new Laws for the suppression or discovery of the Others And this has been the Case of the present Government But now what Effect have all these Civil Exigencies had upon the Affairs of the Church Unless it be that an Act of Toleration has been made which our Author professes He envies not to the Dissenters or if He did I hope He would not have the Convocation pretend to Repeal it In short all he can alledge are certain disorders which either there is a sufficient provision already made against Or if there be not I doubt the Convocation will hardly be able to do any thing farther for the more effectual Redress of Them But however this I shall have Occasion more particularly to consider when I come to examine what He has said to prove the necessity which He pretends there is for the sitting of a Convocation And I must not anticipate here what will more properly as well as more fully be handled there So little is there in his first Argument which he has brought to prove that the Convocation has a Right to sit as often as the Parliament meets and has been unwarrantably deny'd by the Government so to do Let us see whether his next proof be any better Now that 2dly is no less than an Act of Parliament 8 Hen. VI. ch 1. The substance of which Statute is this That the Clergy who are called by the King 's Writ to Convocation shall fully Use and Enjoy such Liberty and Defence in Coming Tarrying and Returning as the Great Men and Commonalty of England called or to be called to the Kings Parliament do Enjoy and were wont to Enjoy or in time to come ought to Enjoy Well be this so But is there any thing in this Statute which says that the Clergy shall come to the Convocation when ever the Great Men and Commonalty of England do to the Parliament That is not pretended But what is there then in this Act to the purpose of our present Enquiry Why in the Preamble to it 't is said that The Clergy Coming to Convocation were often-times and commonly molested From whence our Author admirably concludes That therefore they did oftentimes and commonly in those days meet in Convocations That this can reasonably be inferr'd from those words I am by no means satisfied which only signifie that when the Clergy went to Convocation they were very often molested by Arrests c. but do's not at all imply that the Convocation used often to meet However let this be Granted In Henry the Sixth's time the Convocation often met therefore it met whenever the Parliament sate How do's that appear Nay but we must go farther Therefore of right it ought to meet now whenever the Parliament do's Nay but this will not yet do Therefore it ought not only formally to meet but to sit and act too as often as the Parliament assembles This our Author must mean or He alledges this act to no purpose And he who can draw this Consequence from that Act must be a mighty Man of Reason indeed and too unequal a Match for Men of ordinary Skill in Logick to deal with And yet after all this I confess is true The Convocation in those days did sit and act too for the most part as often as the Parliament met For the Clergy in those days assessed Themselves and without their sitting either as a Member of the Parliament which heretofore they were Or in a Provincial Synod which commonly met with the Parliament the King could have no supply from the Church But as for Ecclesiastical business for ought I can find they did as little with their Often-meeting then as they do with their Seldom-meeting now And were this the Case of the Convocation still were the business of its assembling principally if not only to give Money to the Government I believe instead of this Vindication of its Right to â—it we should rather have seen a Complaint against the charge and trouble of it At least I am pretty confident neither this Gentleman nor his Convocation-Friend would have been much concern'd for their Meeting or have been at all scandalized at those unwarrantable Adjournmen's they have now so tender a sense of But 3dly The Convecation says this Author is an Ecclesiastical Court. To it belongs the punishment of Heresies And in ancient times it was frequently and of necessity used for that End for without it there could be no punishment of Heresie Since the 25th of Hen VIII this is in good measure again the Case And it cannot reasonably be supposed to be in the King 's absolute Will whether it shall exercise this Jurisdiction or not This is his next Argument and should we intirely allow of it it would only prove that the King ought to permit Them to meet and act whenever any Hereticks were to be convicted by Them But would by no means shew either that they have a right even in such a Case to meet without the King's leave Or that the King ought of Right to let them sit when there is no such need of it But indeed if my Lord Coke be in the right there is a manifest mistake in the very foundation of this Argument For the Bishop of the Diocess had always Power to convict of Heresie and to proceed by Ecclesiastical Censures against Hereticks All that he was defective in was that He had no power to Imprison and for want of that could not proceed often-times to any purpose against them This Power therefore was given to the Bishop by the 2d of Hen. IV. And tho' now the Civil Penalty that was wont to be inflicted upon Hereticks be taken away yet has it been resolved that the Bishop may still proceed by Ecclesiastical Censures against Them Whether this be so or not I shall leave it to this Gentleman to enquire who possibly may be better acquainted with such matters than I am But if it be then 't is manifest there can be no need of the Convocations meeting to do that which may be as well done by the Bishops without it And these are only some lesser Arguments with which our Author design'd to skirmish before we came to his main battle But now we are to begin to look to our selves For 4thly His next Proof is taken from no less a Topick than the Parliamentary-Writ and in his Own Opinion â—s an Argument of Invincible Strength to Establish the Necessity of Convocations meeting as often as Parliaments In answer whereunto I do readily agree that when the Proemonition to the Bishop to Summon his Clergy to Parliament was first put into that Writ the Clergy thereby summon'd had as much right to meet by Vertue of it as the Bishop himself had And it is accordingly by Our best Antiquaries acknowledged that in Ancient times the Inferior Clergy were a Member of the Great Council of the Nation as well as the Bishops and Abbots But then this
hoc sicut Nos Honorem nostrum vestrum nec non Communem Regni nostri tranquilitatem diligitis nullatenus Omittatis Teste meipso xiiii Decemb. Anno Regni nostri 49. §. 2. Cl. 23. Ed. 1. M. 4. Dors. Rex venerabili in Christo R. eadem gratia Cantuariensi Arcihepiscopo totius Angliae Primati salutem Sicut lex justissima provida circumspectione sacrorum Principum Stabilita Hortatur statuit ut quod omnes tangit ab omnibus approbetur sic innuit evidenter ut communibus periculis per Remedia provisa communiter obvietur Sane satis nostis jam est ut credimus per universa mund Climata divulgatum qualiter Rex Franciae de terra nostra Vasconiae nos fraudulenter cautelose decepit eam nobis nequiter detinendo â—unc vero predictis fraude nequitia non contentus ad expugnationem Regni nostri classe maxima Bellatorum copiosa multitudine congregatis cum quibus Regnum nostrum Regni ejusdem incolas hostiliter jam invasit linguam Aâ—glicam si concepte iniquitatis proposita detestabili potestas correspondeat quod Deus avertat omnino de Terra delere proponit Quia igitur previsa jacula minus ledunt Res vestra maxime sicut ceterorum Regni ejusdem Concivium agitur in hac parte Uobis mandamus in fide dilectione quibus nobis tenemini firmiter injungentes quod die dominica proxima post festum S. Martini in hyeme proximo futurum apud Westminster personaliter intersitis PRAEMUNIENTES Priorem Capitulum Ecclesie vestre Archidiaconum totumque Clerum vestre Dioecesis facientes quod iidem Prior Archidiaconus in propriis personis suis dictum Capitulum per unum idemqon Clerus per duos Procuratores idoneos plenam sufficientem potestatem ab ipsis Capitulo Clero habentes una Uobiscum intersint modis omnibus tunc ibidem ad Tractandum Ordinandum Faciendum Nobiscum cum ceteris Prelatis Proceribus aliis Incolis Regni nostri qualiter sit hujusmodi periculis excogitatis Maliciis obviandum Teste Rege apud Wengeham xxx die Septembris §. 3. The last Clause of this Writ as it was settled 15 Ed. 2. compared with the same as it is now 15 Ed. 2. PRAEMUNIENTES Priorem Capellanum Ecclesie vestre Cant. Archidiacon totumque Clerum vestre Diocesâ— quod iidem Prior Archidiacon in propriis Personis suis dictum Capellanum per Unum Idemque Clerus per duos Procuratores Idoneos plenam sufficientem potestatem ab ipsis Capellano Clero habentes una Uobiscum intersint modis omnibus tunc ibidem ad faciendum consentiendum hiis que tunc ibidem de Communi Consilio favente Deo Ordinari contigerit super Negotiis antedictis Et hoc nullatenus Omittatis Teste meipso 13 Elizab. PRAEMONENTES Decanum Capitulum Ecclesie Uestre Cant. ac Archidiacon totumque Clerum vestre Dioeces Quod iidem Decanus Archidiacon in propriis personis suis ac dictum Capitulum per Unum Idemque Clerus per duos Procuratores Idoneos plenam sufficientem Potestatem ab ipsis Capitulo Clero divisim habentes predictis die loco personaliter intersint ad Consentiendum His que tunc Ibidem de Communi Consilio dicti Regni nostri divina favente Clementia contigerint Ordinari Teste Meipsa III. The Forms of the Convocationwrits before and since the Reformation REX c. Reverendissimo in Christo Patri A. Cantuariensi Archiepiscopo totius Angliae Primati Apostolicae Sedis Legato salutem Quibusdam arduis urgentibus Negotiis Defensionem Securitatem Ecclesie Anglicanae ac Pacem Tranquillitatem Bonum Publicum Defensionem Regni nostri Subditorum nostrorum ejusdem concernentibus Uobis in fide dilectione quibus nobis tenemini Rogando mandamus quatenus premissis debito intuitu attentis ponderatis universos singulos Episcopos vestre Provinciae ac Decanos Praecentores Ecclesiarum Cathedralium Abbates Priores alios Electivos Exemptos non Exemptos Nec non Archidiaconos Conventus Capitula Collegia totumque Clerum cujuslibet Dioeceseos ejusdem Provinciae ad Conveniendum coram Uobis in Ecclesia S. Pauli London vel alibi prout melius expedire videritis cum omni celeritate accommoda modo debito convocari faciatis Ad tractandum consentiendum concludendum super Premissis aliis que sibi clarius proponentur tunc ibidem ex parte nostra Et hoc sicut nos Statum Regni nostri Houorem Utilitatem Ecclesie predicte diligitis nullatenus Omittatis Teste Meipso §. 2. Elizabetha Dei Gratia c. Reverendissimo c. Salutem Quibus dam arduis urgentibus Negotiis Nos securitatem defensionem Ecclesiae Anglicanae ac Pacem Tranquillitatem Bonum Publicum Defensionem Regni nostri Subditorum nostrorum ejusdem concernentibus Uobis in fide dilectione quibus Nobis tenemini Rogando Mandamus quatenus premissis debito intuitu Attentis Ponderatis Universos Singulos Episcopos vestre Provinciae ac Decanos Ecclesiarum Cathedralium nec non Archidiaconos Capitula Collegia totumque Clerum cujustibet Dioecesis ejusdem Provinciae ad comparendum coram Uobis in Ecclesia Cathedrali S. Pauli London tertio die Aprilis proxime futuri vel Alibi prout melius expedire videritis cum omni celeritate accommoda modo debito convocari faciatis Ad tractandum consentiendum concludendum super Premâ—ssis Aliis que sibi Clarius exponentur tunc ibidem ex parte nostra Et Hoc sicut Nos Statum Regni nostri ac Honorem Utilitatem Ecclesie predicte diligitis nullatenus Omittatis Teste meipsa apud Westm. xvi die Februarii Anuo Regni nostri tertio decimo IV. An Act concerning the Submission of the Clergy to the King's Majesty 25 H. 8. c. 19. WHere the King 's most Humble and Obedient Subjects the Clergy of this Realm of England have not only knowledged according to the Truth that the Convocations of the same Clergy are always have been and ought to be Assembled by the King 's Writ but also submitting themselves to the King's Majesty have promised in verbo Sacerdotii that They will never from henceforth presume to attempt alledge claim or put in ure or enact promulge or execute any New Canons Constitutions Ordinance Provincial or Other Or by whatsoever Name they shall be called in the Convocation unless the King 's most Royal Assent and Licence may to them be had to make promulge and execute the same and his Majesty do give his most Royal Assent and Authority in that Behalf Be it therefore now Enacted by Authority of this present Parliament according to the said Submission and Petition of the said Clergy that They ne Any of Them from henceforth shall presume to attempt alledge
of a Priestly Mind you have commanded your Priests to be gathered together into one Place to treat of such things as are Necessary We have according to the Purpose of your Will and the Heads which you gave to us answer'd in Our Definition as to us seem'd Good So that if those things which we have Established are also approved of as Right by your Judgment The Consent of so great a King and Lord may Confirm the Sentence of the Priests to be observed with the Greater Authority And thus have I done with the First Thing which I proposed to Consider I have shewn what Authority the Christian Prince has always been accounted to have over Ecclesiastical Synods with respect to the Assembling of them to their Proceedings whilst they are Sitting and to the Confirming or Annulling their Decrees afterwards I shall make only an Observation or two upon the whole with Respect to our present purpose and so conclude this Chapter And 1st I must take notice that whatever Privileges I have here shewn to belong to the Christian Magistrate they belong to Him as such They are not derived from any positive Laws and Constitutions but Result from that Power which every such Prince has Originally in Himself and are to be look'd upon as part of those Rights which naturally belong to Sovereign Authority Hence we find that All Princes in All wountries how different soever they have been in other Respects have yet evermore claim'd an Equal Authority in these Matters And the little Kings of Suevia and Burgundy accounted themselves to have as good a Title to Them as the Roman Emperors in their most flourishing Estate had Which being so it will follow 2dly That every Sovereign Prince has a Right to Exercise this Authority within his Dominions And that to prove this Right it is sufficient to shew That he is a Sovereign Prince and therefore ought not to be deny'd any of those Prerogatives which belong to such a Prince among which this Authority is One. 'T is true such Princes may by their own Acts limit themselves as they think fitting And these Limitations may give such Assemblies a Privilege in One Country beyond what they have in Another But then these Limitations must be plainly proved to have been made in their favour And till they are so the Prince must be accounted to have a Right to that Power which as a Prince belongs Him and is not yet proved to have been given away by Him And therefore 3dly Whereas it is now to be Enquired What the Authority of our Kings is over our Convocations We have thus far proceded towards the discovery of it that we have shewn what Power They had Originally over Them and as Christian Princes ought still to Enjoy And those who will Restrain Them with narrower Bounds must first shew how they came to lose that Power which they would take from Them and which till This shall be cleared they must be Presumed still to have a Right to CHAP. III. Of the Authority which our Own Kings have over their Convocations with Respect both to their Meeting and Acting first and to the Confirming or Annulling of their Acts after WE have now seen what Authority all Other Christian Princes have claim'd and Exercised over their Clergy from the first Conversion of the Empire to Christianity till the Prevalence of the Papal Power began to deprive Them of that Supremacy which of Right belong'd to Them Let us go on upon this Foundation to Enquire II. Whether our Own Kings have not as Great an Authority over their Convocations as any Other Princes have ever pretended to over their Councils That this of Right they Ought to have I have before observed The only Question is whether our Own particular Constitution has interposed to deprive Them of that Authority which we have already shewn did originally belong to Them And here I might justly leave it to Those who advance such Pretences to produce their Proofs and shew us upon what Grounds they do it And account the Right of our Kings to this Authority to have been sufficiently established in that common Claim which I have already proved all Christian Princes as such have ever made to the Exercise of of it But that nothing may be wanting to the clearing of this Matter beyond all reasonable Exception I shall to the General Argument I have before made use of add those particular Confirmations which our own Laws and Customs afford us of this Truth And shew that by our own Constitution the King of England has all that Power at this day over Our Convocation that ever any Christian Prince had over his Synods 1st Then if we consider His Authority as to the first thing before-mention'd viz. of Calling together of the Clergy in Convocation We are told by One of the most Eminent Professors of our Laws that it was among other Points Resolved by the Two Chief Justices and other Judges at a Committee of Lords in Parliament Trin. 8. Jac. 1. That a Convocation cannot Assemble at their onvocation without the Assent of the King And One would think such Persons should not only be very well Qualified to know what our Law is but should also be very Careful especially at such a Time and in such a Place not to deliver any thing for Law which They were not very well assured was so But because some have excepted against the Authority of this Report as a Piece that was published after the Death of the Author and in Suspected Times Tho' I cannot see what Interest any One should have to falsifie his Relation in the Instance before Us We will take his Opinion from a Book which we are sure is Authentick and lies open to no Exceptions 4. Instit. pag. 322. Where treating expresly about the Court of Convocation He affirms that the Clergy were never Assembled or Call'd together at a Convocation but by the King 's Writ And in which tho' I am sensible He has spoken a little too Generally as to matter of Fact yet in point of Law and in which only I make use of his Authority I cannot but look upon him to have been absolutely in the Right It being certain that the Clergy not only now cannot but never could be lawfully call'd together in Convocation but by the King 's â—rit or with his Consent And in assirming this I say no more than what was the joint Opinion of the whole Representative Body of the Nation as well of the Clergy in their Convocation as of the rest of the Realm in Parliament 25 Hen. 8. And from whence if from any Authority we may certainly the best take our Measure to judge Whether a thing does of Right belong to the King and is a part of his Royal Prerogative or No. For 1st As for the Clergy We are told in the Preamble to the Act of the 25 Hen. 8. chap. 19. That the Clergy of this Realm of England had acknowleged
of the Proctors of the Clergy and most of the Commons by holding up their hands affirm'd that they would do the same Now the main thing done in this Parliament and for the effectual performance whereof they were so solicitous to have such an Authority concurr as might admit of no exception was to annul the Proceedings of the Duke of Gloucester and his Adherents in the 10th and 11th years of this King and to prevent the like violence for the time to come And in the Statutes made to this purpose there is express mention therefore made of the Proctors of the Clergy consenting thereunto as in the second and twelfth Chapters of the Acts of that Parliament may morâ— fully be seen And tho' in other places they are not particularly mention'd yet since those who allow the least to them do confess that their assent was taken to what was done we must conclude that they are comprehended under the general Name of the Commons even when they are not expresly distinguish'd from them From what has been said it appears that the Inferiour Clergy were not only heretofore a part of the Parliament but did meet and act in it But now after what manner they did so does not so plainly appear It has been the opinion of some who have been very well vers'd in the Antiquities of our Country that at first the two Houses not only met in the painted Chamber at the opening of the Parliament and at such other times as the King came to it but ordinarily sat and voted together But as those who assert this are forced to confess that it was even then the custom of the several Estates to retire and consult by themselves of any difficult matters that came before them and so return again and joyntly deliver their Opinions so we are assured that they had very early their several places to meet in and their several Speakers too to manage their Debates In the 6th Edw. 3. the Parliament met about the Affairs of Scotland The Bishops and Clergy went apart by themselves the Dukes and Barons by themselves and afterwards they deliver'd their joynt Answer to the King And so they did in the 40th Year of that King When the Pope having sent hither to demand Tribute and Homage to be paid to him we are told That the Bishops went apart by themselves the other Lords by themselves and the Commons by themselves And being returned from their several places and met together they all declar'd their unanimous Resolution to oppose the Pope's Demands In the 50th of the same Edward we find mention made of the place where the Commons sat viz. the Chapter-House of the Abbot of Westminster And three Years before this upon a demand of Money made by the King to carry on his Wars the Commons sent to the Lord's House to desire a Conference with them and they presently agreed to the Proposition and went into the Chamberlain's Chamber to treat with them It is in the 51st Year of this King that we find the first express mention made of the Speaker of the House of Commons tho' there want not very probable Conjectures to prove that they had one long before That upon such times as the whole Parliament met and as long as they continued to sit together the Proctors of the Clergy met together with them is not to be doubted Their Writs summon'd them to the same place and upon the same business and we cannot doubt but that they met accordingly at the opening of every Parliament together Whether upon the division of the two Houses as the Bishops continued to sit with the one so the Proctors of the Clergy did also sit at first with the other I am not able to say But from the time that they had a distinct Prolocutor of their own we must conclude that they met distinctly And upon all the Divisions we meet with in the most ancient Rolls of Parliament the method still was for each Estate to consult together the Lords Temporal by themselves the Commons by themselves and the Bishops and Clergy by themselves And when we consider the Method that has been taken from the beginning of summoning each of these to Parliament how the Temporal Lords have their Writs particularly directed to them the Commons theirs directed to the Sheriff of each County and the Bishops and Clergy theirs joyn'd together It may seem not improbable that as they were summon'd after a distinct manner to the Parliament so they sate too And that the Bishops and Proctors of the Clergy not only occasionally consulted together but ordinarily acted as one of the three Estates of the Realm there In what place the Clergy used to meet I have not found But as their other Convocations were usually held at St. Paul's so it is not improbable but that upon these occasions they may have sate there also It was the Custom of the Parliament in the time of Henry the 8th that the Lords did not sit upon Convocation-days because then the Bishops were absent and sat with the rest of the Clergy This was in use in the 1st Year of that King And afterwards we find that certain days were appointed every Week for the Convocation to sit and on those the Lords only met and adjourned but entred not upon any publick Business Were we well assured of the Antiquity of this Custom it would go a great way towards the Confirming of what I before proposed And being joyn'd with those two Things of which we are Certain namely First That upon all Greater Debates it was the Manner of the Bishops and Clergy to go aside and Consult with One Another and then by the Archbishop or some Other of the Bishops Report their Opinion to the Other Estates And Secondly That They separately gave Subsidies to the King as also the Lords and Commons seem to have anciently done would prompt us to conclude the Constitution of our Parliament to have been Originally this That when the Three Estates met together as at the Opening of every Session they are still wont to do and are by some supposed to have always done at the first the Proxies of the Clergy as well as the Commons either came Up to the House of Lords or they all attended the King in the Painted Chamber Afterwards when they sate separately Each State met and consulted by its self Only the Bishops and Parliamentary-Abbots as they appear'd there under a double Capacity so they sate and Voted accordingly With the Clergy in Convocation as Members of that Estate on Convocation-days At Other times with the Lords in the Upper House as Members of the Baronage of England by Vertue of their Baronies And thus have I accounted for the first Original of the Convocation as it was anciently a Member of the Parliament of this Realm and is still Summon'd by the same Writ by which the Bishops are Called to Parliament at this day
But there is another Respect under which the Clergy in Convocation may be consider'd and of which it will therefore be necessary for me to give also some Account before I go on to take any particular View of what was done by them under this Capacity I have before said that when the King Orders his Writs to be Issued out for Calling a Parliament He do's at the same time direct two Others to be sent to the Two Archbishops to Summon the Clergy of their Respective Provinces to meet together about the same time And it will be necessary for me in the first place to take notice of the difference there is between these Two kinds of Summons because that by that we shall be able the better to judge what is intended by Each of Them First then The Parliamentary-Writ is sent distinctly to every Bishop â—mmediately from the King and the Bishop is thereby Required to Summon the Clergy of his Diocess to go along with him to Parliament Whereas the Convocation-Writ is sent only to the Archbishop and He by the Bishop of London sends to the Other Bishops of his Province to meet Him with their Clergy in Convocation according to the King's Command And sometimes the Archbishop heretofore Summon'd them only by his Own Authority 2. By the Parliamentary-Writ the Bishop and Clergy of Each Diocess are to come to the place where the Parliament is intended to be Opened and upon the Day appointed for the Assembling of it By the Convocation-Writ they are call'd to the Chapter-House at Pauls or to such Other place as the Archbishop appoints and that oftentimes heretofore on some Other day than that on which the Parliament began 3. The Parliamentary-Writ Summons Them to come to Parliament there to Treat c. with the King the Rest of the Prelates and Lords and Other Inhabitants of the Realm concerning the Urgent Affairs that are there to be deliberated of with respect to the King the Realm and the State of the Church of England The Convocation-Writ calls them to consult only among Themselves and that as they shall be directed by the King when they come together 4. By the Parliamentary-Writ only the Deans Arch-deacons and Proctors of the Clergy are Summon'd But the Convocation-Writ with these call'd the Regular Dignitaries too Omnes Abbates Priores c. tam Exemptos quà m non Exemptos and so gave many a place in Convocation that had nothing to do in the Parliament 5. Lastly By the Parliamentary-Writ they were ever to meet at the very precise time the Parliament did By the Other they not only did not meet always at the same precise Time but very often at such time as no Parliament was Sitting Which was the Case of the most ancient Convocation-Writ I have 〈◊〉 met with of the 9 Edw. II. And according to which the Convocation sate Febr. 17 whereas the Parliament met the October before It is therefore as plain as any thing can well be That the Convocation of the Clergy consider'd as call'd by the Parliamentary-Writs and sitting by Vertue of Them and the Convocation consider'd as Summon'd by the Convocation-Writ and the Orders of the Archbishop consequent thereupon are in their nature and constitution two different Assemblies and which by no means ought to be Confounded together The great Question is What the nature of this Convocation as distinguish'd from the Parliamentary-Convention is and what the design of their Meeting Originally was Had these Convocations been always Assembled by the Authority of the Archbishop without any Writ from the King as oftentimes heretofore they were And had they meddled only with Ecclesiastical Matters when they met It would have been no hard matter to give a plain and certain Answer to this Enquiry Because in that Case it would have been Evident that these Convocations were no Other than Provincial Synods which the Archbishop took occasion to Assemble for the Ease of the Clergy and the Benefit of the Church at the same time that they were otherwise Required to come together for the business of the State And this Use Our Kings were wont sometimes to make of Them They referr'd Ecclesiastical Matters to them and advised with them in things pertaining to Religion But as the Form of their Summons entitles them to meet upon some urgent Affairs which concern not only the security and defence of the Church of England but of the King too and the peace and tranquility the publick Good and defence of the Kingdom So the main design Our Princes seem to have had in Assembling these Convocations either at the same time they did their Parliament or not long after was to get Money from Them That so in a much fuller Body of the Clergy than what usually came to the State-Council and consisting of such Members particularly as were most haâ—d to be dealt with the Abbots and 〈◊〉 they might either obtain a supply from the Clergy there when they had 〈◊〉 in Parliament or have that Supply confirm'd by them in Convocation which had before been Granted to Them in Parliament Nor is this any vain Conjecture but founded upon a General Observation of what was done by the Convocation when it met and which for the most part was nothing else but to confirm or make an Order for Money And even upon the very Summons themselves which were anciently sent to them and in which the Cause of their meeting was oftentimes more particularly express'd than afterwards it was wont to be I shall offer an Instance of this in that ancient Summons before mention'd 9 Edw. II. In which it is declared That those Bishops and Others of the Clergy who were Summon'd to Parliament had as far as they were concern'd unanimously yielded to a Subsidy but so that Others of the Clergy who were not Summon'd to Parliament should Meet in Convocation and Consent thereto And that for this Cause the King had sent his Writ to the Archbishop to Summon All Prelates whether Religious or Others and Others of the Clergy of his Province to meet at London post 15 Pasch. to treat and consent of the Matter aforesaid This therefore was the great Use which Our Kings were wont all along to make of their Convocations and from this it came to be the Custom to Summon them for the most part as often as the Parliament met and Generally at the same time that it did so But tho' our Convocations therefore even as Ecclesiastical Synods have by this means come to be for a long time Summon'd at the same time that the Parliament was to meet yet I do not see any Reason there is to consine them so closely to such a season as to make it absolutely necessary for the King to call the One whenever He do's the Other Indeed Custom which in such Cases ought to be allow'd its just force has prevailed so far that it may be question'd whether the Clergy thereby have not a Right to
unwilling to believe it tho' all the while it is apparent that by that very Insinuation they hope to make it stick the more they think they have done their Business They have Guarded themselves against being called to account for it by Men and I am Afraid they never once think what Account they must give for it to God It is by this little Artifice that this bold Writer has presumed to vent such Calumnies against the Greatest and best Men as had they really been true could hardly have been Reported without a Crime Has traduced the King as a Man of No Religion but particularly as no Friend to the Church of England The Arch-bishop as either Ignorant of the Churches Interests or too much a Courtier to trouble the King about them The Bishops as Men that value not what becomes of the Church so long as they can but keep their Honour and their Dignity in the State The Inferiour Clergy as full of Discontents and Dissatisfaction as Persons who have been ill used and resent it accordingly And lastly even the Parliament its self as a Body that has never yet done any thing in favour of Religion nor that seems at all disposed to do any thing for the Advantage of it And when such is the Case of all these what wonder if he freely declares his Apprehension of a General Conspiracy of all Sorts of Men among Us to undermine the Catholick Faith so that it is much to be feared no Order no Degree or Place among Us is wholly free from the Infection It would be endless for me to insist upon these and the like Reflections which He seems industriously to have catcht at in every Part of his Letter I shall instead of all examine the Story with which he concludes it and so take my Leave of Him There was says He a Time when the Clergy was deem'd Publick Enemies and us'd as such viz. in the Reign of Edw. 1. but it was upon a very Honourable Account because they Asserted the Laws of the Realm The King at that Time did by Commission against the ancient Laws and Customs of the Kingdom pretend to collect Money without the Assent of Parliament not from the Clergy only but from the Earls Barons and Commonalty of the Realm The Latter did too many of them submit the Clergy stoutly Resisted it So that Sir Robert Brabazon the King ' s Chief Justice pronounced openly in the King ' s Bench in terrorem that from thenceforth no Justice should be done at their Suit and that Justice should be done against Them in the King's Courts at any Man's Suit This Passage I mark'd when I first read the Institutes as a very extraordinary one 't is pag. 529. 2 Inst I suppose you will think it so too and that England was then bless'd with a Righteous Chief Justice This is the Fable and the Moral of it is not difficult King William is the Edward here meant The present Clergy are like those here mention'd deem'd Publick Enemies but upon a very Honourable Account because they Assert the Laws of the Realm that is stand up for Another Interest and are Enemies to the Present Government For this they are not only Deem'd Publick Enemies but are Used as such Some of them have been turn'd out of their Preferments Others have been Discountenanced and not Preferr'd according to their Deserts because they also have Honourably stood up for the Laws of the Realm that is for another Interest tho' they have again and again sworn Obedience to the Present Government and some of them tho' sore against their Wills even Subscribed the Association in Defence of it To say nothing of Others who were the most forward and busie of any in the Kingdom to help on the Revolution and to establish that Government they now dislike And this they have done at the same time that the Laity have too many of them submitted And will I hope shew that they are Able to defend the Government which they have established against all the Enemies of it tho' they are never so much censured and reviled by these new Patriots for their so doing Having thus accounted for this Story as related by this Gentleman and that too imperfectly from Sir Edw. Cook Whose Authority in point of History he is willing to allow of tho' He cannot Away with it in a Point of Law I shall in Justice to the Memory of that Great Prince and most worthy Judge give a true Account of this whole Matter And let this Author if He pleases make as pertinent an Application of it for me as if I am not mistaken I have done for Him King Edward the 1st having exhausted his Stores in the War of Scotland and that with Great Honour to Himself and Advantage to the Nation call'd his Parliament at St. Edmundsbury the Day after All Souls and accounted his Circumstances to Them The Laity readily Granted him a Subsidy as desired but the Clergy pretending their Fear of the Pope's Bull deny'd in any wise to assist Him Pope Boniface the VIIIth being desirous to advance the Liberties of the Church had the Year before publish'd a Constitution by which he sorbad the Clergy to pay any Taxes to their Prince without the Pope's Consent and Excommunicated as well the Receivers as Payers of such Taxes This was the Bull which these Good Men stood upon and this that Pope publishd at the particular Desire of Robert Winchelsea Arch-bishop of Canterbury and of the Rest of the Clergy of England The King tho' he were sufficiently sensible of their jugling and displeased at it nevertheless gave them time till the next Parliament to consider what they had to do and how to make some better and more satisfactory Answer to Him But in the mean time He caused all their Stores to be sealed up And the Arch-bishop to be even with Him at the same time order'd this Bull of the Pope to be publish'd in all the Churches of his Province The next Parliament being met at London the Day after Hilary the King again demands a Supply of them They persist in their Denyal and the King thereupon puts them out of his Protection And holding his Parliament with his Barons without them an Act is pass'd by which all their Goods are Confiscated to the King's Use. In this State the Clergy were when the Lord Chief Justice as my Lord Coke says Sir Robert Brabazon who was then Chief Justice not of the King's Bench but of the Common-pleas declared to the Attorneys of the Bishops and Clergy what the King and Parliament had done He bade them acquaint their Masters That from thenceforth no Justice could be done for them in the King's Court tho' they should be never so much injured but that Justice might be had against Them by any who had need and would move it to the Court. Now this was no more
claim or put in ure any Constitutions or Ordinances Provincial or Synodals or any other Canons Nor shall enact promulge or execute any such Canons Constitutions or Ordinance Provincial by whatsoever Name or Names they may be called in their Convocations in Time Coming which alway shall be Assembled by Authority of the King 's Writ unless the same Clergy may have the King 's most Royal Assent and Licence to make promulge and execute such Canons Constitutions and Ordinances Provincial or Synodal upon pain of every one of the said Clergy doing contrary to this and being thereof convict to suffer Imprisonment and to make fine at the King 's Will. Provided alway that no Canons Constitutions or Ordinances shall be made or put in Execution within this Realm by Authority of the Convocations of the Clergy which shall be Contrariant or Repugnant to the King's Prerogative Royal or the Customs Laws or Statutes of this Realm any thing contained in this Act to the contrary hereof notwithstanding V. The Commission sent by King Charles Ist. to the Convocation of 1640. 1. CHarles by the Grace of God c. To all whom these Presents shall come Greeting Whereas in and by One Act of Parliament made at Westminster in the 25th Year of the Reign of King Henry VIIIth reciting that whereas the King 's Humble and Obedient Subjects the Clergy c. Reciting all verbatim as in the Extract Numb iv And lastly it is provided by the said Act that such Canons Constitutions Ordinances and Synodals Provincial which then were already made and which then were not Contrariant or Repugnant to the Laws Statutes and Customs of this Realm nor to the Damage or hurt of the King 's Prerogative-Royal should then still be used and executed as they were before the making of the said Act until such time as they should be view'd search'd or otherwise Order'd and Determin'd by the Persons mention'd in the said Act or the more Part of them according to the Tenour Form and Effect of the said Act as by the said Act amongst divers other things more fully and at large it doth and may Appear 2. Know ye that we for divers urgent and weighty Causes and Considerations us thereunto especially moving of Our especial Grace certain Knowledge and meer Motion have by Vertue of our Prerogative Royal and Supreme Authority in Causes Ecclesiastical given and granted and by these Presents do Give and Grant full free and lawful Liberty Licence Power and Authority unto the most Reverend Father in God William Lord Bishop of Canterbury Primate of all England and Metropolitan President of this present Convocation for the Province of Canterbury during this Present Parliament now assembled and to the Rest of the Bishops of the same Province and all Deans of Cathedral Churches Arch-deacons Chapters and Colleges and the whole Clergy of every several Diocess within the said Province That they the said Lord Archbishop of Canterbury President of the said Convocation and the Rest of the Bishops and other the said Clergy of this present Convocation within the said Province of Canterbury or the greater Number of them whereof the said President of the said Convocation to be always One Shall and may from Time to Time during the present Parliament Propose Conferr Treat Debate Consider Consult and Agree upon the Exposition or Alteration of any Canon or Canons now in force and of and upon any such Other New Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions as they the said Lord Bishop President of the said Convocation and the rest of the said Bishops and other the Clergy of the same Province or the Greater Number of them whereof of the said Lord Bishop of Canterbury President of the said Convocation to be One shall think necessary fit and convenient for the Honour and Service of Almighty God the Good and Quiet of the Church and the better Government thereof to be from Time to Time observ'd perform'd fulfill'd and kept as well by the said Lord Bishop of Canterbury the Bishops and their Successors and the rest of the whole Clergy of the said Province of Canterbury in their several Callings Offices Functions Ministries Degrees and Administrations as also by all and every Dean of the Arches and other Judges of the said Bishops Courts Guardians of Spiritualties Chancellors Deans and Chapters Archdeacons Commissaries Officials Registers and all and every Other Ecclesiastical Officers and their Inferiour Ministers whatsoever of the same Province of Canterbury in their and every of their distinct Courts and in the Order and Manner of their and every of their Proceedings and by all other Persons within this Realm as far as lawfully being Members of the Church it may concern them And further to conferr debate treat consider consult and agree of and upon such other Points Matters Causes and Things as We from Time to Time shall deliver or cause to be deliver'd unto the said Lord Bishop of Canterbury President of the said Convocation under our Sign-manual or Privy-Signet to be debated consider'd consulted and concluded upon the said Statute or any Other Statutes Act of Parliament Proclamation Provision or Restraint heretofore had made provided or set forth or any other Cause Matter or thing whatsoever to the contrary notwithstanding 3. And we do also by these Presents give and grant unto the said Lord Bishop of Canterbury President of the said Convocation and to the Rest of the Bishops of the said Province of Canterbury and unto all Deans of Cathedral Churches Arch-deacons Chapters and Colleges and the whole Clergy of every several Diocess within the said Province full free and lawful Liberty Licence Power and Authority that They the said Lord Bishop of Canterbury President of the said Convocation and the rest of the said Bishops and other the Clergy of the same Province or the greater Number of them whereof the said President of the said Convocation to be One all and every the said Canons Orders Ordinances Constitutions Matters Causes and things so by them from Time to Time conferr'd treated debated consider'd consulted and agreed upon shall and may set down in Writing in such Form as heretofore hath been accustom'd and the same so set down in writing to exhibit and deliver or cause to be exhibited and delivered unto Us to the End that we upon mature Consideration by Us to be taken thereupon may Allow Approve Confirm and Ratifie or otherwise Disallow Anhillate and make void such and so many of the said Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions Matters Causes and Things or Any of them so to be by force of these presents consider'd consulted and Agreed upon as we shall think fit requisite and convenient 4. Provided always that the said Canons Orders Ordinances Constitutions Matters and Things or Any of them so to be consider'd consulted and agreed upon as aforesaid be not contrary or repugnant to the Liturgy establish'd or the Rubricks in it or the xxxix Articles or any Doctrine Orders and Ceremonies
that the Convocation of the same Clergy is always hath been and ought to be Assembled only by the King 's Writ And 2dly As for the Laity the Parliament in the same Act not only concurs in the same opinion with Them in the Preamble before-mention'd that this their Acknowledgment was according to the Truth But in the Body of the Act it self have Provided thereupon that from thenceforth They never should meet in Convocation without the King's Leave to Empower them so to do Be it enacted say They by the Authority of this present Parliament according to the said Submission and Petition of the said Clergy That They ne any of Them from henceforth shall presume to Attempt c. Nor shall Enact c in their Convocations in time Coming Which always shall be assembled by Authority of the King 's Writ And from all which it is Evident that in the Opinion both of that Parliament and of that Convocation the King not only ought to have and by Law now has the sole Authority of Calling the Clergy together in Convocation but that this is such a Power as did always of Right belong to Him and that no Convocation ever could be lawfully assembled without his Permission or against his Hence it is that not only our Present Convocations are all summoned by the King 's Writ directed to the Archbishop of Each Province for that purpose but if we look back to the times preceeding this Statute we shall find the same to have been the antient manner of summoning of Them And tho' in a matter of this Nature it is not to be expected we should be able to produce the very Copies of the Writs by which our Convocations were called from the beginning yet I shall hereafter plainly prove that from the beginning they did meet by the King's Command And we have the very Writs of Summons as far back as the 9 Edw. 2 that is to say for above 200 years before this Acknowledgment of the Clergy and Act of Parliament were made Such Right have our Kings to Call their Convocations Nor is their Authority any less in all those Circumstances which I have shewed were wont to Accompany their Calling Them If we consider the Time and Place of their Meeting they are expresly limited in the Writ by which They are Summon'd And tho' Custom has of late so far prevail'd that the Convocation has generally met at the same Time that the Parliament has done and at St. Paul's Church or Chapter House in London yet have not our Kings ever been so far confined in either of these Particulars as not to have it still in their Power to call the Convocation at any other time or to any other place which they shall think sit In that antient Summons I before mention'd perhaps the most antient of any we have now remaining of the 9th of Edw. II. The Convocation was call'd to meet Febr. 9. but the Parliament sate October 16. foregoing And in the Writs of these latter times though the Convocation be call'd and its Session confin'd to that of the Parliament yet still if the King pleases he may continue the sitting of the one after the other is prorogued or even dissolv'd And for the Place it is sometimes determin'd to be St. Paul's London but for the most part is left with a Greater Latitude to be held at any other Place which the Archbishop shall judge to be more convenient for it And the same is the Case as to the Persons who are to come to the Convocation and the Choice of whom as it is still determin'd by the King 's Writ so must it be allow'd to have Originally depended upon it For having first declared in General the Reason wherefore he had resolv'd to call his Clergy together He next goes on to specifie in particular whom he required the Archbishop to summon to the Convocation That he should Order first the Bishops of his Province with the Deans and Archdeacons to come in Person and secondly the Chapters and Archdeaconries to send their several Proxies to represent them the Chapters one of their body and every Archdeaconry two to be chosen by them for that purpose I shall not need to enquire how this came to be the settled number that was to make up our Provincial Synods or Convocations Whether this manner of Choice was deriv'd from the antient manner of holding Convocations into the Parliamentary Writs or from the Parliamentary Writs of King Edward I. into the summons of Convocations which from thenceforth usually met together with the Parliament Howsoever this were thus much is evident that since the Power of Assembling the Clergy in such Convocations is seated Originally in the King so that they have no Authority to come together but what he gives them It must follow that neither can any other Persons have a just Right to come to these Assemblies than such only as are commissioned by him or are chosen by such Rules as he has preserib'd for the choise of those whom he allows to be sent to them It remains then that not only the caling of our Convocations but the determination of the Time and Place of their sitting of the Persons who are themselves to come to them and of the manner of choosing Representatives for those who are not all depend upon the Authority of the Prince and were originally deriv'd from thence And so lastly does their very sitting too For however Custom which in time becomes a kind of Law has in this as well as in some of the foregoing Circumstances so far prevail'd that when soever a Parliament is held a Convocation is call'd together with it yet is this rather a matter of Form than any effectual Summons And the King still keeps his Antient Power to all intents and purposes in his own hands and suffers them not either to sit or act but when and as often as he thinks fit so to do Nor is this to be look'd upon as any Encroachment upon the Liberties of the Clergy but as the Assertion of a Power which always did and of right ought to belong to the Prince For though it has now for some Ages been the Custom to Convene the Clergy as often as the Parliament meets yet as it is manifest that when this Custom first began they met not so much as an Ecclesiastical Synod as a part of the Parliament of the Realm So all the Use that was generally made of Them was to concur with the Other Estates in granting of Money to the King which having done they were commonly dismiss'd without entring upon any other Business The Convocation then tho' it consisted of Ecclesiastical Persons was yet assembled for a Civil End and seems rather to have been a State Convention than a Church Synod And however the King usually added a Conciliary Summons to his Parliamentary Writ and thereby not only assembled the Proctors of the Clergy under another