Controversie of that Prince with Becket his Archbishop may alone suffice to shew When being angry with the Archbishop for Excommunicating one who held of him and did him service without first obtaining his leave so to do he in his Parliment at Westminster proposed to the Bishops that they should promise to observe the Ancient Laws of the Realm This they refused to do but with a Proviso put in to secure their own Liberties The King resenting this the Archbishop and Bishops in a great Council at Oxford promised that they would submit to what he required of them But when he thereupon held his Parliament at Clarendon and the particular points which they were to yield to were proposed to them Becket tho' he had at first sworn to observe them yet afterwards flew off from it and never left till he at last lost his Life in an obstinate Opposition of the King's Prerogative From this time the power both of the Pope and Clergy began very much to prevail For the King being upon this occasion forced to a dishonourable Submission and the following Princes especially King John sinking their Authority still lower the Efforts which were made by the Laity against it were for some time but very seeble Nor could the Parliament sufficiently vindicate its Power against the Encroachments that were daily made upon the Civil Jurisdiction But however both our Kings and our Parliaments began by degrees to recover their Authority and to return to their former strength tho' indeed it was not till about the End of this Period that they did so And how far they then extended their Power both over Ecclesiastical Persons and in regulating of Ecclesiastical Matters their Acts still remaining and many of them still in force too sufficiently shew and all which are so well known that I shall not need to insist more particularly upon them III PERIOD From the 23d of King Edward the First to the 25th of King Henry the Eighth In the last Period we met with a considerable Change by the Usurpation of the Pope and Weakness of our Princes made in the Exercise of the Ecclesiastical Supremacy We are now to account for no less a change in the Civil State If the opinion of those may be admitted who here fix the first Settlement of our Parliament upon that lasting and excellent Foundation upon which it has ever since stood and upon which it is to be hoped it shall ever continue to stand That our Kings from the beginning had their great Councils and which tho' not yet call'd by that Name were nevertheless instead of a Parliament to them has before been observed and cannot be deny'd or doubted of by any To these the most eminent Persons of the Kingdom as well Clergy as Laity were wont to be called before the time of the Norman Conquest And when by occasion thereof the Conquerour made a change in the Tenures of Lands in this Country from thenceforth all the great Men and Clergy who held of him by Baronies and ow'd him Service thereby were summon'd by him to his great Councils And with these all such others as held of him in capite were obliged to attend at them whensoever their Presence should be required and that was for the most part as often as the Prince wanted Money and expected a supply from them Thus much the Charter of King John implies and this seems to have been the true Constitution of our Parliament till about the latter end of King Henry the Third's time How a change was then made and what occasion was taken for the making of it it is not needfull for me in this place to enquire But that in the 49th Year of that King the Commons were summon'd by Writ to come to Parliament is confess'd by those who deny that they ever had any place in it before Whether they from thenceforth continued to be constantly called to these Councils or whether there was an Interruption in this new Establishment from that time till about the 18th of King Edward the First as it is hard to determine so is it not very material to my present business to enquire That which we are sure of is that in the 18th of King Edward the First they were again summon'd and so have continued ever since to be But tho' it be therefore confess'd that the Commons were constantly call'd to the Parliament from the 18th of Edward the First yet it does not appear that the Method now observed of chusing of them was so soon brought in The most ancient Authorities that are alledged for this are the Writs of the 23d of the same King and from which time accordingly some have dated the full Settlement of our present most wise and admirable Constitution And as this is the Change which seems to have been made about this time in the secular part of our Parliament so have we reason to believe that at the same time there was no less a change made in the Ecclesiastical part of it For whereas before only the Bishops and Abbots who held of the King by their Baronies were wont to be summon'd thither in the 49th of Henry 3. when the Commons began to be call'd several of the Inferiour Clergy were also call'd together with them and that for ought appears in a larger Proportion than the Laity themselves were And when in the 23d of Edward 1st the constitution of the Parliament came to be setled as now it is the Inferiour Clergy were put upon the very same foot that the Commons were in it And as with respect to the one a Writ was issued out to the Sheriff of each County to return such a certain number of Knights Citizens and Burgesses so with relation to the other a Clause was inserted into the Writ of the Bishop of every Diocese to send the Dean of his Cathedral and his Archdeacons in person and out of the Chapter and Archdeaconries to chuse such a number of Proctors as was thought sufficient to represent the Clergy of each Diocess in it 'T is true we are told that in some few Writs at the beginning this Clause was sometimes omitted By what means or upon what account they cannot tell But then as we find that when this general Clause was omitted particular Writs were sent to several of the Inferiour Clergy to come to Parliament so the same Learned Person who furnishes us with this Remark does ingenuously confess that after a diligent search of our Records it did appear to him that these Defects were soon over and that from the 6th of Edw. 3. the Clergy have continued to be as duly and constantly summon'd to Parliament as the Commons themselves have been Indeed so evident is the truth of this that our greatest Lawyers and Antiquaries do not deny the inferiour Clergy to have been once a member of the Parliament My Lord Coke has told us That many
those I shall therefore think my self concern'd in the first place to Consider Now among these not to mention the two Conferences of Austin with the British Bishops I know of none more ancient than that which was held before King Oswi and his Son at Streanshealch in the Monastery of Hilda concerning the time of Easter the form of Tonsure and as Florence of Worcester adds some other Ecclesiastical Matters Whether King Oswi by his Authority called this Synod it do's not appear this we know that He not only consented to the meeting of it but also sate with his Son in it and managed the debates of it He proposed the business for which they met and at last finally Resolved what was to be held to with Reference to the Points that had been debated And tho' the Argument that determined him to embrace St. Peter's Tradition rather than St. John's viz. that He kept the door in Heaven and therefore He durst not contradict him lest when he came thither the Apostle should Resuse him Entrance was but very mean and suitable to the Rudeness and Ignorance of those Times yet we see what Authority our Princes from the beginning had as to these matters and how considerable a part they were allow'd in their Synods But more eminent as well as more exact were the Synods held by Theodore Archbishop of Canterbury in the first of which at Herudford as the Bishops of several Provinces were assembled so did they Agree with Theodore upon many usefull Constitutions for the Government of the Church And as this Synod first setled the Discipline of the Church in these Parts so did that of Heathfield which met about seven years after establish the Faith of it It admitted of the decisions of the Five first General Councils and setled the Catholick doctrine of the Church against the several Heresies which had been condemn'd in those Councils In both these Synods it is expressly said that Theodore Presided And so he did in the next I am to take notice of which was held at Atwyford Anno 685. In which among other things St. Cuthbert was chosen Bishop of Lindisfarn and upon Easter-day was Consecrated by seven Bishops who Attended upon the King at that solemn Season By whose Authority these Councils were call'd it do's not sufficiently appear to Us but that in this last King Egfride was present we are expressly inform'd And the constant Custom of the Princes in those days will not suffer us to doubt but that it was by their Direction that their Bishops both met and acted in Them At the Council of Cloveshoe Anno 742 not only Aethelbald K. of the Mercians Presided but his Princes and Officers were present too Yet this was properly an Ecclesiastical Synod and the Matters transacted in it all Related to the Church Nor is this so much to be wonder'd at seeing in the Legatine Synods held by Gregory and Theophylact sent hither by Pope Adrian the First for that purpose Our Kings not only directed the Assembling of Them but together with their Nobles sate in Them And to testify their Consent to what was done together with their Lords as well as Bishops subscribed to the Acts of Them And these are the chief of those Ecclesiastical Synods which were held in these Times As for the many Others whose Acts remain to Us they are manifestly Civil Conventions and most of them such Assemblies of the States as were afterwards call'd by the Name of Parliaments Among these as none ought more to be consider'd so were none more plainly such than Those in which our Ancient Saxon Laws were either drawn up or publish'd And a very considerable part of which relate to the Order and Discipline of the Church Thus Ina made his Laws with the Consent of his Bishops and all his Aldermen K. Alfred collected his with the advice of all his Wise-men K. Edward the Elder and Guthrun review'd and enlarged Them as assisted by their Wise-men And tho' in the Preamble to the Laws of K. Aethelstan we find mention only made of his Archbishop and Bishops because they indeed only drew up those Laws which were more properly Ecclesiastical yet in the Close of them we are told that all these Constitutions were publish'd in one of those Synods at which not only Wulfhelm the Archbishop but all his Great and Wise-men were present that is were publish'd in one of his Great Councils by him K. Edmund compiled his Laws in the Assembly of his Wise-men as well Ecclesiasticks as Lay-men So did Edgar and Ethelred afterwards And lastly Canutus in the Preface to his Laws not only tells us that they were made with the Advice of his Wise-men to the Glory of God-Almighty the Ornament of his Kingly Majesty and the Good of the Common-wealth But precisely notes the time when he compiled them namely That they were made at Christmas in the City of Winchester where he then kept that Feast and his Nobles according to the ancient Custom attended upon him and sate in Council with him To run thro' all the other Councils of the like nature in which Constitutions have been made and Debates held concerning things relating to the Church would engage me in a needless as well as tedious Research I shall only mention a few of those of chiefest Note which together with those before spoken of may suffice to give us a right Understanding of the Nature and Quality of them At Becanceld about the Year 694 Withred King of Kent held a General Council and if the relation be true it was indeed of an extraordinary Composition There were present at it not only the Archbishop of Canterbury and Bishop of Rochester with the Lords and others of the Laity but the Abbots Abbesses Priests and Deacons of the Clergy It was called by Archbishop Brithwald at the Kings Command And not only the King and Bishops but all others of the Clerical Order subscribed to it At Berghamsted the same King about three Years after held another Council with his Bishops and Military Men and by their common Consent made several Constitutions to be added to the Laws and Customs of Kent But more remarkable is the Council at which Wulfred presided under Kenulph King of the Mercians Anno 816. At which as at that of Becanceld before not only a great number of Bishops were present but together with the King came also his Princes Dukes and Lords And all these were surrounded with the rest of the Holy Orders Abbots Priests and Deacons treating with one accord of what was usefull or necessary for the Church I insist not upon the Synods of Cloveshoe assembled by Beornulfe King of the Mercians Anno 822 824 And both which were evidently great Councils of that Nation As were also the Council of London An. 833 Of Kingstone An. 838 Of Kingsbury An. 851 Of Winchester An. 855 Of
any Pope but such as was agreeable to his Will and Pleasure And particularly that he would not endure any Synod to be held by the Bishops of England or any thing to be determined in any Ecclesiastical Causes without Leave and Authority first had from him to empower them so to do And the same was the Resolution of his Sons after him And tho' being necessitated for the sake of their civil Interests to yield a little some of our following Princes did submit to the Papal Usurpations yet no sooner was their Government grown strong and their Peace setled but both our Kings and our great Men presently began to assert their Freedom and to cast off those Chains which the Pope had watch'd his Opportunity to put upon them So that now then to give a short account of the method of managing the Affairs of the Church in this Period it was briefly this In the great Council of the Realm and which tho' alter'd in some circumstances by the Conquerour from what it was before yet still continu'd in the main the same as the Bishops and most considerable of the Abbots had a place so now as heretofore Ecclesiastical as well as civil Causes were handled by them and Laws pass'd for the Government of the Church no less than of the State In the other and more select Councils of our Kings which in this Period were held sometimes at the great Feasts and sometimes at such other Seasons as our Princes thought sit and to which they took such of their great Men only both Ecclesiastical and Secular as themselves thought sit many Affairs of the Church were also debated tho' not with such Authority as in the other more general Councils Besides these Assemblies as from the beginning of this Period Ecclesiastical Synods did often meet so in them were the rest of those Matters transacted which appertain'd to the Church But then these as they met not without the King's Licence so neither did they determine any thing but by his Consent nor were their Acts of any Authority until they were confirm'd by him This was the State of the Church in the beginning of this Period whilst it as yet stood free from the Usurpations of the Bishop of Rome How it came to be enslaved afterwards will better appear from that particular view we are now to take of those Councils in which any thing of greater Moment relating to the Church has been concluded I have before observed how our Princes very early began with great Solemnity to keep the three chief Festivals of the Year and to be attended by their Bishops and Lords at them At one of these Seasons presently after he was setled in the Government the Conquerour commanded a Synod to be held and made use of the Pope's Au 〈…〉 rity and the Presence of his Legats to strengthen what he had to do in it Having thus assembled the Bishops apart into an Ecclesiastical Council he proceeded not only to deprive Stigand Archbishop of Canterbury who in some measure deserved it but several others of the Clergy for no other real reason but only that he did not love them or else wanted to have his Normans in their places And having thus proceeded as far as he thought good in this Council he stopt still the next solemn Festival And then in another Synod of the same kind and assembled by the same Authority he went on to farther Deprivations after the like manner as he had done before It was at a like meeting of his Bishops and Lords about two years after that resolving the great Council into an Ecclesiastical Synod he determined the Primacy of the Archbishop of Canterbury over the Archbishop of York and subscribed his Name to the Acts of it What that Synod was which Lanfrank sometime after held at Westminster we are not told This we are inform'd that it was call'd by the King's Command and that he was present at this as he had been at the other two Whether this were the same Council which we find recorded by Malmsbury in the life of Lanfranc or whether there was another assembled the same year I cannot tell But that a Synod was held about this time at London we are well assured In this many ancient Canons were revived and the foundation laid for renewing the Ecclesiastical Discipline of the Church And because this had not sufficiently determined what was necessary to be done the next Year after he held another at Winchester in which several usefull Constitutions were establish'd the Heads of which still remain to us These are the chief of those Ecclesiastical Synods that we are told were assembled under K. William the Conquerour And the last of which however said to have been call'd by Lanfranc who also presided in them yet still we must remember what we have before in general observed of this King that the Archbishop call'd them by his Command Who also approved their Acts before he suffer'd them to have any Authority in this Realm For the farther Confirmation of which Remark let us only cast our Eye upon the Conduct of this Prince as to these matters in his own Dutchy of Normandy and from thence we shall be able the more certainly to judge what Power he claim'd over his Clergy in his new Dominions And here we find that at Whitsontide Anno 1086 he assembled his Parliament at Roan The Members who composed it were the same that in those days made up ours There were present the Archbishop Bishops and Abbots of his Territories and with them the great Lords of the Laity Being met they made several Laws for the Government both of the Church and State and he was both present at their Debates and by his Authority confirm'd what had been agreed on by them And when some time before the Archbishop of Roan held a Provincial Synod with his Bishops and Clergy purely to consult of the Affairs of the Church and several Canons were compiled by them the Acts of it observe that the Conquerour was himself both present at the making of them and that he afterwards confirm'd them by his Command Such was the Authority which this Prince exercised over his Synods As for his Successor King William the Second he was not at all less but rather was more stiff in asserting his Rights as to these matters than ever his Father had been Insomuch that being on a time desired by Anselm Archbishop of Canterbury To employ his Authority to the restoring of Christianity almost utterly defaced in his Realm He ask'd him What he would have him do Command says Anselm Councils to be renew'd according to ancient Custom There let it be enquired what has been done a miss and let a seasonable Provision be made for the remedying of it There has not been held a general Council of Bishops since you came to the Crown nor for some time before Through this defect many
Archbishop and Legate held a Synod at Merton upon St. Barnabas's day The Pope had the year before granted to the King the Tenths of the Clergy for three years But the Clergy tho' they Honour'd the Pope much yet resolved not to part with their Money And the Archbishop held this Synod on purpose to Oppose the payment of what he had granted Upon another Legate's being sent hither Anno 1261 several Councils were this year call'd and held in Our Country The two Archbishops Assembled their Respective Clergy at London and Beverley And Boniface held another distinct Council at Lambeth and publish'd many excellent Constitutions in it But most famous in these times as of chiefest Authority afterwards was the Council Assembled by Ottobon another Legate about the Year 1268. He had two years before at the Parliament at Northampton Assembled the Clergy who met there and with Them Excommunicated all such as should adhere to Simon Montfort and his Party And now he held this Other at London with the Clergy of the whole Kingdom and therein publish'd those Notable Constitutions we still have under his Name It was now become a matter of Custom and accounted a matter of Right for the Legates Extraordinary and the Archbishop of Canterbury as Legate of Course to Summon the Clergy to Convocations Insomuch that we do not find this Great King who otherwise was sensible enough of the Encroachments that had been made and were daily making upon the Royal Authority to have been at all Offended at it Hence Peckham the Archbishop being return'd from Rome Anno 1280 the same year held a Council at Redding and therein commanded the Constitutions of the General Council of Lyons to be observed And the next year He assembled another at Lambeth in which the Orders and Constitutions establish'd by Otho and Ottobon were Confirm'd and some Others added for the better Government of the Church About ten years after the same Peckham again held another Synod at Redding in which when the King heard that They were attempting some Orders in derogation to his Authority He sent to the Archbishop and Bishops to desist And upon his Threatnings they put a stop to their Proceedings and Brake up the Council And thus have we seen what Encroachments were made towards the End of this Period upon the Prince's Authority in the Subject before Us. There were within this Period as all along after besides these National and Provincial Councils several Episcopal or Diocesan Synods Assembled for the Affairs of that particular Diocess in which they were held and some Rules were made by Them to be observed by the Clergy of that District only Such were the Constitutions of Alexander Bishop of Coventry Anno 1237 Of Walter Bishop of Worcester made in his Synod at Worcester Anno 1240 Of Walter Bishop of Norwich made in his Synod at Norwich Munday after Michaelmas Anno 1255 Of Giles Bishop of Salisbury Anno 1256 And of which it is not necessary that I should take any particular Notice on this Occasion But tho' the Affairs of the Church were in great measure handled in these several Kinds of Ecclesiastical Synods yet this did not hinder but that still Our Kings with their Great Councils did from time to time interpose in these Matters and order many things relating to Ecclesiastical Persons and Causes When Wulstan Bishop of Worcester challenged some Lands as belonging to his See which were with-held from it by the Archbishop of Tork the Cause between them was judged by William the Conquerour in his Parliament at Pendrede the Archbishop Bishops Lords and Great Men being present This was manifestly a State Assembly and by these was the Right between the two Bishops examined and determined But more properly Ecclesiastical was the Cause which William the Second examined in his Parliament at Rockingham upon Anselm's resolving to go to Rome and to receive his Pall from thence This the King vehemently opposed and declared that the Archbishop could not both preserve his fidelity to him and pay obedience to the Pope And it is observable that the referring of this cause to the Judgment of the Parliament was at Anselm's own desire who cannot be suspected of doing any thing that he thought in the least inconsistent with the Liberties of the Church The next great Controversie that arose of this kind was in the second Year of King Henry the First about the Right of Investitures This was a point much debated in those times not only here but in most of the Countries of Europe To this the King laid a claim and accounted himself to have as good a Title to it as his Father and Brother before him had Upon this occasion the Quarrel grew so high between the King and Anselm that the latter was once more sorced to leave the Kingdom But the cause was at last brought before the Parliament and there it was by mutual Consent resolved that from thenceforth no one should be invested by the King or any other lay hand to a Bishoprick or Abbey by the delivery of the Pastoral Staff or Ring but yet upon such a promotion they should do Homage to the King for it which was the other thing that Pope Urban had before insisted upon as much as upon the point of Investitute its self This matter was scarce ended when another arose about the Marriage of the Clergy And this was in like manner ended in Parliament by the Authority as well of the King and his Lords as of the Archbishops and Bishops And an order made to prohibit all such as were in any Clerical Order to cohabit with their Wives There was yet a third great Controversie remaining concerning the Primacy of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Subjection that was due from the Archbishop of York to him This also was brought before the King at Whitsontide and determined by him with his Bishops and Lords and the Authority of the See of Canterbury asserted by them And when some time after this Thurstine Archbishop of York refused to be concluded by this Decree he was in full Parliament obliged either to renounce his Bishoprick or to pay Obedience to the See of Canterbury No sooner was this King dead and Stephen placed in his Throne but in full Parliament he confirm'd the Liberties of the Church and made very ample Concessions to it In his Parliament at Northampton two years after he disposed of several Ecclesiastical Preferments And that this was the customary manner of those times may be gathered from the last Parliament of this King Which was call'd by him as well for the Affairs of the Kingdom as to make Provision for the Church of York then vacant by the death of St. William the late Bishop of it How far the Parliament still continued to meddle with Ecclesiastical Affairs under the next King's Reign the
times they have appear'd there as Spiritual Assistants to consider consult and consent Only he affirms that they never had Voices there because they were no Lords of Parliament the force of which Argument I shall leave to the House of Commons to answer In the mean time I must observe that in the case of Bird and Smith Trin. 4. Jac. 1. upon a Deprivation made of Smith by the High Commissioners for not Conforming to the Canons of the Church the Lord Chancellour having call'd Popham Lord Chief Justice of the King's Bench Coke of the Common Pleas and Fleming Lord Chief Baron to his assistance it was agreed to by all the three without any Exception That the Canons of the Church made by the Convocation and King without the Parliament shall bind in matters Ecclesiastical as well as an Act of Parliament Because the Convocation of the Clergy was once a Member of the Parliament but afterwards for Convenience separated and therefore does carry its peculiar Jurisdiction along with it in the Convocation House For which reason also a Clergy-man cannot be chosen a Member of the House of Commons nor a Lay-man of the Convocation as Coke then declared had been resolved in a Conference of the two Houses 21 Hen. 8. And as concerning the other part of my Lord Coke's Assertion that the Proctors of the Clergy never had Voices in Parliament because in the Writ of Summons it is said that they were call'd Ad consentiendum his quae tunc ibidem de communi consilio dicti regni nostri contigerit ordinari it may suffice to observe that tho' this be indeed the present Form yet when both the Clergy and Commons were first called to this great Council they were both summon'd to another purpose and in words that did expresly intitle them to act in it In the 23d Edw. 1. the first Summons for ought appears that was ever regularly issued out for them they were called Ad Tractand Ordinand Faciend nobiscum cum caeteris praelatis proceribus aliis incolis Regni nostri In the 4th Edw. 3. Ad Faciend Consentiend And this continued to be the usual Form afterwards And these are the very Words that were used in the Commons Writs in the same Parliament 4 Edward 3 And which tho' alter'd about the 26th of that King into others of greater force Ad Tractand Consulend Faciend Yet that Form lasted not very long but in the 46 of the same King it again was worded Ad Faciend Consulend and so has continued to this day And a more ancient Authority than this in my Lord Coke's Account has told us that the Clergy were call'd Ad Tractand Deliberand That their names were call'd over the beginning of every Parliament that they had a Voice in it and made a part of the Commons there But because this is a point that will best be clear'd by matter of Fact we will enquire a little what the Clergy were wont heretofore to do there For as for the Forms of Summons tho' I conceive at first they were very properly drawn and do mark out to us the undoubted Rights of those to whom they were sent as they were allow'd of in those ancient times yet how little they may signifie now the Form of our Parliamentary Writs in the Praemonentes to the Bishop does alone too evidently shew In the 6 Edw. 3. after the Archbishop of Cant. and Bishop of London had declared how that the French King designing an Expedition to the Holy Land had desired our King to go along with him and that this was the cause of calling that Parliament Sir Jeffery le Scroop added by the King's Commandment that the same was called as well to redress the Breach of the Laws and Peace as for the King 's going to the Holy Land The Bishops answer'd That it did not properly appertain to them to counsel in matters of Peace and to prescribe for the punishment of Evils And so together with the Proctors of the Clergy they went apart to consult about the Matters proposed to them In the 13th of the same King the King appointing Commissioners in his stead to begin and continue the Parliament we find the Dean of York as Treasurer standing next to the Archbishop in the Commission And in the Parliament which met the Michaelmas before it being resolved to hold another upon the Octaves of Hilary the Archbishops were order'd to summon their respective Convocations to be ready to meet with it In the 18th of the same Edw. 3. at the opening of the Parliament complaint was made that sundry of all Estates were absent whereat the King did no less muse than he was thereat offended Wherefore he charged the Archbishop for his part to punish the Defaults of the Clergy and he would do the like touching the Parliament And in the same Session the Resolution being taken that the King should end the War he was engaged in either by Battle or an Honourable Peace the King agreed And in order thereunto the Clergy of Cant. granted him a Triennial Disme and the Commons two fifteens of Counties and two Dismes of Cities and Towns It was the usual custom of the Commons in those days to begin such Bills as they thought necessary to have pass'd by Petition to the King in Parliament Thus they did in this Parliament 18 Edw. 3. which being ended the Bishops and Clergy exhibited their Petitions also being in number seven whereto the King answer'd and the same comprized in the Statute for the Clergy still extant In the Preamble of which the King takes notice of the Triennial Disme granted to him by the Prelates and Procurators of the Clergy of both Provinces In the 1 Rich. 2. we again find the Clergy petitioning in like manner And in the 21st of the same King the Commons by Sir John Bussey their Speaker pray the King that forasmuch as divers Judgments were heretofore undone for that the Clergy were not present therefore they pray'd the King that the Clergy should appoint some to be their common Proctor with sufficient Authority thereunto And the Bishops thereupon appointed Sir Thomas Piercie their Proctor to assent in the name of the Clergy And by vertue whereof when the Parliament took a new Oath to the King the Bishops and Abbots themselves took it and Sir Thomas Piercie as Proctor for the Clergy was sworn to the same And when in the same Parliament Sir John Bussey offer'd the King a Subsidy from the Commons and thereupon desired his general Pardon the Clergy gave the like power to Sir William â—e Scroop of Wilts to answer for them that they late did to Sir Thomas Piercie And when finally upon the advice of Sir John Bussey the Lords were required again to swear not to alter any thing of what was done in this Parliament not only the Bishops and Temporal Lords did so but sundry
of the Church of England already establish'd 5. Provided also and our express Will Pleasure and Commandment is That the said Canons Orders Ordinances and Constitutions Matters Causes and Things or any of them so to be by force of these presents consider'd consulted or agreed upon shall not be of any Force Effect or Validity in the Law but only such and so many of them and after such Time as we by our Letters Patents under our great Seal of England shall allow approve and confirm the same Any thing before in these Presents contain'd to the contrary thereof notwithstanding In Witness whereof we have caused these our Letters to be made Patent Witness our self at Westminster the 15th Day of April in the xvith Year of our Reign Per ipsum Regem Willis The Canons and the King's Declaration in Confirmation of them made hereupon are already extant in Sparrow's Collection pag. 335. VI. A Specimen of Convocations anciently held without Parliaments or at different Times from Them till the latter End of King Henry viiith's Reign ANno 1297. The Convocation sate March 26 But the King was then absent upon his Expedition in Scotland and held not his Parliament till the End of the Summer first at Berwick and after that at St. Edmunds-bury November 3. Wals. p. 68. Anno 1316. 9. Ed. 2. The Writ of Summons to the Convocations bears date Febr. 17. to meet post xv Pasch. The Parliament was summon'd the 16 Octob. before to meet in Quinden S. Hilarii Anno 1328. The Convocation was held at London the Fryday after the Purification The Parliament was held at Winchester the first Week in Lent after Wals. p. 129. Anno 1342. The Convocation met Oct. 10. But I do not find that any Parliament sate that Year Anno 1408. A Convocation and Parliament The Dates I have not But the former met at Oxford the latter at Gloucester Anno 1413. The Convocation met on Trinity Sunday The Parliament sate May the 15th being the Third Week in Easter foregoing Anno 1417. The Convocation met November 6. The Parliament sate not till November 16th Anno 1439. The Convocation met November 1. I find not any Parliament that Year Anno 1463. The Parliament sate April the 29th The Convocation met not till July 6. Anno 1466. The Convocation sate April 26. I find no Parliament this Year Anno 1486. The Convocation met February 13 The Parliament sate November 7. foregoing Anno 1538. A Convocation No Parliament Thus stood this matter till about the End of King Henry viiith's Reign Since which excepting in the Case of the Convocation of 1640 it has I think been the usual Custom for the Convocation to sit only in Time of Parliament VII An Abstract of several things relating to the Church which have been done since the 25 H. 8. by Private Commissions Or Otherwise out of Convocation 25 H. 8. THirty two Persons Appointed to Review c. the Canons of the Church and to Gather together out of them such as should from thenceforth alone be of force in it See the Act. c. 19. 1536. Injunctions by the King Bishop Burnet Hist. Ref. pag. 225. Order for the Translation of the Bible Ibid. pag. 195 249 302. 1538. New Injunctions Ibid. 249. Explication of the chief Points of Religion publish'd at the Close of the Convocation but not by it Ibid. p. 245. 1539. A Committee of Bishops appointed by the Lords at the King's Command to draw up Articles of Religion Ibid. p. 256. The vi Articles on which the Act passed brought in by the Duke of Norfolk and wholly carried on by the Parliament Ibid. p. 256 c. 1540. A Committee of Divines employed to draw up The necessary Erudition of a Christian Man Ibid. p. 286. Another Commission appointed to examine the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church Ibid. p. 294. 1542. The Examining of the English Translation of the Bible being begun by the Convocation is taken by the King out of their Hands and committed to the two Universities Ibid. p. 315. 1544. The King orders the Prayers for Processions and Litanies to be put into English and sends them to the Archbishop with an Order for the Publick Use of Them Ibid. p. 331. King Edward VI. 1547. The King orders a Visitation over his whole Kingdom and thereupon suspends all Episcopal Jurisdiction while it lasted Bishop Burnet Hist. Ref. Vol. II. p. 26. The Homilies composed Ibid. p. 27. Articles and Injunctions set forth p. 28. 1548. New Injunctions Ibid. Append. p. 126. An Order of Council for Removing Images Ibid. p. 129. Directions by the Council to the King's Preachers Ibid. p. 130. A Committee of Select Bishops and Divines appointed to Examine and Reform the Offices of the Church Ibid. Hist. p. 61 71. A new Office of Communion set forth by them Ibid. p. 64. This made way for the Act of 1548. p. 93. and 1551. Ibid. p. 189. 1549. An Order of Council forbidding Private Masses Ibid. p. 102 103. The Forms of Ordination Appointed by Act of Parliament order'd to be drawn up by a special Committee of Six Bishops and Six Divines to be named by the King Ibid. p. 141 143. 1552. The Observation of Holydays order'd by Act of Parliament Ibid. p. 191. 1553. A new Catechism by the King's Order required to be taught by Schoolmasters Ibid. p. 219. Queen Elizabeth 1559. The Queen's Injunctions q. v. Ibid. p. â—98 King James I. 1603. The Conference at Hampton-Court Fuller Ch. Hist. p. 21. 1607. An Order for a new Translation of the Bible the King directs the whole Process of it Ibid. p. 44. c. 1618. A Proclamation by the King concerning Sports and Recreations to be allow'd of on the Lords-Day Ibid. p. 74. King Charles I. Directions concerning Preaching with respect to the Arminian Points I have set down these Remarks in this and the foregoing Number for the most part as they lay in my Collections and I hope they are Exact Tho' at present I have not either Time or Opportunity to make so careful an Examination as I ought to do of several of Them FINIS Books printed for Richard Sare at Grays-Inn-Gate in Holborne THE Genuine Epistles of St. Barnabas St. Ignatius St. Clement St. Polycarp the Shepherd of Hermas c. Translated and published in English 8 â— A Practical Discourse concerning Sweâ—ring 8 o. A Sermon on the Publick Thanksgiving for Preservation of his Majestie 's Person These three by the Reverend Dr. VVake Also several Sermons upon several Occasions By Dr. VVake Fables of Aesop and other eminent Mythologists with Morals and Reflections Folio Erasinus Colloquies in English 8 o. The Visions of Dom. Froncisco de Quevedo 8 o. The three last by Sir Roger L'Estrange Epiâ—â—eâ—u's Morals with Simpliciâ—â—'s Comment translated by Mr. Stanhope 8 o. Compleat Sets consisting of 8 Volumes of Letters writ by a Turkish Spy who lived 45 Years undiscovered at Paris 12 o Humane Prudence or the Art by which a man may raise himself
That they had not proceeded according to the Method he had prescribed to them and commands them not to proceed to any farther Censures until they had settled the doctrine of Faith and receiv'd some New Directions from himself which he promis'd to send by another Commissioner whom he design'd to depute together with Candidian to look after them The Answer of the Council to this Order of the Emperor is very remarkable and clearly settles the Princes Right as to this particular They pretend not that he had no Power thus to Limit their Proceedings or to annul their Acts upon this pretence that they had not proceeded according to his Directions No but they beg leave to inform him that Candidian had not made a fair Report of their Actions to him and therefore intreat the Emperor that he would order Candidian with Five of the Fathers to come to him who should satisfie him that all things had been done Canonically by the Council The Emperor hereupon sends another Commissioner to them Who having examined both Parties and discover'd the Design of the Patriarch of Antioch gave leave to Seven Bishops of each side to go to Theodosius and inform him of their Proceedings This they did and the Emperor was satisfied that the Council had proceeded regularly against Nestorius In testimony whereof he approved of what they had done allow'd of their Acts and confirm'd them with his own Edict Such Authority has the Christian Prince to direct the Acts of the most General Councils and to require an Observance of their Directions I proceed 2dly To shew That for the better Exercise of this Authority He has also a Right if he pleases to sit in them and to preside over them So Constantine the first Christian Emperor did in the first General Council of Nice He not only sate with the Fathers but moderated in their Disputes and at last concurr'd with them in their Desinition And though after his Example in the Synod of Tyre the following Emperors chose rather to preside by their Commissioners than to come Themselves in Person and sit among them yet oftentimes we know they did vouchsafe their Presence to them and it was their Civil Affairs that prevented them when they did not Thus Marcian not only removed the Fourth General Council to Chalcedon on purpose that he might have it nearer to Him but was Himself present in the Sixth Action of it both to confirm what the Fathers had determined and to settle by their Judgment the Faith of the Church to After Ages And when by Order of the Council their Determination was read to him he not only approved of it but added this farther Sanction to it That if any Private Person Military Officer or Clergy-man should under pretence of any farther Dispute concerning those Matters cause any Disturbance if he were only a private Laick he should be banish'd if a Military Officer or Clergy man he should be degraded from his Employ and be liable to such farther Punishments as in such Case should be thought requisite And having done this he deliver'd to the Fathers Three Ecclesiastical Constitutions ready drawn up to be approved of by Them and they all gave their unanimous Assent to them But more frequent was the Custom of those Kings who Govern'd in those States which arose out of the Dissolution of the Roman Empire to sit and act with their Synods If we look to the Kingdom of Spain I have already observed how great a Veneration that Country has always paid to the Third Council of Toledo There were present at it five Metropolitans and seventy-eight Bishops subscribed to it Now at this Meeting Reccaredus was not only himself present but caused his Subjects who were before Arians to subscribe to the Catholick Faith in it And having done this He went on with the Fathers to settle the Discipline of the Church and acted rather like a Patriarch than a Prince among them For to instance only in a Canon or Two of that Council In the Second they tell us that the Bishops order'd so and so by the Advice of their most Glorious King Reccaredus In the Eighth by his Command and Consent In the Ninth by his Assent And lastly when all was done He thus subscribed the Acts of the Council together with the Bishops I Flavius Reccaredus King confirming this Deliberation which I have defined with the Holy Synod have subscribed to it It is impossible to imagine any thing more full to this purpose than what these Acts have afforded us As for the German Emperors they also sate in like manner with their Bishops In the famous Synod of Frankford one of the most eminent that was ever held after the first Antient and General Councils we read that it was assembled Praecipiente Praesidente Carolo Rege And whereas there were three great Points debated in it namely first Whether they should confirm the Sentence of Condemnation which had before been pass'd upon Elipandus Bishop of Toledo who held that our Saviour Christ was the Son of God only by Adoption and according to the Flesh not as if He were of the same Nature with God Secondly What they should resolve concerning the Second Council of Nice as to the Business of Image-Worship And Thirdly How to end some Secular Affairs It may be observed that in the Two first of These which related to Matters of Doctrine we find nothing of the Emperor's defining with the Bishops as neither of the Bishops concurring with Him in the Third But in all the Other Canons which concern the Discipline of the Church the King and the Synod join together and the Phrase runs in these Terms Statutum est Definitum est à Domino Rege à Sanctâ Synodo I might to this add many other Instances of the like nature but I shall take notice only of one and that of a Synod held under another Emperor lest any one should think that Charles the Great had taken more upon him than did of Right belong to him And it shall be of the Synod of Trebur called by Arnulf the Emperor about the Year 895. At the head of the Subscriptions made to which there is this remarkable Passage In this Holy Council the most Glorious King Arnulf our pious Prince presiding and assisting sate the Holy Fathers which came together with the Venerable Pastors of the Church And what they establish'd agreeably to the Catholick Faith they by a like profession confirm'd and with one accord subscribed to In short that the Princes of whom I have now been speaking did no more than all the other Emperors have been confest to have a Right to do is manifest from the Constitution made to this purpose in a full Synod An. 742. Where after a long Debate of the Prince with his Bishops and Priests how the Law of God and the Discipline of the Church might best be restored it was in the very
Hereticks were privily got into England He commanded a Council of Bishops to meet at Oxford and to call them before them And being accordingly Convicted by them they were publickly punish'd by the Civil Power By whose Authority the next Convention of the Clergy was assembled the year following it do's not appear Certain it is that in the Election of the Archbishop of Canterbury for which they met all was managed to the King 's content and the person chose whom He recommended to them After the death of Becket Richard Archbishop of Canterbury held a Provincial Council At this the two Kings both Father and Son were present and all things were done not only under their Inspection but the very Council was held with their Consent and Good Will And the King with his Lords confirm'd the Decrees of it How these matters flood in the next Reign it will not be very easie to say In which the King was for the most part absent upon his Expedition to the Holy Land and by the means whereof the Affairs of the Kingdom suffered not a little at Home Yet Baldwyn the Archbishop designing to accompany the King before he set out assembled a Provincial Synod to settle the State of the Church and to take such care as he thought needfull to secure the Liberties of his See It was not long after that William Bishop of Eli held another Synod at Westminster But He being endued with the double Character both of Lord Justice of the Kingdom in Richard's Absence and of the Pope's Legate as we cannot tell by which Authority He called it so neither can it be doubted but that between Both he had a sufficient Authority so to do And the same was the Case of Hubert after Who being empower'd both by the King and Pope assembled a Synod at York Presided in it and made many useful Constitutions for the Government of the Church Thus stood the Affairs of our Convocations in these two Reigns We must now go on to another prospect to a Reign in which thro' the ill Circumstances of the Government and the Troubles that fell out by the means of it the Pope according to his Custom made farther Invasions upon the Prince's Right and at last rais'd up his Authority to the highest pitch that ever it arrived at in this Kingdom The King being absent upon his Affairs in France and Hubert still enjoying his Legatine Power by Vertue thereof call'd a Synod to Westminster Anno 1200 And tho' forbidden by Geoffry Earl of Essex whom the King had left as Lord Justice of England during his Absence yet nevertheless went on with it and made several Constitutions in it It was about six years after that Jo. Ferentinus being sent as Legate into England and having got together a vast Quantity of Money held a Synod at Redding and so took his leave of the Realm From henceforth all things began to run into Confusion The King Obstinately opposing the admission of Stephen Langton to the See of Canterbury and the Pope thereupon putting the Kingdom under an Interdict and at last Excommunicating the King himself But it was not long before the Pope and the King came to an Agreement dishonourable to Himself and derogatory to the Rights both of the Crown and Kingdom Insomuch that Stephen himself Opposed it and joyn'd himself to the Barons against both Pope and King in defence of his Countries Liberties It was upon this new Agreement between the King and Pope that John doing what He would with the Preferments of the Church the Archbishop held a Council at Dunstable Anno 1214 And deputed two of their number to go to the Legate whom the Pope on that Occasion had sent hither to stop both His and the King's Proceedings by putting in an Appeal against Them Both to the Court of Rome And the same year the said Legate having received full satisfaction from the King and being therefore to Relax the Sentence which had pass'd both upon Him and the Kingdom that He might do it with the more Pomp caused a solemn Council to be held at St. Paul's London and there Released the Realm from its Interdict and Restored the King to his Royal Authority And here we must put an End to these Enquiries during this troublesome Reign For from henceforth the Kingdom was in a continual disorder in the midst of which the King at last died But tho' by the Wise Management of the Earl of Pembrook his Governour King Kenry the 3d. soon brought things into a better posture in the State yet still the Usurpations were maintain'd in the Church and the Archbishop as Legate continued to Summon the Clergy to his Synod So did Stephen Langton Anno 1222 In which He held his famous Synod at Oxford and publish'd those Constitutions which still pass under his Name About four years after Otto the Legate coming hither to enlarge the Pope's Revenues before too great in this Kingdom held a Council at Westminster the day after Hilary and proposed to the Clergy the project upon which He came To avoid the design He had upon them the Bishops made answer that the King being indisposed was Absent and several of their Brethren were not come to the Synod and so they could Resolve upon nothing for want of Them The Legate who understood the meaning of this proposed to them that They should at least Agree to another Meeting about Mid-lent and he would undertake that the King should come to it But the Bishops replied That without the Consent of the King and their Brethren who were absent they could not Agree to any such Proposal And the King Himself forbad all who held any Baronies of Him to do any thing in prejudice of His Rights So zealous were these Men for the King's Prerogative when they needed it to guard them against the Encroachments of the Pope And so little do Men value how differently they behave themselves when their interests lead them to shift their Party and their Opinions But tho' the King now joyn'd with his Clergy against the Pope yet it was not very long before He himself invited the same Otho to come again as Legate into England Who being accordingly come hither held a Legantine Council at St. Paul's London in the Octaves of St. Martins to Reform the abuses of Pluralities and some other Enormities that were crept into the Church And there proposed his Constitutions to the Clergy that so by their Suffrage and Consent they might be establish'd for the Reformation of the State of the Church of England I insist not upon the two fresh Attempts that were made by this Legate upon the Clergy for Money and in Both which He was constantly refused by Them As was also Rustandus who succeeded him and by the like authority call'd another Synod to fleece the Clergy for the Pope's Advantage About three years after Boniface
of the Proctors of the Clergy and most of the Commons by holding up their hands affirm'd that they would do the same Now the main thing done in this Parliament and for the effectual performance whereof they were so solicitous to have such an Authority concurr as might admit of no exception was to annul the Proceedings of the Duke of Gloucester and his Adherents in the 10th and 11th years of this King and to prevent the like violence for the time to come And in the Statutes made to this purpose there is express mention therefore made of the Proctors of the Clergy consenting thereunto as in the second and twelfth Chapters of the Acts of that Parliament may morâ— fully be seen And tho' in other places they are not particularly mention'd yet since those who allow the least to them do confess that their assent was taken to what was done we must conclude that they are comprehended under the general Name of the Commons even when they are not expresly distinguish'd from them From what has been said it appears that the Inferiour Clergy were not only heretofore a part of the Parliament but did meet and act in it But now after what manner they did so does not so plainly appear It has been the opinion of some who have been very well vers'd in the Antiquities of our Country that at first the two Houses not only met in the painted Chamber at the opening of the Parliament and at such other times as the King came to it but ordinarily sat and voted together But as those who assert this are forced to confess that it was even then the custom of the several Estates to retire and consult by themselves of any difficult matters that came before them and so return again and joyntly deliver their Opinions so we are assured that they had very early their several places to meet in and their several Speakers too to manage their Debates In the 6th Edw. 3. the Parliament met about the Affairs of Scotland The Bishops and Clergy went apart by themselves the Dukes and Barons by themselves and afterwards they deliver'd their joynt Answer to the King And so they did in the 40th Year of that King When the Pope having sent hither to demand Tribute and Homage to be paid to him we are told That the Bishops went apart by themselves the other Lords by themselves and the Commons by themselves And being returned from their several places and met together they all declar'd their unanimous Resolution to oppose the Pope's Demands In the 50th of the same Edward we find mention made of the place where the Commons sat viz. the Chapter-House of the Abbot of Westminster And three Years before this upon a demand of Money made by the King to carry on his Wars the Commons sent to the Lord's House to desire a Conference with them and they presently agreed to the Proposition and went into the Chamberlain's Chamber to treat with them It is in the 51st Year of this King that we find the first express mention made of the Speaker of the House of Commons tho' there want not very probable Conjectures to prove that they had one long before That upon such times as the whole Parliament met and as long as they continued to sit together the Proctors of the Clergy met together with them is not to be doubted Their Writs summon'd them to the same place and upon the same business and we cannot doubt but that they met accordingly at the opening of every Parliament together Whether upon the division of the two Houses as the Bishops continued to sit with the one so the Proctors of the Clergy did also sit at first with the other I am not able to say But from the time that they had a distinct Prolocutor of their own we must conclude that they met distinctly And upon all the Divisions we meet with in the most ancient Rolls of Parliament the method still was for each Estate to consult together the Lords Temporal by themselves the Commons by themselves and the Bishops and Clergy by themselves And when we consider the Method that has been taken from the beginning of summoning each of these to Parliament how the Temporal Lords have their Writs particularly directed to them the Commons theirs directed to the Sheriff of each County and the Bishops and Clergy theirs joyn'd together It may seem not improbable that as they were summon'd after a distinct manner to the Parliament so they sate too And that the Bishops and Proctors of the Clergy not only occasionally consulted together but ordinarily acted as one of the three Estates of the Realm there In what place the Clergy used to meet I have not found But as their other Convocations were usually held at St. Paul's so it is not improbable but that upon these occasions they may have sate there also It was the Custom of the Parliament in the time of Henry the 8th that the Lords did not sit upon Convocation-days because then the Bishops were absent and sat with the rest of the Clergy This was in use in the 1st Year of that King And afterwards we find that certain days were appointed every Week for the Convocation to sit and on those the Lords only met and adjourned but entred not upon any publick Business Were we well assured of the Antiquity of this Custom it would go a great way towards the Confirming of what I before proposed And being joyn'd with those two Things of which we are Certain namely First That upon all Greater Debates it was the Manner of the Bishops and Clergy to go aside and Consult with One Another and then by the Archbishop or some Other of the Bishops Report their Opinion to the Other Estates And Secondly That They separately gave Subsidies to the King as also the Lords and Commons seem to have anciently done would prompt us to conclude the Constitution of our Parliament to have been Originally this That when the Three Estates met together as at the Opening of every Session they are still wont to do and are by some supposed to have always done at the first the Proxies of the Clergy as well as the Commons either came Up to the House of Lords or they all attended the King in the Painted Chamber Afterwards when they sate separately Each State met and consulted by its self Only the Bishops and Parliamentary-Abbots as they appear'd there under a double Capacity so they sate and Voted accordingly With the Clergy in Convocation as Members of that Estate on Convocation-days At Other times with the Lords in the Upper House as Members of the Baronage of England by Vertue of their Baronies And thus have I accounted for the first Original of the Convocation as it was anciently a Member of the Parliament of this Realm and is still Summon'd by the same Writ by which the Bishops are Called to Parliament at this day
But there is another Respect under which the Clergy in Convocation may be consider'd and of which it will therefore be necessary for me to give also some Account before I go on to take any particular View of what was done by them under this Capacity I have before said that when the King Orders his Writs to be Issued out for Calling a Parliament He do's at the same time direct two Others to be sent to the Two Archbishops to Summon the Clergy of their Respective Provinces to meet together about the same time And it will be necessary for me in the first place to take notice of the difference there is between these Two kinds of Summons because that by that we shall be able the better to judge what is intended by Each of Them First then The Parliamentary-Writ is sent distinctly to every Bishop â—mmediately from the King and the Bishop is thereby Required to Summon the Clergy of his Diocess to go along with him to Parliament Whereas the Convocation-Writ is sent only to the Archbishop and He by the Bishop of London sends to the Other Bishops of his Province to meet Him with their Clergy in Convocation according to the King's Command And sometimes the Archbishop heretofore Summon'd them only by his Own Authority 2. By the Parliamentary-Writ the Bishop and Clergy of Each Diocess are to come to the place where the Parliament is intended to be Opened and upon the Day appointed for the Assembling of it By the Convocation-Writ they are call'd to the Chapter-House at Pauls or to such Other place as the Archbishop appoints and that oftentimes heretofore on some Other day than that on which the Parliament began 3. The Parliamentary-Writ Summons Them to come to Parliament there to Treat c. with the King the Rest of the Prelates and Lords and Other Inhabitants of the Realm concerning the Urgent Affairs that are there to be deliberated of with respect to the King the Realm and the State of the Church of England The Convocation-Writ calls them to consult only among Themselves and that as they shall be directed by the King when they come together 4. By the Parliamentary-Writ only the Deans Arch-deacons and Proctors of the Clergy are Summon'd But the Convocation-Writ with these call'd the Regular Dignitaries too Omnes Abbates Priores c. tam Exemptos quà m non Exemptos and so gave many a place in Convocation that had nothing to do in the Parliament 5. Lastly By the Parliamentary-Writ they were ever to meet at the very precise time the Parliament did By the Other they not only did not meet always at the same precise Time but very often at such time as no Parliament was Sitting Which was the Case of the most ancient Convocation-Writ I have 〈◊〉 met with of the 9 Edw. II. And according to which the Convocation sate Febr. 17 whereas the Parliament met the October before It is therefore as plain as any thing can well be That the Convocation of the Clergy consider'd as call'd by the Parliamentary-Writs and sitting by Vertue of Them and the Convocation consider'd as Summon'd by the Convocation-Writ and the Orders of the Archbishop consequent thereupon are in their nature and constitution two different Assemblies and which by no means ought to be Confounded together The great Question is What the nature of this Convocation as distinguish'd from the Parliamentary-Convention is and what the design of their Meeting Originally was Had these Convocations been always Assembled by the Authority of the Archbishop without any Writ from the King as oftentimes heretofore they were And had they meddled only with Ecclesiastical Matters when they met It would have been no hard matter to give a plain and certain Answer to this Enquiry Because in that Case it would have been Evident that these Convocations were no Other than Provincial Synods which the Archbishop took occasion to Assemble for the Ease of the Clergy and the Benefit of the Church at the same time that they were otherwise Required to come together for the business of the State And this Use Our Kings were wont sometimes to make of Them They referr'd Ecclesiastical Matters to them and advised with them in things pertaining to Religion But as the Form of their Summons entitles them to meet upon some urgent Affairs which concern not only the security and defence of the Church of England but of the King too and the peace and tranquility the publick Good and defence of the Kingdom So the main design Our Princes seem to have had in Assembling these Convocations either at the same time they did their Parliament or not long after was to get Money from Them That so in a much fuller Body of the Clergy than what usually came to the State-Council and consisting of such Members particularly as were most haâ—d to be dealt with the Abbots and 〈◊〉 they might either obtain a supply from the Clergy there when they had 〈◊〉 in Parliament or have that Supply confirm'd by them in Convocation which had before been Granted to Them in Parliament Nor is this any vain Conjecture but founded upon a General Observation of what was done by the Convocation when it met and which for the most part was nothing else but to confirm or make an Order for Money And even upon the very Summons themselves which were anciently sent to them and in which the Cause of their meeting was oftentimes more particularly express'd than afterwards it was wont to be I shall offer an Instance of this in that ancient Summons before mention'd 9 Edw. II. In which it is declared That those Bishops and Others of the Clergy who were Summon'd to Parliament had as far as they were concern'd unanimously yielded to a Subsidy but so that Others of the Clergy who were not Summon'd to Parliament should Meet in Convocation and Consent thereto And that for this Cause the King had sent his Writ to the Archbishop to Summon All Prelates whether Religious or Others and Others of the Clergy of his Province to meet at London post 15 Pasch. to treat and consent of the Matter aforesaid This therefore was the great Use which Our Kings were wont all along to make of their Convocations and from this it came to be the Custom to Summon them for the most part as often as the Parliament met and Generally at the same time that it did so But tho' our Convocations therefore even as Ecclesiastical Synods have by this means come to be for a long time Summon'd at the same time that the Parliament was to meet yet I do not see any Reason there is to consine them so closely to such a season as to make it absolutely necessary for the King to call the One whenever He do's the Other Indeed Custom which in such Cases ought to be allow'd its just force has prevailed so far that it may be question'd whether the Clergy thereby have not a Right to
Archbishop's Command and so they proceeded to the business for which they were called And here then we have a full Representation of the State of our Convocation and how it was managed in these times Great was the Usurpation which the Pope in all this made upon the King's Authority And it ought the rather to be taken notice of because this Archbishop was otherwise a hearty Friend to the Liberties of his Country and had a true respect and value for the King whose Follies and Excesses wrought so far upon him that they are at last thought to have broke his Heart The next Archbishop that succeeded him as he came in by the Pope's Authority so to maintain his Power the better he took care by such means as seldom fail in the Roman Court to gain mighty Privileges from that See Being supported with these he proceeds to make a Provincial Visitation holds several Synods at Oxford Lambeth and in other places And in one at Westminster publishes his Provincial Constitutions And all that the King was able to do was to send a Prohibition to him not to attempt or do any thing to his Prejudice or to the Prejudice of the State his Crown or Kingdom As for Simon Mepham who succeeded this Archbishop he held some few Synods and made some Provincial Constitutions in neither of which there is any thing extraordinary to be observed And the same must be said of the Convocations held by Archbishop Stratford who follow'd after In all which there is little to be taken notice of more than this that what Constitutions were made by them he ordered to be observed by his own Authority and to be publish'd by the Clergy throughout his Province But here tho' it be not necessary to our present purpose yet it may not be amiss to observe how our Kings began by degrees to assert their Authority and to put a stop if not an end to the Usurpations of the Court of Rome It was about the Year 1343 that the Pope desiring to encrease his Revenue here sent a Message to the Clergy to perswade them out of the two Provinces of Canterbury and York to maintain too Cardinals at Rome This being brought before the Parliament it was resolved by the common Consent of that great Council to let the Pope freely know that they were grown weary of his Impositions and neither could nor would bear any longer those Burdens which he was continually laying upon the Kingdom For which end it was also resolved that whosoever procur'd any Benefice in this Realm by vertue of the Pope's Provision should be obliged to come and live upon it and not be suffer'd to draw the Wealth of the Nation into other Countries And least this should not do it was also farther establish'd that no one should be admitted to any Benefice upon the Authority of any Bull from Rome without the King 's special License and Consent And all the Lords and Nobles declared that if the Pope went on by his Provisions to dispose of Benefices whether to Foreigners or others which their Ancestors had given by way of Charity to religious Persons to pray for them they would forthwith seize them into their own hands and dispose of them as they thought good This was a brisk stand and some restraint it did put to the Pope's Exorbitancies And yet it was but a year after that he sent two Bishops to the King to prevail with him to revoke these orders But our Historians tell us that they received a short Answer and presently return'd home again And the next year following the King put a Fine upon all Foreign Clergy-men and took of every one according as they were able to give It would be too long for me to say how far this great King following herein the steps of his Royal Grandfather King Edward I. proceeded to maintain his own Authority and the Liberties of his Country against the Papal Encroachments I shall only add that notwithstanding all the endeavours of the Court of Rome to the contrary he constantly adhered to the Laws made against Provisors c. And when the Pope publish'd his Indulgence at Rome Anno 1349 he not only expresly forbad any of his Subjects to go thither but recall'd those who were already there But to return to our Convocations and the method observed in holding of them When the Archbishop complain'd in the Parliament of the Violation that was made of the Privileges of the Church in that Clergy-men known to be such were oftentimes forced to appear before the King's Judges it was freely told him that in this nothing was done but what was absolutely necessary to the Peace of the Realm For that the Ordinary was so negligent in punishing of them that there would be no bounds set to their Excesses unless the civil Magistrate took some care to restrain them The Archbishop was sensible that this was but too true and thereupon he went apart with his Parliamentary Clergy and by their common Advice and Consent set forth an order for the more severe confining and punishing of such Offenders As for the other Synods held by this Archbishop there being little remarkable in them I shall not need to insist upon them It was about the Year 1393 that the famous Statute of Proemunire was pass'd and by which it was hoped that an effectual stop would have been put to the Usurpations of the See of Rome And indeed it has been said by some that from this time forward our Archbishops did leave off to summon Convocations by their own Authority and call'd them only at the King's Command But tho' I am not altogether satisfied in this particular yet that they now began to be more moderate in the Exercise of their Power I do easily believe And certain it is that not only after this Act but all along before when things ran at the highest against the Royal Prerogative yet still our Kings often interposed their Authority and summon'd Convocations by their own Writs directed to the Archbishop as they still continue to be at this day And now the Preaching of Wickliffe and the Opinions by him brought in began to be taken notice of Insomuch that Courtney being Archbishop thought it needfull to hold a Synod at London on purpose to pass a Sentence of Condemnation upon them Whether he did this at the King's Command or by vertue of his own Legatine Authority I shall not enquire But this we are assured that the King thereupon issued out his orders for the Arresting of all such as held any Heretical Tenets and particularly that opposed the Doctrine of the Church agreed upon in that Convocation And the same was the business of the Councils held by Arundel his Successor first at Oxford Anno 1394 then at London Anno 1408. And lest the orders of such Synods should not be sufficient to put a stop to the growth of
is at best but miserable Harangue to oppose against the Express Authority of the Law and the Common Prerogative which All Christian Princes have from the beginning laid claim to as to this Matter But He urges farther 2dly That supposing a License were necessary yet for that very Reason it ought to be Granted And it matters not much whether we say that a License ought ex debito Justitiae to be Granted to empower them to deliberate Or whether they have of Themselves a Power of deliberation without such License expressly given That whenever the King requires the Convocation to sit he ought to send them a License to act is out of doubt because otherwise he would either oblige them to meet to no purpose or would lay a snare in their way by bringing them together and putting them upon acting without a License which by Law they ought not to do But that this is granted Ex debito Justitiae I utterly deny because in all the Commissions I have ever seen 't is particularly said to be Granted by the King of his special Grace and meer Motion which cannot with any propriety of Speech be said of what in justice belongs to them The truth of the Case is this The 25 of Hen. 8th has restored the Crown to its Royal Authority as to this matter It has put the Power of directing the Convocation as of Right it ought to be into the King's hands They cannot Act without his Licence and he is not Obliged by any Law to grant it to them but may allow or not allow them to Do business as he thinks it will be most expedient for the Churches Welfare That therefore the King do's at any time Grant them such a Licence is of his Own Good Pleasure Nor can it any Otherwise be accounted a Debt of Justice than as he is Obliged in Justice to his People to Do whatsoever he thinks to be for the Publick Good But yet in point of Reason it must be confess'd that the King either ought not to Require his Clergy to meet together more than for Form sake Or that if he do's He ought to Commission Them to act too That so they may neither meet to no purpose or which is Worse do it to their Own detriment by Acting Otherwise than the Law allows Them to do And therefore I do Agree that in a very large improper sense of the Words it may be said that when they do sit a Licence ought ex debito Justitiae to be Granted to them Because they ought not to sit but when their sitting will be for the Good of the Church and when that is so the King is obliged in Justice to the Church to give them Licence to Act. But in this Gentleman's sense I utterly deny either that the Convocation has any right to Meet whenever the Parliament do's Or that upon every such Formal Assembling they ought to have a Commission sent to them to Empower them to Act tho' I still affirm that they are not at Liberty to Act without it As for what is here again urged 3ly from the Rights of the Parliament It may suffice to say That neither do's the Parliament lie under the same Restrictions that the Convocation do's nor can it with any Consistency to our Constitution be supposed that it should do so The Parliament Acting in Concurrence with the King have the Legislative Power in their Hands They neither are Restrain'd by any Laws nor is it possible they should be But the Convocation is truly no more than an Ecclesiastical Council It s business is to Advise and Assist the King in things pertaining to the Church And tho' I know it will displease this Author to be told so yet I must again put him in mind that the Clergy have no power to make laws They may draw up Canons and Constitutions within the Limits which the Parliament has set to them and the King may confirm them And that being done they will have a due force But still Laws they are not unless in a very imperfect Sense the same in which the Convocation is a Legislature and the Master of a family a Monarch within his Own House But tho' I cannot therefore joyn with this Author in his Argument yet I heartily concurr with him in his Conclusion of it That an English Christian King is as much Obliged by the Laws and Usages had and accustomed in this Kingdom in regard to the Church as the Sovereign of England is with relation to the State This I say is unquestionably true and brings us to the true way of deciding the Point before us If by the Laws and Usages of this Kingdom the Convocation has a Right to sit and act as this Gentleman affirms let those Laws be produced and those Usages made out and I submit But if according both to the Laws and Usages of the Realm the Convocation be wholly in the King's hands As I think I have abundantly shew'd that it is then let our Author be concluded by his Own Rule and Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's to God the things that are God's But our Author here again objects to himself what if he had not I dare say no man living would ever have Objected to him that the Convocation has oftentimes been prohibited by the King to deal with any thing that concern'd his Crown and Dignity c. And he thus makes his Advantage of it That since those Prohibitions were only to keep the Convocation from Excess and within their just bounds it is evidnetly supposed that they may intermeddle with any Other Matter without Express Licence Whether that be supposed or no I cannot tell this I am sure is that the Clergy in those days were but too apt to meddle with matters in their Convocation that did not at all belong to them And I doubt were some mens Notions allow'd of we should find but too much need of having these kind of Prohibitions brought again into Practice But the truth is when those Prohibitions were wont to be sent to the Convocation the Clergy oftentimes did not only Meet but Act too without the King's Licence And by both usurp'd upon the Royal Authority And to suppress these abuses and to vindicate the King's Supremacy it was that the Statute of the 25 H. 8. c. 19. was pass'd Since which time we meet with none of these Prohibitions and I hope the Crown will never fall any more into such hard Circumstances as to stand again in need of them As for what this Author in the next place excepts against the Authority of Cokes xiith Report I am but little concern'd in it The fortunes of the Crown depend not upon the Credit of it Let those who build their Opinion as to these matters upon the Resolution of the Judges there Related if Any such there be undertake the Defence of it We are now come to the main Point and which
unwilling to believe it tho' all the while it is apparent that by that very Insinuation they hope to make it stick the more they think they have done their Business They have Guarded themselves against being called to account for it by Men and I am Afraid they never once think what Account they must give for it to God It is by this little Artifice that this bold Writer has presumed to vent such Calumnies against the Greatest and best Men as had they really been true could hardly have been Reported without a Crime Has traduced the King as a Man of No Religion but particularly as no Friend to the Church of England The Arch-bishop as either Ignorant of the Churches Interests or too much a Courtier to trouble the King about them The Bishops as Men that value not what becomes of the Church so long as they can but keep their Honour and their Dignity in the State The Inferiour Clergy as full of Discontents and Dissatisfaction as Persons who have been ill used and resent it accordingly And lastly even the Parliament its self as a Body that has never yet done any thing in favour of Religion nor that seems at all disposed to do any thing for the Advantage of it And when such is the Case of all these what wonder if he freely declares his Apprehension of a General Conspiracy of all Sorts of Men among Us to undermine the Catholick Faith so that it is much to be feared no Order no Degree or Place among Us is wholly free from the Infection It would be endless for me to insist upon these and the like Reflections which He seems industriously to have catcht at in every Part of his Letter I shall instead of all examine the Story with which he concludes it and so take my Leave of Him There was says He a Time when the Clergy was deem'd Publick Enemies and us'd as such viz. in the Reign of Edw. 1. but it was upon a very Honourable Account because they Asserted the Laws of the Realm The King at that Time did by Commission against the ancient Laws and Customs of the Kingdom pretend to collect Money without the Assent of Parliament not from the Clergy only but from the Earls Barons and Commonalty of the Realm The Latter did too many of them submit the Clergy stoutly Resisted it So that Sir Robert Brabazon the King ' s Chief Justice pronounced openly in the King ' s Bench in terrorem that from thenceforth no Justice should be done at their Suit and that Justice should be done against Them in the King's Courts at any Man's Suit This Passage I mark'd when I first read the Institutes as a very extraordinary one 't is pag. 529. 2 Inst I suppose you will think it so too and that England was then bless'd with a Righteous Chief Justice This is the Fable and the Moral of it is not difficult King William is the Edward here meant The present Clergy are like those here mention'd deem'd Publick Enemies but upon a very Honourable Account because they Assert the Laws of the Realm that is stand up for Another Interest and are Enemies to the Present Government For this they are not only Deem'd Publick Enemies but are Used as such Some of them have been turn'd out of their Preferments Others have been Discountenanced and not Preferr'd according to their Deserts because they also have Honourably stood up for the Laws of the Realm that is for another Interest tho' they have again and again sworn Obedience to the Present Government and some of them tho' sore against their Wills even Subscribed the Association in Defence of it To say nothing of Others who were the most forward and busie of any in the Kingdom to help on the Revolution and to establish that Government they now dislike And this they have done at the same time that the Laity have too many of them submitted And will I hope shew that they are Able to defend the Government which they have established against all the Enemies of it tho' they are never so much censured and reviled by these new Patriots for their so doing Having thus accounted for this Story as related by this Gentleman and that too imperfectly from Sir Edw. Cook Whose Authority in point of History he is willing to allow of tho' He cannot Away with it in a Point of Law I shall in Justice to the Memory of that Great Prince and most worthy Judge give a true Account of this whole Matter And let this Author if He pleases make as pertinent an Application of it for me as if I am not mistaken I have done for Him King Edward the 1st having exhausted his Stores in the War of Scotland and that with Great Honour to Himself and Advantage to the Nation call'd his Parliament at St. Edmundsbury the Day after All Souls and accounted his Circumstances to Them The Laity readily Granted him a Subsidy as desired but the Clergy pretending their Fear of the Pope's Bull deny'd in any wise to assist Him Pope Boniface the VIIIth being desirous to advance the Liberties of the Church had the Year before publish'd a Constitution by which he sorbad the Clergy to pay any Taxes to their Prince without the Pope's Consent and Excommunicated as well the Receivers as Payers of such Taxes This was the Bull which these Good Men stood upon and this that Pope publishd at the particular Desire of Robert Winchelsea Arch-bishop of Canterbury and of the Rest of the Clergy of England The King tho' he were sufficiently sensible of their jugling and displeased at it nevertheless gave them time till the next Parliament to consider what they had to do and how to make some better and more satisfactory Answer to Him But in the mean time He caused all their Stores to be sealed up And the Arch-bishop to be even with Him at the same time order'd this Bull of the Pope to be publish'd in all the Churches of his Province The next Parliament being met at London the Day after Hilary the King again demands a Supply of them They persist in their Denyal and the King thereupon puts them out of his Protection And holding his Parliament with his Barons without them an Act is pass'd by which all their Goods are Confiscated to the King's Use. In this State the Clergy were when the Lord Chief Justice as my Lord Coke says Sir Robert Brabazon who was then Chief Justice not of the King's Bench but of the Common-pleas declared to the Attorneys of the Bishops and Clergy what the King and Parliament had done He bade them acquaint their Masters That from thenceforth no Justice could be done for them in the King's Court tho' they should be never so much injured but that Justice might be had against Them by any who had need and would move it to the Court. Now this was no more