are fain to borrow from the old Stock and scarce any thing worth Answering hath been said by them but hath been often said and with more Force by their Masters And the best Philosophers of this Age have given up the Cause of Atheism as indefensible so that the Being of God and Providence seems to be established by a General Consent and if any secretly be of another Mind they think it not for their Reputation to own it The main Pretence now is against Revealed Religion but without offering to shew how so great and considerable a Part of Mankind as the Christian Church hath been made up of came to be so imposed upon as to a Doctrine which advances Morality to the greatest Height and gives Mankind the most assured Hopes of a Blessed Immortality when nothing like Interest and Design as to this World could be carried on by the First and Greatest Promoters of it But we are told in a late Complaint made abroad by a Friend of our Deists wherein I am particularly concerned That we make Objections for them which are most easie to answer and pass over their most considerable Difficulties Which is a very unjust Charge and cannot be made good but by producing those Considerable Difficulties which we have taken no Notice of For my part I know of none such and we make no Objections for them however we may think it our Duty to lay open the Weakness of them when we are importuned to do it which was my Case in the Treatise I suppose he refers to If they keep their Considerable Difficulties to themselves I know not how we should be able to answer them But it is the common way in a baffled Cause still to pretend that the main Difficulties were not produced But this is not a proper Occasion to insist lonâ—er on these Matters my present Business is to answer the Objection which immediately regards the Clergy and the Summ of it is That our Profession rather hinders than confirms the Belief of Religion because they who plead for what makes for their Interest are always suspected to be swayed more by Interest than by Reason To give a full and clear Answer to this we must consider That however Mankind are apt to be swayed by Interest yet the Truth and Reason of Things do not at all depend upon them for a Thing is not true or false in it self because it makes for or against a Man and the Measures of judging Truth and Falshood are quite of another Nature and so Mens Interests come not into Consideration So that in this Case they are not to examine whose Turn is served whether such a Thing be true or false but whether there be sufficient Evidence to convince an impartial Mind of the Truth of it for let the Reasons be produced by whom they please the Grounds of Conviction are the same If a Man in a Dispute about Surveying a piece of Land which he claimed a Right to should appeal to the Elements of Geometry in his Case would the Evidence be less because he was concerned in the Land But we proceed farther Suppose it be for the Interest of Religion in a Nation for an Order of Men to be set apart on purpose to attend the Services of it and that there should be great Incouragements for their Education and a Maintenance set apart for their Subsistence afterwards that they may not live in Dependance on the Humours and uncertain Fancies of the People how can such a Constitution take off from the Credibility of that Religion which they are to support Was it any lessening to the Authority of the Law of Moses that the Tribe of Levi was so plentifully provided for by God's own Appointment They were to teach the Law to the People in the Places where they were dispersed among the several Tribes And suppose it had been then said Why should we believe what you say when you live by it You have Cities and Lands and Tithes and Oblations and Dignities among you no wonder you set up this Law as Divine and Holy but we get nothing by it but part with a Share of our Profits to maintain you What then Was the Law therefore false and Moses an Impostor These are hard Consequences but they naturally follow from such a Supposition And if such an Inference were not reasonable then neither will it appear to be so now But we do not pretend that the Parochial Settlement of our Clergy is by such a Divine Law as the Levitical Priesthood was but this we do insist upon That the Christian Religion being owned and established in the Nation there was a necessary Reason from the Nature of it and the Obligation to Preserve and Support it that there should be an Order of Men set apart for that End that they should instruct the People in it and perform the several Offices belonging to it and that a sufficient Maintenance be allowed them by the Law of the Land to support them in doing their Duties And I appeal to any Men of Sense or of common Vnderstanding whether on Supposition that our Religion is true these be not very just and reasonable Things How then can that make a Religion suspected to be false which are very reasonable supposing it to be true If it be true as most certainly it is are not they bound to maintain it to be true And can it be the less so because their Subsistence depends upon it Therefore all the Impertinent Talk of our Profession being a Trade can signifie nothing to any Men that understand the Difference between Scarron and Euclid or the way of Burlesquing and of Demonstration There is still one common Prejudice to be removed and that is That too many of those who preach up our Religion as true do not live as if they believed it to be so We are very sorry there should be any Occasion given for such a Reproach as this and we hope there are not so many Instances of it as some would have it believed Woe be to those by whom such Offences come But supposing the Instances true is there any Religion in the World considering the Follies and Infirmities of Mankind which can secure all the Professors of it from acting against the Rules of it But if such Instances are sufficiently proved there ought to be the greater Severity used in such Cases because Religion it self as well as the Honour of our Church suffers so much by them But it will still be said That these Persons are secret Infidels and believe nothing of what they profess This is another Point how far bad Lives are consistent with sound Opinions Some that think that Men act consistently will not allow that Bad Men can be any other than meer Infidels but others who consider the Prevalency of Mens Lusts and Passions over their Reasons are apt to think that they may retain their good Opinions even when they act contrary to them But then
Spirits Assistance is only in the exciting the Affections and Motions of the Soul towards the things prayed for and if this be allowed it is impossible to give a Reason why the Spirit of God may not as well excite those inward Desires when the Words are the same as when they are different And we are certain that from the Apostles times downwards no one Church or Society of Christians can be produced who held it unlawful to pray by a Set-Form On the other side we have very early Proofs of some common Forms of Prayer which were generally used in the Christian Churches and were the Foundations of those Ancient Liturgies which by degrees were much enlarged And the Interpolations of later times do no more overthrow the Antiquity of the Ground-work of them than the large Additions to a Building do prove there was no House before It is an easie matter to say that such Liturgies could not be St. Iames's or St. Mark 's because of such Errors and Mistakes and Interpolations of Things and Phrases of later times but what then Is this an Argument there were no Ancient Liturgies in the Churches of Ierusalem and Alexandria when so long since as in Origen's time we find an entire Collect produced by him out of the Alexandrian Liturgy And the like may be shewed as to other Churches which by degrees came to have their Liturgies much enlarged by the devout Prayers of some extraordinary Men such as S. Basil and S. Chrysostom in the Eastern Churches But my Design is not to vindicate our use of an excellent Liturgy but to put you upon the using it in such manner as may most recommend it to the People I mean with that Gravity Seriousness Attention and Devotion which becomes so solemn a Duty as Prayer to God is It will give too just a cause of prejudice to our Prayers if the People observe you to be careless and negligent about them or to run them over with so great haste as if you minded nothing so much as to get to the end of them If you mind them so little your selves they will think themselves excused if they mind them less I could heartily wish that in greater places especially in such Towns where there are People more at liberty the constant Morning and Evening Prayers were duly and devoutly read as it is already done with good Success in London and some other Cities By this means Religion will gain ground when the publick Offices are daily performed and the people will be more acquainted with Scripture in hearing the Lessons and have a better esteem of the Prayers when they become their daily Service which they offer up to God as their Morning and Evening Sacrifice and the Design of 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 Enemies 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 out-doing 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 despitefully 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 Trial 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 perswade 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 refractary 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
Ecclesiastical Cases Relating to the DUTIES and RIGHTS OF THE Parochial Clergy STATED and RESOLVED According to the PRINCIPLES OF Conscience and Law By the Right Reverend Father in GOD EDWARD Lord Bishop of Worcester LONDON Printed by I. H. for Henry Mortlock at the Phoenix in St. Paul's Church-Yard 1698. To the Reverend CLERGY OF THE DIOCESE OF WORCESTER My Brethren THE following Discourses do of Right belong to You the Substance of them being contained in what I delivered to You in several Times and Places in the Course of my Visitations In which I endeavoured to lay open the Nature and Dignity of your Function the Rules you are to observe in the Discharge of it and to state and resolve the most Important Cases which Relate to your Duties and Rights according to the Principles both of Law and Conscience For I observed that some had spoken very well of the General Nature of the Ecclesiastical Function without a particular Regard to the Limitations of the Exercise of it by our Laws Others had endeavoured to give Advice and Counsel in Point of Law who meddle not with the Obligation of Conscience And therefore I thought it necessary to joyn both these together that you might have a clear and distinct View of your Duties in both Respects For in a Matter of Positive Institution where only the General Duties are prescribed in Scripture and the Bounds of the Exercise of them depend upon the Laws of the Land I could not see how any Person could satisfie himself in the Discharge of his Duty without a Regard to both For the Care of Souls in General is a Matter of wonderful Weight and Importance and can never be sufficiently considered by those who are concerned in it But no Man among us takes upon him an Indefinite Care of Souls without Regard to Persons or Places for that would produce Confusion and endless Scruples and Perplexities of Conscience about the Nature and Obligation to Particular Duties Which cannot be prevented or removed without a right understanding the different Respect all that have taken our Holy Function upon them do stand in both to the Church in General and to that Particular Cure of Souls which they are admitted to The best way I know to represent them is to consider the Case of Dominion and Property and how far the Vniversal Obligation of Mankind to promote each others Good is consistent with the Care of their own and Families Welfare Adam had in himself the Entire and Original Dominion over all those Things which after became the Subject of particular Property when his Posterity found it necessary to make and allow several Shares and Allotments to distinct Families so as they were not to incroach or break in upon one another But the Law of Nature did not prescribe the Way and Method of Partition but left that to Occupancy or Compact And so the Heads of Families upon their Settlement in any Countrey had a twofold Obligation upon them the first was to preserve the Interest of the whole Body to which they still were bound and were to shew it upon such Occasions as required it The next was to take particular Care of these Shares which belonged to themselves so as to improve them for their Service and to protect them from the Invasion of others And Although this Division of Property was not made by any Antecedent Law yet being once made and so useful to Mankind the Violation of it by taking that which is anothers Right is a manifest Violation of the Law of Nature I do not think that the Distribution of Ecclesiastical Cures for the greater Benefit of the People is of so strict a Nature because the Matter of Property doth not extend to this Case in such a manner But since an Vniversal Good is carried on by such a Division far better than it could be without it there is an Obligation lying on all Persons who regard it to preserve that Order which conduces to so good an End And I cannot see how any Persons can better justifie the Breach of Parochial Communion as such than others can justifie the Altering the Bounds of Mens Rights and Properties because they apprehend that the common Good may be best promoted by returning to the first Community of all things If our Blessed Saviour or his Holy Apostles in the first founding of Churches had determined the Number of Persons or fixed the Bounds of Places within which those who were ordained to so holy a Function were to take care of the Souls committed to them there could have been no Dispute about it among those who owned their Authority But their Business was to lay down the Qualifications of such as were fit to be imployed in it to set before them the Nature of their Duties and the Account they must give of the Discharge of them and to Exhort all such as under took it to a Watchfulness and Diligence in their Places but they never go about to limit the Precincts within which they were to Exercise the Duties incumbent upon them When Churches were first planted in several Countries there could be no such things expected as Parochial Divisions for these were the Consequents of the General spreading of Christianity among the People As is evident in the best Account we have of the Settlement of the Parochial Clergy among us after Christianity was received by the Saxons Which was not done all at once but by several Steps and Degrees It cannot be denied by any that are conversant in our Histories that the Nation was gradually converted from Paganism by the succesful Endeavours of some Bishops and their Clergy in the several Parts of England Not by Commission from one Person as is commonly supposed but several Bishops came from several Places and applied themselves to this Excellent Work and God gave them considerable Success in it Thus Bizinus did great Service among the West Saxons and Felix the Burgundian among the East-Saxons and the Northern Bishops in the Midland-Parts as well as Augustin and his Companions in the Kingdom of Kent And in these Midland-parts as Christianity increased so the Bishops Sees were multiplied Five out of One and placed in the most convenient Distances for the further inlarging and establishing Christianity among the People The Bishops were Resident in their own Sees and had their Clergy then about them whom they sent abroad as they saw cause to those Places where they had the fairest Hopes of Success And according thereto they either continued or removed them having yet no fixed Cures or Titles All the first Titles were no other than being entred in the Bishops Register as of his Clergy from which Relation none could discharge himself without the Bishop's Consent But as yet the Clergy had no Titles to any particular Places there being no fixed Bounds of Parishes wherein any Persons were obliged to be Resident for the better Discharge of their Duties This State of an Vnfixed and
Itinerant Clergy was soon found to be very inconvenient and therefore all Incouragement was given where Christianity most prevailed for the building Churches at a convenient Distance from the Cathedral and setling a Number of Presbyters together there which were after called Collegiate-Churches and the Great and Devout Men of that Time gave them Liberal Endowments that they might the better attend the Service of God there and in the Countrey about them But after that the several Parts grew to be more populous and Lords of Manors for the Conveniency of themselves and their Tenants were willing to erect Churches within their Precincts Laws were then made that they might detain one Share of the Tithes for the Supply of this New Church the other two remaining due to the Mother Church And I can find nothing like any Allowance for the Lords of Manors to appropriate the other Two Parts as they thought fit For those Manors themselves were but Parcels of larger Parishes and the Tithes were due from those Estates which were no part of their Manors and therefore they had nothing to do with them But after the Norman Invasion the poor Parochial Clergy being Saxons and the Nobility and Bishops Normans they regarded not how much they reduced the Inferiour Clergy to enrich the Monasteries belonging to the Normans either at home or abroad And this I take to be the true Reason of the Multitude of Appropriations of Two Thirds of the Tithes in the Norman Times and too often with the Consent of the Bishops who ought to have shewed more Regard to the Interest of the Parochial Clergy than they generally did But of this I have discoursed more at large in one of the following Cases In the latter end of the Saxon Times if we believe those called the Confessors Laws after all the Danish Devastations there were Three or Four Churches where there had been but One before By which it appears that the Parochial Clergy were Numerous before the Conquest And within this Diocess in Two Deanaries of it there are to be found in Doomsday-Book above Twenty Parish-Churches In the Deanary of Warwick Ten and in the Deanary of Kingstone Fifteen But of the former Seven were Appropriated in the Norman Times and of the latter Ten by which we may see to how low a Condition they then brought the Parochial Clergy One Church in the former Deanary I find built in that time and that was at Exhal which was before a Chapel to Salford but was erected in the time of H. 1. by the Lord of the Manor and Freeholders who gave the Glebe and Tithes as appears by the Confirmation of Simon Bishop of Worcester Many other Parochial Churches I doubt not were built and endowed after the same manner although the Records of them are lost And as Churches were new erected the Parochial Bounds were fixed that the People might certainly know whither they were to resort for Divine Worship who were bound to attend them as part of their Charge from whose Hands they were to receive the Holy Sacraments and whose Advice and Counsel they were to take in Matters which related to the Salvation of their Souls Now here lies the main Difficulty with some People they cannot think that Parochial Bounds are to determine them in what concerns the Good of their Souls but if they can edifie more by the Parts and Gifts of another they conclude that it is their Duty to forsake their own Minister and go to such a one as they like I meddle not with extraordinary Occasions of Absence nor with the Case of Scandalous Incumbents because it is the Peoples Fault if they be not prosecuted and the Place supplied by better Men. But the Case as it ought to be put is how far a Regard is to be shewed to a Constitution so much for the General Good as that of Parochial Communion is We do not say That Mens Consciences are bound by Perambulations or that it is a Sin at any time to go to another Parish but we say That a constant fixed Parochial Communion tends more to preserve the Honour of God and the Religion Established among us to promote Peace and Vnity among Neighbours and to prevent the Mischief of Separation And what advances so good Ends is certainly the best Means of Edification Which lies not in moving the Fansie or warming the Passions but in what brings Men to a due Temper of Mind and a holy peaceable and unblameable Conversation And as to these Excellent Ends it is not only your Duty with great Zeal and Diligence to perswade your People to them but to go before them your selves in the Practice of them For they will never have any hearty Regard or Esteem for what any one says if they find him to contradict it in the Course of his Life Suppose it be the Peoples Fault to shew so little Regard to your Profession yet you are bound to consider how far you may have given too much Occasion for it and their Fault can be no Excuse for you if any of your own were the true Occasion of theirs We live in an Age wherein the Conversations of the Clergy are more observed than their Doctrines Too many are busie in finding out the Faults of the Clergy the better to cover their own and among such Priest craft is become the most popular Argument for their Insidelity If they could once make it appear that all Religion were nothing but a Cheat and Imposture of some cunning Men for their own Advantage who believed nothing of it themselves and that all the business of our Profession was to support such a Fraud in the World for our own Interest they were very excusable in their most bitter Invectives against such Priest-craft For nothing is more to be abhorred by Men of Ingenuous Minds and Natural Probity than to be the Instruments of Deceiving Mankind in so gross a manner But thanks be to God this is very far from being the Case among us for our Profession is built upon the Belief of God and Providence the Difference of Good and Evil and the Rewards and Punishments of another Life If these things have no Foundations we are certain that the best and wisest and most disinterested Men in all Ages have been in the same Fundamental Mistakes And it is now somewhat too late for any Persons to set up for Sagacity and true Iudgment in these Matters above all those of foregoing Ages There is a mighty Difference between slight and superficial Reasonings although some may be vain enough to cry them up for Oracles and those which are built on the Nature of Things and have born the Test of so many Ages and remain still in the same Degree of Firmness and Strength notwithstanding all the Batteries of Profane and Atheistical Wits For it cannot be denied that such there have been in former times as well as now but that makes more for the Advantage of Religion that our Modern Pretenders
considered and practised by the Clergy of this Diocese For since it hath pleased God by his wise and over-ruling Providence without my seeking to bring me into this Station in his Church I shall esteem it the best Circumstance of my present Condition if he please to make me an Instrument of doing good among you To this end I thought it necessary in the first place most humbly to implore his Divine Assistance that I might both rightly understand and conscientiously perform that great Duty which is incumbent upon me for without his help all our Thoughts are vain and our best Purposes will be ineffectual But God is not wanting to those who sincerely endeavour to know and to do their Duty and therefore in the next place I set my self as far as my Health and other Occasions would permit to consider the Nature and Extent of my Duty with a Resolution not to be discouraged altho I met with Difficulties in the Performance of it For such is the State and Condition of the World That no Man can design to to do good in it but when that crosses the particular Interests and Inclinations of others he must expect to meet with as much Trouble as their unquiet Passions can give him If we therefore consulted nothing but our own Ease the only way were to let People follow their Humours and Inclinations and to be as little concerned as might be at what they either say or do For if we go about to rowze and awaken them and much more to reprove and reform them we shall soon find them uneasie and impatient for few love to hear of their Faults and fewer to amend them But it is the peculiar Honour of the Christian Religion to have an Order of Men set apart not meerly as Priests to offer Sacrifices for that all Religions have had but as Preachers of Righteousness to set Good and Evil before the People committed to their Charge to inform them of their Duties to reprove them for their Miscarriages and that not in order to their Shame but their Reformation Which requires not only Zeal but Discretion and a great Mixture of Courage and Prudence that we may neither fail in doing our Duty nor in the best means of attaining the end of it If we could reasonably suppose that all those who are bound to tell others their Duties would certainly do their own there would be less need of any such Office in the Church as that of Bishops who are to inspect and govern and visit and reform those who are to watch over others But since there may be too great failings even in these too great neglect in some and disorder in others too great proneness to Faction and Schism and impatience of Contradiction from mere Equals therefore St. Ierom himself grants That to avoid these Mischiefs there was a necessity of a Superiour Order to Presbyters in the Church of God ad quem omnis Ecclesiae cura pertineret Schismatum semina tollerentur 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 Ierusalem 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. Ierom'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 deceiv'd 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 universally 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 out-went Diotrephes himself for he only rejected those whom the Apostles sent but these assumed to themselves the Exercise of an Apostolical Authority over the Churches planted and setled 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 appoint 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 Iesus Christ and the elect Angels that thou observe these things without preferring 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 Iurisdiction 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 demean themselves otherwise and be self-willed froward given to Wine Brawlers Covetous or any way
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 Favour 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 Henry I. Ecclesiastical Benefices were forbidden to be bought or sold and it was Deprivation then to any Clergyman to be convicted of it and a Layman was to be Out-lawed and Excommunicated and Deprived of his Right of Patronage And this was done by a Provincial Synod of that time In the Reign of Henry II. it was decreed That if any Person received any Money for a Presentation he was to be for ever deprived of the Patronage of that Church and this was not meerly a Provincial Constitution but two Kings were present Hen. II. and his Son and added their Authority to it This was not depriving a Man of his Free-hold 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 Simoniacus 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 part of common Iustice 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 Kings Bench 12 Iac. 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 Edw. 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 Iure 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 Lyndwood 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 3. 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 Iure 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 meerly 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 Dispensible 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 meerly to the Necessaries of Life But it seems to be reasonable that Clergymen 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 Cares 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 enjoyed 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 extreamly 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 desirable way of any but in some Circumstances it is much more excusable than in others As when the Benefices 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 meerly 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 great 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. VIII 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 Souls 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 consider'd 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 Pope's Dispensation with the supposed Plenitude of his Power could not satisfie a Man's 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 Pope's 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 meerly for his own Advantage saith Panormitan and from him Sylvester and Summ. Angelica A Dispensation saith Cardinal To-let 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 Statute of 21 Hen. VIII That the Dispensation is intended to keep Men from incurring the Danger Penalty and Forfeiture in the 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 Statute is more favourable to the Clergy than the Canon Law was before in two Particulars 1. In declaring that no simple Benefices or meer Dignities as the Canonists call them are comprehended under the Name of Benefices having Cure of Souls viz. no Deanary Archdeaconry 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 Valuation of 8 l. which I suppose is that of 20 E. 1.
for that of H. 8. was not till five years after that Statute 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 the former 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 the former were now here comes a Statute which enacts That all who take a second Benefice having one of 8 l. 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 OF THE NATURE OF THE TRUST Committed to the Parochial Clergy At a Visitation at Worcester October 21 st 1696. My Brethren I Have formerly on the like Occasion discoursed to you of the General Duties of your Function and the Obligation you are under to perform them and therefore I shall now confine my Discourse to these Two Things I. To consider the particular Nature of the Trust committed to you II. The Obligation you are under to your Parochial Cures I. The first is necessary to be spoken to for while Persons have only so confused and cloudy Apprehensions concerning it they can neither be satisfied in the Nature of their Duties nor in their Performance of them And there is Danger as well in setting them so high as to make them Impracticable as in sinking them so low as to make not only themselves but their Profession Contemptible For the World let us say what we will will always esteem Men not meerly for a Name and Profession but for the Work and Service which they do There is no doubt a Reverence and Respect due to a Sacred Function on its own Account but the highest Profession can never maintain its Character among the rest of Mankind unless they who are of it do promote the General Good by acting suitably to it And the greater the Character is which any bear the higher will the Expectations of others be concerning them and if they fail in the greatest and most useful Duties of their Function it will be impossible to keep up the Regard which ought to be shew'd unto it We may complain as long as we please of the Unreasonableness of the Contempt of the Clergy in our Days which is too general and too far spread but the most effectual Means to prevent or remove it is for the Clergy to apply themselves to the most necessary Duties with Respect to the Charge and Trust committed to them But here arises a considerable Difficulty which deserves to be cleared viz. concerning the just Measures of that Diligence which is required For there are some who will never be satisfied that the Clergy do enough let them do what they can and it is to no purpose to think to satisfie them who are resolved not to be satisfied But on the other side some care not how little they do and the less the better they are pleased with them and others again have raised their Duties so high that scarce any Man can satisfie himself that he hath done his Duty It is a matter therefore of the highest Consequence to us to understand What Rule and Measure is to be observed so as we may neither wilfully neglect our Duty nor despair of doing it Here we are to consider Two Things 1. How far the Scripture hath determined it 2. What Influence the Constitution of our Church is to have upon us concerning it 1. The Scripture doth speak something relating to it both in the Old and New Testament In the Old Testament we have the Duties enjoyned to the Levitical Priesthood and the extraordinary Commissions given to the Prophets As to the Levitical Priesthood we can only draw some general Instructions which may be of use altho' that Priesthood hath been long since at an end Christ being our High-Priest after another Order viz. of Melchisedeck and our Duty now is to observe his Laws and to offer that Reasonable Service which he requires But even from the Levitical Priesthood we may observe these things 1. That although the main of their Duty of Attendance respected the Temple and Sacrifices yet at other times they were bound to instruct the People in the Law For so Moses leaves it as a special Charge to the Tribe of Levi to teach Iacob his Iudgments and Israel his Law And to incourage them to do it they had a liberal Maintenance far above the Proportion of the other Tribes For by Computation it will be found that they were not much above the Sixtieth part of the People for when the other Tribes were numbred from Twenty years old they made six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty But the Children of Levi were reckoned by themselves from a Month old and they made but Two and twenty thousand so that if the Males of the other Tribes had been reckoned as they were it is agreed by Learned Men who had no Fondness for the Clergy that they did not make above a fiftieth or sixtieth part and yet they had near a fifth of the Profits besides accidental Perquisites as to Sacrifices and Ransoms of the First-born Thus say they God was pleased to enrich that Tribe which was devoted
to his Service But it was not certainly that they should spend their time in Idleness and Luxury but that they might with the greater freedom apply themselves to the Study of the Law that they might instruct the People For the Cities of the Levites were as so many Colleges dispersed up and down in the several Tribes to which the People might upon occasion more easily resort 2. That if the People erred thro' Ignorance of the Law God himself laid the Blame on those who were bound to instruct them My People saith God by the Prophet are destroyed for lack of Knowledge If People are resolved to be ignorant who can help it Had they not the Law to inform them But it is observable that the Peoples Errors are laid to the Charge of the Priests and the Punishment is denounced against them Because thou hast rejected Knowledge I will also reject thee that thou shalt be no Priest unto me It seems the Priests were grown careless and negligent as to their own Improvements they did not know to what purpose they should take so much pains in studying the Law and the difficult Points of it they were for a freedom of Conversation and hoped to keep up their Interest among the People that Way Therefore Isaiah call them Shepherds that cannot understand but were very intent upon their Profits they all look to their own Way every one for his Gain from his Quarter But this was not all for the Prophet charges them with a Voluptuous Careless Dissolute Life Come ye say they I will fetch Wine and we will fill our selves with strong Drink and to morrow shall be as this day and much more abundant Was not this a very agreeable life for those who were to instruct the People in the Duties of Sobriety and Temperance It was Death for the Priests by the Law to drink Wine or strong Drink when they went into the Tabernacle of the Congregation and the Reason given is That ye may put a difference between holy and unholy and between unclean and clean and that ye may teach the Children of Israel all the Statutes which the Lord hath spoken to thee by the Hand of Moses Which implies That those who are given to drinking Wine or strong Drink are very unfit to instruct others in the Law of God And God looked on them as such a Dishonour to his Worship that he threatens immediate Death to them that approached to his Altar when they had drank Wine and the Iews say that was the Reason why Nadab and Abihu were destroyed And then God said I will be sanctified in them that come nigh me All Nations have abhorred sottish and drunken Priests as most unfit to approach to God when they were not themselves or to offer Sacrifices for others when they made Beasts of themselves But this was not all for God required from them who were to teach others the Law that they should be always in a Capacity of understanding and practising it themselves But if we proceed to the Prophets nothing can be more dreadful than what God saith to Ezekiel That if he did not warn the People as he commanded them their Blood will I require at thy hand Is this Charge now lying upon every one of you as to every Person under your Care Who would not rather run into a Wilderness or hide himself in a Cave than take such a Charge upon him But we must distinguish what was peculiar to the Prophet's immediate Commission to go to any particular Person in God's Name from a General Charge to inform Persons in their Duties and to tell them the Danger of continuing in their Sins If any fail for want of Information when you are bound to give it the Neglect must fall heavy and therefore you are bound to take all just Opportunities in publick and private to inform those under your Care of such Sins as you know them to be guilty of not with a Design to upbraid but to reform them In the New Testament the Charge is General to feed the Flock of God and to do it willingly not for filthy Lucre but of a ready mind and to be Examples to the Flock But St. Peter who gives this Advice doth not determine who belong to the Flock nor within what Bounds it is to be limited and there were many Flocks in the Iewish Dispersion and many Elders scattered up and down among them in Pontus Asia Galatia Cappadocia and Bithynia so that here we have only general and excellent Advice for such who had Care of the several Flocks to carry themselves towards them with great Humility and Tenderness with Charity and Goodness as those that made it their business to do good among them and conduct them in the Way to Heaven St. Paul in his Charge to those whom he sent for to Miletus tells them That they must take heed to themselves and to all the Flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made them Overseers to feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own Blood It 's possible here might be a particular Designation of the Flock they were to oversee by the Direction of the Holy Ghost but yet the Charge is general to take heed to themselves and to the Flock and to promote the good of the Church of God which Christ hath purchased with his own Blood Which are the most weighty Considerations in the World to excite us to the utmost Care and Diligence in Discharge of our Duties In the Epistle to the Thessalonians they are said to be over them in the Lord and to admonish them In that to the Hebrews to watch for their Souls as they that must give an Account No doubt very great Care and Watchfulness is required in all that take so great and solemn an Office upon them but where are the Bounds and Limits set as to the People and Nature of the Duties required from them Must every Man be left to his own Conscience and Judgment what and how far he is to go Or can we suppose all Men equally careful of doing their Duties if no particular Obligation be laid upon them Some of the Eloquent Fathers of the Church as St. Chrysostom St. Ierom St. Gregory Nazianzen and others have allowed themselves so much in the Flights of Fancy and Figures of speaking about the Height and Dignity of the Sacred Function as if they had a mind to discourage all Men of modest and humble Dispositions from undertaking it I do not wonder that they ran into Solitudes and withdrew from the World upon it but I do wonder how they came from thence and undertook the same Charge afterwards without giving an Answer to their own Arguments For the World remained just as it was when they left it Mankind were still as impatient of being governed or told of their Faults as sickle and humoursom as prone to Evil and untractable to
Good as it was before And could they hope it would ever mend by their running away from it Or was their Duty become more easie by declining it I think it was very well for the Church of God that notwithstanding their own many Arguments they took the Sacred Office upon them at last and did God and the Church good Service in it But if Men were to judge by their Writings upon this Argument one would think none but those who had a mind to be damned would undertake it And their great Strains of Wit and Eloquence if they had any Force would keep the best Men out of the Church who were most likely to do God Service in it and we need no other Instances than these very Persons themselves And if all good and humble and conscientious Men should for the sake of the Hardness of the Work decline the Church's Service and take any other lawful Imployment what would become of the Church of God For none that had or intended to keep a good Conscience could undertake the Cure of Souls and so they must be left to such as had no Regard to their own but were either ignorant stupid and senseless Creatures or such as regarded not their own Salvation who durst undertake such a Task as would not only add to their own Guilt but bring the heavy Load of other Mens Faults upon them too What is now to be done in this Case Hath God really imposed such a Task upon all those who enter into this Sacred Function that it is morally impossible for an honest Man to discharge it with a good Conscience How then can any such undertake it But if it may be done what are those Bounds and Rules we are to observe so as a good Man may satisfie himself in a competent Measure that he hath done his Duty II. And this is that which I shall now endeavour to clear For every one who is in Orders hath a double Capacity One with Respect to the Church of God in General another to that particular Flock which is allotted to him by the Constitution of this Church and the Law of the Land For although the Nature of our Duty in general be determined by the Word of God as I have already ready shewed yet the particular Obligation of every one to his own Flock is according to that Power and Authority which by the Rules and Orders of this Church is committed to him and is fully expressed in the Office of Ordination By which it plainly appears that the Care of Souls committed to Persons among us is not an absolute indefinite and unaccountable Thing but is limited as to Place Persons and Duties which are incumbent upon them They are to teach the People committed to their Charge By whom By the Bishop when he gives Institution They are to give private as well as publick Monitions and Exhortations as well to the sick as to the whle What to all No but to those within their Cure They are to banish erroneous Doctrines and to promote Peace and Love especially among them committed to their Charge And last of all they are to Obey those who have the Charge and Government over them These things are so express and plain in the very Constitution of this Church and owned so solemnly by every one that enters into Orders that there can be no Dispute concerning them And from thence we observe several things that tend to the Resolution of the main Point as to the Satisfaction of doing your Duties as Incumbents on your several Places I. That it is a Cure of Souls limited as to Persons and Place i.e. within such a Precinct as is called a Parish II. That it is limited as to Power with Respect to Discipline Therefore I shall endeavour to clear these Two Things I. What the just Bounds and Limits of Parochial Cures are II. What is the Measure of that Diligence which is required within those Bounds As to the former we are to begin with the Limitation as to Place I. That it is a Cure of Souls limited within certain Bounds which are called Parishes which are now certainly known by long Usage and Custom and ought still to be preserved with great Care for otherwise Confusion and Disputes will arise between several Ministers and several Parishes with one another For since the Duties and the Profits are both limited it is necessary that those Bounds should be carefully preserved as they generally are by Annual Perambulations But there are some who will understand nothing of this bounding of Ministerial Duties by distinct Parishes who think they are at liberty to exercise their Gifts where-ever they are called and that it were better that these parochial Inclosures were thrown open and all left at liberty to chuse such whom they liked best and under whom they can improve most These things seem to look plausibly at the first Appearance and to come nearest to the first gathering of Churches before any such thing as Parishes were known But to me this Arguing looks like Persons going about now to overthrow all Dominion and Property in Lands and Estates because it seems not so agreeable with the first natural Freedom of Mankind who according to the Original Right of Nature might pick and chuse what served most to their own Conveniency But although this were the first State of things yet the great Inconveniencies which followed it upon the Increase of Mankind made Division and Property necessary and altho' there be no express Command of God for it yet being so necessary for the Good of Mankind it was not only continued every where but those Persons were thought fit to be punished by severe Laws who invaded the Rights and Properties of others either by open Violence and Rapine or by secret Stealth and Purloining I grant that at first there were no such Parochial Divisions of Cures here in England as there are now For the Bishops and their Clergy lived in Common and before that the Number of Christians was much increased the Bishops sent out their Clergy to preach to the People as they saw Occasion But after the Inhabitants had generally embraced Christianity this Itinerant and Occasional going from Place to Place was found very inconvenient because of the constant Offices that were to be administred and the Peoples knowing to whom they should resort for Spiritual Offices and Directions Hereupon the Bounds of Parochial Cures were found necessary to be settled here by degrees by those Bishops who were the great Instruments of converting the Nation from the Saxon Idolatry But a Work of this Nature could not be done all at once as by a kind of Agrarian Law but several Steps were taken in order to it At first as appears by Bede they made use of any old British Churches that were left standing so Augustin at first made use of St. Martin's near Canterbury and after repaired Christs-Church which were both British Churches But Ethelbert gave all
if they make a good Bargain for their own Advantage I cannot deny but that according to the Laws of the Land and the Canons of this Church some Persons are allowed to have two several Cures which must imply a Non-residence for some time at least upon one of them But they still suppose that there are persons Resident upon them who are allowed by the Bishop to be sufficient to discharge the necessary Duties of the place and not to be taken up like Post-horses the next that comes and to be turned off at the next Stage I think it a very great Fault in those who have Pluralities that they look no more after the Curates they imploy and that they do not bring them to the Bishop to be approved and to have their Allowance fixed before they imploy them They think no more is required but to pay the Fees for a Licence but I have and shall endeavour to convince the Clergy of this Diocess that Licences are not to be taken as St. Peter took the Fish that first came with Money in the Mouth of it I hope to be able to satisfie them that it is not the Fees that we aim at but at Persons doing their Duties And our Canons are express That no Curate is to be allowed in any Cure of Souls that hath not been examined and admitted by the Bishop or Ordinary having Episcopal Jurisdiction and attested by the Hand and Seal of the Bishop How then come Curates to officiate without ever coming to the Bishop at all or undergoing any Examination by him This is a plain Breach of the Canon and ought to be reformed I do not say that such Licences as have customarily passed without the Bishop's Hand and Seal are void but I do say That they are irregular and voidable and none ought to be allowed which are not according to the Canon and that no Incumbent ought to take any one for his Curate till the Bishop hath allowed and approved him under his Hand and Seal And this Remedy the Law gives us against the Inconveniencies which attend Pluralities by weak and insufficient Curates But no Man is excused either by Law or Canons from attending the Duties of his Place at some times in his own Person and that good Part of the Year in which time he ought to do the Duties of his Place with Diligence and Care and to acquaint himself with his Parishioners in order to the better Discharge of his Duty towards them They have very mean Thoughts of their holy Function that think the main Part of it lies only in the Pulpit I wish even that were minded more but all the Ways you can do good among your People is within the Compass of your Duty not meerly to instruct them in Religion but to prevent Quarrels and Contentions and Meetings for Debauchery which tend to corrupt Mens Minds and draw them off from the Principles as well as Practice of true Religion It is your Duty to endeavour to make them live like good Christians and good Neighbours and to set Patterns your selves of Sobriety Meekness Charity and of every thing Praise-worthy 3. Faithful Diligence implies filling up your vacant Hours with the most useful Studies as to the main End of your Function For in your Ordination you solemnly promise to lay aside the Study of the World and the Flesh and to apply your selves to the Study of the Scriptures and such Studies as help to the Knowledge of the same But it may be seasonably asked by some What Method and Course of Studies will best conduce to that End To this I shall endeavour to give a short Answer so far as it concerns the main End of your Function which it is most proper for me to consider at this time 1. Look well to the Temper of your Minds that it be humble sober and religious For a vain affected and self-opinionated Person can never have an inward and hearty Relish of Divine Truths The Scriptures will appear to him either too plain and easie or too obscure and intricate some things will seem low and flat and others too lofty and Poetical Those who read not with a good Mind will have always something or other to cavil at It is a mighty Advantage in all Spiritual Knowledge to come to it with an unbiassed Mind free from the Power of Prejudice and evil Inclinations For these give a strange Tincture to the Mind and hinder the clear and distinct Perception of Revealed Truths as above the Natural Faculties which God hath given us Some are therefore so fond of Philosophical Speculations that unless the Letter of the Scripture suits with them they are ready to despise it and only Shame and Fear keep up any Reverence for it in them Some are altogether for Mathematical Evidence and Demonstration as though the Way to Salvation were to be shewed by Lines and Figures Why do they not first run down all Laws and History because they are not capable of Mathematical Evidence And it argues a far greater Measure of true Understanding to know when to be satisfied than to be always disputing and cavilling The plainness of Scripture in some places is no more an Offence to one that wisely considers the Design of it than a beaten Road is to a Traveller who desires to know which is the true Way to his Journeys End and the plainer it is the more he is satisfied with it But the Scripture wants not its Depths which require a very Attentive and Considering Mind and will afford Matter for Exercise of Thoughts and frequent and serious Meditation The Excellency of the Scripture is That all necessary things are plain and such as are not so although they are not necessary to be known for Salvation yet require our Diligence to understand them and give great Satisfaction as far as we can know them 2. Not to perplex your Minds with Difficulties above your Reach as in what relates to the Eternal Decrees and the particular Manner of that Unity of the Godhead which is consistent with the Trinity of Persons For since the Scripture doth assert both we may safely be contented with what the Scripture reveals although the Manner of it be incomprehensible And as to the other the Scripture is clear and positive as to the Moral Parts of our Duties and if we are to seek how to reconcile them with Gods Decrees we have this certain Rule to go by That without doing our Duty we cannot be happy but we may without understanding how the Freedom of our Wills is consistent with the Divine Prescience and Decrees 3. Not to fix plain and necessary Duties upon new and unaccountable Theories As for instance There are no Duties of greater Consequence than the Love of God and our Neighbour But it would be unspeakable Mischief to Religion to fix the Love of God upon so absurd a Principle as his being the immediate Cause of all Sensation in us And it would have
Saxon times there were both here There were Ecclesiastical Law which related to Judicial Cases wherein a publick Penance was injoyned in order to the Churches Satisfaction But there were many Cases which were not publick and yet great Care was to be used as to the Direction of Penitents as appears by the Penitentials of Theodore and Bede in the Saxon times Whereby we learn that a Difference was to be observed as to the Nature of Offences and the Circumstances of Persons and Actions and the Measure of Contrition and the particular Method is set down in the penitential Books which was in very material Circumstances different from the Methods used in the Church of Rome But it is a thing necessary for every parochial Minister to be able to settle doubting Consciences and to put them into the best Methods of avoiding Sin for the future without which the Absolution of the Priest signifies nothing For where God doth not absolve the Church cannot 5. Giving a good Example to the People committed to your Charge This is often mentioned in the Saxon Canons Council at Cloveshoo c. 8. Canons of Egbert 14 15 18 19 33. in the Laws of Alfred c. 3. of Edward c. 3. Constit. of Odo c. 4 5. of Edgar 57 58 59 60 61 64. of Canutus c. 26. And in the Conclusion of one Collection of his Laws are these Words Happy is that Shepherd who by his good Life and Doctrine leads his Flock to Eternal and Heavenly Ioys and happy is that Flock that follows such a Shepherd who hath rescued them out of the Devil's Hands and put them into God's 6. Lastly the Performance of all these Duties supposes a constant Residence among your People without which it is impossible to discharge them in such a manner as to give them and your selves full Satisfaction This I am sensible is a very nice and tender Point and the Difficulties of it do arise from these things On one side it is said 1. That there is an Allowance by the Law given to several Persons to hold more Benefices than one and since the Distribution of Benefices is not by the Law of God but by the Law of the Land what Fault is there in making use of the Privileges which the Law gives But there cannot be constant Residence in more Places than one 2. That the general Service of the Church is more to be preferred than taking Care of a particular Parish because the necessary Duties of a Parish may be supplied by persons approved by the Bishop and a single Living seldom affords a sufficient Competency for persons to be capable of publick Service 3. That the way of Subsistence for the Clergy is now much altered from what it was when Celibacy was enjoyned For a Competency was always supposed where Residence was strictly required and what was a Competency to a single person is not so to a Family 4. That the Church hath a power of Relaxing the Severity of Ancient Canons from the different Circumstances of things and when the general Good of the Church may be more promoted therein as in the Removal of Clergymen from one Diocess to another and the Translation of Bishops 5. That the Case is now very different as to Dispensations from what it was in the Church of Rome as to the Number of Benefices and the manner of obtaining them that a great Restraint is laid by our Laws upon Pluralities and our own Metropolitan is the Judge when they are fit to be granted But on the other side it is objected 1. That in the first Constitution of parochial Churches every Incumbent was bound to a strict Residence so in the Canons of Egbert Can. 25. Presbyters are said to be settled in those Churches which had a House and Glebe belonging to them and many Canons were then expresly made That no Person should have more than one Church and it is said in the Capitulars that this had been several times decreed And so it is in Herardus his Collection of Canons Can. 49. in Isaac Lingonensis Tit. 1. c. 24. in Chrodegangus c. 67. in Ivo Carnotensis part 3. c. 51. in Regino l. 1. c. 254. The like we find in the Spanish Churches Concil Tolet. 16. c. 5. and thence in the Canonâ—Law C. 10. Q. 3. c. 3. and in the Greek Churches Concil 7. Can. 15. C. 21. Q. 1. c. 1. And as soon as the Abuse crept in in these Western Churches it was complained of and endeavoured to be redressed Concil Paris 6. c. 49. Concil Aquisgran 2. part 2. c. 5. Concil Metens c. 3. That afterwards not meerly the Mendicant Friars complained of them as some have suggested but some of the greatest Bishops have been zealous against them as Gulielmus Parisiensis Peraldus Archbishop of Lions Iacobus de Vitriaco Bishop of Acon Robert de Câ—orton Cardinal Guiard Bishop of Cambray and Gregory IX declared That he could only dispense with the Penalty of the Law After a solemn Disputation at Paris it was determined against Pluralities if one Benefice be sufficient and all the Divines joyned with the Bishop therein except two so that it seemed to be the current Opinion of the Learned and Pious Men of that Time Aquinas saith It is a doubtful Point but Cajetan is positive against them So that all the Zeal against Pluralities is not to be imputed to the Piques of the Friars against the Secular Clergy although there is no Question but they were so much the more earnest in it but in the Council of Trent the Bishops of Spain were the most zealous as to the Point of Residence and the Friars against it as appears by Catharinus and others 2. Setting aside all Authorities the Argument in Point of Conscience seems the strongest against Non-residence because persons have voluntarily undertaken the Cure of Souls within such Limits and although the Bounds be fixed by Human Authority yet since he hath undertaken such a Charge personally knowing those Bounds it lies upon his Conscience to discharge the Duties incumbent upon him which cannot be done without constant Residence as the Magistrates are bound in Conscience to do their Duty although the Bounds are settled by Human Laws And so in the case of Property Human Laws bind so that it is a Sin to invade what is settled by them And if it be left to a Man's Conscience whether a Man answers his Obligation more by personal Attendance or by a Curate whether the Honour of Religion and the Good of Souls be more promoted and the Peace of his own Mind secured by one or the other it is no hard matter to judge on which side it must go It is impossible to defend all the Arguments used in the old Canons against Pluralities as that Polygamy is unlawful under the Gospel So that as a Bishop hath but one City and a Man but one Wife so a Presbyter ought to have but one
of the Gentile Gods upon them as Albaspinaeus thinks but because the thing it self was not of good Report even among the Gentiles themselves as appears by Cicero Ovid Suetonius c. as giving too great Occasion for indecent Passions and of the loss of time Hostiensis reckons up Sixteen Vices that accompany it which a Clergyman especially ought to avoid And playing at Dice was infamous by the Civil Law Iustinian forbids Clergymen not only playing but being present at it It was forbidden in the old Articles of Visitation here and in several Diocesan Synods Spelm. II. 192 252 298 367 450. So that there can be no Reason to complain of the Severity of this Canon which so generally obtained in the Christian Church II. The Canons which relate to Ministers discharging the several Duties of their Function in Preaching Praying Administring Sacraments Catechizing Visiting the Sick c. which are intended to inforce an Antecedent Duty which we can never press you too much or too earnestly to considering that the Honour of Religion and the Salvation of your own and the Peoples Souls depend upon it 2. The next way of judging the Church's Intention is by the Words and Sense of the Church Cajetan thinks the general Sense is the best Rule Navarr saith to the same purpose although some Words are stricter than others Suarez That the main Obligation depends on the matter but the Church's Intention may be more expressed by special Words of Command Tolet relies most upon the Sense of the Church But the Sense of the Church must be understood whether it be Approving or Recommending or strictly Commanding according to the Obligation of Affirmative Precepts which makes a reasonable Allowance for Circumstances And so our Church in some cases expresly allows reasonable Impediments And in Precepts of Abstinence we must distinguish the Sense of the Church as to Moral Abstinence i.e. subduing the Flesh to the Spirit and a Ritual Abstinence in a meer Difference of Meats which our Church lays no Weight upon and a Religious Abstinence for a greater Exercise of Prayer and Devotion which our Church doth particularly recommend at particular Seasons which I need not mention 3. By the Penalties annexed which you may find by reading over the Canons which you ought to do frequently and seriously in order to your own Satisfaction about your Duties and the Obligation to perform them But some may think that such Penal Canons oblige only to undergo the Punishment To which I answer That the case is very different in an Hypothetical Law as Suarez calls it when Laws are only conditional and disjunctive either you must do so or you must undergo such Penalty which is then looked on as a legal Recompence and Ecclesiastical Constitutions where Obedience is chiefly intended and the Penalty is annexed only to inforce it and to deterr others from Disobedience For no Man can imagine that the Church aims at any Man's Suspension or Deprivation for it self or by way of compensation for the Breach of its Constitutions And now give me leave not only to put you in mind but to press earnestly upon you the diligent Performance of those Duties which by the Laws of God and Man and by your own voluntary Promises when you undertook the Cure of Souls are incumbent upon you It is too easie to observe That those who have the Law on their side and the Advantage of a National Settlement are more apt to be remiss and careless when they have the Stream with them than those who row against it and therefore must take more pains to carry on their Designs As those who force a Trade must use much more Diligence than those who go on in the common Road of Business But what Diligence others use in gaining Parties do you imploy in the saving their Souls Which the People will never believe you are in earnest in unless they observe you are very careful in saving your own by a conscientious Discharge of your Duties They do not pretend to Fineness of Thoughts and Subtilty of Reasoning but they are shrewd Judges whether Men mean what they say or not and they do not love to be imposed upon by such a sort of Sophistry as if they could think that they can have such a Regard to their Souls who shew so little to their own Therefore let your unblameable and holy Conversations your Charity and good Works your Diligence and Constancy in your Duties convince them that you are in earnest and they will hearken more to you than if you used the finest Speeches and the most eloquent Harangues in the Pulpit to them These the People understand little and value less but a serious convincing and affectionate way of Preaching is the most likely way to work upon them If there be such a thing as another World as no doubt there is what can you imploy your Time and Thoughts and Pains better about than preparing the Souls of your People for a happy Eternity How mean are all other laborious Trifles and learned Impertinencies and busie Inquiries and restless Thoughts in comparison with this most valuable and happy Imployment if we discharge it well And happy is that Man who enjoys the Satisfaction of doing his Duty now and much more happy will he be whom our Lord when he cometh shall find so doing Pag. 277 c. Histoire des Oâ—â—â—ages des Scavans Août 1697. p. 551. Regino l. 2. p. 205. Hispan Concil p. 29. Regino Collect. Canon lib. 2. p. 204. Burchard l. 1. c. 91 92. Gratian 35. q. 5. c. 7. Hieron Comment ad Titum Epist. ad 〈◊〉 Advers Luciferian Hier. in Psal. ad Evagr. Ad Marcel 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 Iohn 9 10. 1 Tim. 3. 2 3 c. 5. 22. 19. 20. 21. Titus 1. 5. De voto voti Redempt Lyndw. f. 103. Concil Anglic. vol. 2. f. 182. Constit. Othon f. 292. Concil Angl. vol. 2. f. 227. Constit. Provinc De Officio Archi-Presbyteri f. 33. Concil Anglic. vol. 1. p. 183. Lyndw. v. latratuf 33. V. Pabulo V. Dei * Prov. Constit De Offic. Arch-Presbyt f. 282. Concil Anglic. vol. 2. p. 332. Concil Anglic. vol. 2. p. 700 707. Concil Anglic. 2 vol. p. 649. Constit. de haeret f. 156. Lyndw. f. 156. C. Dudum Clem. de Sepulturis Io. de Athon in Constitut. Othobon f. 46. C. Dudum de Sepulturis Non potest esse Pastoris excusatio si lupus oves comedit Pastor nescit Extr. de Reg. Juris c. 10. Reginald Praxis l. 30. tr 3. c. 5. p. 52. Constit. Provinc de Clericis non Resid c. quum hostis Ioh. Athon ad Constit. Othon f. 14. Reginald ib. n. 53. Can. Relatum Ex. de Cleriâ—is non Resid Lyndw. in c. â—uum hostis Residcant
Church That no Man can serve two Masters c. but all their Reasons were not of this sort For the Council of Toledo speaks home That one Man cannot perform his Duty to more than one Charge To the same purpose the Sixth Council at Paris and withal That it brings a Scandal on the Christian Church and an Hinderance to Publick Worship and the Good of Souls and savours too much of a worldly Mind which are weighty Arguments The only considerable thing on the other side is That the Bishops are to take care that the Places be duly supplied but whether it be done by Parson Vicar or Curate is not material But this will not hold For 1. the Care of Souls is committed personally to him that doth undertake it And a Regard is had to the Qualifications of the Person for such a Trust by the Patron that presents and the Bishop who admits and institutes the Person so qualified 2. The old Canons were very strict as to personal Residence so as to fix them in their Cures from which they could not go away when they pleased which they called Promissionem stabilitatis Our Saxon Canons are clear as to the personal Cure Can. Egbert 1. 4 6. Populo sibi commisso and no Presbyter could leave his Cure and go to another only for Honour or Profit Can. 13. And none could go from one Bishop to another without his Diocesan's Leave Concil Herudford c. 5. Egbert de Eccles. Instit. p. 97 100. And when the Bishop gives Institution he commits the Care of Souls to the Incumbent and not meerly the Care that Divine Offices be there performed But yet it is well observed by Aquinas That if the having more Benefices than one were a thing evil in it self it could in no case be dispensed with but there are some Actions which in general are irregular yet in some cases may be justified especially if they be extraordinary as to Publick Service and Usefulness c. And to the same purpose Cajetan speaks but he saith The Cases that make it lawful must relate to a Publick and not a Private Good but he mentions these things which excuse from Residence 1. Lawful Impediments as to Health c. 2. Publick Service And others say a Geometrical Proportion ought to be observed in the Distribution of Ecclesiastical Benefices and not an Arithmetical i. e. A Regard ought to be had to the Merits and Capacities of Persons as a Commander hath more Pay than many common Souldiers but this reaches only to the Value and not to the Number of Benefices But the Question still remains Whether a Legal Dispensation take not off the Obligation in Point of Conscience since it is allowed by Law and the Curate appointed by the Bishop who committed the Cure of Souls to him In answer to this we must consider 1. That the Law proposes in Dispensations very allowable Ends as Publick Service Incouragement of Learning Reward of Merit and therefore Doctors by Favour have not the Privilege which others have and in case of Incompetency as it was then judged no Legal Dispensation was needful 2. Some Ancient Canons took care of the Supply of the Place by competent Persons and in that case abated the Rigour of the Canon For Sirmondus saith in the Canon of the Council of Nantz against Pluralities this Clause was added Unless he hath Presbyters under him to supply the Duties of his Place And the same Clause is in Regino l. 1. c. 254. and Regino puts it among the Articles of Enquiry as to the Clergy If any had more Churches than one without Presbyters to assist him And in their old Admonition to them at Visitations it is to the same purpose but in others it is left out Thomassin is of Opinion That the former Enquiry related to those who had Chapels and not to more Churches because then there were none that had Titles upon anothers Benefice but these Words are express as to more Churches It 's true there were no such Titles then for a Title in the old Canon Law was the Relation which a Clergyman stood in to the Bishop of his Diocess being one of his Clergy and so the Greek Canonists understand a Man 's not being ordained without a Title and not having two Churches i. e. not to have Relation to two Diocesses and so sine Titulo is without being owned by some Bishop and this was that which they thought ought to be strictly observed and to which purpose many Canons were made both ancient and later and if any deserted their Bishop they were liable to Deprivation Afterwards the Word Title came to be applied to parochial Churches but there were some who found out that the Ancient Canons had another Sense Thence in the Council of Placentia in the Canon Sanctorum Dist. 70. c. 2. it was decreed That one might have two Churches in the same Diocess but not two Preferments in several Cathedrals And in the Council of Clermont A. D. 1095. the Reason is given because according to the Canons no Man could have-two Titles and every one was bound to hold to the Title to which he was first ordained But after all the Council of Nantz shews plainly that more parochial Titles were then allowed if well provided for by such persons as the Bishop of the Diocess approved Now this very much alters the State of the case for then the Obligation is Real and not Personal 3. It was agreed by the Ancient Canons That where there was an Incompetency of Maintenance they allowed an Union for support now that is but the Bishop's Act in joyning what had been divided supposing a sufficient Subsistence And a reasonable Distance with the Bishop's Allowance hath the same Equity i.e. the Bishop's Act may unite two small Benefices for a Support not by a perpetual Union but so long as he sees cause which our Law doth still allow under such a Value But it is rather a Dispensation than an Union for the Rights continue distinct In the Court of Rome there were Prerogative Unions ad Vitam which were very scandalous and are owned by the best Canonists to be destructive of all Order and invented to defeat the Canons against Pluralities But the Unions which the Law allows are only those where two distinct Benefices are made one for a competent Subsistence and then if the Union be reasonable the Dispensation within due Distance is so too Balsamon saith In the Greek Church Pluralities are not forbidden if they be near and under the same Bishop but they did not allow the same Man to be under two Bishops In the Capitulars that Clause is added That no Man shall have more Livings than one si Facultas suppetit if it affords a reasonable Subsistence And therefore in case of Incompetency of Maintenance of a good Provision for Curates and of
publick Service the Severity of the Ancient Canons is with Reason abated and a person is supposed to undertake the Cure with those Measures which the Law and Canons allow But every Man who regards the doing his Duty out of Conscience will consider how much lies upon himself and that the original Intention of the Church and Laws was That no Man should undertake more than he was willing and ready to discharge as far as one Man's Abilities could go For in great Cities one great Parish requires more than several Churches in the Countrey and in such Cases an equitable Construction must be put upon such Canons which require personal performance of these Duties OF THE MAINTENANCE OF THE PAROCHIAL CLERGY BY LAW THE Subject I intend now to consider is the Incouragement which the Parochial Clergy have by Law for the doing their Duties Which are the Manse the Oblations and the Tithes I. The Manse or House and Glebe In the Canons of Egbert it is said Can. 25. That an entire Manse ought to belong to every Church without any other than Ecclesiastical Service By a Manse Mr. Selden saith in the old Charters the same is meant as a Casat or Hyde of Land Bignonius and Sirmondus say So much Glebe as was an Imployment for an Husbandman and two Servants Spelman saith It takes in the House too Lyndwood saith As much Land as would Imploy a Yoke of Oxen and so the Gloss on the Canon Law But in another place the Gloss saith The Manse is the original Endowment of the Church without which it cannot be supplied and without which it could not be consecrated For the Endowment was first to be produced before the Building Collatâ primitùs donatione solemni are the Words of the Canon Law And the same appears by Concil Valent. 3. c. 9. Concil Bracar 2. c. 5. Vit. Udalrici c. 7. Regino l. 1. c. 23 24. which is there explained to be a substantial Sustenance for those who were to attend the Service of that Church And in the Acts of Consecration of a parochial Church in Baluzius the Bishop in the first place declares himself satisfied with the Endowment unde dignè domus Dei sustentaretur And upon this the Original Right of Patronage was founded not upon the Soil which gave no Title where there was not a Church built and endowed with a competent Subsistence So that all Advowsons or Rights of Presentation in private Patrons were at first Appendant to Manors and not in Gross because the Right came from the Endowment out of the Manor And the Name of Patron in the Sense of the Feudal Law is the same with Lord of the Fee and so Beneficium is a Feudal Term and till the Feudal Law prevailed the Name of Patrom is rarely used in this Sense And when it came to be used the Patrons in France would have brought those who had their Benefices to a kind of Feudal Service and to have received Investiture from them This Mr. Selden drives at as though the Patrons had the Right of Investiture belonging to them because some such Practice is often complained of in the French Canons and as often condemned not meerly by Ecclesiastical Canons but by as good Laws as any were then made It cannot be denied that bad Practices are the Occasion of making good Laws but doth it follow that those Practices which were against Law were the Law of that time Yet this is Mr. Selden's way of Arguing he grants That there were Laws made but they were little obeyed Must we therefore conclude those illegal Practices to have been the standing Law and the Laws themselves to be illegal There were two things aimed at by those Patrons 1. To keep the Clergy in a sole Dependance on themselves witout Regard to the Bishop's Authority 2. To make such Bargains with them as they thought fit Both these were thought necessary to be redressed by Laws since the Canons were slighted by them And if the Practice be good against Law in one case why not in the other also Why is not Simony justified as well as the Patron 's absolute Power over the Incumbents but the Laws were severe against both For in the time of Lud. Pius A. D. 816. there was a solemn Assembly of the Estates of the Empire where several Ecclesiastical Laws were passed and among the rest these two 1. That no Presbyters should be put in or put out of Churches without the Authority and Consent of the Bishops and that the Bishops should not refuse those who were presented if they were probabilis Vitae Doctrinae i.e. such as the Bishops could not object against either for Life or Learning 2. That every Church should have an entire Manse belonging to it free from any Feudal Service but if they had other Estates of their own for them they were to answer to the Lords of the Manor as others did And from hence this came into the Collections of Ivo Regino Burchardus and Gratian and passed for a Law generally received As to the former a new Sanction was added to it in another Assembly at Worms A. D. 829. c. 1. and repeated in the Capitulars l. 5. c. 98. Addit 4. c. 95. and the like as to the latter l. 5. c. 100. Capit. A. 829. c. 4. But it seems there were some still continued obstinate in their former Practices and therefore these Laws were reinforced in another Assembly A. D. 869. in the time of Carolus Calvus who mentions the Laws of his Father and Grandfather to the same purpose c. 9. and there takes notice of the Contrivances made use of to defeat the Intention of those Laws and the bottom of all is there said to be abominable Simony Which shews what it was which these Patrons aimed at by claiming Investiture without the Bishop And it was then judged necessary that the Bishop's Consent was required to prevent this Mischief But still some Patrons required Feudal Service for the Glebe they had given to the Church but the Law commands them to restore it free from such Service Capit l. 5. c. 100. Addit l. 4. c. 98 163. And after much struggling Hinomarus who lived at that time saith That these Laws were observed The Patron 's Right by Virtue of the Endowment was not disputed but an Arbitrary Power as to the Incumbents was utterly denied them and they were put under the Bishop's Care who was to receive Complaints against them and to proceed according to the Churches Canons But I am apt to think that all this stir in France did not arise from the pretence of Original Donation and Endowment of Churches but from the Infeodation of Church Lands and Titles by Charles Martel as an old MS. in Filesacus saith and others in France whose Custom it was to give them in Recompence to their Souldiers who then looked on them as their