to shew that it ought not Easily to be neglected And therefore tho I know no Positive Law that do's determine the King 's Absolute and free Will as to this matter yet I humbly conceive that so ancient and setled a Custom ought to be held to and our Princes accordingly still order the one to be summon'd as often as the other is called But now secondly If by sitting be meant as in the present question I suppose it is their meeting to do Business and being allow'd to come together for that purpose Then I reply that for such their sitting I know no Law besides the absolute and free power of the Prince Custom we are sure is as much against this as it has been for the other and any Statute or positive Law for it has not that I know of been pretended to Indeed whilst the Clergy were wont to assess themselves and their sitting upon that account was necessary for the support of the Government they were not only summon'd to meet but were wont actually to assemble and sit so long as it was requisite for them to do for this purpose But that being done they were for the most part forthwith Adjourned and met no more till the King had some new occasion for their assistance And that I may not be thought to speak this at all adventures I will offer an instance or two of it The Convocation which met the first of King James the First was by Prorogations continued from time to time for seven years together Yet except it were in his first year we do not hear of any great business that was done by them more than that of granting Subsidies which I have mention'd In King Charles the First 's time there were but few Parliaments and therefore we are not to look for Convocations in that When his Son King Charles the Second return'd the famous Convocation of 1660 met to remedy those disorders which the Civil Wars had occasion'd In order whereunto it was necessary for them at the first to sit and settle the Affairs of the Church but that being done they were by the King 's Writ prorogued eighteen several times successively and it does not appear by the Journal of it which I have seen that any thing material was afterwards done by it And as their sitting so thirdly I affirm that their acting too does depend upon the Will of the Prince They cannot enter upon any business without his special Commission for it And whether he will grant them such a Commission or no depends entirely upon his own Will But when I say that the sitting and acting of the Convocation does depend upon the absolute and free Will of the Prince and which terms I make use of only because they are prescribed to me by one whom at present I am obliged to follow I must observe that by his absolute and free will I understand a Will not determined by any humane Law to act otherwise than according to the Dictates of a Man 's own Reason and upon the last Result of his own Judgment he would do For otherwise there are Laws which in this as in all other cases of the like Nature determine the most absolute Sovereigns in the World and we do not deny our King as well as all other Princes to be subject to them The Law of Reason is a Law by which every wise Man does and every Man as such is obliged to act The positive Law of God and the common Principles of Right and 〈◊〉 are another Law by which all Christians of what Bank or Authority 〈◊〉 both out of duty to God and with regard to their own Consciences are required to attend And lastly The publick Good and Welfare of the Community is another Law to which all Princes even those who in other respects are the most absolute are oblig'd to look and with the observance of which they cannot dispence tho' no human Constraint lies upon them to force them thereunto or to punish them if they do not By all these Laws Princes are obliged And the Will of the Prince regulated by these Laws but not under the direction of any more particular Obligations is that Will on which I affirm the sitting and acting of the Convocation to depend The Government has intrusted him with the Power of giving them leave to sit and act when he pleases and when he pleases he may deny them to do either But still it was supposed when that trust was committed to him that he should use it with Prudence and Moderation and as he should from time to time be perswaded would be most for the publick Good both of the Church and State And therefore fourthly Notwithstanding any thing that has hitherto been said I shall not doubt to affirm that whenever the King is in his own Conscience convinced that for the Convocation to sit and act would be for the Glory of God the Benefit of the Church or otherwise for the publick Good and Welfare of his Realm he is obliged both by the Law of Reason as a Man by his duty to God as a Christian and by his duty to his People as a Ruler set over them for their Good to permit or rather to command his Clergy to meet in Convocation and transact what is sit for any or all these ends to be done by them As on the other hand whensoever he is clearly and evidently convinced that for them thus to come together would be needless or hurtfull to these ends it is then his duty to restrain them from sitting and that tho' he should be never so importunately desired by some that they may sit or rail'd at by others for not allowing them so to do These I take to be the plain Consequences of the foregoing Discourse And by them I suppose a clear and full Resolution is given to the first general Question viz. Whether there be any Law that commands or permits the sitting and acting of the Convocation besides the absolute and free Pleasure of the Prince And if there be What that Law is And how far the Prince is obliged by it I might now proceed upon this foundation without any more ado to examine what has been offer'd by our late Author to the contrary and so pass on to the other part of my Discourse But because it may be a matter of some Satisfaction as well as use to those whose Enquiries have not lain this way to know what has been the State of our Convocations ever since we have any accounts that we can rely upon concerning them I will therefore take leave to digress so far from my present business as may suffice to shew this in a short History of our Convocations from the first Conversion of the Saxons to Christianity down to our present Times CHAP. IV. In which the State of the Convocation is Historically deduced from the first Conversion of the Saxons to our Own Days SO great is the Uncertainty to
of the other Two But tho' this therefore be the General Method which I shall Observe yet I am sensible that in order to the better clearing of the former of these Questions I must take a much larger Compass than our Author's Design led him to do And to the end I may not barely answer his Allegations but may also give some tolerable Account of the true Nature and Rights of our Convocation which for all this Gentleman has yet done may still continue to be as little understood as those of a Jewish Sanhedrim I shall endeavour to examine this Matter to the bottom as far as my Skill will enable and my Leisure permit me to do it For as our Author has rightly observed that an exact and full Account of this Matter cannot be given but by one who has great Skill in our English Laws and Antiquities I may add and in the Laws and Antiquities of the Church too which Dyet must be competently understood oâ— this Subject can never be throughly handled so must I freely profess that neither will my other Affairs allow me to be very exact nor does my Profession as a Divine intitle me to so much Skill as I am sensible is requisite to the perfecting of such an Undertaking But however I will candidly offer what I have met with and where I chance to be mistaken especially in Matters of Law which lie out of my Way I hope those who are more learned will make a reasonable Allowance for my Errors CHAP. II. The first General Point proposed and the Method laid down for the handling of it In pursuance whereof a General Enquiry is first made into that Power which Christian Princes have always been allow'd to exercise over their Ecclesiastical Synods or Convocations with respect both to the Calling of them to the Managing of them when Sitting and to the Confirming or Annulling their Acts after wards TO come then without any more ado to the Business in hand the first and main Thing to be consider'd is this Whether there is any Law that commands or permits the Sitting and Acting of the Convocation besides the absolute free Pleasure of the Prince And if there be What that Law is And How far the Prince is obliged by it This I take to be the true state of the Question and I shall treat of it in this following Method I. I will enquire What Power Christian Princes in general have claim'd over such Convocations with respect both to their Assembling and Acting and to the giving Force and Authority to what is done by them II. I will consider Whether our Kings have not the same Authority over our Convocation that all other Christian Princes have claim'd over their Synods And III. Upon this Foundation I will Examine what this Author has alledged to the contrary and offer what I conceive may fairly be replied to it And I. Let us enquire What Power Christian Princes in general have claim'd over their Synods with respect both to their Meeting and Acting first and to the giving Force and Authority to what is done by them That Christian Princes have a Right not only to exercise Authority over Ecclesiastical Persons but to interpose in the ordering of Ecclesiastical Affairs too neither our own Articles and Canons nor the Consent of the Universal Church ever since the Empire became Christian will suffer us to doubt There is no one so great a Stranger to the History of the Holy Scriptures as not to know what Authority the Jewish Princes under the Law pretended to as to this matter And how far the first Christian Emperors follow'd their Examples were other Authors silent yet that one Assertion of Socrates would not suffer us to be ignorant where he affirms That ever since they became Christians the Affairs of the Church have depended upon them and the greatest Synods been assembled by their Order and still says he continue to be assembled It was a famous Saying of Constantine the first Christian Emperor to his Bishops That They indeed were Bishops in things within the Church but that He was appointed by God to be Bishop as to Those without And how far the succeeding Emperors continued to look upon the well ordering and Governing of the Church to be one great part of that Duty which God expected from them The Epistle of Theodosius and Valentinian to to St. Cyril and the rest of the Metropolitans whom they summoned to meet in the General Council of Ephesus abundantly shews Let us look into the several Collections of the Roman Laws The Code of Theodosius The Code and Novels of Justinian The yet later Collection of Basilius Leo and Constantine that followed after How many Constitutions shall we find in every one of these relating to Ecclesiastical Affairs to the Order and Government of the Church to the Election and Consecration of Bishops and Priests to the Lives Offices and Privileges of the Clergy to the Erection and Liberties of Churches to the Service of them nay and even to the very Faith which was to be taught and profess'd in Them And when the Empire began to be parcell'd out into several lesser States and Kingdoms We find their several Princes still maintaining the same Authority as to all these things that the Emperors had done before As from the Capitularies of the French and German Princes the Collections of the Spanish Councils our Own Antient Laws and the Histories which remain of the several Other Countries does evidently appear But of the Authority of Princes in Ecclesiastical Matters and over Ecclesiastical Persons in general there is no doubt Nor should there one would think be any more whether One great part of their Authority as to these Matters has not always been accounted to consist in the Power to convenâ— Synods and to order whatsoever relates both to the assembling and acting of them And for the better Proof of which I shall now distinctly consider what their Power is with respect 1 To the calling of such Synods or Convocations 2 To the directing of their Proceedings when they are Assembled And 3 To the approving and confirming their Constitutions afterwards And 1 Let us consider What the Power of the Civil Magistrate is as to the Convening of Ecclesiastical Synods and Convocations It has ever been look'd upon as one great part of the Prince's Prerogative that no Societies should be incorporated nor any Companies be allow'd to meet together without his Knowledge and Permission The Roman Law was especially very severe as to this Particular And tho' after the Conversion of the Emperors to the Faith of Christ a provision was made for the Publick Assemblies of the Church for Divine Service yet before that Tertullian who understood these matters as well as any one of his time tho' he excused their Meetings upon all Other Accounts could not deny but that they fell under the Censure of
both the Time and Places of their Meeting and after what Manner they should proceed being Met. But 5thly And to conclude all That nothing may be wanting to shew what an entire dependance the Synods of the Christian Church have ever had upon their respective Princes I add That not only the Convening of them and the Time and Place of their Meeting depend upon their pleasure but that they have morever Authority to appoint what Persons shall come to them and to direct the Choice that is to be made of them Thus Constantine the Great did when he call'd the Synods of Arles and Tyre And thus his Successors continued to do in the most General Councils that were held by them When Theodosius had agreed to call the General Council of Ephesus He directed his Precept to the several Metropolitans and commanded them to choose such and so many of their Suffragans as they thought convenient to draw out of their Provinces and to bring them with them to the Council And the same Method was observ'd in the next Synod that met there The Emperror commanded Dioscorus to Summon ten Metropolitans of his District with such other Bishops as he thought convenient and that none else should presume to come to it And in another Letter upon the same Occasion the same Theodosius appointed Barsumas the Priest to come to the same Council and appear in it as Representative of all the Archimandrites of the East It was after the same manner that Marcian the Emperour Assembled the Fourth General Council at Chalcedon He wrote to the Metropolitans to come to it and left it to them to bring such of their Suffragan Bishops as they thought fit along with them And when the Princes who follow'd after summon'd their National Synods they in like manner directed the Choice of those who were to come to them as we see in the Synods of Vernis and Aix la Chappelle assembled by Ring Pepin and Charles the Emperor An. 755. 816. 'T is true the Metropolitans in these Cases did oftentimes call a Provincial Synod and therein agree who among them should attend upon their Primate to the General Council But neither did they always take this Course nor when they did had they any Direction from the Emperors so to do They only sent their Orders to the Metropolitans and commonly left the rest to them to chuse such Bishops out of their Provinces as they thought fit As for the lesser Synods tho' the Princes did not often interpose in them yet neither was there any choice left to the inferiour Clergy to nominate the Members of Them To the Provincial Synods all the Bishops of the Province were obliged if able to come And they brought with them for their Companions such of their own Priests and Deacons as they thought fit At the Diocesan Synod every beneficed Priest of the Diocese was required to appear And they had not so much a Right as an Obligation lying upon them to be present at them And thus have I shewn what the Authority of the Supreme Civil Magistrate is as to the Business of Assembling Ecclesiastical Synods or Convocations And the Sum of what I have proved is in short this * That it is the Right of Christian Princes to call such Assemblies and that they cannot lawfully meet but as they are either commanded or allow'd of by Them * That They and not the Clergy are Judges when it is proper to Convene them * And ought not to be censured for not assembling of them when they are perswaded it is Needless or would be Inexpedient for Them so to do * That even the Ordinary Synods required by the Canons and allow'd of by Themselves may yet upon just Grounds be stop'd by them And when there is a just Reason for them so to do they are to judge And being so prohibited cannot be lawfully Assembled In short * That when-ever they do meet the Prince is not only to appoint or at least to approve of the Time and Place of their Meeting but may give Direction for the Choice of the Persons that are to compose them That so he may be satisfied that they are such whose Piety and Temper have fitted them to serve the Church and in whose Prudence and Conduct himself may safely confide It were an easie matter to argue the Reasonableness of every one of these Conclusions from the Ends of Civil-Government and the Power that is necessary to be placed in the Hands of the Supreme Magistrate in order to those Ends. And I need not say that Christianity came not to Usurp upon the Civil Power but rather to engage Men to be the more ready to render that Duty which they owe to it 'T is true by these means the busie Tempers of some forward Men may be restrain'd and to such these Limitations may seem very Odious and Unreasonable But they are such Men and such Tempers that make these Restrictions necessary And their Unwillingness to submit to them shews but the more clearly how fitting it is that Princes should have all that Power I have now mentioned to prevent them from doing both Themselves and the Church a Mischief That Princes may abuse this Power to the Detriment of the Church is no more an Argument that they ought not to enjoy it than it would be that they ought not to be entrusted with a Civil Power because they may abuse that too to the ruine of the State But I am apt to believe that were the Dangers to be weigh'd it would be much more fatal both to the Church and State to have some Men intrusted with an Immoderate Liberty than others with a Soveraign Power to restrain them And 't is enough to answer all Pretences of this nature to say that whenever the Civil Magistrate shall so far abuse his Authority as to render it necessary for the Clergy by some extraordinary Methods to provide for the Churches Welfare that Necessity will warrant their taking of them In the mean time such an Authority as I have now shewn the Prince has in these Matters and till things come to such an Extremity we must leave him as of Right he ought to enjoy it And this may suffice for the First thing proposed in this Enquiry viz. To shew What Power the Christian Prince has in the calling of Ecclesiastical Synods or Convocations I go on 2dly To consider What Authority He has over Them when They are Assembled Now that may I conceive be reduced to these 2 Particulars 1st Of his Authority to Direct and Govern Them in their Proceedings And 2dly To sit with and to preside over them in Order thereunto 1st Then I affirm That the Civil Magistrate has a Right to Direct and Govern Them in their Proceedings And that with Respect both to the Matters on which they are to Debate and to the Method which they areto take in Debating upon Them 1st The Civil