in such Cases my Lord Coke delivers as certain in point of Law and from thence calls it the Court of Convocation Nor can I see what injury it would be to the Crown to allow the same power to the Convocation still that by Law may be exercised in any other Ecclesiastical Court and which must needs be inseriour in dignity to this But still the question is Whether of Right the Convocation ever had a power to judge any more than to make Canons without the King's Assent And by consequence whether though the Statute of Henry the Eighth should not have deprived them of that power yet the King's Prerogative be not against it For should this be so then whatever Laws have restored the King to his supreme Authority in Ecclesiastical Matters will lie against this presumed Right of the Convocation too and so though that Law should not yet some others may have limited their power in this respect also And here I shall not presume to determine any thing but only offer these following Observations First That in several of the Convocations in which the persons before-mention'd were judged the Process was made either by the express Command or Leave of the King And in all of them for ought we know it may have been so And Secondly That in the Commissions by which our Convocations are now enabled to act the King gives them leave to conferr debate treat consider consult and agree of Matters and Causes as well as of Canons Orders and Constitutions and which seems to imply that they need the King's License as much to judge of the one as to deliberate about the other But be this as it will thus much I take to be out of all doubt that as by our Ancient Customs recognized by the Lords Spiritual as well as Temporal in the Great Council at Clarendon Anno 1164 It was among other things resolved that none of the Servants of the King or of such as held of him in capite might be Excommunicated without his leave And again that in Case of Appeals any person who thought himself injured might appeal from the Arch Deacon to the Bishop from the Bishop to the Archbishop and from him to the King by whose order the affair was finally to be determined in the Court of Arches and not be suffer'd to proceed any farther without leave of the King so in Conformity both to these Principles and to that power which I have before shewn has ever been claimed and exercised by Christian Princes in this respect I do presume that the King may not only lay a Prohibition upon the Convocation not to proceed in judgment against any person whom he shall think fit to take into his special Protection but after they have judged any one may receive an Appeal from them and order an Enquiry to be made whether they proceeded Fairly and Canonically with him and either confirm suspend or annul their Sentence as he shall find it reasonable for him to do This I am sure the ancient Emperors did and the Bishops and Councils not only submitted to it but allowed of it And if this our Kings may not do I shall be glad to be inform'd by what particular Law or Custom this Power has been taken from them And this brings me to the last point now to be consider'd 3dly What Authority our Kings have over their Convocations after they have done what they were called for That the Convocation cannot meet without the King 's Writ I have before shewn from the express Authority of an Act of Parliament And that the same Authority is required to the Dismission as to the Calling of it has been the declared opinion of our greatest Lawyers in this Case When a Question was raised by some few in the lower House of Convocation Anno 1640. Whether they might lawfully continue to sit after the Parliament was Dissolved The Arch-Bishop besought His Majesty that for their better Assurance his learned Council and some Other Persons of Honour well acquainted with the Laws of the Realm might deliver their Judgment upon it This His Majesty Graciously Approved and the Question was accordingly put to Them They answer'd as followeth under their Hands The Convocation being called by the King 's Writ under the Great Seal doth continue untill it be Dissolved by Writ or Commission under the Great Seal And accordingly we know that not only upon their Dissolution but for Every Prorogation that is made of it there is a Writ sent by the King to the Arch-Bishop and They cannot break up when they please but must continue to Sit as long as the King shall think fit to Require Them so to do Such Authority has His Majesty over their Assemblies nor has He any less over their Acts. It is I think agreed on all hands that no Acts of Convocation are of any force untill they are Confirm'd by the Royal Authority And that is all I am now concern'd to determine How far or What persons they will oblige when Confirm'd by the King without the Concurrence of the Parliament is another Question in which I am not at present concern'd to Engage But tho' of this therefore in General there be no doubt yet I cannot tell whether some Men may be willing to allow the King all that Authority which I have before shew'd Other Princes have claim'd and which I see no Reason why our Own Kings should not Enjoy It is expressly provided by the 25th of Hen. 8th That the Convocation shall not only not presume to make any Canons without the King's permission but that having made Them They shall not presume to promulge or execute any such Canons Constitutions or Ordinances Provincial or Synodal unless the same Clergy may have the King 's most Royal Assent and Licence to promuige and execute the same And even then it is farther Provided by the same Act That No Canons Constitutions or Ordinances shall be made or put in execution within this Realm by Authority of the Convocation of the Clergy which shall be Contrariant or Repugnant to the King 's Prerogative-Royal or to the Customs Laws or Statutes of this Realm And from whence as they are naturally deduced so were these two Points deliver'd by the Judges before the Committee of the Lords as the Law with reference to this Matter 1. That when upon Conference the Convocation has concluded any Canons yet they cannot execute any of their Canons without the Royal Assent And 2. That they cannot execute Any after Royal Assent but with these Four Limitations 1st That they be not against the Prerogative of the King 2dly Nor against the Common-Law 3dly Nor against any Statute-Law 4thly Nor against any Custom of the Realm And this the learned Reporter tells us was but an Affirmance of what was the Law before the said Statutes as appears by the 19 Ed. 3. Title Quare non Ad 〈…〉 isit 7. Where it is held
that 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
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
himself acknowledges And I am sure whenever the King shall think fit to let them Meet He will send Them his Licence to Act too If they accept his Licence and proceed to Act by vertue of it this will afford us a new Argument to prove that we are not mistaken in the Sense we give of this Statute If not we shall then in all probability be set Right in it and upon a Judicial determination which this Author tells us was wanting in Cokes Report be satisfied what Skill this positive Man has in Interpreting of Acts of Parliament And whether tho' there be No Sense yet there may not be Good Law on the side of the King's Prerogative And now I may venture to say we have seen the utmost of what this Author can do As for what he next catches at That my Lord Coke affirms that the King had heretofore a Right to send Commissioners to sit with the Clergy in Convocation tho' Quo jure he says it do's not Appear And therefore it must be supposed that the Clergy had a Right to debate of what they pleased because else it would have been needless to send a Commissioner to Watch them I must needs say I do not see by what Rules of Reason any such Consequence will follow from it Unless we should suppose that because Men are limited to Act by certain Rules therefore there is no danger of their transgressing of Them The ancient Emperours we are well assured tied up their Councils to very Strict Rules Yet so dull were They that for that very Reason they sent Commissioners to sit with their Bishops that so they might take Care to keep them within bounds and see that they acted according to the Rules they had prescribed to Them 'T is true the Clergy in those days did take the Liberty to transact many things in their Convocations without any particular Licence from the King to warrant Them so to do And this rendred the presence of such Commissioners more necessary heretofore than it is Now. But that they did take upon them to do this is no proof that they had a Right to do it any more than their attempts in many other instances prove that they ought to have enjoy'd all those priviledges by which it is on all hands allow'd that they did oftentimes notoriously Usurp upon the Royal Authority There is yet a little spiteful Suggestion for I cannot call it an Argument drawn from Magna Charta and the King's Coronation-Oath But these things will then be fit to be Consider'd when He shall first have proved the Church to have such a Right as he supposes but has not yet offer'd one tolerable proof of unless we should take a Confident Assertion for proof in which it must be confess'd he has not been Wanting In the mean time whilst the Church is deprived of no Liberty that either the Laws have given it or it ought of Right to enjoy the King may keep his Coronation-Oath and Magna Charta be as sacredly observed as any One could Wish it should be tho' the Clergy be not allow'd all that unreasonable Liberty which some Men plead for on their Behalf but which neither the Clergy nor Convocation have Themselves ever pretended to But whatever Restraints may be pretended to be laid upon the Convocation by this Act with regard to the making of Laws and Constitutions For Laws this Author will have the Convocation to make as well as the Parliament yet the Exercise of their Jurisdiction as they are a Court properly so called is certainly left free and intire to them This He takes for Granted and never so much as attempts a Proof of it And therefore there is no more for me here to do after what I have already said as to this matter If the Case be so as it is here supposed If neither the King's Supremacy in Ecclesiastical Causes nor the Laws of the Realm nor the Custom of Convocations which like that of the Parliament is I conceive the Law of Convotion have restrained the Clergy as to these Matters I am sure I shall be far from desiring to lay any Restraint upon them I shall conclude this whole Chapter with a Relation which I meet with in One of our Ancient Reports and which being added to what I have before observed may contribute a little to the better understanding of the power of the Convocation in the Particular we are now upon In the 4. H. 8. An Act of Parliament was made to deny the benefit of the Clergy to certain Malefaâ—â—ors therein mentioned The Clergy being angry at this as intrenching too much on the Rights of the Church for the Church in those Days was always wont to be very tender of her Rights whether they were for the publick Good or no About three years after the Parliament then sitting the Abbot of Winchomb in a Publick Sermon at Pauls Cross not only Preach'd against the said Act and all Those who had Consented to the Passing of it but farther Affirm'd that All Clerks who have once been admitted into any Holy Orders whether Greater or Lesser were from thenceforth Exempt from all temporal Punishment before any Temporal Judge for any Criminal Cause whatsoever The Lords Temporal and Commons being alarum'd at this Petition the King that he would order this Point to be publickly argued by Divines and Canonists on both sides And thereupon a Certain Day was appointed by the King for that purpose at the Black-Fryars London Among the Council for the King was Doctor Henry Standish a Learned Man and Guardian of the Mendicant Fryars in London The Cause was handled and many Members of both Houses were present And in the Opinion of all who heard it Dr. Standish had so much the Better of the Council that argued for the Clergy that it was moved to the Bishops that they should Oblige the Abbot Publickly to Recant his Assertions At Michaelmas following the Clergy sitting in Convocation cited Dr. Standish to appear before them to answer to such Articles as should there be Exhibited against Him He appeared as he was order'd and four Articles were first proposed by the Archbishop to Him and being afterwards encreased to six were deliver'd to Him in Writing All tending to the purport of what he had before Asserted in defence of the King's Authority And he was Required upon a Certain Day to Answer to Them It seems to assert the King's Authority over the Clergy was accounted in those days to be no less than Heresie and perhaps may still be thought by some Men to come near to it Doctor Standish easily perceived what the Convocation drove at And being sensible that He should not be Able to withstand their Malice and Authority put Himself under the King's Protection and referr'd his Cause to Him The Clergy being a little surprised at this protest to the King that their Process against Him was not for any thing he
be first made Whether the Convocation has a Right to Meet and Act as often as the Parliament does § 1. The Method which this Author has taken to vindicate this supposed Right of the Convocation censured § 2. The Design of the following Treatise laid out § 3. CHAP. II. The first General Point proposed and the Method laid down for the handling of it In pursuance whereof a general Enquiry is first made What Power Christian Princes have always been allowed to exercise over their Ecclesiastical Synods or Convocations with respect both to the sitting of them to the managing of them when sat and to the Confirming or Annulling of their Acts after The first General Question proposed and the Method laid down for a full Resolution of it § 1. That Christian Princes have Authority over Ecclesiastical Persons and in Ecclesiastical Causes § 2. And that Particularly with reference to their Synods and Convocations § 3. Which I. Cannot meet without their Permission or against their Consent § 4. That the eight first General Councils were all call'd by the Emperors Authority § 5. So were all the lesser Synods held under the Roman Emperors § 6. The Gothish Princes in the Empire kept their Synods to the same Rule § 7. So did the Princes of the several Kingdoms which rose up out of the Ruins of it Of Spain § 8. Portugal § 9. Burgundy § 10. Germany § 11. France § 12. The Bishops and Clergy never opposed this or made any Complaints against it § 13. 1 Christian Princes have often call'd such Councils by their own Authority without the Advice of their Clergy and refus'd to do it when the Bishops have desir'd it § 14. Who 2 Being so refused have never pretended to meet in Council against their Will or asserted any Right so to do § 15. 3 No not in Provincial Councils for which they seem'd to have some Right on their side § 16. 4 That the Prince has a Right to determine the Time and Place of their meeting § 17. 5 And may direct what Persons shall be allow'd to come to them § 18. The first Point summ'd up § 19. II. Of the Princes Authority over Ecclesiastical Synods when they are met § 20. 1. He has a Right to prescribe to them What they shall debate about § 21. The Ground of this ibid. The several Methods that have been taken by them to do this § 22. The Practice of the Church in Confirmation hereof In the Roman Empire § 23. In other places § 24. 2. To determine in what Manner and Order they shall proceed in their Debates § 25. The Practice of the Roman Emperors in confirmation hereof § 26. 3. To sit with them and to preside over them So the Emperors did § 27. And so did the Princes who succeeded them in their several States § 28 c. How far the Prince thus presiding may act synodically with his Clergy § 31. III. Of the Authority of the Prince over these Conventions after they have ended what was to be done by them § 32. The Clergy cannot regularly break up their Synod without his leave § 33. Their Acts are of no Authority till confirm'd by him § 34. How far the Prince is at liberty to examine their Determinations to confirm annul or amend them § 35. What Power he has over their Judgments § 36. What over their Constitutions § 37. The whâ—lâ— applied to our own Case § 38. CHAP. III. Of the Authority which our own Kings have over their Convocations with respect both to their Meeting and Acting first and to the Confirming or Annulling their Acts after That our Princes ought of Right to have the same Authority over their Convocations as any other Princes have before been shewn to have § 1. I. That the Convocation cannot meet without the King 's Writ to empower them so to do § 2. The Judges Opinion to this purpose ibid. The Parliaments and Convocations § 3. The King has a Right to name the Time and Place of their Meeting § 4. As also to appoint what Persons shall come to it § 5. Being summon'd it lies in his Breast whether they shall sit or no. § 6. II. That being Met they have no Power to Act but by the King's Permission § 7. This also confirm'd by the Opinion of the Judges agreeably to the Act of the 25 Hen. 8. And farther proved from the Tenour of the Convocation-Writ § 8. The Form of which is the same now that antiently it was wont to be § 9. As also from the Commissions wont to be sent to them for that purpose § 10. Several Instances of which are offer'd § 11. From the judgment of the Convocation in the 1. Edw. VI. § 12. Of the Power of our Kings to sit with or to send Commissioners to their Convocations § 13. Whether the Convocation as a Court may proceed to judge any Cause without the King's Licence § 14. The Convocation did antiently judge of Heresie § 15. How it judged § 16. It is most probable that it cannot judg any person without the King's Leave § 17. It is certain the King may in a particular Case prohibit them so to do § 18. And Suspend or Annul their Sentence ib. III. Of the Authority which our Kings have over their Convocations after they have done what they were called for They cannot break up without the King's Licence § 19. His Authority requisite to confirm their Acts. § 20. How far and in what Cases He is empower'd to Confirm them ibid. The King has power not only to Review their Acts himself but to submit them to the Judgment of his Council § 21. The Practice of this proved to § 24. Whether he may Alter and Correct their Definitions ibid. From the whole an Answer is distinctly given to the first Question proposed § 25. CHAP. IV. In which the State of the Convocation is Historically deduced from the First Conversion of the Saxons to our own Times The Occasion of this Enquiry and the Method proposed to be observed in it § 1. 1. Period How the Affairs of the Church were transacted from the first Conversion of the Saxons to the Time of the Norman Conquest The Clergy summoned to Convocation after Two very different Manners By the Parliament Writ § 2. By the Provincial Writ § 3. The Foundation of this laid in these first times wherein the Clergy were members of the Civil Councils as well as of Ecclesiastical Synods § 4. Of the Nature of our Great Councils in these times and how Ecclesiastical Affairs were transacted in them § 5. Shewn from the like Councils in France Under Pepin § 6. Under Charles the Emperor § 7. Their manner of Debating § 8. Their Politie clear'd § 9. The Nature of our own Great Councils stated upon this Foundation § 10 11 12 Of the Ecclesiastical Synods of these Times Of what Persons they consisted By what Authority they were held § 13. A particular View taken of the principal
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
himself On the 11th of July in the same Convocation the Bp of Hereford produced a certain Book containing the Articles of Faith and Ceremonies of the Church Which being read by the said Bishop the said Honourable Thomas Cromwel the Archbishop and other Prelates with the Prolocutor and Clergy of the Lower House by their Subscriptions Approved of the said Book On the 15th of July It was agreed by the Lord Cromwel the Archbishop and Convocation as to certain Ordinances c. And lastly On the 20th of July the Bishop of Hereford produced a certain Book containing the Causes why the King ought not to appear at the General Council then to be held Which Book the aforesaid Honourable Lord Thomas Cromwel the Archbishop and the Rest of the Convocation by their Subscriptions approved of Thus did the King's Commissioner not only sit but act with the Bishops in their Convocation And I am not aware of any Law that has debar'd the King if need were to do that again now which King Henry 8. heretofore did And this may suffice to shew what Authority the King has over Our Convocation both by the Statute and Common Law by his own Prerogative as a Christian Prince and by the Particular Concessions of our own Parliaments and Convocations But we are told that the Convocation must be consider'd by Us not only as an Ecclesiastical Synod but as an Ecclesiastical Court too and which as such has Jurisdiction to deal with Heresies Schisms and other meer Spiritual and Ecclesiastical Causes juxta legem divinam Canones S. Ecclesiae And herein their Power is not at all Restrain'd by any particular Statute but still remains whole and entire to Them In this respect therefore the Convocation may at least act without the King's Licence and as of Right against any Bishop Priest or Deacon for such Offences This is the Doctrine of our Late Author but is not so clear to me as he would make it That Provincial Synods heretofore did look upon Themselves as endued with a sufficient Authority to proceed against any of their Own Body who by any of the Crimes before mentioned had deserved their Censure is not to be deny'd The Provincial Councils of old did so but especially in the Case of Heresie wherein the Church has ever Accounted it self to be particularly Concern'd But then it must be remember'd too that when they had so proceeded against Any One the Prince still judged whether they had acted Canonically or no And if he found a just Reason to move Him so to do he did oftentimes suspend their Sentence and order a new Enquiry in some other Synod to be made of such a Matter and after all determined it at last as He saw Cause Thus Theodosius did in the Case of Nest orius after he had been Condemn'd in two several Provincial Councils And thus Constantius before him had done in the Case of Photinus a worser Heretick He received his Appeal from the Council of Sirmium and order'd a new Examination to be made of his Case and then confirm'd the Sentence of the Synod and concurr'd in the Deposition of him And when Flavian Patriarch of Constantinople had in like manner condemned Eutyches for his Heresie the Emperor not only referr'd the Matter to the Council of Ephesus to be re-heard by it but when by the indirect Management of Dioscorus that Synod instead of Confirming his Sentence against Eutyches condemn'd Flavian himself tho' Orthodox and Innocent Theodosius not only refused to suspend the Sentences of Both till another Free Council might be call'd to judge of the Matter but left the Sentence of this last Council to remain in force and would not suffer any other Synod to be called about this Affair as long as He lived As for our own Convocation it is not deny'd but that antiently They were wont to judge of Heresy in it The first Instance that occurs of this and that the case of Pelagianism excepted as antient as the first coming of Heresie into our Country is that of the Council of Oxford held about 1260 and the Occasion of which was this It had happen'd some time before that about 30 Persons came over hither out of Germany and held secret Meetings differing from the common Opinion of the Church in several Particulars but chiefly as to the points of Baptism and the Holy Eucharist To prevent the spreading of their Errors the King commanded that Council to meet at Oxford and there to judge of them Being convened before this Synod and convicted of their Errors and refusing to abjure them they were pronounced Hereticks by it and deliver'd back to the King to be punished by the Civil Power It is in a Provincial Council held by Steph. Langton that we meet with the next Instance we have of the like Proceedings In this we are told of two Impostors upon one of whom were found the five Wounds of the Crucifixion convicted and condemn'd by the Judgments of the Church But Bracton adds to these another and a more notable Instance He tells us of a certain Deacon who out of Love to a Jewish Woman apostatiz'd from the Faith of Christ and was thereupon sentenc'd and degraded by the Synod and deliver'd over to the Secular Power to be Burnt for it And the same was the manner by which Sautre was condemn'd as appears not only by the Writ still extant for his Execution but from the Rolls of the Parliament 2 Hen. 4. in which the order was given for issuing out the Writ to the Sheriffs of London for it Feb. 26. He was first examined and condemned by the Clergy in Convocation and by them deliver'd up to the Civil Magistrate to be burned And tho' the Lord Cobham was not finally sentenced in Convocation but by the Archshop of Canterbury assisted by the Bishops of London and Winchester after it was risen yet was this Cause first brought on there and he was therein both Adjudged an Heretick and Excommunicated as such The Truth is so great is the Scandal and so severe in those days was the Punishment too of Heresy that it has moved some very Learned Men to think that before the 2 Hen. 4. no one could be otherwise convicted of it than in a Provincial Synod or Convocation And tho' my Lord Coke maintains this to be a Mistake and affirms that the Bishop always had as He still has Power to convict of Heresy and to proceed by the Censures of the Church against such as are guilty of it yet this is no Argument why the Convocation should not still retain its antient Authority and have the Power of doing that which any single Bishop alone may do But here then a question may arise that will deserve to be consider'd on this occasion and that is When any one is to be convicted of Heresie or of any other the like Ecclesiastical Crime in Convocation who it is
That if a Canon-Law be against the Law of the Land the Bishop ought to Obey the Commandment of the King according to the Law of the Land Now these two Things being supposed and in which the Law at the present cannot be doubted to be very clear That no Acts of Convocation can be put in Execution or be promulged in Order to a Publick Observance without the King's Licence And that the King's Licence cannot give the Convocation any Authority to promulge or execute any Canons but what are Agreeable to the Laws and Customs of the Realm it must of Necessity follow 1st That the King has not only a Right to Review the Acts of Every such Convocation but ought moreover to submit Them to the Examination of his Learned Council in the Law That so he may the more securely be able to judge Whether they be Consistent with the Laws of his Realm and by Consequence capable of receiving any Enforcement from Him Forasmuch as it would be not only too Rash and Unseemly but even a Vain Thing for the King to expose his Prerogative by undertaking to give Authority to that which by being contrary to the Laws already Establish'd has such a natural defect in its Original Constitution as will not suffer it to be Capable of Any 2dly That notwithstanding the Resolution of the Clergy in their Convocation yet still the King is to remain the last Judge not only of the Lawfulness but of the Expediency too of their Constitutions and has Authority either to Ratifie or Reject Them as He with the Advice of his Council shall think Them either Usefull or Otherwise to the Church When His Majesty gave Liberty to our last Convocation to consider of the several Points which in his Commission he proposed to Them and permitted Them to draw into Forms Rules Orders Ordinances Constitutions and Canons such Matters as to Them should seem Necessary and Expedient for the Purposes which He had before proposed to Them and the same being set down in Writing from time to time to Exhibit and Deliver or to Cause to be Exhibited and Delivered to Him He thus goes on to declare what was to be done after such their Resolutions should be delivered in by Them To the End that We as Occasion shall Require may thereupon have the Advice of our Parliament and that such and so many of the said Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions Matters Causes and Things as shall be thought Requisite and Convenient by our said Parliament may be presented to us in due Form for Our Royal Assent if upon Mature Consideration thereof We shall think sit to Enact the same And from whence it appears to have been His Majesty's Intention had that Convocation proceeded to any Resolutions to have submitted the Examination of their Acts not only to his Parliament but that being done to have Reserved the final Judgment of Them to his Own Consideration And we cannot doubt but that it was upon the best Advice of his Learned Council in the Law that He so Intended But more full and express to this purpose is the Commission of King Charles the First to the Convocation of 1640 before mentioned Wherein having granted the same Liberty we here meet with to his Clergy To set down in Writing and to Exhibit or Cause to be Exhibited to Him All and Every the said Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions Matters Causes and Things to be by Them from time to time Conferr'd Treated Debated Consider'd Consulted and Agreed upon He adds To the end that We upon mature Consideration by Us to be taken thereupon may Allow Approve Confirm and Ratifie or Otherwise Disallow Annihilate and Make Void such and so many of the said Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions Matters Causes and Things or Any of Them so to be by force of These Presents Consider'd Consulted and Agreed upon as We shall think Fit Requisite and Convenient But this is not yet all In the close of his Commission he again Reserves to Himself the same Power in these Remarkable Words Provided always and our Express Will Pleasure and Commandment is That the said Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions Matters Causes and Things or Any of Them so to be by force of These Presents Consider'd Consulted or Agreed upon shall not be of Any Force Effect or Validity in the Law but only such and so many of Them and after such time as We by our Letters Patent under our Great Seal of England shall Allow Approve and Confirm the same These are the Limitations under which that Convocation Acted and from which these three Conclusions will Unavoidably follow 1st That the King by granting the Convocation license to consider and draw up any Canons Orders or Constitutions or to determine any Matters or Causes do's not give them any final decisive Power of Concluding those affairs but Empowers them only to deliver their Judgment to Him which He may either Approve or Reject as He shall afterwards see Cause to do 2dly That in determining concerning their Resolutions He is not obliged either to Approve and Confirm or else to Reject and Annihilate ALL that they have done but may judge distinctly of Every particular Point or Matter debated by Them and severally pass his judgment upon Them May give Force and Authority to some things and at the same time make Void and disallow of Others And this 3dly Not only upon his Own private judgment or upon the Advice of any select persons of his Clergy tho' it be a matter Ecclesiastical but with the advice of his Council who by his Command are also Empowred to judge of what the Convocation has done and whose Opinion if He approves of it He may preferr to that of his Clergy But we will go on with the History of this Convocation and see how these several Conclusions may be yet farther clear'd and confirm'd by it When by Vertue of this Commission the Convocation had drawn up such Canons and agreed upon such Orders as to them seem'd most proper to answer the Ends proposed by the King to Them We are told by His Majesty in His Declaration of June 30th following that according to His direction They had Offered and Presented the same to Him desiring Him to give His Royal Assent to what They had done Now as hereby they plainly acknowledged His Majesty to have all that Authority as to this matter which in His Commission he had pretended to so we find the King still proceeded according to the same measures he had first laid down to the Ratification of what they presented to Him For thus the Declaration goes on We having diligently with great Content and Comfort Read and Consider'd all the said Orders Ordinances and Constitutions agreed upon as is before express'd And finding the same such as We are persuaded will be very profitable not only to Our Clergy but to the whole Church of this Our Kingdom and to All the true Members
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
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
times they have appear'd there as Spiritual Assistants to consider consult and consent Only he affirms that they never had Voices there because they were no Lords of Parliament the force of which Argument I shall leave to the House of Commons to answer In the mean time I must observe that in the case of Bird and Smith Trin. 4. Jac. 1. upon a Deprivation made of Smith by the High Commissioners for not Conforming to the Canons of the Church the Lord Chancellour having call'd Popham Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench Coke of the Common Pleas and Fleming Lord Chief Baron to his assistance it was agreed to by all the three without any Exception That the Canons of the Church made by the Convocation and King without the Parliament shall bind in matters Ecclesiastical as well as an Act of Parliament Because the Convocation of the Clergy was once a Member of the Parliament but afterwards for Convenience separated and therefore does carry its peculiar Jurisdiction along with it in the Convocation House For which reason also a Clergy-man cannot be chosen a Member of the House of Commons nor a Lay-man of the Convocation as Coke then declared had been resolved in a Conference of the two Houses 21 Hen. 8. And as concerning the other part of my Lord Coke's Assertion that the Proctors of the Clergy never had Voices in Parliament because in the Writ of Summons it is said that they were call'd Ad consentiendum his quae tunc ibidem de communi consilio dicti regni nostri contigerit ordinari it may suffice to observe that tho' this be indeed the present Form yet when both the Clergy and Commons were first called to this great Council they were both summon'd to another purpose and in words that did expresly intitle them to act in it In the 23d Edw. 1. the first Summons for ought appears that was ever regularly issued out for them they were called Ad Tractand Ordinand Faciend nobiscum cum caeteris praelatis proceribus aliis incolis Regni nostri In the 4th Edw. 3. Ad Faciend Consentiend And this continued to be the usual Form afterwards And these are the very Words that were used in the Commons Writs in the same Parliament 4 Edward 3 And which tho' alter'd about the 26th of that King into others of greater force Ad Tractand Consulend Faciend Yet that Form lasted not very long but in the 46 of the same King it again was worded Ad Faciend Consulend and so has continued to this day And a more ancient Authority than this in my Lord Coke's Account has told us that the Clergy were call'd Ad Tractand Deliberand That their names were call'd over the beginning of every Parliament that they had a Voice in it and made a part of the Commons there But because this is a point that will best be clear'd by matter of Fact we will enquire a little what the Clergy were wont heretofore to do there For as for the Forms of Summons tho' I conceive at first they were very properly drawn and do mark out to us the undoubted Rights of those to whom they were sent as they were allow'd of in those ancient times yet how little they may signifie now the Form of our Parliamentary Writs in the Praemonentes to the Bishop does alone too evidently shew In the 6 Edw. 3. after the Archbishop of Cant. and Bishop of London had declared how that the French King designing an Expedition to the Holy Land had desired our King to go along with him and that this was the cause of calling that Parliament Sir Jeffery le Scroop added by the King's Commandment that the same was called as well to redress the Breach of the Laws and Peace as for the King 's going to the Holy Land The Bishops answer'd That it did not properly appertain to them to counsel in matters of Peace and to prescribe for the punishment of Evils And so together with the Proctors of the Clergy they went apart to consult about the Matters proposed to them In the 13th of the same King the King appointing Commissioners in his stead to begin and continue the Parliament we find the Dean of York as Treasurer standing next to the Archbishop in the Commission And in the Parliament which met the Michaelmas before it being resolved to hold another upon the Octaves of Hilary the Archbishops were order'd to summon their respective Convocations to be ready to meet with it In the 18th of the same Edw. 3. at the opening of the Parliament complaint was made that sundry of all Estates were absent whereat the King did no less muse than he was thereat offended Wherefore he charged the Archbishop for his part to punish the Defaults of the Clergy and he would do the like touching the Parliament And in the same Session the Resolution being taken that the King should end the War he was engaged in either by Battle or an Honourable Peace the King agreed And in order thereunto the Clergy of Cant. granted him a Triennial Disme and the Commons two fifteens of Counties and two Dismes of Cities and Towns It was the usual custom of the Commons in those days to begin such Bills as they thought necessary to have pass'd by Petition to the King in Parliament Thus they did in this Parliament 18 Edw. 3. which being ended the Bishops and Clergy exhibited their Petitions also being in number seven whereto the King answer'd and the same comprized in the Statute for the Clergy still extant In the Preamble of which the King takes notice of the Triennial Disme granted to him by the Prelates and Procurators of the Clergy of both Provinces In the 1 Rich. 2. we again find the Clergy petitioning in like manner And in the 21st of the same King the Commons by Sir John Bussey their Speaker pray the King that forasmuch as divers Judgments were heretofore undone for that the Clergy were not present therefore they pray'd the King that the Clergy should appoint some to be their common Proctor with sufficient Authority thereunto And the Bishops thereupon appointed Sir Thomas Piercie their Proctor to assent in the name of the Clergy And by vertue whereof when the Parliament took a new Oath to the King the Bishops and Abbots themselves took it and Sir Thomas Piercie as Proctor for the Clergy was sworn to the same And when in the same Parliament Sir John Bussey offer'd the King a Subsidy from the Commons and thereupon desired his general Pardon the Clergy gave the like power to Sir William â—e Scroop of Wilts to answer for them that they late did to Sir Thomas Piercie And when finally upon the advice of Sir John Bussey the Lords were required again to swear not to alter any thing of what was done in this Parliament not only the Bishops and Temporal Lords did so but sundry
be Summon'd to the Convocation as often as the Other Estates are to the Parliament But as Our Kings have often been wont to hold Convocaons when there were no Parliaments sitting so in this very Age we know the Convocation was continued after the Parliament was dissolved and our most Eminent in the Law declared that it might lawfully be so How long our Archbishops went on by their Own Authority to call these Convocations I am not able precisely to determine But as it is observed by One who has been very Curious in these Remarks of Simon Langham first That He summon'd such Synods partly at the desire and command of the King and partly without the King's Letters at his own pleasure and of Thomas Arundell after That the Convocation of 1408 as almost all the Others of His Time were called by the sole Letters and Command of the Archbishop tho' nevertheless He sometimes held Them at the desire of the King and by vertue of his Letters for the Publick Affairs of the Realm So it is plain that not only in these times the King did often send his Orders to the Archbishop for this purpose but that from the very time of Edward the First He had been constantly used so to do And it is no improbable con 〈…〉 ure of our Church-Historian that about the End of Arundell's time the King began wholly to Assume this Power and that from thenceforth no Convocations were call'd but at his Command That this was the Case in Henry the Eighth's time the Act of his 25th Year Chapt. 19. tells us And whosoever shall weigh the Introduction of that Statute will see cause to conclude from the Wording of it that so it had been for some considerable time before And now having thus prepared the way for a Right understanding of the nature of the Convocation as it was first setled in the beginning of this Period and has from thence been derived down to Us Let us go on to take a brief View of the chiefest of those Meetings of which any Account remains to Us and from thence we shall be able more clearly to discover the Nature of them and what dependence of Right they ought to have upon the Royal Authority No sooner was Winchelsea made Archbishop of Canterbury but He presently turn'd his Mind to the Reformation of his Court of Arches and for the better accomplishing thereof call'd a Provincial Synod in which He publish'd those Orders for the Regulation of it which still Remain to us under his Name The next year after the same Archbishop held Another Synod and therein agreed that a Sentence of Excommunication should be publish'd against all such as should Infringe the Liberties granted by the King in his Great Charter and Charter of the Forest and that the Copies of Them order'd by the King and Parliament to be sent to Every Cathedral Church should according to their Command be publickly Read to the People Assembled there There were some other things done in this Convocation for the better securing of the Privileges of the Church and an Order publish'd by the Archbishop throughout his Province to make known to the Clergy what had been Resolved by Them What was design'd to have been done in the Convocation again called the year following is not known All that we are told of it is That two Fryars appear'd there in behalf of the King to shew that notwithstanding the Pope's Prohibition the Clergy might lawfully grant a Subsidy to the King to help Him in his Wars Which being done they laid a Command upon the Clergy under pain of Imprisonment not to publish any Sentence of Excommunication either against the King or against any that put Themselves under his Protection and thereupon the Synod immediately broke up For the better understanding of which we must know that the Archbishop had procured a Bull from Rome to forbid the Clergy to grant the King any farther assistance without his leave first had for the doing of it The King hereupon put the Clergy out of his protection And then the Clergy granted him a fifth part of their Goods only the Archbishop Himself stood out and had his Goods Confiscated But so ill were the Circumstances of the King at that time that he thought it not safe to Contest it with Him but in a little time return'd again to Peace with the Archbishop and restored his Goods to Him But this Reconciliation lasted not long the King seeming rather to have waited for an Opportunity of doing him a mischief without hurting himself than to have truly forgiven him And therefore being now in better Circumstances with the Pope He accused the Archbishop of having been the chief Fomenter of all the late Troubles he had met with from his Barons and forced him to go to Rome to answer for it And when in the last year of his Reign He held his Parliament at Carlisle An. 1308 He caused an Inhibition to be Put upon William de Testa a new Legate sent to get up more Money here and a Restraint to be laid upon such Monks as had Lands in England but whose capital Houses were in other Kingdoms So earnestly did this King labour to recover his Authority from those intollerable Usur pations that had been made upon it No sooner was King Edward the Second His Son Crown'd but He gave the Archbishop now Return'd from Rome to understand that He would not suffer his Realm to be obliged either by the Decrees of the General Council of Lyons abroad or by the Constitutions of Otho and Ottobon at home against his Consent And therefore that he should not deprive any of his Chaplains of their Benefices on any pretence of Pluralities or Non-Residence But still the Pope's Authority both in assembling and managing of our Convocations nevertheless prevailed An eminent instance of which we have in the Convocation held the year after and from whence we may collect how they were order'd about this time The Pope having resolved to suppress the order of the Knights-Templers summons a general Council to mâ—et at Vienne To this he invites or rather commands our Archbishops and Bishops to come And that they might be the better prepared for what they were to do there he requires the Archbishop of Canterbury to assemble a Provincial Synod and therein to deliberate about the affairs of the Knights-Templers and to dispose the way for their more essectual Condemnation at the general Council The Archbishop having received this order from the Pope immediately sends his Writ to the Bishop of London requiring him to call the Bishops and Clergy to a Convocation The Bishop of London sends abroad his Summons accordingly And when they met the usual Preliminaries being over the Pope's Bulls were in the first place read next the Bishop of London's Certificate to shew what he had done in obedience both to the Pope's and
either did or said when he was of Council for his Majesty but for Other Tenets Elsewhere and at Other times advanced by Him And therefore pray his Assistance according to his Coronation Oath and as He desired to avoid the Censures of the Church The Clergy thus proceeding the Lords and Judges of the Realm at the Instance of the House of Commons address also to the King and desire him by vertue of his Coronation Oath that He would assert his Temporal Jurisdiction and protect Standish in the Great peril in which He was against the Malice of the Clergy who evidently Objected to him the same Tenets which He had defended in Right of the King's Authority Being thus applied to on Both sides the King first consults with Dr. Veysey Dean of his Chapel and having had his Opinion orders the Justices of his Courts and his Own Council both Spiritual and Temporal with several Members of the Parliament to meet at the Black-Fryars and there to take Cognizance of the Cause between Standish and the Convocation and to hear what Standish had to say for himself in answer to the Points objected to Him The Cause is heard and in conclusion Standish is acquitted and the whole Convocation judged to have incurred a Praemunire by their Citation and Prosecution of Him Upon this the King comes himself to Baynards Castle all the Bishops and a Great Part of the Parliament with the Judges attending upon Him Being sate Woolsey as Cardinal and in high favour with the King first applies to Him in behalf of the Convocation and prays that the Cause might be Referr'd to the Judgment of the Court of Rome This was seconded by Warham Archbishop of Canterbury in the name of All the Clergy and much was Argued for and against This. At length the King deliver'd himself to this Effect to them That by the Order and Sufferance of God He was King of England and as such would maintain the Rights of his Crown and his Royal Jurisdiction in as ample a manner as any of his Progenitors had done before Him Then he commanded the Convocation to dismiss Standish which accordingly they did And were content for that time to let the Royal Supremacy get the better of the Spiritual Jurisdiction CHAP. VI. Some Rules laid down by which to judge for what Causes and at what times Synods ought or ought not to be Assembled And the Reasons suggested by the Author of the Letter c. to prove a Convocation to be at this time Necessary to be held Examined and Answer'd HItherto we have been stating the matter of Right between the King and the Convocation And if I do not very much deceive my self I have plainly made it appear against the Author of the Late Letter to a Convocation-Man that that Venerable Body have neither any Right to Meet nor Power to Act but as the King shall Graciously Allow them to do But now having Asserted this in Vindication of the Prince's Prerogative I must not forget what I have before confess'd as to this matter and see no Cause yet to Retract viz. That His Majesty both as a Christian and a King is Obliged to permit his Clergy to Sit and Act whensoever he is perswaded that the Necessities of the Church require it and it would be for the Publick Good of his People that They should do so And tho' 't is true the Law has intrusted Him with the Last Judgment of this and without which it would be impossible for him to maintain his Supremacy in this Respect yet certainly He ought to be by so much the more careful to Consider the Interest of the Publick by How much the Greater the Trust is which the Publick in Confidence of such his Care has Reposed in Him It must be confess'd indeed that our present Author has neither taken a very proper Method of communicating his Advice to the King nor done it in such a Manner as if He design'd to perswade either the King or his Ministers to pay any Great Deference to his Judgment On the contrary it appears that in all that he has said he intended rather to Reflect upon the Administration of Affairs and to raise discontents in Mens Minds against the Government than to do any Service either to Religion or the Church But however I will consider nevertheless what he has alledged to shew That our present times call for a Convocation and that the King ought not any longer to prevent their sitting The Question to be examin'd is thus proposed by Him What Occasion there is at present for a Convocation And his Answer to it is Short and Vehement full of Warmth as being I suppose design'd to Enflame That if Ever there were need of 〈◊〉 Convocation since Christianity was Establish'd in this Kingdom there is need of One Now. To clear this Point and see how well this Author makes Good so bold an Assertion I shall take this Method 1st I will lay down some General Rules by which we may the better Judge at what Times and in what Cases it may be either necessary or expedient for a Prince to call a Convocation And then proceed 2dly To Consider What this Gentleman has offer'd to prove the Necessity of a Convocation under our present Circumstances to be so exceeding Great and Urgent as He pretends it is I. That Synods may in some Cases be as Useless to the Church as in Others they are Expedient Every Man 's Own Reason will tell him And that such Times may happen in which they may be apt to prove not only Useless but Hurtful we have not only the Experience but the Complaints of the Best Men to convince us It was a severe Judgment which Gregory Nazianzen pass'd upon the Synods of his Time and is the more to be Regarded because it was the Result of a frequent Tryal and a sad Observation That He fled all such Assemblies as having never seen any One of them come to a Happy Conclusion or that did not Cause more Mischief than it Remedied Their Contention and Ambition says he is not to be Express'd And a Man may much easier fall into Sin himself by judging of Other Men than He shall be able to Reform their Crimes There is scarce any thing in Antiquity that either more Exposed our Christian Profession heretofore or may more deserve our serious Consideration at this day than the Violence the Passion the Malice the Falseness and the Oppression which Reigned in most of those Synods that were held by Constantine first and after him by the following Emperours upon the Occasion of the Arian Controversy Bitter are the Complaints which we are told that Great Emperour made of Them The Barbarians says he in his Letter to One of Them for fear of Us Worship God But we mind nothing but what tends to Hatred to Dissention in One word to the Destruction of Mankind And what little Success other Synods have oftentimes
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