at it Hence Peckham the Archbishop being return'd from Rome Anno 1280 the same year held a Council at Redding and therein commanded the Constitutions of the General Council of Lyons to be observed And the next year He assembled another at Lambeth in which the Orders and Constitutions establish'd by Otho and Ottobon were Confirm'd and some Others added for the better Government of the Church About ten years after the same Peckham again held another Synod at Redding in which when the King heard that They were attempting some Orders in derogation to his Authority He sent to the Archbishop and Bishops to desist And upon his Threatnings they put a stop to their Proceedings and Brake up the Council And thus have we seen what Encroachments were made towards the End of this Period upon the Prince's Authority in the Subject before Us. There were within this Period as all along after besides these National and Provincial Councils several Episcopal or Diocesan Synods Assembled for the Affairs of that particular Diocess in which they were held and some Rules were made by Them to be observed by the Clergy of that District only Such were the Constitutions of Alexander Bishop of Coventry Anno 1237 Of Walter Bishop of Worcester made in his Synod at Worcester Anno 1240 Of Walter Bishop of Norwich made in his Synod at Norwich Munday after Michaelmas Anno 1255 Of Giles Bishop of Salisbury Anno 1256 And of which it is not necessary that I should take any particular Notice on this Occasion But tho' the Affairs of the Church were in great measure handled in these several Kinds of Ecclesiastical Synods yet this did not hinder but that still Our Kings with their Great Councils did from time to time interpose in these Matters and order many things relating to Ecclesiastical Persons and Causes When Wulstan Bishop of Worcester challenged some Lands as belonging to his See which were with-held from it by the Archbishop of Tork the Cause between them was judged by William the Conquerour in his Parliament at Pendrede the Archbishop Bishops Lords and Great Men being present This was manifestly a State Assembly and by these was the Right between the two Bishops examined and determined But more properly Ecclesiastical was the Cause which William the Second examined in his Parliament at Rockingham upon Anselm's resolving to go to Rome and to receive his Pall from thence This the King vehemently opposed and declared that the Archbishop could not both preserve his fidelity to him and pay obedience to the Pope And it is observable that the referring of this cause to the Judgment of the Parliament was at Anselm's own desire who cannot be suspected of doing any thing that he thought in the least inconsistent with the Liberties of the Church The next great Controversie that arose of this kind was in the second Year of King Henry the First about the Right of Investitures This was a point much debated in those times not only here but in most of the Countries of Europe To this the King laid a claim and accounted himself to have as good a Title to it as his Father and Brother before him had Upon this occasion the Quarrel grew so high between the King and Anselm that the latter was once more sorced to leave the Kingdom But the cause was at last brought before the Parliament and there it was by mutual Consent resolved that from thenceforth no one should be invested by the King or any other lay hand to a Bishoprick or Abbey by the delivery of the Pastoral Staff or Ring but yet upon such a promotion they should do Homage to the King for it which was the other thing that Pope Urban had before insisted upon as much as upon the point of Investitute its self This matter was scarce ended when another arose about the Marriage of the Clergy And this was in like manner ended in Parliament by the Authority as well of the King and his Lords as of the Archbishops and Bishops And an order made to prohibit all such as were in any Clerical Order to cohabit with their Wives There was yet a third great Controversie remaining concerning the Primacy of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Subjection that was due from the Archbishop of York to him This also was brought before the King at Whitsontide and determined by him with his Bishops and Lords and the Authority of the See of Canterbury asserted by them And when some time after this Thurstine Archbishop of York refused to be concluded by this Decree he was in full Parliament obliged either to renounce his Bishoprick or to pay Obedience to the See of Canterbury No sooner was this King dead and Stephen placed in his Throne but in full Parliament he confirm'd the Liberties of the Church and made very ample Concessions to it In his Parliament at Northampton two years after he disposed of several Ecclesiastical Preferments And that this was the customary manner of those times may be gathered from the last Parliament of this King Which was call'd by him as well for the Affairs of the Kingdom as to make Provision for the Church of York then vacant by the death of St. William the late Bishop of it How far the Parliament still continued to meddle with Ecclesiastical Affairs under the next King's Reign the
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
the Kings behalf The Affairs then which the Convocation is in general to debate about and consent to are the Urgent Affairs which concern the King the Church and the Realm And these therefore are the constant Introduction of every Convocation Writ But what those Affairs are with Reference to Any or All of These which every particular Convocation is call'd to consider That the King reserves to himself to declare to Them and they are when met to expect his special Direction and not to ramble after their own Fancies on any Matter within this general Compass without his Warrant It has indeed been questioned by a Late Author Whether this Clause was antiently inserted into these Writs and he would fain have it thought that herein also the Clergy have of late been encroach'd upon But the Forms of Publick Instruments are not so easily altered If they were we might rather have expected that some other Expressions which relate to those Privileges which the Clergy formerly enjoy'd but which have now for a long time been utterly laid aside should have been omitted or changed than this which is perfectly agreeable both to the Laws of the Realm and to his Majesty's Royal Prerogative in these Matters But indeed this Clause if not as antient as the Writ it self is yet of very great Antiquity And we have at this day Writs as far back as King Henry the Sixth's Time in which this Clause is found in the very same Words that it is continued in at this day But were there any doubt to be made concerning the Authority of this Clause yet that Method that has always been taken by the King to set the Convocation on Work would be more than enough to shew how intirely their Deliberations depend upon his Direction When the last Convocation under his present Majesty was met the King by his Principal Secretary of State sent his Commission to Them In which having taken notice of the Statute of Henry the Eighth before mentioned and the Obligation which was thereby laid upon Them not to proceed to any Business without his Licence first had so to do he does therefore in order to their proceeding with Safety to Themselves and pursuant to the true Purpose and Intent of that Law particularly declare upon what Points he allow'd Them to Consult and under what Conditions he gave them Authority so to do That they should consider of any Alterations which they thought proper to be made in the Form Rites or Ceremonies of our Divine Service That they should Review the Book of Canons Should consider What Defects or Abuses might be found in the Ecclesiastical Courts How the Manners both of the Ministers and People might more effectually be Reform'd And such Provision be made that None should hereafter be Admitted into Holy Orders but such as were duly qualified both in their Lives and Learning to be received into the same These are the Heads on which the Clergy of that Convocation were directed to debate And even upon these they were to deliberate under these following Restrictions 1st That the President and Greater Number of the Bishops were to be always present And 2dly That even upon these General Heads they should consider only such particular Points Matters Causes or Things as his Majesty should propose or cause to be proposed by the President of the Convocation to Them Such was the Commission by which the last Convocation was set on work And to prepare the particular Matters which the King reserved to himself to propose to Them and upon which alone They were allow'd to debate His Majesty some time before the Convocation was to meet appointed a Select Committee of the Bishops and Clergy to consult about the same Matters and to draw up such Resolutions as they should think most fitting for him to lay before the Convocation when it should be Assembled Nor was this any New Invention any Unusual Restraint laid upon the Clergy in these days of Doubt and Distrust but the constant Method which had before been pursued ever since the 25 Hen. 8. It cannot be deny'd but that whatever his present Majesty may in some Mens Opinions be said to be yet without all Question King Charles the First was a true Friend to the Episcopal Clergy Nor can it any more be doubted whether Archbishop Laud had not both Care enough to Examine into the Rights of the Convocation and Interest enough with that Prince to assert the Privileges of it Let us therefore to avoid all Exceptions in this Case enquire how things pass'd in that Famous Convocation of 1640 wherein much was done and great Offence given to those who Resolved not to be pleased with any thing that either that King or that Archbishop did but nothing that can justly be found fault with by such as we are now especially concerned if it may be to convince Now that Convocation being met by vertue of the same Writ that is still made use of in these Cases the King sent his Special Commission to them to impower them to Act bearing date April 15. 1640. In this Commission he first at large Recites the Statute of the 25 Hen. 8. as from the time that it was made it had always been the Custom in the like Commissions to do to shew the need they had of his Royal Licence and Assent to enable them to go on with safety in their Debates and Resolutions Having done this He in the next place prefaces the Permission he was about to grant to them with these very Words which ought not to be omitted Know ye therefore that We for divers urgent and weighty Causes and Considerations Us thereunto 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 to the most Reverend Father in God c. I shall not need to make any Remarks upon this Preamble which fully answers all the Pretences of those who fancy not only the Sitting but the Acting too of the Convocation to be a matter of Right naturally belinging to Them And that either no Commission at all is needful to Authorize them so to do or that if there be the King is of Course obliged to Grant it to them For first That without the King's Commission they cannot proceed to any Business of Themselves without Violating an Act of Parliament and encroaching upon the King's Prerogative Royol and Supreme Authority in Cases Ecclesiastical is here directly asserted And that such a Commission the King may lawfully Grant or refuse as he thinks convenient not only the constant Custom of our Princes in adjourning their Convocations excepting only at such times as they had something for them to do assures us but the very words of the present Commission directly imply For how came the King to grant this
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
Atheists Deists Socinians and I know not what Monsters of Scepticism and Infidelity Will such a scanty Induction suffice to vindicate him either to God or the World for those barbarous Suggestions by which He has appeal'd to Both against Us What he has to object against the last of those Books we are conceâ—n'd with I cannot tell and therefore must be excused if I make no Apology for it As for the second the Vindication of the Blessed Trinity let us suppose that the Learned Author of it has advanced such an Explication of that Great Mystery as being Critically examined may fall under the Inconveniencies so warmly Alledged against it Nay from whence Tritheism not only may possibly be Inferr'd but necessarily must follow And that is as much as his most Eager Adversary can desire Is Dr. Sherlock convinced that this can justly be inferr'd much more do's he believe that this must necessarily be the Consequence of his Hypothesis This Gentleman in his own Conscience knows the contrary And that that Learned Man as much abhors the Doctrine of Tritheism as the Animadverter himself can do And would as heartily joyn in an Anathema against those who Assert it But what is there then in this case for a Convocation to do Why I suppose he would have that Learned Body joyn hands with the Animadverter and pronounce his Explication of the Holy Trinity to be Heretical And then either Dr. Sherlock must recant it or he may be try'd by them for Heresie I find 't is very happy for the Dean that the Old Writ de â—eretico Comburendo is determined Or else for ought I know his next Motion might be from his Own Chapter-House into Smithfield Well but what if in the Convocation some such dull Men should be found as 't is plain there still are out of it who after all that either the Animadverter has written or the University decreed do not believe the Doctrine of Tritheism to be so necessarily consequent upon his Hypothesis as to warrant them to Judge it to be Heretical What if there should be some Others who tho' no Friends to the Hypothesis should yet have so much Charity for the Dean as to be unwilling to fall so severely upon him as some warm Men would have them do In short What if a yet Greater Number of Others should appear who tho' they neither favour the Dean nor are Friends to his Hypothesis may yet look upon him to have meant well and to deserve some consideration for his former Services Who may think it unsafe for the Church to declare it self in favour of One Man's Hypothesis or against anothers Who may cry out as loudly against some for being Sabellians as an Opposite Sort have done against Others as Tritheists Or lastly who may conceive the best way to be to take the King's Example and to be content to Reduce all Parties to the Old Received Terms And thereby at once both secure the Church against any farther Mischief and softly Censure those who have departed from Them In all these Cases it is evident that the Convocation may be very likely to fly into Heats and Parties and after much Contention nothing to be done And then the Enemies without will smile and tell the World that when it came to the tryal the Convocation it self could not Agree about this Matter and from thence draw an untoward Consequence against the very Doctrine it self For my Own Part I am neither engaged by my Opinion to support Dr. Sherlock's Explication nor will I ever become an Advocate for any Man to the publick Detriment of the Church or its Doctrine But as I am perswaded he had no Heretical Design nor is knowingly involved in any Tritheistical Opinion so I cannot but think it very hard that He should be forced to believe a Plurality of Gods whether he do's believe any such Doctrine or no. And if to Err in such a matter as this or not to see all the possible Consequences of an Hypothesis in so abstruse a Speculation be a Crime I am afraid it will be hard for any of Us to be Altogether Innocent As for the Other Remaining Author I shall say but very little Let his Crime be what it will yet it must be allow'd that there are Other Ways of calling him to an account for it than by a Convocation and therefore that this can be no Ground to Prove the necessity of their Meeting There is yet one thing more advanced by this Author not indeed as a Work which He thinks necessary for a Convocation directly to meet about but as a Motive to shew How requisite it is that somewhat should be done by Them in the Matters already mentioned and that is Fifthly upon the account of those Mischievous Effects which these various Opinions and Heresies have produced amongst the Laity They are such that if we may Credit Him a Convocation seems necessary not only for the Sake of the Faith and Doctrine of the English Church but even to preserve the Belief of any Revelation I am loath says He to be more particular but the Cause and the Effect are Both plain This is the last Effort and 't is push'd Home by Him And here I will not deny but that the Disputes which have arisen among us in matters of Religion and the Diversity of Opinions advanced thereupon may have done their Part to corrupt the Minds and Manners of Many When Men of Parts and Passion fall foul upon One Another and Religion is the Subject and each accounts it a Proof of his Zeal for God to maintain his Point and His Honour together Whatever Party Prevails Religion is sure to suffer and 't is Great Odds but Both the Litigants are the Worse Men for it as long as they live I need not say what an indecent Heat has appear'd in several of our Late Controversies and what a Vein of Levity and Ra 〈…〉 ry has run through some Others And what a Tincture all these are apt to leave upon the Minds of those who interest themselves in these kind of Quarrels and what a diversion they afford to Men of more Wit than Judgment of more ill-Nature than Piety we have too much Experimented But can this Author yet find out no other Cause that may have contributed its Part to these unhappy Effects no less if not more than all these Disputes I would to God there were no Other But what then shall we say of our Factions and our Divisions our Resentments and Animosities our Interests and our Designs What shall we say of Those new Schisms which These have produced Such as I believe were never heard of before in the Church of Christ And for the â—ensuring or Suppressing of which if â—or Any thing a Convocation seems to be truly the most wanted In particular What shall we say of the Conversation and Examples of some of those who wait at the Altar and by their Office and Profession seem engaged
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
knowledge of the method in which Ecclesiastical Affairs were wont to be transacted in these most remote times upon which I am now entring and that the understanding of these will very much depend upon a right apprehension of the nature of those great Councils I shall have so much occasion to insist upon in this Period I will endeavour in the first place to give the most distinct account I can of them and that from Foreign Historians as well as from those of our Own Country And here were the manner of holding Parliaments as truly ancient as its Preface pretends and as some affirm that it is we should be able to go on the more easily in our Account of these Councils But because there are many things which make me justly suspect the Antiquity of that piece I must be forced to look out for some other Guides of a better Note and of whose Sincerity there can be no doubt That there was all along in these days a very near Affinity between the Polity of France and that of our own Country in its Ecclesiastical as well as in its civil Establishment might from many Instances evidently be made appear Those Northern Nations who about 400 years after Christ began to over-run the greater part of Europe were very much alike in their Manners and Constitutions And the Government which at the beginning they setled in those Countries in which they six'd tho' in some Circumstances it might vary yet in the main was the same too Now the Parliaments of France for so in aftertimes the great Councils of the Nation were call'd by them as well as with us were first brought into a setled Order and Method by Pepin Brother to Carloman about the year 744 in the very times we are noâ— discoursing about And the manner in which he did it was this He call'd together his Bishops and great Lords to a Council at Soissons and there with the advice of both commanded the ancient Canons to be observed and set out several new Constitutions for the Government of the Clergy as well as of the Laity And to the end that the State of both might be kept in better order they farther decreed that from thenceforth such a Synod should be held for the same purpose once every Year And thus this Affair stood for some time till about eleven years after being a little at leisure from those Wars which had almost continually exercised him he began to put his Kingdom into a better Posture To which end having again call'd together almost all the Bishops of France he resolved to have two Meetings held every year the first upon the Kalends of March in the presence of the King and at such place as he should appoint the other upon the Kalends of October at Soissons or at such other place as the Bishops at the former Meeting should agree And here began a manifest difference to appear between the Civil and Ecclesiastical Synods For at the former of these there met not only the Bishops but the chief of the Lay Lords of the Realm In that were Laws made both for the Civil and Ecclesiastical State and being framed by the Council were examined and confirmed by the King Whereas at the latter there appear'd only the Bishops and Clergy and these made no new Constitutions but only consulted together about the State of the Church and if need were prepared matter for the next State Meeting or else took care to order the Reformation of Mens Manners according to the Laws already made Such was the Polity which that King establish'd for the Ordering both of Civil and Ecclesiastical Affairs But now this Settlement begun by Pepin was very much improved by Charles the Great And because of this we have a very exact account given us by Hincmarus out of the Writings of Adalardus Abbot of Corbey and a near Relation of Charles himself it may not be amiss to take a short View of it In the first place then He appointed two Assemblies to be held every Year the One a General Council of all the Bishops Abbots and Lords of the Realm The Other more select consisting only of a certain number of the more aged and honourable of all these such as the Prince should think sit to chuse together with his principal Ministers of State whom he also call'd to it In the General Council all the publick Affairs for the following Year were setled In the Other were handled such incidental Matters as not being foreseen could not by Consequence be provided for in that Great Assembly and yet were of such a Nature that They ought not to be deferr'd till that Council should meet again In Both these Councils tho' chiefly in the General One Laws were made both for the Church and Realm The King proposed to them what He would have them debate upon and having for three days consulted together they laid the Result of their Debates before Him and his Choice and Approbation determined the Matter But that which I would chiefly observe in these Councils is this That as the Causes which sell in to be handled by them were of a different Kind so were they dispatch'd by Them after a different Manner If the Matter to be deliberated upon were purely Spiritual in that Case the Bishops and Abbots went apart by Themselves and debated upon it If it were wholly Civil or Military the Lords alone consulted about it If it were of a mix'd Nature as relating to the Government or Discipline of the Church then they Both together treated of it But which soever it were still the King consider'd of their Resolutions and determined all as He saw fit From this difference both of the Matters debated in these Assemblies and of the Manner of deliberating upon Them the same Assembly is oftentimes called both a Royal and Synodical Council Thus Sigebert styles the Council of Trebur under the Emperour Conrade Anno 1031. And thus may many of our ancient Councils be distinguish'd I shall mention only One in which a learned Antiquary of our Own Country has made the same Remark the famous Synod of Aenham at which not only the Bishops and Abbots but the lay Nobility were present But yet the most part of what was done in it related to the Church and was concluded by the Clergy alone who went apart from the Other Lords for that purpose It were an easie matter to shew that the same method of deliberation continued to be observed not only in our more Ancient General Councils of this period but even after the Reduction of our Parliament to the Form in which it now is But this would lead me too far away from those Times I am now upon And I shall have a more proper Occasion hereafter to take notice of it In the mean time from what has been said it appears that the Method of transacting publick Affairs in France in