Apostates from the Church Catholick for pretending to Vindicate the Constitution of the Church of England as by Law Establish'd this is a Novelty which we know not what to make of a Prodigy becoming a Time and Place of Wonders To lay open the Design of this New-Attempt and which may otherwise in time improve into Another Schism and produce us a Third Church of England composed only of such Persons as will disclaim all Authority of the Civil-Magistrate from having any thing to do in Matters of Religion it may possibly be of some Use to represent to such as have not yet lay'd aside all Regard to Her the plain Sense of our Reformed Church in the Points under Debate and shew them from whom I received the Doctrine which I have asserted in Vindication of the Kings Supremacy And having done this I cannot but hope that some of them will consider what is the true Design of those who are so forward to pull down what our Wise and Pious Ancestors took so much care to Build And whether the Methods we are now running so blindly into must not end either in downright Popery or Fanaticism at the last When the Foundation was first laid for a regular Reformation of Religion among Us One of the first things which those who carry'd on that great Work saw it needful to do was to restore the Crown to that Authority which the Prevalence of the Papal Power had so notoriously deprived it of In order hereunto the Convocation having agreed to submit themselves to the King an Act of Parliament was framed upon that Submission in which among Others these four things were Establish'd 1st That the Convocation should from thenceforth be Assembled only by the Kings Writ 2dly That it should make no Canons or Constitutions but by Virtue of the Kings Licence first given them so to do 3dly That having agreed on any Canons or Constitutions they should yet neither Publish nor Execute them without the Kings Confirmation of them Nor 4thly By his Authority Execute any but with these Limitations That they be neither against the Kings Prerogative nor against any Common or Statute Law nor finally in any other respect contrary to the Customs of the Realm This Act being thus pass'd continued in force all the time of King Henry the VIII and his Son King Edward the VI. Queen Mary succeeding and rescinding whatsoever her Father or Brother had done in prejudice of the Romish Church abolish'd among Others this Act also But her Reign ending within a few Years after One of the first things done by her Sister Queen Elizabeth was to Revive such Laws made by those two Kings as were thought Necessary for the Reformation of the Church and so this Statute was brought again in Force The Title of the Act by which this Statute was revived and the other Authorities therein express'd were again Annex'd to the Crown is this An Act restoring to the Crown the antient Jurisdiction over the Estate Ecclesiastical and Spiritual c. And that taken from the Words of the Act its self wherein the design of this Statute is declared to be for the Restoring of the Rights Jurisdictions and Preheminencies appertaining to the Imperial Crown of this Realm And in another place To the Imperial Crown of this Realm of Right belonging and appertaining And from which it is I suppose obvious to conclude that in the Opinion of that Parliament such an Authority over our Convocations as is before shewn to have been Establis'd by the 25 H. VIII c. 19. and was hereby again vested in the Crown was not either by that or this Statute first given to our Kings but only Restored to them as a part of their Royal Jurisdiction over the State Ecclesiastical and which did always of right belong and appertain to them The Rights of the Crown being thus once more by Law Restored to it to secure them the better against any New Encroachments for the time to come it seem'd good to this Parliament after the Example of those of King Henry the VIII that an Oath should be framed in Recognition of the Supremacy here declared to belong to our Royal Sovereigns and be enjoyn'd to be taken by all Officers and Ministers Ecclesiastical and Temporal as in the Act may more fully be seen In this Oath we solemnly testify and declare in our Conscience that the King's Highness is the only Supreme Governour of this Realm and of all other his Highness Dominions and Countries as well in all Spiritual or Ecclesiastical things or Causes as Temporal And we do promise that to our Power we will assist and defend all Jurisdictions Priviledges Preheminences and Authorities granted or belonging to the Kings and Queens of this Kingdom or United and Annex'd to the Imperial Crown of this Realm Now this Oath being design'd as both the Subject of it shews and the Words of the Act it self expressly declare to be for the better Observation and Maintenance of that Statute it must follow that the Supremacy which we there Testify in our Conscience to belong to our Princes must be Interpreted by what that Act has United and Annex'd to the Crown and so comprehend All that Authority of the King over his Convocation which in the 25th H. VIII was expressly Restored to our Princes and which being again by the Repeal of that Act recovered from them was by this present Statute once more Re-setled in the Crown as it had been before How those who now appear so Zealous in Opposition to this Authority and have probably more than Once solemnly taken this Oath will acquit themselves either before God or the World of a manifest Violation of it by their present Behaviour is past my skill to Comprehend Unless because some part of that Oath is now laid aside they should chance to think that therefore the whole Obligation of it is ceased even to those who have taken it in its former Integrity But indeed should we allow that there were some weight in this yet since the Laws made in Defence of the Kings Supremacy are still the same they ever were our Recognition of it must be look'd upon to be the same too And in renouncing all Forreign Jurisdiction in Causes Ecclesiastical which We still do we must be accounted as Effectually to acknowledge the Kings Supremacy according to the legal Notion of it as when we the most fully declared our Assent to it tho' it should be granted that we do not now so expressly Oblige our selves to the Defence of it as we were heretofore wont to do And this I say with particular Respect to the present State of this Oath for otherwise as to what concerns Us of the Clergy it cannot be doubted but that Our Obligation as to the Substance of it is still the same it ever was The Declaratory part of this Oath being what we in Terms subscribe to
of these Articles is Great and Unavoidable To affirm them in any part to be Superstitious or Erroneous whether he who does it be found out or no is by the Canons of our Church Excommunication ipso facto And if the Offender be discover'd and fortunes to be a Clergy-Man he is by the Statute Law of the Realm to be convented before his Bishop for it and if he does not presently Revoke his Error is in the First Instance to be Deprived of All his Ecclesiastical Promotions and in the Second loses them without more ado This is the Law both of the Church and of the State in the present Case And with what Conscience any Clergy-Man beneficed in such a Church can excuse himself for flying with so much Virulence in the Face both of these Laws and of these Canons I shall leave it to any One who has any Conscience himself though never so much prejudiced against the King's Supremacy to consider To the Articles of Religion set forth by Queen Elizabeth let us add the next authentick Evidence of our Church's Sense in this particular the Canons and Constitutions made by the Convocation in the first Year of King James I. Of these the very first is design'd to assert the Supreme Authority of the King's Majesty over the Church of England In order whereunto it ordains That All Persons Ecclesiastical shall faithfully keep and observe and as much as in them lieth shall cause to be observed and kept of Others All and Singular Laws and Statutes made for Restoring to the Crown of this Kingdom the antient Jurisdiction over the State Ecclesiastical Which last words being the very Title of the Act of the First of Queen Elizabeth we must conclude the meaning of the Canon to be this That they shall faithfully Observe the Laws referred to in that Statute and do what in them lies to cause All Others to Observe the same Seeing then that Act of the 25 H. 8. c. 19. is One of those which is there expresly Revived it will follow that it expresly comes within the Words of this Canon and that the Powers therein annexed to the Crown over the Convocation are hereby approv'd and allow'd of as part of that Antient Jurisdiction which always of Right belong'd to our Kings over the Estate Ecclesiastical But the next Canon is more express and will come more fully up to our present purpose It s design is to Restrain the Impugners of the King's Supremacy over the Church of England And thus it runs in our English Version of it Whosoever shall hereafter affirm that the King's Majesty hath not the same Authority in Causes Ecclesiastical that the Godly Kings had amongst the Jews and Christian Emperors in the Primitive Church Or impeach any part of the Regal Supremacy in the said Causes Restored to the Crown and by the Laws of this Realm therein Established let him be Excommunicated ipso facto and not Restored but only by the Archbishop after his Repentance and Publick Revocation of those his Wicked Errors It is plain by comparing of these two Canons together that the design of the Convocation was in the First to Declare and Assert the King's Supremacy and to oblige the Clergy to a strict and diligent Observance of it By the Second to Restrain all sorts of Persons from denying or otherwise endeavouring to hurt or extenuate the Legal Notion of it And two things there are which will deserve to be taken notice of in this Second Canon First What that Supremacy is which our Convocation was so careful to Assert and Defend And Secondly What it is to Impugn this Supremacy within the meaning of this Canon First As for the former of these the Supremacy here meant two Rules there are delivered by this Canon whereby we may come to a Right Understanding of it First It is that Authority over the Estate Ecclesiastical which by the Statutes of King Henry the Eighth and King Edward the Sixth was Restored and by the Act of Queen Elizabeth Confirm'd as of Right belonging to the Imperial Crown of this Realm And Secondly It is such a Power in matters of Religion as the Godly Kings had amongst the Jews and Christian Emperors in the Primitive Church And from which by the way it may be Observed what good Reason I had to enquire into the Authority of the Christian Emperors in these Cases and to argue from thence in behalf of that Power which our Church ascribes to our Own Princes on the like Occasions How much soever some Men may slight such Proofs as being sensible that they are not to be Answer'd Secondly To impugn this Supremacy within the meaning of this Canon is either first to deny Altogether this Authority and affirm that the King either has not or ought not to have any such Power Or it is secondly By any other means to Impeach or as the Latin Canon has it more plainly to Extenuate or Hurt this Supremacy Which I conceive is then done when Men Write and Argue against it when they Censure the Laws for Establishing of it and Damn the Prince so long as he shall continue to Exercise it according to those Laws But these are not the only Canons which justify what I have written in Defence of the King's Supremacy and Condemn those who appear against it The Twelfth is yet more express to my particular Case and will shew what the Sense of our Church is concerning those who Abet the now so much magnified Opinion on the other side Whosoever shall affirm that it is lawful Cuivis Ministrorum aut Laicorum Ordini vel Eorum alterutris simul Congregatis for any Sort Rank or Degree of Ministers or Laics or for either of them Gathered together to make Canons Decrees or Constitutions concerning Ecclesiastical things without the King's Authority and shall submit themselves to be Ruled and Govern'd by them let them be Excommunicated ipso facto and not be Restored until they Repent and publickly Revoke those their Wicked and Anabaptistical Errors For if in the Opinion of our Church it be necessary for the Clergy to have Authority from the King to meet on such Occasions If to say that any Persons of what Order soever they be may without his Licence make any Canons Decrees or Constitutions Ecclesiastical nay or but even submit themselves to be govern'd by such as shall be so made be a Wicked Anabaptistical Errour and for which a Man deserves to be cast out of the Communion of our Church then it must without all Question be allow'd that according to the Doctrine Establish'd among Us the Clergy can neither Meet nor Act but with the King's Permission Nor ought we to account those Constitutions of any Authority which any Persons shall make without his leave or as such submit to them how much soever they may please to cry up their Divine Powers and Vnalienable Rights to justify their Irregular and Anabaptistical Proceedings
AN APPEAL To all the True Members OF THE Church of England In behalf of the King 's Ecclesiastical Supremacy AS By Law Establish'd by our Convocations Approved and by our most Eminent Bishops and Clergy-Men Stated and Defended against both the Popish and Fanatical Opposers of it By WILLIAM WAKE D. D. and Chaplain in Ordinary to his Majesty LONDON Printed for Richard Sare at Grays-Inn-gate in Holborn MDCXCVIII TO The most Reverend Father in GOD THOMAS By Divine Providence Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Primate of all England and Metropolitan My LORD THIS Appeal which Addresses it self to Others for their Judgment Sues with all Humility to Your Grace for Your Protection and that such as I conceive is neither Unfit for me to Ask nor for Your Grace to Afford You will here see what that true Agreement is between the Priesthood and the Empire which our Laws have Establish'd our Convocations approv'd of and our Greatest Clergy-men hitherto defended without the Censure of Any but the profess'd Enemies of our Church and Constitution But now a New Sort of Disciplinarians are risen up from within our selves who seem to comply with the Government of the Church much upon the same account that Others do with that of the State not out of Conscience to their Duty or any Love they have for it but because it is the Establish'd Church and they cannot keep their Preferments without it They hate our Constitution and Revile all such as stand up in Good Earnest for it but for all that they resolve to hold fast to it and go on still to Subscribe and Rail IN Opposition either to the Errors or Designs of these Men the Present Appeal bespeaks Your Grace's Protection not so much for its self as for the Articles and Canons of our Church and for those Excellent Worthies who in their several Successions have appear'd in Defence of the King's Supremacy over the State Ecclesiastical as by Law declared and Establish'd That you will vouchsafe still to Continue to Own a Cause in which not only the Church of England but the Church Catholick ever since the Civil Powers have become Christian is concern'd together with her The Authority we plead for in behalf of our Kings being no Other than what the most famous Bishops and Councils of the Church have given to their Empeperors and who by consequence must All be involved in the same Censure with our Parliaments and Convocations And they who now Revile the One would as freely Condemn the Other but that they are sensible that many who are well content with the Reproach of King Henry VIII and his Clergy would not endure to hear the like Charges made against Constantine and Theodosius and those Bishops and Councils which all Christians in all Ages have been wont to pay so Great a Regard to THIS My LORD is the Cause which I here bring before Your Grace In the Defence whereof I have Once already been engaged and shall with God's Assistance again appear when those who now talk with such Confidence against my former Allegations shall give me Occasion to shew how just they were and how little in Reality there is to be excepted against them In the mean time I was willing for the better Discovery of these New-Reformers by this short preliminany Treatise to draw aside the Curtain and let the World see whose Off-spring they are and from whom they derive both their Principles and their Animosities against Us. I cannot but hope that by this I shall awaken all the Sincere Members of our Church to beware of them and not give Countenance to such Attempts as under a shew of bettering Our Constitution do in Reality tend to the Utter Subversion of it To Your Grace I submit both the Design and the Performance and with all possible Duty and Respect Remain My LORD Your Grace's Most Humble and Obedient Servant WILLIAM WAKE THE PREFACE WHEN I entred upon the Defence of the Kings Supremacy in Answer to the Letter to a Convocation Man I was not so little acquainted with the Tempers and Designs of a certain Party among us as not to know that my Undertaking would be likely to displease Those who think any the least Authority that is given to his present Maiesty to be an Encroachment either upon their Civil or Ecclesiastical Rights Nor was I unsensible what might possibly be reply'd to the Arguments which I brought in Proof of it The knowledge I had of what the Papists were wont to return to the like Allegations of our Writers against them having in some measure inform'd me what upon this Occasion might probably be said in Answer to Me. But to find my self charged as if in defending the Authority of the Prince I had betray'd the Rights of the Church and appear'd in such a Cause as neither became my Function nor had any of our Clergy ever before concern'd themselves withall this I confess was a perfect Surprise to me and abundantly Convinces me that some Mens Resentments are as much beyond Modesty as they are without Reason It cannot be unknown to any who is not an utter stranger to the History of our Reformation upon what Principles it was undertaken and at last happily setled among us How the Prince's Authority was both the Means by which it was carry'd on and the Ground on which we justify'd our selves in the doing of it And indeed at the first none but the Papists that is to say those who had engrossed this Power into their own Hands and could neither endure to part with it nor to submit to the Use which they saw we intended to make of it complain'd of what we did in restoring the Prince to his antient and undoubted Right or pretended to enter any Process against us upon the Account of it It is true some time after another Party how opposite soever to the Papists in other Matters yet in this too nearly Approaching to Them began to set up themselves and to claim the same Power in behalf of their Kirk that the Romanists had pretended to in Right of their Pope and Church But against Both these our Bishops and Clergy continued firm and costant and were by all impartial Judges allow'd to be as much Superiour to them Both in their Arguments as they were in the Justice of the Cause which they maintained Thus stood this Controversy till our Own times Insomuch that I hardly know any Author professing himself a Member of the Church of England who has either cast any Aspersion upon our first Reformers for restoring the Crown to its Antient Jurisdiction or pretended that the Divine Rights of the Church were in any wise violated or infringed by it But it seems the Case is very much altered now And it is of a suddain become an Encroachment not to be endured by our New-Church-Patriots for the King to pretend to lay any Restraint upon their Assemblies and an Enterprise unbecoming a Minister of the Gospel tho'
The Sentence of both these last Canons is That they who Offend against them are to be ipso facto Excommunicated And concerning which I shall only observe thus much first that in such a Case there is no need of any Admonition as where the Judge is to give Sentence but every One is to take notice of the Law at his Peril and see that he be not overtaken by it And Secondly That there is no need of any Sentence to be pronounced Which the Canon it self has pass'd and which is by that Means already Promulged upon every One as soon as he comes within the Obligation of it In other Cases a Man may do things worthy of Censure and yet behave himself so warily in Them as to escape the Punishment of the Church for want of a legal Evidence to convict him But Excommunicatio Canonis Ligat etiam Occulta delicta Where the Canon gives Sentence there is no escaping but the Conscience of every Man becomes Obliged by it as soon as ever he is Sensible that he has done that which was forbidden under the Pain of such an Excommunication To these Canons relating to the Kings Supremacy I might add those which speak of the Authority of our Synods and there again Expressly provide for the Princes Rights Thus Can. 139. the Church affirms the Assembling of Synods to be by the Kings Authority In the 140th she acknowledges the Necessity of his Licence both for the Making and Ratifying of her Decrees in Causes Ecclesiastical And Can. 141. Censures such as shall upon this Account undervalue the Acts of our Synods in these Words Whosoever shall affirm that their Proceedings in making of Canons and Constitutions in Causes Ecclesiastical by the Kings Authority as aforesaid ought to be Despised and Contemned the same being Ratified and Enjoyn'd by the said regal Power Supremacy and Authority let them be Excommunicated and not Restored untill they Repent and publickly Revoke that their wicked Errour But in a Case so plain I shall not need to insist on any more Proofs and therefore shall content my self to observe that the Title given by publick Authority to these Canons is this Constitutions or Canons Ecclesiastical by the Bishop of London President of the Synod for the Province of Canterbury and the rest of the Bishops and Clergy of the same Province by the Kings Authority Treated and Concluded upon In their Synod c. Afterwards by the same Royal Majesty Approved Ratified and Confirm'd and by the Authority of the same under the Great Seal of England Promulged to be diligently observed thro' both Provinces as well of Canterbury as York This is the true Title given to these Canons And was fit to be thus particularly taken notice of because in our English Book of Canons which is of most common Use this Inscription as well as many of the Canons themselves is very imperfectly rendred and may be apt to lead Men into some mistakes concerning these as well as other Matters It were easie to make several Observations to our present Purpose upon the several Parts of this truly Accurate and Legal Title But I shall chuse rather to express the process of this Convocation in the Words of an Author who may perhaps be less liable to Exception and whose account of it is this That the Clergy being met in their Convocation according to the Tenour and Effect of his Majesties Writ his Majesty was pleased by Vertue of his Prerogative Royal and Supreme Authority in Causes Ecclesiastical to give and grant unto Them by his Letters Patents dated April 12. and June 25. full free and lawful Liberty Licence Power and Authority to Convene Treat Debate Consider Consult and Agree upon such Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions as they should think necessary fit and convenient for the Honour and Service of Alimighty God the good and quiet of the Church and the better Government thereof from time to time c. Which being Agreed on by the Clergy and by them presented to the King humbly requiring him to give his Royal Assent unto them according to the Statute made in the 25 of King Henry VIII and by his Majesties Prerogative and Supreme Authority in Ecclesiastical Causes to Ratifie and Confirm the same His Majesty was graciously pleased to Confirm and Ratifie them by his Letters Patents straightly commanding and requiring all his loving Subjects diligently to observe execute and keep the same c. And here I shall put an end to my first kind of Proofs in Defence of that Authority which I have ascribed to our Kings over the Convocations of the Clergy of the Church and Realm of England I proceed in the next place more fully to confirm this Authority to be agreeable to the Doctrine of our Church from the Testimony 's of our most learned Divines who have written upon this Subject from the beginning of the Reformation to our Own times II. It has been the Endeavour of some of late who would be thought still to retain a good Affection to the Reform'd Religion nevertheless to cast the worst Aspersions they are able upon those who were the chief Instruments of God's Providence in the Reformation of it What their design in this their Procedure is or how upon the Principles now set on Foot to justifie what was heretofore done among us as to this Matter or indeed without a Miracle ever to have had any thing at all done in it I cannot tell It being certain that such a Convocation as they now seem alone to allow of as Canonical would never have departed from the Way that they were in or have endured any Proposals tending to such a Change as was otherwise happily made among Us. But however since such is their Prejudice both against the Opinions and Actions of our first Reformers I will so far comply with their unreasonable Humours as to pass lightly over those Times of Church Servitude as well as Church Reformation and come to such Authorities as I suppose they will not have the Confidence to except against To pass by then the Opinion of the Convocation which about 3 Years after the Submission made to King Henry the VIII set out the first Doctrinal Treatise that led the Way to the Discovery and Renuntiation of the Popish Errors What shall we say to the Publick Declaration made by King Henry himself against the Council of Mantua and in which He cannot be supposed to have Spoken any thing but what he thought carry'd its Own Evidence along with it In times past says He All Councils were appointed by the Authority Consent and Commandment of the Emperours Kings and Princes Why now taketh the Bishop of Rome this upon him Wherefore we think it best that every Prince call a Council Provincial and every Prince to Redress his Own Realm And this he Spake not of his own Head but with the Advice of his Bishops and
by more than one Obligation engaged so to do to appear in defence of the Royal Supremacy It is indeed very strange to consider after what manner a certain Writer has of late deliver'd his Sense as to both these and such as will hardly be Credited except I repeat it in his own Words 'T was Natural says He to expect the Insurrection of Infidels and Hereticks against the Proposals and Power of a Convocation But who would have dreamed that any Clergy Man of the Church should lift up his Heel against Her When the great Luminaries of the Church shall sign the Theta upon Her Rights Liberties and Authorities Divine and Humane and this Voluntarily and without any Bribe offer'd or Menace denounced the Concession is taken for Sincere and for that Cause Just. King Henry the VIII of famous Memory notwithstanding all his Claims at Common-law and his Interest in his Parliament thro' Power and the Rewards by Abby and Church-lands could not have made himself so absolute in Eccesiasticals had he not procured before the Submission of the Clergy Nor could he have compassed That but by the Terrour of a Praemunire under which they had fallen and upon which he was resolved to follow his Blow and so to bend or break them And yet this Act of a Popish Vnreform'd and will nigh Outlaw'd Convocation Extorted for fear of Ruin and thro' Ignorance and Non-suspicion of the Acts consequent upon it prejudges more against our Liberties than all Secular Constitutions could possibly have done without it And must we Now consecrate all these Procedures the Results of which we feel in the total Ruin of Ecclesiastical Discipline and Christian Piety by Our voluntary Pleas and Acclamations And to gratifie the Civil Powers to an Arbitrary Vtmost violate the most Important Truths of Principles and Histories treat the Synods of the Church with Spite and Contumely and Recommend the greatest Slavery of her to the Appetite of Civil Powers This is a severe Charge and a Man had need have a very Good Cause or a very Impregnable Face who treats Kings and Parliaments Convocations and Clergymen after such a Rate For when all is done it cannot be denied but that what that Convocation did and that King and Parliament Enacted was after two intermediate Reigns again Repeated in the First of Queen Elizabeth is at this day Approv'd of by the Canons of King James the First and allow'd of in the Nine and thirty Articles of Religion to which this Author himself has more than once Subscribed And methinks the consideration of that if nothing else might have induced him to have been more temperate in his Charge against me who have defended no Other Authority in the Prince than what both He and I and every Other Clergy-man of the Church of England have solemnly declared our Assent to and are obliged to our Power to maintain But our Author does not intend to leave this Point so easily his Zeal carries him yet farther in Opposition to the King's Supremacy To say nothing of his fresh Invectives against that King and that Convocation which first began to assert the Royal Authority against the Invasions which had so notoriously been made upon it Pag. 110. He affirms the Authority of the Church in the Convention Freedom and Acts of Synods to be of Divine Right This he again insists upon pag. 115. and in the next Page calls them Divine Privileges given by God and granted to Priests for the Conduct and Conservation of the Church And in the same Page speaking of the Prince's breaking in upon these supposed Rights he says Not only the Romish Church but all Other Sectaries and the Scotch Kirk illustriously scorn to admit any Servitude notwithstanding not only National Protection but Promotion being sensible that a Liberty of Religion Government and Church-Discipline is more valuable than all worldly Wealth or Interest and without which they cannot apprehend any Protection to Religion or the Societies that Profess it From which last Words I suppose I shall not injure his Sense if I infer that then according to his Notion the Church of England is really at present in a Persecuted State and has been so ever since the Reformation And cannot be look'd upon so much as a Protected Church till this Act of the Submission of the Clergy shall be Repealed A strange Reflection certainly and very Unbecoming those manifold Blessings our Church has enjoy'd under its Reformed Princes and does at this time Enjoy under her Glorious Preserver Whose greatest Crime I am afraid it is in some Mens Opinion that he has delivered us from that Slavery into which we were running tho' such as our new Disciplinarians seem to think the only way to a Canonical Liberty I must transcribe a great part of his Book should I here Repeat all that this Author has said in the most spiteful manner that he knew how to Express it against all that plead for or speak well of this part of the King's Supremacy See how he Harangues his Brethren of the Clergy upon this Occasion P. 119. We we only says he are the Poor Tame Dis-spirited Drowsie Body that are in love with our Own Fetters And this is the only Scandalous Part of our Passive Obedience to be not only Silent but Content with an Oc n of our P rs which are not forfeited nor forfeitable to any Worldly Powers whatsoever It might perhaps be here no Improper Question to ask what this Gentleman means by so Warm an Application to the Whole Body of the Clergy Whether he would have them take Heart upon the Matter and having so Redoubted a Champion to lead them on like true Missionaries see what they can do to raise up a Croisade against these wicked Magistrates who so unwarrantably Usurp upon the Churches neither forfeited nor forfeitable Powers At least thus far 't is plain he has gone towards it that as he has before shewn the Church to be out of the Protection of the Prince so he will by and by declare the Prince to be out of the Bosom of the Church and by Both authentically qualified for a Holy War to be made upon Him For thus he goes on p. 122. Can a Claim of an Oppressive Supremacy be deem'd a Glorious Jewel in a Christian Crown which if exercised must of necessity forfeit the King's Salvation And is it not a dangerous complaisance in Priests to fan such an Ambition as must End in the Ruin of the Church the Priesthood and the Soul of the Prince which the Liberties and Powers Hierarchical were design'd to Convert Direct and Preserve But still it may be doubted how far he accounts the King's Supremacy to be Oppressive That the whole Act of the Submission of the Clergy to King Henry the VIIIth falls under this Censure we have already seen In short all that he thinks fit to be allow'd to the Christian Prince is this That the Church be
in the first Article of the 39th Canon and the Promissory no other than what is tied upon Us in the 1st Canon by an Authority which Our Adversaries I conceive will not presume to except against But not to insist upon the present Obligation of this Oath thus much at least must be confess'd and that is enough for my Purpose that All those who heretofore took the Oath of Supremacy as it was first drawn up in the Statute of Queen Elizabeth did thereby without Question both declare their Approbation of the Kings Supremacy as by that Act Establish'd and promise to their Power to Assist and Defend it But now this All our Clergy and almost all Others who were admitted to any Employ whether Civil or Ecclesiastical did do And therefore it must be allow'd that till within these last ten Years the Authority by me ascribed to the King was not only agreeable to the Sense of the Laity but to that of the Clergy too since every Clergy Man in the Realm till then did upon his Oath both declare his Approbation of it and Engage himself to his Power to Defend it And how that Authority which was so Universally received and acknowledged by us for so long a time should now become so Detestable in it self and so Destructive of the Rights and Liberties of the Church I would desire these Gentlemen if they can to Inform Me. It was about four Years after the Session of this Parliament and the Passing of this Act that the Nine and Thirty Articles of Religion were agreed upon in Convocation and Publish'd by the Queen's Authority Of these the 37th relates to the Civil Magistrate and is drawn up so exactly according to the Words as well as Sense of the Oath of Supremacy that we cannot doubt but that the Convocation had a particular Respect thereunto in the Framing of it The Queen's Majesty hath the Chief Power in this Realm of England and Other her Dominions unto whom the * Chief Government of All Estates of this Realm whether they be Ecclesiastical or Civil in All Causes doth appertain So this Article determines And what we are to Undestand by Supreme Power and Supreme Government of all Estates and in all Causes Our Laws tell us and from which we may be sure neither the Queen nor the Convocation had any Intention to depart But the Article goes on Where we attribute to the Queen's Majesty the Chief Government by which Title We understand the Minds of some dangerous Folks to be Offended We give not our Princes the Ministring either of God's Word or of the Sacraments the which thing the Injunctions also set forth by Elizabeth our Queen do most plainly testifie But that only Prerogative which we see to have been given always to all Godly Princes in Holy Scripture by God himself that they should Rule all Estates and Degrees committed to their Charge by God whether they be Ecclesiastical or Temporal And if you would know what Ruling of the Ecclesiastical Estate is hereby intended the Injunctions to which the Article Referrs us will fully clear it Where having first denied as the Article also does that by the Words of the Oath of Supremacy before-mention'd the Kings or Queens of this Realm possessors of the Crown may challenge Authority and Power of Ministry of Divine Service in the Church they declare That Her Majesty neither doth nor ever will challenge any Authority than what was challenged and lately used by the noble Kings of famous Memory King Henry the VIII and King Edward the VI. which is and was of Antient time due to the Imperial Crown of this Realm that is under God to have the Sovereignty and Rule over all manner of Persons born within these her Realms Dominions and Countries of what Estate either Ecclesiastical or Temporal soever they be These are the Words of the Queens Injunction and agreeably whereunto it is manifest the Convocation design'd to frame this part of their Article as they took the Oath of Supremacy for their Pattern in the foregoing And in consequence whereof as well as in conformity to the Laws of the Realm then Establish'd we must conclude That this Power of calling and directing the Convocation being one main part of that Jurisdiction which was declared by Act of Parliament to belong to the Crown and was accordingly Restored and Annex'd to it thereby And having as such been challenged and used both by King Henry the VIII and King Edward the VI. is also a part of that Supremacy which the Convocation here intended to attribute to the Queen as we are sure the Queen must have understood it to have been hereby ascribed to her And of this I shall give a more particular Proof when I come to consider the Notions which this Queen and her Clergy had of her Authority as to this Matter In the mean time I cannot but desire this Late Writer and All Others of the same Judgment with him who have in like manner Subscribed these Articles seriously to bethink themselves with what Conscience they did it if they had in Good earnest so ill an Opinion as they now pretend of that Power which those Articles most certainly allow of and profess to be due to the Civil Magistrate That the Author of the late Treatise not so much againt my Book as against our Laws and Government must have several times Subscribed these Articles the Character of a Minister which he takes to himself sufficiently assures Us. No Man can be Ordained a Deacon or Priest without doing of it Nor being in Orders can be admitted to any Cure of Souls or to any Other Ecclesiastical Administration whatsoever but he must again Repeat it The Method taken for performing of this Subscription is full and positive For first the Substance of what we are to Subscribe to is drawn up into three Articles whereof the first and third are these 1. That the King's Majesty under God is the only Supreme Governor of this Realm and of all other his Highness's Dominions and Countries as well in all Spiritual or Ecclesiastical Things or Causes as Temporal c. Which being the very Words of the Oath of Supremacy must be taken in the same Sense that I have before shewn that Oath was to be Understood in And 3. That we allow the Book of Articles of Religion and acknowledge All and Every the Articles therein contain'd to be agreeable to the Word of God And then to these Articles we subscribe in these very Words I S. H. do willingly and ex animo subscribe to these three Articles above mentioned and to All things contained in them He therefore who does this either must subscribe to them against his Conscience or he must thereby be concluded to profess this belief That the Authority given to the King by Our Laws and approved of in these Articles is agreeable to the Word of God The Danger of Impugning any
them p. 154 155. Nay and even the Persons that should come to them p. 207. And have Voices in them p. 208. 3. That they directed what should be handled in them p. 135. Managed their Debates p. 134. And forbad them to call in Question the Faith that had by former Synods been Establish'd p. 155 208. 4. That they judged of their Proceedings p. 135. And that in Matters of Doctrine p. 261. By the Common Rule of All Christians the Word of God p. 264 266 276. 5. That they Confirm'd the Councils Decrees See p. 242. And this not at all adventures but chose such of their Canons as they approv'd and passed them into Laws p. 139. 6. That as to their Sentences they Received Appeals from Councils p. 135 151 152. Suspended p. 154. And if they thought them too severe Released the Rigour of their Censures and Determinations p. 136. These are some of the Points which this Learned Man not only allows of but defends from the Examples of the Jewish Princes and Christian Emperors And I will be bold to say either his Treatise is altogether False and Scandalous contrary to the Rights of the Church and the Sense of the Antient Fathers or my Discourse after all that has been said against it must be Confessed to be True and Orthodox and agreeable to the Doctrine of the Church of England But because Bishops may be look'd upon as Suspicious Men let us see what those of an Inferior Order have written in this Case And for these I will take but One of a Kind Dean Nowell for the Dignitaries and the Venerable Mr. Hooker for the Rest of the Lower House As for Mr. Hooker the latter of these He was much too Young to have had any part in that Convocation in which our Articles of Religion were settled But Dr. Nowell was not only one of the most considerable Members of the Lower House at that time by his Own Dignity but chosen by the Clergy for their Prolocutor and so had the Chief Management of All that was done in it It was but Three Years after this that Mr. Dorman one of our Fugitive English Papists attacking the Queen's Supremacy as by Law Establish'd and then newly approv'd of by the Convocation this Learned Dean thought himself concern'd to undertake the Defence of it And indeed he has so well discharged his Part in it that I believe it will be very hard for our Modern Transcribers of their Arguments and Authorities to alledge any thing upon this Occasion that will not be found to have been fully answer'd before-hand in that Book His Treatise is expresly Referr'd to and approved of by Archbishop Whitgift in his Discourse upon this Subject and so may be look'd upon to deliver the Sense of that Great Archbishop as well as the Dean's Nor can it be reasonably doubted by Any but that it does deliver the Sense of the Whole Convocation and Clergy of the Church of England in this particular Let us see then how he States the Point between Us and his Adversary as to this matter and by what kind of Proofs he undertakes to Vindicate the One against the Other The matter in debate he thus accurately determines For. 23. We expresly divide the Offices of Christian and Godly Princes from the Offices of Bishops and Other Ministers of the Church under Them as distinct and divers Offices And we do teach that the Offices of Preaching of God's Word of the Pronouncing of Publick Prayer in the Church of Christ the Power of the Keys or of Binding and Loosing and of Ministring the Holy Sacraments are by the Word of God appointed to be the Peculiar Offices of Bishops and of other Ecclesiastical Ministers And we Teach and Preach even in Presence of Princes that neither Princes nor Any Other Persons saving only Bishops and other Ecclesiastical Ministers under them may intermeddle with the said Offices and Ministries Ecclesiastical so peculiarly and only appertaining to the said Bishops and Other Ministers of the Church P. 24. When we do speak of Causes Ecclesiastical wherein Christian Princes are the Chief Governors we mean not that Princes should Execute these Peculiar Offices of Priests as is also in the Queen's Majesty's Injunctions notified to all the Subjects of the Realm that will be disposed to understand the Truth without Cavillation But now touching the Authority of Princes to Oversee that the Bishops and Clergy do these their Offices diligently and truly according to the Rule of God's Word to Command them to do their Duty to Admonish them being therein slack to Reprehend them Offending Depose or Deprive them being Incorrigible This we say is the Office of a Chief Governor over the the said Persons Ecclesiastical which doth appertain to Christian Princes every One in their own Dominions Further besides the Office of Preaching and Ministring the Sacraments there are many other Orders Matters and Causes Ecclesiastical touching Ceremonies and the outward Regiment of the Church which may be term'd the Ecclesiastical Policy Page 25. There is also the Authority to Receive Appellations and finally to Determine Controversies arising amongst Persons Ecclesiastical To Summon and Call Bishops and other Ecclesiastical Persons as Men exercised in the Study of the Scriptures to Synods Convocations and Councils in Necessary Cases To Order Govern and Protect the said Bishops and Clergy being so call'd together and to Approve and Authorize things for the Outward Order Ecclesiastical and Policy determined in such Synods These be those Causes Ecclesiastical that we do speak of which do not pertain to Bishops and Priests only In these Cases and Causes Ecclesiastical the Authority of a Christian Prince is not only not excluded from intermedling with the Bishops and Clergy but the Prince's Authority is Chief therein Which Authority the Christian Prince exercising doth not Intermeddle with any Office belonging to Bishops and Priests only as the Adversaries of the Truth do falsly bear Men in hand but with their Own Offices by the Examples and Practice of all Antient Godly Princes as well in the Old Law as in Christian Religion proved of Right to them to Appertain And to Our Prince also by the Antient Laws and Statutes of the Realm as to the Learned in the said Laws is not Unknown of Right appertaining This is the Account which he gives of the Doctrin of the Church of England concerning the Authority of Christian Princes in Matters of Religion The Proofs he alledges are full and conclusive From the Examples of Constantine p. 208 to 223. Theodosius p. 227 to 238. The Council of Chalcedons p. 239 to 246. The Third Council of Constantinople p. 250 to 253. Justinian the Emperor p. 276 c. To Omit many other Particulars in the Vindication of which I am not so immediately concern'd And I will be bold to say there is nothing by me advanced in this Argument which has not been both more highly carried and more particularly explain'd
in behalf of the Prince by this Great Champion of our Church in his accurate and solid Treatise upon the same Subject Such was the Opinion of Dean Nowell nor does Mr. Hooker come at all behind him The Antient Imperial Law says he forbiddeth such Assemblies as the Emperor's Authority did not cause to be made Before Emperors became Christians the Church had never any General Synod their greatest Meetings consisting of Bishops and Others the gravest in Each Province As for the Civil Governor's Authority it suffered them only as things not Regarded or not accounted of at such times as it did suffer them So that what Right a Christian King hath as touching Assemblies of that kind we are not Able to judge till we come to later Times when Religion had won the Hearts of the Higher Powers Constantine was not only the First that ever did Call any General Council together but even the first that devised the Calling of them for Consultation about the Business of God After He had Once given the Example his Successors a long time follow'd the same Touching that Supremacy of Power which our Kings have in the Case of making Laws it resteth principally in the Strength of a Negative Voice which not to give them were to deny them that Without which they were Kings only by a meer Title and not in Exercise of Dominion If it be demanded by what Right from Constantine downwards the Christian Emperors did so far intermeddle in the Church's Affairs either we must herein condemn them as being over-presumptuously bold or else Judge that by a Law which is termed Regia that is to say Royal the People having derived unto their Emperors their whole Power for making Laws what matter soever they did concern As Imperial Dignity endow'd them with competent Authority and Power to make Laws for Religion so they were thought by Christianity to Vse their Power being Christians unto the Benefit of the Church of Christ. Was there any Christian Bishop in the World which did then judge this Repugnant unto that Dutiful Subjection which Christians owe to the Pastors of their Souls Wherefore of them which in this Point attribute most to the Clergy I would demand What Evidence there is whereby it may clearly be shew'd that in Antient Kingdoms Christian any Canon devised by the Clergy alone in their Synods whether Provincial National or General hath by meer force of their Agreement taken place as a Law making all Men constrainable to be Obedient thereunto without any Other Approbation from the King before or afterwards Required in that behalf And this shall suffice for the Reign of this Great and Wise Queen I shall make no Apology for taking these last Quotations out of that part of Mr. Hooker's Works which are not of Equal Authority with the Books publish'd by himself in his Life time There being so much of Mr. Hooker's Stile and Reason in them as makes me undoubtedly conclude that as they are they proceeded from Him And those who are supposed to have interpolated these Books were never charged with turning things to the Advantage of Sovereign Authority So that if any Changes or Omissions should have happened in this Place it must have been to the Disadvantage not to the Interest of the Cause before Us. But I shall be content to take his Opinion as it still is left to Us and is sufficiently contrary to that wild Notion of Chruch Power which is now again set on foot tho' by another sort of Men in Pretence at least among us KING JAMES I. We have before seen how the Oath of Supremacy fram'd in the beginning of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth set the Pens of those of that Age on Work in discussing the Authority of the Christian Prince in Causes and over Persons Ecclesiastical It was not very long after the coming of King James into England before another Oath again Revived the same Controversy and set the most Learned Men of the Church of Rome upon a fresh Opposition of the Royal Authority Among those who on our side appeared in Defence of it as no one began sooner so is there none that ought to be rather taken notice of by Us than the King himself who with Good Learning as well as with a Stile becoming a Prince solemnly asserted his own Royal Rights and Jurisdiction And first In his Apology for the Oath of Allegeance we have his Opinion plainly deliver'd in several Points relating to our present Disquisition Answerably to the Fathers spake the Councils in their Decrees As the Council of Arles submitting the whole Council to the Emperour in these Words These things we have Decreed to be presented to our Lord the Emperour beseeching his Clemency that if we have done less than we ought it may be supplied by his Wisdom if any thing otherwise than Reason requireth it may be Corrected by his Judgment if any thing be found Fault with by Us with Reason it may be Perfected by his Aid with Gods favourable Assistance But why should I speak of Charles the Great to whom not One Council but Six several Councils Frankford Arles Tours Chalons Mentz and Rhemes did wholly Submit themselves And not rather speak of all the General Councils that of Nice Constantinople Ephesus Calcedon and the four others commonly so Reputed which did submit themselves to the Emperours Wisdom and Piety in all things Insomuch as that of Ephesus repeated it four several times That they were Summon'd by the Emperour 's Oracle beck charge and command and betook themselves to his Godliness beseeching him that the Decrees made against Nestorius and his Followers might by his Power have their full Force and Validitie And in his Defence of the Right of Kings He thus confirms the same Principles It is willingly granted that Emperours never challenged never arrogated to be Sovereign Judges in Controversies of Doctrine and Faith Nevertheless it is clearer than the Suns light at high Noon that for Moderation at Synods for Determinations and Orders establish'd in Councils and for the Discipline of the Church they have made a good and full Use of their Imperial Authority The first Council held at Constantinople bears this Title or Inscription The Dedication of the Holy Synod to the most Religious Emperour Theodsius the Great to whose Will and Pleasure they have Submitted these Canons by them address'd and establish'd in Council And there also they beseech the Emperour to Confirm and Approve the said Canons The like hath been done by the Council of Trullo by whom the Canons of the fifth and sixth Councils were put forth and Publish'd This was not done because Emperours took upon them to be Infallible Judges of Doctrine but only that Emperours might see and judge whether Bishops who feel the Prick of Ambition as other Men do did propound nothing in their Convocations and Consultations but most of all in their Determinations to undermine the Emperours
Chief unto Kings For otherwise One Man would be Commended for Anothers Care and Taxed for Anothers Negligence which is not God's way The Power to Call and Dissolve Councils both National and Provincial is the true Right of all Christian Kings within their Own Realms and Territories And when in the first Times of Christ's Church Prelates used this Power 't was therefore only because in those days they had no Christian Kings And again in the VIIIth Canon they oblige all Preachers positively and plainly to Preach and Instruct the People in their Publick Sermons twice in the Year at least That they ought Willingly to Submit themselves unto the Authority and Government of the Church as it is now Establish'd under the King's Majesty It is therefore as plain as any thing can well be that this Convocation undoubtedly approved of ALL the Laws even this of the Submission of the Clergy made for the Security of the King's Authority over the State Ecclesiastical that they look'd upon the Government of the Church to belong in Chief unto Kings That they accounted the Power of Calling and Dissolving Synods to be the true Right of All Christian Princes and that the Bishops have only then a Power to do this when the Church is in a State of Persecution and the Necessities of it enforce them thereunto And by Consequence that they themselves not only met and acted under the Powers I have formerly shewn because they were forced so to do but Approved of the Vse which the King made of them and were satisfied that in Meeting and Acting according thereunto they behaved themselves so as became Christian Bishops and Clergy-Men to do under the Favour and Authority of a Christian King I shall observe only this one thing farther to prevent any new Cavils in this particular that we are assured by Him who best knew it Archbishop Laud himself that these Canons were pass'd with the greatest Freedom and Vnanimity that ever any Canons were So that upon that account also we may the more undoubtedly look upon them as delivering the Real Sense of the Church of England in those days To the Judgment of this Archbishop and the Convocation held by him let me subjoin that of an Eminent Bishop in our Neighbour Country the Learned Bramhall afterwards Archbishop of Ardmagh and Primate of All Ireland In his Survey of the Scotch Discipline among other Exceptions which he takes at it we have these to our purpose particularly insisted upon by him That they Affirm 1st That Ecclesiastical Persons have the sole Power of Convening and Convocating Synods 2dly That no Persons Magistrates or Others have Power to Vote in their Synods but only Ecclesiastical 3dly That Synods have the Judgment of True and False Religion of Doctrine Heresy c. That they have Legis-lative Power to make Rules and Constitutions for keeping Good Order in the Kirk And all this without any Reclamation or Appellation to any Judge Civil or Ecclesiastical 4thly That they have these Privileges not from the Magistrate or People or Particular Laws of the Country but Immediately from God c. Lastly That they have all this Power not only without the Magistrate but against him that is tho' he Dissents c. So different a Notion had this great Writer of these Powers of the Kirk for which our Late Author so highly Applauds them and sets up their Discipline above our Own slavish Constitution But the Archbishop proceeds and against these Vsurpations of the Kirk lays down Chap. ii these Orthodox Church of England Principles That All Princes and States invested with Sovereign Power do justly challenge to themselves the Right of Convocating National Synods of their own Subjects and of Ratifying their Constitutions And that he is a Magistate of Straw that will suffer the Church to Convene Whensoever or Wheresoever they list To Convocate before them Whomsoever they please To change the Ecclesiastical Policy of a Common-Wealth To alter the Doctrine and Religion Establish'd and all this of their Own Heads by a Pretended Power given them from Heaven Synods ought to be Called by the Supreme Magistrate if he be a Christian And either by Himself or by such as he shall please to chuse for that purpose he ought to Preside over them This Power the Emperors of Old did challenge over General Councils Christian Monarchs in the Blindness of Popery over National Synods The Kings of England over their Great Councils of Old and their Convocations of latter Times But say they we give the Magistrate a Political Power to Convocate Synods to Preside in Synods to Ratify the Acts of Synods to Reform the Church Here are Good Words but they signify Nothing For in plain English what is this Political Power to call Synods c. It is a Duty which the Magistrate Owes to the Kirk when they think Necessary to have a Synod Convocated to strengthen their Summons by a Civil Sanction To secure them in Coming to the Synod and Returning from the Synod To compel obstinate Persons by Civil Laws and Punishments to submit to their Censures and Decrees What Gets the Magistrate by All this For they declare expresly that neither All the Power nor any Part of the Power which Synods have to Deliberate of or to define Ecclesiastical things doth flow from the Magistrate But can the Magistrate call the Synod to Account for any thing they do Can he Remedy the Errors of a Synod either in Doctrine or Discipline No This is one main branch of Popery and a Gross Encroachment upon the Right of the Magistrate And accordingly we find him charging the Papists with it in his Writings against them He maintains that All Ecclesiastical Coercive Jurisdiction did Originally flow from the Civil Magistrate He bids them Weigh all the Parts of Ecclesiastical Discipline and consider what One there is which Christian Emperours of Old did not either Exercise by themselves or by their Delegates Or did not Regulate by their Laws or Both. And then particularly Instances in the Points of Calling Councils Presiding in Councils Dissolving of Councils and Confirming Councils And Pag. 93. He insists upon it as One just Ground of our Separation from the Court of Rome that they endeavour'd to Rob the King of the fairest Flowers of his Crown namely of his Right to Convocate Synods and to Confirm Synods within his Own Dominions of his Legis-lative and judiciary Power in Ecclesiastical Causes c. To the Opinion of this learned Prelate were conformable the Sentiments of all the Other Bishops and Clergy of these Kingdoms as to these Matters Christian Emperours says Bishop Davenant heretofore Called Councils As in Civil Causes Princes advise with their Learned in the Law so in Theological Matters they ought to Consult with their Divines Yet are they not so tied up to the Opinions of their Clergy but that if They go contrary to the
is a Party and the Appeal therefore is to stop at the Vpper House of Convocation I see no Reason why this Authority should not be reserved to the King and I conceive the Law of our Realm does allow of it 8thly As for the Dissolving of the Convocation that is so evidently a part of the Royal Jurisdiction and has been so fully adjudged to belong to the King that I do not see what Exceptions can be taken at it However the Constant Practice of our Convocations in this matter is on my Side And I have herein ascribed no Authority to the Prince but what our Clergy for above these Hundred and Fifty Years last past have constantly submitted to and by that Submission alone have sufficiently Vested in Him But if I am not mistaken in Point of Law what is it that deserves so Tragical an Outcry as this late Author has made against me Is it that being a Clergy-Man my self I appear'd in Defence of the King's Authority over the Clergy and which in some Mens Notion is the same thing as to say against the Rights of the Church So indeed the Convocation seem'd to think in the Case of Dr. Standish heretofore and so Some seem to account it now But God be thanked the Reformed Church of England never yet thought it any Offence in her Clergy to stand up for the just Rights of the Prince nor have I any Apprehension that I shall ever be Condemn'd upon this account by any True Members of Her Communion And for Others give me leave to ask only Am I the First of Our Order that have appear'd on this Occasion Or do I stand Alone in this Cause But what then shall we say of all those Learned Bishops and Clergy-Men whose Books I have here Quoted to the same Purpose Nay rather what shall we say of those whole Convocations who compiled our Articles and Canons And have Obliged us thereby not only Occasionally to Defend the Kings Supremacy but to the best of our Wit Learning and Knowledge publickly to Declare and Confirm it to our Congregations four times every Year If this be that for which I ought to be Censured I am afraid so great a part of our Order will go along with me as may make it even Scandalous to stay behind And be number'd among that Little Noisy Turbulent Party that now set themselves up as Judges over Us. But if both the Law be on my side and it be no improper Enterprize for a Clergy-Man to appear in What shall we say more Was the Time improper Did I take an Unseasonable Opportunity of Asserting this Authority Nay but this They should have consider'd who by appearing so Eagerly against the Princes Power over the Convocation made it absolutely Necessary for some or Other of our Church to do her Right and let the World know that she never Commission'd any of her Members to broach any such Principles on her Behalf That she is content to Act under the Royal Supremacy and is sensible that it is her Duty so to do That if some Hot Men for ought she knows her Enemies will under pretence of asserting such a Power to her as she has always disclaim'd endeavour to raise any Jealousies in the Mind of her Defender against her it is what she cannot help And she hopes she shall not be the worse Accounted of for such Attempts as she neither approves of nor knows how to Prevent And now there is but One thing more that can I think be Objected against my Undertaking And I shall lay it down in the Words in which it is Charged upon me For what if the Publick from such a Work inscribed to the Metropolitan should be tempted to proceed to further Resolves against the Powers Hierarchicall This I confess would be such a use of it as I should be heartily sorry for tho' even in such a Case I cannot tell whether I should ever the more deserve to be Censured for what I had done There can nothing be either so well Design'd or so carefully Perform'd of which an ill Use may not be made And if that should be Sufficient to cry down any Undertaking I do not see how we shall be able to Satisfie our Consciences in anything we have to do But in Reason I am sure the Church might have expected to suffer much more by the Letter to the Convocation Man than by the Answer which I made to it When Church-Men set up their Divine Rights in opposition to the Laws of their Country and upon Visionary Notions endeavour to lead Men into Discontents against their Governours it is Natural not to say Necesiary for Princes to look to themselves and consider how to stop those Attempts at the Beginning which Experience has shewn them may Otherwise in time grow too strong for Them It was the Intollerable Insolence and Vsurpations of the Roman Church that made her first Fear'd then Hated and at last crush'd the Hierarchic in many Places to peices And whatever Party shall think fit to pursue the same Methods ought in all Reason to expect the same Treatment If Clergy-Men will enjoy the Protection of Princes it is but Reasonable that they should be Content to acknowledge their Authority To contend for more Power than either Christ has left us or our Calling requires or the Bishops and Councils under the first Christian Emperours pretended to or desired is neither Prudent nor Justifyable It is to render the Church suspected by the State and to set those Powers in Opposition to which ought mutually to Help and Support One-Another I have before shewn what Opinion a very Learned Man upon this Ground had of the Act of Submission now so much railed at in these Days He look'd upon it as a Law of great Benefit to the Church even for this Reason alone that it freed the Civil Powers from entertaining any more Fears and Jealousies of the Clergy This was a Remark founded upon Good Reason as well as upon the Experience of those former Miscarriages which the Clergy had run into for want of such a Restraint And I cannot but every Day more and more acknowledge the Goodness of God towards our Church in that very thing for which some Men so Tragically lament the Oppression and Slavery of it Being fully Perswaded that nothing at this Day preserves us from Ruin and Desolation but that we have not Power of our selves to do the Church a Mischief and the Prince who sees but too much of our Tempers is too Gracious to Us and has too Great a Concern for the Churches Good to suffer Us to do it These are the Advantages which I look upon the Church to derive to her self from this Act. It prevents all Jealousies which either the Odd Principles the Violent Tempers Or the Wicked Designs of some Men might justly raise in the Minds of our Governours against us And frees them from all Temptation as well
a Right to give its Establishment to such Constitutions and the Ecclesiastical Officers as Subjects are bound to apply Themselves thereto for the Obtaining of it The calling of Councils so far as is needful for the Preservation of the Peace and Order of the Church may be perform'd as the former by Ecclesiastical Officers where the Civil disowneth the Church But this being no particular Exercise of the Power of the Keys but only of a general Authority doth peculiarly belong to the Prince or Supreme Governour if he will make use thereof The antient Right and Exercise of the Authority of Kings in Summoning Provincial or National Councils is sufficiently observed and asserted by P. de Marca But indeed he himself in his 5th Chapter abundantly Demonstrates both that and all the rest that is Contended for in the present Dispute And the Heads of which are such as these That the antient Emperours had Power to Call Councils p. 156 158 159 161 165 170 To be present at Them p. 157 160. And by Themselves or their Deputies to Preside in Them p. 162 167 170. To direct them what they should Consult about p. 157 163 170. To appoint the Time and Place of their Meeting p. 166 170. To keep the Bishops from leaving the Council till all should be Finish'd for which it was Called p. 163. To Confirm what they do aright p. 157 160 161 164 169 170. To Rescind what they do amiss p. 163. To Suspend their Acts from taking Effect till they should give way to it p. 165. These are the Instances which may be observed in that Chapter of the Jurisdiction and Authority which the antient Emperours Exercised over their Synods heretofore And by which we are to Expound as our Church has taught Us the Supremacy of our Own Princes in the like Cases I shall conclude what I have to observe from this Learned Writer with a Remark which I wish some Men would be perswaded a little more seriously to Consider p. 204. Some things which at first Sight may seem an Abatement of the Authority of the Church is rather such a way of Regulating the Exercise of its Power as under Religious Princes is for the Churches Advantage Of this Nature I conceive that Constitution of the 25 H. VIII that No new Canons shall be Enacted Promulged or Executed without the Royal Assent and Licence to Enact Promulge and Execute the same For hereby the Cergy give such Security to the King against all jealousies of Renew'd Ecclesiastical Usurpations that thereupon the Church may under the Kings Favour and with the Assurance of greater Safety and Protection practise upon its Establish'd Constitutions which are so Good that we have great Reason to bless God for them And hereupon it may also be hoped that what shall be farther needful may be Super-added by the Royal Licence and become more Effectual to its End by the Confirmation of that Authority There is yet One Author more who must not be pass'd by Our Learned and Accurate Dr. Barrow And a better than whom I could not have desired to close up this Collection withall In his Treatise of the Vnity of the Church a Discourse which would some Men more diligently Read and more judiciously Consider they would not talk so loosely as they do on that Subject He gives Us this Account of the State of the Church in the times Immediately after Christ. Each Church did Seperately Order its Own Affairs without Recourse to Others except for Charitable Advice or Relief in Cases of extraordinary Difficulty or urgent Need. Each Church was Endow'd with a perfect Liberty and a full Authority without Dependence or Subordination to Others to govern its Own Members to manage its Own Affiairs to Decide Controversies and Causes Incident among themselves without allowing Appeals or rendring Accounts to Others It is true that the Bishops of several Adjacent Churches did use to meet upon Emergencies to consult and conclude upon Expedients for attaining such Ends as they met for This probably they did at first in a Free Way without Rule according to Occasion as Prudence Suggested But afterwards by Confederation and Consent these Conventions were formed into Method and Regulated by certain Orders establish'd by Consent whence did arise an Ecclesiastical Unity of Government within certain Precincts Hence every Bishop or Pastor was conceived to have a double Relation or Capacity One towards his Own Flock another towards the Whole Flock Of Councils he thus delivers his Opinion General Councils are Extraordinary Arbitrary Prudential Means of restoring Truth Peace Order Discipline During a long time the Church wanted Them Afterwards had them but Rarely and since the Breach between the Oriental and Western Churches for many Centuries there hath been none The first General Councils indeed All were Congregated by Emperours their Congregation dependeth on the Permission and Pleasure of Secular Powers and in all Equity should do so And in his most Elaborate Treatise of the Popes Supremacy The most Just and Pious Emperours who did bear greatest Love to the Clergy did call them without Scruple It was deem'd their Right to do it none did Remonstrate against their Practise The same he shews of National and Provincial Councils p. 186 c. To these they Summon'd the Bishops in a Peremptory Manner and directed both the Time and Place of their Meeting The Popes petition'd them to Call Councils and sometimes they Prevailed and sometimes they did not This Power upon many just Accounts peculiarly doth belong to Princes It suiteth to the Dignity of their State It appertaineth to their Duty They are most Able to Discharge it They alone can well cause the Expences needful for holding Synods to be Exacted and Defray'd They alone can Protect Them can maintain Order and Peace in Them can procure Observance to their Determinations They alone have a Sword to Restrain Resty and Refractory Persons To oblige them to Convene to Conferr Peaceably to Agree to Observe what is Setled It inseperably doth belong to Sovereigns in the General Assemblies of their States to Preside and Moderate Affairs proposing what they Judge fit to be Consulted or Debated stopping what seemeth unfit to be moved keeping Proceedings within Order and Rule and steering them to a Good Issue Checking Disorders and Irregularities which the Distemper or Indiscretion of any Persons may create in Deliberations or Disputes This therefore he shews the Emperours to have done in all the first Synods The Word Presidency hath an Ambiguity It may be taken for a Priviledge of Praecedence or for Authority to Govern things This latter kind of Presidency was disposed of by the Emperour as he saw Reason The Power of Enacting and Dispensing with Ecclesiastical Laws touching Exteriour Discipline did of Old belong to the Emperour And it was Reasonable that it should By many Laws and Instances it appeareth that Appellations have
been made to the Emperours in the Greatest Causes So the Donatists did Appeal to Constantine Athanasius and the AEgyptian Bishops to the same Priscillianus to Maximus Idacius to Gratian. III. And here I shall put an End to these Collections It would have been a very easie Matter to have added many more Authors than I have here Alledged and to have much Enlarged upon those which I have Produced But what is already done may Suffice till those who now Advance the Contrary Opinion shall be able at least to make some Tolerable Proof that they do not forsake the Received Doctrine of our Church in Opposing an Authority by Law confessedly Establish'd And I think no less Confirm'd by our Articles and Canons too It remains now that I take the Liberty freely to APPEAL to every Sincere Member of Our Communion to Judge in this Case between Me and Those who so warmly Oppose me and so highly Charge me upon this Occasion And to consider what I have done with Relation to the Rights and Liberties of the Church of England for which I ought to Humble my selfe before God and to make a Satisfaction to Her Is it that I have Asserted the King's Authority over the Ecclesiastical Synods of this Church and Realm But so the Laws speak as well as I And to these both the Articles and Canons of the Church require me to Conform Nay they do more they Require me not only to Conform my self but to do what in me lies to move All Others to the Observance of them And if for this I must be Censured these Laws and Canons must run the same Fate with Me. And I shall always account it an Honour to Suffer for Asserting the Laws of the Realm and for maintaining the Doctrine and Constitutions of the Church of England Or is it that I have gone beyond the Bounds of the Law and given a Greater and more General Authority to the Christian Prince than either the Submission of the Clergy or the Act of King Henry the VIIIth founded thereupon have declared to belong to Him This for ought I know I may have done and yet not be Guilty of any Fault neither in the doing of it I have before said and do here again Repeat it with the same Assurance I at first delivered it That I do not found the Right of our Kings to this Jurisdiction either upon that or upon any Other Act that has been made in pursuance of it I fix it upon the Right of Sovereignty in General and upon that Antient Jurisdiction in Causes Ecclesiastical which the very Statute of Queen Elizabeth speaks of and allows to have been always of Right belonging to the Imperial Crown of this Realm To this our Laws themselves agree They speak still of Restoring to the Crown its Antient Rights and our Lawyers have accordingly constantly Affirm'd that these Acts and particularly that which we are here especially concern'd in the 1 Eliz. c. 1. was not Introductory of a New Law but Declaratory of the Old And therefore before I can justly be condemn'd upon this account my Proofs must be Answer'd and it must be shewn that what I ascribe to the King is not a parcel of that Jurisdiction which was once enjoy'd by the Kings and Princes of this Realm and did Always of Right belong to them And that I believe it will be no easie Matter to do 1st I affirm that it is the Right of every Christian King to Call his Clergy together in Convocation and that without his Call they cannot Regularly Assemble to any such purpose of themselves But so our Law expresly declares that the Convocation shall Evermore be Called by the King 's Writ And it is Notorious to Every One who has any Knowledge in these Matters how dangerous it would be for the Clergy to presume to come together without it 2dly I Assert that the very Persons who meet in Our Convocations are Determined and Empower'd by the King 's Writ and that none have a Right to Assemble but such as he Calls by it Let the Writs of Summons be Examined and let it there be seen whether the Case be not so as I pretend it to be Let this Author tell me if he can why such and such Dignitaries are required personally to come to the Convocation Others to send such a certain Number of Delegates to Represent them but that the Writ of Summons so Directs so Authorizes them to do And tho' I do not suppose it to be now in the King's Power to alter this Form yet the Sovereign Legislative Authority may without Controversy do it and appoint any Other Method of Framing the Lower House of Convocation that should appear to them to be more Proper and Expedient 3dly I declare that by Our Law the Convocation can deliberate on No Canons or Constitutions without first Obtaining the King's Licence so to do It is the express Resolution of the Act of Submission And our Convocations do accordingly notoriously Govern their Proceedings by it 4thly I add That heretofore the Christian Emperors prescribed to their Synods the very Method they should observe in handling the Matters which lay before them This indeed I affirm and I think I have proved it too And if to this End Our King should think fit either Himself to Come or to Appoint any Other to Preside in his Stead and Direct the Debates of our Synods as he should Command them to do I do not see that he would therein do any more than what some of the best Christian Princes have done before him 5thly I pretend that to the Civil Magistrate it belongs to Confirm or Annihilate such of the Acts of their Synods as they think fit Our Laws agree to it Our Kings claim it Our Convocations submit to and approve of it And let those who scruple this consider how low they sink the Authority of a Prince if they leave him not the Power which every ordinary Person claims of Judging for Himself but would oblige him at a venture to Confirm whatsoever the Lords of the Consistory shall please to Define 6thly That the Prince may Alter their Constitutions I no otherwise affirm than as I say it is in his Power to make Laws in Matters Ecclesiastical And that for the doing of this He may Advise with his Clergy and follow their Counsel so far as he approves of it Thus Charles the Emperor made up his Capitular And thus any Other Sovereign Prince may take the Canons of the Church and form them in such Wise into an Ecclesiastical Law as he thinks will be most for the Honour of God and the Good of his People 7thly In Cases of Appeals I shew what Power the Antient Emperors both Claim'd and Exercised And I modestly Vindicate to our Own Sovereign the same Authority which the Fathers of the Church without all Scruple allow'd to their Princes And except it be in such Cases where the King