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A35632
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The case of pluralities & non-residence rightly stated in a letter to the author of a book called, A defence of pluralities, &c. shewing the false reasonings and evil doctrines therein contained / by an impartial hand, and a hearty well-wisher to the Church of England.
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Impartial hand and a hearty well-wisher to the Church of England.
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1694
(1694)
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Wing C966; ESTC R16560
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28,436
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93
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Ministry of Priesthood And I need only set them down to shew that they do not at all concern the present Controversie And 't is the only instance of modesty which you have given us in your whole Book that you have not so much as mentioned this Argument as some miscall it But Further another plea whereby you endeavour to wash off the Clergy-mans obligation to labour among his People and which seems to be the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the fundamental Error of your whole Book is that Ministers are not ordained to one Diocese or Parish but to the Catholick Church Pag. 43. passim Tho' you acknowledge so much of the truth viz. That good order and discipline do require that the exercise of their Office be confined to some certain limits and place as will determine every good man against the Conclusion you would draw from it For if he who sits not down on his Cures and will not confine the exercise of his Office to the Church or Churches intrusted with him do break discipline and good order 't is plain that he is guilty of a great crime But I shall further shew that this Notion of a Minister's being ordained not to this or that Parish or Diocese but to the Universal Church is false Not but that upon occasion he may exercise his Function in any part of the Church and upon whatever shore he is cast he ought not to be re-ordained but that when he enters into Orders he is design'd for the service of some particular Church or Diocese more than of the whole As for the Church of England she ordains none except in one or two special Cases which cannot break a rule fine certo Titulo And in the Office for ordering of Priests Can. 33. among other questions asked by the Bishop this is one Will you maintain and set forward Quietness Peace and Love amongst all Christian people and especially among them that are or shall be committed to your charge And your self I presume have made answer to it in the words of the Office I will do so the Lord being my Helper Now in this question other Christian People are contradistinguished to those of your Cure and in the answer you oblige your self to prosecute your duty more especially amongst the latter But you that would be called the true Sons of the Church of England write and act as if you were so much her fondlings as that you had a particular priviledge of contradicting her You can be very severe upon your Brethren of the Clergy who mutilate or disuse her Ceremonies but think it no fault in your selves almost or altogether to lay aside the exercise of your Functions at least in such places as the Canons and Constitutions of the Church do peculiarly require your labours I know no labouring Clergy of our Church who do mutilate or disuse her Ceremonies but if I did I should think them more excusable who do something of their duty than they who wholly neglect it And Sir 'T is such as these that betray her Cause that open the mouths of her Adversaries and give just occasion of scandal And let me tell you That you are partaker of these mens sins by pretending to justify them And take my word for it the Church is very little beholden to you for your doing so especially since you have made bold with her for a little arguments sake so far as to contradict her Offices and Canons But alas Canons and Rubricks and such like things were not made for Authors and Grand Pluralists They are so far from being obliged to obey them that one would think they never read or at least remembred them Otherwise how could any one who did not think himself above Canons confidently assert That Priests are not ordained to this or that Parish but to serve the Church of God in general when the Church has solemnly decreed That they are or ought to be ordained to some particular Cure and obliges them there more especially to prosecute their Office And even in the Primitive and Apostolical Churches Men were not ordained so much for the service of the whole as of one particular Diocese The Apostles themselves were indeed Catholick Bishops in the largest sence and had a Commission to teach all Nations and had every one of them the care of all the Churches But tho' they did not themselves sit down and take up their Residence in any particular Diocese yet they constituted distinct and setled Governours for every Church as soon as it was raised Thus St. Timothy was created Bishop of Ephesus Titus of Crete Linus or Cletus or both of Rome even during the Apostles lives And as Bishops were then design'd for every particular Diocese so as the Number of the Christians grew 't was absolutely necessary that they should have Presbyters subservient to them And 't is evident that those Presbyters did not only live in subjection to the Bishops of those distinct Dioceses to which they were ordained so long as themselves thought fit but were obliged not to leave them without the consent of the Diocesan And when the Levity of some prompted them to break this standing Custome of the Church there were Canons made to confine all Bishops and Presbyters to the Service of that Diocese to which they were first ordained And there is only this difference between the Primitive Platform and our own viz. That in the former Presbyters were ordained not for the Service of one particular Congregation but of the whole Diocese to serve the Bishop in the more full and perfect discharge of his Office to be sent to such parts of the Diocese and for such a time as the Bishop thought fit whereas by our Constitution every Presbyter has his particular Allotment and his distinct Dividend in the endowments and labours of the Church But they were no more designed for the Service of the Church at large in those days than they are now If we enquire why every particular Presbyter had not his distinct Cure allotted him in the primitive Church we must needs allow it to be its infant and unsetled State So that when the Empire came into the Church and Christianity began to be the Religion of Rome and Greece all Churches soon fell into a Parochial Division And that so early that at the Council of Chalcedon it seems to have been a general Establishment for there it is provided that No one shall be ordained a Priest or Deacon at large 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be at his own Liberty but should be assigned particularly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to some Church either in the City or in a Village Can. 6. or Martyrdome or Monastery I know you are not willing to allow Parish-Priests or Churches to have been generally constituted at this time but I think this is a better Authority for it than you can produce against it It could not indeed be so early in our Church which was
then under a Cloud Barbarism and Infidelity generally prevailing in these Islands Now briefly to recapitulate what hath been said on this Head Since the Ministry is an Office and therefore duly to be executed since the Church in all Ages hath confined the Exercise of this Office chiefly to the Diocese or Parish to which Ministers are ordained or instituted since the Church of England in particular exacts of them whom she ordains solemn Vows and promises to instruct and teach the People committed to their charge to give wholsom Exhortations both to the sick and whole within their Cures to administer Christian Doctrines and Sacraments to them to drive away all erroneous and strange Doctrine to maintain peace and love as much as in them lyeth amongst their Parishioners Since this cannot be done without personal care and labour and since the Church requires it at their hands and neither doth nor can dispence with their Neglect it necessarily follows that they who undertake such Cures as they are not able to discharge or so many Churches as they cannot duly watch over do in undertaking them grosly sin And that they who have promised and are able to perform but will not do violate their Faith made solemnly to God and his People And what I have now said concludes against you in two points First According to your Hypothesis there are no bounds set to Pluralities by the Law of God tho' the Church be so severe as to stint you to two but that a Man may have as many as he can get and have served by Curates Your Reason against Pluralities being unlawful is That there is no mention made of Parish-Priests or Churches in Holy Scripture and therefore there can be no directions concerning them pag. 17. Now after this way of arguing it follows That he who shall procure a 100 Benefices or ten times more doth not transgress the Divine Law And therefore Bogo de Clare and Adam de Straton pag. 143. are clearly brought off from trespassing against the divine Law though the latter had 23 Benefices in one Province and the other you know not how many in both For you tell us plainly pag. 141 142. That whereas Arch-Bishop Pecham inveigh'd against Plurality of Benefices as a mortal sin he proceeded upon a false Principle 'T is pity you did not live in those days for I verily believe that you might have saved this honest Adam the 30000 Marks and upwards which Edward the first fined him for Corruption in the Exchequer if it were the same man as probably it was I am sure you might as easily have proved that taking of Bribes was no Mortal Sin as that such enormous Pluralities were not so And pag. 195. having fairly reckoned up all the faults of Extravagant and Irregular Pluralists yet you cannot find in your heart to call them directly sinful but only matter of great Inconvenience to the Church and Scandal to Religion And every one knows that a thing may be Inconvenient and Scandalous and yet have no intrinsic evil in it Especially if the Scandal be only taken and not given O how sweetly do you treat your Brethren the Non-Resident Pluralists One of these may break all the Ten Commandments with less reproof from you than a poor industrious Clergy-man omit a Ceremony He that doth the latter is in your language a Traditor an Infidel or which with you perhaps is worse a Puritan but the other tho' he behave himself as though he cared not for the Souls of his People tho' he think himself wholly disburthened of the Cure of Souls as you had already taught them to do by delegating it to a Curate tho' he put no bounds to the desire of Pluralities tho he neglect Alms and Hospitality and suffer his houses to be dilapidated pag. 193. And tho' he do half a hundred more such ugly tricks all this is only inconvenient and offensive Now upon this Supposition viz. That Pluralities though never so numerous are not contrary to the Divine Law there needs but one metropolitan Bishop in all Christendom a Pope you may call him if you please so that he maintain a great Army of Stipendiary Suffragans and which is a Doctrine which I think the World never heard of before but one incumbent Presbyter under him maintaining Legions of Curates in every Kingdom For if it be not a mortal sin to have 23 Benefices how do you prove it so to have as many hundred or thousand 'T would indeed be Scandalous i. e. weak Brethren might take offence at it But you will say 't is pity such a Constitution should be sinful Oh! what a rare Author would such a brave fellow as this Universal Presbyter make he might write a whole Vatican full of Books and gratify you perhaps so far as to enable you to continue writing little Defences and to make such wonderful discoveries as you have lately in acquainting the World how many Children Bishop O. had for starting the project But I am afraid you will be angry with me for spoiling this new invention as I think I have effectually done For if every one who is instituted in a Living be oblig'd personally to take care of it then he who undertakes more or greater Cures than he is capable of looking after sins in doing of it But another ill consequence of your Hypothesis is That Livings may be held at never so great a distance So that for ought appears in your Book to the contrary nay by what is there asserted it is lawful jure Divino for a Man to hold 3 or more Benefices whereof one we will suppose situate in Britaine the second in Japan and the third in Peru and I fancy you would chuse a Golden one why may they not be 30 Degrees distant as well as 30 Miles according to your way of arguing Forasmuch as the Livings cannot personally be supplied in any sence pag. 28. But if it be true which I have laid down viz. That 't is unlawful to take two Benefices or more which you cannot personally and very frequently supply if it be necessary that he who hath solemnly accepted the charge of any people be by his Office and other additional obligations tyed to watch over their Souls to deliver to them the whole Council of God and to be ready on all occasions to preserve them from Error and Discord and the like Spiritual Evils then it clearly follows that 't is contrary to the Law of God to take the charge of two or more livings so far distant from each other that it shall be morally impossible for him in any measure personally to supply them both The Church indeed allows of 30 Miles distance tho' the Canons of 1571. permit but 26. But I do not think it an argument of an affectionate and ingenuous Son to stretch the favours of his indulgent Mother or to run to the utmost bounds which she hath set him 'T is as difficult for a Man to determine the