as they could to the Laws in force But the Judges confessed That although de jure both the Jurisdictions were ever in the Crown yet the one was sometimes usurped by the See of Rome which is a plain acknowledgment that by the Matters of Fact in those times the Right could not be proved and especially in the times of H. 3. when the Popes Usurpations here were at so great a height that the King upon Writs of Enquiry sent into the several Counties found That the Revenues of the Roman Court by Provisions Extortions c. exceeded the Kings And the King had so little Authority left that the Pope put Bishops upon him Rege penitus irrequisito saith Matt. Westm. so that he was so far from Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction that he had not the Nomination of his Bishops nor so much as a Consent to their Election unless the Pope thought fit sometimes to gratifie him in it For the Pope pretended to the Right of Disposal of Church Preferments by Vertue of his Ordinary Jurisdiction which was said to be twofold 1. Voluntary in the Collation of Benefices 2. Judicial in the hearing of Causes the former might be done at Rome but the other in the Ordinary Ecclesiastical Courts And Bracton who was a Judge in his time owns the Pope as much to have the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction as the King had the Temporal but yet he adds That if an Ecclesiastical Judge did meddle with Matters out of their Cognizance the King's Prohibition did lye against him and he ought to supersede his Proceedings till it were tryed in the King's Court to whom the Jurisdiction belonged But it is still harder to prove the King's Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction because the Spiritual Courts were to certifie the Kings Courts in case of Bigamy Bastardy and such like For the Question is not about their Temporal Subjection to the King in signifying the Sentence of the Court but whence they derived their Authority of holding the Ecclesi astical Courts over which Bracton saith the Pope had the ordinary Jurisdiction the Power to delegate others to execute it What doth it signifie to the Kings Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction that the Barons of England would not receive that part of the Canon Law which concerned the Legitimation of Children born before Wedlock For it depended upon the Barons Consent Whether a Canon of the Church should be made the Law of the Land concerning the Rights of Inheritance In the Reign of King Edward I. In the Time of Ed. I. we may expect some brisker Sallies towards the Kingdoms Deliverance from the Popes Usurpations which were thought so intolerable even by the Monkish Historians in his Fathers Reign What that Bull was the bringing whereof the Law-Books say was then adjudged Treason it would have been worth our while to have known For it is hard to imagine that at that time the meer bringing a Bull should be so Capital a Crime when so many were brought without danger both before and after But it seems by the Certificate of the Judges concerning it still in the Tower the Matter of it was very prejudicial to the Crown And it argues no Spiritual Jurisdiction for Princes to examine and refuse when they see cause Bulls that come from Rome For this is practised in those Countries which profess Obedience to the Popes Jurisdiction Covarruvias affirms it of Spain In Portugal when John the Second would have given up that Right to the Pope the Estates of the Kingdom would not permit him Peter the Second Duke of Britain forbad receiving any Bull before Examination by his Council under pain of Corporal Punishments and Confiscation of Goods Ant. Faber saith in Savoy No Bulls have Authority there till they are approved by the Senate and an Appeal lies from them tanquam ab Abusu Even in Naples it self Ferdinand the Catholick King gave a severe Reprimand to his Vice-Roy for not hanging up a Person who would have executed a Bull without his Authority The Letter it self is Published in the Jus Belgarum where many other things may be seen to the same purpose The Right of Patronage is a Civil Right in Princes as well as others and therefore E. 1. Without pretending to Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction might justly punish the Archbishop of York for his obstinate refusing to admit the Kings Clerk because of a Papal Provision The Statute of Bigamy might very well be interpreted in Parliament and yet the King have no Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction For it was no more than declaring in what sense a Law should be taken i. e. Whether it should extend to Bigamy before the Constitution of the Council of Lyons or after The Act of Parliament made at Carlisle 35 E. 1. against Aliens possessing Benefices is no more than hath been done in Countries where the Popes Jurisdiction is the most owned As in Spain Covarruvias saith They have Prescription and Pragmatical Sanctions against Aliens possessing Benefices The Laws of Poland and many Edicts in France exclude Strangers But I shall now produce some considerable Precedents in the time of Ed. 1. to shew that the Proceedings against the Arch-Bishops and Bishops for Misdemeanors or Contempts was in Parliament and not by Commissioners the inferior Clergy being left to the Jurisdiction of their Ordinaries 3 Ed. 1. E. Warren complained to the King That the Archbishop of Canterbury had contemned his Orders in not taking off Excommunication from some of his Servants The King sends to him to proceed no further against the Earl or his Servants usque ad Parliamentum where the Matter of Contempt might be debated But in the mean time the Archbishop sends to the King a true Account of the Matter and how far he was from Contempt which is still extant in the Records of the Tower. 7 E. 1. John Peckam Archbishop of Canterbury was summoned to Parliament to answer to a Charge of Misdemeanors against him for some Passages in the Council at Reading which he was fain to revoke and to declare that no Articles there passed should create any Prejudice to the Crown or Kingdom 8 E. 1. The Archbishop went about to Visit the Kings Free Chappels The King hearing of it sent a Writ to him to forbear usque ad proximum Parliamentum ut tunc ex unamini mutuo consensu provideamus quid fieri debeat in Praemissis 21 E. 1. John Roman Archbishop of York was Attached upon a Contempt for Excommunicating the Bishop of Durham while he was in the King's Service And after a full hearing in pleno Parliamento he was condemned and upon Submission was Fined to the King sour thousand Marks 28 E. 1. A Controversie arose between the King and the Bishop of Chichester about his refusing to admit a Person Presented to a Prebend in the Free Chappel of Hastings the King sends his Writ to the Warden of Cinque-Ports extant in the Tower among the Writs of that Time to enquire into this Matter
Particular Statute made for the Security of our Religion or for a Suspension of our Ecclesiastical Laws CHAP. IV. Of the Alterations made in the Supremacy by the Statutes of Henry the Eighth with an Answer to the Objections I Now come to the Alterations made in our Laws about the King's Supremacy in the Time of Henry the Eighth 24 Hen. 8. c. 12. An Act passed for taking away all Appeals to Rome which is founded on the King 's Natural and Independent Right of Governing and doing Justice to all his People and the Sufficiency of his own Clergy for Hearing and Determining such Matters as belonged to their Function and therefore all Causes are to be Heard Discussed Examined finally and definitively Adjudged and Determined within the King's Jurisdiction and Authority and not elswhere in the Courts Spiritual and Temporal But if the King be concerned then it is referred to the Upper-House of Convocation The Preamble of this Act against Appeals to Rome is considerable Whereas by divers Authentick Histories and Chronicles it is manifestly declared and expressed That this Realm of England is an Empire governed by one Supreme Head and King c. with plenary whole and entire Power Preheminence Authority Prerogative and Jurisdiction c. for final determination of Causes c. so that here is an Appeal to Ancient History in this Matter and we have still sufficient Evidence of it before the Popes Encroachments prevailed The Bishops and Barons told Anselm in William Rufus his time It was a thing unheard of and contrary to the Custom of his Realm for any one to go to Rome without the King 's Leave which is after explained by way of Appeal Anselm made but a shuffling Answer to this although he had sworn to observe the Customs of the Realm and he could not deny this to be one but he pretended It was against S. Peter 's Authority and therefore could not observe it for this were saith he to abjure S. Peter From whence I infer That the Custom of the Realm was then thought by Anselm to be inconsistent with the Pope's Authority For whatever they talk of S. Peter it is the Pope they mean. In the Reign of H. 1. the Pope complains grievously That the King would suffer no Appeals to be made to him and that due Reverence was not shewed to S. Peter in his Kingdom and that they ended Ecclesiastical Causes at Home even where Bishops were concerned and very learnedly quotes the Deâ—retal Epistles against them Afterwards the Pope sent his Legate and the King denied him Entrance and the whole Parliament rejected it as contrary to the Ancient Custom and Liberty of England That Passage in the Laws of H. 1. c. 5. which seems to allow of Appeals is a mere Forgery the whole Chapter being a Rapsody taken out of the Canonists H. Huntingdon saith That Appeals were brought in in King Stephen 's time by Henry Bishop of Winchester his Brother being the Pope's Legate By the Constitutions of Clarendon c. 8. the Appeal lay from the Archbishop to the King which is well expressed by Robert of Gloucester And the K. amend solde the Ercbishops deed And be as in the Pope's sted and S. Thomas it withsteed And although H. 2. in his Purgation for the Death of the Archbishop did swear That he would hinder no Appeals to Rome in Ecclesiastical Causes and that he would quit the Ancient Customs of the Realm Yet Hoveden saith The Constitutions of Clarendon were renewed in the Parliament at Northampton and the Justices in Eyre were sworn to observe them and to make others observe them inviolably And for those who went out of the Kingdom in Case of Appeals the Justices were to enquire per consuetudinem Terrae according to the Ancient Custom and if they did not return and stand to the King's Court they were to be outlawed In the Time of R. 1. the Popes complained much of Geofry Archbishop of York for slighting Appeals made to Rome and imprisoning those that made them Celestine doth it twice and in the same Words And Innocent the Third in King John's Time renews the same Complaint of him That he shewed no regard to Appeals made to the Apostolick See. But when the Rights of the Crown were given up by King John to the Pope no Wonder if the Liberties of Appeals were granted by him But yet in the succeeding Reigns we have several Instances upon Record of Persons imprisoned by the King for making Appeals to Rome John of Ibstock in the Time of E. 1. The Abbot of Walden and a Prebendary of Banbury in the Reign of E. 2. The Parson of Leighe Harwoden and the Prior of Barnwel in the time of E. 3. So that this Right was still owned by our Princes when the Matter came into Contest and therefore the Act of H. 8. against Appeals was but a just Resuming of the Ancient Rights of the Crown 25 H. 8. c. 19. A Commission is appointed for reviewing the Canons And it is observable That because it could not be done in Parliament Time the King hath Power given him by Act of Parliament to nominate the thirty two Persons to act in this Matter in these Words Be it therefore enacted by the Authority aforesaid That the King's Highness shall have Power and Authority to nominate and assign at his Pleasure the said thirty two Persons of his Subjects whereof sixteen to be of the Clergy and sixteen to be of the Temporality of the Upper and Nether House of Parliament And because the last Resort was to the Arch-Bishop in the former Act of Appeals therefore to prevent any Inconveniences thereby a new Power is granted by this Act i. e. Upon an Appeal to the King in Chancery a Commission is to be directed to such Persons as the King shall appoint who are to hear and determine such Appeals and the Causes concerning the same 25 H. 8. c. 21. After the Submission of the Clergy and the King being owned Supreme Head yet the Power of dispensing with the Canons in particular Cases did not pass by Commission from the King but by Act of Parliament The Words are It standeth therefore with natural Equity and good Reason that all and every such Laws human made without this Realm or induced into this Realm by the said Sufferance Consents and Custom Your Royal Majesty your Lords Spiritual and Temporal and Commons representing the whole State of your Realm in this your High Court of Parliament have full Power and Authority not only to dispense but also to Authorize some elect Person or Persons to dispense c. So that the Power of granting Faculties at a time when the Prerogative was highest was not executed by Commission from the King by vertue of his Supremacy and Prerogative Royal but was granted to the Arch-Bishop of Canterbury in the manner expressed in that Act. A late Author has stretched this Statute to a Power of dispensing in other
Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction are either such as other Princes have an equal Right to or else they must imply such proper Eclesiastical Jurisdiction as follows the Power of Order and then how can the Pope give the one without the other Such a Gift is like an Appropriation of a Benefice with a Cure to a Nunnery which the Lord Hobart saith is void in Law by reason of the incapacity of the Persons But the Supremacy which our Law gives is not any proper immediate spiritual Jurisdiction like that of Bishops but an Authoritative and Legislative Supremacy without any foreign Appeals as will appear afterwards But the Rights which the Kings of Sicily challenge are these 1. That they have the same Powers which Legates a Latere have and may judge of the same Causes and proceed in the same manner with Ecclesiastical Censures 2. That no Appeal lies from the King's Commissioner even to Rome it self and it is common to appeal from the Censure of the Bishop to him The former is a Power which our Kings never pretended to by vertue of their Supremacy for it is a Delegation of the Power of the Keys which the Legates à Latere exercise by vertue of their Function as well as their Commission But the Legal Supremacy with us is a Right to govern all sorts of Men by our own Laws without any foreign Jurisdiction and that with respect to Ecclesiastical Matters as well as Temporal But to prevent Mistakes and Cavils about this Matter it will be necessary to clear the Notion of Supremacy as it hath been owned and received in the Church of England And for this we have two Authentic Declarations of it to rely upon The first is mentioned 5 Eliz. c. 1. § 14. Where the Supremacy is declared to be taken and expounded in such form as is set forth in the Admonition annexed to the Queens Injunctions published in the first year of her Reign And the Words there are That the Queen neither doth nor will challenge any Authority but such as was of ancient time due to the Imperial Crown of this Realm that is under God to have the Sovereignty and Rule over all manner of Persons born within these her Realms Dominions and Countries of what Estates either Ecclesiastical or Temporal soever they be so as no other foreign Power shall or ought to have any superiority over them The Second is in the 37th Article wherein it is declared That by the Supremacy is meant that only Prerogative which we see to have been always given to all Godly Princes in Holy Scriptures by God himself that is that they should rule all Estates and Degrees committed to their Charge by God whether they be Ecclesiastical or Temporal and restrain with the Civil Sword the stubborn and evil doers So that granting a Commission for proceeding by Ecclesiastical Censures is no part of that Supremacy which our Church owns And thus the Divines of our Church have understood it By the Supremacy saith Bishop Andrews we do not attribute to the King the Power of the Keys or Ecclesiastical Censures R. Thompson in his Desence against Becanus saith The Supremacy is not to be defined by Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction but by Supream Government Becanus urged this as an Argument against the Kings Supremacy That he had no Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Dr. Burrhil answered That the Supremacy implied many other things as the Power of calling Convocations of confirming Canons of giving Commissions of Delegates of taking Cognizance of the Misdemeanors of Church-men as well as others but for proper Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction he denies it to belong to Supremacy And after asserts That the King's Supremacy is preserved if he takes care that those who have the Power of Ecclesiastical Censures do exercise them and not as though it belonged to the Supremacy to give an immediate Power to proceed by Ecclesiastical Censures which was not supposed to belong to it but a supreme Right of governing all sorts of Persons by our Laws The King's Supremacy in Ecclesiastical Matters doth not saith Mason imply the Power of the Keys which the King hath not but he may command those who have them to use them rightly All these wrote in King James I. his Reign when the Point of Supremacy was throughly sifted on both sides And the King himself who very well understood these Matters saith That the Oath of Supremacy only extended to the King's Power of Judicature over all Persons as well Civil as Ecclesiastical excluding all foreign Powers and Potentates to be Judges within his Dominions Not as though the King hereby challenged to himself a Power of inflicting Ecclesiastical Censures on Persons but leaving the Spiritual Jurisdiction to those who have the Power of the Keys it belonged to him to exercise his Supreme Authority over Ecclesiastical Persons and Causes as he did over Temporal For saith Archbishop Bramhal our Laws never invested the King with any Spiritual Power or Jurisdiction witness the Injunctions of Q. Eliz. witness the Publick Articles of Our Church witness the Professions of King James witness all our Statutes themselves The King of England saith he by the Fundamental Constitution of the Monarchy hath plenary Power without the Licence or Help or Concurrence of any Foreign Prelate or Potentate to render final Justice that is to receive the last Appeals of his own Subjects without any Fear of any Review from Rome or at Rome for all Matters Ecclesiastical and Temporal Ecclesiastical by his Bishops Temporal by his Judges And thus our Laws were in the Right when they called the Act of Supremacy Restoring the Rights of the Crown for if we take away all the Papal Usurpations as to Appeals Exemptions of Persons Dispensations Provisions making Canons sending Legates to hold Courts to call Convocations c. we may easily understand what the Supremacy is viz. a Power of Governing all Sorts of Men according to the Laws Ecclesiastical and Temporal without any Foreign Jurisdiction But as in Temporal Matters the King 's Supreme Authority is exercised in his Ordinary Courts so likewise in Ecclesiastical Which deriving their Jurisdiction from the King as Supreme his Supremacy is preserved in the ordinary Ecclesiastical Courts but as to extraordinary Jurisdiction that deper ds on the Legislative Power And whether that be not now taken away by it is the thing in Question Having endeavoured to set this Matter in as clear a Light as I could I now return to the Instance of Edward the Confessor And those Words of his as they are in Hoveden signifie no more than a General Right of Protecting and Defending the Church which is not denied to belong to Kings where the Pope's Authority is the most owned I cannot but take notice of a different Reading in the Lord Cokes Copy from all that I have seen for where he hath it Sanctam Ecclesiam regat defendat Lambard veneretur regâ—t but Hoveden revereatur ab
was saith Florentius Wigorniensis congregata Synodo sub praesentia Regis Egfridi The Archbishop Theodore likewise deposed Winfred Bishop of the Mercians saith the same Author after Bede for some Disobedience and consecrated Saxulphus the first Abbot of Peterborough in his Place This Winfred had been present at the Council at Herudford and there consented to the Canons then first received in the English Church and there they submitted to Ecclesiastical Censures upon the Violation of them At this Council saith Matt. Westminster were present not only all the Bishops but all the Kings and Great Men of the Nation so that the first Canons were received in a full Parliament One of these Canons was for increasing the Number of Bishopricks as the Number of Believers increased And upon this Canon Theodore proceeded against both Wilfred and Winfred For not long after Theodore divided his Bishoprick into five but it was done saith Florentius consensu ejusdem Regis Principum illius as Ina divided the Western Province into two Bishopricks Synodali Decreto saith Mat. Westminster which then was the same as by Act of Parliament And the opposing such a Division seems to have been the Crime of Disobedience for which he was deprived by the Archbishop For as Bede observes of him He first exercised Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction over all England In the great Council at Beâ—anceld where King Withred was present A. D. 694. with his Nobles Ducibus Satrapis in unum glomeratis together with the Clergy He there disowrs any Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and leaves it to the Archbishop of Canterbury Metropolitani Episcopi est Ecclesias Dei regere gubernare c. and then follows Presbyteros Diaconos eligere statuere sanctificare firmare amovere And he makes this an inviolable Law as far as his Words could make it Si quis autem Rex post nos levatus in Regnum aut Episcopus aut Abbas vel Comes vel ulla potestas hominum contradicat huic Chartuae aut infringere tentaverit sciat se sequestratum à Corpore Sanguine Domini c. And after it follows Haec Lex inviolabilis usque ad consummationem Saeculi permaneat c. Mr. Prynn out of his old Kindness to the Archbishops of Canterbury in his vast Heap of Collections would have this rejected as Spurious but Sir H. Spelman whose Judgment was far beyond the others saith He had perused five MSS. of iâ— whereof one was with a mixture of Saxon Letters and he had â—o Mistrust of its Sincerity And the Learned and Judicious Editors of the Decem Scriptores Sir Roger Twisden and Mr. Selden have thought fit to insert it after them out of a MS. in CCC But Mr. P. thinks it is contradicted by the Council of Berghamstead about Ecclesiastical Affairs under King Withred But I can find nothing like it It is true there are Laws made concerning Ecclesiastical Matters by common consent of the King the Nobles and Bishops but the very first is Ecclesia libera sit fruaturque suis judiciis c. But besides in the Great Council at Clovesho where AEthelbaldus King of Mercia was present and Cutbert Arch-Bishop of Canterbury with the other Bishops this Charter of Withred's was read and approved and consirmed with the like Sanction annexed to it In the Council at Clovesho A. C. 787. The extent of the Jurisdiction of the Archbishop of Canterbury was very much lessened by the means of King Offa who caused another Archbishoprick to be set up in Mercia and the Archbishop of Canterbury gave his Consent saith Matt. Paris But his former Jurisdiction was restored in the Council of Clovesho A. D. 803. by a general Consent But in the former Council the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction was strenuously asserted in these Words Sicut Reges omnibus dignitatibus praesunt ita Episcopi in his quae ad Deum attinent And in the latter there is a severe denunciation against all that should lessen the Honour or take away the Jurisdiction of that See. From henceforward I find no Diminution of the Archbishop's Ordinary Jurisdiction through the Saxon times The King had the Political Supremacy in him by which he erected and divided Bishopricks and nominated Bishops and summoned Councils and confirmed their Proceedings as he saw Cause but the immediate Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction was left to the Archbishop of Canterbury in the first place and to the rest of the Bishops As to any Publick Acts which related to Ecclesiastical Affairs they were not dispatched by particular Commissions but in the Parliamentary Assemblies In which the custom was to begin with what related to the Church and then to proceed to other Business Of this Ingulphus gives us an Instance in Ceolnothus Archbishop of Canterbury for in the Parliament Assembled at Kingsbury A. C. 851. in Hebdomada Pasch. which was chiefly assembled pro Regni negotiis yet even then he proposed That Church Affairs might be first dispatched Divina Negotia debere primitus proponi to which they all assented And so Bertulphus his Charter of Crowland then passed as Withlasius his did before at a time when the Bishops and Nobles attended the King at London to consult about the Danish Pyrates which very much infested our Coasts Thus AEthelwolfus passed his Famous Grant of the Tenth of all the Lands to the Church in a Council at Winchester himself and the Kingâ— of Mercia and East-Angles being present and all the Nobility and Bishops giving their free Consent as Ingulphus relates it Several others might be produced but these are sufficient And the Saxon Laws are a plain Evidence That Church-Matters were in those times determined in the same Assemblies wherein the other Laws of the Kingdom were passed In the Reign of King Edward the Confessor The next Instance is of Edward the Confessor who saith in his Laws That he is Vicar of the highest King and he is ordained to this end that he should Govern and Rule the People of the Land and above all things the Holy Church and that he defend the same from Wrong-doers and root out Workers of Mischief F. Parsons saith All this was by Commission from the Pope such as the Kings of Sicily had But in my Opinion this is a very bad Answer For it supposes Persons otherwise uncapable to be made capable of the same Jurisdiction which follows Orders provided they have a Delegation from the Pope Which is in effect to confound all Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in any but the Pope himself and those to whom he commits it But those who assert the Right of Jurisdiction to follow the Power of Order must first suppose a Person duly qualified before he can receive from the Pope himself the Power of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction If therefore a Prince hath not an inherent Right to it he cannot receive it by Commission from the Pope And the Powers which the King of Sicily challenges relating to
Principum suorum confirmavit saith the Textus Roffensis He likewise confirmed Charters as the Saxons had done that to Battel Abby was Consilio Episcoporum Baronum meorum But the most considerable thing he did as to Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction was separating the Courts Ecclesiastical from the Hundred Courts by his Charter to Remigius and others which he saith was granted in a great Council and by the Advice of the Archbishops Bishops and all the Great Men of his Kingdom So that still extraordinary Acts relating to Church Matters were passed in Parliament by General consent And what now doth the Appropriation of a Church with a Cure of Souls signifie to prove his Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction When those things in his Time were not brought under such strict Rules as they were afterwards but Appropriation might have been made by any Lay Person that never pretended to the least Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and he might as well have brought his demolishing so many Churches in the New Forest for an Instance of his Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction In the Reign of William the Second In William Rufus his time a great Heat arose between him and Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury about owning the Pope Whether the Archbishop could do it without the King's Consent the Business was referred to Parliament which the King called on purpose at Rockingham saith Eadmerus who was there present The Bishops declared they could not deprive him as the King would have had them to whom they had promised Obedience After which it was again referred to Parliament but Anselm not yielding he went out of the Land. In the Reign of King Henry the First In the Reign of Henry the First a new Controversie arose between the King and the same Archbishop about the Ancient Right of the Crown as to Investiture of Bishops the King calls a Parliament about it wherein the Bishops and Lords joyned with the King afterwards Anselm desired The Advice of the Bishops and Nobles might be heard at Easter which shews that both Sides referred it to the Parliament In his Time a Council was called and several Canons passed and the Archbishop desired of the King That the Primates Regni might sit with them that all things might pass utriusque Ordinis concordi cura with the Consent of both Estates The King afterwards takes the Advantage of these Canons and prosecutes the Breakers of them and raises Money upon Pretence of Forfeitures to the great Grievance of the Clergy Anselm although then in Disfavour writes to the King about it and tells him This was a new Method of Proceeding because it belonged to the Bishops in their Diocesses to call the Clergy to an Account or if they neglected to the Archbishop and Primate The King Answers That his Barons were to meet him on Ascension-day and by their Advice he would give an Answer but upon Anselms Return this Prosecution ceased Other Affairs of the Church were then referred to the Parliament at Easter from thence to Pentecost and by reason of Anselm's Sickness to August and then the Bishops Abbots and Lords of the Kingdom met in the King's Palace at London and by Consent of Parliament Investiture was turned into Homage In his time the Bishoprick of Ely was erected by the King's Consent in Parliament Regi Archiepiscopo caeterisque Principibus Regni visum fuit saith Eadmerus The Consecration of an elect Archbishop of York was transacted in Parliament the King advising with the Bishops and Nobles about it for Anselm before his Death had sent an Inhibition to the Bishops Not to consecrate him unless he made the Profession of Obedience to the Archbishop of Canterbury The Bishops resolved to adhere to Anselm's Inhibition and the King yielded After Anselm's Death the King advised with his Parliament at Windsor about a Successor to him and the Bishop of Rochester at the Request of the Bishops was agreed upon And the King filled the Abbies before he went into Normandy consisto Principum Episcoporum suorum In the latter End of Henry the First many Disputes hapned about Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction as between the Bishops of S. Davids and Glamorgan which were debated in magno Placito apud London saith Henry of Huntingdon And for such Causes saith he another Assembly was held in the beginning of Lent and again in Rogation Week In all this time when the Norman Kings asserted all the Rights of Sovereignty with great Zeal yet they never pretended to appoint any Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes but still referred them to Parliaments In the Reign of King Henry the Third The next Instance the Lord Coke brings falls as low as the Time of Henry the Third The first whereof is the King 's granting a Writ of Prohibition if any man sued in the Ecclesiastical Court for any thing of which by Allowance and Custom it had not lawful Cognizance But how doth the King's Power of granting Prohibitions prove his Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction It effectually proves the King 's Right to preserve his Crown and Dignity as the Prohibition implies but how doth it hence appear that the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction comes from his Crown and Dignity The contrary seems rather to follow viz. That the Ecclesiastical Courts were held from another Power but all Matters of Temporal Cognizance did belong to the Crown There is no Question but since the Acts for restoring Jurisdiction to the Crown the supream Jurisdsction both in the Ecclesiastical and Civil Courts is derived from the Crown And in whose-soever Names the Courts are kept the Authority of keeping them is from the King. For it is declared by Act of Parliament 1 Eliz. 1. 17. That all Ecclesiastical Power is united and annexed to the Imperial Crown of this Realm which all Bishops do own in taking the Oath of Supremacy and therefore the old Form continuing can signifie nothing against the Law of this Realm and their own Oaths But as long as the main Points were secured by the Laws there was no necessity apprehended of altering the Forms for on the other side it was objected that since the Laws had placed all Jurisdiction in the Crown it seemed as unreasonable to continue the old Form of Prohibitions in laesionem Coronae Dignitatis Regiae how can this be say they when the Jurisdiction Ecclesiastical as well as Civil is owned to be from the Crown It is said in Answer That a Prohibition implies that the thing is drawn into aliud Examen than it ought to be and this is contra Coronam Dignitatem Regiam Why not then as well when an Ecclesiastical original Cause is brought into a Temporal Court for that is aliud Examen then by Confession on that side and if Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction be derived from the Crown the aliud Examen must relate only to the Court and not to the Crown All that I infer from hence is that the old Forms were thought fit to be continued both Parties reconciled them as well
and to bring an Account next Parliament ad quod praedictum Episcopum adjornavimus are the Words of the Writ And that the Business was heard in Parliament appears by the Records 31 E 1. The King seized on the Temporalities of the Bishop of Durham upon a Judgment given against him in Parliament for extending his Spiritual Jurisdiction too far as appears by the Record of the Concord made between the King and him In the Reign of King Edward the Second In the Reign of K. E. 2. nothing is produced but the Statute 9 E. 2. for Regulating the Proceedings between the Civil and Ecclesiastical Courts But how the Kings Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction is proved hereby is hard to understand It appears indeed that the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction is allowed and limited by Parliament But from hence saith he it follows that these Laws may be called the Kings Eccclesiastical Laws or the Ecclesiastical Laws of England There is no question but they may But there is a Difference between Laws so called by Acceptation and Allowance and such as have their whole Force and Authority from the King. For otherwise where the Popes Jurisdiction is owned and received the Pope must receive his Authority from the King. But a Liberty to exercise Authority and deriving Authority are two Things In the Reign of King Edward the Third In the Time of E. 3. many things are alledged and to more purpose but yet a short Answer will serve If the first Instance doth hold viz. That the Sentence of Excommunication by the Archbishop holds against the Sentence of the Pope or his Legate it only proves that the Eccesiastical Jurisdiction here by Law is in the Archbishop and not in the Pope or his Legate But there may be another Reason mentioned by Fitz Herbert viz. That the Certificate of the Archbishop might be more Authentick than the Seal of a Legate The second sixth and eighth only prove the King Supreme Patron and a Right of Patronage is distinct from a Right of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction and so it was resolved in Grendon's Case Pl. f. 498. That the King presents by Lapse as Supreme Patron and not as Supreme Ordinary For this belongs to him as King the Land on which Churches are built being originally held of him And this Right the King enjoyed when the Pope was owned to be Supreme Ordinary But in the Case of his own free Chapels Fitz-Herbert saith right That in Case of Lapse by the Dean the King presents as Ordinary the Archbishop and Bishop having no Authority there as Ordinaries The third fourth and fifth are about Exemptions from Episcopal Jurisdictions granted by the King especially in his own free Chapels which are only visitable by Commission from the King. But this very Pretence of Exemptions from Episcopal Jurisdiction was founded upon the Belief of the Pope's being Supreme Ordinary for exempt Places were not supposed to be free from all Ordinary Jurisdiction but from that of Inferior Ordinaries being immediately subject to the Pope A Bishop by the Canon Law may grant an Exemption from his Right of Jurisdiction but not from his Right of Visitation but the Pope from both And in the Grant of Exemption the immediate Subjection to the Roman See is expressed As to the King 's free Chapels their Exemption was by an express Bull of Innocent III to King John and in the Case of the free Chapels of S. Martins Henry III granted a Prohibition wherein it is inserted That it was a free Chapel ab omni Jurisdictione Episcopali per Sedem Apostolicam exempta And 45 Hen. 3. in a Prohibition concerning the free Chapel of Wolverhampton the Grant of Innocent III is repeated The Right to extra-parochial Tithes is Provisional and not by way of Inheritance and so it may belong to the King although he have no Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction As to the severe Proceeding about Bulls from Rome I have given an Account of that already in E. 1. The anointing of Kings proves no more their Capacity of Spiritual Jurisdiction than it proves the Kings of Israel to have been High Priests There is no doubt the Ecclesiastical Courts may be limited by the Laws of the Land and there are some Causes which belong to them not originally of a Spiritual Nature but they have been a long time possessed of them by Custom and are allowed by Law which is well expressed in 24 Hen. 8. c. 12. where it is said That all Causes Testamentary Causes of Matrimony and Divorces Rights of Tithes Oblations and Obventions the Knowledge whereof by the Goodness of Princes of this Realm and by the Laws and Customs of the same appertaineth to the Spiritual Jurisdiction of this Realm shall be determined within the Kings Jurisdiction and Authority It doth not seem probable That the King by his own Authority would remove Secular Canons and put in Regular when Hoveden saith in the same Case H. 2. did it by the Pope's Authority and with the free Consent of the Parties The Statutes of Provisors were excellent Statutes but are said to be enacted for the Good and Tranquility of the Realm which no doubt the King and his Parliament were bound to take care of But they prove no more Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction than the Pragmatick Sanctions of Lewis IX and Charles VII in France did which were of the same nature The following Instances in other Reigns are many of them of the same kind with those already answered but what seems to have any new Force shall be considered In the Reign of King Henry the Fourth 2 H. 4. c. 15. is urged to prove That the King by consent of his Parliament did direct the Proceedings of the Spiritual Courts in Cases of Heresie and other Matters more Spiritual but it is evident by the Act it self That the Spiritual Jurisdiction was left wholly to the Ordinaries and only an Inforcement of it by the Civil Power was added by the Law then made for the Words are Whereas the Diocesans of the said Realm cannot by their Jurisdiction Spiritual without Aid of the said Royal Majesty sufficiently correct c. Therefore a Power to Imprison and Fine was given to the Ordinaries who might before have proceeded by Ecclesiastical Censures but these being contemned by them the Ordinaries called in the Assistance of the Civil Power If there had been a Power before to have proceeded against Hereticks by Common Law when convict by their Ordinaries I cannot see any Reason why that Law should be made In case of Apostacy i. e. Renouncing Christianity Bracton saith The Person convict is to be burned and he instanceth in the Deacon who turned Jew in the Council of Oxford And Fleta speaks only of Apostates whether Clerks or others and those are the Miscreants in Briton and in Horn Heresie was then the same with renouncing Baptism or turning Jew or Turk or using Sorcery but after Wickliff's Time the Ordinaries inlarged the Notion of Heresie and took
Statutes And it cannot be supposed that at that time when the Pope was allowed to be Head of the Church and consequently Supreme Patron of the Benefices of it that the Acceptance of a Title to an Ecclesiastical Benefice from him should be thought Malum in se. But these Statutes being in force I shall make it appear that the King did own he had no Power to Dispense with them but as the Parliament thought fit to allow it I begin with 15 R. 2 at a time when the Kingdom was in quiet and however could not be in any disturbance on the Account of the Statute of Provisors which the Nation desired and only those who depended on the Court of Rome opposed But the Court-Bishops suggested that it was for the Kings Interest in dealing with the Court of Rome to have a Power to Relax and to Dispense with these Statutes as he saw Cause Therefore the Arch-Bishop of York then Chancellor proposed it in the opening of the Parliament as one of the things for which it was called viz. To find out a Temperament in that Matter so as the Pope might not lose his Right nor the King his After this Matter was debated the Commons declare their Assent en plein Parliament That without prejudice to the Rights of those who were in Possession by virtue of the Statute the King by the Advice and Consent of the Lords might Dispense with the said Statute so as should seem reasonable and useful till the next Parliament but so as the said Statute be repealed in no Article of it And they reserve to themselves the Liberty of disagreeing the next Parliament And they conclude with a solemn Protestation That this was a Novelty not practised before and ought not to be drawn into an Example and Precedent for the future and they desire this Protestation might be Entred and Recorded in the Rolls of Parliament which the King commanded to be done Doth this now look like a Declaratory Act and made in Affirmance of the Kings Dispensing Power It might as well be said That an Act for Restraining the Prerogative is made in Affirmance of it It is true there is a Dispensing Power granted but with such Restrictions and Limitations as shew that such a Power was not then thought to be inherent in the Crown For 1. Why should it be proposed to the Parliament to grant it if the King had it before Did the King ever put it to the Parliament to grant him a Power to Pardon Malefactors But in the case of Dispensing with a Law it was not only proposed but assigned as one Reason of calling the Parliament 2. Why till the next Parliament if it were owned to be an inherent Right of the Crown Would the Parliament go about to bound and limit an inseparable Prerogative in such a manner 3. Why is it called a Novelty and a thing not to be drawn into example Was ever any thing like this said of a Declaratory Act The Natural Consequence whereof is just contrary that whereas some just Right of the Crown hath been contested and denied for the future it ought to be owned and submitted to by all Persons It is hard to think of Words more inconsistent with a meer Declaratory Act than those Ne soit trait en ensample nen Consequence en temps avenir 4. If this were a Declaratory Act what need it be repeated so often in Parliament afterwards Were the Commons so forgetful of the Kings Prerogative as to need making so many Declaratory Acts about the same thing Yet thus we find it about this Dispensing Power as to the Statutes of Provisors For 16 R. 2. The Archbishop of York again declared in the opening of the Parliament That one Cause of calling it was to settle this Matter about Provisors And the Commons again yielded The King should have such a Power to moderate it as he should with his Council judge expedient but so as it be all laid open before the next Parliament that they might upon good Advice agree to it 17 R. 2. Tydeman Abbot of Beauley was by the Popes Provision made Bishop of Landaff But the King notwithstanding the former Proceedings did not take upon him to dispense with the Statute but left it to the Parliament and his Dispensation was passed by Act of Parliament the King Lords and Commons assenting thereto 20 R. 2. The Commons in Parliament do again Assert de bon gre de leur parte en plein Parlement That the King with his Council may dispense with the Statute of Provisors as shall seem fit so as the same be heard and examined the next Parliament and so corrected as shall be thought convenient by the King with the Advice of his Council in Parliament 1 H. 4. The Commons in like manner give their Assent That the King should have the same Power of Dispensing with the Statute which his Predecessors had and to Repeal and Annul it as should seem expedient to him Which was no more than a General Dispensation Yet notwithstanding this was recorded in Parliament 2 H. 4. The Commons appearing before the King and the Lords it was declared That the Dispensation should not extend to Cardinals or other Strangers At the same Parliament a Petition was presented to the King That if any one did accept a Benefice by Papal Provision against the Statute and had his Pardon from the King for it yet if he went about to disturb the present Possessor by virtue of his Provision then his Pardon should be void and he should incur the Penalty of the Statute To which the King gave his Assent 3 H. 4. The King having granted particular Licenses for Dispensations as to this Statute and finding the great Inconveniences which came by them he generally and universally revovoked them and promised in Parliament to find out some proper Remedy in this Matter 7 H. 4. The King was moved in Parliament to confirm that Revocation but he then took time to consider But 9 H. 4. c. 8. the King reinforced in Parliament all the Statutes against Provisors as it is in Print 1 H. 5. The Commons pray That the Statutes may stand in full force against Provisors and that no Protection or Grant made by the King to hinder the Execution of the said Statutes shall be allowable or of any force and whatever is done contrary to them shall be null The Answer is Let the Statutes be observed and kept But if the Statutes were to be strictly observed what saving can there be to the King's Prerogative since the Statutes were Universal and the King 's particular Grants in this Case were the great Motive of the Commons Desire to have them reinforced in the beginning of this King's Reign And these Statutes continued in full Force to the Time of H. 8. insomuch that Cardinal Woolsey was prosecuted by the King's Attorney for offending against them by his Legatine Power
Person and this Royal Power cannot be restrained by any Act of Parliament neither in Thesi nor in Hypothesi but that the King by his Royal Power may dispense with it for upon the Commandment of the King and Obedience of the Subject does his Government consist as it is provided by the Statute of 23 H. 6. c. 8. That all Patents made or to be made of any Office of a Sheriff c. for Term of years or for Life in Fee-simple or in Tail are void and of none effect any Clause or Parol of Non-obstante put or to be put into such Patents to be made notwithstanding And further Whosoever shall take upon him or them to accept or occupy such Office of Sheriff by vertue of such Grants or Patents shall stand perpetually disabled to be or bear the Office of Sheriff within any County of England by the same Authority And notwithstanding that by this Act 1. The Patent is made void 2. The King is restrained to grant a Non-obstante 3. The Grantee disabled to take the Office yet the King by his Royal Sovereign Power of commanding may command by his Patent for such Causes as he in his Wisdom doth think meet and profitable for himself and the Commonwealth of which he himself is sole Judge to serve him and the Weal Publick as Sheriff for such a County for years or for Life c. And so was it resolved by all the Justices of England in the Exchequer Chamber ' 2 H. 7. Here the Point is resolved into an inseparable Prerogative in the King which no Act of Parliament can restrain although made with his own Consent Is there no Act of Parliament then which this great Lawyer will allow to restrain the King's Prerogative so as he cannot disperse with it What saith he to the Case of Buying Offices at Court Cannot the King by vertue of his Prerogative order his Houshold as he pleases to dispose of Offices about him as he thinks fit No. The same Lawyer saith That no Non obstante could dispense with the Act against buying of Offices And yet one would think that the King had as great a Prerogative in the Court as over the Kingdom But how comes he to say That the King can dispense notwithstanding the Disability when elsewhere he saith The King cannot dispense in the Case of a Disability by Law For the Reason he gives why the King cannot present a Man to a Living who is convict of Simony is because the Law hath disabled him Very well And yet in this Case although the Law hath disabled him the King may dispense Where are we now The King can dispense with a Disability and he cannot dispense with it This is indeed a very dark learning of Dispensations as C. Justice Vaughan well called it for we cannot yet find the way through it Can the King dispense with a Disability in Law or not If not the Case of Sheriffs is gone If he can then why not in the case of Symony Why not as to sitting in Parliament without taking the Oaths No here is a Disability in Law. What then Cannot the K. dispense with a Disability in one Case as well as the other Bu the same Person saith That in that Case because the Words amount to a Disability the King cannot dispense and here where the Disability is expressed he may But we are lately told there are two sorts of Disabilities one is actually incurred as that upon the Members who sit without taking the Oaths and the other is a Disability annexed to the Breach of a Law as a penalty and that penalty not to be incurred before a Legal Conviction and in this Case the King's Dispensation coming before the Conviction doth prevent it by making that lawful which would not have been so without it But when a Disability is actually-incurred it cannot be taken off but by Act of Parliament I Answer That if the Law which makes the Disability doth allow of a Dispensation antecedent to the Conviction then I grant that the Dispensation before Conviction prevents the Disability As in Digby's Case if the Dispensation had come before Institution the Disability as to holding the former Living had been prevented because the Law doth expresly allow of a Dispensation in the Case But here is no such thing The Act of Parliament supposes no Dispensation but makes an utter Disability as to the holding the Office in Sir Edward Hales his Case but a dispensing Power is set up against the Act of Parliament and such a Dispensation neither before nor after Conviction can prevent a Disability If it could I can by no means see why it might not as well hold as to Members of Parliament at least as to the Oath of Supremacy if they take their Dispensation before Sitting in the House For the Disability doth not take place till they enter the Parliament 5 Eliz. c. 1. And he that entreth the Parliament without taking the said Oath shall be deemed no Knight Citizen Burgess or Baron nor shall have any Voice but shall be as if he had been never Returned or Elected The Intention of the Law for the Test was a disability to hold the Office but it allows time for Persons to qualifie themselves as appears by the Act for the Test. Is not this plain overthrowing the design of the Law for Persons instead of doing what the Law requires to take out a Dispensation for not doing it and so prevent the Disability And what doth a Law signifie when the very design of it is overthrown And what is the Power of making Laws by common Consent in Parliament if without such Consent the whole force of the Law may be taken away by a dispensing Power So that this doth not meerly make Laws to signifie nothing but according to Will and Pleasure but it makes our very Constitution insignificant which requires to every Law the Consent of the People in Parliament As for Instance By the first Constitution of the Roman Government the King had the custody of the Laws but no Laws were to be made but by the Consent of the Roman People in the Curiae thence called Leges Curiatae Would any one have thought this any Privilege if after these Laws were passed the King should claim an inseparable Prerogative of dispensing with them as he sees Cause For it is implied in such a Fundamental Contract as this that Laws when made should not lose their Force without their Consent who made them Else it is not Contractus bonae Fidei I will not dispute whether this were the Original Contract of our Nation or not but this I may say That when our Government came to a Settlement after long struglings this was one of the Fundamental Articles of it That no Laws should pass or Burdens should be laid upon the People but by their own Consent in arliament Bracton saith That a Law among us supposes the Authority of
Bracton observes several things which are material to this purpose 1. The first General Exception which is allowed he saith is contra Jurisdictionem Exceptions are either dilatory or Peremptory Some that are only dilatory as to the Action may be peremptory as to the Jurisdicton And these are to be put in ante Litem contestatam ad perimendum Judicium ne procedat And the first of this sort are the Exceptions contra Jurisdictionem contra Personas Judicantium quibus deficit Autoritas judicandi So that he supposes that such who do not deny the Kings Supreme Authority may have a Legal and just Exception against the Authority of a Court. 2. It was an allowable Exceptio Fori then if any Lay-Persons did take upon them to proceed by Ecclesiastical Censures In Ecclesiastical Causes saith he a Secular Judge hath no Cognizance because he hath not the Power of Coercion proper to them viz. by Ecclesiastical Censures therefore he saith in his Causis pertinet Cognitio ad Judices Ecclesiasticos His Reason is Because those only are the competent Judges who have the Power of Coercion proper to the Court. And for the same Cause Ecclesiastical Judges are not to interpose in Secular Causes cum jura sint separata limitata And although the Exemption of Ecclesiastical Persons from the Civil Courts be certainly taken away by the Acts of Supremacy yet it hath been still alledged by our Divines That the Ecclesiastical Censures were still reserved to the Ecclesiastical Functions either in the way of Ordinary or Delegate Jurisdiction If the High Commission did seem to go further then that Power being taken away by Act of Parliament it must return to the Ancient Course 3. There must be a Legal Authority to constitute a Legal Jurisdiction Ad hoc quod rata sint judicia videre oportet a◠Justic. Warrantum habeat à Rege quod judicare possit Si Warrantum non habuerit non valebit quod coram eo actum fuerit quasi coram non suo judice quia primo legi debet Breve Originale postmodum Breve per quod Justiciar constitutus est si nullum omnino habuerit aut si habuerit non tamen ad manum non erit ei parendum nisi it a forte sit quod Breve Originale de Justiciaria sua faciat mentionem Bracton l. 5. De Except c. 14. 1. There must be a Commission from the King which must be read and if either they have it not or it be not at hand the Jurisdiction is not to be owned unless it be mentioned in the Original Writ For Commissions in those days were most commonly granted by Writ saith the Lord Coke But by Bracton's Words it appears That commonly there was an Original Writ and a Commission besides but sometime the Commission was in the Original Writ and then the reading of that was sufficient The Mirror saith That the Jurisdiction may be denied if the seeing or hearing the Commission be denied 2. The Bounds of the Jurisdiction must be expressed and if those be exceeded he saith an Exception lies Which signifies nothing unless the Commission be known 3. The Commission must be according to Law For that is Bracton's standing Rule Nihil aliud potest Rex in Terris cum sit Dei Minister Vicarius nisi id solum quod Jure potest So that a Commission against Law is void in Law. He mentions the Common Saying in the Civil Law Quod Principi placet Legis habet Vigorem and answers it thus Quod Principi placet is not to be understood of his Presumptive but his Legislative Will Animo condendi Jura and with the Advice of his Magistrates the King himself giving Authority which is the Description of an Act of Parliament as we now call it Which he more fully expresses elsewhere Legis vigorem habet quicquid de Consilio de Consensu Magnatum Reipublicae Communi sponsione Authoritate Regis sive Principis praecedente juste fuerit Definitum Approbatum If this were the Ancient Law of England how comes the Exception against a Court to be a Denial of the King's Supremacy unless it be supposed impossible That there should be an Illegal Court with the King's Commission But we may suppose it possible for a new kind of Star-Chamber or Court of Wards to be set up must no Man question the Legality of such a Court without denying the King's Authority For this is a Question in Point of Law. And the King's Authority always goes with the Law and therefore to suppose it to be in any thing against Law is to suppose it to be contradictory to it self But our Author saith It is necessary for every Court to assert its own Jurisdiction Very true and to clear it too if it be liable to a just Exception I am very far from denying the King's Supremacy yet I may be as far from thinking such a Court to be Legal if an Act of Parliament can make a Court Illegal and to say no more for it but that every Court must assert its own Jurisdiction is to level it with the Infamous High Court of Justice which when King Charles the First of Blessed Memory denied their Authority all the Reply was That the Court was satisfied of its own Authority Which could give Satisfaction to no Body else And if this be all can be said for the Legality of it for all that I can see there is just Reason to deny it FINIS A Catalogue of Books Published by the Reverend EDWARD STILLINGFLEET D. D. Dean of St. Paul 's and Sold by Henry Mortlack at the Phoenix in St. Paul 's Church-yard A Rational Account of the Grounds of the Protestant Religion being a Vindication of the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury's Relation of a Conference c. from the pretended Answer of T. C. Wherein the true Grounds of Faith are cleared and the False discovered the Church of England vindicated from the Imputation of Schism of the most important particular Controversies between us and those of the Church of Rome throughly examined the Second Edition Folio Sermons Preached upon several Occasions with a Discourse annexed concerning the true Reasons of the Sufferings of Christ wherein Crellius his Answer to Grotius is considered Folio Origines Britannicae Or the Antiquities of the British Churches with a Preface concerning some pretended Antiquities relating to Britain in vindication of the Bishop of St. Asaph By Edward Stillingfleet D. D. Dean of St. Pauls Folio Irenicum A Weapon-Salve for the Churches Wounds Quarto Origines Sacrae or A Rational Account of the Grounds of Christian Faith as to the Truth and Divine Authority of the Scriptures and Matters therein contained Quarto The Unreasonableness of Separation or an impartial Account of the History Nature and Pleas of the present Separation from the Communion of the Church of England to which several late Letters are annexed of eminent Protestant