Faction and Schism and impatience of Contradiction from mere Equals therefore S. Jerom himself grants That to avoid these mischiefs there was a necessity of a Superior Order to Presbyters in the Church of God ad quem omnis Ecclesiae Cura pertineret Schismatum seminatollerentur as he speaks even where he seems most to lessen the Authority of Bishops But whatever some expressions of his may be when the Bishop of Jerusalem and the Roman Deacons came into his head his Reasons are very much for the Advantage of Episcopal Government For can any Man say more in point of Reason for it than that nothing but Faction and Disorder followed the Government of Presbyters and therefore the whole Christian Church agreed in the necessity of a higher Order and that the Peace and Safety of the Church depends upon it that if it be taken away nothing but Schisms and Confusions will follow I wish those who magnifie S. Jerom's Authority in this matter would submit to his Reason and Authority both as to the Necessity and Usefulness of the Order of Bishops in the Church But beyond this in several Places he makes the Bishops to be Successors of the Apostles as well as the rest of the most Eminent Fathers of the Church have done If the Apostolical Office as far as it concerns the Care and Government of Churches were not to continue after their Decease how came the best the most learned the nearest to the Apostolical Times to be so wonderfully deceived For if the Bishops did not succeed by the Apostles own Appointment they must be Intruders and Usurpers of the Apostolical Function and can we imagine the Church of God would have so uniuersally consented to it Besides the Apostles did not die all at once but there were Successors in several of the Apostolical Churches while some of the Apostles were living can we again imagine those would not have vindicated the Right of their own Order and declared to the Church That this Office was peculiar to themselves The Change of the Name from Apostles to Bishops would not have been sufficient Excuse for them for the Presumption had been as great in the Exercise of the Power without the Name So that I can see no Medium but that either the Primitive Bishops did succeed the Apostles by their own Appointment and Approbation which Irenaeus expresly affirms Qui ab Apostolis ipsis instituti sunt Episcopi in Ecclesiis or else those who governed the Apostolical Churches after them outwent Diotrephes himself for he only rejected those whom the Apostle sent but these assumed to themselves the Exercise of an Apostolical Authority over the Churches planted and settled by them But to let us see how far the Apostles were from thinking that this part of their Office was peculiar to themselves we find them in their own time as they saw occasion to appoin r others to take care of the Government of the Churches within such bounds as they thought fit Thus Timothy was appointed by St. Paul at Ephesus to examine the Qualifications of such as were to be Ordained and not to lay hands suddenly on any to receive Accusations if there were Cause even against Elders to proceed judicially before two or three Witnesses and if there were Reason to give them a publick Rebuke And that this ought not to be thought a slight matter he presently adds I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the Elect Angels that thou observe these things without prefetring one before another doing nothing by partiality Here is a very strict and severe Charge for the Impartial Exercise of Discipline in the Church upon Offenders And although in the Epistle to Titus he be only in general required to set in order the things that are wanting and to ordain Elders in every City as he had appointed him yet we are not to suppose that this Power extended not to a Jurisdiction over them when he had ordained them For if any of those whom he Ordained as believing them qualified according to the Apostles Rules should afterwards demeam themselves otherwise and be self willed froward given to Wine Brawlens Covetous or any way scandalous to the Church can we believe that Titus was not as well bound to correct them afterwards as to examine them before And what was this Power of Ordination and Jurisdiction but the very same which the Bishops have exercised ever since the Apostles Times But they who go about to Unbishop Timothy and Titus may as well Unscripture the Epistles that were written to them and make them only some particular and occasional Writings as they make Timothy and Titus to have been only some particular and occasional Officers But the Christian Church preserving these Epistles as of constant and perpetual Use did thereby suppose the same kind of Office to continue for the sake whereof those excellent Epistles were written And we have no greater Assurance that these Epistles were written by St. Paul than we have that there were Bishops to succeed the Apostles in the Care and Government of Churches Having said thus much to clear the Authority we act by I now proceed to consider the Rules by which we are to govern our selves Every Bishop of this Church in the Time of his Consecration makes a solemn Profession among other things That he will not only maintain and set forward as much as lies in him quietness love and peace among all Men but that he will correct and punish such as be unquiet disobedient and criminous within his Diocess according to such Authority as he hath by God's Word and to him shall be committed by the Ordinance of this Realm So that we have Two Rules to proceed by viz. the Word of God and the Ecclesiastical Law of this Realm 1. By the Word of God and that requires from us Diligence and Care and Faithfulness and Impartiality remembring the Account we must give that we may do it with Joy and not with Grief And we are not merely required to correct and punish but to warn and instruct and exhort the Persons under our Care to do those things which tend most to the Honour of our Holy Religion and the Church whereof we are Members And for these Ends there are some things I shall more particularly recommend to You. 1. That you would often consider the Solemn Charge that was given you and the Profession you madeof yourResolution to do yourDuty at your Ordination I find by the Provincial Constitution of this Church that the Bishops were to have their solemn Profession read over to them twice in the year to put them in mind of their Duty And in the Legatine Constitutions of Otho 22 H. 3. the same Constitution is renewed not merely by a Legatine Power but by Consent of the Archbishops and Bishops of both Provinces wherein it is declared that Bishops ought to visit their
our Church will be best answered which appoints the Order for Morning and Evening Prayer daily to be said and used throughout the Year VI. As to the Dissenters from the Church the present Circumstances of our Affairs require a more than ordinary Prudence in your Behaviour towards them It is to no purpose to provoke or exasperate them since they will be but so much more your Emies for it and if you seem to court them too much they will interpret your Kindness to be a liking their Way better than your own so that were it not for some worldly Interest you would be just what they are which is in effect to say you would be Men of Conscience if ye had a little more Honesty For they can never think those honest Men who comply with things against their Consciences only for their temporal Advantage but they may like them as Men of a Party who under some specious Colours promote their Interest For my own part as I do sincerely value and esteem the Church of England and I hope ever shall so I am not against such a due temper towards them as is consistent with the preserving the Constitution of our Church But if any think under a Pretence of Liberty to undermine and destroy it we have reason to take the best care we can in order to its Preservation I do not mean by opposing Laws or affronting Authority but by countermining them in the best way i. e. by outdoing them in those things which make them most Popular if they are consistent with Integrity and a good Conscience If they gain upon the People by an appearance of more than ordinary Zeal for the good of Souls I would have you to go beyond them in a true and hearty Concernment for them not in irregular Heats and Passions but in the Meekness of Wisdom in a calm and sedate Temper in doing good even to them who most despightfully reproach you and withdraw themselves and the People from you If they get an Interest among them by Industry and going from Place to Place and Family to Family I hope you will think it your Duty to converse more freely and familiarly with your own People Be not Strangers and you will make them Friends Let them see by your particular Application to them that you do not despise them For Men love to value those who seem to value them and if you once slight them you run the hazard of making them your Enemies It is some Tryal of a Christians Patience as well as Humility to condescend to the Weaknesses of others but where it is our Duty we must do it and that chearfully in order to the best End viz. Doing the more good upon them And all Condescension and Kindness for such an End is true Wisdom as well as Humility I am afraid Distance and too great Stiffness of Behaviour towards them have made some more our Enemies than they would have been I hope they are now convinced that the Persecution which they complained lately so much of was carried on by other Men and for other Designs than they would then seem to believe But that Persecution was then a Popular Argument for them for the complaining side hath always the most Pity But now that is taken off you may deal with them on more equal Terms Now there is nothing to affright them and we think we have Reason enough on our side to persuade them The Case of Separation stands just as it did in Point of Conscience which is not now one jot more reasonable or just than it was before Some think Severity makes Men consider but I am afraid it heats them too much and makes them too violent and refractory You have more reason to fear now what the Interest of a Party will do than any Strength of Argument How very few among them understand any reason at all for their Separation But Education Prejudice Authority of their Teachers sway them remove these and you convince them And in order thereto acquaint your selves with them endeavour to oblige them let them see you have no other Design upon them but to do them good if any thing will gain upon them this will But if after all they grow more headstrong and insolent by the Indulgence which the Law gives them then observe whether they observe those Conditions on which the Law gives it to them For these are known Rules in Law that he forfeits his Privilege who goes beyond the Bounds of it that no Privileges are to be extended beyond the Bounds which the Laws give them for they ought to be observed as they are given I leave it to be considered whether all such who do not observe the Conditions of the Indulgence be not as liable to the Law as if they had none But there is a very profane abuse of this Liberty among some as though it were an Indulgence not to serve God at all Such as these as they were never intended by the Law so they ought to enjoy no Benefit by it For this were to Countenance Profaneness and Irreligion which I am afraid will grow too much upon us unless some effectual Care be taken to suppress it VII There is another Duty incumbent upon you which I must particularly recommend to your Care and that is of Visiting the Sick I do not mean barely to perform the Office prescribed which is of very good use and ought not to be neglected but a particular Application of your selves to the State and Condition of the Persons you visit It is no hard matter to run over some Prayers and so take leave but this doth not come up to the Design of our Church in that Office For after the general Exhortation and Profession of the Christian Faith our Church requires that the sick Person be moved to make special Confession of his Sins if he feel his Conscience troubled with any weighty matter and then if the sick Person humbly and heartily desires it he is to be absolved after this manner Our Lord Jesus Christ who hath left Power in his Church to absolve all Sinners who truly repent and believe in him c. Where the Power of Absolution is grounded upon the Supposition of true Faith and Repentance and therefore when it is said afterwards And by his Authority committed to me I absolve thee from the same c. it must proceed on the same supposition For the Church cannot absolve when God doth not So that all the real Comfort of the Absolution depends upon the Satisfaction of the Person 's Mind as to the Sincerity of his Repentance and Faith in Christ. Now here lies the great Difficulty of this Office how to give your selves and the wounded Conscience Satisfaction as to the Sincerity of those Acts I do not mean as to the Sincerity of his present Thoughts but as to the Acceptableness of his Faith and Repentance with God in order to Remission of Sins But what if you
are mean when they lie near each other when great Care is taken to put in sufficient Curates with good Allowance when Persons take all Opportunities to do their Duties themselves and do not live at a distance from their Benefices in an idle and careless manner But for Men to put in Curates merely to satisfie the Law and to mind nothing of the Duties of their Places is a horrible Scandal to Religion and our Church and that which if not amended may justly bring down the Wrath of God upon us For the loosest of all the Popish-Casuists look upon this as a very great Sin even those who attributed to the Pope the highest Dispensing Power in this Case But when the greate Liberty of Dispensing had made the Ecclesiastical Laws in great measure useless then it was thought fit by our Law-makers to Restrain and Limit it by a Statute made 21. H. 8. wherein it is Enacted That if any Person or Persons having one Benefice with Cure of Souls being of the yearly value of eight pounds or above accept or take any other with Cure of Soul and be instituted and inducted in possession of the same that then and immediately after such Possession had thereof the first Benefice shall be adjudged to be void And all Licenses and Dispensations to the contrary are declared to be void and of none effect This one would have thought had been an effectual Remedy against all such Pluralities and Dispensations to obtain them and this no doubt was the Primary Design of the Law but then follow so many Proviso's of Qualified Men to get Dispensations as take off a great deal of the Force and Effect of this Law But then it ought well to be considered whether such a License being against the chief Design of a Law can satisfie any Man in point of Conscience where there is not a just and sufficient Cause For if the Popes Dispensation with the supposed Plenitude of his Power could not satisfie a Mans Conscience without an antecedent Cause as the Casuists resolve much less can such Proviso's do it It is the general Opinion of Divines and Lawyers saith Lessius that no Man is safe in Conscience by the Popes Dispensation for Pluralities unless there be a just Cause for it No Man can with a safe Conscience take a Dispensation from the Pope for more Benefices than one merely for his own Advantage saith Panormitan and from him Sylvester and Summ. Angelica A Dispensation saith Card. Tolet secures a Man as to the Law but as to Conscience there must be a good Cause for it And that is when the Church hath more benefit by it than it would have without it But the Pope's Dispensing Power went much farther in Point of Conscience in their Opinion than that which is setled among us by Act of Parliament For it is expressed in the Stat. 21 Hen. 8. that the Dispensation is intended to keep Men from incurring the Danger Penalty and Forfeiture in this Statute comprised So that the most qualified Person can only say that the Law doth not deprive him but he can never plead that it can satisfie him in Point of Conscience unless there be some Cause for it which is of more moment to the Church than a Man 's sole and constant Attendance on a particular Cure is But this Stat. is more favourable to the Clergy than the Canon Law was before in two Particulars 1. In declaring that no simple Benefices or mere Dignities as the Canonists call them are comprehended under the Name of Benefices having Cure of Souls viz. No Deanery Arch-deaconry Chancellorship Treasurership Chantership or Prebend in any Cathedral or Collegiate Church nor Parsonage that hath a Vicar endowed nor any Benefice perpetually appropriate But all these before were within the reach of the Canon Law and a Dispensation was necessary for them Which shews that this Law had a particular respect to the necessary Attendance on Parochial Cures and looked on other Dignities and Preferments in the Church as a sufficient Encouragement to extraordinary Merit 2. That no notice is taken of Livings under the value of 8l which I suppose is that of 20 E. 1. for that of H. 8. was not till five Years after But after that Valuation it was to be judged according to it and not according to the real Value as the Judges declared 12 Car. I. in the Case of Drake and Hill Now here was a regard had to the Poorness of Benefices so far that the Statute doth not deprive the Incumbent upon taking a second Living if it be under 8 l. The Question that arises from hence is Whether such Persons are allowed to enjoy such Pluralities by Law or only left to the Ecclesiastical Law as it was before It is certain that such are not liable to the Penalty of this Law but before any Person might be deprived by the Ecclesiastical Law for taking a second Benefice without Dispensation of what value soever now here comes a Statute which enacts that all who take a second Benefice of 8l without Qualification shall lose his legal Title to the first but what if it be under Shall he lose it or not Not by this Law But suppose the Ecclesiastical Law before makes him liable to Deprivation doth the Statute alter the Law without any Words to that purpose The Bishop had a Power before to deprive where is it taken away The Patron had a Right to present upon such Deprivation how comes he to lose it And I take it for granted that no antecedent Rights are taken away by Implications but there must be express Clauses to that purpose So that I conclude the ancient Ecclesiastical Law to be still in force where it is not taken away by Statute And thus my Brethren I have laid before you the Authority and the Rules we are to act by I have endeavoured to recommend to you the most useful Parts of your Duty and I hope you will not give me occasion to shew what Power we have by the Ecclesiastical Law of this Realm to proceed against Offenders Nothing will be more uneasie to me than to be forced to make use of any Severity against you And my Hearts desire is that we may all sincerely and faithfully discharge the Duties of our several Places that the Blessing of God may be upon us all so that we may save our selves and those committed to our Charge Regino l. 2. p. 205. Hispan Concil p. 29. Regino Collect. Canon lib. 2. p. 204. Burchrd l. 1. c. 91 92. Gratian. 35. q. 5. c. 7. Hieron Comment ad Titam Epist. ad Evagr. Advers Luciferian Hier. in Psal. Ad Evagr. Ad Marcell Cyprian Ep. 3. 66. Aug. in Ps. 44. 44. Ambros. ad Eph. 4. 11. 1 Cor. 12. 28. Theod. ad 1 Tim. 1. 3 Iren. l. 3. c. 3. 3 John 9 10. 1 Tim. 3. 2 3 c. 5. 22. 19. 20. 21. Titus 1. 5. De voto voti