Selected quad for the lemma: hand_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
hand_n	bishop_n	church_n	presbyter_n	4,517	5	10.4419	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A44086	Animadversions on two pamphlets lately publish'd by Mr. Collier the one call'd, A defence of the absolution given to Sir William Parkins at the place of execution, April 3d, the other, A vindication thereof, occasion'd by a paper entituled, A declaration of the sense of the achbishops [sic] and bishops, &c. : shewing the nature of the late absolution, both as to church and state : in a letter to a friend.	Hody, Humphrey, 1659-1707.	1696 (1696)	Wing H2338; ESTC R13887	12,754	28

if he peruse the Act of Uniformity XIV Car. 2. or the Rubrick of Ceremonies why some be abolished and some retained Secondly It is contrary to the Practise of the Church of Christ in general and against the Direction of our Rubrick in particular to Absolve a Person or to assist in the Absolution of a Person whose Confession and Repentance are known no otherwise than by the Testimony of others as Mr. Collier assisted in the Absolution of Sir I. Friend and Mr. Snatt and Mr. Cook in that of Sir W. Parkins 'T is requir'd by the Rubrick in the Visitation of the Sick that before the Absolution there shall be a Confession of Sins to the Minister that Absolves and that after the Confession the Penitent shall desire Absolution from him It runs thus Here shall the sick Person be mov'd to make a special Confession of his Sins if he feel his Conscience troubled with any weighty Matter After which Confession the Priest shall Absolve him if he humbly and heartily desire it after this sort c. The Instances brought by Mr. C. to justifie his Practice from the Custom of the Ancient Church of admitting Strangers to Communion by Virtue of a Certificate given by the Bishop under whom they formerly lived and from the Custom of our Church of conferring Holy Orders on such as are not personally known upon the Recommendation of others is by no means sufficient For as to the former he passes by the main point and doth not so much as venture to give one Instance of Persons Absolved after that Manner by a joint Act of several Presbyters and by the Major part of such as had no Personal knowledge of the State of the professed Penitent And the Instances he gives are not at all parallel since those Ancients never gave those Certificates to such as were not Personally known to them or whose Case they were not privy to and much less to such as stood Condemn'd for Notorious Crimes As to the latter the Practice of our Church he is guilty of a gross mistake for Orders amongst us are never Conferr'd upon such as are not Personally known The Law and Canons indeed require That the Person to be Ordained should be recommended by some approv'd Presbyters that give him Credit as to his Behaviour and other Qualifications by a Certificate But notwithstanding he is further to be particularly Examined by the Arch-Deacon the proper Offsicer deputed by the Law and the Church for that Service who is to Enquire of him and Examine him and is to give an Account of the Candidate's Qualifications and to declare Publickly and Solemnly to the Bishop before his Ordidination that the Person whom he presents is apt and meet for the Ministry But were it so that Orders are Conferred upon others Recommendation yet it is supposed to be what the Law and the Canons of the Church allow and appoint But to absolve or to assist in the Absolution of a Person whose Confession and Repentance we are not immediately acquainted with is contrary to the Directions of the Church neither is there any Necessity that can justifie it or if it could it had no place here For it had been sufficient and regular also if He that receiv'd the Confession had given the Absolution without any Assistant 3. Another thing that I look upon to be Irregular is their pronouncing Absolution in Publick when there was not any publick Confession What Example of this kind does Mr. Collier meet with in the Antient Church In a Case where the Crime had been Publick and Notorious and the Penitents were reconciled to the Church and admitted to Communion the Absolution indeed was publick but so was also their Repentance and Confession But in such a case to give a Publick Absolution upon a secret Confession and private Repentance is peculiar to these Persons and what they have the Honour to be the first Inventers of But this I shall have farther occasion to touch again on by and by when I come to consider their Proceedings with relation to the Civil Government Neither 4thly can their concurring all Three together in the Absolution be sufficiently excus'd For tho' perhaps in it self it carries nothing of ill with it yet 't is no small Presumption in the Clergy to pretend to do a thing so unusual in the Church without any Church-Rule or any former President in the Church especially in that which they stand related to Mr. Collier would perswade us that such things as these which I have condemn'd as Irregularities are left by the Church to the Prudence and Discretion of those that Officiate tho' they are but of the inferiour Clergy No such matter It is not the Inferiour Clergy to whose Prudence and Discretion such things as these are left There are many things left to the Prudence and Discretion of the Bishops the Fathers and Governours of the Church But the Inferiour Clergy are to act according to the receiv'd Rules and Directions they are not to Innovate in any thing without the permission and leave of their Superiours Mr. Collier might have learnt from St. Cyprian to whom as he acknowledges we are principally obliged for the Remains we have of the Discipline and Government of the Primitive Church a better and truer Notion concerning the Obedience and Subjection of the Inferiour Clergy to their Diocesans and the Honour that is due to the Episcopal Order There never was any Bishop that paid greater deference to his Inferiour Clergy than that Great Man did Yet would he have suffered his Clergy to alter the Rules and Customs of the Church without his Consent Would he have thought well of such forward and presuming Presbyters It was usual with him to consult with his Clergy for the Government and good Order of his Church but he knew better things than to suffer them to make use of their Prudence and Discretion in opposiion to or differently from the Customs and Rules of his Church He expresses in many of his Epistles a very great dislike of the Proceedings of some of his Clergy in using their own Discretion in admitting the Lapsi to Communion without his Knowledge and Consent He asserts his Episcopal Authority and he strictly charges them not to take upon them after that manner and not to Absolve for the future till he himself should return and judge of the sufficiency of the Confession and Repentance of those that were to be Reconciled and together with the Clergy lay his Hands upon them He tells them roundly that in the Time of his Predecessors no Presbyters durst do such things that their Proceedings were an Affront to his Authority and that all the Acts of the Church ought to be governed and directed by the Bishops of the Church And it plainly appears from his Eighteenth Epistle that his Regular Clergy did not dare in his absence to Absolve the Lapsi even in a Case of Necessity when they lay on their Death-beds till

he himself had Writ to them and given them a Commission to do it without him I shall say no more of these matters but only take notice how briskly and triumphantly Mr. C. lays about him sometimes in the open Air without any Adversary to oppose him You would think the Bishops according to his Representation if you had not read their Declaration were to be very easily refuted and guilty of strange mistakes But when you compare the Declaration and the Answer together you will have occasion to wonder who it is Mr. C. is pleased to write against The Bishops never denied that the laying on of Hands was oftentimes used by the Antients in Absolution But they understood I presume that it was not made use of in such an Absolution as Mr. C. was concerned in They never denied but that in reconciling to the Church a Person that was out of its Communion even Presbyters themselves did sometimes Officiate alone with that Ceremony But they do not allow that they should take upon themselves to alter the Established Rules and Customs of the Church or to add any to them which are not already Established They do not deny but that a Malefactor condemn'd to die if he appears to be truly Penitent for all his Sins in general and particularly for that for which he stands condemned and does humbly and earnestly desire Absolution may be allow'd that Benefit and Comfort but they do not approve of its being perform'd in Publick without as publick a Confession much less by such Imposition of Hands neither do they allow that any such Clergy-man should Absolve who is not immediately and particularly acquainted with the Condition of the Person There is one thing more which ought not to be passed by without an Animadversion and that is Mr. Collier's disingenuity in laying to the Charge of the Bishops that they blame the Absolving Clergy-men for pronouncing a Form of Absolution With submission says Mr. C. a Form is better than no Form He adds that he is sorry to see the solemn Offices of Religion mention'd with such seeming Coldness and Abatements of Expression I hope Mr. C. will on second Thoughts be sorry for so false an Accusation and think himself oblig'd to ask pardon of the Bishops for Expressions so unbecoming towards Persons of their Character and Station And that you may be able to judge what reason he has to do so I shall here produce their Words Lastly For those Clergy-men that took upon them to Absolve these Criminals at the place of Execution by laying all three together their Hands upon their Heads and publickly pronouncing a Form of Absolution As their manner of doing this was extremely Insolent and without Precedent either in our Church or any other that we know of so the thing it self was altogether irregular By which it appears that They do not disapprove of their using a Form of Absolution but of their using it with such Circumstances and on such an Occasion I come now to consider the Proceedings of the Absolvers with relation to the State As this matter is considered with relation to the State I cannot call it by a softer Name than that of a daring I do not love to use hard Words I hate it in others and I would not do it my self yet I cannot but call it a daring piece of Insolence Mr. C. is pleased to tell us That if he had been permitted to wait upon Sir W. Parkins in Prison the Morning that he was Executed he had given him Absolution not in publick but in private In Answer to which I must beg your leave to observe Three Things 1. That Mr. Snatt and Mr. Cooke were permitted to be with Sir John Friend so long that they might have Absolv'd him in private if they had not chosen to do it in publick 2. That after Mr. C. was prohibited there was another Non-jurant Minister one Mr. Bell allow'd to wait upon Sir William Parkins by Sir William's own desire Now why did not that Gentleman Absolve him there in private What reason can be given for that except it be that the Absolution was intended to be publick Was it because Sir William desired to be Absolv'd by Mr. Collier Why would not the Other 's Absolution satisfie him especially considering that he was of his own choosing 3. It is to be observ'd that as Mr. C. himself informs us upon the same occasion at the Execution of Mr. Ashton 1690. the Absolution was pronounced by a Non-jurant Minister in Publick at the same place and in the same manner Would not this alone were there nothing else to be said give us too much reason to suspect that it was not Mr. Collier's being uncapable of pronouncing the Absolution in Private that made him do it in Publick but that he had all along intended to perform it in Publick He that seriously considers that the same was done before at Mr. Ashton's Execution and with the same Circumstances and what I before observ'd will be very apt to believe that it was the Resolution of those of the Non-jurant Clergy who have forsaken our Assemblies to Absolve their Friends after that manner I might add that Mr. Collier's Inclination to perform the Absolution in Publick does sufficiently appear from his forwardness in joining with the other two Gentlemen in the Absolution of Sir John Friend with whom he had not been at all concern'd Mr. C. is a Gentleman whom I know not and I 'm sure I do not hate And I would rather excuse him if I saw any way to do it than aggravate his Crime I will for the present force my self even against my reason to yield to what he says Let the matter therefore stand thus as to him Yet it cannot be denied but that the Resentment which the Government has express'd on this occasion is highly reasonable and just For First it ought to be consider'd that to Absolve a Person condemn'd for High-Treason if he owns the Fact and does not shew himself sorry for it is plainly to declare that we look on that Fact as no Crime And therefore though the Absolution be pronounced in private yet if it be known that there was such an Absolution the Government has reason to look upon the Absolver as an Enemy and accordingly to proceed against him how much more when the Party Absolv'd is not only condemn'd for High-Treason but for the horridest part of it a Design to Assassinate a King When I first lookt into Mr. Collier's Papers I was in hopes he would have given the World an Assurance that he thought Sir William Parkins whom he had Absolv'd truly Penitent for the Crime for which he was condemn'd and that he was surpriz'd to find afterwards by the Speech which he left behind him that he was not really so If he had said this he had said something material But instead of that you will meet with nothing but what will abundantly convince you that when he Absolv'd him

ANIMADVERSIONS ON Two Pamphlets Lately Publish'd by Mr. COLLIER The one call'd A Defence of the Absolution given to Sir William Parkins at the Place of Execution April 3d. The other A Vindication thereof occasion'd by a Paper entituled A Declaration of the Sense of the Achbishops and Bishops c. Shewing the Nature of the late Absolution both as to CHURCH and STATE In a LETTER to a Friend LONDON Printed for John Everingham at the Star in Ludgate-Street near the West End of St. Pauls 1696. Animadversions ON Two Pamphlets Lately Published by Mr. COLLIER SIR ACcording to your Desire I have sent you here my Thoughts concerning the Proceedings of the three Absolving Clergymen at Sir J. Friend 's and Sir W. Parkins's Execution together with some short Remarks on Mr. Collier's two Papers in which he has endeavour'd to justify those Proceedings I shall consider 'em First With Relation to the Church and Secondly With relation to the State As they are considered with Relation to the Church I take 'em to be irregular and unwarrantable on several accounts For 1st Such an Imposition of Hands as those Clergy-men made use of in the Absolution is by no means warrantable Mr. Collier endeavours to shew that the giving of Absolution with imposition of Hands was the general Practise of the Antient Churches particularly in St. Cyprian's Age and that the performance of this Ceremony was allow'd to Priests and sometimes to Deacons as well as Bishops Suppose all this Yet this Practice of those Antients does not at all justify Mr. Collier's Proceedings in this Point and that for these two Reasons 1st The Absolution in which those Antients made use of Imposition of Hands was not such an Absolution as that in which Mr. C. was concern'd but an Absolution of Persons Excommunicated or such as had deserted the Communion of the Church It was customary in the Antient Church to Excommunicate such as had committed any very grievous and notorious Crime and after they had given the Church Satisfaction and were again to be reconciled to it they were Absolv'd from the Censure of the Church by the Imposition of Hands What they meant in this Case by the Laying on of Hands we may learn from S. Cyprian They look't upon those that were out of the Church to be depriv'd of the Holy Ghost and as he saith not to be truly Christians And as now in our Ordinations we make use of the Imposition of Hands so the Antients frequently made use of the same Ceremony for restoring to the Communion of the Church such as before were Excommunicated For the same cause it was that they that were Baptiz'd either by Hereticks or Schismaticks were not among them receiv'd into the Church but by Imposition of Hands for tho they own'd the Baptism of Hereticks and Schismaticks to be valid yet they did not believe that any so Baptised could be endued with the Holy Ghost till the Church had laid their Hands on ' em For the same reason the Imposition of hands was made use of when any one that had turn'd Heretick or Schismatick was again reconcil'd to the Church as also in the Absolution of the Lapsi that is such as in the times of Persecution had Sacrificed to the Heathen Gods and by doing so had thrown themselves out of the Communion of the Church The Examples and Authorities produced by Mr. C. are all of this kind neither can he if I am not much mistaken produce any one instance of the Imposition of Hands in Absolution except in the Reconcilement of Offenders to the Church His Albaspinaeus will hardly be able to supply him with any that are pertinent to his purpose But 2dly Could he shew that in the Antient Church this Ceremony of Imposition of Hands was made use of in Absolution in other cases besides that mention'd yet his Proceedings who professes himself to be a Member of the Church of England and to Govern himself by the Orders of it could not be Justified by any such Instances of those times It is Tertullian's Observation That the Law of Faith remaining intire other things belonging to Discipline and Conversation admit alteration according as circumstances require And accordingly our Church hath declared That every particular or National Church hath Authority to Ordain Change and Abolish Ceremonies or Rites of the Church Ordained only by Man's Authority so that all things be done to Edifying Now since the laying on of Hands in Absolution is acknowledged to be only a Ceremony and not to be necessary to it it must be in its own Nature changeable and so may be used or laid aside as the Church shall see meet And since it is a Ceremony not retained in the Church of England it 's being in use heretofore in another Church or Age cannot warrant the use of it in any particular Officer of this Church no more than it will the standing on the Lord's Days between Easter and Whitsontide the Trine Immersion and several other Rites too many to be here repeated The Church of England has as much Power and Authority as to the Institution or Abolition the Use or Disuse of any particular Ceremonies as St. Cyprian's own Church had and a Minister of the Church of England is not to govern himself herein by the usage of the Church of Carthage but by his own And therefore it is not sufficient for Mr. C. to shew Imposition of Hands in Absolution to be a Ceremony used in the African Church that will justify his Practice for then by the same Reason all Ceremonies of those Churches and of all other Orthodox Churches in that time or before would become obligatory But as a Member of the Church of Carthage would then he must be able to prove it to be the Injunction or practice of his own Church What say the Articles or Rubricks or Canons or Offices of the Church where he Officiates What they injoyn he must use what that uses he may Practice But he cannot be a Rule to himself He is no more to add than he is to injoyn or alter for they all belong to the same Authority So impertinent is that which he alledges in his own defence viz. That as the Ceremony of Laying on of Hands is not prescribed in the Rubrick of Absolution so neither is it Prohibited For if the not being Prohibited could be a sufficient warrant for a particular Person 's Practice we might return to the condition the Church was in in St. Austin's Time which he complains of nay to the Ceremoniale of the Church of Rome and so the Rubrick of our Church concerning ceremonies why some are abolished and some retained be altogether in vain Good Order Uniformity and Decency require that as those Ceremonies which the Church Ordains should not be omitted at pleasure by particular Mininisters so They should not make use of any but what the Church and Law amongst us do Prescribe of which Mr. C. may be convinced