REFLECTIONS ON A BOOK ENTITLED, [The Rights, Powers, and Privileges of an ENGLISH CONVOCATION, Stated and Vindicated.]  
By GILBERT Bishop of Sarum.  
LONDON: Printed for RI. CHISWELL, at the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's Churchyard, 1700.   

REFLECTIONS on a Book Entitled, [The Rights, Powers, and Privileges of an English Convocation, etc.]  
IT is so natural for all Men to love Power and Authority, that it was not to be wondered at, if the Book published some Months ago, asserting the Rights of a Convocation, was received by many with great Approbation, and much Applause. Some things indeed it had in it agreeable enough; but there was one thing wanting, which was too evident not to appear, both in the whole Contexture, and almost in every Page; That though the Author pretended to plead the Cause of the Church, which is indeed the Cause of Christ himself, who is the Head of the Body; yet he had so entirely laid aside the Spirit of Christ, and the Characters of a Christian, that without large Allowances of Charity, one can hardly think that he did once reflect on the Obligations he lay under to follow the Humility, the Meekness, and the Gentleness of Christ: So far from that, he seems to have forgot the common Decencies of a Man, or of a a Scholar.  
A Book writ with that roughness and acrimony of Spirit, if well received, would be a much stronger Argument against the Expediency of leaving a Convocation at full liberty, than any he brings or can bring for it. A meeting of Men of that Temper would give but too much occasion to renew all the Complaints that Nazianzen made of the Synods and Councils in his time; and would, I doubt, be a greater prejudice to the common Concerns of the Christian Religion, than could be balanced by any thing that the best Men in it might promote. When such a Spirit appears without doors, what might be expected from Men covered by the freedom of Speech, which must be allowed in all public Consultations?  
If the Writer had been provoked, by any thing writ on the Subject in that Strain, to which he lets himself lose, than the great Liberties he takes had been capable of some excuse. But the attacking of Men who had given him no colour of provocation in so petulant and virulent a Style, is somewhat new; and I hope shall be so little liked, that it shall not be much followed.  
The Scorn with which he treats myself, and the Malice that he pours out upon me in such a copious manner, are things that I can very easily bear. I have been long accustomed to them, chief from some Men of one sort. If Fame six this Book to the true Author, I had no reason to look for such treatment from him; unless the unsuccessfulness of my Attempts to serve him, though managed by me with much care and zeal, oftener than once, does pass with him for so great an injury, that upon it he thinks every thing may be justified, that he can write against me. He takes some pains to colour the blackness of his Spite; but the Art is so course, and the Venom is so malignant, that it breaks through all disguises. It is true, I may be mistaken in the Author, and for several Reasons I wish I were. But certainly, since those he levels his Wrath at, have put their Names in the Front of their Books; it had been reasonable that an Answer to these should have likewise been as publicly owned by its Author. He writes on the Popular side; but has many peculiar Maxims; and this may be one of them, Not to engage himself past retreat. He might perhaps hope, that this performance would be more effectual for his Advancement than my Endeavours had been.  
This shown what he could do▪ yet still all was safe; he might be taken off, and then Altri tempi, altri castumi. But I leave him in his Covert to pursue his designs by what methods he pleases, only for the Church's sake, as well as for his own, I wish he would more frequently carry those words of our Saviour's in his mind, Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. It gives Scandal enough to the World when Lawyers, Philosophers, Physicians, and Politicians, happen to write one against another with Bitterness and Scurrility: but it is much more Scandalous when Divines keep no Temper in their Writings, but forget all Decency, and show themselves Enemies, not only to the Opinions, but also to the Persons of those they writ against; and that in such an open and visible Contradiction to the Words of our Saviour: By this shall all men know that ye are my Disciples, if ye have love one to another; as if they affected a Reverse of them: By this shall all men know your zeal to your Party, if ye hate all those who are not of it. Such practices as these do effectually obstruct the progress of Religion, while an Age that is too much possessed against both us, and our Holy Faith, fails not to make a very wicked use of all those Advantages with which ambitious or ill-natured Zealots furnish them; to represent us to the World as a Company of aspiring and factious Men, who are ready to Sacrifice every thing to our own Humours and Notions, not considering how much Religion itself suffers by the management. These are Things that I hope good Men will lay seriously to heart, and that they will watch over their own Tempers; even after the highest provocation from those who seem to be in the gall of Bitterness, and the bond of Iniquity: not to return railing for railing, nor to be overcome of evil, but to overcome evil with good.  
But after I have taken the liberty to admonish the Writer, in a Strain that I think becomes me, considering both the Post, that how undeserving soever I hold in the Church, together with my Age, and the Services that I have endeavoured to employ my Life in; I shall in the next place acknowledge what I must needs commend him for.  
He writes with just and due Respect of the King, and of the present Constitution. This has come so seldom from that Corner, that it ought to be the more considered: I will not give that scope to Jealousy, as to suspect that this was an Artifice; but accept it sincerely, and do acknowledge, that this which is so hearty expressed, aught to make Abatements for the many severe Reflections that are made in it on the whole Bench of Bishops, not excepting the Head of it, and his carrying his Spite back so far, as even to Bishop Bancroft. I confess, if he had taken a little more pains to have Vindicated King Charles the First and Archbishop Laud from that for which he falls so foully on the present Administration, it had been more suitable to the respect that all the Lovers of the Church do pay their Memory. If it does appear that We and They have acted upon the same Principle, than a Wound, and that a deep one too, is given to those two great Names by the same Persons who seem to Venerate them as Martyrs.  
Dr. Wake 
* The Preface to Author▪ of Christian Princes, P. ult.  is charged for having taxed the Vices of the Clergy too freely, though from the Days of the Apostles, all downwards, the best Writers in all Ages, both Bishops and Priests, have thought it a part of their Duty to deal plainly in those matters. If the Charge is false, it is highly unjust: and if it is laid upon lesser or secreter Offences, it is very indiscreet; but if there is too much ground for it, the best way of answering it, is to amend what is in our own power, and to lament what is not. But after all, a just taxing of the ill Tempers of some of the Clergy, for which I am sorry that this Book shows there is too much occasion, has a great Compass, a Body of twelve or fifteen thousand Men: If one of twelve chosen by our Saviour, had a Devil, it is nothing but what must be expected from the general Corruption of human Nature, that so numerous a Body should have a mixed Multitude in it. But an ordinary measure of Caution should have taught one who found fault with this, not to be so liberal in his own Reflections on Bishops: For not to insist on that, which he seems resolved to forget, that they are his Superiors; they are but Twenty-six in all: so his Censures are more contracted: In some of them he points at his Man very plainly.  
When I writ my History of the Reformation, I had Dr. Collet's Sermon in my hands, and once I intended to have published it as a Piece that might serve to open the Scene, and to show the state of Things at the first Beginnings of the Reformation: but I was diverted from it by those under whose direction I put that Work. They thought it might have been judged that I had inserted it on design to reflect on the present, as well as on the past State of Things. I submitted to their advice: but our Author seems to seek out for matter of Reflection with as much care as I used to avoid it.  
I confess where it lay in my way, either as a Historian, or as a Divine, to acknowledge such Corruptions and Disorders among the Clergy, as were too visible to be denied, and too gross to be extenuated or excused, I thought it became me to write honestly and impartially: [See Pag. 90. p. 188.] How much soever this Author may rally me for it, I am not ashamed to own, that I am Impartial to the Abuses of Clergymen. I know there are some that hate all Discourses that tend to awaken Clergymen to attend on their Cures, to reside much, and to labour hard; nothing pleases them but what tends to increase the Wealth, and to raise the Authority of the Clergy. Whereas others, who are justly sensible of the Depression of holy Functions, both in the narrowness of their Maintenance, and the Fetters that they lie under by the want of Ecclesiastical Discipline, do yet think the best way to recover the Clergy to a just degree of Ease and Authority, is not to argue those Points in which they are not like to be very successful, but choose rather to set about those methods by which the Church was at first established, protected and provided for. Serious attempts that way, would, in their opinion, clear people's Minds of their Prejudices, heighten the Zeal of their Friends, silence the Cavils of Enemies; and, above all things, it would again draw down some of those Blessings on the Church, which appeared so eminently in the first Ages.  
This is a Topick that bad Clergy men cannot bear; it lays them too open, and touches in the Quick. If I have gone in to these Measures, I knew whose hatred I must ever after that look for: But I thank God, my Labours on this Head, have had such success, that I am in this even overpaid for all the Censures that they have exposed me to. But let this Author censure me as much as he pleases, I desire him to make no Apologies for me, he may leave that to me. He says [See the Preface] that now my high Station is a bar to Reply. If I have only confessed faults in order to the correcting them, I have done my duty: but if I have made any unjust Charges, or have aggravated things too much, I have betrayed my Trust, and am liable to just Censure; nor do I decline it. As for what I have writ in this Strain, when in a lower Station, he puts it in on my being a Stranger; and being unacquainted, and not touched with Tenderness for the State of the Clergy. My being a Stranger he thought might serve a Turn; and so that was not to be forgotten. But the Apology was meant to make me ridiculous; a Stranger ought to keep himself under great Reserves on that very account that he is one; he ought to apprehend that he may be mistaken, and lean rather to the other Extreme, unless the Subject he writes on forces it: so this does rather aggravate than excuse such a Presumption.  
There is another Maxim set up by this Author, and managed 
〈◊〉 〈◊〉, p 105, 148, 152, 24●  with much Zeal; I wish I could say with as much Good Nature, which is a little new, especially coming from a certain Corner. It is▪ that the Supremacy is not singly in the King, but is lodged with the whole Legislature. I confess I was always of this mind: but I remember among whom this passed, not long ago, for little less than Herely; and I cannot but confess, that the Style both in King Henry's time, and ever since, seems to favour that: So that how much soever I may agree with this Author in the Notion, I cannot go along with him in the Severity of his Censures; for he plainly writes in the Style of an Inquisitor, to deliver him who goes in the Common Road to the Secular Arm, and oftener than once calls on a Great and Honourable Body to execute his Spite. It has passed generally among the Clergy, That Ecclesiastical Matters could only be judged by persons deriving their Power immediately from God: And as the Clergy have their Commission from him, so it was a received Doctrine, That the King had his Power likewise from God; and that therefore the Church was to be Governed by the King and the Convocation: And the Book of Canons being ratified only by the Regal Authority, seems to give such Authority to this, that a Man ought to be mildly corrected, if it should prove to be a mistake. It could never be thought that Parliaments were de jure Divino; so it was a Consequence suitable to their Principles, who put our whole Ecclesiastical Constitution on the bottom of a Divine Right, to shut this within the hands of those who they believed acted by a Divine Commission.  
I was never of this mind. I always thought that the King was no other way Head of the Church, than as he was the Head of the State, with whom the Executive Power is lodged, and who is the Head of the Legislative, in Conjunction with the Great Body of his Parliament. But this Author knows how much the Doctrine he now advances was condemned, and by whom, not long ago; Therefore a little more Temper were but decent, if he thought fit to find fault with it.  
Another of this Author's Maxims was not long ago as 
P. 307.  much exploded, and yet now is very hearty espoused by him; in which I was ever of the same mind with him; That there is just reason to explode that conceit, that the Commons were not summoned to Parliament before the 49th of Henry III. This was a Notion once so zealously maintained by some, that he was thought an Enemy who went not into it. I was so fully convinced of the contrary, both by what I had observed of the Gothick Constitution, and the Feudal Law, and by the Authorities, which were brought together with great Fidelity and Industry by my most honoured Friend Mr. Petyt, that I declared my sense of it plainly in my History, though that was a little mollified by a Parenthesis added by a great Licenser: but I was then severely censured for it. Thus it is, that while Men think they have a good Interest in the Administration, they do very naturally favour all Opinions that make for it, or rather that make for themselves: But if their Interest declines there, they are ready to tack about, even to that which a little while ago passed under the most odious Characters possible. The World does not fail to observe this; and is too ill-natured not to make unkind Inferences from it: without considering that received Opinions do often pass without much enquiry about them; and that even those who depart from them, choose for their own quiet's sake to do it covertly and modestly. Those who both held those Opinions, when they were much decried as not favourable to the Regal Authority, and do still adhere to them while they are more favourably treated, have some advantages over those who may be supposed to retreat to them on design to vent their Spleen.  
I turn next to the main design of this Work. No Man that is in any degree conversant in Antiquity, can deny, that the Presbyters were the Bishop's Assistants and Counsel: That good Bishops governed their Dioceses by their Advice, as well as with their Concurrence; though it has been made a Question by very Learned Men, Whether S. Cyprian's Expressions to this purpose, were pursuant to established Rules, or were the Effects of his own Modesty and Humility. But even in this particular, such as from the beginning of their Service in the Church, have declared for this Constitution, have some advantage over those among whom Dr. Hammond's Notions passed long as certain, That the Bishop was the sole Pastor of his whole Diocese; and that his Presbyters were but his Assistants, as Curates, who had no other Authority but what was Delegated to them from him: so quickly can Men go from one Extreme to another. But how certain soever this may be, That Presbyters in conjunction with their Bishops, are his Counsel; yet this may be very positively affirmed, That in no part of the Ancient Constitution, and in no Church for many Ages after the Primitive Times, can it be made appear, even by a Conjecture, that in any National or Provincial Synod, the Inferior Clergy form a Body apart, and sat by themselves without their Bishops, acting in any sort, as a coordinate Body with them. So that whatsoever may be found of this kind among us, is no part of our Ecclesiastical Constitution, as we have an Authority from Christ that ought to be managed conform to the Primitive Pattern, but is merely a Temporal Constitution, taken from the Frame of our Parliaments. Therefore if Men have a true Zeal for the Primitive Times, they should turn it all another way, to procure a Constitution suitable to that Frame. The Commons of the Spiritualty sat in a Chamber apart, as the Commons of the Temporalty did; and were summoned by the same Authority, and to the same End. But tho' with Relation to the Temporal Concerns of the Clergy, this was a good Constitution; yet it cannot be called a true Representative of the Church, tho' it be now a legal one. In the lower House there are of the Province of Canterbury 20 Deans, or more, who pretend to sit there; there are as many Proctors from Chapters, and 60 Archdeacon's, and but 38 Clerks chosen by the Clergy. So that the Deans and Chapters who had their Authority at first by Papal Bulls, and have now their Exemptions and Jurisdictions continued to them only by a Proviso in in the Statute of 25 Hen. 8. have more Interest in the Convocation than the whole Body of the Clergy: These are all made, either by the King or by the Bishops. The Threescore Archdeacon's are all of the Bishop's Nomination, and their Authority is of a late Date, and but a human Constitution. All this is besides the Interest that the Bishops have in making the Returns of Two only out of all those who are chosen in the several Archdeaconries of their Diocese; so that the Inferior Clergy can in no sort be said to be equally represented there.  
I acknowledge that this is not necessary in a Constitution that pretends no higher than Law and Custom. A Practice past Prescription is, in such cases, a good foundation; and if Men rise no higher in their Claim for Church-power than Law and Custom, this is enough: But if they pretend to a Divine Original, they must seek for another Constitution. Indeed, if they are contented to take up with a human Authority, they may rest satisfied with this: howsoever, it is fit for Men to write exactly, and upon a consistent Hypothesis, and so have all the parts of it of a piece.  
But to enlarge a little upon this: I wish those who are full of high Notions would try how to justify the Jurisdiction that is exercised among us by Deans and other exempted persons, who do Exercise not only the Archidiaconal, but the Episcopal Jurisdiction; the former being of Ecclesiastical Creation, may without doubt be transferred to them. But if we are true to a Principle, that has been received in the Church of God from the Apostles days downwards, and has been maintained with much Zeal by this Church, now for above an hundred years, That Christ and his Apostles have established in the Church a Subordination in Bishops, Priests, and Deacons; so that the latter are subordinate to the former; and that in consequence to this the Discipline of the Church, the highest step of which is Excommunication, aught to be chief under the Bishop's direction, and also the appointing of Priests to Cures, and by consequence the depriving them, should likewise be under their care, according to the establishment first made by the Apostles: How comes it, I say, that the Authority of Papal Bulls and Royal Confirmations, and a Provision in a Statute made in a Reign that some take pleasure now to decry, should be thought strong enough to authorise Deans and other Exempted persons to do all the Acts of Episcopal Jurisdiction?  
If Ecclesiastical Authority is only of human Original, indeed all this may be excused, and born with: But if our Plea for a Divine Original is well founded, then since no human Law nor Custom can derogate from the Divine Law, let those who are concerned in these things see how they can reconcile our Principles to their Practices. Here are Presbyters acting in most parts of the Episcopal Functions, as Bishops, without any Subordination to them: If all is founded on a Divine Right, then by the same Authority that they do invade many Acts of Episcopal Jurisdiction, they might as well have invaded all the rest; and if the one would be condemned as a sacrilegious attempt, it will not be easy to excuse, much less to justify the other.  
Upon all these things I wish that Men would apply their Thoughts more carefully, and direct their Zeal a little better; and that they would lay all the ends of their System together, that it may appear that all is coherent, and hangs well together. And therefore it is not very fairly done to bring some Authorities from Ancient Authors and Councils, of Presbyters assisting their Bishops, and from thence immediately to conclude for the Right of a Convocation constituted as ours is.  
I must acknowledge this Author confines himself chief to our own Laws and Customs: In which I will not trace him, but shall leave that to others, who may be more at leisure to follow him; only I must in general remark one thing, which I find some are beginning to observe with no kind Intentions. The Clergy are now generally admitted as Freeholders, to choose the Representatives of the Commons in Parliament; and I believe they would look on it as a very unfriendly Office if any Doctrines were laid down that might exclude them from this. But it passes for a Maxim, That those who constitute any other State or part of the Parliament, how great soever their Estates or Freeholds may be, cannot Vote in the Elections to Parliament; how far the Doctrine that is so much laboured by this Author may have an influence in this matter, I will not determine: If it does, I doubt not, but that since men's Affections do, as we have already observed, very much bias their Judgements, the Opinion of the World concerning this performance may come to be changed from what it is at present.  
I have neither Leisure nor Inclination to enter further into the discussion of this pretended Right of the Convocation's sitting and being Constituted into a Body, and of their preparing and proposing of Matters. I will only offer some Historical Observations upon which it will be easy to make Remarks, to show that there is nothing new in the present Administration, how heinously soever it may be complained of. I will avoid saying any thing with relation to King Henry the VIIIth's Reign, because of the Prejudices that these Men have against it; and I will refer a very material part of King Edward's Reign to the end of these Reflections.  
The Debates with the Puritans, and the Disciplinarian Controversy, was that which occasioned great Heats during Queen Elizabeth's Reign: But the Convocation never meddled with this, it was left wholly with the Queen; she appointed some Bishops and others of the Clergy, who were of the High-Commission, to settle Rules in those Matters. They did it, and their Decisions are Printed, and may be seen in the later Editions of Bishop Sparrow's Collections. I have an Edition of them Printed in that Reign; so here a matter of very great consequence was settled by a few Bishops and others acting by the Queen's Commission; and this was the Rule that the Church was Governed by, till the late Civil Wars. Here was a good Plea for the Puritans, which this Author has found for them, that none of themselves made use of.  
The next Subject of dispute was during a great part of King James the First's Reign, and all King Charles the First's, till the War, concerning Predestination: In this the Calvinists appealed to the Articles, and seemed to have a strong Plea from them. This was a point of Doctrine, and the Dispute being about the sense of Articles that had been agreed on in Convocation, it seemed very natural to make the Appeal to that Body; but yet that was not done: Our Kings made Declarations in this matter, and gave Directions to the Bishops. It was generally thought that in King James' Reign the much greater number of both Houses were the followers of St. Austin's Doctrine, if not of Calvin's. Yet I never found this among the Complaints of the Angry Men of that time, that the Decision of the matter was not left to a Convocation. And among all the Remonstrances, how warm soever, that were Voted in the House of Commons, I do not find this is ever named. Nor is Archbishop Laud ever Charged with this, though that was a time in which all his Actions were severely descanted on. There was then in the House of Commons a Set of Men, who by reason of the Ship-money, and some other Disputes, had examined further into the Original of our Constitution, than ever was done before or since. So in this particular, a Negative Argument is of great force to show that they had not those Notions of our Constitution which this Writer suggests.  
After the Corrections of the Liturgy that were made upon the Restoration of King Charles the Second, there was not a Line published, and scarce a word muttered demanding a Convocation. Then the danger of Popery's breaking in upon us appeared in very eminent Instances; and though some apprehended that sooner than others, yet none doubted of it after the Declaration in the year 1672. But during both that, and the late Reign, among all the zealous Attempts that were made for securing us from it, not any one was offered at for a Convocation's meddling in it; even among the indiscreet Instances of ill-governed Zeal, this was not so much as once mentioned. This Writer names among other reasons for one now, the growth 
P. 102.  of Popery. It may justly seem strange if this is a good one now, that it was not thought on when the Danger was so Threatening and Visible. There was no want of a just and well-governed Zeal in that time: But the men that managed it knew what they had a Right to and what they could Legally both demand and maintain. If there were any just grounds to fear that Popery was beginning again to be active and insolent among us, when this Book was Written, I suppose the Act passed in the last Session has put such an effectual stop to it, that there will be little occasion given any more to reckon that among the reasons of calling for a Convocation.  
Thus it has appeared that for above 140 Years, the Crown has been in possession of a Right of making use of a Convocation, or of settling matters of Religion without it, at Discretion. Queen Elizabeth made use of one to settle our Doctrine, and little more was done in Convocation in her time. King James the First made use of one to make a Body of Canons, but took all other matters under his own care. King Charles the First followed the same method. And though in the Year 1640. some things were done that must be put on the heat of that time, yet the Declaration that was made of the extent of the King's Authority, as it was all managed by Archbishop Laud, and Directed by that King; so it shows plainly what the Sense of this Church was as to that Matter: Which had been indeed the Sense and Language of their Predecessors for above an 100 Years before that time. In King Charles the Second time, the Convocation was allowed to consider what Alterations ought to be made in the Liturgy; and after that there was no more work given them; only they Met on Wednesdays and Frydays to Read the Litany; which I am sure I heard many who were then required to Attend, that so there might be a Face of a Meeting answering the great name that it bore, complain of as o● a very uneasy and troublesome Attendance, that was of no sort of use.  
But now to come to the Present Reign; a Convocation was opened in it, and a Secretary of State brought a Licence from His Majesty and the late Blessed Queen to them to consider of such things as should be laid before them, in order to the healing the Schisms and Breaches that were among us. The Bishops in the former Reign had in that Petition, upon which they Suffered so Gloriously, expressed a readiness to come to a just Temper in all the matters of Difference among us, when they should be brought before them in Convocation or Parliament; and among other Messages that were sent over to the King, being then Prince of Orange, one was, That he would use all his Interest among the Dissenters to hinder them from running in to the Declaration, and to the design that was then promoted, of animating them against the Church: Of this I may be allowed to speak confidently, because it passed through my own hands; and I drew the directions that were given to an Eminent Person who was Employed in it. Upon these reasons it was that the Prince (now King) promised in his Declaration with which he came over, that he would use his endeavours to bring about the so much desired Union, between the Church of England and the Dissenters. So their Majesties were under Engagements to make the Experiment. It is true it did not succeed, a form Resolution of consenting to no Alterations at all in order to that Union, made that the attempt was laid aside. I will not enter into any further Reflections on men's Behaviour at that time; it plainly appeared it was not a proper season to try to make Peace: Attempts that way were more likely to create new rents than to heal the old ones.  
I shall only touch on one particular, which will show that when Men are disposed to be jealous, they will suspect every thing; even that which at another time would be thought the most effectual method to prevent or to cure jealousy. Princes do commonly prepare the matters which they propose to such Assemblies, with the advice of their Council: But upon that occasion the King and Queen did create a Council, by a special Commission, of all the Bishops who owned their Authority, and of the most Eminent of the Clergy, gathered from the several parts of the Kingdom, that they might consider and prepare such things as should be offered by them to the King and Queen, that so their Majesties might propose these to the Convocation. This surely was done in favour of the Church. But even this was cried out upon, as a limiting the Convocation, with many other hard words, which I do not love to repeat.  
It did then appear in so many visible Instances, that our Wounds were then too tender to be either handled or healed; so it was thought fit to let the matter sleep, and to give no new occasion to Heat or Animosity. But at the same time to keep the Clergy still ready upon call, if there should be any occasion for them during the Sessions of Parliament; yet not to charge them with a needless Attendance, when the Public occasions put them under so many heavy Taxes: It being also observed, that in a hot time all unnecessary Assemblies are to be avoided; for if they have no business one way, they commonly make it another.  
And now after this short but true and clear account of this matter, what is to be said of the fruitfulness of a man's Imagination, who could make so great a Book and such heavy complaints for no other cause but this, because by a possession of above an 140 Years, founded upon a Statute that has been understood at least, by both Divines and Lawyers, in favour of the Crown, (for I leave the Examining the Importance of the Words of the Act to those whose Profession leads them to Expound them best) it is at the King's Discretion, whether he will allow a Convocation to Treat of matters or not, and upon a Trial his Majesty found it not convenient, either to carry the thing further at that time, or to repeat the Experiment hitherto, and since he did not intent this, he has thought fit to free them from the charge and trouble of an unprofitable Attendance. What is in his discretion to do or not to do, must be left there: But since some do not rightly apprehend his Care and Kindness in delivering them from a fruitless Trouble, it were a great pity that this should be any longer misunderstood; but that either the Clergy should understand the thing as it is truly meant, or that they should return to that toil, of which they were generally so weary not many Years ago.  
Upon the whole matter, let men vex themselves as long as they please in fixing the limits of the Civil and the Ecclesiastical Authority, I believe no other will ever be found but this, That the Magistrates Authority must go to every thing that is not contrary to the Law of God; so that no bounds can be set to it, but those which God himself has set; and this is of the same extent in Spiritual as well as in Civil matters; a Law in Temporal concerns, that is contrary to the eternal Laws of Morality, of Justice and Truth, is void of its self: Because it is contrary to a Superior Authority, which cannot be controlled by a Subaltern. Upon the same reasons a Law made contrary to any Rule in the Gospel, that is delivered as a perpetual Law binding to all Christians, is void of itself, and ought not to be Obeyed; upon this ground, that Christ is the King of kings, and the Lord of lords; and no Power upon earth can derogate from the Authority of his Laws, or oblige men to act in opposition to them. In temporal matters the Legislature is free and without control; yet where this is prudently managed with due regards to those who are subject to it, they will take care to hear all who may be concerned, and consult such Bodies whose Profession it may be to study the matters that are in agitation before them. But if this should not be observed, though the Legislature may be thought in such a case not to be managed with a just care, yet still Laws so made must be Obeyed, if the matter of them is not unjust or unlawful. In the same manner, it is a method highly becoming those with whom the Legislature is lodged, to consult the Clergy, either in one or more Bodies, or otherwise, as they think fit; that so all things may be well weighed and duly prepared, before any Law is made relating to them; but if this caution should not be observed, yet unless Laws so made are contrary to any of the Laws that were given the world by Christ and his Apostles, they must be submitted to and obeyed: In consequence to the general obligation that lies on all men to be subject to the Government by which they are Protected; which is likewise one of the Laws of our Religion, let every soul be subject to the higher powers.  
So far I have gone over the main design of this Book, and have delivered my sense very freely both of the Author's way of handling his matter, and of the design it aims at. I come now in the last place to that in which I myself am more particularly concerned in. The main design of the Book is leveled at Dr. Wake, he is of Age and can answer for himself: I will not let my self into Panegyrics; but this I am sure I may well say, that his whole course of life, since I first knew him, now for Seventeen Years, has been so Exemplary both abroad and at home; his Labours both from the Press and in the Pulpit, have been so useful and edifying; and his Discharge of his great care has been so eminent, that he had upon these and many more reasons a Right to be used with Decency and Respect, by any who thought fit to Write against him. And as to his Ambitious Designs, I have very particular grounds to clear him of these. He needed no addition to the consideration he was already held in, to recommend him; and was as free from all aspire, as others seem to be full of them. The occasion that I had to know this was particular, so that I look on myself as Bound in justice to own it in so public a manner. Every body understands at whom that indecent expression is leveled, that he is not the first who has been writ out of his Reputation into his Preferment; and must know how unjust it is: For the diverting the Town with some Mirth does not destroy a Reputation that has a deep and solid Foundation: But some men's Ambition may lead them to write themselves out of their Reputation, that a Good man ought to value more than all the Applauses that can be given either to his Industry, Learning or Wit; I mean the Reputation of writing as becomes an Humble and a Candid, a Modest and a Charitable Christian. There is a way of Writing that runs quite counter to all these, upon which I do hearty wish that this Author may make serious Reflections.  
I come now in the last place to consider the Treatment that both I myself and my History have met with from him. As to what relates to myself, I let it all go without any sort of Answer. I will take no pains to lay open his more disguised strokes and hints, of which there are very many, that, perhaps, few Readers will apprehend. But as for my History, I think the supporting of that is of some Consequence to the Public; and therefore I am much more concerned in the pains he is at to undermine the Reputation it has gained in the World. Besides many very detracting passages, there is one that seems to give a Character of the whole, that I will set down in his own Words, and then discuss them a little: If the main Facts he professes 
P. 243.  to relate, are right; if there be no premeditated Omissions or Disguises of material Truths; no designed Compliances with popular Mistakes and Prejudices; if that Air of Impartiality, which at first sight seems to run through the relation, be undissembled, and not only a more artificial way of conveying false Principles and Characters into the minds of the Reader; if, I say, in these, which are the most essential Virtues and Beauties of good History, his Lordship's Labours will bear the Test, (which his Lordship's Friends do not much doubt)— though it should after this be granted, that Mistakes of a Lesser size and importance abound there without number, and particularly that the Digressive part of the Book has little of Exactness in it; this would not however sink the Reputation of the Work. It is, what considering the haste of the Composure, was not to be wondered at, and may easily be excused. A few Lines before, he diverts himself with pretending that I had excused myself from the Neglect of the Transcriber, upon whom he says, he finds I lay very great Blame; which, by the by, is not to be sound in the Letter he Cites, but much to the contrary. To which he adds; And indeed if he stands answerable for all the Neglects that are or may be Charged, I think very deservedly. And as if all this were not enough to blast that Work, he gives two dashes, as intimating thereby, that he had a great Et caetera in store behind. The Artifice in putting the Ifs to so severe a Charge, is too baresaced to think it can pass on any man; all must see what the Writer intended in it; that they should understand the whole period as Simple and Absolute; so that this Charge against the whole in the Main parts of it, as well as against the Mistakes of a lesser size, that abound without Number, and against the Digressive part of the Work, as having little Exactness in it, is very visibly meant not to be conditional, or as a Supposition, but to be full and home: I have reason to take it so, because I find every body else does it; and if he did not mean it so, the contexture of the whole Period is Malicious and Dishonest both; and that Parenthesis (which his Lordship's Friends do not much doubt) is so poor a Reserve, or rather so gross an Abuse, that I have not so mean an Opinion of the Author's Sagacity, as not to conclude, That he hoped, as well as that he intended, that his Reader should understand him aright, and judge that he put in his Ifs as a way of wounding with a little more decency, and to be more secure himself when called upon to justify it.  
Upon so severe an Accusation it is fit that I say somewhat in General before I descend to Particulars. I confess if those of the Church of Rome had dealt thus by that Work, or if any secret Favourers of Popery had given them such help, I should not have wondered at it. I have no sort of reason to suspect any thing of that kind to lie under the several attempts that have been made on that Work, but very much to the contrary, if common fame six it right. If any Person intends to Write a more Correct and a better History of that time, it were very natural for him to endeavour the disparaging the Credit of my Work, the better to prepare the World for his own. I should not much wonder in that case to see such a continued Vehemence against the History of the Reformation. But the studying to disgrace it, as this Author and others have endeavoured to do, seems to flow from no other Principle but mere Spleen and Ill-nature.  
I took great pains in Writing my First Volume, and much more in Writing the Second, when the good Reception that the First had, gave me reason to hope for a more universal Assistance; I made the best use and the gratefullest Acknowledgements of all the help that was given me, that I could. I invited all People to it; almost all the Eminent Clergy of that time promoted the design. If it can be alleged that I either neglected or stifled any Assistance that was offered me, I am then liable to just Censure; since the Work was finished I have had some Materials sent me in order to a review of that Work; which though they happened to be matters of very little Consequence, yet I have laid them all in order by me, that when it is seasonable I may review the whole Work; I have received every thing of this kind in such a manner, as might encourage others to use me with the decencies that becomes such Attempts. But if any will Animadvert on me publicly without trying the kinder as well as the more Christian way of beginning in private with myself, they discover a temper that I will not describe in its true Characters.  
Some years ago a rude Attack was made upon me, under the disguised name of Anthony Harmer. His true Name is well enough known, as also who was his Patron; who had set those about him, during the late Reign, on the design, which one would think was an odd one, chief at that time. But I answered that Specimen with the firmness that became me, and I charged the Writer home to publish all the rest of his Reflections: He had intimated that he gave them but the Sample, and that he had great store yet in reserve. I told him upon that, I would expect to see him make that good, and bring out all that he had to say, otherwise that must pass for Slander and Detraction. He did not think fit to write any more on that Subject, tho' he was as much solicited to it by some, as he was provoked to it by myself.  
He is now at his Rest, and therefore I will say no more on the Subject. Only I will add one singular thing, to teach those who survive and think they are beating out untrodden Paths, to write with Modesty as 
P. 263.  well as exactness. I have a whole Treatise in my hands, that contains in it only the faults of ten Leaves of one of his Volumes; they are indeed so many and so gross, that often the faults are as many as the Lines, sometimes they are two for one. There is not only such a gross mistaking of Abbreviatures, but even where the Manuscript that he Copied has the words at large, that no sort of account can be given how these Mistakes were made; for some of them are contrary to many of his most beloved Maxims. I have made no use of this, but have it still in my hands to show it to such as are curious. I have indeed desired the Ingenious person that sent it me, to try his exactness upon myself; and to see what defects, errors, or other faults my History can be justly charged with.  
From this it may appear, that those who take great liberties with others, and who perhaps think they themselves are safe, because as they have not named themselves, so they have not told where their Vouchers are, and how they may be come at, and may hope that few will be at the pains to trace them; yet they may be very justly censured for Errors of another nature than those are with which they charge others; of which I shall have occasion to give some very eminent Instances in this Author, but without those unkind and uncharitable Comments, in which he allows himself such Indecent liberties.  
It is three and twenty years past since I set first about my History; I was for three years together at no small pains and charge in searching for Materials; I had no sort of practice in our Records before that time. But I was conducted by men who were very knowing in those matters; these were Bishop Stillingfleet, Sir John Marsham the Younger, and Mr. Petyt. I went to every place as they directed me, I consulted them in all difficulties, and was concluded by them: chief by the first of them, whose Reputation was then very high, and was very deservedly so with relation to those matters.  
I was indeed put under one great disadvantage: Some Men of this Author's temper possessed that Learned and Noble Gentleman Sir John Cotton, with such ill impressions of my design in writing the History, that no endeavours whatsoever could conquer them. He stood upon this, That if I could procure a Letter either from a Secretary of State, or from the Archbishop of Canterbury, desiring I might be admitted into his Library, it should be open to me, but not otherwise. Those who had begot the Jealousy in him, knew that this was not to be obtained; so when the present Bishop of Worcester had tried all his Endeavours, but without success to clear this, I offered to deliver up all my Collections to any who would undertake the Work. But that was not accepted of. No care was taken to find one who should write it, but a great deal was used to hinder me from doing it. Sir John Marsham had free admittance into the Library; so once when the Noble Owner was out of Town, he carried me thither, and I with my amanuensis were for some days hard at work; but that lasted not long. Another worthy Gentleman, Mr. Cary, had the credit to borrow out some Books, and I had the use of these. Thus I was barred the free use of that Unvaluable Library, whilst I writ the first Volume.  
Indeed as soon as that appeared the Honourable Owner of it said, he saw ho 〈…〉 d an use I had made of that short stay I was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 make there; so he gave me ever after that, free access to it. But since the first Volume was so well received, I made no more use of it with relation to the matters belonging to that time, unless when I was seeking Materials for the second Volume, I found them in my way.  
Thus I was obstructed in my search by some Men of the same temper, I had almost said of the same House with those who have since that time reproached me for that which was not my fault, but theirs. For they who had shut the Library against me, concluded that I must have laid aside all thoughts of that Work, since without help from thence it was not possible to be well furnished; and indeed I had not the fourth part of the time that was necessary to examine every thing in it that related to my subject. It cannot be imagined that twenty years being now past since I finished that History, I can carry in my mind all the Grounds I went on; nor can the Station and Service I am now in, leave it possible for me to go and follow this Writer in every thing that he is pleased to quarrel with me for. When he has poured out all he has laid together, I will then be better able to judge, whether it will deserve that I should be at any pains myself, or employ any other to search after him: for he has given me great cause to conclude, that his exactness is no way to be depended upon.  
I will single out only one particular, because as it is of the greatest Moment, so I seem in my late Book on the Thirty nine Articles to retract what I had admitted in the second Volume of my History, That in Edward the Sixth's time the Articles of Religion were passed in Convocation; but own now, that they were Published by the Regal Authority without mentioning a Synodal consent: Upon this he gives a long Extract of a Journal of that Convocation that mentions a Regular 
P. 377.  Progress of the Convocation, with Relation to the Catechism and Articles, both which he acknowledges 
P. 196.  here and elsewhere, that they went together. 
P. 197.  He likewise urges the Martyr Philpot's authority, who when D. Weston urged in the Convocation 1 Marioe, that a Catechism was put forth without their consent, answered, That the House had granted an Authority to make Ecclesiastical Laws to certain persons▪ to be appointed by the King's Majesty, and that what was set forth by them might well be said to be done in the Synod of London: although the House had no notice thereof before the Promulgation. Upon this the Writer says, that we have lost the Time and Circumstances of appointing this Committee. Howsoever he thinks the whole thing is plain, and so leaves it with one of his usual strains of Detraction. Yet he did well to set this and the Journal at a considerable distance from one another; for if there is any credit due to that Journal, as indeed there is none, for it is a plain Forgery, this discourse of Philpot's was idle and needless. Here I will give a taste of this Writer's way of delivering matters, without adding any sharp or aggravating words to it, but from thence his Readers will see what Judgement is to be made of his Collections. In Fox, from whom he vouches this at the beginning of Philpot's Speech, he leaves out those words, That the Catechism beareth the Title of the last Synod of London before this, altho' many of them which then were present, were never made Privy thereof in setting it forth. This Confession of his ought not to have been suppressed. This matter was handled more particularly 
〈◊〉 3 Vo.  when Cranmer was before the Convocation at 
P. 80.  Oxford, where Weston objected to him in these words, Also you have set forth a Catechism in the name of the Synod of London, and yet there be fifty which witnessing that they were of the Number of the Convocation, never heard one word of this Catechism. To which Cranmer answered, I was ignorant of the setting to of that Title: and as soon as I had knowledge thereof, I did not like it. Therefore when I complained thereof to the Council, it was answered me by them, That the Book was so entitled, because it was set forth in the time of the Convocation. And in the Interrogatories that were exhibited to him in order to his final censure, the Seventh ends, That he did Compile, and 
Fox. p. 657.  caused to be set abroad divers Books. The last part of his answer set down to this, is thus, As for the Catechism, the Book of Articles, with the other Book against Winchester, he grants the same to be his do. This I think decides the Point: so that it will admit of no more debate. This Author does not know when the Commission was to the 32 granted. If he had looked into King Edward's Journal, he would have seen it was on the 10th of February, very near the end of the Year 1552. And if either the Words of that Journal, or rather of the Statute, pursuant to which that Commission was issued out, are considered; it will appear that their Power did not extend to Matters of Faith and Worship, but was restrained to the Courts, and to Proceed in them. So that it is plain that Philpot alleged this, being pressed with an Objection, to which he had no other Answer ready: He knew there was such a Commission, and so he fancied that they had prepared these Books. Cranmers Sincerity appears in this, as well as in all the other parts of his Life; and indeed the Title with which the Articles were printed, had a Visible ambiguity in it. In Latin it is Articuli de quibus in Synodo Londinensi Anno Dom. 1552. Ad tollendam Opinionum dissensionem & consensum veroe Religionis sirmandum inter Episcopos & alias Eruditos viros convenerat. In English: Articles agreed upon by the Bishops and other Godly and Learned Men, in the last Convocation at London, in the Year of our Lord 1552. To root out the Discord of Opinion, and establish the Agreement of true Religion. Different from this is the Title given to what did indeed pass in Convocation Ten years after: Articles agreed upon by the Archbishops and Bishops of both Provinces, and the whole Clergy, in the Convocation holden at London in the Year of our Lord 1562. It is trifling and unbecoming this Author, who writes more to purpose, when his Cause will bear it, to prove that because Divines in a Convocation are in Respect called Learned Men; that therefore a Title importing an Agreement between the Bishops and other Learned Men, can be understood as the Title of an Act passed in Convocation.  
The Popish Bishops, with the rest of that Party of the Inferior Clergy, continued all that Reign opposing every thing as long as they might safely do it, but complying with every thing when it was once imposed upon them: Which occasioned such stretches to be made, not only against Bonner and Gardiner, but Tonstall, Heath, and Day. So there is no probability in imagining that any thing of that kind could then have passed in Convocation. But in Queen Elizabeth's time the Popish Clergy were all turned out; the Act of Uniformity was made, and a new Sett of Reformed Bishops and Divines was brought in; and yet it was Five years after her Accession to the Crown, before that Convocation met. So this Author had not the Advantages with which he thought he was furnished to divert his Reader, by exposing me on this account.  
This was a matter of such consequence, that I thought it necessary to give a truer View of it than this Writer had done. I hope in this enough is said to oblige both himself to be more cautious and modest for the future, and his Readers not to receive all he says too Implicitly. I have found him as much out in several other of his Allegations against me; but if I should mention only a few of these, and not go through with them all, it would look as if I had justified myself as far as I could, and had yielded up all the rest. Therefore since I cannot go through with all, I resolve to let all alone, till I see the utmost that he can bring out against me: and then I will make the best use of it I can, either to Vindicate myself, or to confess Mistakes as soon as I am convinced of them, how little soever of Decency or of Christianity there may be in the manner of offering it to me. I wish this Author would reflect with some measure of Impartial seriousness, as in the Presence of that God by whom he must be judged for this as well as all the other parts of his Life, on the Temper he was in, on the End he pursued, and on the Spirit that acted him while he writ his Book. Sudden Emotions are capable of Excuses, but such a continued course of Spite and Malice seems scarce capable of any. I pray God give him a just sense of it. And so I have done with his ill-natured Book, with as little loss of time as was possible; I could not meddle with it before I came hither, where my Papers and References lie; and I have been but Four days at home when I end this; so much haste have I made to get rid of an unpleasant Employment; but it seemed necessary, and there I leave it. I pray God pour out another Spirit upon his Church, and teach us all in this our day, to know the things that belong to our peace: For how secure soever we may be in our present Quiet, the Evil day is perhaps not so far from us as some may imagine. The more we are divided among ourselves, the less able will we be to bear what we must then look for. But without any other Enemy, if we by't and devour one another, we shall be consumed one of another. The black View that we may justly have from the Impieties, and other Abominations that abound among us, seem to call upon us to put on other Tempers, and act by other Principles, and with another Spirit, and to seek for the things that make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.  
Salisbury, the 25th of May, 1700.  
FINIS.   

BOOKS Printed for R. Chiswell.  

BIshop Patrick's Commentary on Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, in Five Volumes, 4o.  
Wharton's Serm in Lambeth-Chapel, 2 Vol. 8ᵒ With his Life. The 2d Edit. 1700.  
Dr. Conant's Sermons, in Two Vol. 8o. Published by Bishop Williams.  
Dr. Wake of Preparation for Death. The 6th Edition. 1699.  
Dr. Fryer's 9 Years Travel's into India and Persia, with Copper-Plates. Fol. 1698.  
Bishop Williams, Of the Lawfulness of Worshipping God by the Common-Prayer. With several other Discourses  
Mr Tulley's Disc of the Government of the Thoughts. The 3d Edit 12o. 1699.  
The Life of Henry Chichele, Archbishop of Canterbury, in which there is a particular Relation of many Remarkable Passages in the Reigns of Henry V and VI Kings of England: Written in Latin by Arthur Duck, L. L. D. Chancellor of the Diocese of London, and Advocate of the Court of Honour; Now made English, and a Table of Contents annexed. 8p. 1699.  
The Judgement of the Ancient Jewish Church against the Unitarians, in the Controversy upon the Holy Trinity, and the Divinity of our Blessed Saviour. With a Table of Matters, and a Table of Texts of Scriptures occasionally explained, by Peter Alix, D. D.  
Short Memorials of Thomas Lord Fairfax Written by himself Published, 1699.  
The Life of John Whitgift Archbishop of Canterbury, in the times of Queen Elizabeth and King James I. Written by Sir Geo Paul, comptroller of his Grace's Household. To which is annexed a Treatise entitled, [Conspiracy for pretended Reformation,] Written in the Year 1591. By Richard Cousin, L L. D. Dean of the Arches, and Official Principal to Archbishop Whitgift 8o, 1699.  
An Exposition of the 39 Articles of the Church of England, by Dr. Burnet Bishop of Sarum Folly▪ 1700.  
— His Sermon to the Societies for Reformation of Manners. Mar. 25. 1700.  
A Practical Discourse of Religious Assemblles; By Dr. William Sherlock, Dean of St. Paul's. The 3d Edition. 1700.  
A Treatise concerning the Causes of the present Corruption of Christians, and the Remedies thereof 1700.  
Archbishop Tillotson's Eighth Volume, being several Discourses of Repentance, viz. The Necessity of Repentance and Faith. Of confessing and forsaking Sin, in order to Pardon. Of Confession, and Sorrow for Sin. The Unprofitableness of Sin in this Life, an Argument for Repentance. The Shamefulness of Sin, an Argument for Repentance. The final Issue of Sin, an Argument for Repentance. The present and future Advantage of an Holy and Virtuous Life. The Nature and Necessity of holy Resolution. The Nature and Necessity of Restitution The Usefulness of Consideration, in order to Repentance. The Danger of Impenitence, where the Gospel is preached.   

In the Press. The Fourth and Last Part of Mr. RUSHWORTH'S Historical Collections. Containing the Principal Matters which happened from the beginning of the Year 1645 (where the Third Part ended) to the Death of King Charles the First, 1648. Impartially Related: Setting forth only Matter of Fact in Order of Time, without Observation or Reflection. ●●●●ed for the Press in his Life-time. To which will be added, Exact Alphabetical Tables.