Confidence that bears some proportion to the Badness of their Cause and are not afraid to cast the Greatest Contempt on His MAJESTY's Commissioners and Visitors and consequently on His MAJESTY Himself whose Person they represent and instead of Humbling themselves for their many Insolencies or instead of acting according to their Quondam avowed Doctrine of Passive Obedience they fly in the Face of Authority charging it with no less Guilt than the Injuring a Whole Society and as if they had still to do with their Dissenting Brethren they close up the Scene with an Insulting Threat For after their Expulsion they severally gave in Papers to the Effect following May it Please Your Lordships I Do profess all Duty to His MAJESTY and Respect to Your Lordships but beg Leave to declare I think my Self Injured in Your Lordships Proceedings and therefore Protest against them and will use all Just and Legal means of being relieved Here you see they complain of Injuries done 'em and are resolv'd to use all Just and Legal Means they say for their own Relief But who can imagine what they will understand by Just and Legal Means The Whole of these Proceedings depend on the Dispensing Power If His MAJESTY had not Dispensed with their Colledge-Statutes the Case would have been another thing but the Dispensation makes it manifest That no Pretence of an Oath can be sufficient to excuse their Disobedience Let us then compare the late Actings of these Gentlemen with a Notion we find in an Admired * A Letter containing Reflections on His Majesty's Declaration for Liberty of Conscience Pamphlet Written by one of their own Communion and we may see Cause justly to conclude that they esteem the Exercise of the Dispensing Power to be a Subversion of the Whole Government Which to use the Author 's own Words being so contrary to the Trust that is given to the PRINCE who ought to Execute it will put Men upon Uneasie and Dangerous Enquiries which will turn Little to the Advantage of those who are driving Matters to such a Doubtful and Desperate Issue To which let us add That this is mention'd in Contradistinction to the Non-resisting Doctrine and then consider Whether any rational Man who is acquainted with what these very men do to fill the Minds of His MAJESTY's Subjects with Discontent can think that by Just and Legal they mean any thing less than some Methods better indeed silenced than expressed When the Protestant Dissenters went not half so far in their Disobedience to the Regal Authority they could not escape the Censure of being Enemies to the Government and were immediately made uncapable of any Ecclesiastical Benefice They only refused to Subscribe unto two of the three Articles and this was interpreted a Renouncing the KING 's Supreme Authority in Matters Ecclesiastical and without the Aid of an Act of Parliament they were deprived And whoever carefully observes the Ecclesiastick Proceedings will find That when the Ecclesiastical Judges deal with Delinquents they never give over till there be either a Submission or a running the Offender to the Last Punishment Thus if a Man did but absent himself from the Sacrament and was admonished he must Conform or be run to an Excommunication and at last to the Writ de Excommunicato capiendo In like manner if any of the Clergy fell under the Censure of Suspension ab Officio unless there had been a Submission it went on to a Suspension à Beneficio yea and to a Deprivation Which if done in one Diocess was to be regarded by every Diocesan throughout the whole Kingdom And the Reason our Clergy give for this is not the Ruine of the Offenders but a Reducing 'em to the Knowledge of themselves and a due Submission to their Superiors whose Part it is to secure the Great Ends of Government as also for the discouraging Others from the like Miscarriages And on this account it is that the making the Magdalen-Fellows uncapable of Ecclesiastical Benefices Dignities or Promotions became Necessary it being no more than what is included in every Deprivation of the Clergy And for this Reason the KING 's Ecclesiastical Commissioners have made the ensuing Decree By His MAJESTY's Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes and for Visiting the Vniversities and all and every Cathedral and Collegiate Churches Colledges Grammar-Schools and other the like Incorporations or Foundations and Societies WHereas We thought Fit by Our Order of the 22 d. of June last to Declare and Decree That the Pretended Election of Mr. John Hough now Dr. John Tough to the Presidentship of St. Mary Magdalen Colledge in the Vniversity of Oxon was Void and therefore did amove the said Mr. Hough from the Place of President of the said Colledge And whereas the Fellows of the same were likewise convened before Us for their Disobedience to and Contempt of His MAJESTY's Authority by making the said Pretended Election and it now appearing unto Us That the said Dr. John Tough Dr. Charles Aldeworth Dr. Henry Fairfax Dr. Alexander Pudsey Dr. John Smith Dr. Thomas Bayley Dr. Hhomas Stafford Mr. Robert Almont Mr. Mainwaring Hammond Mr. John Rogers Mr. Richard Strickland Mr. Henry Dobson Mr. James Bayley Mr. John Davies Mr. Francis Bagshaw Mr. James Fayrer Mr. Joseph Harwar Mr. Thomas Bateman Mr. George Hunt Mr. William Cradock Mr. John Gillman Mr. George Fulham Mr. Charles Penyston Mr. Robert Hyde Mr. Edward Yerbury Mr. Henry Holden and Mr. Stephen Weelks Lately Fellows of the said Colledge do persist in their Disobedience and Contempt We have thought Fit upon Mature Consideration of the Matter to Declare Decree and Pronounce And We do accordingly Declare Decree and Pronounce That the said Dr. John Hough c. and every of Them shall be from henceforth they are hereby declared adjudged Incapable of Receiving or being Admitted to any Ecclesiastical Dignity Benefice or Promotion and that such and every of them who are not as yet in Holy Orders shall be and are hereby Declared and Adjudged incapable of Receiving or being Admitted into the same And all Archbishops Bishops and other Ecclesiastical Officers and Ministers within the Realm of England are hereby required to take Notice of This Our Sentence Order and Decree and to yield Obedience thereunto Given under Our Seal the 10th of December 1687. The Conclusion THUS You have a Just Account given You of the Proceedings of His MAJESTY's Commissioners and Visitors with the KING's Power in Matters Ecclesiastical How according to Church of England-Law His MAJESTY can Dispense not only with College-Statutes but with Provincial Canons and Acts of Parliament And yet how Unjustly the Fellows Opposed the KING's Supremacy to which they are All Sworn and which they should have Regarded after another manner than they did As also with what Contempt and Scorn they Carryed it towards His MAJESTY's Visitors Giving them Opprobrious Language and making False Reports of Matter of Fact intending to fill the Minds of the KING's Subjects with Fears Jealousies and Discontent so that on the whole an Ordinary Capacity may with much clearness perceive That His MAJESTY's Commissioners have in their Proceedings against the Magdalen-Fellows kept within the Bounds of Justice And notwithstanding any thing the Commissioners have done either against the Bishop of London or Magdalen College His MAJESTY's Clemency toward the Church of England is surprizing and cannot but appear so to any that do but mind what I have already mention'd about the Opinion of the Judges which was That the KING without a Parliament can make Ordinances and Constitutions for the Government of the Clergy and Deprive them if they Obey not To which let us Add That this was the very End for which the Judges Opinion was desired viz. The Justifying the Church of Englands Depriving the Old Puritans for not Subscribing to the Ceremonies enjoyned by the Canon thereby plainly shewing that the KING without a Parliament may appoint what Ceremonies He please Now it 's not to be doubted That if His MAJESTY would but Exercise this Power in Matters Ecclesiastical he might Appoint and Ordain so many Ceremonies and Require Subscription to them as would make the Church of England look exactly like that of Rome and Deprive all those that dare Disobey Let us but Consider then with what Severity the Church of England-Clergy express themselves against Popery and again Observe how easily the KING might by their own Law impose a very great Part of It on them and deprive them if they Obey not and 't will not be difficult to conclude what would be the condition of these Present Sticklers against Popery To the Sign of the Cross in Baptism the KING might enjoyn Exsufflation Salt and Spittle and to Kneeling at the Sacrament the Deacons Kissing of the Hand or Right Shoulder of the Priest and the Mens Kissing each other besides Holy Water and it's Consecration as well as the Consecration of Churches and a hundred such things more might His MAJESTY enjoyn the Clergy and thereby make it necessary for Our Clergy to Subscribe unto all these to the Opening the Mouths of Dissenters against them or to Feel what a Deprivation is But His MAJESTY to the end He may convince the most Obstinate Enemies to His Government is Resolv'd to Proceed in the calmest Way and therefore notwithstanding the most Undutiful and Disloyal Reflections Cast on MAJESTY It self by some of the Church of England It 's His Royal Purpose That His Commissioners shall not Exercise that Severity against them which they have against Protestant-Dissenters Nor will His MAJESTY take those Advantages against their Clergy which He might He is rather for the more Peaceable and Christian Methods and therefore will do the Church of England no more Hurt than to give Ease unto Others And nothing but a most Violent Provocation can Overcome Him to Alter this Method FINIS
Society and they might notwithstanding their Oath act as if no such thing had been For the KING sent 'em his Dispensation which took away the strength of their Statute it laid the very Statute aside for that season And this Bar being taken out of the Fellows way His Majesty commands them to choose another and all were bound to Obey the Royal Mandate For they were sworn only to the Statutes that were in force but the Dispensation taking away the force of the Statute the Oath oblig'd them not to keep it To illustrate this I will suppose that by an Act of Parliament this College-Statute had been made utterly void and null as those relating to the Mass have been Will any say that the Fellows because of their Oath are with a Non Obstante to this Act of Parliament still bound to keep to the vacated Statute I presume not for Statutes made by a particular Man or Corporation cannot be of greater Force than an Act of Parliament and the College-Statute being vacated the Oath obliges them not to keep it and for the same reason I may boldly affirm that seeing according to Church of England-Law the Royal Dispensation doth as effectually make void the Statute to these Men for that time they are not obliged by their Oath to observe it Furthermore we find that in process of time some Laws never Repeal'd wear out of date and become useless and though never Repeal'd yet must be consider'd as void and null or the whole Kingdom must be brought under the Guilt of Perjury I will instance in one Law which was Made Anno 3 Hen. 8. c. 3. Requiring Every Man being the KING 's Subject not Lame Decrepit nor Maimed nor having any other Lawful or Reasonable Cause or Impedimént being within the Age of Forty Years except Spiritual Men Iustices of the One Bench and of the Other Iustices of Assize and Barons of the Exchequer to use and exercise Shooting in Long-Bows and also to have a Bow and Arrow ready continually in his House to use and do use himself in Shooting Also that the Father Governours and Rulers of such as are of tender Age do teach and bring up them in the Knowledge of the same Shooting c. I say there is a Law requiring thus much not yet Repeal'd that I can find and all Constables still Swear That they will have a Care for the Maintenance of Archery according to the Statute But yet it 's Notorious that this Statute is not Observed nor doth the Constable regard this part of his Oath And why But because the Statute is Obsolete and by a general Consent grown out of use and must be esteemed as if it had been vacate and null And it 's most manifest that a Dispensation can as effectually at least so far vacate a Statute that the Person who is otherwise Sworn to keep it may without Perjury forbear it's Observance And that this is manifest where there is a Dispensation appears from the Practices of our Judges See that new little Book Entituled The Justices Case which if it had come out time enough might perhaps have kept some of these Magdalen-Scholars in their Places supposing any of them purely Conscientious that went out meerly for want of Light about the Obligation of an Oath which is the business of that Case and Justices of the Peace throughout the Whole Kingdom who tho' Sworn to Execute the Laws do esteem themselves Discharged from the Execution of those lately Dispensed with by His Sacred MAJESTY But To come Closer to our Magdalen-Gentlemen I would propose to their Consideration the Church-Wardens Oath which runs in these Words You shall swear Truly and Faithfully to Execute the Office of a Church-Warden within your Parish and according to the best of your skill and Knowledge Present such Things and Persons as to your Knowledge are Presentable by the Laws Ecclesiastical of this Realm This is the Oath and whatever is contrary to any one Canon is Presentable by the Laws Ecclesiastical And if a Dispensation be not sufficient to excuse the Church-Wardens from Perjury for not Presenting the Transgressours of the Canons This sort of People will not be only Perjur'd for not Presenting the Dissenters at this time but for not Presenting some of the Fattest amongst their own Clergy-men For as the Civilians assure Us the Ecclesiastick Law is That every Spiritual Person is Visitable by the Ordinary and yet the KING exempts Multitudes from the Ordinary's Visitations Thus formerly many Abbies have been and now all Donatives are exempt and the Ecclesiastical Law is Dispensed with and Must all those who are in Donatives and receive not Institution nor Induction from the Bishop nor will submit to the Ordinary's Visitation be presented or are the Church-Wardens Perjur'd Again All Pluralities are contrary to the Canon but if His MAJESTY gives a Dispensation a Priest may hold two Benefices and nothing more Common There is also a Canon That a Bastard shall not be a Priest however if the KING Dispenses with this Canon the Bastard may enter into Holy Orders But must the Church-Warden present Every Bastard-Priest and all that hold Pluralities or else be Forsworn But the Case is too plain to need further Proof All know That when an Oath is taken to Observe the Laws it is no longer than they are in Force If he Law be repeal'd the Oath obliges not any to Observe it and as to the Person Dispensed with the Law for that time so far ceases that to him there is no such Law and therefore his Oath binds him not in this case to Regard it Effectus enim Dispensationis est auferre à particulari Persona simpliciter vel in tali tempore aut occasione Obligationem ad Opus vel Omissionem vel poenam vel auferre irritationem aut inhabilitatem quam lex ipsa efficiebat So Salas. Thus you see That if it be in the Power of the KING to suspend the Colledge-Statutes the Pretence of Conscience about keeping to their Oath is vain and ludicrous For which Reason I will only add one Consideration more to shew that the Dispensing Power leans on a Foundation that cannot be moved but to the Endangering the Whole Ecclesiastick Jurisdiction as Exercis'd by the Bishops 'T is well known That what Power is Strong enough to Dispense with an Act of Parliament about Civils wants not Strength to Dispense with Parliamentary Laws touching Ecclesiastical Affairs nor with Church-Canons nor Colledge-Statutes And that the KING can Dispense with Acts of Parliament relating unto Civil Affairs is a Matter grounded on the same Bottom with the Bishop's Jurisdiction and that is On the Opinion of the church-of-Church-of-England Judges That it is the Opinion of our Judges That the KING can Dispense in Matters Civil is Notorious the Matter of Fact is very Lately become too Obvious to admit of a Denyal and that the Bishop's Jurisdiction has no other ground for its Support is easily proved For
Bishop to Suspend that is To pronounce one Suspended without a Judicial Process is conform to the Constitutions embrac'd by the Church of England and in this Case the Bishop is bound to Obey if Commanded by the Supreme Ordinary And although some very boldly Affirm That these Suspensions are contrary to the Laws of GOD of Nature and of Nations yet nothing hath been more commonly practis'd by the Church of England in their prosecuting Dissenters than Ipso Facto Excommunications which are of a like kind with Ipso Facto Suspensions for both are without a Judicial Process and at this very time Ipso Facto Deprivations which are more than Suspensions ab Officio are established by our Laws By the Statute of 21 Hen. 8. If an Incumbent having a Benefice with Cure of Souls value Eight Pound per Annum take another with Cure immediately after Induction thereunto the former is void even without any Declaratory Sentence of Deprivation in the Ecclesiastical Court. And whoever neglects to Read The Articles of Religion within two Months next after Induction he is deprived Ipso Facto and upon such Avoidance there is no need of a Sentence Declaratory And if this be not contrary to the Laws of GOD nor of our Land How comes it to pass that an Ipso Facto Suspension should be such a hideous thing in the esteem of a Church of England-Man who has been so accustomed to treat the Dissenters after this very way and manner On the whole then I hope it 's sufficiently clear'd That the Bishop of London in the present case was bound to Obey His MAJESTY and Suspend the Doctor That the Capitulation he enter'd into with his Prince and the Contempt of His Authority deserv'd no less than a Suspension ab Officio Section III. A Just Account of the Proceedings of the Commissioners Appointed by His MAJESTY under the Great Seal for Visiting St. Mary Magdalen College in Oxford ON the Death of Dr. Clark President of St. Mary Magdalen in Oxford before the day of Election the KING sends down a Mandamus for the Electing another and whereas the Fellows were Sworn to observe the College Statutes which oblig'd them to Choose one of their Own or of New College His MAJESTY sends down a Dispensation with His Mandatory Letter notwithstanding which the Fellows pretending that they were bound in Conscience to observe the Statute because of their Oaths regard not the Mandatory Letter nor Royal Dispensation They make not a Choice as the KING Commanded and when cited before His MAJESTY's Commissioners and Visitours to Answer for their Disobedience they in a most Contemptuous Manner protest against the Proceedings The Great Points therefore to be Discussed may be Reduced to these two Heads I. Whether the KING by His Prerogative may not Dispense with the College Statutes II. Whether when there is a Dispensation Granted the Fellows are by their Oath Obliged to Act according to those very Statutes that are Dispensed with A Solution to These Questions will be Sufficient to Clear the Truth in this Affair for if the Dispensation according to the Church of England-Law be valid and the Fellows are not by their Oaths Bound to observe the Statutes after such a Dispensation 't will unavoidably follow That the Magdalen-Fellows have been most justly Suspended and Expell'd And thus much will be with much clearness evinced I. Touching the Dispensing Power The KING's Power in Matters Ecclesiastical is so very ample and extensive that it 's not easy for any one to set bounds or limits to it By our Common Lawyers it hath been often affirmed That whatever the Pope de facto formerly did within this Realm by the Canon Law that of Right belongs to our KINGS And on this Ground it has been adjudged That the Legislative Power in Matters Ecclesiastical is lodged in the KING The Pope made Laws for the Government of the Clergy and so may the KING And thus much Q. Elizabeth as supreme Head of the Church of England on the Request of Archbishop Whitgift exercised when she imposed a Subscription to the three Articles and depriv'd those who would not Obey The Statute of 13 Eliz. c. 12. required Subscription to the Articles of Faith and the Doctrines of the Sacraments onely and with this those who preached against Ceremonies and the Hierarchick Government complied Whitgift therefore and the Ecclesiastical Commissioners go further and by the Regal Power ordained Subscription to the Ceremonies and Government of the Church and depriv'd such as refused to Subscribe In the First of K. James I. these Articles are Established by the Canons without an Act of Parliament made in that Year on which occasion Deprivations were very Common and the Puritanick * We complain That we are put out from our Benefices which are a Freehold by the bare and sole Sentence of a Bishop whereas the Liberty of an English-man is this To be put from his Freehold by none but by the Verdict of Twelve Men. Parker on the Cross Part 2. Ch. 8. Sect. 3. P. 108. Clamours as great yea so great that the Clergy judg'd it necessary to beseech His MAJESTY to command all the Justices of England to confer together of this thing and give in their opinion which accordingly they did For it being demanded by the Lord Chancellour * See Crokes Reports an 2. Jacob 1. Whether the Deprivation of the Puritan Ministers for refusing to conform themselves to the Ceremonies appointed by the last Canons was Lawful They all answered That they had conferred thereof before and held it to be Lawful because the KING has the Supreme Ecclesiastical Power And they held it clear that the KING without a Parliament might make Orders and Constitutions for the Government of the Clergy and might deprive them if they Obey not The Civilians go higher affirming That the KING as Supreme is Himself instead of the Whole Law yea that he is the Law it Self and the Only Chief Interpreter thereof as in whose Breast resides the whole Knowledge of the same And that His MAJESTY by communicating His Authority to His Judges to Expound the Laws doth not thereby abdicate the same from Himself These with Borellus do hold * Dr. Ridley view p. 2. c. 1. sect 7. That Principum placita legis habent vigorem And as the KING by the Fulness of His Ecclesiastical Power can without a Parliament make what Laws He Please for the Government of the Clergy in like manner The Power of the KING in Matters Ecclesiastical is too ample to be limited by an Act of Parliament Thus much has been clear'd up by my Lord * part 4. Coke in his Institutes where he tells us That albeit the Acts of 24 Hen. 8. 25 Hen. 8. do upon certain Appeals make the sentence Definitive as to any Appeal for the Words be shall be Definitive and that no further Appeal should be had yet the KING after such a Definitive Sentence as Supreme Head