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 favor 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 Honor 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 Lord's Days they persuade 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 Justice 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 merely 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 successful will be the diligent Labors 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 dishonor 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 of 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 Recognising no Superior under God but the King hath been and is free from Subjection to any Mans 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
part of common Justice and Honesty so to do And the Lord Coke positively affirms that Dilapidation is a good Cause of Deprivation And it was so Resolved by the Judges in the King's Bench 12. Jac. Not by Virtue of any new Law or Statute but by the old Ecclesiastical Law For which Coke refers to the Year-Books which not only shew what the Ecclesiastical Law then was but that it was allowed by the Common Law of England and we are told that is never given to change but it may be forced to it by a New Law which cannot be pretended in this Case And by the old Constitutions here received the Bishops are required to put the Clergy in mind of keeping their Houses in sufficient Reparations and if they do it not within two months the Bishop is to take care it be done out of the Profits of the Benefice By the Injunctions of Ed. VI. and Queen Elizabeth all Persons having Ecclesiastical Benefices are required to set apart the Fifth of their Revenue to Repair their Houses and afterwards to maintain them in good condition V. Pluralities By the Ecclesiastical Law which was here received the actual receiving Institution into a second Benefice made the first void ipso jure and if he sought to keep both above a Month the second was void too Lyndwood observes that the Ecclesiastical Law had varied in this matter And it proceeded by these steps which are more than Lyndw. mentions I. It was absolutely forbidden to have two Parishes if there were more than ten Inhabitants in them because no Man could do his Duty in both Places And if any Bishop neglected the Execution of it he was to be excommunicated for two Months and to be restored only upon Promise to see this Canon executed II. The Rule was allowed to hold as to Cities but an Exception was made as to small and remote Places where there was a greater Scarcity of Persons to supply them III. If a Man had two Benefices it was left to his Choice which he would have but he could not hold both This kind of Option was allowed by the Ecclesiastical Law then in force IV. That if he takes a second Benefice that Institution is void by the third Council of Lateran under Alexander III. V. That by taking a second the first is void which is the famous Canon of the fourth Lateran Council VI. That if he were not contented with the last but endeavour to keep both he should be deprived of both And this was the Ecclesiastical Law as it was declared in our Provincial Constitutions But the general Practice was to avoid the former according to the Lateran Council These were very severe Canons but that one Clause of the Pope's dispensing Power made them to signifie little unless it were to advance his Power and Revenue For when the Dispensing Power came to be owned the Law had very little force especially as to the Consciences of Men. For if it were a Law of God how could any man dispense with it unless it were as apparent that he had given a Power in some Cases to Dispense as that he had made the Law Those Casuists are very hard put to it who make Residence Jure Divino and yet say the Pope may dispense with it which at last comes only to this that the Pope can authoritatively declare the sufficiency of the Cause so that the whole matter depends upon the Cause whether there can be any sufficient to excuse from Personal Residence It is agreed on all hands that the habitual Neglect of a Charge we have taken upon our selves is an evil thing and that it is so to heap up Preferments merely for Riches or Luxury or Ambition but the main Question in point of Conscience is what is a sufficient Cause to justifie any Man's breaking so reasonable and just a Rule as that of Residence is It cannot be denied that the eldest Canons of the Church were so strict and severe that they made it unlawful for any man to go from that Church in which he first received Orders as well as to take another Benefice in it and so for any Bishop to be translated from that Place he was first Consecrated to as well as to hold another with it But the Good of the Church being the main Foundation of all the Rules of it when that might be better promoted by a Translation it was by a tacit Consent looked on as no unjust violation of its Rules The Question then is whether the Churches Benefit may not in some Cases make the Canons against Non-Residence as Dispensable as those against Translations And the Resolution of it doth not depend upon the voiding the particular Obligation of the Incumbent to his Cure but upon some more general Reason with respect to the State of the Church As being imployed in the Service of it which requires a Persons having not a bare Competency for Subsistence but a sufficiency to provide Necessaries for such Service For those seem to have very little Regard to the flourishing Condition of a Church who would confine the Sufficiency of a Subsistence merely to the Necessaries of Life But it seems to be Reasonable that Clergy-Men should have Incouragement sufficient not only to keep them above Contempt but in some respect agreeable to the more ample Provision of other Orders of Men. And by God's own Appointment the Tribe of Levi did not fall short of any of the rest if it did not very much exceed the Proportion of others We do not pretend to the Privileges they had only we observe from thence that God himself did appoint a plentiful Subsistence for those who attended upon his Service And I do not know what there is Levitical or Ceremonial in that I am sure the Duties of the Clergy now require a greater Freedom of Mind from the anxious Cases of the World than the Imployments of the Priests and Levites under the Law But we need not go so far back if the Church injoyed all her Revenues as entirely as when the severe Canons against Pluralities were made there would not be such a Plea for them as there is too much Cause for in some Places from the want of a competent Subsistence But since that time the Abundance of Appropriations since turned into Lay-Fees hath extremely lessened the Churches Revenues and have left us a great number of poor Vicarages and Arbitrary Cures which would hardly have afforded a Maintenance for the Nethinims under the Law who were only to be Hewers of Wood and Drawers of Water But this doth not yet clear the Difficulty for the Question is whether the Subsistence of the Clergy can lawfully be improved by a Plurality of Livings Truly I think this if it be allowed in some Cases lawful to be the least desireable way of any but in some Circumstances it is much more excusable than in others As when the Benefices
their Parochial Visitations Lyndwood saith the Ancient Procuration here was a Day and Nights Entertainment which after came to be a customary Payment But however it was paid it is an evident Proof of the Right of the Bishops Visitations by the ancient Ecclesiastical Law and by such a Custom as is allowable by the Rules of our Common Law III. There are some Faults which make the Clergy lyable to Deprivation by Virtue of the Ecclesiastical Law which was here received I shall name only some of them and conclude these being sufficient for my present purpose I. Excessive Drinking All drinking ad Potus aequales was absolutely forbidden to Clergymen on pain of Suspension after Admonition not only by a Synodical but by a Provincial Constitution under Edmund Arch-Bishop of Canterbury The Canon Law saith in that Case ab Officio vel Beneficio suspendatur But our Constitution is more severe à Beneficio Officio The Council of Oxford not only strictly forbids all Clergymen whatever tends to Gluttony and Drunkenness but it requires the Bishops to proceed strictly against those who are guilty according to the Form of the General Council i. e. the Lateran 4. viz. by Admonition first and then Suspension Lyndwood complains that this was not so much looked after as it should be because it brought no Profit I hope that Reason will not hold among those who pretend to Reformation which will be very defective if it extend not to our Lives as well as our Doctrines For there can be no greater Reproach than to see those loose and dissolute in their Conversations who think it their Honour to be Ministers of a Reformed Church It was a stinging Reflection upon our Church by the Arch-Bishop of Spalato who was no very strict Man himself that he saw nothing Reformed among us but our Doctrines I hope there was more of Satyr than of Truth in it for I do not question but there were many then as there are now of Exemplary Lives and unblameable Conversations but if there be any others it will be the more shame not to proceed against them since even before the Reformation the Canons were so strict and severe in this matter In the Council at Westminster in Henr. II. time under Richard Arch-Bishop of Canterbury all Clergymen are forbidden going into Taverns to eat or drink unless upon Travelling and the Sanction of this Canon is aut cesset aut deponatur The same was forbidden in the Council at York in the time of Richard I. in the Council at London under Hubert in the time of King John And since the Reformation the same Canon is renewed That no Ecclesiastical Persons shall at any time other than for their honest Necessities resort to any Taverns or Alehouses And there have been Instances of the Severity of our Ecclesiastical Censures against Drunkenness in Clergy-men In 8 Jac. Parker was deprived of his Benefice for Drunkenness and moved for a Prohibition but it was denyed him In 9 Jac. another was deprived for the same Fault and the Judges at Common Law allowed the Sentence to be good No doubt there are other Instances but we had not known of these if they had not been preserved in Books of Reports II. Incontinency Lyndwood saith those who are proved to be guilty of it are ipso Jure privati but he thinks a Declaratory Sentence of the Ecclesiastical Judges necessary for the Execution of it Since the Reformation we have Instances of Deprivation for Adultery in our Law Books One 12 Eliz. another 16 Eliz. a third 27 Eliz. These are enough to shew that the Ecclesiastical Law is allowed by the Judges of Common Law to continue in sufficient force for Deprivation in this Case III. Simony Which is the Name given by the Ecclesiastical Law to all Contracts for Gain in the disposing or obtaining any Ecclesiastical Promotion or Ministry It is true these do not come up to the very Sin of Simon Magus which related to the immediate Gifts of the Holy Ghost but because the whole Ministerial Office in all the Parts of it especially the Cure of Souls is of a Spiritual Nature and all Bargains are so repugnant to the Design of it therefore the Ecclesiastical Law hath fixed that detestable Name upon it For all contractus non gratuiti in these things savour of turpe lucrum and tend to bring in turpe Commercium into the Church which would really overturn the whole Design of that Ministry which was designed for the Salvation of Souls And therefore it was necessary that when Persons had received by the Favor of Temporal Princes and other Benefactors who were Founders of Churches such Endowments as might encourage them in their Function that severe Laws should be made against any such sordid and mischievous Contracts And such there were here in England long before the excellent Stat. of 31 Eliz. c. 6. although it seems the force of them was so much worn out as to make that Statute necessary for avoiding of Simony which is there explained to be Corruption in bestowing or getting Possession of Promotions Ecclesiastical In a Council at London under Lanfranc in the Conqueror's time Simony was forbidden under the Name of Buying and Selling of Orders And it could be nothing else before the Churches Revenue was setled But in the time of Henr. I. Ecclesiastical Benefices were forbidden to be bought or sold and it was Deprivation then to any Clergy-Man to be convicted of it and a Lay-Man was to be out-law'd and excommunicated and deprived of his Right of Patronage And this was done by a Provincial Synod of that time In the Reign of Henr. II. it was decreed that if any Person received any Mony for a Presentation he was to be for ever deprived of the Patronage of that Church and this was not merely a Provincial Constitution but two Kings were present Hen. 2. and his Son and added their Authority to it This was not depriving a Man of his Freehold by a Canon as a learned Gentleman calls it for here was the greatest Authority Temporal as well as Ecclesiastical added to it But we are told these Canons were of as little effect as that of Othobon which made all Simoniacal Contracts void but some of the most judicious Lawyers have held that Simony being contractus ex turpi causâ is void between Parties All that I aim at is to shew that by our old Ecclesiastical Law Simoniaeus incurred a Deprivation and Disability before the Stat. 31. Eliz. and therein I have the Opinion of a very Learned Judge concurring with me IV. Dilapidations By which the Ecclesiastical Law understands any considerable Impairing the Edifices Woods and Revenues belonging to Ecclesiastical Persons by Virtue of their Places For it is the greatest Interest and Concernment of the Church to have things preserved for the Good of Successors and it is a