Archbishop of York and calls Bede the greatest Master of his Time and in another place he saith One Seventh Day is set apart among Christians as another had been among the Iews for the Service of God and that therein we ought to attend to the Care of our Souls and to lead a spiritual Life Bede distinguishes between the Patriarchal and Iewish Sabbath The latter he calls a Carnal and the other a Spiritual Sabbath the former lay in a strict Abistnence from Labour but the other in Prayer and Devotion and Spiritual Contemplations The Iewish Rest he saith was inutile 〈◊〉 luxuriosum For the 〈…〉 â—llowed Recreations and Sports on their Sabbaths vacant ab opere bono saith he non ab opere nugatorio Vacant ad nugas saith S. Augustin but he saith they had better plow or dig than dance on that Day or sit in the Theater And he tells us That the Heathens objected against the Iews That they spent one Day in the Week in Idleness For they supposed the bare Rest to be the Sanctification of the Day which was commanded and the spending any part of it in the publick Worship to be voluntary Devotion But the better sort of the Iews thought the Rest was appointed for the Knowledge of the Law and Spiritual Imployments So Philo Iosephus Aben-Ezra Kimchi and Menasseh ben Israel It seems most reasonable in this Case to distinguish between the Legal Rest strictly required by the Fourth Commandment and the Original Rest in Remembrance of God's resting from the Work of Creation The former was a Sign between God and the People of Israel as it is often called in Scripture and the other was a Commemorative Sign but such as excited them to the Worship of the Creator and therefore the Patriarchal Sabbath as Bede observes was of a spiritual Nature And such a spiritual Sabbath as S. Augustin calls it ought to be observed by Christians in the Duties of God's Worship as well as in spiritual and holy Thoughts But the Iewish Sabbath he often-saith doth not oblige Christians I the rather mention him because Bede followed his Doctrine herein and that of Gregory I. who was the great Instrument of promoting the Conversion of our Ancestors to Christianity And he declares himself fully both as to the Cessation of the Iewish Sabbath and the religious Observation of the Lord's day It seems there were some then as there are among us now who were for the strict Observation of the Saturday-Sabbath But Gregory saith They might as well insist upon Circumcision and Sacrifices as the Iewish Sabbath But yet he adds We ought on the Lord's day to abstain from worldly Imployments and devote our selves unto Prayers that we may make some Amends for the Weeks Negligence by the Devotions on that Day And this devoting the Lord's day to the Service of God is entred into the Body of the Canon Law and taken out of Ivo and by him from the Canons of the Gallican Church as appears by several Councils Our Lyndwood mentions that Canon as in force here Die Dominicâ nihil aliud agendum nisi Deo vacandum And he takes some Pains to explain it by distinguishing 1. Works servile materially and formally as Plowing Sowing Markets Law-days c. these are generally forbidden 2. Acts spiritual materially and finally as all Acts of Piety and Devotion and these we ought to attend upon with Care and Diligence 3. Acts not servile in themselves but done for a servile End as Studies and Designs for Gain 4. Acts servile in themselves but not so in their End as the Man's taking up his Couch on the Sabbath-day whom Christ cured He affirms that there is a Moral Part in the Fourth Commandment which he saith is a spiritual Rest or a Time set apart for God's Service Which he takes from Aquinas who saith the Substance of the Command is Moral but he doth not make it to be One day in Seven but some determinate time which he saith the Church may appoint but then it must be imployed in the Service of God vacare rebus divinis as things were said to be sanctified under the Law which were applied to God's Service But notwithstanding this Judgment of Aquinas some great Men in the Church of Rome have thought One day in Seven Moral and that the Proportion which God himself had appointed cannot be lessened For altho' Mankind could not by natural Reason find out the Proportion yet being once revealed it doth not cease to oblige unless something figurative and symbolical or peculiar to the Iewish Nation be discovered in it Bellarmin makes that the Reason of the Institution of the Lord's day because God's Law required that One day in Seven should be set apart for the Worship of God but the Apostles thought it not fit to observe the Iewish Sabbath and therefore changed it into the Lord's day Covarruvias saith That all Divines agree with Aquinas That there is something Moral in the Fourth Command which continues to oblige and that the Lord's day is of Divine Institution And to him the Roman Editors of the Canon Law referr as to this matter Azorius confesseth That the Observation of the Lord's day hath something of the Divine and Natural Law in it which requires One day in a Week should be consecrated to the Service of God and that it is most agreeable to Reason And he adds That Panormitan Sylvester and other Canonists held the Lord's day to be of divine Institution Suarez saith That the Church doth observe One day in Seven by Virtue of the divine Law that Proportion being so agreeable to Natural Reason that it cannot be altered Thomas Waldensis who lived here in the time of H. 5. observes That even then there were two Extreams in Mens Opinions about the Observation of the Lord's Day some allowed no kind of Work and others any But he shews That the Law of Nature requires some Solemn Days for Divine Worship and that then there ought to be a Rest from other Labours because they hinder the Mind from that Attention necessary to the Service of God And necessary Works are left to a few that others may be more at Liberty In the Saxon Laws we find many against the Profanation of the Lord's day by slavish Imployments by Markets and Trading by Folkmotes and Law-suits c. So that great care was taken then that the Lord's day should be duly observed After the Norman times we have several Constitutions to inforce the strict Observation of the Lord's day In the time of H. 6. Hubert de Burgo saith That Custom may derogate from other Holy-days but not from the Lord's day because they are not commanded by God as that is Since the Reformation our Book of Homilies goes upon the same Grounds which were used in
will be the diligent Labours and the exemplary Lives of the Clergy in it But if Men will not regard their own or the Churches Interest in this matter if they will break their Rules in such a manner as to dishonour God and the Church and themselves by it then you are to consider the next thing I was to speak to which is II. What Authority is given to us for the punishing Offenders in our Diocesses by the Ecclesiastical Law of this Realm For this we are to consider That our Authority herein is not derived from any modern Canons or Constitutions of this Church altho' due Regard ought to be shewed to them but from the ancient Common Law Ecclesiastical in this Realm which still continues in force For as there is a Common Law with respect to Civil Rights which depends not on the Feudal Constitutions altho' in many things it be the same with them but upon ancient Practice and general Consent of the People from Age to Age. So I say there is a Common Law Ecclesiastical which altho' in many things it may be the same with the Canon Law which is read in the Books yet it hath not its force from any Papal or Legatine Constitutions but from the Acceptance and Practice of it in our Church I could easily shew if the time would permit that Papal and Legatine Constitutions were not received here altho' directed hither that some Provincial Constitutions never obtained the Force of Ecclesiastical Laws but my business is to shew what did obtain and continue still to have the Force of such Ecclesiastical Laws among us By the Statute of 25 H. 8. c. 19. it is declared That such Canons Constitutions Ordinances and Synodals Provincial being already made which be not contrariant nor repugnant to the Laws Statutes and Customs of this Realm nor to the Damage or Hurt to the King's Prerogative Royal shall now still be used and executed as they were afore the making of this Act c. It 's true a Review was appointed but such Difficulties were found in it as to the shaking the Foundations of the Ecclesiastical Law here that nothing was ever legally established in it and therefore this Law is still in force In the Statute 25 H. 8. c. 21. it is said That this Realm Recognizing no Superiour under God but the King hath been and is free from Subjection to any Man's Laws but only to such as have been Devised Made and Observed within this Realm for the Wealth of the same or to such other as by the Sufferance of the King and his Progenitors the People of this Realm have taken at their free Liberty by their own Consent to be used amongst them and have bound themselves by long Use and Custom to Observance of the same not as to the Observance of the Laws of any Foreign Prince Potentate or Prelate but as to the Customs and ancient Laws of this Realm originally established as Laws of the same by the said Sufferance Consent Custom and none otherwise All that I have now to do is to shew what Authority the Bishops had over the Clergy by the Ancient Ecclesiastical Law of this Realm and what Censuâ—es they were liable to for some particular Offences I. By the Ecclesiastical Law the Bishop is Iudge of the Fitness of any Clerk presented to a Benefice This is confessed by the Lord Coke in these Words And the Examination of the Ability and Sufficiency of the Person presented belongs to the Bishop who is the Ecclesiastical Iudge and in the Examination he is a Iudge and not a Minister and may and ought to refuse the Person presented if he be not Persona idonea But this is plain to have been the Ancient Ecclesiastical Law of this Realm by the Articul Cleri in Edw. II. time De Idoneitate Personae praesentatae ad Beneficium Ecclesiasticum pertinet Examinatio ad Iudicem Ecclesiasticum ita est hactenus usitatum fiat in futurum By the Provincial Constitutions at Oxford in the time of Hen. III. the Bishop is required to admit the Clerk who is presented without Opposition within two Months dum tamen idoneus sit if he thinks him fit So much time is allowed propter Examinationem saith Lyndwood even when there is no Dispute about Right of Patronage The main thing he is to be examined upon is his Ability to discharge his Pastoral Duty as Coke calls it or as Lyndwood saith whether he be commendandus Scientia Moribus As to the former the Bishop may judge himself but as to the latter he must take the Testimonials of others and I heartily wish the Clergy would be more careful in giving them by looking on it as a Matter of Conscience and not meerly of Civility for otherwise it will be impossible to avoid the pestering the Church with scandalous and ignorant Wretches If the Bishop refuses to admit within the time which by the Modern Canons is limited to Twenty eight Days after the Presentation delivered he is liable to a Duplex Querela in the Ecclesiastical Courts and a Quare impedit at Common Law and then he must certifie the Reasons of his Refusal In Specot's Case it is said That in 15 Hen. 7. 7 8. all the Iudges agreed that the Bishop is Iudge in the Examination and therefore the Law giveth Faith and Credit to his Iudgment But because great Inconveniencies might otherwise happen the general Allegation is not sufficient but he must certifie specially and directly and the general Rule is and it was so resolved by the Judges That all such as are sufficient Causes of Deprivation of an Incumbent are sufficient Causes to refuse a Presentee But by the Canon Law more are allowed In the Constitutions of Othobon the Bishop is required particularly to enquire into the Life and Conversation of him that is presented and afterwards that if a Bishop admits another who is guilty of the same Fault for which he rejected the former his Institution is declared null and void By the Canon Law if a Bishop maliciously refuses to admit a fit Person he is bound to provide another Benefice for him but our Ecclesiastical Law much better puts him upon the Proof of the Cause of his Refusal But if the Bishop doth not examine him the Canonists say it is a Proof sufficient that he did it malitiosé If a Bishop once rejects a Man for Insufficiency he cannot afterwards accept or admit of him as was adjudged in the Bishop of Hereford's Case If a Man brings a Presentation to a Benefice the Bishop is not barely to examine him as to Life and Abilities but he must be satisfied that he is in Orders How can he be satisfied unless the other produce them How can he produce them when it may be they are lost What is to be done in this Case The Canon is express That no Bishop shall institute any to a Benefice
Lord of hosts Mal. 2. 7. If this held in the Levitical Priesthood much more certainly under the Gospel where the Rates and Measures of our Duties are not to be determined by Levitical Precepts but by the general Reason and Nature of Moral Actions VIII Among the Duties of Publick Worship I must put you in mind of a Frequent Celebration of the Lord's Supper There is generally too great a Neglect of this which is the most proper part of Evangelical Worship The Duties of Prayers and Praises are excellent and becoming Duties as we are Creatures with respect to our Maker and Preserver The Duty of hearing the Word of God read and explained is consequent upon our owning it to be the Rule of our Faith and Manners and all who desire to understand and practise their Duty can never despise or neglect it But that solemn Act of Worship wherein we do most shew our selves Christians is the celebrating the Holy Eucharist For therein we own and declare the infinite Love of God in sending his Son into the World to die for Sinners in order to their Salvation and that this is not only a true Saying but worthy of all Men to be credited Therein we lift up our Hearts and give Thanks to our Lord God we joyn with Angels and Archangels in lauding and magnifying his glorious Name Therein we not only commemorate the Death and Sufferings of our Lord but are made Partakers of his Body and Blood after a Real but Sacramental Manner Therein we offer up our selves to God to be a Reasonable Holy and Lively Sacrifice unto him Therein we Adore and Glorifie the ever Blessed Trinity and humbly implore the Grace and Assistance of our ever Blessed Mediator And what now is there in all this which is not very agreeable to the Faith Hope and Charity of Christians Nay what Duty is there which so much expresses all these together as this doth Nor whereby we may more reasonably expect greater Supplies of Divine Grace to be bestowed upon us What then makes so many to be so backward in this Duty which profess a Zeal and Forwardness in many others If we had that Warmth and Fervor of Devotion that Love to Christ and to each other which the primitive Christians had we should make it as constant a part of our publick Worship as they did but this is not to be expected Neither did it always continue in the Primitive Church when Liberty and Ease and worldly Temptations made Persons grow more remiss and careless in the solemn Duties of their Religion S. Chrysostom takes notice in his time of the different Behaviour of Persons with respect to the holy â—â—charist There were some who pretended to greater Holiness and Austerity of Life than others who withdrew from the common Conversation of Mankind and so by degrees from joining in the Acts of publick Worship with them Which did unspeakable Mischief to Christianity for then the Perfection of the Christian Life was not supposed to consist in the Active Part of it but in Retirement and Contemplation As tho' our highest Imitation of Christ lay in following him into the Wilderness to be tempted of the Devil and not in walking as he walked who frequented the Synagogues and went about doing good But this way of Retirement happening to be admired by some great Men the Publick Worship came to be in less esteem and others upon Reasons of a different Nature withdrew themselves from such Acts of Devotion as required a stricter Attendance and a more prepared Temper of Mind And there were some who did abstain because they were not so well satisfied with themselves as to their own Preparations and such as these S. Chrysostom seems to favour rather than such who came often without due care as to the whole Course of their Lives only out of custom or out of regard to the Orders of the Church From hence many thought it better to forbear as long as they did it not out of Contempt And so by degrees the People were content to look on it as a Sacrifice for them to be performed by others rather than as an Office wherein they were to bear a part themselves at least they thought once or thrice a Year sufficient for them And to this as appears by our old Provincial Constitutions they were forced by severe Canons When the Reformation began this Disuse of this holy Sacrament was looked on by the chief Reformers as a great Abuse and Corruption crept into the Church which ought by all means to be reformed and the frequent Celebration of it set up in the Reformed Churches But unreasonable Scruples in some and Misapprehensions in others and a general Coldness and Indifference as to Matters of Religion have hitherto hindered the Reviving this Primitive Part of Devotion among us I do not go about to determine the Frequency in your Parishes which the Scripture doth not as to the Christian Church but supposes it to be often done but I may require you to take care that Christ's Institution be observed among you and that with your utmost care both as to the Decency and Purity of it The last thing I recommend to you all is To have a great care of your Conversations I do not speak it out of a distrust of you I hope you do it already and your Case will be so much worse if you do it not because you very well know how much you ought to do it For the Honour of God and Religion and the Success of your Ministry as well as your own Salvation depend very much upon it Lead your Flock by your Example as well as by your Doctrine and then you may much better hope that they will follow you for the People are naturally Spies upon their Ministers and if they observe them to mind nothing but the World all the Week they will not believe them in earnest when on the Lords Days they perswade them against it And it takes off the Weight of all Reproof of other Mens Faults if those they reprove have reason to believe them guilty of the same I do not think it enough for a Preacher of Righteousness merely to avoid open and scandalous Sins but he ought to be a great Example to others in the most excellent Virtues which adorn our Profession not only in Temperance and Chastity in Iustice and ordinary Charity but in a readiness to do good to all in forgiving Injuries in loving Enemies in evenness of Temper in Humility and Meekness and Patience and Submission to God's Will and in frequent Retirements from the World not meerly for Study but for Devotion If by these and such things you shine as Lights among your People they will be more ready to follow your Conduct and in probability you will not only stop their Mouths but gain their Hearts For among all the Ways of advancing the Credit and Interest of the Church of England one of the most succesful