Sacrament be prostituted to countenance and incourage such fatal Presumptions as these to strengthen the Hands of the Vile and cause them to commit Sin with all imaginable Boldness and without any Remorse Shall we turn the Cup of the Blood of Christ into the Cup of Devils as the Apostle expresses it in 1 Cor. 10.21 not only by permitting those who offer up themselves as Sacrifices to the Devil to drink of it but by making it as effectual to the promoting the Interest of Satan as though he himself had really instituted it 3. Because such a Practice as this tends to the increasing the Numbers of the Dissenting Conventicles For though they are not without faulty Members as well as we yet it must be confess'd that they are very careful to keep or purge out all that are openly scandalous in their Lives We indeed excel them in our Episcopal Government the Decency and Order of our Worship in the Numbers of sober and learned Clergy but in this particular we are more defective than they there is not so much of this unhappy Leaven among them as there is among us so that many Persons of strict Piety who are burden'd and griev'd with this Disorder will be tempted to desert us and join with them and they being not acquainted with the Distinctions of learned Men will be more easily led into such an Error and if a speedy Reformation be not made in this Matter we must expect the Numbers of those who are the greatest Ornaments of our Communion out of a pretended Concern for their Edification will leave us For 4. We must now ackowledg and declare that the Admission of such as these very much hinders our Edification and makes us take the Holy Sacrament with much less Joy and Comfort than wee might otherwise do As we belong to a Church that not only recommends the most inlarged Charity but is celebrated for it so we hope we are not without some Measures of that Love to God and the Souls of Men which she requires in all her Communicants and being influenc'd by this we cannot with unconcern'd Eyes and Hearts behold these Men at once profane the Name of God and eat and drink Damnation to themselves i. e. as our Church explains it Diseases Death and the Wine of God's Wrath. Exhort bef the Commun 'T is with a great and sincere Sorrow that we observe Persons guilty of the highest Impurities allowed to come to the Holy Communion who ought to be driven from it Our Peace and Benefit would be much greater in our Approaches to it if we did not find there some who but a few Hours before were venturing their Lives in the Quarrel of a Strumpet others who spent the last Night in Revelling and Drunkenness and when they joyn themselves to us seem to take us for a Crew of merry Companions others that just before the Communion were belching out Oaths and Curses and soon after the end of it will pour out whole Vollies of them again c. And if there were none allowed to kneel there but such as were sober and vertuous devoutly and religiously disposed We must therefore be excused if after so long a silence we take the liberty to express our Resentments in this Matter and to declare that we do with a very passionate Grief see the Holy Bread and Wine touch'd by such polluted Hands and unhallowed Mouths especially when we sear and expect that after the taking of these according to the Threatning denounced by our Church The Devil should enter into them as he did into Judas to fill them full of all Iniquities and bring them to destruction both of Body and Soul Exhort before the Communion And we would add that while we have a warm and zealous regard to the Honour of God Almighty and his Sacraments and the Good of others we shall have the same sense and apprehensions But to conclude this Subject that our present Convocation may be stirred up to a more vigorous Zeal and Diligence in the framing new Penitentiary Canons or reforming the Old we would with all modesty and submission remind our Fathers and Guides now assembled of the Promises they made at their several Ordinations and of the solemn Charge they received from our Church which is in these words Wherefore consider with your selves the End of your Ministry towards the Children of God towards the Spouse and Body of Christ Form of ordering of Priests Sparrow p. 125. and see that you never cease your Labour your Care and Diligence until you have done all that lieth in you according to your bounden Duty to bring all such as are or shall be committed to your Charge unto that agreement in Faith and Knowledg of God and to that ripeness and perfectness of Age in Christ that there be no place left among you either of Error in Religion or for viciousness of Life And since we shall not entertain a suspicion of their readiness to discharge their Offices with the utmost fidelity of their willingness to pay a chearful Obedience to the Commands of our common Mother we will not question their gratifying our Desires in this Particular Of the Examination of such Persons as desire to be admitted into Holy Orders both as to their Learning and Manners 'T Is the unhappy neglect of this has not only over-stock'd our Church with a shoal of supernumerary Clergy but given too many the opportunity of crouding into Holy Orders whom their Parents only thrust on the Service of the Church because they know not how to dispose otherwise of them And yet it must be own'd that the Canons of our Church are not altogether chargeable with this Neglect For the 35th Canon enjoins the Bishop before he admits any Person into Holy Orders to examine him in the presence of those Ministers that shall assist him in the Imposition of Hands or at least take care that the foresaid Ministers examine him if he have any lawful Impediment We could heartily wish the Bishop might accordingly do it more constantly himself in the presence of such as assist at the Ordination and not leave it so generally to the Arch-Deacon or one of his Chaplains And 't were highly adviseable that the particular Trials which every Candidate for Sacred Orders must pass in order to give a good Specimen of his Proficiency in Humane Learning and especially in the study of Divinity were prescrib'd For it can by no means be thought a sufficient Evidence of a Man's being qualified for that Sacred Function that he can construe a piece of the Latin Testament and resolve that grand Question of Quot sunt Symbola c. The admirable care of many Foreign Churches particularly the Reformed Churches in France about the admission of their Proposants is a very commendable Pattern And even in this Point the Directory how idle a Book soever it may be in other things has the advantage of any thing prescrib'd in this Canon
stile them our most Religious and Gracious ones and that in the Church too don't look like that Reverence we have been taught to bear towards Crowned Heads True indeed the Israelites once did pronounce several of these Curses on Mount Ebal with an Amen but this was by virtue of an express Command from God and this might be suitable enough to a Legal Spirit to the rough and sowre dispensation of the Law but not to the calm kind and peaceable Institution of the Gospel which is soft and gentle as the wings of that Dove that lighted on the head of him who was the Author of it Having consider'd the Liturgy we proceed to take notice of those Rites and Ceremonies of our Worship which His Majesty hath join'd with it and concerning which he says That being things in their own nature indifferent and alterable and so acknowledged it is but reasonable that upon weighty and important Considerations c. Now it being confess'd on all hands that they are things alterable and indifferent in their own nature we are all of us of the mind that many unanswerable Reasons may be urg'd for their utter removal and their being totally laid aside such as are the dangers and hazards to which they have already expos'd our Church the fatal Divisions the unnatural and implacable animosities they have occasioned and continue to foment the obligations that we lie under from the Commands and Examples of Christ and his Apostles to yield in things of so small moment to the invincible scruples and the earnest importunities of our weaker Brethren as well as many others that have been alledged and inforced by many Learned Pens We cannot tell how to excuse the conduct of those persons who notwithstanding all the respect they owe to a Gracious Prince their Duties to God and their scrupulous fellow-Christians will evidently lay open both the Church and State to an unavoidable Ruin rather than depart from the Imposition and Use of such Rites no more than we could have justified St. John the Baptist if he had fallen a Sacrifice to the fury of Herod meerly because he would not administer Baptism without his Raiment of Camelâ— hâ—ir and his leathern Girdle We cannot blame the Piety and Wisdom of our first Reformers who introduced and continued these to avoid throwing the Nation that was then over-run with Superstition into great and deadly Convulsions but since these reasons are now ceas'd and very dismal inconveniences do attend their present use we do think it better to throw them by than retain them It was necessary that when our Church first rose out of the Superstition Darkness and Idolatry in which she had been so long buried she should like Lazarus have some of the Grave-cloaths about her but if out of some odd Humour she should resolve still to wear them she would appear not only unlovely but ridiculous But lest we should seem to push this matter too far we shall only say That it is highly requisite that the use of them should be left indifferent that a strict Uniformity in these Rites is no longer necessary provided there be an Agreement in all the Essentials of her Doctrine and Worship and there are many Grounds that move us to insist on this viz. that they are but trivial things and of no moment that they neither add any real Decency and Beauty to our Worship nor render it more acceptable and pleasing to God besides there are many Persons in our Communion who are weary of them and many others who frequent our Churches that do either despise or smile at our rigorous insisting upon them P. 20. 22. for as the Letter concerning the Convocation well says The number of those who are addicted to them is not very great and the greatest part of the Nation are such as are not over-zealous and fond of them but might by the Method we offer be more firmly fixed to us There is a Body of Men who are still among us and attend in our Churches and at our Sacraments who do think our present Contests about these matters to be much like that which we about London saw managed between the Ladies and the Mobile about Top-knots the Rabble design'd to force them to lay them aside by Ballads Pictures and insolent Jeers but that Sâ—x which uses to conquer by their Charms got the Victory now by Obstinacy and Resolution and the poor Top-knots have outlived their fury While we saw no prejudices arise to the Nation this afforded us a pleasant diversion but had the dispute run so high as to endanger an universal Mutiny and Insurrection we should have commended that Sex if they had prudently thrown them off and quitted the Field We do therefore judge That such things as these should no longer be imposed as terms of our Communion and such as will not submit to them may be esteemed as genuine Sons of our Church as those that do that this is a Season wherein these latter should be allowed as free an access to our Altars and Fonts as the other and that it is a condescention which we owe not only to our Blessed Saviour and those weak Disciples which he hath so tender a concern for but to the Safety and Honour of our Church as well as her present Constitution Of the Canons SInce the consideration of the greatest part of 'em will fall under the following Heads in His Majesty's Commission we shall confine these Remarks to a few of 'em that cannot be so conveniently rang'd under those Particulars The first Canon enjoins the maintaining the King's Supremacy over the Church of England in Causes Ecclesiastical Can. 1. And as that Canon declares all Foreign Power forasmuch as the same has no establishment by the Law of God to be justly taken away and abolish'd so that Doctrine should in all reason be disown'd and censur'd which so many Divines of our Church have endeavoured to defâ—nd and propagate in their publick Writings viz. That the Church Vniversal ought to be governed by the Decrees of General Councils and during the interval of such Councils the only way of Concord is to obey the Governing Part of the Universal Church viz. All the Bishops in one Regent College governing the whole Christian World per literas formatas Especially when on pretence of the easier Execution of these Universal Laws some of 'em have been so liberal to his Holiness as to assign that Province to him of Patriarch of the West and the Centre of Unity to this part of the Catholick Church And how much all the fierceness of Archbishops Laud and Bramhall Dr. Heylin Bishops Morley Gunning and Sparrow Dr. Saywell Mr. Dodwell c. against all Dissenters at home and their strange chilness to the Reformed Churches abroad is owing to a miserable fondness for this Notion as the hopeful ground of a Reconciliation between the Church of England and the French Church that has cast off the Papal Infallibility it
Vox Populi Or the SENSE of the SOBER LAY-MEN OF THE Church of England Concerning the HEADS Proposed in his MAJESTIES COMMISSION TO THE CONVOCATION LONDON Printed for Randall Taylor near Stationers-hall 1690. The Bookseller to the Reader THese Papers were sent to me before the late Prorogation of the Parliament but yet I have thought fit to publish them hoping they may be useful to the Publick THE PREFACE WE pay too great a Deference to so venerable an Assembly as our Convocation to come before them tho with a Petition in our hands without making some Apology for this seeming Rudeness as tho we presum'd to instruct our Teachers and fancied our selves wiser than our Spiritual Guides We might plead by way of Excuse that a former Convocation not only allowed but desired more on our behalf than we do pretend to Burnet 's Hist of the Reform Vol. 1. p. 147 For they addressed to King Henry the 8th That an equal number of Lay-men might be joined to some of their own Body with a full power to abrogate or confirm Canons and Ecclesiastical Laws as to them should seem most expedient whereas we do neither presume nor desire to sit among the Clergy as Counsellors but only to be permitted to stand as Supplicants at their door We might further alledg in our own behalf that when we lately ventured with our Pens to defend the Doctrines of our Church against the Papists in which Controversy our Learned Clergy gain'd such immortal Trophies of Honour our Papers were not only kindly received but protected too Even Dr. Sherlock himself condescending to cover a Protestant Footman with his mighty Shield who like a small Squire had ventured to strike a blow or two for the Giant We are therefore apt to believe that what we now propose for the further advantage of our Church will be as favourably entertain'd And we are the rather encouraged to such a Persuasion because the Master of the Temple notwithstanding the Canon in this case which shall be observ'd in its proper Place under that Head hath lately revoked that Letter of Attourny which the Clergy seemed to pretend to for the warranting them alone to act in our Names while we sate still and held our Peace For saith he Tho the Clergy have of late in a great measure monopoliz'd the Name of the Church to themselves yet in propriety of Speech they do not belong to the Definition of it Dr. Sherlock's Disc of the Nature Vnity and Communion of the Catholick Church p. 32. 34. they are indeed the Governours of the Church as they have receiv'd Authority from Christ the supreme Lord and Bishop of the Church but they are no more the Church than the King is his Kingdom or the Shepherd his Flock the Bishops and Pastors of the Church consider'd as such represent the Head and not the Body c. But that which we shall insist on and stand by as the main Reason of our willing and publishing the following Papers and which we conceive will fully silence those that are most likely to raise a Clamour against us is to clear our selvâ—s from the injâ—â—ious Misrepresentation that Vox Cleri Vox Cleri p. 11 gives of us as tho we were as perverse Enemies to his Majesties excellent Design in his Commission to the Convocation as he himself is and those whose Judgment he pretends to express For one of the main Reasons he urges against all Alterations is that which he cites out of Dr. Burnet in Judg Hales's Life That as some might come in so others that were in our Communion might take offence by the Alterations and desert it and seeing our frequent Changes in some things might suppose there is nothing certain among us and from the many Disputes about our Liturgy proceed to question our Articles and at last fall off to the Church of Rome which they saw more constant to their Principles And as we shall not repeat what hath been already replied so we shall take the more effectual way of confuting him by declaring the common Sense of the wisest and best among our selves that we have convers'd with about these matters For tho we pay that Respect even to the violent Bigots of our Clergy which the great Learning of many of them does deserve yet we must beg their Pardon if we are unwilling all the blame of their unaccountable Stiffness and Rigour should lie at our door We should think our selves very unhappy if any unreasonable Sowrness or Humour of ours should be the great Obstacle to the Churches Reformation and Peace If we should any way contribute to the keeping open those bleeding Wounds which our Spiritual Physicians are called together to heal and close We that have been so well instructed by our Ministers have learnt to distinguish between the Substance of our Religion and the separable Appendages of it and shall not suspect a change of our Food every time the mode of garnishing the Dish is altered and have more of that Divine Charity they have preached to us than to stand at an irreconcileable Distance from Dissenting Protestants and to run both out of the Church and our Wits too if the Convocation should think fit to let them in on an honourable Accommodation of our Differences We have therefore thought fit to descend to the particular Heads mentioned in his Majesties Commission and under each of them to propose such Alterations as would not only not be offensive to us but are highly desirable because we suppose them equally conducive to the Beauty and Safety the Strength and Glory of our Church Of the Liturgy and Ceremonies TO begin with the Calendar we shall not insist on the Rule to find out Easter which hath been sometimes found not to be true because that does more concern the Clergy to look after than any of us But as to some of the Lessons appointed in it they being design'd for our Edification we hope we may have â—ibâ—â—ty to speak What a smutty Story is that in the 6th 7th and 8th Chapters of Tobit appointed for the Lessons on the last day of September and the first of August which is enough to make a Man laugh till he burst as certainly as the lumps of Pitch Fat and Hair did the Dragon Another precious Story which not being appointed formerly by our Church was by the New Reformers on the late Kings Restauration ordered to be read to us on the 23d of November The business in short is this Tobias luckily catcht a certain Fish that greedily snapt at him Tobit c. 6. Roasted it and Eat it but by the Direction of the Angel very carefully lays up the Heart the Liver and the Gall. Now an Ointment made of this Gall was a notable Remedy against Whiteness in the Eyes If it were as good against Dimness of Sight too we could wish for the sake of the Author of Vox Cleri we knew what sort of Fish this was Tobit
the Psalms in the New Translation for 't is for the sake of their being pointâ—d to be SUNG or said that though in some places it be corrupt and in others hath several Verses that are not in the Original but the Septuagint only the old one is still retained We have known some Men that have risen from the Dunghil to a great fortune who have hung up their Leathern Breeches as a Monument of their former low Circumstances but not that they used to santer and trudg up and down in them as Ornaments when they had a Pair of fresh Silk ones lying by them We could wish those two Rubricks in the Communion Service were review'd the first of which directs the Curate to stand at the North-side of the Table when he saith the Collect and the Lord's Prayer and the seccond immediately after directs him to turn to the People and rehearse distinctly all the Ten Commandments We humbly conceive did the Curate look the same way when he reads the Collect and Lord's Prayer as he doth when he reads the Commandments or rather were both of them read in the Desk where the other Prayers are especially in great Churches we might then be able to hear him which now many times we can't and consequently are no more edified than by the Music of the Spheres See the Rubric about reading the Lessons When the Lessons are read the Curate is order'd so to stand and turn himself as he may be best heard of all such as are present The reason is the same in both Cases This we find reckon'd by those great Lights of our Church formerly mention'd among the Innovations Id. ut supr p. 5. the reading some part of the Morning Prayer at the H. Table when there is no Communion Nor can we be satisfied with what is usually said in defence of this Practice That 't is to put the people in mind that they should celebrate the Communion every Sunday In the Name of God what need is there of such dumb signs to instruct us in our Duty which are so contrary to Edification when we have so many Excellent and Learned Men who can and ought to do it to much better purpose in their frequent Eloquent and Pious Sermons out of the Pulpit Must such Motions as well as Pictures be Lay-mens Books For our Childrens sake we could wish that the Order of Confirmation were not made a matter of meer Form and Ceremony that it were carefully look'd to not only that they be able to say the Creed Lord's Prayer and Ten Commandments and to answer the Questions in the Catechism but that they understand them too to this end that the Rubric which so rarely well enjoins the Curate diligently to catechise the younger sort and then either to bring them or at least send in Writing with his hand subscribed thereunto the Names of all such persons in his Parish as he shall think it to be presented to the Bishop to be Confirmed may be reinforced and observed that so those that are notoriously scandalous or grosly ignorant what their Godfathers and Godmothers promised for them in Baptism and which now with their own Mouth and Consent they are openly before the Church to ratifie and confirm may not be admitted to it 'T is certainly no fault in our Constitution but there is a great one in those who do not act according to it that admit many who have as little understanding of the Baptismâ—l Covenant when Hands are laid as when Water was poured upon them And we could wish some of our Spiritual Fathers would shew us by what warrant these words are used in the Collect for that Service On whom after the example of thy holy Apostles we have now laid our hands to certifie them by this sign of thy Favour and Gracious Goodness towards them And that they may be diligently compared with our Churches Definition of a Sacrament We could wish those passages in the Burial of the Dead were review'd viz. Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God to take to himself the Soul of our dear Brother here Departed c. We give thee hearty thanks for that it hath pleased thee to deliver this our Brother out of the miseries of this sinful World That we may rest in him viz. Christ as our hope is this our Brother doth We do not enquire how the Clergy can read this over all Dead men that are not either Excommunicated Unbaptized or have not laid violent hands on themselves Tho we could wish men that are so charitable to the dead would be so to the living too But we too often accompany the Corps of a drunken debaucht neighbour of ours who lived all his days in the habitual practice of many deadly sins and gave no signs of Repentance that we could ever hear of it may be the fatal arrow struck through him while he was in the very act of some foul sin The Grave cannot strike a colder damp on our bodies than the thoughts of this doth on our Devotions and we can no more say Amen on such occasions than the dead man himself on whose Funeral we attend 'T is true indeed we are told that these words do suppose the strict exercise of Discipline But as long as we see no such thing 't is an Hypothesis that gives us no relief at all And seeing we are fallen on the Discipline of the Church we do most humbly and earnestly beseech our Spiritual Fathers and Guides that they would at last try their utmost for the setting of it up that we may not be told from year to year as we are in our Ashwednesday Service that there WAS anciently in the Church a godly Discipline of putting notorious Sinners to open Penance which we only wish were restored but confess it is not And we think that which our Church hath set up in the room of it deserves a little Consideration viz. the reading the general Sentences of God's Cursing against impenitent Sinners out of Deut. 27. and other places of Scripture to which we are all required to answer and say Amen Now suppose any man hath a near relation that is unmerciful a Fornicator an Adulterer a Covetous person an Idolater Slanderer Drunkard for the Curse is pronounced against all these Or suppose our King should be guilty of any of these crimes as some of them were within the memory of man we should be loth to say Amen or So be it to such a Curse We have often heard the men of the Scotch Kirk reproach'd severely for the Excommunicating of Kings A David may take another man's Ewe-Lamb and it would be well if a Nathan would bring him to a sense of that horrible sin by a parable and by a particular application of a Thou art the man But for every one of us of the Laity to pronounce an Amen to a solemn Curse denounced against all such Offenders and them among the rest tho in the self-same Service we
were no difficult Task to shew and were worthy the Observation of any Historian that would give a true Account of the continuance and increase of our deplorable Divisions And as we dislike this Notion the more when we consider the purposes and designs for which 't is calculated so we have this Argument to urge why it should be disown'd viz. Because it plainly sets up a Foreign Jurisdiction against which the Nation is solemnly sworn The second Canon excommunicates ipso facto all Impugners of the King's Supremacy Agâ—inst which we think there is nothing can be objected but the fault common to it with the 10 following Canons viz. Excommunicating ipso facto Of which more under these following Canons Can. 3. Whosoever shall hereafter affirm That the Church of England by Law established under the King's Majesty is not a true and Apostolical Church teaching and maintaining the Doctrine of the Apostles Let him be excommunicated ipso facto and not restored but only by the Archbishop after his Repentance and publick Revocation of such his wicked Error Can. 4. Whosoever shall hereafter affirm That the Form of God's Worship in the Church of England established by Law and contained in the Book of Common-Prayer and Administration of Sacraments is a corrupt superstitious or unlawful Worship of God or contains any thing in it repugnant to the Scriptures Let him be excommunicated ipso facto Can. 5. Whosoever shall hereafter affirm That any of the 39 Articles agreed upon by the Archbishops and Bishops of both Provinces and the whole Clergy in the Convocation holden at London 1562 c. are in any part superstitious or erroneous or such as he may not with a good Conscience subscribe unto Let him be excommunicate ipso facto Can. 6. Whosoever shall hereafter affirm That the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church of England by Law establish'd are Wicked Antichristian or Superstitious or such as being commanded by lawful Authority men who are zealously and godly affected may not with any good Conscience approve 'em use 'em or as occasion requires subscribe to 'em Let him be excommunicate ipso facto Can. 7. Whosoever shall hereafter affirm That the Government of the Church of England under His Majesty by Archbishops Bishops Deans Archdeacons and the rest that bear Office in the same is Antichristian or repugnant to the Word of God Let him be excommunicate c. Can. 8. Whosoever shall hereafter affirm or teach That the form and manner of making and consecrating Bishops Priests and Deacons contains any thing in it repugnant to the Word of God or that they who are made Bishops c. Let him be excommunicate ipso facto Can. 9. Whosoever shall hereafter separate themselves from the Communion of Saints as 't is approved by the Apostles Rules in the Church of England and combine themselves together in a new Brotherhood c. Let him be excommunicate ipso facto Can. 10. Whosoever shall hereafter affirm That such Ministers as refuse to subscribe to the form and manner of God's Worship in the Church of England prescribed in the Communion-book may truly take to 'em the Name of another Church not established by Law and dare presumâ— to publish it That this their pretended Church has of long time groan'd under the burden of certain grievances imposed upon it and upon the Members thereof before mentioned by the Church of England and the Orders and Constitutions therein by Law established Let him be excommunicate ipso facto Can. 11. Whosoever shall hereafter affirm or maintain That there are within this Realm other Meetings Assemblies or Congregations of the King 's born Subjects than such as by the Laws of this Land are held and allowed which may rightly challenge to themselves the Name of true and lawful Churches Let him be excommunicate c. Can. 12. Whosoever shall hereafter affirm That 't is lawful for any sort of Ministers or Lay-persons or either of them to join together and make Rules Orders or Constitutions in Causes Ecclesiastical without the King's Authority and shall submit themselves to be ruled and governed by them Let him be excommunicate ipso facto To these may be added Can. 139. Whosoever shall hereafter affirm That the Sacred Synod of this Nation in the Name of Christ and by the King's Authority assembled is not the true Church of England by representation Let him be excommunicate c. Can. 140. Whosoever shall hereafter affirm That no manner of person either of the Clergy or Laity not being themselves particularly assembled in the said Sacred Synod are to be subject to the Decrees thereof in Causes Ecclesiastical made and ratified by the King's Majesty's Supreme Authority as not having given their voices to them Let him be excommunicate c. Can. 141. Whosoever shall hereafter affirm That the Sacred Synod assembled as aforesaid was a Company of such persons as did conspire together against godly and religious Professors of the Gospel and that therefore both They and their Proceedings in making of Canons and Constitutions in Causes Ecclesiastical by the King's Authority as aforesaid ought to be despised and contemned the same being ratified by the same Regal Power Let him be excommunicate c. We have often heard our Clergy mention among many other Excellencies of our Church her admirable Charity towards those that differ from her and we have hitherto taken it for one of her just Characters For tho those that dissent from us would frequently object the Severity of the Penal Laws and the rigor with which they have sometimes been Executed as if such heavy Fines and long Imprisonments look'd but like a cold and frozen sort of Charity yet we thought it a sufficient Answer That our Church did not Countenance any of these Severities by her Doctrine And therefore how active soever some of our fiery Zealots who were the Tools of another Party might be in urging the Execution of them this was their personal Fault and nor justly imputable to the Church her self Tho by the way we cannot think it so ingenuous in some of our Clergy to throw all the blame of those severe Laws on the Parliament that Enacted them which many of themselves were but too earnest and importunate Sollicitors of But we are extreamly surprized to read the foregoing Canons and when we hear them objected as an Evidence of the Uncharitableness of our Doctrine it self We are at a great loss what to say in defence of it for we plainly perceive by them that the Practice of our most violent Bigots in the Execution of the Penal Laws has been as much more Charitable than these Canons of our Church as 't is more merciful to send the Bodies of Men into the Custody of the Jailor than to consign their Souls into the Paws of the Devil Nay 't is well that Writs de Excom Cap. have not been issued out against all whom these Canons Excommunicate For if they had the whole Race of Dissenters had long
since been both the Jaylors and the Devils Prisoners and we are very much afraid a great part of our own Clergy and Laity must have born them Company So that we can foresee no better Apology for the Convocation that fram'd these Canons than this That they seem only to have designed them for the old rusty Armor of our Church to be hung up for Terror rather than to be used for Execution For it cannot be denied that how little Charity soever those had that made them our Bishops have generally since had more Christian Tenderness than to Prosecute all in their Courts whom these Canons make so hainous Criminals And therefore were we of the Laity worthy to offer our humble Advice to the present Convocation we should recommend it to them as a piâ—ce of necessary Prudence as well as Charity to Cashier these ill-natur'd Canons For they do but frighten the silly Dissenters the more from our Communion and are a standing Râ—proach to our Church her self on these two Accounts 1. Were the Assertions here censurâ—d never so dangerous Heresies an ipso facto Excommunication is an unreasonable thing 'T is no better than passing Sentence on an Offender before any Attempts are used to reclaim him which is a gross Absurdity in Ecclesiastical â—auses whâ—re 't is not the bare Offence subjects Men to that Censure of the Church but Obstinacy in it For these Canons quite contrary to our Saviour and his Apostles Rule make a Heathen and a Publican of our Brother before he is ever told of his fault they reject him before he be admonish'd Whereas Divine Justice it self does not subject Men to the Sentence of Condemnation meerly for their Sins themselves but for their Impenitency in them And sure the Church should not use greater Severity and therefore should not in those Câ—nsures which Tertullian calls Summum futuri judicii praejudicium exclude Men from her Communion ipso facto upon their having run into Errors or Crimes but upon their persisting incorrigibly in them And what Lindwood observes concerning such Canons as these does not wholly excuse them namâ—ly That a dâ—claratory Sentence of the Judg is necessary notwithstanding the ipso-facto Excommunication to a Mans being avoided as an Excommunicate Person by others For all that this can amount to is no more than to say That tho a Mans Mittimus to the Devil is drawn up by these Canons yet his Neighbours are not to take notice of it till it be publish'd but for all that the Man is truly Excommunicated and that without any other precedent Admonition than what the Canons themselves give him which few of us ever read or see No personal Admonition being used to prevent his Excommunication but only to restore him by Absolution And if these Canons be just all whom they Excommunicate are bound in Conscience to forbear the Churches Communion and therefore we cannot in consistency with our selves invite the Dissenters into it unless we could either change their Minds or at least put Gags into their Mouths But were this all the Fault of these Canons the matter were more tolerable But 2. The Assertions themselves mention'd in the Canons can by no means desâ—rve so heavy a Censure For as Excommunication is the highest Censure of the Church which according to the Form us'd in our own excludes the Person excommunicated from all Christian Society and cuts him off as a dead Member from the Body of Christ so it should never be us'd against any but those who are guilty of such pernicious Errors or hainous Crimes as give all imaginable ground to believe them in a state of damnation Such as those mentioned 1 Cor. 6.9 10. Gal. 5 19 20. 2 Tim. 3.2 3 c. For otherwisâ— we might shut those out of our Communion whom our blâ—ssed Saviour receives into his and dangerously cut off the living instead of the dead Members of his Mystiâ—al Body Besides Nothing will sooner bring that sacred part of the Church's Discipline into contempt than the using it â—n slight and frivolous Occasions as we shall further shew afterwards when we come to speak of Ecclesiastical Courts Sess 25. Decr. de Reform cap. 3. 'T was a grave and wise Caution of the Council of Trent though they had not the grace to follow it themselves That though the Sword of Excommunication be the very sinews of Ecclesiastical Discipline and very wholsom to keep the People in obedience yet it should be warily us'd lest if it be drawn out rashly on every slight cause the People should rather despise than dread it For if Clergy-men will so far trifle with those solemn Censures as to thunder out Excommunications against all that keep Easter the wrong day or maintain Antipodes or wear Beards of a wrong cut c. as some Wise and Learned Popes have formerly done 'T is no wonder if Men come to look upon them as Ecclesiastical Scarecrows and provided they can scape the Jaylor set the Bishop at defiance And though the Assertions censur'd in these Canons be not altogether such Trifles yet they are some of them things too dubious to Men oâ— mean Capacities that have a fatal biass of an unhappy Education clapt on their Understandings and of too small consequence to bear the weight of so heavy a doom For what tho the Dissenters should arraign the Offic of Burial read over the Graves of all the notorious Villains that have the good fortune to escape or buy off an Excommunication or censure the use of our God-faâ—â—ers as exclusive of the Parents publick undertaking for the religious Education of his own Child What though they foolishly mistake the Sign of the Cross for a New Sacrament what tho they dispute against that Passage in the Book of Ordination that asserts the divine right of three distinct Offices Bishops Priests and Deacons What tho they be more peevish and untoward and censure the very Office of our Bishops as they are by the late Alterations in the Book of Ordination made the sole Pastors of all the Churches in their several Dioceses Nay what though they affirm their own Congregations to be true and lawful Churches shall we on the score of their declaring their mistaken Opinion in any one of these disputable matters treat them as if they had denied all the Articles of the Apostle's Creed or broken all the Ten Commandments Nor are the Dissenters the only Persons concern'd in these Canons There are few of our Latitudinarian Clergy as some are pleas'd to call all that have not as narrow Souls as their own but will freely in their Discourses censure some things in the Government of our Church particularly the Lay-chancellors Power of decreeing Excommunications And all these must expect no quarter from the 7th Canon So that these Canons will quickly retrench the corpulency of our Church and reduce it to the small number of Bigots who it seems are not so ridiculous as they seem'd to be in monopolizing the Character
of her True Sons to themsâ—lveâ— And yet even of the Bigots there are so many that frequently arraign some of our Articles in the Pulpit it self particularly the 17th about the Doctrine of Election that we see not how they will escape the 5th Canon And if we were not afraid of being sent to the Devil for company by virtue of the 139. Can. we would make bold to question the Convocations being the Church of England by Representation See the Pref. 'T is strange how they shou'd Represent us of the Laity who never Chose or Deputed ' em 'T is much stranger how they shou'd Represent the K. and Parliament who I hope are a very Excâ—llent part of our Church for if they do we see not what occasion there can be to interpose their Authority anew to give force to their Canons They can at the most only Represent the Clergy of our Church and are indeed no more than the King 's and â—â—rliament's Ecclesiastical Council to adviâ—e 'em what Laws relating to the Church they shall enact by thâ—ir Authority circa Sacra For all their Canons would never bind one Consciences as the Laws of the Church if the Civil Authority made 'em not the Laws of thâ— Land To sum up this Head Why should we think our Convocation so infallible and the Constitutions of our Church so absolutâ—ly perfect that a man cannot find the least fault with any one of them under a less penalty than being cut off as a dead member from the Body of Christ This is as inexcusâ—ble a rigor as if our Parliament should make it no less than Banishment for any Subject to dispute the Equity of the least Clause in the whole Book of Statutes So that if the Convocation think fit to keep up these Canons still it were very great Charity to clap Padlocks on the Tongues of the People to prevent their running into the Devils Clutches by prating too freely against the Orders of our Church And perhaps it was the sagacious foresight of such Complaints as these made that wise Convâ—câ—tion by way of prevention excommunicate among the rest all that should affirm 'em to be A Company of mâ—n that conspired against godly and religious Professors of the Gâ—spel or assert That their Canons should be despised or rejected Only they were careful to twist in the Kings Authority with their own that he who slighted the Convocation might be thought to trample on the Crown Of Corruptions in the Ecclesiastical Courts AND here we do most humbly desire that the Reverend Guides of our Church will patiently hear us and especially those of that Venerable and truly Apostolical Order and if any expressions should drop from us that may seem inconsistent with that filial duty we owe to 'em we desire it may be imputed to our great zeal for 'em and we shall as submissively fall on our Knees to beg their Pardon as we would do on any other occasion to implore their Blessing Mâ—ny of the old Corruptions saith one of our Reverend Fathers in God do yet remain among us in practice Dr. Barnet's Thanksg Ser. before the H. of Commons Jan 31. p. 33 and the administration of the Ecclesiastical Authority is liable to great Objâ—ctions I will not run out in farther particulars for it will be easie to find them and if you once set abâ—ut it you will soon see whâ—t work is before you We shall confine our Discourse chiefly to the high and dreadful Sentence of Excommuâ—ication for so it is in its self and was always so esteemâ—d by devout Souls till the great and scandalous Abuses and Corruptions of it in these latter days hath made it contemptible to that degree that sinners do no more value 〈◊〉 than men do the threatning predictions of a common Almanaâ—k maker concerning Thunder and Lightning We have many things here to offer under these following Heads 1. The Persons that manage it 2. The Causes for which it is inflicted 3. The manner of proceeding in our Ecclesiastical Courts 4. The things that ensue on the sentence of Excommunication 1. The Persons that manage it And into whose hands would a man rationally expect the Keys should be put but theirs to whom Christ and his Apostles have given thâ—m and where the Primitive Church left them Who should judg Spiritual Matters but Spiritual Men Who should correct the children but their Fathers and discipline Souls but they that have the Care of them and watch over them as those that must give an account They that so justly claim the Power of Ordination why should they not have that of Excommunication and deliver up to Satan as well as give the Holy Ghost What is it that can reasonably be supposed to hinder our Reverend Biâ—hops from minding so great and necessary a part of their Offâ—ce Is it their great diligence in Preaching 'T is true this â—ur Church doth strictly tie them unto The a 1 Tim. 3. apt to teach Epiâ—â—le or that b Acts 20 17. have taught you publickly and from house to house take heed therefore to your sâ—lves and to all the stock over which the H. Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church of God c. which is appointed for it and the c St. John 21. Jâ—sâ—â—â—â—ith to Peter lovest thou me more than these Feâ—d my lambs Feed my sâ—â—â—â— c. Mâ—â— 28.18 Go and teaâ—h all naonâ— c. Gospel read at their Consecration puts them in â—ind of it Nay they formally promise it For these are Two of the Questions propounded to them 〈◊〉 the Arch-Bishop d See the form of the Consecration of Bisâ—â—ps Are you determined out of â—â—e Holy Scriptures to instruct the people â—ommitted to your â—harge Will you then faithfully exâ—rcise yâ—ur sâ—lf 〈◊〉 the same Holy Scriptures and call upon God by Prayâ— for the true understanding â—f the same so as ye may be â—ble by them to teach and exhort by wholâ—some Doctrine â—d to withstand and convince the gainsayers To which â—â—e Bishop answers e See to â—he same â—urâ—â—se the Collect immediately following Vâ—ni creator spiritus and the 〈◊〉 of the â—â—ch-Bishop to the Bishop when he delivers him the Bible and the first of the three 〈◊〉 Prayers said for the last Collect immediately before the Benediction I am so determined by Gods â—â—â—ce and I will so do by the hâ—lp of God And the â—ractice of some of our Reverend Fathers does convincingly shew they are no strangers to Gods grace or help See the first Collect in the Consecration of Bishops See the Collect in the Consecrat said next after the Litany See the Collect after Veni Creator in this particular But will diligence in one duty excuse the neglect of another Doth not our Church pray Almighty God to give to all Bishops the Pastâ—rs of his Church that they may duly administer godly Discipline as well as diligently preach the Word and That they may faithfully
them to send them to him whom the Officers of this Court deal so much with and to whom Hermolaus Barbarus was fain to resort to understand the meaning of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 4. We should proceed to the Things that ensue upon Excommunication And here it were easy to be very large in discoursing on the Significavit into the Court of Chancery in the Bishop's name that the Person hath stood excommunicate forty Days for the getting a Writ de Excommunicato capiendo that he may be sent to Prison Of the forfeitures of ten Pounds on every Capias afterwards for not yielding ones self up a Prisoner on the Proclamation of the Capias's It is a liberty peculiar to the Ch. of England Dr. Consin'â— Apology p. 8 9 10. saith the learned Advocate of these Courts above all the Realms in Christendom that I read of that if a Man stand wilfully forty days together Excommunicate and be accordingly certified by the Bishop into the Chancery that then he is to be committed to Prison without Bail or Main-prise quòd potestas regia Sacrosanctae Ecclesiae in suis querelis deesse non debet because the Royal Power ought not to be wanting to Holy Church in her Quarrels Yet we must confess we don't see how this can be justified unless that Axiom be own'd for truth that Dominion is founded in Grace and when a Man is made as a Publican and Heathen he loses all his Civil Rights We might further speak of the several ways of Absolution from this Sentence and that upon several little mistakes in the Form of Proceedings and by Orders sent down from Civil Courts For when a Man is fast bound one would think there are many of these ways of unloosing him as we have seen Children that by the dextrous pulling of the right String have immediately whipt off the Pack-thread from another's thumbs in a most surprizing manner Bp. Bedel's Life p. 89. We might further speak also of the commuting of Penance for Money Which as Dr. Burnet well saith is the worst sort of Simony being in effect the very same abuse that gave the World such a Scandal when it was so indecently practised in the Church of Rome and open'd the way to the Reformation For the selling of Indulgences is really but a commutation of Penance Of this that good Bp Bedel had so many and such notorious Instances in his Diocess that be bitterly bewail'd it and to which he was able to reply nothing but that he had read in Mantuan of another place in the World Rome he means where Heaven and God himself were set to sale Id. p. 90. Now from that little that hath been said we may see how truly he spoke Id. p. 93. when he said that a plain and simple thing is by these Men made very intricate And that amongst all the Impediments to the Work of God among us Id. p. 103. there is not any one greater than the Abuse of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction This is not only the Opinion of the most Godly Judicious Learned Men that I have known but the cause of it is plain Blessed Iesu who alone works great Marvels send down thy Spirit on our Bishops that they may boldly whip these Buyers ond Sellers out of thy Temple that sit there only to dishonour thy Name and spunge on thy People and turn thy House of Discipline into a Den of Thieves Amen And we beseech God to encline their Hearts and those of our Governours to do it and not to suffer these Lay-Chancellors to meddle but in Civil Causes only and there to endeavour to regulate their enormous Abuses and in the Lord Bacon's Words That in lieu of Excommunication Consid p. 21 22. there be given to them some ordinary Process with such Force and Coercion as appertaineth and that this Censure be restored to the true Dignity and Use thereof which is that it proceed not but in cases of great Weight and that it be decreed not by any Deputy or Substitute but by the Bishop in Person and not by him alone but assisted by some others of his grave Clergy according to the excellent Model of that incomparably learned and pious A B. Vsher Then will Discipline recover its ancient Vigour and Splendor then will Sinners no longer slight this Spiritual Sword in the Church as Atheists do God's fiery flaming one that sometimes appears in the Heavens as if it were a meer Meteor hanging in the Air and made of fiery Vapors only but will find 't is a solid substantial thing hath a real Point and a sharp Edg piercing into the very Depths of the Soul and that it needs not corporal Penalties to set one upon it to that end Of removing scandalous Ministers AND sure none that regard the Glory of Almighty God or the Honour of our Church or the Reputation of our Clergy themselves can ever oppose so reasonable a Motion as this for nothing has more exposed our Holy Religion to Contempt or encouraged the Laity in their Vices or sunk the Credit of our Clergy not to say of our Church it self than the scandalous Lives of some of that Function and since Examples have a more powerful Influence on the People than meer Precepts 't is no Wonder that the Lives of flagitious Clergy-men bring in more Proselytes to Wickedness and Vice than ever their preaching will make Votaries to Religion and Vertue for how should the best Advices and Counsel they can deliver from the Pulpit make any great Impression on their Hearers which they never follow themâ—elves when out of it They may long enough commend Vertue and declaim against Vice and urge what they say with Arguments drawn from the Rewards and Punishments of another World but how should the People believe them when they do â—ot live as if they believed themselves And while so many of â—ur Clergy make no great Scruple of Conscience to drink and whore and swear and game and droll on the Bible and proâ—ane the Sunday and neglect the most important Duties of their â—astoral Charge 't is no Wonder if the Laity think themselves â—â—thorized to take the same Liberty which they see used by those whom they look on not only as their Instructors but their Patâ—erns too It was a just Observation of the late E. of Rochester â—hat that one particular Vice viz. the base Arts of some Clergy-men in aspiring to the high Preferments of the Church had possess'd many of the best Quality in the Nation with that wretched Idea of Religion that greatly disposed them to Atheism For they look'd on that sacred Profession as a Holy Cheat a Trade of talking well and living ill 'T is high time then to redress this Corruption to rid our Pulpits and our Altars of such as stain them with their profane Breath and unhallowed Hands 1 Sam. 2.17 and like the wicked Sons of Eli make the very Offerings of the Lord to be abhorr'd And we
are sure our Church may as well spare them as a beautiful Face may those Blotches and Scabs that serve only to disfigure it And yet in all the Book of Canons we find not one that expresly orders the deposing a scandalous Clergy-man There is indeed a Canon against such Ministers as omit the use of any Form of Prayer Can. 38. or any Rite or Ceremony whatever prescrib'd in the Service-Book to suspend them for the first Fault if they persist a Month in it to excommunicate them if another to depose them Can. 54. and another to make void the Licenses of all such Ministers as refuse to conform to the Laws Institutes and Rites of our Church So that we cannot blame her for not taking sufficient Care to purge out of all her Sons that scandalous Sin of Non-Conformity Can. 68. For there 's another Canon to seclude from the Ministry for three Months every Minister that shall refuse to baptize any Child that 's brought to him be the Parents Christian Mahometan or Pagan or bury any except the Excommunicate c. according to the form prescribed in the Liturgy Another Canon forbids Ministers either to appoint or keep Fasts either in publick or Private Houses Can. 72. without the Leave of the Bishop threatning them with Suspension for the first time Excommunication for the second and Deposition for the third A Canon which we think might very well be spared For People need very little to be disswaded from that sort of Mortification and the Ministers will be very loth to attempt it when they are obliged to double Pennance to go on Pilgrimage to the Bishop one Day and fast the next Can. 73. Another Canon there is against all Meetings or Clubs of the Clergy to plot any thing against the Doctrine of the Church or to the Prejudice of the Common-Prayer-Book threatning them with Excommunication A very provident Canon indeed that seems to have been made by a Spirit of Prophecy against Smectymnuus and the Latitudinarians And 't is very probable those of our Clergy who were so fâ—ll of Indignation against the late Commissioners mistook them for such a plotting Conventicle We need not insist on the 74th Canon which prescribes the Clergy their several Habits and very prudently cautions them against wearing light-coloured Stockings and charitably allows short Gowns to the poor Curates that have not Mony to buy long ones But setting aside these hainous Crimes we find only this one Canon against other Immoralities viz. 75. No Ecclesiastical Persons shall at any time other than for their honest Necessities resort to any Taverns or Ale-houses neither shall they board or lodg in any such Places Furthermore they shall not give themselves to any base or servile Labour or to drinking or Riot spending their time idly by Day or by Night playing at Dice Cards or Tables or any other unlawful Game But at all times convenient they shall hear or read somewhat of the Holy Scripturâ—s or shall occupy themselves with some other honest Study or Exercise always doing the things that shall appertain to Honesty and endeavouring to profit the Church of God having always in Mind that they ought to excel all others in Purity of Life and should be Examples to the People to live well and Christianly under Pain of Ecclesiastical Censures to be inflicted with Severity according to the Qualities of their Offences This Canon indeed speaks something to the Purpose and yet we would beg leave to suggest two things relating to it 1. We suppose this Canon only threatens the scandalous Clergy with Excommunication for it does not as the 38 72 c. threaten them with Deposition on their persisting incorrigible Whereas that too is highly necessary there being all the Reason in the World that obstinate Non-Conformity to the Laws of God should at least be equally punish'd with stubborn Nonconformity to the Laws of the Church for it would look but very odd to treat a Minister more severely for omitting a Collect in the Service-Book or keeping a private Fast than for being drunk or lying with his Neighbour's Wife 2. We wish that this good Canon it self may not stand for a Cypher for want of Execution And yet hitherto all the good Effects that might have been expected from it to free our Churches from such leprous and unclean Priests have been in a great Measure frustrated For we do not see that one in twenty of such whose notorious Vices make too publick a noise to be unobserved was ever excommunicated much less deposed for them We speak within Compass and heartily lament the intolerable Mischiefs that from this fatal Source overflow our Church And therefore we would humbly recommend it to the Wisdom of the Convocation to take the most effectual Methods for the obviating of them and if it might be no Offence would take the Liberty to suggest that if the Rural Deaneries in Arch-bishop Vsher's Model were restored they might first receive Complaints against such and suspend them till the Matter come before the Diocesan Synod Were this done and were all our Clergy such excellent Ornaments of their Profession as God be thanked a great many of them are the Dissenters would not so easilâ— gain ground upon us as they have hitherto done by the pretended Strictness of Life in their Ministers and their great Laboriousness in the Duties of their Function Of the Reformation of Manners both in Ministers and People IN the Ministers What relates to such as are chargeable with scandalous Immoralities was considered under the former Head but under this Head we would humbly recommend to the present Convocation the reforming two very gross Corruptions retained in our Church notwithstanding all the loud Complaints that have been made against them Pluralities and Non-Residence two Diseases that have hitherto defied all Remedies and have been rather cherish'd by our spiritual Physicians than any thing effectual attempted towards the Cure of them and no wonder when many of the same Men were the Patients that should have been the Physicians so hard it is to redress these grand Evils in a Synod where the greatest Pluralists and Non-Residents do commonly make up the major Vote and yet these are so notorious Blemishes in a Church that even the Council of Trent could not for very Shame but take notice of them And the Truth is though they have in their best Decrees of Reformation left a Hole to creep out by Virtue of Dispensations yet their Canons are far more strict than ours for in their Decree of Reformation Sess the 7th cap. 2d they forbid any Prelate having more Metropolitan or Cathedral Churches than one in Commendam accounting him happy that can govern one well And cap. 3d. They enjoyn the Collation of inferiour Ecclesiastical Benefices that have Cure of Souls on worthy and able Persons who may reside on the Place and take care of the Flock themselves and by the 3. deprive that Clergy-man of all
when they have not just Impediment The 46 and 47 runs thus 46 Every Beneficed Man not allow'd to be a Preacher shall procure Sermons to be preach'd in his Cure once in every Month at the least by Preachers lawfully licens'd if his Living in the Judgment of the Ordinary will be able to bear it And upon every Sunday when there shall not be a Sermon preach'd in his Cure he or his Curate shall read some one of the Homilies prescrib'd or to be prescrib'd by Authority to the Intents aforesaid 47 Every Benefic'd Man licens'd by the Laws of this Realm upon urgent occasions of other Service not to reside upon his Benefice shall cause his Cure to be supplied by a Curat that is a sufficient and licens'd Preacher if the Worth of the Benefice will bear it But whoever has two Benefices shall maintain a Preacher licens'd in the Benefice where he does not reside except he preach himself at both of them usually These Canons especially the former do so evidently expose themselves that they save us the labour of any long Remarks upon them We cannot but think it strange that a Man may be the Incumbent of a Cure and consequently enjoy both the Name and the Revenues of a Minister to that People who is not so much as licens'd to preach nay is so meer a Lay-man that according to Can. 49. he must not take on him to expound in his own Cure or elsewhere any Scripture or Matter of Doctrine and the highest Priviledg allow'd him is That he study to read plainly and aptly without glozing or adding the Homilies already set forth c. I perceive there may be Ignoramus Ministers as well as Lawyers or Jury-men and if our Church do not wrong them by the severe restraints this Canon lays on them they are more fit to be sent to School to con their Lesson than into the Pulpit to instruct the People But though we cannot admire the Wisdom of our Church in allowing such Men Benefices yet we must acknowledg her great Charity towards them and their Curats in providing so good a help as the Book of Homiliâ—s for those whose Eyes are the only considerable Talents that God almighty has thought fit to bless them withal We shall add no more under this Head but that we wish the Simoniacal Oath were strong enough to keep out all secret Arts of purchasing Preferments And we think it highly adviseable that according to Arch-Bishop Vsher's model Artic. 2d in every Rural Deanery the Ministers of particular Parishes might be censurable for Errors or gross negligence in their Office c. with Liberty of Appeals to a Diocesan Synod if need be But that the Clergy may not think us in these two Articles too severe on them and partial to our selves we shall propose it to the Wisdom of this Convocation Whether the Power of Patrons in presenting to Livings should not be so far restrain'd as not to impose a Minister on any Parish without their own consent The very Learned Bishop of Salisbury in his Regalia as well as others hath made it undeniably evident that this was the practice of the Universal Church for 600 if not 1000 Years after our Saviour's Time And therefore tho we would have so much regard paid to the Charity of our Ancestors as not to exclude Patrons from a Privilege enjoy'd on that score by so long Prescription yet we could be heartily glad that 't were rendred consistent with this Ancient Privilege of the People too that the Primitive Practice in this Particular might be reviv'd If indeed the Parson alone were to be sav'd or damn'd not only for himself but his Parishioners too 't were no great matter to the People who he be but if they must answer for their own Souls 't is but reasonable they should be satisfied whom they trust with the conduct of them And how liberally soever Patrons have endow'd any Churches 't were but a hard Bargain they make with the People to require them by implicit Faith to acquiesce in whatever Ministers they or their Heirs shall ever recommend to them Nay some would not have Patrons impose on our Clergy any more than on the People There are several secret ways of purchasing a Benefice which some Patrons oblige the Clergy to without making a down-right Bargain And we would not have so much as the courting an Abigal to be the price of it Of Reforming Manners in the People LEST the Fear and Apprehension into which the words Alteration and Review have cast the Author of Vox Clâ—ri should be fatal to him we shall now labour to recover him by assuring him that there are some of the old Canons we desire may be reinforc'd and that the Subjects to which they relate may be considered and examined viz. Such as order the Censures of the Church to be inflicted upon all Persons notoriously wicked that they may be hindred from coming to the blessed Sacrament with such Frequency and in such Numbers as they now ordinarily do particularly Can. 26. which runs thus No Minister shall in any wise admit to the receiving the Holy Communion any of his Cure or Flock which be opennly known to live in notorious Sin without Repentance nor any who have maliciously and openly contended with their Neighbours until they shall be reconciled Nor any Church-Warden or Side-man who having taken their Oaths to present to their Ordinary all such publick Offences as they are particularly charg'd to enquire of in their several Parishes shall notwithstanding their said Oaths and that their faithful Discharge of them is the chief means whereby publick Sins and Offences may be reform'd and punish'd wittingly and willingly desperately and irreligiously incur the horrible Crime of Perjury either in neglecting or in refusing to present such of the said Enormities and publick Offences as they knew themselves to be committed in their said Parishes or are notoriously offensive to the Congregation there although they be urg'd by some of their Neighbours or the Minister or by their Ordinary himself to discharge their Consciences by presenting them and not to incur so desperately the said horrible Sin of Perjury We do now humbly request that according to this Canon some effectual Provision may be made to hinder all such wicked Persons from our Communion which are a Scandal and Reproach to any Church much more to ours That the Matter may be seriously debated and weighed and whether more proper Methods than those hitherto resolv'd on may not be found out and settled For to speak on the behalf of the Laity as the imposing such a Task on us or the Church-Wardens is very hard and severe so it hath been unsuccessful to the Purpose for which it was intended and is likely always to prove so though the Canon says that the Church-Wardens and Sidesmens faithful Discharge of their Oaths in presenting Offenders to the Ordinary is the chief means whereby Publick Sins and Offences may be reform'd