SYNODUS ANGLICANA: Or, The Constitution and Proceed OF AN ENGLISH CONVOCATION, SHOWN From the ACTS and REGISTERS thereof, to be agreeable to the Principles OF AN Episcopal Church.  
APPENDIX. 

1. Three Registers of the Upper-house, in 

1562. in which the xxxix Articles were agreed upon.  
1640. under Archb. Laud.  
1661., etc. in which the Common-Prayer was Revised.    
2. The two entire Journals of the Lower-House, in 1586 and 1588.    
LONDON: Printed for A. and J. Churchill at the Black Swan in Pater-noster-row. 1672.   

THE PREFACE.  
THE unhappy Disputes in the last Convocation, were too plain a prejudice to our Church and Order, to suffer any man who had a common respect for either, to stand by unconcerned. But in studying proper Remedies, the great difficulty was, to find out where the Disease lay; that is, from which House the Encroachments came, and upon what foundation a sure Judgement thereof might be made.  
The REASON of the thing had been offered, as one way of fixing the Right: but that (I found) might be urged plausibly on either side. For an Advocate of common knowledge and dexterity, which part soever he undertake, cannot in Causes of this Nature want a Variety of that sort of Colours; but they are little regarded in Law, nor ever urged in a case of Legal Right, that can be supported by Arguments and Authorities from Custom or Statute. Such Suggestions about the Reason and Consequence of things, are useful towards the prudent Settlement of new Laws; but can have no part in the determination of questions about ancient Rights. In this imperfect State of things, many Failings and Inconveniences will ever attend the wisest Establishments; and when Designs are set afoot to invade or undermine them, these Possibilities of mischief are always made the Instruments of raising jealousies and discontents among the Generality; who are hardly brought, either to see the mischief of too much Liberty, or the necessity of lodging an ultimate Trust somewhere, in order to the peace and safety of any Society.  
The Proceed in PARLIAMENT have been also urged, to justify some late Measures in Convocation; but whatever be the virtue of a Parliamentary-Relation, the very persons who contend for it, disown its being a Rule in the present Disputes; by confessing that the Clergy have not a right to all the Privileges of the Commons in Parliament, and yet assigning no reason why some may be claimed upon that foot more than all the rest.  
There is, however, one known custom in Parliament, that may well deserve to be considered in Convocation, viz. the Recourse they have, and the Deference they pay, in all contests about Privilege, to the Records and Journals of former Parliaments. For both our Civil and Ecclesiastical Meetings are Ancient Constitutions; each whereof has all along proceeded by established Methods of its own: And as Custom has, in a Legal sense, markt-out the Privileges of the two Houses in each of these Assemblies; so, by all Prudential Rules, our Security lies, not in making new Experiments, but in the Continuance of Methods which have been tried and established upon the practice of former times, and are not become disagreeable to our own by any new or singular Circumstance. And even this last is a Consideration that could have very little place in Ecclesiastical Government; wherein the different Orders and Degrees, with the proper Rights of each, are established upon a primitive foundation, not to be removed at the pleasure of Men; and much less, if that ancient foundation appear to be confirmed and supported by the additional authority of its own Usages as a Particular or National Church. And it ought certainly to be matter of Joy to every good man, to find such a double Security to the Honour and Purity of the Church of which Providence has made him a Member, as is the Concurrence of a Civil with its Ecclesiastical Claim to the Usages of Antiquity.  
Resolving therefore to make the strictest Enquiry, how far the Church of England is entitled to this Blessing in the great point of Holding her Synods, I entered upon a diligent Search into all the remaining Registers of Convocation. I begun with that of 1356. (the Acts whereof are the first we have) and descended in order to our own times; according to the Catalogue of Convocation-Acts, subjoined to this Preface. All these (I say) I have distinctly examined since the disputes in Convocation began; and am the rather obliged to make this particular Profession of it, because a late Paper entitled the Expedient, p. 17. c. 2. studying to weaken the Authority of my Arguments for the Archbishop's Right to Continue, says, they are only the Substance of what passed in the Debates of the House, reduced by me into Form. I shall always have a just honour for that House and the Debates of it; but must beg leave to think, that the Registers of Convocation (the only Rule in all disputes about Privilege) are a Guide somewhat surer: Which Guide and no other I followed, as in examining that Case of Continuations, so also in drawing the States upon those other Heads, which I formerly promised, 
Right of the Archbishop, p. 113, 136.  and do now Present to the Reader. The truth is, from my first entrance upon this Examination of the Registers, in order to form a true judgement about the differences depending, I have industriously laid by the late Accounts of both Sides concerning the Nature of an English Convocation; resolving to give way to no Impressions, but what should come immediately from the Registers themselves, where alone the State of the Controversy is apparently lodged.  
The Reflections upon the Paper I just now mentioned (the Expedient I mean) were intended for a part of the Preface to this Book; but proving somewhat too large, they are already sent abroad in a Separate Paper.  
As for the present Work; I am sensible that the same Accounts in the way of a regular History, would have been much more Entertaining; but it was not my business to divert, but to instruct and convince: and I was sure, no description I could frame, would either have a Weight equal to the very Words of the Registers, or give so lively a View of Proceed upon all Points, as this regular Deduction of Authorities through the Successive Ages.  
It was, I confess, a mighty Satisfaction to me (as it must be to all the friends of Episcopacy) to find the Proceed of an English Synod so agreeable to the Constitution of an Episcopal Church; however some late Books had misrepresented them. And as to the Publication of what I found, it is accounted for in the Introduction, which contains the general Occasion and Design of the Chapters that follow it.  
A scruple has been raised by some Members of the Lower House, how far the Registers before the Reformation are to be regarded in the Methods of Holding an English-Synod. But as nothing passed then, which could any way affect the usual Intercourse between the two Houses when met and entered upon business; so after the Reformation, they continued the self same Ways of acting, that were established before; as these Deductions under the several Heads do abundantly show. For tho' many of our Accounts since the Reformation, are only Abridgements of the Acts, the Originals whereof were burnt in 1666. yet even in them, and much more in the others that remain entire, we have clear and numerous testimonies of the Clergies continuing to Act, in all respects, with the self same Deference and Subordination to their Metropolitan and Bishops.  
I doubt not, but an objection formerly made, will now be renewed, against the Authorities from the Upper House Registers, as insufficient Witnesses in the Concerns of the Lower. They are so, as to the Debates there, but not as to the Matters Debated; many of which, and those the most considerable, have originally come from the Upper House, with particular Instructions how to proceed upon them: and the same have been also constantly returned thither, and together with the Applications of all kinds from the Lower House, have made a part of the Register of the Upper. Now, our present Concern is not about the methods of debating in either House separately, but the usual Communication between the two Houses: Which being maintained by the going up of the Prolocutor, alone or attended, voluntarily or as sent for by their Lordships; the Reports they bring, the Petitions they make, with the Orders they receive (i. e. all the matters from whence we infer these methods of their corresponding, and the authority of my Lords the Bishops in the Proceed of Convocation) are entered of course in the Books of the Upper House. And the Heads of which the Lower-house-Books chief consist, viz. the Motions made Below, with their Debates upon them, and the appointment of Committees of their own for special purposes, would not (if we had them entire) be of any great moment in the present Points. For these immediately concern the Relation between the two Houses, and turn not upon the proceed of each Separately, but upon the Manner of the Intercourse and Correspondence between them.  
The methods of the Journals of both Houses, with the Matters usually entered in each, will be best understood by the Acts of five Convocations, added by way of Appendix to this Book, as a Pattern to future Proceed. The three first, in 1562, 1640, and 1661. belong to the upper-house; and the two others of 1586 and 1588. are the Acts of the Lower. These last are the only entire Journals of that House now remaining: and I made choice of the three others, as they are accounts of Transactions while all the Original Registers were in being, and yet so lately (too of them at least) that the Establishment of different Usages since that time, will not be pretended. Add to this the importance and variety of the matters transacted in each, viz. the xxxix. Articles in 1562. the Canons in 1640. (against which no exceptions were ever taken, as to the Methods of Proceeding in Convocation;) and the Review and Establishment of the Common Prayer, with many other things of public note and concern in 1661. and the three following years.  
That of 1562. is certainly the entire Register of the upper-house, but whether the Book which remains be the very original, I cannot directly say. Those of 1586, 1588., and 1640. are the Original Books deposited (according to custom) in the Registry of the See of Canterbury: The Book of 1640. contains also an Account of the second Convocation in the same year: but such were the Confusions of the Kingdom and the Miseries of the Church, that no Business could be done in it, save only the Opening, and then Continuing it, in the common Form; after the Archbishop (Sess. 3.) had committed the determination of certain controverted Elections to the Prolocutor and other Members of the Lower-house. 
See the Passage cited p. 114. of this Book.  The last also is the very Original Register of the upper-house from May 8. 1661. to Sept. 19 1666. inclusive; mostly in the hand of Mr. Fisher (Actuary of the Lower-house in 1640. and Deputy-Register to the Upper in 1661.) with an Attestation in form to every Session. It was lately communicated to his Grace the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, by the Reverend Mr. Nurse, Executor to a Gentleman in whose House Mr. Fisher died; and by his Grace, to the Bishops and Clergy in Convocation.  
The Method in which they are now published, is this: The beginning and ending of every Session in the upper-house is usually the same: at the beginning, they express the place of meeting, the attestation of the Notary, the names of the Archbishop, or his Commissary, and of the Bishop's present, with the accustomed Prayers; concluding always with the Conntinuations at length. As to all these therefore (which are pure matters of form and a repetition of the same words, in the same Order) I have thought it sufficient to give a Specimen of them at the beginning of each, and then to contract them; especially in 1661. etc. where the Sessions are more numerous: But the Reader may rest assured that the like Forms run through the whole. 'Tis true, the Names of the Persons present sometimes vary; but they can be of no use, except on some unforeseen and very extraordinary Occasions: and whenever these happen, recourse may be had to the Originals themselves. In 1661. the Bishop of London usually Presided in the Archbishop's stead, and is always meant by the style Dominus when it stands single; the names of the other Commissaries, who were but few, being constantly expressed.  
But the Forms in the two Journals of the Lower-house, are various; and having withal made so great a part in the Dispute about Continuations or Adjournments, I have printed both the Introduction and Conclusion of each Session, at length; without omitting any thing, except the Names of the Persons every day present.  
IN perusing these Acts both of the Upper and Lower House, the Reader will observe all along, How the Synodical Business is mark't-out by the Metropolitan and Bishops, as Governors of the Church; and so much of it considered, debated, and prepared by the Inferior Clergy, as their Lordships from time to time have recommended to their Care: That the Presbyters of former times have ever received and pursued those Directions with the utmost readiness, and then taken care to osser their Applications and Reports with all the marks of Duty and Humility: That therefore the public Cancerns of our Church have in English Convocations been transacted by rules and methods purely Ecclesiastical, that is, by a Synod consisting of Metropolitan, Bishops, and Presbyters, all contributing their Endeavours towards the same common End, and within the Bounds assigned by Antiquity to their respective Orders and Degrees in the Church of Christ: That however the Bishops and Presbyters have their Separate Places of Debate, and may not (under that general Appearance) be unlike the two Houses of Parliament, yet as to their Independence in Acting or any degrees of it, there is no such Resemblance as has been pretended between the Proceed of Parliament and Convocation: That, on the contrary, the chief part of the Prolocutor's Business, is to convey to the Presbyters the Pleasure of their Metropolitan and Bishops, and to represent to their Lordships the Answers, Opinions, and Petitions of the Lower-House; and so, for ever to prevent the Independence of the Clergy, and preserve the Original Union of the Synod, as to the matter, method, order, tendency, and progress of the Debates.  
These (with many more testimonies of an English Convocations being in reality what all the Friends of our Church ought to wish it, an Ecclesiastical Synod) will naturally occur to every one, who shall peruse these Acts with impartiality and an ordinary attention: And Readers, under that conv●… from the practice of former Convocations, may be allowed to wonder upon what Model some late Proceed and Principles were formed; and to re●… seriously upon the Design, or at least the natur●… Trndency, of them. The Archbishops, Parker, Wh●…gift, Laud, Juxon, and Sheldon, (under whom the five Convocations were held) are Names distinguished in this Church by an eminent Zeal in maintaining its Constitution and the Rights of the Clergy. And, now the Proceed of the last Convocation are made public, let every Man be his own judge, whether our present Metropolitan and Bishops have not acted by the self same Rules: and he will then see, what Spirit has governed those Men, who from thence have taken occasion to inveigh so freely against their Lordships, as endeavouring to Overthrow the Rights of the Church and Clergy.  
That part of the Controversy which relates to the Proceed of Convocation when met, began not before the Opening of the last in 1700. The Nation had been industriously prepossessed with false Notions of the Constitution and Proceed of an English Synod: but the Alteration of Opinions about the Right of Continuing, upon a plain State thereof from the Registers, was evident enough; and shows, that the Generality both of Clergy and Laiety are disposed to make as impartial a judgement upon all other Heads, when the Practice of former Times shall be clearly laid before them. For the Information of such, five Journals are here published Entire, and the Form and Proceed of an English Convocation particularly defcribed, not only upon the Authority, but in the very Words, of all the remaining Acts. I pray God they may in any measure tend to the Removal of our unhappy Differences, and the future preservation of Peace and Unity in the Synods of our Church.   

A CATALOGUE Of the Remaining Acts and Registers OF CONVOCATION; From whence the Following HISTORY is drawn.  
The Years in which they were held. The Days on which they were opened. The Registers wherein the Acts are entered. 1356 May 16. Islip, fol. 117. a. 1369 Jan. 21. Wyttlesey, f. 17. b. 1371 Apr. 24. Wyttlesey, f. 40. 1373 Dec. 1. Wyttlesey, f. 63. 1376 Febr. 3. Sudbury, f. 33. b. 1377 Nou. 8. Sudbury, f 44. a. 1379 May 9 Sudbury, f. 55. a. 1380 Dec. 1. Sudbury, f. 72. a. 1383 Dec. 2. Courtney, f. 78. a. 1384 May 20. Courtney, f. 79. a. 1384 Dec. 1. Courtney, f. 79. b. 1385 Nou. 6. Courtney, f. 83. b. 1386 Nou. 5. Courtney, f. 84. b. 1387 Febr. 26. Courtney, f. 73. a. 1388 Oct. 12. Courtney, f. 74. a. 1391 Apr. 17. Courtney, f. 75. a. 1396 Febr. 19 Arundel, f. 44 a. 1394 Febr. 5. Reg. 4. Epp. f. 195. b. 1399 Oct. 6. Arundel, f. 51. a. 1400 Jan. 26 Arundel, Vol. 2 f. 1. b. 1402 Oct. 21 Arundel, Vol. 1. 54. a. 1404 Apr. 21. Arundel, 57 a. 1404 Nou. 24. Arundel, f. 62. b. 1406 May 10. Arundel, 65. a. 1408 Jul. 23. Arundel, f. 71. a. 1408 Jan. 14. Arundel, Vol. 2. f. 7. b. 1409 Febr. 17. Arundel, f. 15. a. 1411 Dec. 1. Arundel, f. 22. a. 1412 Mar. 6. Arundel, f. 4. b. 1415 Nou. 18. Chichley, Vol. 2. fol. 1. a. 1416 Apr. 1. Chichley, 3. a. 1416 Nou. 9 Chichley, 6. a. 1417 Nou. 29. Chichley, f. 10. a. 1419 Oct. 30. Chichley, f. 17. a. 1421 May 5 Chichley, f. 23. b. 1422 Jul. 6. Chichley, f. 30. b. 1424 Oct. 12. Chichley, f. 33. b. 1425 Apr. 23. Chichley, f. 40. a. 1426 Apr. 15. Chichley, f. 65. a. 1428 Jul. 5. Chichley, f. 69. a. 1429 Oct. 19 Chichley, f. 77. b. 1430 Febr. 19 Chichley, f. 81 a. 1432 Sept. 15. Chichley, f. 86. b. 1433 Nou. 7 Chichley, f. 93. a. 1434 Oct. 7. Chichley, f. 99 a. 1437 Apr. 29. Chichley, f. 101. a. 1438 Apr. 28. Chichley, f. 103. a. 1439 Nou. 21. Chichley, f. 109. b. 1444 Oct. 19 Arundel, Vol. 2. f. 28. a. 1452 Febr. 7. Kemp. f. 219. a. 1460 May 6. Bourchier, f. 12. a. 1463 Jul. 6. Bourchier, f. 18. a. 1480 Mar. 21. Bourchier, f. 26. a. 1486 Febr. 13. Morton, f. 33. a. 1488 Jan. 14. Morton, f. 41. a.  
¶ Thus far, the Acts are distinctly entered in the Registers of the Archbishop: but about this time they began to have separate Books for the affairs of Convocation.  
1529 Nou. 5. Large Extracts out of the Upper-housebooks, except those of 1553. and 1554. which are taken from Journals of the Lower-house. 1532 Nou. 5. 1536 Jun. 9 1541 Jan. 30. 1547 Nou. 5. 1553 Oct. 6. 1554 Apr. 3. 1554 Nou. 13. 1555 Oct. 22. 1555 Dec. 10. 1557 Jan. 1. 1558 Jan. 24. 1562 Jan. 21. The Register of the Upper-house, entire. 1584. Nou. 24. Index of the Upper-house Register. 1586 Oct. 16. Two Journals of the Lower-house, in the Registry at Doctors-Commons. 1588. Nou. 13. 1586 Oct. 16. Index of the Upper-house Registers, in the hands of Dr. Atterbury. 1588. Nou. 13. 1592. Febr. 20. 1601 Oct. 18. 1603 Mar. 20. 1605 Nou. 6. 1606 Nou. 19 1614 Apr. 6. 1620  1623. Febr. 13. 1625 May 18. 1625 Febr. 7. 1627. Mar. 18. 1640 1a Conu. Apr. 14. Entire Registers of the Upper-house, and Minutes of the Lower, in the Office at Doctor's Commons. 2a Conu. Nou. 4. 1661., etc. May 16. The original Register of the Upper-house: and Minutes of the Lower at Doctor's Commons. 1689 Nou. 6. The original Register of the Upper-house, at Doctor's Commons.   

THE CONTENTS.  



Introduction.  

THE Occasion and Design of this Book. 1  
The late Principles about a Parliamentary Alliance. 2  
The ill Consequence thereof to Episcopacy. 3  
The beginning of these Innovations in the Convocation of 1689. 5  
The tendency of such Proceed, to a  Power of Presbyters. 7  
Some new Claims of the last Lower-house. 8  
The design of this Book, To settle all Proceed upon the Custom of Convocation. 9  
All Proofs from the words of the Registers. 11  
The necessity of citing Authorities at large. ibid.  
The necessity of such a Work, at this juncture; to maintain the honour of our Reformed Church. 12    

CHAP. I.  

The Method of Summoning an English-Convocation. 15  
The Writ to the Archbishop. ibid.  
The Warrant to the Lord Chancellor, of another nature. 17  
The Returns, immediately and ultimately to the Archbishop. 18  
The Summons not less Ecclesiastical, because required by the Prince. 19  
The Clergy not summoned in the same manner from the beginning, as at present. 20  
Inferences from the foregoing Testimonies. 21    

CHAP. II.  

The manner of Opening an English Convocation. 23  
The President's coming to S. Paul's. ibid.  
The Dean of the Province's Certificatorium Exhibited. ibid.  
Other Certificates and Proxies. 24  
Contumacy Pronounced. 25  
These, a clear foundation of the Archbishop's Power over the Members in point of Attendance, and therefore more particularly treated of 25 

1. By the tenor of the Mandate, none to be excused, but who shall show reasonable Cause to the Archbishop. ibid.  
2. In pursuance hereof, all Returns ever made directly to his Grace. 28 

The Dean of the Province more particularly required to do it. 30    
3. The Dean of the Province's Certificatorium, with his Grace's Commission to receive and inspect Proxies. 31  
4. Sentence of Contumacy against Absents 32 

The Sentence of Contumacy, a written Instrument. 33  
The Suspension of it by the Archbishop. 36    
5. The exercise of the Archbishop's Authority over the Members in the middle of Convocation 37 

1. In Praeconizations. ibid.  
2. In giving Licence to be absent. 38  
3. In admonitions not to departed. 40      
The Archbishop absolves or punishes the Absents of the Lower-house at the Conclusion of the Synod. 41  
The Substance of the Arguments for the Archbishop's Power over the Members. 45  
The Claim of the Lower-house to a concurrent Power, confuted. 46  
The Prolocutor cannot reserve punishment, but in the President's name. 47  
The Prolocutor cannot give leave of Absence, but as empowered by the Precedent. 49  
The Practices of the last Lower-house in this particular. 50    

CHAP. III.  
Of Admitting or Denying Proxies.  

The Lower-house have no Power to admit or deny Proxies. 52  
All Proxies lodged with the Register of the Upper-house. 53  
The Entry of Proxies in the Lower-house Book, no argument of their Right to Admit them. 54  
The Actuary of the Lower-house, an Officer of the Archbishop. 55  
Certain Irregularities lately committed in this business of Proxies. 57  
The Lower-house's additional Leave to departed, an Invasion of the President's Authority. 59  
The upper-house, the Protectors of the Persons and Privileges of the Lower. 60    

CHAP. IV.  
Of the Election and Office of a Prolocutor.  

Prolocutors at the first, chosen only upon some single occasions. 63  
When they came to be chosen at the beginning of Convocation. 65  
The first instance of Presenting a Prolocutor. 66  
Of the Admission and Confirmation by the Precedent and Bishops. 67  
The Office of a Prolocutor or Referendarius. ibid.  
The immediate End, to Report the Answers of the Lower-Clergy. 68  
The bringing back the Instructions of the Precedent and the Bishops. ibid.  
The moderating in the Debates of the Lower-house. 69  
The Prolocutor properly supplies the President's Place among the Lower Clergy. ibid.  
The Prolocutors at the beginning, usually Officers of the Archbishop's Court. ibid.  
Prolocutor sometimes recommended by the Precedent. 71  
Neither of these Observations, intended to prejudice the Freedom of their Election. ibid.  
The Order or Leave of the Precedent, necessary before they proceed to the Choice. 71  
In case of death, or promotion, the President's Order necessary to a new Election. 72  
Always presented to the upper-house for Confirmation. 73  
The Prolocutor's Application to the upper-house for Protection. ibid.  
The Prolocutor cannot Substitute a Deputy, but by Leave from the upper-house. 74  
The Prolocutor's Office, when present, to convey all Messages from the Clergy to the upper-house. 76    

CHAP. V  

By what degrees the Inferior Clergy became a Separate House from the Bishops. 78  
The false account of the late Narrative. ibid.  
Retirement of the Clergy to consider business (in their united State,) was by direction from the Archbishop and Bishops. 79  
The Place to which they retired, uncertain for a long time. 80  
The Lower Clergy have a separate House, for Debate only. 81  
The Place of Debate has been ever assigned by the Archbishop. 82  
The Separation of the Bishops and Clergy stated upon the foregoing Accounts. 83  
The Accounts given of this Matter in the Narrative, etc. groundless. 84    

CHAP. VI  

The manner of Entering upon Business in Convocation. 85  
The Archbishop's Right to declare the Causes of the Convocation. ibid.  
The Clergy usually ordered to retire, and debate about the business of Convocation, as declared by the Archbishop. ibid.  
Inferences, from the Testimonies brought to confirm the foregoing Heads. 93  
The difference between the former Methods, and the late Practice of Convocation, in these respects. 95    

CHAP. VII.  

The Right of the Precedent and Bishops to require the Clergy to consider any particular Business throughout the Convocation. 97  
The necessity of showing this. ibid.  
The Separation of the two Houses made no difference in this Point. 98  
Inferences from the Testimonies alleged upon this Head. 106    

CHAP. VIII.  

The Right of the Precedent and Bishops to Order Committees of the Lower-house. 107  
Committees of the Clergy to attend Committees of Bishops. 108  
Committees of the Clergy alone, ordered by the upper-house. 112  
The names of the Persons chosen in the Lower-house, Reported to the Upper. 115  
The Right of the upper-house to appoint Committees of the Lower-Clergy, never questioned but in 1689 and 1701. 116  
The Refusal in 1689. 117  
And in 1701.— (both irregular.) 118  
The Reasons alleged in the Narrative particularly answered. 119  
Committees chosen by the Lower-Clergy for purposes of their own. 123  
The Lower-house never Consent to the Choosing, when required by their Precedent; but only to the Persons or Numbers. 124  
The last Lower-house justly chargeable with all the Consequences of that Refusal. 126    

CHAP. IX.  

The Right of the Precedent and Bishops to prescribe a Time for the Return of Business committed to the Clergy. 127  
The time for such Return, expressly prescribed. ibid.  
The Clergies Answers called for by the Precedent and Bishops, and longer time granted at the request of the Clergy. 129  
Inferences from the foregoing Testimonies. 131    

CHAP. X.  

The Right of the Precedent and Bishops to require the Answers of the Clergy in Writing. 133  
The last Lower-house's refusal to answer in Writing. ibid.  
Proved irregular from the practice of Convocation. ibid.  
The State of this Case between the two Houses, the last Convocation. 137  
Free-Conference, a new term in Convocation. 138  
No such Free Conference ever insisted on by the Clergy before. ibid.  
Inferences from the foregoing Accounts. 139    

CHAP. XI.  

The Right of the Precedent and Bishops to take to them the Assistance of Persons learned in our Laws, etc. 140  
Application of the foregoing Testimonies to the Transactions of the last Convocation. 143  
The necessity of having Recourse to Council, about the Censure of Books, in the last Convocation. 143  
Their Lordships in recommending the Case to the Bishop of the Diocese, acted agreeably to the Practice of Convocation. 144    
Thus far of the DUTY of the Inferior Clergy, as acting in Subordination to their Metropolitan and Bishops.   

Next, of the RIGHTS of the Inferior Clergy in Convocation. 146  

CHAP. XII.  

The Share, of right belonging to the Clergy, in preparing and in presenting the Gravamina and Reformanda. 147  
The GRAVAMINA often considered and presented with the Subsidies. 147  
The Gravamina, how addressed by the Clergy. 151  
The time, when Grievances shall be proposed; at the discretion of the Upper House. ibid.  
Grievances first offered in a general Representation viuâ voce. 152  
The Clergies Right to Redress, and the manner thereof. 154  
The REFORMANDA frequently proposed by the Archbishop among the Causes of Convocation. 155  
The Clergies Right to propose Reformations. 157  
The Clergies Right to bring in Schedules of Reformation. 159  
A short state of the Reformanda, from the foregoing Accounts. 161  
The Care of the Reformanda in Parliamento usually left to the Archbishop and Bishops. 162  
Deputies appointed by Convocation to Assist in Soliciting. ibid.    

CHAP. XIII.  

The Clergies Right to offer Petitions of other Kind's. 164  
The several sorts of Petitions, particularly occurring in the Acts of Convocation (not specified to restrain the Clergy from Petitions of other kinds.) 

1. For making new Canons. 164  
2. For the revival of old ones. 165  
3. For the Abolition or Suspension of Laws. ibid.  
4. About Festivals. 166  
5. For the Archbishop's Intercession with the King. ibid.  
6. For the more strict Execution of Discipline. 167    
Petitions of several kinds, An. 1555. 167  
Clergies Petitions of all kinds, presented immediately to the upper-house. 168  
The usual Time of presenting such Petitions. 169    

CHAP. XIV.  
The Part to which the Clergy have a Right in Judicial Cases in Convocation.  

The Occasion of bringing Offenders (ordinarily tried in the Bishop's Courts) before the Convocation. 169  
Constitution, for bringing Heretics before the Convocation. 170  
Offenders usually said to be brought Coram Archiepiscopo, Episcopis, & Clero, as the Judicature. 171  
The Sentence ran in the Name of the Archbishop by authority of the Synod. 171  
This Account not opposed to any Restraints laid upon the whole Convocation by subsequent Statutes. ibid.    

CHAP. XV.  

The Clergies Right of a Negative, or Final Dissent from the upper-house. 172  
The Original of the Clergies Negative. ibid.  
A Negative or Final Dissent, a peculiar, but yet established Right of the English Clergy. 173  
All Denials of the Clergy ever made with great Humility and Condescension. ibid.  
This, no prejudice to the Clergies absolute Right to a final dissent. 175    

CHAP. XVI.  

The manner of Passing business in Convocation. 176  
The manner of Consenting in the Lower-house. ibid.  
The Circumstances of that Consent, in some Instances, reported to the upper-house. 177  
All Instruments read publicly and finally agreed to in the Upper-house. 178  
The Sanction of the Metropolitan. ibid.  
Articles, Canons, etc. passed otherwise, viz. by Subscription. 180  
Why Articles, Canons, etc. pass now by Subscription. 182    

CHAP. XVII.  
Of Proroguing and Dissolving.  

The Royal Writs for these purposes necessarily directed to the Archbishop. 183  
The Archbishop's Prorogations and Dissolutions upon these Writs, Authoritative, and Canonical. 184  
The Archbishop executes them by his own Metropolitical Power; and in his own Name. ibid.  
The Commissions to do the same things in Parliament, express a Special Power and Authority from the King. ibid.  
The Archbishop's Admonitions immediately before Prorogations or Dissolutions. 185  
The Schedules of Prorogation or Dissolution mention the Royal Writs, but run in the name of the Archbishop. 186  
The English Reformation unjustly charged with destroying the Canonical Methods of transacting Ecclesiastical Affairs. ibid.      

APPENDIX; containing the Journals of five Convocations:  
With Observations drawn from them, concerning 

1. The Right of CONTINUING or PROROGUING.  
2. The Right of determining controverted ELECTIONS.  
3. The Right of SUBSTITUTING a PROLOCUTOR.  
4. The AUTHORITY of the Summons to Convocation.    

I. Of the Right of Continuing or Proroguing. 223 

The Schedule of Continuation constantly mentioned in the Vpper-house-Registers. 224  
The Antiquity of Schedules in Convocation. ibid.  
The Inferior-Clergy Present at the Archbishop's Continuations. 226  
A Summary account of the Schedule. 227  
The deriving our Schedules from the Lateran-Council, an improbable Scheme. 228  
The dispute depends not upon Proroguing by Schedule, or otherwise. 230  
The heads upon which the dispute turns. 231  
The Schedule evidently comprehends both Bishops and Clergy. ibid.  
The Clause Praelatorum & Cleri, a genuine part of the Schedule. 232  
The transmission of the Schedule, only a circumstance in this dispute. 233  
Reasons to believe that the Schedule has been ever sent down. 235  
The Prolocutor is judge of the Time of Intimating, when the Precedent and Bishops don't interpose. 234  
The Form of Intimating to be taken from the most Exact Journals. 235  
The ordinary Phrase to be in reason the Established Form. 236  
Declaring by Intimation, the ordinary Form. ibid.  
The Prolocutor's Intimation has no reference to the Consent of the House. 237  
The Intimation, given by Command of the Precedent. 239  
A formal Intimation of the Prolocutor, not necessary to Continue the Lower-house. 240  
The President's Right to Continue the Clergy in the Upper-house. 241  
The Phrase Continuavit quoad hanc Domum, no argument of a Separate Power in the Lower-house. 243  
Nor the Phrase in Parliament, Dominus Cancel. contin, praesens Parliamentum. 245  
A Separate Power of Continuing in the Lower-house, opens a way to perpetual Divisions of the Synod. 248  
Intermediate Sessions a great Irregularity, and mischief to the Church. 251  
The Clergy of former times did not think of Intermediate Sessions. 253    
II. Observations touching the Right to determine Controverted Elections. 256 

Instances of such Elections, occurring in the Acts. ibid.  
No question, whether the Archbishop have a Right to determine Elections. 261  
The Lower-house have no Right to intermeddle in Returns. 262  
The Pretences to a concurrent Right in the Lower-house considered. 263  
The Prolocutor, and not the House, determined the Election in 1586. 265  
The Instance of 1640. considered. 266    
III. An Additional account of the Substitution of a Prolocutor. 268 

The late Substitution in 1701. ibid.  
The account of it in a Paper marked Numb. 1. 269  
Orders made in Convocation against publishing the Debates, while depending. 269  
Reasons why a Sub-Prolocutor ought to be confirmed in the upper-house. 273  
Instances of Substitutions by Authority of the upper-house, defended against the late Paper, Numb. 1. 272  
The arguments for an Independent Power in the Lower-house, answered. 276  
Instances where the Registers of the upper-house are Wanting, of no force. 277  
The bare Silence of the Vpper-house-Books, no Proof against Positive Evidences. 279  
The Precedent of 1640. particularly considered 280  
The Paper [Numb. 1.] speaks against the sense of the House, in this matter. 281  
No difference between a Prolocutor and Referendary. 282  
The Duties belonging to the Office of a Prolocutor, are all annexed to that of Reporting, as the Consequences of it. 284    
IU. Additional Observations touching the AUTHORITY of the Summons to Convocation. 287 

The Authority of Summoning applied both to the King and the Archbishop. ibid.  
The Archiepiscopal Summons confessed to be Authoritative, before the Act of Submission. 288  
The notion of a Civil Summons, an argument for the Papists against our Reformation. 289  
The intent of the Statute, no more than to restrain the Archbishop from Exerting his Authority without the Royal-License. 290  
The word Authority in the Statute implies a Leave or Licence. 291  
The Archbishop's Summons Authoritative, from the style of the Mandate and Return. 292  
The Case of the Convocation's being dissolved by the death of the Prince. 295  
A dissolution by the King's death, no prejudice to the Archiepiscopal Authority as giving Subsistence to a Convocation. 296  
The Archiepiscopal Authority recognised in the Dean of the Province's Certificatorium, set down at large. 297    
V Observations upon the Table of Fees, and the Catalogue of Members, prefixed to the Registers of Convocation. 301 

Inferences from the Table of Fees, 

1. That the Officers of Convocation are under the immediate Jurisdiction of the Archbish. 303  
2. That the Admission of Proxies of the Lower-Clergy belongs to his Grace. ibid.  
3. That none could make Proxies, but who were personally Cited. ibid.    
Catalogues of Convocation-Members, and Inferences from them, 304 

1. That the Entry of the Lower-Clergy in the Upper-house-Books, shows the Convocation to be one Body under one common Head. 304  
2. That the Lower-house is Included in the Clause Convocatio Prael. & Cleri in Continuations. ibid.  
3. That the Members of both Houses in the Convocations of 1640 and 1661., were eminent Assertors of the RIGHTS and LIBERTIES of the CHURCH. ibid.  
4. That therefore our present Prelates in Convocation have been unjustly traduced, for proceeding by the same Rules. 306         

THE CONSTITUTION AND PROCEED OF AN English Convocation, etc.  

INTRODUCTION.  
The Occasion and Design of the following Discourse.  
AMong the pretences that have been framed of late, to gain the Clergy in Convocation some new Exemptions from their Metropolitan and Bishops, no one has been insisted on so much as a Parliamentary Capacity supposed to belong to them. And it was an artificial Management in those who set the design afoot, to make this the chief ground of their Claim: not only because such Exemptions could have no Colour from their Ecclesiastical Capacity and the Constitution of the Primitive Synods; but also because an Alliance to the Parliament, in Constitution, was the most likely way to lead the generality of Men to take the measures of their Proceediegs from thence. Every one knows, that the Parliament consists of two Houses; and they have withal an Opportunity of observing out of the public Votes the Separate Methods whereby the Commons Act and Govern themselves: And little more of the nature of a Convocation being ordinarily understood than that It also consists of two Houses debating apart, this, without recourse to the Primitive Times or opportunity to know our own Established methods of acting, prepared Men's minds to favour the late Claims of some of the Clergy to such Privileges as the Commons enjoy. In which Error they have been industriously confirmed, by the Endeavours of the same Persons, to bring the Parliament and Convocation to such an alliance as was never thought of before the publication of some late Books.  

The late Principle; of Parliamentary Alliance.  That the Members of the Lower-House are the Clergy Commoners, and Spiritual Commons; that the whole Convocation subsists by the King's-Writ, and not by the Archiepiscopal Mandate; that the Clergy thereof are ATTENDANT on the Parliament, as the Parliament has a Right to be ATTENDED by them; is the ordinary Language of a late Book; 
Atterb. Rights, etc.  which yet is pretended to be written in Defence of the Church's Liberties, and censures the Principles of its Adversary, as of a Slavish tendency. From this Principle, others of the same kind relating to their Constitution and Privileges, have since sprung; 
Answer to 1st Letter p. 2. Col. 2.  That the Model of an English Convocation was, doubtless, taken from the Model of an English Parliament, 
Ibid. p. 6. c. 1.  That an English Synod was formed upon the Platform of an English Parliament, 
Nar. p. 6.  That the Synodical Rights peculiar to the Lower-Clergy of the Church of England, are owing to a Conformity to the Parliament, 
Nar. p. 8.  That the distinct Capacity of the Lower-house of Convocation was derived from an imitation of the Lower-house of Parliament.  

The ill consequence thereof to Episcopacy.  The two last Passages acknowledge in effect, that some of the Privileges they are already in possession of, were unknown to the more ancient Synods: And as to the other Exemptions for which they contend, if they had any countenance from those Early Times, That (I suppose) would be thought a more decent Pleain a Case of Ecclesiastical Government, than laying their model in the imitation of a Parliament. For I take it to be new Doctrine, that a late Author delivers with great assurance, to take off the ill appearance of Contending, and that with so much warmth, for Ecclesiastical Rights upon a Secular Foundation: 
Atterb. Rights, etc. p. 138.  I am sure, and am ready whenever I am called upon, particularly to prove, that the more our Church shall resemble the State, in her temper and manner of Government; the nearer still will she approach to primitive Practice. This is a Position that will require Proof, when he is at leisure to go about it; not being half so evident (in my opinion) as that the Rights and Privileges of the House of Commons, if vested in the Lower-House of Convocation, would give the Clergy a  Power with their Bishops, and so remove our Church still further from primitive Practice. But all along on one side of this Controversy, the Church seems to signify no more than the Inferior Clergy, exclusive of the Metropolitan and Bishops; as if the giving Presbyters new degrees of Exemption from their Ecclesiastical Superiors, were the way that primitive Practice has traced out, for the perfection of an Episcopal Church.  
An Opposition to the Liberties of the Church has an odious sound; and sounds no worse than it really is, when the Bishops as well as Inferior Clergy, acting regularly and peaceably within their proper Spheres, are allowed to be the constituent Members of that Church. But the present claim of Parliamentary Rights, is only, in other Words, a diminution of the Canonical Authority of the Archbishop and Bishops over their Clergy; which being diminished as far as Parliamentary Exemptions would do it, must evidently destroy the Subordination of Presbyters to their Bishops; that is, it must bring us by degrees to a state of Presbytery. Now, no Law has determined how far these, which they call their Parliamentary Rights, may be carried; or which is the same thing, how near the Claims upon that Foundation may bring us to Presbytery. The late Narrative of the Lower-House, 
p. 8.  speaking of their distinct Capacity as derived from an Imitation of the Lower-House of Parliament, does indeed say, that they are far from presuming to set themselves upon a level with that honourable Body, or to pretend to equal Privileges thence with respect to the Lords, the Bishops. But they no where tell us, how far they will or may carry their Claims upon the foot of that Relation, nor assign any reason why it does not as well entitle them to all the other Privileges of that august Assembly, as to those they contend for at present. And the Friends of Episcopacy will hardly be content that our Constitution be perpetually exposed to Ruin, whenever a majority of the Lower-House happens to be out of humour, and in a disposition to withdraw their Obedience, or invade the Rights of their Superiors, under a general pretence of their Parliamentary Relation. That they enjoy several Rights, unknown to the Presbyters of the primitive Times, is not denied; nor ought to be forgotten by those, who not content with that addition of Power and Privilege, were making larger Encroachments upon their Ecclesiastical Superiors; and which is worse, upon a Foundation that will raise them to what further degrees of Independence the Clergy may at any time be drawn to attempt, either out of a personal dislike of their Bishops, or a secret enmity to the Character itself.  

These Innovations begun in 1689. Reg. Sup. Domus.  These new Claims were set afoot (with what design, or upon what grounds, I cannot say) in the Convocation of 1689. In the sixth Session whereof, the Upper-House drew up an Address of Thanks to his Majesty, for his Royal Licence, and a Gracious Message which he had sent that day to the Convocation. The Form being agreed on, was (according to Castom) sent down to the Lower-House for their consent; but they, instead of giving their consent, or signifying the Amendments they conceived necessary, returned an Answer to this effect, " That they had resolved to Address in a Form of their own framing; and presently after, upon their Lordship's disapproving that Answer, they declared their Resolution more openly, " That they intended to Address separately: Intendebant Supplicem Libellum separatim praesentare. An expression very agreeable to the Constitution of a House of Commons, but never heard of before in Convocation: And as the Practice was wholly New, so was it resisted and overruled by the Right Reverend the present Lord Bishop of London, than Precedent, and his Brethren the Bishops.  
In the Tenth Session, 
Ibid.  the Prolocutor having received certain Amendments from the Precedent to be considered by the Lower-House, immediately asked the Question, Whether, in case the Lower-House agreed to those, their Lordships intended to make any more? Which would not perhaps have been thought a very proper or decent Offer, even from One House of Parliament to the other, in a like Case: And being so much more improper in Convocation, especially as coming from the Lower to the upper-house, would have justified their Lordships in a Resentment less mild and gentle, than they were pleased to express: Praeses, etc. declaravit quaestionem per cum propositam fuisse valde Irregularem, & talem cui nullo modo respondere queat aut tenetur.  
Session 13th, 
Ibid.  The Precedent proposes to the Prolocutor the naming a Committee of the Lower-House, to meet a select number of the Upper, in order to inspect the Acts of both Houses. Upon this a double Irregularity ensued; (so I take the liberty to call them now, because they will be proved such hereafter in their proper place:) the first, in the Prolocutor, who returned an answer, that I dare say no Precedent ever met with before from a Prolocutor, se non posse ad id consentire sine Consensu Coetus domûs Inferioris Convocationis prius habito: The second, in the House, whose resolution was, not to appoint any Committee for that purpose, durante recessu Convocationis: As if by the established Rules of Convocation, they had a negative upon the Precedent in the appointment of Committees, or had any further share in it, than to receive his Directions, and; when the number and the Persons are left to their discretion, to confirm the Prolocutor's Nomination.  
In that Convocation also, the new practice of sending the Resolutions and Opinions of their House, by other hands than the Prolocutor's, was first attempted; but presently taken notice of as an Innovation, and checked by the Precedent and Bishops.  
I produce not these, as testimonies of any Design in the Clergy of that time to transgress the Rules of Convocation, or to gain new Privileges to their House. 
The tendency of Parliamentary Claims to a  Power.  Tho' it may be, some of the Members than had this notion of Parliamentary Rights in their Eye; and the manner of holding an English Convocation, not being near so thoroughly considered as since it has been, the taking some of their Measures from the Proceed in Parliament might (under that imperfect knowledge of things) be a pardonable Error. But the observation I would make upon these Practices, is, That they were plainly enough an Imitation of the Methods in the house of Commons; and being so, show how the very beginnings of such an Imitation tend to divide and separate the Synod, and introduce a  Power of Presbyters with their Bishops; and that therefore the safety of our Episcopal Constitution, at this juncture, depends upon a timely and steadfast opposition to those Parliamentary Claims, with the Establishment of all Proceed in Convocation upon the only true bottom, the current usage of former Convocations, as contained in the remaining Registers of either House. These have been diligently examined since the year 1689. and being so opposite to the Claims that were then made (as will be shown at large from the Registers themselves) it might have been hoped that some of the more inquisitive Members would have come together the last Convocation, in a disposition to recede from those groundless pretences. But whether they had not thoroughly examined the Books, or whether they suffered themselves to be misled by one whose Interest it was to draw a majority of the Clergy to act upon Principles that he had publicly advanced; whatever (I say) was the Cause, 'tis certain in Fact, that they were far enough from revoking the Innovations attempted in 1689. 
Some new Claims of the last Lower-House.  So far, as upon the same Foundation to proceed to new Claims of Independence, as little warranted from the Usage of Convocation, and tending equally, if not more, to set up the  Power we are complaining of, and to destroy the fundamental Constitution of an English Synod. Such are, The Power they pretend over their own Members; Their sitting and acting in a Synodical Way, without their Metropolitan and Bishops; Their proceeding to Resolutions upon matters of the highest importance, without the previous knowledge and directions of the upper-house; Their refusing to return their Answer in Writing, and to appoint Committees, when required by the Precedent, etc. with other steps towards such an Independence from their Bishops, as the Commons in Parliament are possessed of, with relation to the Lords. And if this must be their standing Pattern, and their Parliamentary Capacity a certain refuge whenever their Claims exceed the Custom of former Convocations; how far they will go I cannot say, nor will I judge with what Intention they pursue Measures so opposite to the State of the primitive Church; but this I am sure of, that the same Foundation upon which their late Claims are grounded, will equally justify them in many more; that being once introduced would make the Frame of an English Convocation as inconsistent with Episcopacy, as the professed Enemies thereof can desire.  
It will be objected, that the Persons who at present are in those Levelling Measures, have not formerly been thought in the Presbyterian Interest, and that now also they are more open and bitter than most other Men in their Invectives against them, and remarkably loud in a Concern for the Church.  
All this is readily acknowledged, and 'tis no new thing with frail Mankind (such especially who are uneasy under Government) to rail at those the most, who are in the possession of what themselves most desire. But Words are empty Testimonies in comparison of Actions; and the hardest Names they can find for that Sect, will be no Conviction to Them nor Us, either that these endeavours to lessen the Character of Bishops, are not an evident Service to their Cause, or that such Invasions by Presbyters upon the primitive Rights of Episcopacy, are not an evident undermining of our Establishment.  

The design of this Book, to settle their Proceed upon the Custom of Convocation.  But when I speak of the primitive Rules, I would not be understood to propose the forms of the more ancient Synods, as the measure of my future reasonings upon the Privileges either of Bishops or Clergy in an English Convocation; but only to prevent its being thought, that any of the Powers they now claim, and the Bishops deny, are so much as pretended to receive support from the Condition of Presbyters in the primitive Church. So far from this, that many of their real Privileges peculiar to the Clergy of this Nation, and now grown into legal Rights, are much younger than the first Accounts we have of a Convocation properly so called; such are, Their debating in a separate Body; Their having a standing Prolocutor of their own, The share they have in framing Canons and Constitutions, Their Negative upon the Archbishop and Bishops in Synodical Acts of an Ecclesiastical Nature; and even their right to be summoned in the present Form, or for Ecclesiastical Purposes. For their Civil Property could not be disposed of, but by their own consent; and the necessity of having this, gave them a Negative upon the Bishops in Subsidies, which was then the chief business of Convocation; the Canons and Constitutions of the Church being for many Ages after constantly made in Synods, consisting only of the Archbishop and his Provincial Bishops. But the Affairs of the Church, as they came to be transacted in Convocation, fell under the Rules and Methods that had been established there upon Civil Accounts: By which means, the Inferior Clergy came into the same share in the Ecclesiastical, that they had enjoyed in the Secular Business; and as Custom has given them a legal Claim to several Privileges of that kind, unknown to the Primitive Presbyters, or even to the Presbyters of any other Episcopal Church at this Day; so (be their original what it will) it is no part of my Design to call in question any of their Claims, that the remaining Acts of Convocation will warrant. Their want of Authorities from the primitive Times, with the lateness of their coming to a share in the Canons and Constitutions of our own Church, and the secular Original of the Title they now have to bear a part in framing and passing them, will be a general Reason with all unprejudiced Men why they should at least acquiesce in these, and not endeavour to build higher upon that secular Foundation. But in the present Controversy, I freely pass by all these disadvantages, and desire only that every Point may be determined by the Constitution and Customs of Convocation; resolving neither to assert any Authority to the Upper-House, nor deny any Privileges to the Lower, but as the Proceed of former Convocations establish the first, and prove all Pretensions to the second groundless and illegal. 
All proofs fro●… 〈◊〉 Registers themselves.  Nor do I propose to have the Reader depend upon my Assertions or bare Representations of things; but upon all Points that are either made a Question already, or can possibly bear one, the Evidences shall be produced at large; that so every Reader may be his own Judge, and none be able to contradict the Positions laid down, but by first denying the Authority of the Registers.  
My accounts may perhaps seem too minute and particular to some, who are already skilled in Convocation Affairs; but it is not for their Use that I writ this, but for the sake of the Generality; many of whom, Eminent in other parts of Learning, may without reproach be presumed Strangers to a Subject, that has so lately come under Consideration. Which will also be a fair Apology for their having been misled into a favourable Opinion of some Measures, not to be warranted by the Practice of Convocation; if they show themselves ready to retire upon a clear Conviction from proper Authorities. In the producing of which, my multiplying Testimonies of the same kind, and to the same purpose, may possibly be thought a fault; but if it be, they who have so openly denied Truths established upon Evidences so plain and numerous, are answerable for it.  

The necessity of citing Authorities at large  In Truth, the Errors and Prejudices arising from the notion of a Parliamentary Body, have been wrought into Men's Minds with so much Art and Diligence, that nothing under Originals, and a variety of Authorities from thence, can hope to dispossess them; nor will it upon any less Testimony be thought possible, that Persons in Holy Orders should contend so earnestly for meeting and acting in a Civil Capacity, about matters of an Ecclesiastical Nature; if they had any Pretence in Law or Custom, to meet and act under the Character or Appearance of a Sacred Synod: Especially when Subsidies, the great Business of a Secular Nature that ever belonged to the Convocation, are not now granted in it. And since, even after the business of it is become purely Ecclesiastical, the Endeavours to make it a Civil Meeting, have been so remarkable: my design, in the following Papers, is to do Right to its Constitution, by restoring it to all the Spiritual Liberties and Advantages it may justly claim by the Laws of the Land, and its own perpetual Usage: From which, as conveyed to us by the Acts themselves, 
The general Design of this Book.  I will show in a plain and naked Relation of Matters of Fact, That an English Convocation, however laid under some Restraints from the Civil Constitution, is far from being so much transformed into a Civil Meeting, as has been pleaded of late; That in the Summoning, Opening, and Acting, it appears what it is, an Ecclesiastical Synod of Bishops with their Presbyters, and neither a Parliamentary Body on the one hand, nor an Assembly of Presbyters on the other; That however the Papists slander the English Reformation, as if it had changed our Church into a Civil Constitution, yet 'tis evident (against all the Endeavours of some among ourselves, to help the Church of Rome in that Objection) that, as to the Nature of our Synods at least, it left 〈◊〉 in the same Ecclesiastical State as it found them.  
To proceed regularly in this Design, it must be all along observed, what I hinted before, that the Corruptions which have been endeavoured of late in an English Convocation, are, in general, the Diminution of the Canonical Authority of the Metropolitan and Bishops, and the Clergies claiming such Exemptions from that Authority, as makes the whole Body look more like an English Parliament, than a Sacred Synod. To this purpose it has been pleaded, 
Nar. p. 6.  That the Convocation was divided into two Houses, in conformity to the Parliament: 
Answ. p 9 c. 2.  That the Prolocuter is Precedent of the Lower-House, as the Archbishop is of the Upper: That the Acts and Declarations of both, are only the Effect of the Order or Consent of each House respectively: That the Prolocutor governs the Time of the Lower, in as full a manner, as his Grace does that of the Upper, i. e. with the Consent of the House: 
Nar. p. 17.  That their Debates are managed Independently from their Lordships: 
Nar. p. 61.  That they have a general Negative upon the upper-house: That in virtue thereof, they have a Right to deny the Appointment of Committees, and even a sight of their Journals (in which, by the way, they exceed their Pattern; the Journals of the two Houses of Parliament being mutually open to the Members of each, at all times and upon all occasions): 
Nar. p 3.  That without the Knowledge or Directions of their Lordships, they can enter upon and proceed in business of the highest Importance; and if any Point happen, that in the judgement of the upper-house may be most conveniently Debated in Writing, 
Nar. p. 50.  they can insist upon a free Conference as the fittest Method, and if that be denied, are under no Obligation to be further accountable to their Lordships for any of their Practices or Proceed: 
Nar. p. 49.  Add to these, the Power they claim over their own Members, upon which they can require their Attendance, and (according to the known practice of the last Convocation) can discharge them from it by a Vote or Resolution of the House; with that other Claim which has been so much insisted on, their Right to adjourn to different Days, from the Metropolitan and Bishops, and to sit and act on these Days as a House.  
In these Claims and Practices, I say, we have the view of an English Parliament, but lose that of an Ecclesiastical Synod, consisting of a Metropolitan, Bishops, and Presbyters. By these Rules, we see, the Debates (as to the matter, manner and time) are all separated at the pleasure of the Inferior Clergy; and as the Archbishop and the Upper-house are made to resemble the Speaker of the House of Lords and the Lords Temporal, so (to complete the Parallel) the Prolocutor and the Lower-House (that is, as they term themselves, the Spiritual Commons) answer to the House of Commons and their Speaker. However, such Comparisons, if they went no further than Names, or the general Appearance of the two Bodies, might be innocent enough; but when upon these the Claims of new Privileges begin to be founded, and such Privileges too as are an apparent diminution of the Metropolitical and Episcopal Authority, separating the Synod and raising the Presbyters by degrees to a  Power; then the Parallel is no longer safe, but the Governors of the Church, and all that love our Episcopal Constitution, are concerned to enter upon proper Measures for the Preservation of it. And these, in our present Circumstances, I conceive to be, the opposing to those new attempts the Authority of former Convocations, and describing from thence (i. e. from the only true Rule) the Practice and Proceeding proper to each House. Which will not only show, that their Lordships have insisted upon no Power but what their Character and the Usage of Convocation fully justify, and that therefore the Clergy's Claims of Exemption from it are not to be warranted; but will also discover to the World how they have been imposed on by those, who have grounded such Claims upon an imaginary Alliance between the Parliament and Convocation; two Bodies that will appear to be widely different both in Constitution and Proceed. And since that difference (as I said before) consists chief in the Authority which belongs to the Metropolitan and Bishops over the Inferior Clergy and their Proceed; 'tis my design to show out of the Records themselves, how that Authority stands, and has always stood, in the several Ages and Instances, from the Summoning and Opening a Convocation, to the Dissolution thereof; with an Eye, all along, to the different Constitution, and manner of corresponding, in the two Houses of Parliament, and particularly to the late Claims of Independence built upon a Parliamentary Relation.   

CHAP. I.  
The Method of SUMMONING an English Convocation.  

The Writ to the Archbishop.  I. WHen his Majesty, by the Advice of his Council, resolves to Summon his Parliament, and with it a Convocation, he signifies his Royal Pleasure by Writ to the Archbishop, Rex, etc. Reverendissimo, etc. (than the generaI Causes of his calling a Convocation are recited) Vobis in fide & dilectione quibus nobis tenemini, rogando mandamus, quatenus praemissis debito intuitu attentis & ponderatis, universos & singulos Episcopos vestrae Provinciae ac Decanos Ecclesiarum Cathedralium, necnon Archidiaconos, Capitula & Collegia totumque Clerum cujuslibet Dioecesis ejusdem Provinciae, ad comparendum CORAM VOBIS in Ecclesia Cathedrali S. Pauli London— die, etc. VEL ALIBI prout melius expedire videritis, cum omni celeritate accommodâ, MODO DEBITO Convocari faciatis.  
A Writ to this effect, and for some hundred Years in this very Form, has been all along directed to the Archbishop, whenever the King had resolved that a Convocation should be Summoned. Upon the reception whereof, his Grace always proceeded to summon it in the fixed and Canonical Method, that he ever used in calling of Convocations upon his own motion, without that Writ. For tho' the King, as having a Right to the Assistance of the Clergy, had also a Right to be obeyed by the Archbishop, in calling them together for that end; yet in the dispatch of that business, he left them to proceed according to the known Rules of a Provincial Synod, viz. to be summoned before their Metropolitan, and to the Place he should think fit to appoint, and in the manner that was usual in all other Convocations. For the Archbishop had a Right to call a Convocation at pleasure, till the Statute 25 H. 8. c. 19 absolutely restrained him from doing it, unless empowered by the King's Writ: Which effected this Alteration in the Summons, that whereas before it was issued sometimes upon the Pleasure of the Prince signified to the Archbishop, and sometimes upon the Archbishop's alone, the Authority of the Summons in both, resting equally in his Grace: Now he is restrained from the Exercise of that Authority, till he receive leave or direction from the Prince: The Summons upon that intimation of the Royal Pleasure, being still issued in his Grace's Name, and under the Archiepiscopal Seal; that is, remaining as properly Authoritative as before. 
* See this point proved more largely in Right of the Archbishop. 9 etc.   
II. For whereas in the late comparisons of a Convocation and Parliament, the parallel lies between the Archbishop in the first, and the Lord Chancellor in the second; the share they have in the Summoning these two Bodies, is very different. 
The Warrant to the Lord Chancellor, who acts Ministerially.  The Lord Chancellor or Keeper receives a Warrant from the King, whereby his Majesty signifies his Resolution to call a Parliament; In which case, divers and sundry Writs are to be directed forth, under our Great Seal of England, etc. Wherefore we Will and Command you, forthwith upon the receipt hereof, and by Warrant of the same, to cause such and so many Writs to be made and sealed under our Great Seal, for the accomplishment of the same, as in like cases hath been heretofore used and accustomed, etc.  
What the King, in this case, requires of the Lord Chancellor, is in a way purely Ministerial; his Lordship being commanded to act only in his Majesty's Name, and under his Seal, i. e. solely by his Authority; while the Archbishop is only Licenced or Directed to Exert a Power and Authority which belongs to him, as well in the common Right of a Metropolitan, as by the ancient Laws and Customs of this Realm. In virtue whereof, he directs his Mandate to the Bishop of London, whose Office it is, as his Grace's Dean of the Province, to Execute that Mandate, and whose part therefore in the calling a Convocation, answers to that of the Lord Chancellor, in the Summons of a Parliament. Both of them Act Ministerially, in the Name and by the Authority, the one of his Civil, and the other of his Ecclesiastical Superior.  
The Writ for a Parliament, issued in the King's Name by the Lord Chancellor, summons the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, Personally to attend his Majesty on a certain day, at Westminster; Vobis in side & legiantia, quibus nobis tenemini, firmiter injungendo Mandamus, quod consideratis, & Dicto die & loco personaliter intersitis nobiscum: And another also, in his Majesty's Name, to the Sheriff of each County, commands him to take care that the Knights, Citizens and Burgesses, duly Elected, pay their Attendance to the King, at the same Place. But the Archbishop, in his Mandate executed by the Bishop of London, first reciting the Royal Writ, to show that the Restraint of the Statute is taken off, Summons the Bishops and Clergy of his Province to appear before himself, in his Provincial Convocation at St. Paul's: Quod iidem Episcopi Decani & Archidiaconi, & caeteri Ecclesiarum Cathedralium Praelati, etc. compareant coram nobis, aut nostro in hac parte locum tenente sive Commissario in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London.  

The Returns to Parliament, to the King.  The Sheriff of each County is directed in the Royal Writ, to make a due Return of his Election to the King, in his Court of Chancery: Et Electionem tuam in pleno Comitatu tuo factam distinctè & apertè sub sigillo tuo & sigillis eorum qui Electioni illi interfuerint, nobis in Cancellariâ nostrâ ad diem & locum in Brevi Contentum certifices indilatè.— 
In Convocation to the Archbishop.  By the Archbishop's Mandate, the Bishop of each Diocese (to whom the immediate Execution thereof belongs) is directed to make the Return to his Grace, or his Commissary: Et praeterea vobis, ut supra, injungimus, quòd omnibus & singulis Coepiscopis, Suffraganeis Provinciae nostrae Cant. injungatis & injungi faciatis, ut singuli eorum sigillatim de facto suo, quatenus pertinet ad eosdem, Nos seu locum-tenentem sive Commissarium unum vel plures, dictis die, horâ, & loco per literas eorum Patentes Nomina & Cognomina omnium & singulorum per eos respectiuè Citatorum continentes, distinctè certificent & apertè.  
These Returns are ultimately deposited in their proper Offices; the Parliamentary in his Majesty's Court of Chancery, and those to Convocation in the Register of the See of Canterbury: That is, the due Execution of each being immediately certified to the Person from whom the Command comes, and in whose Power it is to punish the default; the Testimonies of that Execution, rest and stop at the Authority, 
The Summons not less Ecclesiastical for its being enjoined by the Prince.  from whence the Summons in both cases immediately flowed.  
Thus far (to the Honour of our Reformed Church) nothing appears in the manner of an English Convocation, but what is truly Ecclesiastical; or in other Words, suitable to the Constitution and Government of an Episcopal Church, as well as the Degrees and Orders of the Members whereof it consists. Bating, I mean, that one Restraint which the Statute has laid upon the Archbishop, from calling a Convocation at pleasure, as the ancient Metropolitans and our own here in England before that Statute, had a right to do. For as to the Archbishop's exercising his Summoning Authority, at the Command of the King; this is so far from changing our Convocations into Civil Meetings, that 'tis no more than an obedience which has been ever paid to Christian Princes, by the Governors of National Churches, planted and established under their Influence and Protection. Nor in our own, did the Archbishop's calling his Clergy, upon the King's Writ or without it, ever make the least Alteration in the stated Ecclesiastical Methods of Summoning. All these, God be thanked, are still pretty entire; and I hope safe enough against the Endeavours of some restless Men, who would persuade us that they are pleading the Cause of the Church, in doing all they possibly can to make her a mere Creature of the State.  

The Clergy not Summoned in the same manner from the beginning.  This has ever been the Method of Summoning a Convocation; but as to the Members summoned, the Cathedral and Diocesan Clergy were not from the beginning represented, as now they are, by Persons of their own immediate Choice. The Deans, Priors and Abbots were required by the Archbishop to bring Procuratorial Letters from the respective Bodies over whom they were placed; as the Archdeacon's were to do from the Parochial Clergy within their District.  
Anno 1257 the Archiepiscopal Mandate runs thus.— In virtute obedientiae praecipiendo, ut praedicti Decanus & Prior dictarum Cathedralium Ecclesiarum, Abbates, & alii Priores, cum literis Procuratoriis nomine Congregationum suarum confectis, ac dicti Archidiaconi cum literis similiter factis ex parte Clericorum qui subsunt eisdem, etc. dictis die & loco personaliter debeant interest.  
Anno 1258 to the same purpose: Vocetis eciam Decanos Cathedralium et aliarum Ecclesiarum, nec non etiam Abbates, Priores Majores insuper et Archidiaconos vestrae Diaecesis universos, ut cum literis suorum subditorum Procuratoriis loco et die antedictis compareant.— And the Bishop's Order upon that Mandate to the Archdeacon, Ac nihilominus Vos ipsi compareatis dictis die et loco cum literis Procuratoriis Cleri totius Archidiaconatûs vestri.  
Anno, 1279. The Archbishop's Mandate directs the Bishops to call their Clergy together, and excite them to contribute liberally to the King's Necessities; and then leaves them at liberty, whether they will send their Resolutions by the Bisho●… or their Proxies, or by Proctors of their own. Hujusmodi autem Servitii vel Subsidii quantitatem per Vos aut Procuratores vestros, vel certe per Procuratores proprios ad hoc, si expedire videritis, destinandos, nobis intimare studeant in Congregatione nostrâ London, etc. The same Method (I mean of the Bishops calling together the Clergy) is prescribed by the Archiepiscopal Mandates of 1282. and 1283. when the Clergy appear to have been represented in both by two Proctors. But afterwards,  
Anno 1296. we find the Diocesan Clergy required to appear by one Proxy: Vnumquodque Capitulum seu Conventus per unum; Clerus quoque cujuslibet Dioecesis per unum similiter Procuratorem idoneum et instructum: And, Anno 1311. either by one or two: Clerus autem per unum vel duos Procuratores consimiles, communiter destinandos.  

Inferences from the foregoing Testimonies.  I produce not these Instances to invalidate the Right of the Cathedral Clergy to be constantly represented by one, or the Diocesan, by two Proctors of their own choice: For that, they have now an undeniable Custom of almost four hundred years; as they have a Prescription of half that time and upwards, for the part they bear in framing and passing Ecclesiastical Constitutions. But such Observations came naturally into this Historical Account of the Archiepiscopal Summons; and the Inferences I would draw from them, are, ' That an Interest in Convocation, much more a concern in Affairs Ecclesiastical, is far from belonging to the Lower Clergy Originally, even by the Customs of our own Nation; and those Customs Modern, if compared with Primitive Practice: ' That the present Frame and Establishment first arose from the Command of the Metropolitan, to send two Proctors, and from a Custom growing thereupon: That the Figure they now make in Convocation, and much more the Figure that some of the Members would make, is far beyond any thing that these their Predecessors pretended to: That the Exercise of the Archbishops' Authority in Convocation, has been much greater than it is, and yet the Church and her Rights did not prosper the less: That therefore, even waving the Practice of Convocation, upon which the Claims of the Upper-House are immediately grounded, the late Clamours of Danger and Ruin to the Church from thence, can in Reason be regarded by none, who will look back to the Condition of the Presbyters in the Primitive Times, or even in our own Nation, and that not many Centuries ago.   

CHAP. II.  
The manner of Opening a Convocation.  

All the Members to be ready at St. Paul's.  ON the day prefixed in the Archbishop's Mandate for the Convocation's meeting, all the Members cited thereby are obliged to be ready at St. Paul's for the coming of his Grace. Thus it is, and ever has been, according to Archbishop Parker's account of the established Form of Opening a Convocation: Sciendum est, quòd omnes qui authoritate Reverendissimi citantur ad comparendum coram eo in domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis D. Pauli London.— die— tenentur praefixo tempore interesse atque in eadem Ecclesiâ Cathedrali praestolari adventum dicti Reverendissimi.  

The President's coming to St. Paul's,  His Grace, waited on at his Landing by all the Advocates and Proctors of his Court, is by them and his own Retinue conducted to the Church of St. Paul's; at the Door whereof the Bishops and Clergy meet and receive him, and all walk in Procession to the Quire. Prayers and Sermon ended, he with the Bishops and Clergy go into the Chapterhouse: 
The Dean of the province exhibits his Certificatorium.  where the Lord Bishop of London, Dean of the Province, exhibits a Certificate that the Mandate has been duly executed: Reverendissimo ac caeteris suis Coepiscopis in suis sedibus ordine consedentibus, ac reliquo Clero circumstante, Reverendus Dominus Episcopus London. Mandatum sibi a dicto Reverendissimo ad Convocationem hujusmodi Summonend. directum, una cum ●…bito Certificatorio super Executione ejusdem i●…roducere, ac debita cum Reverentiâ eidem Reverendissimo Patri praesentare & tradere tenetur.— This Certificate under the Episcopal Seal, and directed to the Archbishop, first acknowledging the receipt of his Grace's Mandate, recites it: and then signifies, how by Virtue and Authority thereof, the Bishops of his Province, and by them the Deans, etc. have been regularly Summoned: That he owns himself duly Cited by the Authority of the same Mandate: That he has intimated to them his Grace's Resolution not to hold any excused but upon good Reasons to be then and there alleged: That he has also enjoined every Bishop to bring with him a Certificate of the Execution of the foresaid Mandate in his own Diocese: And then adding, how he has executed it particularly in the Diocese of London, he subjoins a Catalogue of the Members therein. In like manner, every Bishop makes his Return immediately to the Archbishop, in a formal Instrument under his Episcopal Seal, certifying the Summons of his Dean, Archdeacon's and Clergy, in Virtue of his Grace's Letters Mandatory transmitted by the Lord Bishop of London, and adding their several Names and Surnames.  
By the Archbishop's Order, the Bishop of London's Certificate is publicly Read, and one or more Officers of his Court appointed by him, 
Other Certificates and Proxies.  to receive in his Name the Certificates of the other Bishops, and all the Letters of Proxy. Then a wiritten Schedule is put into his Grace's Hand, by which he pronounces all Members cited and not appearing, Contumacious; 
Contumacy Pronounced. Forma Convocat.  reserving the Punishment of their Contumacy to another time, Reservando poenam eorum Contumaciae in aliquem diom competentem pro beneplacito ipsius Reverendissimi.  
This is a short and general Account of the Opening a Convocation; enough to convince any Indifferent Man of his Grace's Right, as to Preside over the whole Body, so to dispense with the Absence, or require the Attendance of every particular Member, according to the reasons and circumstances of Things. 
The Archbishop's Jurisdiction over the Members, as to their Atte●…, asserted.  But because in the last Convocation the Power of the Archbishop over the Members of the Lower-House, was not only called in Question, but in effect directly denied by the departure of several without applying to his Grace for leave; and not only so, but in contempt of the Metropolitical Authority, several Applications were directly made to the Lower-House, and the leave of the House thought a sufficient Discharge from their obligation to attendance: Upon these Accounts, and the Inferences that are made on the Supposition of such a Right in the Lower-House, it becomes necessary to be full and clear in the Explication of these Certificates or Returns, which (as made in pursuance of the Archiepiscopal Mandate) are the foundation of his Grace's Power in that point, over all the Members indifferently: To show, on the one hand, the Antiquity of them, that no room may be left to suspect 'em Innovations; and on the other, their real force and effect, as appearing from the Archbishop's frequent Exercise of this Power, that they may not be thought a matter of Form, or the appearance only of a legal Title without the Authority of Practice to support and confirm them.  

By the Tenor of the Mandate, none to be excused but who shall show reasonable cause.  I. In the Archbishop's Mandate for the Summoning a Convocation, it is, and always has been usual for his Grace, to require the Dean of the Province, among other things, to acquaint the Bishops, and by them the Inferior Clergy, that he will excuse no member from attending, according to the Tenor thereof, but who shall show such cause as his Grace shall judge reasonable. This Notice is given in the ancient Mandates under different Forms, but all to the same effect with the present Clause.  
Anno 1281. After an Enumeration of all the Members to be cited; Denunciantes eisdem quòd contra absentes in Formâ Canonica procedemus. Nec debilitatis Excusationem sufficere reputamus illorum, qui per Maneria sua juxta Dioceses suas, & extra, & ad alia loca per Cant. Provinciam, se faciunt pro familiaribus negotiis in quibuscunque vehiculis deportari.  
Anno 1296. Compareant eodem die & sequentibus opportunis— Sub poena Excommunicationis Majoris & Interdicti, quae meritò poterunt formidare qui in forma praenotatâ contumaciter omiserint seu contempserint comparere; & quae contra eosdem qui sic comparere detrectaverint sine delectu Personarum intendimus Executioni debitae demandare.  
Anno 1297. Vos etiam praemunimus, & caeteros sic citandos praemuniri Mandamus, quod absentes in Citatione praedicta, msi Evidens & inevitabile impedimentum per probationes certas superesse docuerint tanquam Inobedientes & offensores notorios graviter punicmus. And another the same Year: Denunciantes dictis Coepiscopis, & per eos suos subditos sic vocandos faciatis idonee praemuniri, quod absentes in citatione praedicta, nisi Evidens & inevitabile impodimentum sufficienter probetur; tanquam inobedientes graviter puniemus. Much of the same Form and wholly to the same purpose, is this Clause in the Mandates, Anno 1333. and 1327.  
Anno 1356. Intimantes eisdem, quod contra absentes in formâ Canonicâ procedemus; nullius sic absentis excusationem penitus admissuri, nisi quatenùs ad hoc nos arctaverint Canonicae Sanctiones.  
Anno 1359. Volumus & intimamus, quòd intimetis seu denunciari faciatis dictae Provinciae Coepiscopis & Confratribus ac Vicariis hujusmodi, Decanis, Abbatibus, Prioribus, & caeteris Ecclesiarum Praelatis supradictis, quòd eos à personali comparitione in hujusmodi Congregatione, dictis die & loco per nos seu nostra Auctoritate, Deo annuente, celebranda, habere non intendimus excusatos ista Vice, nisi ex causa necessaria tunc ibidem alleganda & probanda; sed eorum Contumacia, si qui forsitan absentes fuerint, secundum juris exigentiam Canonice punietur.  
From thence to this Day, the same Clause continues a part of the Archiepiscopal Mandate, with a very small variation of the Words, and none at all of the Sense or Intention: Volumus insuper et mandamus, quatenus intimetis et denuncietis seu intimari et denunciari faciatis dictae Provinciae nostrae Cantuar. Coepiscopis, Decanis, Archidiaconis, ac caeteris Ecclesiarum Praelatis suprascriptis, quod eos à Personali comparitione in hujusmodi negotio Convocationis et Congregationis dictis die et loco ut praemittitur, divina favente Clementia celebrand. excusatos non habere intendimus ista Vice nisi ex causà necessariâ ●…nc et ibidem allegandâ et proponendâ, et per nos approbandâ; sed Contumacias eorum qui Absentes fuerint Canonice punire.  
I know not, how clearer Testimonies can be given of any Point, than these are of a constant right in our Metropolitan (the same that Metropolitans have always enjoyed) to require Attendance according to the tenor of his Mandate, and to judge of the Reasonableness of all Excuses of Absence, and to punish the Contumacy of those who are Absent without sending Reasons that in his Grace's Judgement are good and sufficient.  

All Returns ever made directly to the Archbishop.  II. In pursuance of his General Summons, and that particular Admonition; the Archbishop in the same Mandate and in the Clause immediately following, commands the Dean of the Province to Intimate to every Suffragan Bishop, that he Exhibit to his Grace at the Day appointed, a Schedule under his Episcopal Seal containing the Names and Surnames of all the Persons he has cited to appear. The words of this Clause have not always been the same they are now; but such as express the same meaning, and had the same effect; for instance,  
Anno 1281. Mandantes insuper singulis Episcopis quòd secum deferant in scriptis nomina omnium in forma praedicta de suis Dioecesibus ad Concilium vocatorum. And more distinctly the very next Year, viz.  
Anno 1282. De nominibus vero Abbatum, Priorum, et aliorum Religiosorum, Decanorum, Archidiaconorum, Procuratorum, tam Cleri cujuslibet Dioecesis quam Capitulorum, singuli Episcopi pro suis Dioecesibus ad dictos diem et locum per suas literas distincte nos certificent et aperté.  
In the next Century, it comes yet nearer to our present Form: As,  
Anno 1350. After direction given to the Dean of the Province, to bring a particular Return or Certificate of the due Execution of the Mandate, it is added, Et caeteris Coepiscopis Suffragancis nostris, Electis, et Vicariis praedictis similiter injungatis, ut Nos vel nostrum Commissarium eisdem die et loco singuli sigillatim modo debito certificent per literas suas patentes harum seriem et citatorum Nomina Dioeces. eorundem in Cedulâ consimili continentes.  
And before the end of that Century, we find it the same with the present Form, excepting a very small variation of the words: So,  
Anno 1396. Vobis etiam, ut suprá, injungimus et mandamus, quòd omnibus et singulis Venerabilibus Fratribus nostris, Coepiscopis vestris, vel Vicariis hujusmodi, injungatis seu faciatis injungi, quod singuli eorum singillatim de facto suo quatenus pertinet ad eosdem, Nos seu loca nostra tenentes vel Commissarios, dictis die et loco, per literas suas Patentes, Citatorum Nomina continentes, distinctè certificent et apertè.  
The Clause at present, runs thus:  
Et praetereà, Vobis, ut suprà, injungimus et mandamus, quòd omnibus et singulis Coepiscopis Suffraganeis Provinciae nostrae Cant. injungatis et injungi faciatis, ut singuli eorum Sigillatim de facto suo, quatenus pertinet ad eosdem, Nos seu locum-tenentem sive Commissarium, unum vel plures, dictis die, horâ, et loco, per literas eorum Patentes Nomina et Cognomina omnium et singulorum per eos respectiuè Citatorum continentes, distinctè certificent et aperté.  
The several Forms of these two Clauses, we see, are only different ways of expressing the selfsame things: And I produce them thus distinctly, that they who have lately Acted against the Intent and Authority of them, may have no Opportunity to Suggest to their Friends, that as they stand in our Modern Mandates, they are not agrecable to the Sense and Language of Antiquity, i. e. that the Denouncing Canonical Censures against Absents, and the Returns from the several Bishops, to inform his Grace whose Attendance it was that he had a right to require, has not ever been, as now it is, the Method and Practice of an English Convocation. Since the Beginning of this Controversy, Assertions no less groundless have been given out and propagated, and have had their designed effect, in misleading many honest and well-meaning Men; which is a warning for the future, not to leave Room for any Misrepresentations of that kind, and is also the reason why I take the same Method in the Explication of the next Clause, whereby the Lord Bishop of London, in particular, is obliged to Certify the Archbishop that his Mandate has been transmitted to the Suffragan Bishops, and duly executed within his own Diocese.  
In Archbishop Peckham's time, Anno 1281. Vos autem, praedictis die et loco, in forma praedicta Comparentes comite Sanitate, certificetis nos per Patentes vestras literas quid feceritis de praemissis.  

The Dean of the Province required to certify to his Grace the Execution of the Mandate.  Anno 1282. Vos autem, quos tunc praesentes adesse volumus, nobis rescribatis per vestras literas Patentes, harum seriem continentes, qualiter praesens Mandatum nostrum fueritis Executi.  
Anno 1350/1. De die vero receptionis praesentium, et quid seceritis ac facere duxeritis in praemissis, Nos vel nostros Commissarios dictis die et loco Certificetis per literas vestras Patentes harum Seriem et Citatorum Nomina vestrae London. Dioeces. in Cedula separata, his Certificatoriis annectenda, plenary continentes.— Which, after 3 Centuries and a half, continueth the same in effect to this Day, viz.  
De die vero receptionis praesentium, et quid in praemissis seceritis, Nos aut nostrum in hac parte, locumtenentem sive Commissarium hujusmodi, dictis die, hora, et loco, debitè Certificari curetis per Literas harum seriem, unà cum nominibus omnium et singulorum [adding the several degrees, Episcoporum, etc.] in separata Schedula literis Certificatorum annectend. complectentes.  

The Dean of the Province's Certificatorium or Return Exhibited.  III. According to this precept of the Archiepiscopal Mandate, it is, and always has been the Usage of Convocation, for the Bishop of London to Exhibit his Certificatorium, or Return, to his Grace on the first Day of its Meeting. Which being read by some one of the Officers of the Archbishop's Court appointed by his Grace; certain Commissioners are directed to receive the Returns of all the other Bishops, and the Proxies of the Persons mentioned therein, i. e. the Procuratorial Letters of the Cathedral and Diocesan Clergy appearing in Person, and the Substitutions of Proxies made by the absent Members, upon reasonable Causes of Absence, offered and alleged according to the terms of the Mandate. 
Archbishops Come missioners to receive and inspect Proxies.  Nor is the Commissioner empowered only to receive, but also to inspect and examine the Proxies of both sorts; to see, that they be in due form, and the Causes alleged for absence, fit to be admitted.  
The Proxies, as well of the Cathedral and Diocesan Clergy, as of the Absent Members, are ordinarily expressed under the Common Name Procuratoria, in his Grace's Appointment or Commission; but sometimes with express reference to the Absent Clergy. So, Feb. 7. 1452.— nec non quorumcumque absentium Procuratoria in dicto Concilio sive Convocatione comparere debentium.— Anno 1557. He is required to examine, among other things, causas Absentiarum; and in 1562 (the first after the Reformation, the Acts whereof remain entire) the Archbishop's Deputation is thus set down at large: Deinde dictus Reverendissimus Pater commisit vices suas Mro. Thomae Yale Cancellario suo, ac Magistro Willelmo Drury Legum Doctori, Commissario ad facultates, ad recipiend. Certificatoria Episcoporum ac ad inspiciend. Procuratoria quorumcunq Absentium ac causas absentiarum suarum examinand. et approband. Answerable to which the Contumacy pronounced immediately upon this Inspection and Examination, is (in the ordinary Style of the Registers) against those who did Nullo modo comparere, that is, neither in Person, nor by Proxy: And yet more express in that of 1562.— monitos et citatos, ac per se aut Procuratores suos idoneos minime comparentes, For  

Sentence of Contumacy against Absents, by the Archbishop or his Commissary.  iv The Certificates and Proxies being duly examined, and the Members particularly Preconized; the Usage has ever been, to pronounce the Absents, Contumacious. Anciently, it was pronounced in the Name of the Archbishop, by the Person commissioned to receive and inspect the Certificates, etc. And in that Case, the punishment was reserved to the Archbishop, Poenâ Contumaciarum Domino reservata: But when his Grace pronounced it in Person (as he then did sometimes, and constantly afterwards) it ran, Poena sibi reservata, or in words to that effect, i. e. to be inflicted or not inflicted, with strictness or with abatements, as he himself should see convenient.  
The Certificates, etc. were exhibited by his Grace's Appointment, not on a Convocation Day, but at an Intermediate Time; and so the Registers, tho' they constantly make mention of the Bishop of London's Certificatorium, and his Grace's Commission to inspect the rest, (both these being done in Convocation,) do yet seldom take notice of the Contumacy pronounced which was out of Convocation. But we find the manner of the Commissioner's proceed, entered at large in the Convocation Acts of 1432. after the Business of the Day: Post Prandium dicti diei Lunae praefatus Venerabilis Vir Magister Thomas Bronus adivit dictam domum Capitularem, et ibidem recepit Certificatoria Episcoporum et Procuratoria Praelatorum ac Cleri et Capitulorum, et receptis Certificatoriis hujusmodi, idem Magister Thomas Praeconizari fecit omnes et singulas personas quarum nomina in Cedulis singulorum Episcoporum Certificatoriis annexis fuerunt annotata. Quibus sic Praeconizatis, idem Magister Thomas omnes et singulos ad illud Provinciale Concilium citatos, certificatos, et (ut praemittitur) praeconizatos, ac nullo modo seu minùs legitimè comparentes, pronunciavit Contumaces, Poena reservata Domino. Et mandavit idem Magister Thomas Procuratoria hujusmodi custodiri cum deliberatione examinanda, et prout juris fuerit, admittenda seu rejicienda.  
At other times, the Archbishop himself pronounced the Absents Contumacious, at the meeting next after the Inspection of the Returns and Proxies: Which indeed, in the natural Order of things, seems to be more regular than the Practice that came after and still continues, of the Archbishop's pronouncing the Contumacy immediately upon his Appointment of a Commissioner to receive the Certificates.  

The Sentence of Contumacy a written Instrument.  I can't affirm (because the Registers don't say it) that this Act of his Grace and his Commissioner, was in a written Form from the beginning: But I find one as early as Archbishop Chichley, in the Year 1438. Tenor vero Decreti sive Sentenciae contra Absentes, ut praefertur, sequitur, et est talis, IN DEI NOMINE Amen. Henricus permissione divina Cantuar. Archiepiscopus, totius Angliae Primas et Apostolicae sedis Legatus, Omnes et singulos Abbates, Priores, Decanos Ecclesiarum Cathedralium, Archidiaconos, Custodes et Magistros Ecclesiarum Collegiatarum, et alios de Clero quoscumque ad praesentem Convocationem vocatos, citatos, praemunitos, et praeconizatos, diuciùsque expectatoes, ac nullo modo aut non legitimé secundum tenorem Mandati nostri comparentes, Pronunciamus Contumaces, poenam Contumaciae in omnes et singulos praedict. infligend. nobis reservantes: Monemus insuper omnes et singulos praefatos Contumaces, quòd sexto die Octobris prox. futuro omnes et singuli Contumaces supradicti compareant coram nobis in loco praesenti poenas Contumaciarum hujusmodi auditur. et subitur. completur. et factur. prout justicia suadebit; et praesentem Convocationem usque in et ad diem praefatum Continuamus: Monentes insuper omnes et singulos jam praesentes, ut die praedicto compareant, et quilibet eorum compareat, coram Nobis aut nostris in hac parte Commissariis in Convocatione praesenti isto eodem loco processur. et ●…isur. factur. et subitur. quod in Conciliis Provincialibus faciend. ordinand. et providend. fuerit, et quod Canon's et Jura suadebunt.  
Afterwards, the Extracts out of the Register of the Upper-House in 1529. speak of it as a written Instrument; referring to the Register when it was entered at large: And in 1545. where the remaining Convocation-Acts in the Province of York begin, the Schedula contra Contumaces is set down at length, and said to be then and there Read by the Commissary:— Omnes et Singulas Personas Ecclesiasticas, ad hos diom et locum interessend. in hac sacra Convocatione vocat. praecenizat. expectatas et non comparentes, Pronunciamus eas et earum quamlibet Contumaces, et in poenam Contumaciarum suarum hujusmodi decernimus procedend. fore ad ulterior. Ipsorum Contumaciis sive absentiis non obstan. Et ulteriorem poenam Contumaciarum suarum hujusmodi per nos imponend. usque ad et in xxvi diem mensis Januarii prox. futurum reservamus in hiis scriptis.  
Whatever Schedules of Contumacy had been from time to time deposited in the Registry of the See of Canterbury, were burnt in the Fire of London, with those of Continuation or Prorogation; and I find no one entered at large in any Acts since the Reformation: Only, at the opening of Convocations, the Pronouncing it is mentioned, and reference made to the original Schedule in writing. The Register of 1562. mentions it thus: Ac praeterea dictus Reverendissimus Pater pronunciavit omnes et singulos Decanos, Archidiaconos, Capitula ac Cleri Procuratores, et caeteros quoscunque ad interessend. in hujusmodi sacrâ Synodo sive Convocatione monitos et citatos ac per se aut Procuratores suos idoneos minimè comparentes notory Contumaces; paenas Contumaciarum suarum hujusmodi usque in prox. Sessionem reservand. prout in Schedula per eum lectâ plenius continetur; cujus quidem Schedulae verus tenor sequitur in haec Verba, IN DEI NOMINE AMEN.  
The present Schedule, of the same import with the former, is as follows: Nos, Archiepiscopus— omnes et singulos Decanos, Archidiaconos, Capitula et Cleri Procuratores, ac caeteros quoscunque ad interessendum nobiscum in hâc praesenti sacra Synodo Provinciali etc. legitimé et peremptorié monitos et citatos, ncc per se nec per Procuratores suos idoneos comparentes, nec ullas causas Absentiarum suarum hujusmodi sufficienter allegantes, Pronunciamus Contumaces, et eorum quemlibet Contumacem; sed poenas eorum Contumaciae usque ad et in diem— reservando reservamus.  

The Execution of the Sentence of Contumacy suspended every Session by the Archbishop.  iv By this Sentence, all the absent Members fall under the Gild of Contumacy; and that rests upon them till they give satisfaction to his Grace, either by their Personal Appearance, or the transmitting some such reasonable Cause of Absence, as he shall approve. In expectation whereof, the Canonical Punishment is usually suspended, in aliquem diem competentem pro bene-placito ipsius Reverendissimi, according to Archbishop Parker's Form; and the day that is usually fixed by his Grace, is to that of his Continuation. For in the tenor thereof, we find this Suspension of Punishment for Absence particularly expressed in our most early Acts of Convocation. Archiepiscopus Continuavit, etc. & decrevit Absentes fore expectandos, & ipsos expectavit usque in diem— Continuavit, etc. de gratia expectando absentes— Fecit Continuationem & Expectationem— Here, the Expectatio Absentium is properly the same Suspension of the Punishment of Absence, that has been constantly expressed in the Schedule of Continuation, viz. nec non omnia & singula Certificatoria, hactenus introducta & introducenda & non-introducta, in eodem statu quo nunc sunt, usque ad & in diem— Continuamus & Prorogamus, in hiis scriptis. The Certificatoria thus continued, are the  Returns made by every Bishop to his Grace at the Opening of the Convocation, and deposited in the Office of the Archiepiscopal See: As the Continuation of them, is a Decree, suspending both the Praeconization of the Persons therein returned, and the infliction of the Punishment that would thereupon belong to the Absents. And so, in the year 1554. Sess. 5. where it is said, that the Precedent Continued the Convocation to such a day, 'tis added, Et etiam continuavit Certificatoria contra Absentes usque ad & in—  

The Archbishops have frequently exercised their Authoriry over the Members in the middle of Convocation.  V. But the Declaration of Contumacy at the Beginning only, as well as the Continuation of the Returns from time to time, are purely Acts of Grace and Favour in the Archbishop: Who therefore, as the Members appeared to be slack in their Attendance, has solemnly declared them Contumacious, and in the several Instances actually inflicted the Punishment of Suspension, in the middle of Convocations. Which I the rather observe, because I remember at the meeting of the last, they who contended for a Power in the Lower-House over their own Members, went upon a groundless distinction, ' That the Archbishop's part was only to pronounce Contumacy at the Beginning, and either to execute or take off the Sentence at the End of Convocation; but as to the Time between these, i. e. in the whole course of their Proceed, he had never interposed. Whereas, that his original Right to require or dispense with their Attendance, has been frequently, and in several ways, shown and exerted in the middle of Convocations: As,  

In Preconizations, and solemnly declaring Contumacy.  1. In Praeconizations, and solemn Declarations of Contumacy: Of which sort there are several Instances, but none so particularly affecting the Lower-House, or so fully represented under all the circumstances, as that of the Convocation in 1562. It begun January the 11th, and sat till it was Prorogued by the Queen's Writ, April 14th. Between these, on February the 19th. Venerabilis Vir. Magister Thomas Yale Legum doctor Vicar. in Spiritualibus Generalis dicti Reverendissimi Patris, ac Commissarius in hac parte specialiter deputatus, in Capellâ Beatae Mariae infra Ecclesiam Cathedralem divi Pauli London scituat. Domo, viz. Inferioris Convocationis predict ' in praesentiâ (ut dicebatur) Magistri Willelmi Say notarii publici dictae domus Inferioris Registrarii et actorum Scribae, judicialiter sedens, legit quandam Schedulam contra omnes et singulos Decanos, Capitula, Archidiaconos, et Cleri Procuratores, ac caeteros quoscunque in dictâ Convocatione juxta monitionem legitimam in hac parte factam non comparentes, aut ab eadem sine licentiâ, etc. recedentes. Cujus quidem Schedulae verus tenor sequitur et est talis. In dei nomine Amen.  
So also, ann. 1605. The Extracts out of the Upper-House-Books have this note in the middle of the Session: Nothing of moment more than Suspension of Contumacious Non-Comparents, and Absolution of some.  
Again, in the same Convocation, ten Sessions at least before the conclusion of it, the same Extracts, referring to the Acts of the Upper-House, say, Nothing more than the Absolution of Dr. Tooker Dean of Lichfield, and Mr. Robotham, from Suspension at Non-Comparents, and the Suspension of Dr. Stern, Suffragum Bishop of Colchester, for not appearing.  
Ann. 1588. In the Convocation whereof there were 22 Sessions, it is said in the Extracts, Sess. 19 Archbishop suspends Absents and Departers without leave; particularly the Bishop of Litchfield for going without leave.  
2. Another effect of the Archbishop's Power over the Members in point of Attendance, is his giving Licence to be Absent: So,  
Ann. 1438. May 10. Dominus continuavit Convocationem suam, etc. Licentia prius datâ dictis Religiosis recedendi, constitutis per eos certis Procuratoribus, prout de facto constituerunt, ad Interessend. consentiend. & faciend. in ipsa Convocatione, quae ipsi facerent si personaliter interessent.  
Ann. 1586. Sess. 10. The Lower-House Book: The Prolocutor coming from the Upper-House, intimates the Continuation— & moniti sunt omnes supra-nominati ad tunc ibidem interessend. etc. Mri. Nowell, Walker, Humphrey, Bysse, powel & Say, ex Relatione Domini Prolocutoris isto die fuerunt Licentiati quoad corum personalem comparitionem.  
In the List of the Members before the Lower-House Minutes in 1640. at the  of Canterbury's Name, I find this Note: Abs. ex Licentiâ domini Archiepiscopi.  
So also, in the Catalogue of the Members before the Minutes of 1662. at the Dean of Sarum's Name it is said, Excusatio per licentiam Archiepiscopi. And at the same Name in the next List, the Bishop of London Presiding, Excusatus per Episcopum London. ut informatur.  
With reference to this Right in the Archbishop to require the Presence of all the Members during the Convocation, we find his Dissolution of it anciently expressed by his giving them leave to departed.  
Ann. 1371. The Bishop of London Presiding, Procuratores Religiosorum & Cleri ibidem comparentes ad recedendum Licentiavit per Decretum.  
Ann. 1373. Commissarius dictos Procuratores ex praecepto Domini, ut dixit, ad recedendum Licentiavit.  
Ann. 1379. Et tandem idem dominus Archiepiscopus dictis Praelatis & Procuratoribus Licentiam recedendi à dictâ Convocatione dedit, & ipsam Convocationem dissolvit.  
Ann. eod. Et sic idem Dominus Cant. Archiepiscopus dictam Convocationem dissolvebat, & legitimam dictis Praelatis & Procuratoribus Cleri Licentiam recedendi à Convocatione hujusmodi concessit.  
Ann. 1400. Reverendissimus Pater, etc. Convocationem praedictam & Concilium suum Provinciale consummavit & dissolvit, omnibus praebens Licentiam recedendi.  
3. His Grace's Admonitions to the Clergy, not to departed before the End of the Convocation, is another direct Testimony of his Power over them in this particular.  
Ann. 1379. 16 Kal. Jan. Et Dominus post tractatum hujusmodi moneri fecit ibidem publicè Procuratores dictorum Praelatorum & Cleri, ne quis ipsorum recederet a Civitate London, ante dictae Convocationis negotium finitum, sub poenâ a missionis Procurationum Suarum, & aliae multae eis per eum imponendae.  
Ann. 1541. Sess. 2. The Prolocutor and Clergy being in the Upper-House, Monuit Reverendissimus, ut nemo se subduceret a Convocatione ob ullam causam nisi priùs approbatam à Sc.  
Ann. 1557. Sess. 1. Et moniti sunt tam Patres quam totus Cleri chorus ad Interessendum in hoc sacro Concilio usque ad Dissolutionem ejusdem ad singulos Actus expediendos.  
And therefore, Archbishop Parker, describing the several Branches of the Prolocutor's Office, makes this One: Ejusdem Prolocutoris est, etiam monere omnes ne discedant à Civitate London. absque Licentia Reverendissimi.  
To these Admonitions not to departed, I will join a remarkable Reproof from the Archbishop to the Lower-House, occasioned by the negligence of the Clergy in not duly attending the Convocation. It is upon their own Book in 1588. Sess. 12. Dominus Prolocutor praeconizari fecit citatos ad comparendum in hac parte, & Praeconizatione hujusmodi minimè finita, Reverendissimus Pater Dominus Cant. Archiepiscopus, caeterique Domini Praelati, accersiverunt ad se integrum Coetum hujus Domûs, eosdèmque Dominos Praelatos adierunt— ibìque dictus Reverendissimus Pater reprehendit negligentiam sive contumaciam nonnullorum citatorum & monitorum ad comparendum in hac Domo & non comparentium, ac expresse affirmavit se velle propter eorum Contumacias procedere juxta Juris Exigentiam, etc. Et mox omnes Supranominati in inferiorem Domum praedict. reversi sunt, & tunc ibidem finita fuit Praeconizatio, ut praefertur, Citatorum.  

The Archbishop absolves or punishes the Absents at the conclusion of the Synod.  4. Pursuant to his Power of requiring the Attendance of the Members, with putting the Absents under the Censure of Contumacy, and the Exercise of that Inherent Power, while the Convocation continues; the Archbishop at the Conclusion thereof usually calls for a Catalogue of the Members who have either not appeared at all, or departed without his Special Leave; and the Punishment having been all along reserved to himself, he absolves or punishes them, as he sees reason.  
Upon some Occasions, the Registers particularly mention the Pardon of their Contumacy, as an Act of Favour in his Grace.  
Ann. 1417. Dominus omnibus & singulis ad ipsam Convocationem vocatis, & nullo modo seu minus lgitimè comparentibus, ad rogatum Praelatorum & Cleri ibidem praesentium, ex suâ gratiâ specialï remisit.  
Ann. 1419. Dominus, ad petitionem & rogatum Confratrum suorum Coepiscoporum & aliorum Praelatorum & Cleri ibidem praesentium, omnes & singulos ad ipsam Convocationem vocatos, minùs ligitimè seu nullo modo comparentes, pro illâ vice duntaxat habuit excusatos.  
Ann. 1422. Dominus, ad petitionem Procuratorum Cleri ibidem tunc praesentium, quibuscunque ad dictam Convocationem vocatis & nullo modo seu minus legitimé comparentibus, ex gratia remisit.  
At other Times when the Non-Attendance of the Members put him under a Necessity of using other Methods less mild and gentle; he continued them in a State of Contumacy, and proceeded to Canonical Censures, sometimes reserving the Punishment to himself, but frequently declaring the Punishment publicly in Convocation.  
Ann. 1356. The first Convocation, of the Acts whereof we have any Accounts remaining, concludes thus: Dominus Archiepiscopus omnes citatos ad idem Concilium, qui illo die non comparuerunt, ut tonebantur, pronunciavit Contumaces, poenâ sibi reservatâ.  
Ann. 1386. In domo Capitulari, idem Dominus Cant. praeconizari fecit Suffraganeos suos, Abbates, Priores, Decanos, Archidiaconos, & Procuratores Cleri, ad eandem Convocationem citatos; & omnes absentes Praelatos praeconizatos, & nullo modo comparentes, pronunciavit Contumaces; & in poenam Contumaciae eorundum sequestravit fructus & proventus omnium Ecclesiarum eisdem Praelatis vel eorum Beneficijs approprietarum.  
Ann. 1404. Reverendissimus Pater Archiepiscopus ad promotionem & excitationem Cleri praedict. & de consilio & avisamento Praelatorum Dioeces. Cant. Provinciae sibi assidentium & circumsedentium, omnes ac singulos Abbates, Priores, ac alios quoscunque dictae Cant. Provinciae, qui ad comparendum in dicta Convocatione per loci Ordinarios, prout in eorum liquet Certificatoriis, citati fuerunt, & non comparentes, pronunciavit Contumaces, & in poenam Contumaciae eorum hujusmodi Sequestravit fructus, redditus, & proventus omnium Monasteriorum, Prioratuum, & aliorum locorum hujusmodi, & praesertim Exemptionum, & decrevit exinde fieri Publicationem in partibus. Et post aliquot dies posteá, idem Reverendissimus Pater Archiepiscopus scripsit Suffraganeis suis pro intimatione hujusmodi Sequestri, & pro eodem sequestro custodiendo.  
Anno 1416. we meet with another Execution of the same kind: Archbishop Chichley directs it to the Bishop of London's Vicar-General, and reciting how they had been Summoned to Convocation, and did not obey (nec in dicto Concilio personaliter comparere, aut Procuratores sufficientes, saltem qui causas rationabiles ipsorum absentiae allegare possent aut vellent, mittere curaverunt) he signifies his Declaration of their Contumacy, and the Punishment he had inflicted, In poenam Contumaciae suae hujusmodi, fructus quoscunque omntum et singularum Ecclesiarum non exemptarum personis Exemptis et corum Monasteriis ubicunque infra nostram Provinciam Appropriatarum, cujuscunque Ordinis existunt, duximus Sequestrandos; prout tenore praesentium Sequestramus. Alios vero Abbates, et Priores, at Praelatos non exemptos, et Archidiaconos ab ingressu Ecclesiae in his scriptis suspendimus— Afterwards, we find nineteen Absolved from the Sentence, upon their Submission and an Oath taken by every particular Person, quòd ipse in singulis Convocationibus Praelatorum et Cleri Cant. Provinciae de caetero celebrand. juxta vim, formam et effectum Citationis sibi fiendae fideliter comparebit, nisi impedimento legitime fuerit praepeditus; et in eventum quod citatus fuerit ad personaliter comparendum, parebit Citationi, nisi impedimento legitimo, ut suprà, detineatur; in quo casu mittet unum ex confratribus suis cum sufficienti Procuratorio tam ad allegand. causas Absentiae sue et eas proband. quam ad comparend. nomine suo in Convocationibus hujusmodi, nec non hiis que ibi sieri, statui, concedi, vel ordinari contigerit, consentiend. ibique durantibus Convocationibus hujusmodi remansurum, nisi abind recedendi Licentiam obtinere valeat Specialem.  
Anno 1428. Dominus, ex assensu Confratrum suorum, pro eo quod complures Abbates, et Praelati ac alii Religiosi qui in Convocatione debuerant comparere nullo modo comparuerunt, ipsos omnes non Comparentes Pronunciavit Contumaces, poenâ sibi reservatâ.  
Anno 1437. May 14. Dominus omnes citatos ad dictum Provinciale Concilium nullo modo vel juxta tenorem Mandati non comparentes, Pronunciavit Contumaces— Monemus insuper omnes et singulos Contumaces quod sexto die Octobris— compareant coram nobis in loco praesenti, poenas Contumaciarum hujusmodi audituri et subituri, etc. prout Justitia suadebit.  
At the Conclusion of another Meeting of the same Year.— Dominus omnes et singulos ad hujusmodi Convocationem legitimè citatos, ac non comparentes, juxta tenorem Mandati eye in hac parte facti, Pronunciavit Contumaces, poenâ sibi reservatâ.  
Anno 1541. Sess. 15. before a Prorogation, Dom. Cox [the Archbishop's Commissary] omnes Praelatos non comparentes seu non Licentiatos, suspendebat à celebratione divinorum et ingressu Ecclesiae. The Praelati were the Lower-House Members (the Dignitaries at least) who under that Style are commanded to retire and choose a Prolocutor in the Convocation that immediately precedes.  
Anno 1586. Dec. 2. in the Extracts out of the Registers of the upper-house it is said in short, upon a Prorogation— Non comparents, Contumacious, suspended. And before the Dissolution—— Suspension of Absents, or Departers without leave.  
Anno 1601. in the same Extracts, we meet with the like Hint, immediately before the Dissolution— Contumacious suspended.  
Of which Act we have a full and particular account in the Lower-House Journal Sess. 14. Mar. 24.— That the Prolocutor (according to Custom) might be able to lay before his Grace a Schedule of the Absents in the Lower-House, de mandato Domini Prolocutoris facta fuit publica Praeconizatio omnium Citatorum ad comparend. in hac domo, juxta consuetudinem alias usitatam, & juxta tenores Mandatorum & Certificatoriorum alias respectiuè coram ipso Reverendissimo Patre Domino Cant. Archiep. etc. exhibitorum & introductorum: The Prolocutor and the whole House being immediately sent for, Reverendissimus querelatus est de incurià, negligentiâ & contumacia citatorum, etc. & non comparentium etc.— & tunc, porrecta sibi Schedula Suspensionis, unà cum Schedula continente nomina & cognomina contumaciter Absentium ab hac Sacra Synodo, idem Reverendissimus eos omnes & singulos in hujusmodi Schedula nominatos, á Celebratione Divinorum & omnimodo Exercitio Ecclesiasticae Jurisdictionis suspendit; prout in ipsa Schedula penes Registrarium ipsius Reverendissimi quoad Superiorem Domum remanen. continetur.  

The Substance of the Arguments for the Archbishop's Power over the Members.  These therefore, in short, are the Grounds which give the Archbishop an undoubted Power over the Members of the Lower-House exclusive of the House itself. It is an inherent Right of the See to require the Attendance of the Inferior Clergy in his Provincial Convocation: And a right to require Attendance, includes and supposes a Power of enforcing it when required: That Right has been ever exercised, and this Coercive Power expressed, in the Archiepiscopal Mandate or Summons: The Returns of the Persons Summoned are made immediately to him, that he may know upon whom the obligation of attending lays; and also rest ultimately with him, as a testimony of his Right to such Attendance, during the Convocation; his Summons being not simply to appear before him, but with the addition of such further Days as he shall see convenient, cum continuatione dierum prout convenit. According to the several Returns, it has ever been the Custom, at the opening of the Convocation, to call over all the Members, and to pronounce the Absents Contumacious. In the Course of their Proceed, his Grace as Presiding in Person over the whole Body has either suspended the Punishment from time to time, or inflicted it upon particular Persons, as he saw Occasion: Sometimes, when Business of great moment was under Consideration, giving general Admonitions not to departed before the Conclusion; at other times, Licensing particular Members to go away upon reasonable Causes alleged and approved, and at the end, either by way of Grace remitting the Penalties threatened, or confirming them by a formal Execution.  

The Claim of the Lower-House to a concurrent Power confuted.  All these, belonging to the Archbishop and to him alone upon the Foundation of Law and Practice; it has been wondered how his Power over the Inferior Clergy in point of Attendance could be made a question: Especially, when those of the Lower-House, who claim a concurrent Right (tho'some of the Departers acted the last Session as if it had been solely in that House) 
The Lower-House have no Coercive Power over their Members.  done't pretend any Coercive Power over their own Members: And yet I take a right to grant leave, to suppose a right of Refusing it; and a right to refuse, without an enforcing Power in case the Member departed, to be somewhat singular both in Law and Reason. Suppose one or more Members to be necessary to some Purposes depending in Convocation, neither the Prolocutor nor the Lower-House can oblige him to come up or attend longer; nor have they any way to bring him thither or to keep him there, but by Application to the Archbishop (in whom the Coercive Power rests) and by his Grace's Admonition, and Censure in case he will not readily comply. So that what the Narrative means in saying that they have a Power of demanding the Attendance of their Members, 
Nar. p. 49.  I am yet to learn; because (as I understand the word) all Power of Demanding necessarily supposes a Right in Law to prosecute upon refusal; and they have not aimed at the proof of such a right in themselves, tho' they could not but see the necessity of clearing that point before their way could be made to the other.  

Nar. p. 34. The Prolocutor reserves Punishment only in the Precedents Name.  I know, they observe in another Place, that the Prolocutor has a Power to reserve the Punishment (meaning the Punishment of Contumacy pronounced against the Absents) as well as the Archbishop, in whose Schedule it is always, immediately after the Sentence, added, poenâ sibi reservatâ. And it is easy to imagine, how the Person, upon whose Sentence the Gild is contracted, reserves the Execution of that Sentence in his Power; but how a Man can suspend the Infliction of the Punishment, who had no part in pronouncing the Gild (which is the Prolocutor's case,) is not so easily comprehended. They say indeed (to avoid this Absurdity I suppose) that they don't mean reserving in the first Instance the Punishment to himself, 
Ibid.  according to their Lordship's Construction of reservata poena; but reserving the Punishment for a Synodical Act, which the words they conceive will bear as well. But before they induce others to conceive so, it will be necessary to show in what instance any one Member of their House was ever punished for Absence by a Synodical Act, or any other way, than by a Sentence of Suspension solemnly pronounced by his Grace, of whose Authority in Summoning a Convocation their Absence is a Contempt: And the Punishment can certainly be reserved to no other Power, than that which has always finally inflicted it. Accordingly, in the very first place where that Journal speaks of the Prolocutor's reserving the Punishment, it expressly mentions it as done by the direction of his Grace.— Anno 1586. Sess. 1. The Prolocutor and the whole House being called up, Reverendissimus Pater Dominus Cant. Archiepiscopus, ob paucitatem Comparentium, etc. intimavit Domino Prolocutori absentes ob eorum Contumacias Suspendend. fore debere, etc. Upon this they go back, and having called over the House, Dominus pronunciavit eos & eorum quemlibet Contumaces, etc. reservata corum poenâ in diem Mercurii, the day to which the Archbishop's Schedule had Continaed the Convocation and suspended the Certificates. Sess. 2, 3, 4. The Contumacy not being yet pronounced by the Archbishop, the Prolocutor (after coming, in every Instance, from the Upper-House, and his delivery of other Messages from thence to the Lower) reserves the Punishment; in the same sense that after the Continuation Intimated from the Schedule, he in virtue thereof admonishes all the Members to be present at the day; according to Archbishop Parker's description of the Office: 
Forma Con.  Ejusdem Prolocutoris est monere omnes ne discedant Civitate London, absque licentia Reverendissimi; quodque Statutis diebus tempestivé veniant ad Convocationem. Which shows the meaning of an Expression, in the form whereby Archbishop Bancroft suspends three Members of the Lower-House for departing without Leave: 
Bancr. Register.  Cum nos, etc. omnes & singulos alios Decanos, etc. & alios quoscunque in dictâ Convocatione comparentes, & ab eadem sine Licentia nostra in ea parte obtenta recedentes, aut mandatis nostris licitis vel Prolocutoris dictae Convocationis minimè obtemperantes, pronunciaverimus Contumaces, etc. Here, the Mandatum Prolocutoris can signify nothing but the Admonition to attend regularly at the Day appointed by the Archbishop, given always by the Prolocutor, in pursuance of the Intimation thereof from his Grace's Schedule, Monuítque omnes, etc. ad interessend. A Clause, that the Actuary of the Lower-House in the last Convocation ought not to have added to the Adjournments to Intermediate Days as well as others; because he knew that the Archbishop had declared against their meeting on those Days, and 'tis plain from hence, that no Authority, but that of his Grace, can warrant such an Admonition.  

The Prolocutor can give no Leave but as empowered by the Precedent.  But as to the Leave to departed, and the Place of Application; in these (we see) the forecited Passage directs us solely to the Archbishop; whose Licence either immediate, or by the Prolocutor (the conveyer of his Grace's Pleasure to the House in all other particulars) is absolutely necessary. In 1586. Sess. 10. after the Admonition to be present according to his Grace's Schedule, the Journal (as I observed before) mentions five, who ex Relatione Domini Prolocutoris isto die fuerunt licentiati quoad eorum personalem comparitionem. And (not to omit the smallest Objection) this teaches us how to interpret that short hint which is in the List before the Minutes of 1640. over against the Name of one of the Proctors for Glocester-Diocese, Venia Mri. Prolocutor. ratione mortis filii. In other Parts of that Catalogue, 
V Supr.  we find the Archbishop's Leave in such Cases directly expressed; and in this, the Lower-House will as little own, as his Grace, that the Prolocutor could give it by his own Authority. For when in the Narrative they assert a Power of giving Leave concurrent with that of his Grace, 
Narr. Pag. 49.  they do not make the Prolocutor, but the House, the Subject of that Power: If either the Archbishop or the Lower-House give a Leave of Absence, it is of Course to be interpreted so far only as the Claim of them that give it is concerned: So that the Member is not perfectly at Liberty without Leave from both. How groundless this Notion is, I have proved at large; but it shows however, that in their Sense the Venia Prolocutoris can be no more than a Declaration of Leave given by another: And nothing but a Resolution to be Obstinate, can make it suggested that this other must be the House (which before the last Convocation, does not once appear to have interposed directly or indirectly in that Matter) and not the Archbishop, who as he has been proved to have the Legal Right to give Leave, and to have frequently done it in Person, so the Prolocutor's is the Hand whereby he conveys all his Messages to the Lower-House, and by whose Relation, as we are sure from an exact Journal of their own, Five of the Members were formerly Licenced to departed.  

The groundless Practices of the last Lower-House, in giving Leave to be absent and admitting Proxies.  But be the Claim of such a Power in the House as groundless and unprecedented as it will, 'tis in Fact certain, that it was openly and frequently exercised by the Majority of the last Lower Clergy— Sess. 7. Et tune Venerabiles Viri Subsequentes petierunt licentiam sese absentandi ab hac Domo; cui consensum fuit ab hac domo. Sess. 13. Two Persons— desired Leave to go into the Country— Sess. 20. Mr. Archdeacon— desired Leave to go into the Country to hold his Visitation. In the 24 Session, another Member asked the same Favour; as in the 27th, not only Leave for Absence was desired, but also that a Proxy might be admitted, which the following Chapter will show to be equally out of the Power of the Lower-House.   

CHAP. III.  
No Power in the Lower-House to admit or deny Proxies.  

The Lower-House have no Power to admit or deny Proxies. Narr. p. 50.  IT is upon the Supposition of a Power in the House, to admit or deny Proxies, that they build their Claim of a Right to give or deny Leave. So the Narrative represents it: But the Power of the Lower-House to admit or deny Proxies, which has been always exercised, and never disputed, what else is it but a Power of giving or denying Leave to be absent? It was wisely done, to obtrude this Doctrine upon the Reader as a self-evident Truth, because particular Proofs of it were not to be had either from Law or Practice. We have already explained, how at the Opening of the Convocation, the Archbishop appoints a Commissioner to inspect and receive Proxies of all kinds, and to Judge of the fitness of the Person substituted; to examine the Causes of Absence, and to admit or reject the several Excuses for non-attendance; those (I mean) that are then offered in pursuance of the Clause in his Grace's Mandate, which declares that none shall be excused, nisi ex causâ necessariâ tunc ibidem allegandâ & probandâ ac per nos approbandâ. This Summons to appear on a certain Day, cum continuatione dierum prout convenit, is not satisfied by a Personal Attendance at the Opening, but evidently extends to the whole Time of his Grace's Continuing, and the Convocation's sitting thereupon. There is therefore the same Obligation in Law, not to departed in the middle without the Archbishop's Approbation of the Cause, as not to be absent at the beginning without sending it up and laying it before his Grace or his Commissioner: And, on the other Hand, if his Grace's Approbation of the Cause, be of itself a legal and entire Discharge from attending at all, why is it not a sufficient Warrant to departed before the Attendance be entirely paid?  

Proxies lodged with the Register of the Upper House.  Agreeable to the Law of Convocation, the Practice has been, as to apply to the Precedent for leave to departed and Substitute a Proxy, so to enter Proxies of that kind in the Register of the upper-house. In that of 1640. (the Catalogue whereof, at the beginning, is the chief Light we have of this kind) frequent mention is made of Archdeacon's appearing by Proxies, with the Name of the Persons substituted by them. Mr. Wade was then Register of the Upper-House, and in the List before the Minutes of the Lower-House, we find it often added over against the Names of Absent Members, Wade habet Procuratorium; and W. (for Brevity's sake) habet Procuratorium: As the Memorandum entered at the Archdeacon of Derby's Name, is remarkable to the present Purpose; Comparuit per Prol.— Mr. Prol. habuit Procuratorium & exhibuit Mro. W. But there are Entries of this kind yet more distinct, in the Catalogue before Mr. Mundy's Minutes of 1661. where the Actuary of the Lower-House notes thus:  
Archidiaconus Col. constituit Dom. Porey ejus Procuratorem, & reliquit Procuratorium penes Registrum.  
Archidiaconus Wellen. constituit Magistrum Franklin. S. T. P. in Procuratorem; & reliquit Procuratorium penes Registrum.  
Archidiaconus Huntingdon comparuit, & constituit Do. Layfield ejus Procuratorem; & reliquit Procuratorium penes Registrum.  

The entering of Proxies in the Lower-House-Book, no Argument of their Right to admit them.  'Tis true, several of the Proxies we meet with in the Upper-House-Book of 1640. are likewise taken notice of in the Catalogue before the Minutes of the Lower; and the Reason is obvious, because they were to be produced and exhibited there, whenever the House were occasionally to divide upon any Point. Others also are set down in the Minute-Book, without any mention of them in the Register; because his Grace's leave is frequently given in the Intervals of Sessions, and may not therefore directly come to the notice of the Upper-House-Register, but cannot escape the Knowledge of the Actuary in the Lower; where the Proxy left behind is to be considered upon all Divisions.  
But that the receiving of Proxies exhibited, belongs Properly and Solely to the Register in the Upper-House, appears from these three remarkable Circumstances: 1. That by Archbishop Whitgift's Table, he alone has a right to the Fee assigned for Exhibiting such Proxies. 2. That this Fee is constantly paid to him, and none to the Actuary of the Lower-House. 3. That when the Actuary either receives an Instrument of Proxy or the Fee of Exhibiting it; the Instrument is always delivered and the Fee accounted for, to the Register of the Upper-House.  
Nor was it material in which Book the Entry was made, so long as the Member had the President's leave to departed and substitute; the Notaries of each House being equally under the Jurisdiction of the Archbishop, and Members of his Court: As the Books themselves at the end of every Convocation, are equally deposited in the Registry of his See. 
The Actuary of the Lower-House, an Officer of the Archbishop.  For that the Actuary of the Lower, as well as the Register of the Upper, is properly the President's Officer, cannot be denied, when the very Original Table of Fees for the Vicar-General's Office, established by Archbishop Whitgift, appoints among the rest Feoda Actuario Domus inferioris Convocationis solvenda. According to which Table, the Fees of the Lower, as well as the Upper-House, are demanded and paid; and a Copy of that Table, so far as it concerns the Convocation, is entered at the beginning of the Act-Books of each. And so I find in 1640. that he in whose Book the Proxy was first entered, commonly received the whole Fees, and the other only entered a Memorandum that they were paid (Sol. Wade 7 s. 8 d. or 7 s. 4 d. is the usual Note in the Minutes) because they were the Fees of the same Court, and the respective Proportions were assigned by the same Authority.  
Add to this, what we meet with in their own Accurate Journal of 1586. Sess. Ult. where the Notary having observed his Grace's Suspension of the Absents, says, prout in ipsa Schedula, penes Registrarium ipfius Reverendissimi Patris quoad Superiorem domum remanen. continetur; which surely can imply no less, than that the Precedent had a like Officer also in inferiore Domo.  
That therefore the Names of Proxies appear upon the Journal of the Lower-House, shows no more, than that 'tis fit that Substitutions made by the President's Authority, should be recorded by an Officer of his own, and then deposited in the Registry of his See. But the bare bringing in and exhibiting of Proxies, or even the Lodging the Instruments in the Actuarie's Hand, is far from proving a Right in the House to admit them: For that must include a Power of denying, and as we have shown that the Precedent has frequently licenced Members of their House to go away upon Substitutions, so it lays upon them to produce any such Instance attended with the least mark either of the Members ask their concurrent leave, or of any Doubt or Scruple, whether those Members should departed, or their Proxies be admitted. What they claim in this Case, is a Negative upon the Precedent; but what can support that Claim besides such Testimonies of Denial or Scruple, I cannot see.  
There is (I confess) a Clause in the Lower-House Journal of 1586. Sess. 3. that seems at first sight to imply a concurrent Power with the Precedent in this Business of Proxies: Et tunc Ego Notarius antedictus [i. e. Tho. Barker, Actuary of the Lower-House] ex mandato Domini Prolocutoris, monui omnes isto die comparentes ad exhibend. & introducend. Procuratoria, si quae habeant, ad comparend. pro Absentibus citatis ad comparend. in hac sacra Synodo prox. Sessione. That the Prolocutor could give this Admonition by his own Authority, is inconsistent with their Claim in behalf of the House; the Power whereof would doubtless be contended for upon this Precedent, were we not sure that what he did was by Order of the Archbishop. At their first meeting after a Prorogation, the Precedent intimates to the Prolocutor the offence he took at the thinness of the House, and his Resolution to proceed against the Absents. Sess. 3. we find this Note in the Extracts out of the Upper-House-Books, Archbishop order all Proxies of the Lower-House to be brought in: And in the very same Session it is, that the Prolocutor admonishes all ad exhibend & introducend. Procuratoria.  
From these Accounts (and these are all I can meet with in the Registers) it appears that the Precedent as in Law so in Practice also, hath the sole Right to admit or deny Proxies; and their giving leave for Absence, being grounded upon the supposition of a concurrent Power in the Lower-House to admit Proxies, these two Claims must of course fall together. 
The late Irregularities in this Business of Proxies.  But, that some late Practices may not grow into Precedents, it seems to be a necessary Enquiry (and I hope they who are concerned, will make it in time) how the Instances recorded in the Acts of the late Lower-House are to be reconciled to the Constitution or Usage of an English Convocation.  
Sess. 16. May 5. Et postea Georgius Fulham S. T. P. exhibuit Procuratorium Speciale sub manu & Sigillo Thomae Sayer S. T. P. Archidiaconi Archidiaconatûs Surriae, concedens potestatem dicto Georgio Fulham, nec non Samueli Palmer, comparendi pro eo in Convocatione hac die. Quod Domini admiserunt.  
Sess. 27. Jan. 13. Mr. Bridges prayed his Proxy might be admitted.—  
Add to these, the Orders they took upon them to make in relation to Proxies, as within their own Power and Cognizance.  
Sess. 7. Et tunc motâ quaestione de numero Procuratoriorum per quodlibet membrum in hac Domo exhibendorum, decreverunt, nemini licitum esse, de caetero, ultra a numerum trium in hujusmodi domo exhibere.  
Sess. 8. Decreverunt & declararunt, ' That the Proctors for the Clergy may make Proxies, pursuant to the former Practice of this House, tho' such Proctors have not appeared personally. '  
Which former Practice, I fear, consists not of above one Instance; and yet even that is more than they have, to warrant this interposing in the Regulation of Proxies. In the Extracts out of the Vpper-House-Books, Anno 1584. we meet with an Order, ' That none be hereafter Proxy for a Dean or Archdeacon, but one of the Lower-House: And a question moved at the same time, Whether fit that a Dean or Archdeacon of the Lower-House should be Clerk of the Convocation. In the Lower-House-Books, we likewise find Orders made for preserving Decency and Regularity in their own Debates, Dec. 2. 1640. and May 22. 1661. But that they have in any one Instance before the last Convocation, undertaken to give leave for Absence, or to admit Proxies, or to interpose, in any kind, about the Attendance of Members, is more than I have yet been able to discover. For I cannot think, that those Substitutions in the first of Queen Mary, and the Order then passed for a Liberty to choose any Members of the two Universities to sit with them in Convocation, will be regarded in the present Case; Especially, when the Business of that Convocation was under the immediate direction of the Court, and acted in some Respects by Commission from thence, and when the want of the Upper-House-Register leaves it uncertain, whether these Appointments (as all others of that kind have done) came not Originally from thence.  

The additional leave of the House, an Invasion of the Precedents Authority  If it be said (as it was by some at the beginning) that tho' the additional Leave of the House be not necessary, it can however do no harm; it may be remembered, that in the Eye of the Law no kind of Possession is so tender as that of Jurisdiction, nor any Invasions so strictly forbidden, as the unwarrantable Exercise of another's Authority. And every good Man will concur with the Laws, in a more than ordinary Zeal for the preservation of an Authority, that has been always enjoyed by his Prodecessors, of which he is not the Proprietor, but rather the Guardian; of a thing, not at his own disposal, but that which he is bound in Conscience to transmit entire to Posterity. And when the same Laws have moreover vested in him a Coercive Power, sufficient to defend that Jurisdiction; he must be excused (when Men will not be otherwise kept within their proper Bounds) if he be forced into a Resolution not to lose the one for want of using the other.  
The Members who departed silently without Leave, either from his Grace or their own House, might presume upon the known Tenderness of the Precedent, and the improbability of any such Business as might make their further Attendance serviceable to the Church. But the ask Leave of the House, especially in those who departed upon that without attending on his Grace, was a plain and open Contempt, which nothing but a very great degree of Goodness and Clemency could have overlooked. In that, even their own Principles forsake them: which, with a Power in the House to give Leave, assert the necessity of having the President's too. 
Narr. P. 49.   
Thus have I considered at large the Power of the Precedent to require the Attendance of the Inferior Clergy in Convocation; who therefore when their Privileges were either endangered or actually invaded, have applied to the Upper-House as the known Guardians thereof. In the Year 1486. Feb. 17. I find the Prolocutor making his Request in Form, that the Clergy may enjoy their ancient Privileges: Et Petitum erat per praefatum Prolocutorem, ut Praelati & Clerus ad Convocationem evocati, suis gaudeant antiquis Privilegiis & Libertate. Cui Reverendissimus Pater respondebat, quòd in quantum poterit, voluit ea observari. In the same Manner, at the opening of the Convocation, Ann. 1488. Mr. Humfridus Officium [Prolocutoris] in se assumen, humiliter petiit ut Sancta Mater Ecclesia, ac eorum Clerus, ad dictam Convocationem congregatus, suis Juribus, Immunitatibus, & Privilegiis hactenus sibi indultis gaudere possint.  
But more near and direct to the Point in Hand, are the Applications of the Lower-Clergy to the Upper-House, upon Interruptions in their Attendance; praying Protection, according to the Statute 8 H. 6. C. I. which gives them a freedom from Arrests, etc. equal with the Members of Parliament.  
Anno 1603. The Prolocutor had two Subpoena's served upon him: He complained to the Precedent (Sess. 19) and care was taken, to have one of the Offenders Arrested in a Legal Way; and then being convened before the Bishops, he was sent down to beg pardon of the Prolocutor and Lower-House; as the other was brought upon his Knees in the upper-house.  
Anno 1624. May 28. The Extracts out of the upper-house Register have this Note: HE petitory Letter to the Bishop of Lincoln, Lord Keeper, to suspend a Subpoena served upon Mr. Murrel, Archdeacon of Norfolk, by reason of his Privilege of Convocation.  
Anno 1640. Sess. 13. May 18. Prolocutor querelatus est Breve de Subpoena è Curia Scaccarii esse executum in Doctorem Burgis Archidiaconum Roffen. & petiit Privilegium Convocationis. Vnde Reverendissimus Pater Dominus Archiepiscopus voluit ipsum Prolocutorem cum consensu Domûs Inferioris ad concipiendum Actum quid eye in hoc negotio expedire videbitur, & ad transmittendum istum Actum ad hanc Domum Superiorem, ut ipse & Confratres sui de eodem considerent.  
The only observation I shall make upon these Instances, is, that the Honourable House of Commons having a Power to require the attendance of their Members, and to protect them in it, are known to make no Applications of this kind: Nor would there have been occasion for them in the Lower-House of Convocation, if the Members thereof had a separate Right in themselves to take cognizance of these Matters.   

CHAP. IU.  
The Election and Office of a Prolocutor.  
WHile the Archbishop, Bishops, and Clergy, were used to Debate in a Body, the Clergy upon any Emergency that required separate Consultation, were directed to Retire for that end. The Result of their Debates was to be reported Above; and that made it necessary to fix upon some one of the Members to represent the Opinions or Resolutions of the rest; the whole Body being all the while present, and he only distinguished by speaking in their Name. From thence he had the Style of Prolocutor and Organum Cleri; and, from his relating to the Precedent and Bishops the Effect of their Debates, that of Referendarius.  

Prolocutors at first chosen only upon some single occasion.  I. At first, they were chosen only for particular Occasions; for these being over, we find no Marks of a further design in the Choice, or a longer continuance in the Office.  
Anno 1394. Febr. 17. The Clergy present their grant to the Upper-House, per Venerabilem Virum Magistrum Johannem Barnet, Offic. Curiae Cant. ad hoc specialiter electum.  
Anno 1399. Oct. 13. Dominus Archiepiscopus misit pro caeteris Praelatis & Procuratoribus Cleri— quod venirent de Domo Capitulari ad Capellam Beatae Mariae coram eo & dictis Suffraganeis suis, Grava mina, siquae haberent, de & super quibus praetendebant se gravatos, ac Reformanda si quae scirent, proposituri. Quibus ad dictam Capellam venientibus, surrexit quidam Venerabilis Vir Mr. Johannes Maydenheth nomine Cleri Provinciae antedictae, & certos Articulos ex parte Cleri Provinciae antedictae conceptos & quamplurima Gravamina continentes perlegebat.  
Anno 1400. Nou. 10. The Archbishop calls for the Articles of the Clergy; and ex eorum communi consensu per manus Venerabilis viri Mri. Roberti halum Archid. Cant. dictos Articulos in scripta redactos coram dicto Reverendissimo Patre & Suffraganeis suis unanimiter produxerunt.  
Anno 1408. The Opinion of the Clergy having been required, ipsi de Clero eodem, nomine & vice suis, per Venerabilem Virum Magistrum Henricum Ware Officialem Curiae Cant. in legibus Licentiatum, praefatis Majoribus Praelatis, etc.  
Three Years after (Anno 1411. Dec. 7.) we find mention made of Two Prolocutors representing the Clergy, in the same Business, and at the same Time: Archiepiscopo cum Confratribus suis in domo Capitulari congregatis, Venerabilis vir Magister Henricus Ware Curiae Cant. Officialis & Philippus Morgan utrinsque Juris Doctor, nonnullas Inconvenientias & Gravamina pro & ex parte Cleri, cujus gerebant Organa Vocis, exposuerunt, quae in scriptis redacta exhibuerunt.  
And not only the Lower-Clergy in general, but the Proctors of the Religious Houses in particular, are said to offer their Resolutions per Prolocutorem; the Name, as well as the Extent of the Office, agreeing equally to any Person representing the sense of a Body— Anno 1437. May 10. Concesserunt ijdem Religiosi etc. Sub certis modis & formis, in quadam Cedula, per Abbatem Gloucestriae Prolocutorem ipsorum Religiosorum porrectâ, content.  

When the Prolocutors were chosen at the beginning of Convocation.  II. The first Instance we meet with of a Prolocutor regularly chosen at the beginning of the Convocation, was that of William Lyndwood the famous Canonist; the manner of which Election is thus represented in the Register:  
Ann. 1425. April 24. Reverendissimus Pater Causas Convocationis suae exposuit & explanavit. Quibus expositis, Decani, Archidiaconi, & Procuratores Capitulorum & Cleri, de mandato dicti Reverendissimi Patris traxerunt se in Domum Inferiorem sub Domo praedictae Capitulari, ut de hujusmodi Causis tractarent, & unum Referendarium sive Prolocutorem ex seipsis eligerent, qui vice eorum omnium & singulorum Causas exponeret & responsa. Qui in Domum praedict. se recolligentes, Mag. Willelmum Lyndewode, utriusque Juris Doctorem, Officialem Curiae de Arcubus, in Referendarium & Prolocutorem hujusmodi elegerunt.  
After this, we meet with several Persons in several Convocations exercising the original Office of a Prolocutor; that is, occasionally reporting the Answers and Desires of the Lower-Clergy to the Archbishop and Bishops: Anno 1433. Nou. 12. Reverendissimus etc. fecit ad se vocari Clerum Provinciae suae antedictae. Quo Clero comparente, dictus Reverendissimus Pater interrogavit Venerabilem Virum Mag. Thomam Bekyngton Prolocutorem Cleri, si Clerus communicasset & conclusisset super istis punctis five dubiis— Anno 1438. Idem Clerus per Magistrum Thomam Prolocutorem suum de contribuendo ad Expensas transmittendorum ad Concilium petiit & dictis Dominis supplicavit humiliter excusari— Ann. cod. They make another excuse from a Subsidy per Magistrum Johannem Lyndefeld suum Praelocutorem.— Anno 1439. Richardus Andrew, Cariae Cant. Officialis, tho' not chosen at the first, is mentioned four Times, as doing the Office of a Prolocutor, viz. Reading their Schedules in the presence of the Archbishop and Bishops, and laying before them the Petitions of the Clergy. The same things that we find John Byconil, the Archbishop's Official, executing under that Style in the Year 1444.  
All these executed the Office; but after Lyndemood we meet with no regular Choice before the Year 1452. when the Archbishop, as in that other Instance, explained to them the Causes of the Convocation, and then commanded them to retire to their House and choose a Prolocutor. 
The first Instance of Presenting a Prolocutor.  But as that is the very first instance of choosing, so is this of presenting him— Egregiúmque Virum in Prolocutorem Clori, ut praemittitur, electum Reverendissimo Patri, Reverendisque Patribus Praesentando. He declined the Office, usque adeò quòd dictus Reverendissimus Pater sibi in virtute Obedientiae praedictum Onus ut assumeret, injunxit. Quo audito dictus Electus etc. onus hujusmodi in se nolens volens assumpsit. So again,  
Ann. 1460. we meet with the same Circumstances,— Reverendissimus demandavit omnibus de Inferiori Domo, quòd illuc accederent, & Prolocutorem eligerent— They chose the Archbishop's Official, ac ipsum (ut moris est) coram Archtepiscopo & aliis Confratribus & Praelatis praesentabant— Tandem, ad mandatum dicti Reverendissimi Patris, hujusmodi onus in se suscepit.  
The next Convocation opens with the Choice of a Prolocutor, under all the foregoing Circumstances; only, instead of the Obligation to accept it, laid upon the other two by the Archbishop, it is said, 
The Admission and Confirmation of a Prolocutor by the Precedent, and Bishops.  Quam Praesentationem Dominus Admisit; as in some of the Convocations that follow, the Style is Admisit & Acceptavit; and yet nearer to our own times, Approbavit & Confirmavit, de Consensu Confratrum: Which Consent is generally expressed or at least employed, (in that he is said to be Presented to both Precedent and Bishops,) from the first Instance of Confirmation in 1452.  
By these degrees, we are come to the very Method of Choosing and Confirming, which Archbishop Parker lays down as an Established Custom in his time, and is the standing Rule at this Day— Reverendissimus solet eosdem ex Inferiori Domo monere atque hortari, ut statim se conferant in dictam inferiorem Domum, ibiqúe de viro docto, pio, & fideli in Prolocutorem suum assumendo consultantes unanimiter consentiant & eligant, sicque Electum ipsi Reverendissimo in eadem domo Capitulari prox. insequen. Scssione, debita cum solempnitate praesentent.— And when they come to Present him, Reverendissimus, etc. ipsam Electionem sua Archiepiscopali auctoritate express confirmare & approbare non dedignabitur.  

The Office of a Prolocutor.  III. The Office also of a Prolocutor, with the End of its Institution, are exactly described by the same Archbishop, according to the constant usage of the Times before him— Quoniam, si in rerum tractandarum serie unusquisque ex Inferiori domo suam ipse sententiam, quoties visum esset, diceret, aut si omnes aut plures simul loquerentur, pareret confusionem, igitur semper hactenùs observatum fuit, ut unus aliquis doctus & disertus ex gremio dictae Inserioris domûs in eorum omnium locum ad hoc munus assumatur, ut is intellectis & scrutatis caeterorum omnium votis tanquam unum eorum omnium Os & Organum loquatur, & consonam eorum sentenciam eidem Reverendissimo, cum ad hoc rogatus seu missus suerit, caeteris silentibus, fideliter referat. Qui ex hoc munere Referendarius sive Prolocutor comuniter denominatur. 
The immediate End, to report their Answers.  This, as we have shown, and the Name implies, was the immediate End of making it an Office in Convocation, viz. the reporting the Resolutions of the Clergy to the Archbishop and Bishops, by whom they were directed, as occasion required to Confer about particular Matters and return their Answers thereupon. While therefore the Clergies ordinary Place in Convocation was the Chapterhouse, the same wherein the Bishops also fat; they came back thither in a Body, and the Prolocutor (styled by them Organum Cleri, and Vocis suae Organum) had no more to do but to deliver the general Sense of the Clergy in the Presence of all the rest. And in this united State, whatever Directions the Precedent and Bishops had to deliver to the Clergy, were given immediately to the whole Body. But as the Debates grew by degrees more Separate, and they also had a title to send up their Opinions and Resolutions by the Person whom upon the Archbishop's special Order they had chosen, and his Grace had confirmed and allowed to be their standing Prolocutor; this of course drew on a new Addition to that Office, the reporting to the Lower-House the Commands and Admonitions of the Upper. 
The bringing back the Instructions of the Precedent and Bishops.  Which Branch, omitted by Archbishop Parker in his Form of a Convocation, when he had only the original Institution in his Eye, is afterwards mentioned in his Speech, An. 1572. Qui [Prolocutor] vestra nobis desideria, nostraque vobis vicissim monita exponat atque referat. He conveys to the Bishop the Petitions and Opinions of their Clergy, and carries back to the Clergy the Advice and Direction of their Bishops; and so by this Office, the Inconveniences of debating together are avoided, and yet the Synod remains, in effect, as United as ever.  
Again, as Canons and other Ecclesiastical Affairs (which before had been no where considered but in a Synod of Bishops) came to be passed and framed in Convocation; the Business of the Lower-Clergy, as well as of the Bishops, increased, and upon both these Accounts the Retirements of the Clergy became more frequent; till at last, preserving the same Union they had ever done as to the Matter and Method of their Business and Debates, as to the Place thereof they became wholly separated. And (being now removed from the immediate Government of the Precedent as moderating the Debates of the whole Body) this brought on the Necessity of a standing Moderator in the Debates of the Lower-House; 
His moderating in their Debates.  whom the foresaid Archbishop describes in the Office of a Prolocutor, Qui & vestras diceptationes, ne aut longiùs producantur, aut acriùs vehementiúsque tactentur, temperet.  

The Prolocutor only supplies the President's place.  This being a true State of the Office and Institution of a Prolocutor, it is strange how that Fancy of making the Prolocutor a Precedent by his own Authority in the Lower-House, could enter into the Thoughts of any one who had ever looked into our Acts of Convocation. The several Branches of this Office, it is plain, are only Executions of what the Precedent formerly did in Person, and now does by the Prolocutor, solemnly admitted and confirmed for these Ends. While the Bishops and Clergy acted together, the Precedent moderated the Debates of both; and the Clergy being removed to another Place, the Care of Order and Decency there was by him entrusted with the Prolocutor. In that united State, his Grace delivered his Directions immediately to the Clergy themselves; which he now transmits', as they do their Answers, by the Mouth of the Prolocutor. And yet this very Office has been made one main Argument to settle the Lower-House in greater degrees of Independence; tho' it was so evidently instituted to convey to them the Authority of the Precedent and Bishops, and in all their Proceed to preserve as strict a Union, as is possible in different Places of Debate.  

The Prolocutors at the beginning, Omcers of the Archbishop's Court.  To this purpose (I mean, the Prolocutor's supplying the Archbishop's Place among the Inferior Clergy) it is observable, that Lyndewood and six of the Prolocutors who came after, viz. Bekyington, Lyndefeld, Andrew, Byconill, Stokys, and Pykenham, were all Officers immediately under the Archbishop; the 1st, 2d, 4th, and 5th, his Officials; the third, Decanus Curiae Cant. the sixth, Auditor Causarum, and the last his Chancellor. And I find some others to be the the very same Persons who were Commissioned to receive and examine the Returns of the Bishops; a Business, that was ordinarily performed by the Officers of his own Court: But these, not being directly taken Notice of in the Registers under the particular Characters they might bear in his Graced Court, I add not to the rest, whose Offices are expressly mentioned. Nor is my Observation upon these seven (successively Prolocutors and at the same time Officers under the Archbishop) intended to prejudice the Freedom of Election in the Lower-House; but only to suggest the Regard they then had to the Precedent in the Choice of a Person, by whom they were to appear before him, and who was in effect to supply his Place among them whenever they debated apart from their Lordships.  

Prolocutor sometimes recommended by the Precedent.  With the same Design, and no other, I add the following Instances of the President's recommending to the Lower-Clergy the Choice of particular Persons; who were accordingly elected.  
Anno 1562. Archbishop Parker ordered the Clergy to retire to the Choice, Commendans illis maximè Decanum Ecclesiae Cathedralis D. Pauli London, Alexandrum Nowell; and we find him presented and confirmed in form, the next Session.  
Anno 1588. the Dean of St. Paul's ex parte Reverendissimi Patris Joh. Cant. Archiep. significavit ut ad Electionem futuri Prolocutoris procedere licitè & liberè valeant & possint; & Commendavit eye Venerabilem Virum Magistrum Johannem Still tunc ibidem praesentem. Vnde omnes tunc praesentes uno ore eundem Magistrum Johannem Still sine morâ in eorum & dicti Coetûs Inferioris Domûs Cleri Prolocutorem & Referendarium concorditer unanimi consensu nominarunt & elegerunt, nemine contradicente.  
Anno 1605. The Extracts out of the Registers of the Upper-House say thus; the Archbishop recommends Dr. Overal Dean of St. Paul's to be chosen Prolocutor, in the room of Dr. Ravis made Bishop of Gloucester.  

The Order or Leave of the Precedent necessary before they can proceed to the Choice.  But whether the Precedent recommended or no, 'tis certain that the Clergy have never used to proceed to their Election without the antecedent Order or Leave of his Grace: Reverendissimus demandavit, praecepit, monuit, has been and is the Language in which our Registers ordinarily express it: And in the Convocation of 1586. (as well as that of 1588. which I just now mentioned) the Archbishop's Leave is directly expressed in the Journal of the Lower-House: The Dean of St. Paul's, ex parte Reverendissimi, etc. significavit ut ad Electionem futuri Prolocutoris procedere licite & libere valeant & possint; but without any Recommendation accompanying the Notice.  

In case of death or promotion, no new Election but by the President's Order.  And as in the beginning, so in the middle of a Convocation, in the case of the Death or Promotion of a Prolocutor, a new Election is not yet pretended to be made without the President's special Direction. Thus,  
Anno 1541. Reverendissimus evocari fecit Clerum Inferioris Domûs; quibus exposuit illos debere eligere novum Prolocutorem per mortem D. Gwent.  
Anno 1677. Cleri hujus domûs coram Reverendis Dominis Episcopis personaliter comparentes, & requisui ut recederent in domum suam propriam, & eligerent aliquam personam idoneam è gremio ipsorum in Prolocutorem sive Referendarium Convocationis praesentis, loco ultimi, nuper in Archiepiscopum Cant. promoti.  
Anno 1661. Febr. 18. Praesidens, etc. voluit ad se accersiri Clerum Domûs Inferioris Convocationis; quibus advenientibus dictus Dominus Praesidens antedictus (in verbis latinis conceptis) eosdem Cleros dictae Domûs Inferioris monuit quatinus ad solitum & consuetum Conventûs sui locum sese conferentes, unum virum gravem, doctum, & peritum de gremio suo provideant & eligant in eorum Prolocutorem & Referendarium in loco Reverendi Viri Henrici Fearne sacrae Theologia Professoris, ultimi Prolocutoris ratione promotionis suae, ad Episcopatum Cestren. jam vacan.  
Anno 1664. Nou. 25. Dominus Episcopus London. Cleros dictae Domûs Inferioris monuit quatenùs ad solitum & consuetum Conventûs sui locum sese conferentes unum virum, etc. eligant in eorum Prolocutorem & Referendarium in loco veneribilis viri Johannis Barwick sacrae Theologiae Professoris, ratione ejus mortis, jam vacan.  

Prolocutor always Presented to the U. H. for Confirmation.  2. The Person chosen upon the Order or Leave of the Archbishop, is solemnly presented to his Grace and his Brethren for their Confirmation; which our Registers always express in Terms signifying his Acceptance of him, with the conveyance of Power and Authority for the Execution of the Office: Cum consensu Fratrum admisit, acceptavit, approbavit, ratificavit, or confirmavit.  

The Prolocutor's Application to the U. H. for Protection.  3. As he receives his Authority from the Archbishop and his Brethren, so upon a remarkable Invasion of that and of the Privileges of Convocation in his own Person, we find him directly applying to the Upper-House for Protection. The Case happened in the Year, 1604. Sess. 19 and is thus represented by the Extracts out of the Registers of that House: " The Prolocutor complaims to the Bishop [Presiding] that he had two Subpoenas served upon him by Harrington and Walker, notwithstanding his Privilege. The Precedent answers, that the King was acquainted with it, and that Walker was arrested for it by a Sergeant at Mace, and a Warrant gone for Harrington— Sess. 20. Walker abovesaid convented before the Bishops, sent to the Lower-House to beg Pardon of the Prolocutor and House; which he did, and was dismissed pro tempore— Sess. 32. Harrington brought upon his Knees, for serving a Sub-poena upon the Prolocutor.  
If the Inferior-Clergy of that Time had thought their House to have a sufficient Power in this Case, they would (I suppose) have protected their own Prolocutor: Or, if they had reckoned it consistent with their Duty, as Members of the same Convocation with the Metropolitan and Bishops, to seek for Refuge otherwise than by Recourse to their Lordships, the Prolocutor would scarce have been suffered to bring in question the Independent Rights of the House by such an Application.  

The Prolocutor cannot Substitute a Deputy but by Leave from the U. H.  Two Questions remain concerning the Office of a Prolocutor: 1. Whether he have Power in his Absence to Substitute another, without leave from the upper-house? 2. Whether the Prolocutor being present, Messages may regularly be sent up to the Bishops by any other Hand? I will not pretend to solve these Two, purely from the Reasons of the Things (which are no certain Rules in Questions of this kind;) but surely the solemn Confirmation of a particular Person for that Purpose, to continue during the whole Convocation, should imply an Obligation upon him (when present) to discharge a Duty, to which He, and He alone, has received that general Appointment: And his own Incapacity to convey such Messages till he be admitted and confirmed, and thereby publicly known to be the Mouth or (in the Language of the Registers) the Organ of the Lower-House; seems to make it unreasonable, that another shall be capable of exercising that Office without Confirmation, that is, without being known to their Lordships to be the Mouth of the Lower-House, when yet the Messages are to come by him, as such. Especially, if to this we add, that neither the Speaker of the House of Commons, nor the House itself, have the Power of a Substitution, in case of Sickness or Business; who yet Act in a much more Independent State than the Lower-House of Convocation.  
These Presumptions are seconded by the Authority of the Registers; assuring us that the Prolocutor has actually desired Leave of the upper-house to make such a Substitution.  
Anno 1533. Sess. 3. In the Upper-House; Ibidem Dominus Prolocutor D. Wolman, affirmavit se aegrotum esse, & petiit ut durante infirmitate ejus, Magister Fox, si vellet adesse, vel Magister Bell exerceret Officium suum; & consensum est.  
Anno 1554. At the end of the Acts of the upper-house we find this Note entered. Memorandum, quòd Vicesimo octaio Novembris, Dominus Prolocutor substituit loco suo, durante ejus absentiâ, Magistros Hugonem Weston, Nicolaum & Johannem Harpesfield conjunctim & divisim ad exercendum Officium Prolocutoris; which could no way have come into that Register, but that the upper-house had their Share in the Substitution.  
The same Year, certain Minutes of the Lower-House mentioning the Presentation and Admission of the Prolocutor, and after that, a Debate with the Bishops in the Upper-House; immediately adds, Et cùm praedictus Prolocutor (who had been presented just before) non potuit adesse dictae Convocationi, Substituit N. Harpesfield & Johannem Wimbleseys (the two Persons who had just then presented him, and stayed there with him) conjunctim & divisim in loco suo.  
On the other Hand; Ann. 1555. it is said, Dec. 16. Quo die, Dominus Prolocutor substituit loco suo Magistros Cole & Harpesfield: But this was in a Legatin Council of both Provinces, and not in Convocation; nor have we any contemporary Accounts of the Upper-House, where some such Memorandum as we find in the foregoing Year might probably be made. But in the Year, 1640. May 2d. the Minutes make mention of a Substitution, no notice whereof is taken by the Register of the Upper-House, tho' in other Respects full and exact: Only, as to the Notice there, the Instance has this Disadvantage that the Bishops did not meet and act that Day.  
Here therefore the Qustion rests; Whether a Certainty that the Prolocutor has actually applied for leave to make a Substitution, be not a stronger Argument of his Obligation to do it; than the bare want of an Entry thereof (in one Instance, in the absence both of the Archbishop and Prolocutor, on a Day when no Business was done besides the Continuation) is any Ground of a Right to do it without such Leave. Thus the Case stands; and under these Circumstances the Right of the Upper-House may (I think) be trusted to the decision of any Impartial Man.  

No Messages can regularly be carried up but by the Prolocutor, when present.  The next Question is, Whether the Prolocutor being present, Messages may be regularly sent up to the Bishops by any other Hand? For in the last Convocation (Session 14.) a Message was sent by Dr. Finch, but rejected by the Precedent as irregular, because not brought up by the Prolocutor: Which occasioned a Vote of the Lower-House, That the Prolocutor himself should carry it, but salvis juribus hujus domûs.  
It is true, that some Messages had been so sent up in the Convocation of 1689. but in the 9th Session the Irregularity was observed; and the Bishop of London the then Precedent declared to the Lower-House, Quòd apparet per Recorda Domûs Superioris Convocationis, quòd quoties & quando aliquid fuit per dictam Domum Inferiorem superiori Domo Convocationis propositum, Prolocutor semper comparuit in propria sua persona, aliis dictae Domûs secum comitantibus.  
Hereupon, a Committee of both Houses was appointed to inspect the Registers: And tho' no Report be entered in the Journal of that Year, and the late Narrative affirm that they brought in none; 
Nar. p. 45.  yet the Bishops who were of that Committee very well remember, that those of the Lower-House were satisfied, that all their Messages ought to be sent by the Prolocutor; the Books affording no one Instance of the contrary.  
I know, upon the revival of that Difference in the last Convocation, and the Censure thereof as Irregular, an Attempt was made in one of their Answers to vindicate it upon the Authority of a Precedent in the Year 1444. When, the Clergy after the grant of one Tenth, being desired by the Keeper of the Privy Seal to give another, sent up a Doctor of Laws and the Archdeacon of Canterbury for direction from the Bishops, whether they should proceed to the consideration of that Request; tho' William Byconyll, the Archbishop's Official, was Prolocutor at that time.  
But, 1. In that Convocation we read of no Prolocutor as chosen by the Clergy or confirmed by the Archbishop; and therefore tho' Biconyll made two several Reports from the Lower-Clergy, that must be upon a particular Choice for those purposes; such as we know was made of the Persons whom they styled their Prolocutors. 2. It does not appear, that Biconyll (who had done the Business of a Prolocutor before) was then in the House: On the contrary, the Circumstances make it much more probable that he was not. This Message was carried up on a Monday; and the Saturday before, the Clergy had granted a Subsidy, on condition that the Archbishop would dissolve the Convocation. His Grace promised that he would; upon which, as the Register has it, Plures Procuratores Cleri eo praetextu ad partes suas recesserunt. And it was actually dissolved on the same Monday.  
However, it's not appearing that he was there, is reason enough why it can be no Precedent in the present Case; and no other Testimony has yet been aimed at. Indeed the Drawers of the Narrative seem to have been apprehensive that the Acts would afford none, and that therefore they should be forced to relinquish their Claim: If (say they) 
Nar. p. 45.  the Precedents overrule this Matter, 'twill become us to submit.   

CHAP. IU.  
By what degrees the Inferior Clergy became a Separate House from the Bishops.  

The false Account of the late Narrative, of the L. H. p. 6.  THE late Narrative of the Lower-House observes, serves, what was too plain to be denied, that in elder Times the whole Body of the Convocation used to sit together in the same Room. But when afterwards the same Narrative comes to speak of the manner of their occasional Retirements, and of the Division into two Houses; the Accounts are agreeable to no Usage but that of the last Convocation. For in the Registers of these ancient Times whereof they speak, there is not the least ground for what they say about the Retirement of the Bishops from the Clergy, or the Clergy from their Bishops at their own Motion, and upon distinct Business that belonged properly to their Consideration: Nor does it appear, that the Division into two Houses, or the Settlement of a Prolocutor did at all arise from an imitation of the Parliament; but, on the contrary, came in gradually, and, as the occasion of them increased and the convenience appeared, improved by little and little into an Establishment.  

Two Reasons for the Retirement of the Clergy.  While the Bishops and Clergy debated together (as they frequently did a long time after the regular Election of a Prolocutor) we find the Clergy occasionally directed to retire upon two Accounts. 1. When the Archbishop and Bishops found it necessary to debate any Matter in secret: As, Anno. 1376. 5. Id. Febr. Dominus cum confratribus suis, exclusis omnibus a●…s personis, secret deliberavit— And the next day, Exclusis omnibus aliis personis, super praemissis deliberavit. In these cases, not only the Clergy but the lesser Prelates also who belouged to the Upper-House, retired; as these latter are said to have done again upon the same Occasion, Anno. 1428. Nou. 16.— Aliis Praelatis ad tunc ibidem in multitudine copiosâ existentibus, de mandato Praesidentium se interim retrahentibus ad partem domus Capitularis hujusmodi.  

Retirement of the Clergy to consider Business, was always by the Direction of ABs and Bishops.  But the ordinary Occasion of their Retirement was, the Business from time to time referred to their Consideration by the Precedent and Bishops. That this was the constant Method as oft as the Archbishop thought fit at the beginning of Convocation to lay before them the Causes of his calling it, will be plain to any one who shall cast an Eye upon the next Chapter: And the frequent Instances of the same kind throughout the Course of their Proceed, to be produced in the Chapter following that, will sufficiently prove their Retirement in those Days to have been the sole effect of Business proposed to them by the Archbishop and Bishops; and not of their own Pleasure or Occasions. Nor have the Registers left us to infer this, from their separating immediately upon Business proposed; but they mention it frequently as done at the express Command of the Archbishop: Anno. 1369. 4. Kal. Febr. Injunxit Procuratoribus Cleri quòd se ad partes transserrent— Anno 1379. 5. Id. Maii, Praecepit quòd Procuratores praedicti exirent— And on many other Occasions, their departing is said to be de mandato, ad mandatum, and juxta assignationem Domini; as will appear from the Passages quoted at large in the two next Chapters about the Entrance upon Business in Convocation. Nor can I remember any Instance of their Retiring, in which the Circumstances thereof leave room for a Supposition, that it was at their own Motion, or upon distinct Business of their own: so far was any such thing from being (according to that Account in the Narrative) the Usage of Convocation in those days.  

The Place to which they retired uncertain for a long time.  The Place also to which they retired in such Cases, was not the same from the beginning, but settled by degrees. So,  
Anno 1369. TWO Kal. Febr. Rogavit dictos Religiosos, quòd se insimul traherent ad aliquam partem Ecclesiae & Clerum suae Dioeceseos & Prov. quòd ad aliam partem ejusdem Ecclesiae se traherent, tractarent, & deliberarent.— 4 Kal. Febr. the same Year— Injunxit Procuratoribus Cleri Relig. hujusmodi, exhortando eosdem quòd se ad parts in dicta Ecclesia transferrent, & concordarent, etc.  
Anno 1382. Nou. 19 the Place is left to their own Choice; Quòd convenirent in aliquo loco decenti & honesto, & de praemissis tractarent invicem.  
Anno 1383. Dec. 3. The Proctors are directed, Quòd ad aliquem locum in tali negotio hactenus consuetum se declinarent.  
Anno 1384. May 24. Procuratores in Domo Scholarum in Caemiterio dicte Ecclesiae situatâ ad invicem denegotiis ipsis tractarent.  
Anno 1394. Feb. 6. After a debate super principali causa Convocationis between the Bishops and Clergy; separato Clergo ad Claustrum subtus eandem Domum Capitularem, they there considered of a Subsidy.  
Anno 1402. Oct. 30. The Archbishop directed them, for the Choice of a Committee, ut in aliquo privato loco convenirent; and when they chose that Committee, they are said to be in Basso sub dicta Domo Capitulari insimul congregati— And Nou. 10. ad dictum Bassum sub Domo Capitulari secesserunt— Again, Anno 1404. Clero seorsim separato ad Domum Bassam sub Domo Capitulari. And 1408. Dicto Clero in valto inferius sub eadem Domo Capitulari, etc. Where their Meeting is said, some Years before this to be, more solito Accordingly,  
Anno 1419. the Deans, Archdeacon's, and Proctors are directed to retire in Domum suam solidam: And two Years after (May 7. 1421.) in Domum suam Inferiorem.  
Anno 1422. The Direction is, Quòd recederent de Domo Capitulari & adirent Domum Inferiorem: Under which name, Simply, we find it mentioned in the succeeding Convocations.  
But here, two Things are to be observed,  

The L. C. have a House for Debate only.  1. That this was not styled the Domus solita, or Domus sua with reference to their constant meeting and sitting there; for many Years after we find them ordinarily with the Bishops in the Upper-House at the beginning of the Sessions, and present at the Debates there; the same that we also meet with now and then, in some of the latest Acts of Convocation, recorded in the old Registers, which end with the Year 1488. inclusive. It was therefore Their House, only for such Occasional Debates, as those for which they retired in the manner already hinted, and to be explained more at large in the two following Chapters.  

The Place always assigned by the Archbishop.  2. That this place of Debate, after Custom and the Name seemed to have appropriated it to the Use of the Clergy, was always thought and said to be assigned them by the Archbishop.  
Which two Heads are clear from the following Instances:  
Anno 1408. Clerus Inferior in loco sibi Deputato constìtutus.  
Anno 1421. May 7. Recedentibus tunc, de mandato Domini, Procuratoribus Cleri in Domum suam Inferiorem, pro tractatibus fiendis in hujusmodi Convocationibus consuetam.  
Anno 1421. Dominus demandavit, etc. quòd adirent Domum inferiorem solitam pro Cleri Procuratoribus, & ab antiquo in Cleri Convocationibus Assignatam eisdem.  
The next Convocation, Oct. 16. Recedentibus Procuratoribus in Domum Inseriorem Clero pro tractatibus habendis in Convocationibus antea celebratis solitam assignari de mandato Domini ad tractandum de & super materiis ipsis per Dominum declaratis.  
In the same Convocation: The King's Commissioners being gone, Et finita expositione hujusmodi, Procuratores Cleri de mandato Domini recesserunt de Domo Capitulari in Domum inferiorem, ubi tractatus Cleri Procuratorum in talibus Conciliis fieri antiquitus consueverunt.  
Anno 1452. Feb. 9 It is again mentioned as a Place intended only for those occasional Retirements: The Precedent commands the Clergy,  ad locum eis ab clim in hujusmodi actibus solitum & consuetum, viz. locum inferiorem subtus dictam domum Capitularem ad electionem sive nominationem futuri Prolocutoris Cleri ritè processuri unanimiter insimul declinarent.  

The Separation of the Bishops and Clergy stated upon the foregoing Acounts.  From the Particulars of this Chapter, there arises this natural Account of the Separation of the two Houses. While they met, abode, and debated together in the Chapterhouse, their Separations were rare, because the Occasions requiring the Retirement of the Clergy, were so too. As the Business of Convocation increased, these Retirements, and by consequence the Separations, became more ordinary and frequent: Till, by degrees, upon the evident Inconvenience of the Clergies going up in a Body with all their Answers and Petitions (for so they did at the first, notwithstanding their choice of a Prolocutor) the Archbishop and Bishops on ordinary Occasions accepted the Attendance of a Prolocutor regularly chosen and confirmed, instead of all the rest; returning their Pleasure and Instructions by the same Hand. From hence there ensued a gradual Separation as to the Place of Debate; the Union and Communication in other respects, remaining entire, and the Correspondenee about the Business of the Synod continuing such as is suitable to the known Subordination of Presbyters to their Metropolitan and Bishops.  
Nor are the Debates themselves so separated, but that the Archbishop and Bishops as oft as they saw cause for debating together, have always sent for the Inferior Clergy to the Upper-House, either in a Body or by the Prolocutor with some few of the Members; Reverendissimus, etc. fecit ad se vocari Clerum; Accersito Clero, etc. Who coming up, and conferring with their Lordships as long as the Occasion of sending for them required, were dismissed from further Attendance at that time; and being dismissed, returned to their own House: Dimisso Prolocutore, etc. is the ordinary Style of the Registers in all such Cases; as appears from those two (of 1640. and 1661. etc.) which are published at large in the Appendix.  
If this be a true Account (as no Account from the Registers themselves can be otherwise) it is hard to believe, that the Acts of Convocation were ever seen by those, who have lately disputed the President's Right of Assigning them a Place, and have talked so much of their distinct Capacity as derived from an Imitation of the House of Commons, and raised so many Uncanonical Exemptions, with I know not what degrees of Inherent Power, from the Denomination of a House and their separate Debates. 
Nar. p. 41. Nar. p. 40. 41. Answ. to 1st Let. p. 2. Nar. p. 17. Power of L. H. p 2.    

CHAP. VI  
The manner of ENTERING upon Business in Convocation.  

The Archbishop declares the Causes of the Convocation.  THE Members of Convocation being settled by the Returns of the Bishops made and exhibited to his Grace; he, in virtue thereof, has a Right to their Attendance, as they have, to proceed with him in the Business of Convocation. And therefore, the Bishops and Clergy being together in one Body at the opening thereof, it has been the Usage of Convocation, especially when met upon Business of great Moment, for the Precedent to explain to them the Causes and Ends of his Summoning it at that time. So, Archbishop Parker explains the Custom of his own and former Ages; 
Forma Conu.  Reverendissimus ad Episcopos & Clerum tunc praesentes Anglicè sive latinè Causam sui Adventûs ac dictae Convocationis inchoatae exponit. And another more early Directory for the first day of Convocation in Edward VI.'s Time— The Clergy of thinferior House to be called up to the chapter; his Grace to declare the Cause of this Convocation.  

The Clergy ordered to Retire, and debate about the Business of Convocation as declared by the Archbishop.  At the same time that the Registers speak of the President's declaring the Causes of the Convocation in this solemn manner, they generally add, that the Clergy were thereupon required to go down to their House and confer about the matter proposed to them by his Grace; who also very frequently enjoined the Return of their Answers within a certain time.  
Anno 1369. Kal. Febr. The Archbishop (assidentibus confratribus, etc. & Procuratoribus Cant. Provinciae coram eo, etc.) explains to them the Necessities of the Kingdom, and proposes a Supply;— And then it follows, Et super petitione praedictâ, rogavit dictos Religiosos quòd se insimul traherent ad aliquam partem Ecclesiae, praedictae, & Clerum suae Dioeceseos & Prov. quòd and aliam partens ejusdem Ecclesiae se traherent, tractarent, & delibearent the petitione praedict. quid & quantum concedere velint; & deliberatione habitâ per cosdem, sibi refer & intimare de voluntate corum in dictâ domo Capitulari super praemissis die crastino.  
Anno 1379. May 9 The Archbishop explains the Occasions of the Meeting, Reformation and Subsidy: And then, Habitâ in Domo Capitulari inter Praelatos & Procuratores quadam deliberatione super materiâ Convocationis, idem Pater injunxit singulis Procuratoribus quòd eodem die post prandium— in dicto loco comparerent— tractaturi super materia antedictâ.  
Anno 1383. Dec. 2. The Archbishop explains the Cause of the Convocation's meeting: And the next Session, Praecepit Procuratoribus quòd ad aliquem locum in tali negotio hactenùs consuetum se declinarent, ac de & super negotio, etc. per ipsum eis exposito diligenter tractarent, & super deliberatione suâ in eâ parte Responsum sibi & Confratribus suis, ibidem protunc personaliter existentibus, mellori modo et forma, quibus poterant, praeberent.  
Anno 1399. Oct. 8. Coram Domino comparuerunt personaliter Reverendi in Chisto Patres, etc. & Praelatorum & Cleri Provinciae antedictae Procuratores; & expositâ ibidem per Dominum Causa Convocationis, tractabant ipse Dominus & Reverendi Patres Episcopi per se de negotiis communibus Ecclesiae, aliis Praetit & Procuratoribus Cleri scorsim separatis.  
Anno 1408. July 23. The Archbishop explains the Causes of their Meeting; and then, Clero verò Inferiori à praefatis majoribus Praelatis seorsim separato, & in Scolis Theologiae sub domo Capitulari praefatâ juxta assignationem Archiepiscopi conveniente more solito; iidem Venerabiles Patres, etc.  
Anno 1415. Nou. 18. Reverendissimus Pater conveniens in domo Capitulari Ecclesiae S. Pauli cum Suffraganeis suis, Abbatibus, Prioribus, Decanis, Archidiaconis & Procuratibus Cleri suae Provinciae in multitudine copiosâ, exposuit eyes Causas suae Convocationis; quibus expositis, Decani, Archidiaconi, & Procuratores Capitulorum & Cleri, de mandato dicti Reverendissimi Patris traxerunt se in domum inferiorem sub domo praedict. Capitulari, & intra tempus modicum redeuntes, etc. concesserunt Domino nostro Regi duas decimas.  
Anno 1419. Archiepiscopo, Confratribus suis, Praelatisque & Clero praedictis in Domo Capitulari insimul congregatis, the Archbishop declares the Causes of his calling a Convocation; one whereof was, pro defectibus in Clero regnantibus, auctoritate illius Provincialis Concilii reformandis: Super quibus, idem Reverendissimus Pater assignavit Decanis, Archidiaconis & Cleri Procuratoribus, quòd recederent in domum suam solitam, & quòd ibidem de & super materiis praedictis tractarent & communicarent, etc. Vnde ipsi statim, ut eis fuerat assignatum, recesserunt de Domo Capitulari praedictâ; praefatis Reverendissimo Patre, Confratribus suis Episcopis, ac Abbatibus & Prioribus Provincae suae remanentibus, & insimul tractantibus de & super materiis antedictis.  
Anno 1422. Dominus, cum Confratribus suis Praelatisque & Clero in domo Capitulari insimul congregatis— They debated for some time in Common about the Business of the Convocation; and at last, Dominus demandavit publicè & in genere omnibus Cleri Procuratoribus tunc ibidem praesentibus, quod recederent de domo Capitulari et adirent Domum inferiorem solitam pro Cleri Procuratoribus & ab antiquo in Cleri Convocationibus assignatam eisdem, ibidem insimul tractaturi de habendo subsidio praelibato; & dominus dixit se & confratres suos facere illud idem.  
Anno 1424— Domino cum Confratribus suis nonnullis, Praelatisque & Cleri Procuratoribus in domo Capitulari, etc. Dominus Causas & modum Convocationis illius publicè declaravit; habitísque nonnullis communicationibus de & super Causis ipsis, recedentibusque Pro●…atoribus in Domum Inferiorem Clero pro tractatibus ha●…ndis in Convocationibus anteà celebratis solitam assignari de mandato Domini ad tractandum de & super materiis ipsis per Dominum declaratis.  
Anno 1425. Comparentibus in domo Capitulari coram Reverendissimo, etc. Archidiaconis, Cleri que Procuratoribus in multitudine copiosâ ad tunc praesentibus; eisdem exposuit & explanavit. Quibus expositis, Decani, Archidiaconi, & Procuratores Capitulorum & Cleri, de mandato dicti Reverendissimi Patris traxerunt se in domum inferiorem sub domo praedictâ Capitulari, ut de hujusmodi Causis tractarent, & unum Referendatium sive Praelocutorem ex seipsis eligerent, qui vice corum omnium & singulorum Causas exponeret & responsa.  
Anno 1426. Comparentibus coram Reverendissimo Patre, etc. Archidiaconis, Cleriquoque Procuratoribus in multitudine copiosâ— The Archbishop recited to them the Condemnation of William Russel, Vnde Dominus Petiit à Clero ut deliberarent per quam viam contra fautores haereticorum hujusmodi esset procedend. & habita aliquali Communicatione super hoc, Dominis assignavit Procuratoribus Cleri praedictus, ut post prandium ejusdem diei in Domum Inferiorem eisdem consuetam se collìgerent, & super hujusmodi negotio communicarent.  
Anno 1428. The Archbishop, etc. Decanis, Archidiaconis, Clerique Procuratoribus tunc praesentibus, explains the Causes of calling the Convocation: And the next day he sends his Chancellor to the Convocation, qui intimavit quòd voluntas Domini erat, quòd Praelati pro parte sua & Clerus pro parte sua eligerent certas personas, etc. quae inter se communicarent & deliberatè viderent, quomodo & qua via esset melius & expeditius procedend. contra haereticos.  
Anno 1428. The Archbishop, etc. cum Decanis quoque, & Archidiaconis, ac Praelatis aliis, & Cleri Procuratoribus, opens the Causes of the Convocation in the usual manner, prasertim pro aliqua provisione facienda contra hereticos, etc. Then, Clero & Procuratoribus in solitam Domurn Inferiorem de mandato Domini recedentibus, Dominus cum Confratribus suis & Praelatis communicationem habuit de & super Provisione seu Ordinatione hujusmodi facienda contra malitiam haereticorum.  
Anno 1432. The Archbishop, as before, declares the Causes of calling the Convocation; one whereof was, how the Bishops and Clergy of England should carry themselves towards the Pope after he had dissolved the Council of Basil— Dominus mandavit Clero & Procuratoribus, quòd ad Domum suam solitam se diverterent, & insimul benè & maturè ac cum deliberatione se avisarent quomodo in materia praedicta & sub qua forma esset procedendum.  
Anno 1433. Dominus, etc. exposuit Clero Causam Convocationis— Insuper Dominus movit coram codem Clero quaedam Dubia— Et post istas dubitationes motas, etc. quaesivit Dominus à Clero quid in his esset finaliter dicendum seu sentiendum— Et Clerus respondit, quòd cùm dicta Motiva essent talia, quae non fuerant à pluribus eorum peranteà perfectè communicata nec laborata, etc. oporteret eos de licentia Domini & suorum Confratrum, etc. quandam habere deliberationem & communicationem specialem: quod Dominus liberè concessit.  
Anno 1438. Dominus— assidentibus sibi Confratribus suis Episcopis, ac aliis Praelatis & Clero ibidem existentibus, intimavit eisdem Causas Convocationis suae— De his Causis desideaavit dictus Reverendissimus Pater deliberationem habere communem, & super hoc mandavit Clero ut in Domo Inferiori convenirent & super istis diligentur communicarent.  
The same Year, upon a Prorogation from May 14. to Octob. 6. Archiepiscopus, etc. recitando plura suadebat Praelatis & Clero tunc ibidem existentibus, quòd cùm eis non essent ignotae Causae ob quas convocati erant, super eis pro eorum celeri expeditione communicarent, etc. Vnde ex mandato Domini Clero in Domum Inferiorem se colligente, etc.—  
Anno 1439. Archiepiscopus, etc. coram Confratribus suis Episcopis, aliisque Praelatis & Clero suae Provinciae Causas propter quas eosdem ea Vice convocaverat, declaravit— Then, the Pope's Collector Presents a Bull of Indulgence; qua tunc in publico prelecta, & habita Communicatione aliquali super eadem, Dominus decrevit Copias fieri, & ipsis de Clero Domus Inferioris liberari, ad effectum ut Communicatio habeatur inter eos de modo & forma Executionis & Publicationis ejusdem.  
Anno 1444. Archiepiscopus, etc. Causas propter quas cosdem ea Vice convocaverat, declarabat. One was, Qualiter in Ecclesia Anglicana fuerant plurima Reformatione digna— Vnde communicante Domino cum Confratribus suis & Clero suae Provinciae super pramissis, continuavit etc.— And the next Day, Dominus praecepit Clero quatenus pro corrigend. & reformand. per hujusmodi Concilium inter se diligenter communicarent.  
Anno 1452. Feb. 9 Archiepiscopus etc.— Episcopis, ac aliis Praelatis, nec non Procuratoribus de Clero etc. Causam Convocationis explicavit; and then (that they might be in a Condition to bear their part in the Business) he commands them to retire and choose a Prolocutor.  
Anno 1460. May 10. The Archbishop first directs the Choice of a Prolocutor, and then confirms him; after which, he explains to them the Causes of the Convocation.  
In these two last Instances, the Clergy are not directed to Retire, as they had usually been, to debate apart about the Matters of Convocation laid before them by the Archbishop: Because now they began, as to their debating, to be in a more separate State; so that the bare Proposition of Business to be Prepared or Considered, was notice enough that they were to Retire to their usual Place, and set about it.  
The old Registers have only the Acts of four Convocations more; so that we have no light between the Years 1488 and 1529. nor any from thence to the Year 1562. besides certain Extracts out of the Registers of the Upper-House.  
But the ancient Directory in Edward the sixth's time, and Archbishop Parker's Form of holding a Convocation (both of them written while the Registers of Covocation remained entire, and both, as , setting down his Grace's declaration of the Causes of the Summons as a necessary part of their preparation for Business) leave no Room to doubt whether in that Interval the same Usage continued, which we have shown to be the Practiee of Convocation from the beginning of the most early Acts. Not, but that even in these Extracts, we find the Custom plainly enough; tho' not expressed under all the Circumstances that appear in the Original Registers. So,  
Anno 1536. (the Second in that Collection) the Bishop of London's Return being exhibited, Reverendissimus exposuit Causas hujusmodi Convocationis, & denied monuit omnes Praelatos quatenus conferrent se ad. locum consuetum, & eligant unum virum in Referendarium & Prolocutorem qui eorum nomine loqui possit.  
Anno 1547. the next but one (in which, as well as in the first of that Book, the Form of Opening is very much contracted by the Abridger, and consists only of some short hints) Archbishop Cranmer is there said in general, to have acquainted them that the Convocation was then Summoned, quod Praelati & Cleri inter se consulerent de vera Christi Religione probè instituenda & tradenda popule; that being the first Year of Edward the sixth. Again,  
Anno 1444. The Return being exhibited, Episcopus London (in the Vacancy of the Archbishopric) Summariè & compendiosè. Causam Synodi vocatae exposuit, & monuit Inferiorem Domum de eligendo sibi Prolocutorem.  
Anno 1557. The Archbishop with the Consent of his Brethren, having confirmed the Prolocutor, mox Causas hujus Synodi verbotenus proposuit; which are there set down at large.  
Anno 1558. Praeconizatione facta, & Inferiore Doino evocata, exposuit Episcopus ibidem Causam Convocation is.— But more distinctly in the next which is an entire Register: That, I mean, of Archbishop Parker, in which the 39 Articles were made: viz.  
Anno 1562. Reverendissimus Dominus Archiepiscopus Cant. brevens quandam Orationem Eloquentiae plenam habuit ad Patres & Clerum; per quam inter alia opportunitatem Reformandarum rerum in Ecclesia Anglicana jam oblatam esse aperuit, ac propensos animos tam illustrissimae Dominae nostrae Regine quam allorum Magnatum hujus regni ad hujusmodi Reformationem habendam declaravit, hortando, praecipiendo, & mandando Praelatos & Clerum Inferioris Domus in dicta domo capitulari coram co & reliquis Patribus constitutos, quatenus ad Conventus sui locum sese conferentes, unum virum gravem etc. eligant in eorum Prolocutorem.  
Anno 1640. (the next Convocation, of which the Upper-House-Acts remain,) after the Prolocutor is confirmed, the Archbishop produces the King's Licence— Et Reverendissimus Pater antedictus praefatum Prolocutorem & alios de Domo inferiori, Decanos, Archidiaconos, Capitula, & Cleri Procuratores ibidem praesentes, voluit ut ipsi inter se convenirent & mature excogitarent de Subsidiis Domino nostro Regi concedend. & Canonibus & Constitutionibus Statum Ecclesiasticum & Christi Religionem in Ecclesia Anglicana concernen. concipiendis. Et quicquid inde senserent sive excogitaverint in scriptis redigant, & coram ipso Reverendissimo & Confratribus Episcopis exhibeant.  
Anno 1661. The Prolocutor being confirmed, Committees of both Houses were ordered in the Upper-House, to compose Services for the 29th. of May, and the 30th of January, etc. And when afterwards, by the coming of the Royal Licence, they thought themselves at liberty to Enter upon the Business which was the chief Cause of their Meeting, the Archbishop directs the Members of the Lower-House to proceed in it; in the self same words that Archbishop Laud had used in the Year 1640.  

The Inference from the Archbishop's declaring the Causes of Convocation.  I have been thus particular, in my Deduction of Authorities, to show the Right of the Precedent to mark out a Scheme of Business to be transacted in Convocation: Because, as by the Tenor of the Mandate (his first step in Summoning) we are led to the Foundation of his Grace's Power over the Members of the Lower-House; so in this their Entrance upon Business, we clearly see his Influence and Authority over their Proceed: That is, we have the view of an Ecclesiastical Synod, consisting of a Metropolitan, Bishops, and Presbyters, all going on to Act within their proper Spheres, and suitably to the Constitution of an Episcopal Church. The Metropolitan, having advised with his Suffragan-Bishops about the State and Condition of the Church, of which He and They are constituted Governors, recommends to the Synod the Consideration of such Improvements or Reformations as evidently tend to its Honour and Safety. The Clergy are there in readiness to receive the Opinion and Directions of their Ecclesiastical Superiors, and to offer their own Judgement, as there shall be occasion, with all Duty and Humility; and in short, to give their Assistance of every kind (in a proper Subordination) towards the ready and effectual Dispatch of all Business that shall be regularly proposed for the Advancement of Religion. The Archbishop and Bishops, we see, deliberate Above: And the Clergy debate the same Matters below, to be ready with their Opinions and Resolutions when required: And thus they appear like one Body of Men, met about the same common Business; in which all in their several Stations are immediately concerned: Proceeding also with such a Paternal Affection on the one Hand, and such Dutiful Obedience on the other, as becomes their holy Function, and is due to Measures for preserving the Order and Unity of the Church.  
But some late Principles and Practices have another Tendency: For instance, the Clergies proceeding in Business of the greatest Moment, and even coming to formed Resolutions thereupon, without ever acquainting their Ecclesiastical Superiors; and much less offering them first in general, as Points that in their Opinion deserve or require Consideration, 
The difference between former Methods and the late Practices.  and taking the Advice and Direction of their Lordships about the Expediency and Methods of proceeding in them. To the same effect, is that Language so familiar of late among some of the Inferior Clergy in Convocation, That they have Business of their own to do; That 'tis generally different from what is transacted at the same time in the upper-house; That their Debates are managed independently from their Lordships: that the Archbishop with his Suffragans has no Right to take cognizance of or interpose in their Debates; That there is no Necessity) be the Matter never so important) of previous Directions from the upper-house. Principles, somewhat ambiguously expressed, perhaps not without a foresight of certain Objections; but being interpreted by the late Practices, their Tendency to a Division of the Synod, and a  Power in the Church, is no less plain, than is their Opposition to all the Proceed of former times.  
One thing more I would observe upon this Head; what little likeness there is between a Convocation and a Parliament, in their very first Entrances upon Business. Unless the Enemies of the Ecclesiastical Power will object (as they who are so fond of a Parliamentary-Relation are like enough to do) that the Archbishop in Convocation, opening the Causes of their Meeting, does only the same thing with the Lord Chancellor in Parliament; whose Office it is to Convey and Enforce to the two Houses the Instructions he receives from his Majesty. But they may understand, that as oft as the King had occasion to solicit Business in Convocation, he sent Commissioners of his own to do it; as every one must know who casts his Eye upon our Convocation-Registers never so slightly. These were said to come thither, ex parte Domini Regis; and their coming, as occasion required, to represent the Desires of the King and the Condition of the Kingdom, was a Custom so much known and established, that the Register takes notice of the Archibishop's doing it as a thing Singular and Extraordinary. Anno 1380. Dec. 1. Et quia protunc Dominus meus Archiepiscopus erat Cancellarius Angliae, nec comparuit alius pro parte Domini Regis, qui exponeret Clero negotia regni sicut fieri Consuevit in aliis Convocationibus; dictus Dominus meus negotia regni & pericula imminentia satis clare exposuit. Nor did it make any Difference in the Form of their Proceed thereupon, that the first Motion came from the Court; but the Archbishop having given the Commissioners some such general Answer as this, quod voluit super his mature communicare cum Confratribus suis Praelatis & Clero, he immediately proceeded to that Communication, either with the Clergy and Bishops in a Body, or (directing the Clergy to debate in their own House) with his Brethren alone.  
If it be further said, that the Necessity of a Royal-License before the Convocation can proceed to make Canons, etc. has restrained the President's ancient Power of explaining the General Causes of the Summons; the Answer is this, That the Persons whose present Endeavours it is to diminish the Metropolitical and Episcopal Authority, affirm that a great Variety of Ecclesiastical Matters may not only be begun, but transacted and concluded, without the Authority of such a Licence; and so far the President's Right of proposing the General Matters, stands where it did. And as to Canons and Constitutions, if they may not be actually entered upon without a Licence, yet his Grace at the opening of the Convocation may deliver his own Judgement as to the Expedience of them, and refer it to the Consideration of the Bishops and Clergy, Whether it be adviseable to desire the Royal-License for that end.   

CHAP. VII.  
The Right of the Archbishop and Bishops to require the Clergy to consider any particular Business throughout the Convocation.  
THE foregoing Chapter shows the Right of the Precedent, after consultation had with his Brethren the Bishops, first to lay before the Clergy the general Causes of his Summons, and then to require them to Retire and Deliberate thereupon. But the Scene of Business opening and enlarging itself, many unforeseen difficulties will unavoidably occur; and new Designs also for the Benefit of the Church, must naturally arise from the mutual Debates of the Governors thereof assembled in Convocation. And accordingly, when any such Occasions required, the Inferior Clergy have been ever enjoined to Debate and Examine all Matters proposed by their Ecclesiastical Superiors for that purpose, from the beginning to the end of Convocation. The instances hereof are very numerous; 
The necessity of showing this, to prevent an objection from the explication of the General Causes at the opening of a Parliament.  but necessary to be added to the Testimonies contained in the last Chapters; which without those would leave room for an Objection, that as to the General Causes at the beginning, those are equally explained to the two Houses of Parliament, and yet the Honourable Members of the Lower House there, are under no such Restraint or Subordination in their subsequent Proceed. An Objection, I say, of this sort is like enough to be started, considering how industriously those Fancies about a Parliamentary Relation have been insinuated into the minds of Men. I will therefore show, that what the Archbishop does, in opening the general Causes of his Summons and directing the Clergy to deliberate about it at the beginning of Convocation; the same thing he and his Suffragans have a Right to Do upon all emergent Occasions during the whole course of their Proceed. And this will manifest to the World, how the Constitution and Proceed of an English Convocation (to the glory of it) are exactly modelled according to the Primitive Distinction between Bishops and their Presbyters in point of Order and Authority: while, from the most early Accounts of Convocations to this day, we see the Metropolitan and Bishops as the Governors of the Church, Propesing and Directiing in Ecclesiastical Affairs, and the Presbyters at hand with their Advice and Assistance in Subservience to the same Ends.  

The separation of the two Houses made no difference in this point.  Nor do we find any difference in this Point, between the Times before and after the Separation of the Bishops and Clergy, excepting this one, that before it they all took the directions immediately from the Precedent and retired in a Body; and since, his Grace upon those Occasions, has either sent up for the whole House, or, which is more ordinary, for the Prolocutor with Five or Six more (Reverendissimus, cum consensu Confratrum, voluit, jussit, mandavit, ad se accersiri Prolocutorem,) and by him conveys to his Brethrem below, the Pleasure and Instructions of the Upper House. But as to the manner, end, or authority of these occasional Directions, their Division into two Houses made not the least difference in them; as will appear beyond contradiction from the Registers themselves. Anno 1369. 10 Kal. Febr. The Clergy having granted a Supply, on condition to have their Grievances redressed; Archiepiscopus voluit, quod Clerus & Religiosi praedicti Petitiones suas, etc. in Scriptis redigerent, & sibi porrigerent die Veneris.  
Anno eod. 4 Kal. Febr. The Archbishop having enlarged before the Clergy upon the necessity of a Decima triennalis which the Bishops had granted; Tunc injunxit Procuratoribus Cleri Relig. bujusmodi, exhertando eosdem, quòd se ad parts in dictâ Ecclesiâ transferrent, & concordarent pro dictâ decimâ triennali.  
Anno 1376. Id. Febr. The Bishop having proposed certain matters for the benefit of the Church, Oneravit Clerum, in eorum Conscientiis, ut deliberarent inter se quid esset melius faciendum pro utilitate dictae Ecclesiae.  
Anno 1377. Id. Nou. Dominus voluit quod Procuratores compararent simul in praefatâ Ecclesiâ [S. Pauli] dicto die post prandium, ad deliberand. ad invicem, utrum melius expediat concedere Decimas an Impositiones.  
Anno 1379. 5 Id. Maij. Reverendissimus Pater praecepit, quòd Procuratores Praelatorum & Cleri exirent dictam domum Capitularem, imer se tractaturi super materiâ Convocationis praedictae: quibus exeuntibus, dictus Reverendissimus Pater cum Suffraganeis in câlem Domo [Capitulari] secretè tractavit super materiâ praedict. Et post tractatum hujusmodi, dictus Reverendissimus Pater praecepit Procuratoribus quòd die fovis tunc prox sequente, post Prandium, convenirent ad invicem, in Domo Capitulari praedictâ tractaturi ad invicem super materiâ Convocationis praedictae & dixit quòd ipse & alii Confratres sui revenirent die Veneris tunc prox. sequente ad Domum Capitularem praedictam, ad effectum tractandi materiam Convocationis praedictoe.  
Anno eod. 16 Kal. Jun. Dominus, etc. moneri fecit ibidem publicè omnes Procuratores Praelatorum & Cleri, quòd die Mercurii prox. tunc sequente in dictâ Domo Capitulari comparerent simul ante boram nonam, deliberaturi & tractaturi de modo Subventionis.  
Anno eod. 13 Kal. Jun. Dominus praefixit Procuratoribus ad comparendum in Domo Capitulari dictum diem Veneris post prandium, etc. ad pleniùs tractand. super praemissis.  
Anno 1383 Decem. 4. The Pope's Subcollector comes to Convocation, and desires a Subsidy: The Archbishop having enforced his Request, praecepit Procuratoribus quod super codem Negotio diligenter tractarent, & finalem responsum sibi & Confratribus suis praeberent. Super quibius omnibus & singulis, habito inter ipsos tractatu diligenti, Procuratores eodem quarto die responsa sua in eâ parte finaliter in Scriptis redacta dicto Domino Cant. coram Confratribus suis, pretunc ibidem existentibus, exhibuerunt.  
Anno 1404. May 17. Archiepiscopus, etc. continuavit— & demandavit aliis Praelatis & Clero tunc ibidem praesentibus, quod singulis diebus interim ad dictum locum convenirent, & laborarent circa Reformanda in Cantuariensi Provinciâ.  
Eod. Anno Jun. 9 Conveniente Reverendissimo, etc. & expositis periculis & necessitatibus Regni, tandem Procuratores Cleri convenientes sub domo Capitulari more solito, & ibidem super proedictis per aliquantum tempus tractantes, tandem abinde secesserunt, & convenerunt coram dictis Reverendissimo Patre, & suis Suffraganeis, & concesserunt, etc.— and again in the same Year, June 16. upon the request of a Grant from the Pope's Collector.  
Anno 1421. Maij 7. The Chancellors of Oxford and Cambridge coming to Convocation, Reverendissimo Patri, & Confratribus suis, totique Concilio commendabant, etc. Rogantes assidue de aliquo congruo Remedio propromotione Pauperum Studentium in Universitatibus bujusmodi, auctoritate Concilij ad tunc inibi congregati, graciose & misericorditer provideri— Quam quidem Recommendationem Dominus & Confratres sui gratanter & benevolè (ut apparuit) acceptarunt; & recedentibus tunc de mandato Domini Procuratoribus Cleri in Domum suam Inferiorem pro tractatibus fiendis in bujusmodi Convocationibus consuetam, Dominus & Confratres sui remanserunt in Domo Capitulari praedictâ; & post Tractatam non modicum tam circa Promotionem Graduatorum, & Studentium in Universitalibus praedictis, quàm circa subventionem Domino Regi faciendam, Dominus tandem Continuavit, etc.  
Anno 1428. Nou. 18. Clerici Seculares & Cleri Procuratores ad Domum suam solitam de mandato Domini recesserunt: Dominus vero & Confratres sui Episcopi in Domo Capitulari remanserunt per aliquod tempus, de & super certis materijs arduis Convocationem bujusmodi tangentibus simul tractantes.  
Eod. Anno November 23. Lectoe suerunt in publico literae Apostolicae (Soliciting for a Subsidy, to suppress the Heretics of Bohemia:) quibus lectis, Dominus, cum Confratribus suis, etc. de & super materiâ, in dictis literis Apostolicis contentd, communicavit, caeteris de Clero interim de mandato Domini se retrahentibus.  
Anno 1433. Decemb. 1. Reverendissimus Pater injunxit Clero, quatenùs collaborarent & providerent quid fiendum seu dicendum esset de Subsidio concedendo. And again, Decem. 10. Clero Dominus mandavit quatenus circa Subsidium Domino Regi concedend. diligenter collaborarent.  
Anno 1434. Oct. 20. Dominus mandavit Mro. Thomae Bekington & alijs diversis de Clero, ut Articulos illos de generali Sententiâ quae consueta est quater in anno per Curatos Ecclesiarum publicari & solemniter denunciari, conciperent in linguâ maternâ sub breviori modo quo possent.  
Anno 1438. After the meeting of Oct. 6. upon a Prorogation: Dominus praecepit omnibus de Clero, quatenus in Domo Inferiori simul convenirent, & super illis pro quibus fuerant bac Vice convocati diligenter tractarent, viz. pro promotione in Universitatibus ordinandâ, & pro Subsidio pro trasmittendis ad generale Concil. Ferrar. & super his effectualiter responderent.  
Anno eod. die Martis prox. Dominus mandavit Clero quantenùs super praemissis effectualiter communicarent; recitando eis qualiter & quomodo secerunt & concesserunt Praelati Religiosi pro expensis transmittendorum ad Concil. Generale Ferrar. & Suadendo ut, omni post positâ in ea parte divisione, ad consimiliter concedend. suos animos applicarent.  
Anno 1439. Dec. 11. Cedulâ, etc. pro quadam Constitutione Augmentationis Pauperum & Exilium Vicariarum Provinciae Cant. auctoritate bujusmodi Conciliis Provincialis faciendâ; post aliqualem Communicationem babitam super eâdem inter Dominos Episcopos & Praelatos Religiosos de Domo Superiori, tandem ipsis de Clero Domûs Inferioris pro certis in câdem resormandis, neo non pro avisamento & deliberatione in hac parte capiend. extitit liberata.  
Eod. anno Dec. 22. Clerus de mandato Domini ad tractand. pro subsidio & aliis materiis supradictis, ad Domum Inferiorem se divertebat; ubi babitâ inter eos Convocatione diutinâ super praemissis, tandem ad Domum Superiorem reversi sunt.  
Anno 1444. Oct. 22. Dominus praecepit Clero, quatenùs pro Corrigend. & Reformand. per bujusmodi Concilium, inter se diligenter communicarent, usque ad adventum Dominerum ex parte Domini nostri Regis & Concilii sui illie in brevi adventurorum.  
Anno 1529. Sess. 7. The Prolocutor in the Upper House; Monuit Reverendissimus, ut conciperentur Articuli contra haereticos.  
Eod. Anno Sess. 20. Ingressi sunt Prolecutor cum diversis Archidiaconis; cum quibus Episcopus London. babuit secretam communicationem, & voluit eos redire in Domum Inseriorem, & ibi tractarent de bujusmodi negotio.  
Eod. Anno Sess. 32. Reverendissiimus monuit Prolocutorem, etc. invicem consultare super Articulis ipsis super Opinionibus suis.  
— Sess. 97. Reverendissimus putavit expediens ut Responsiones fierent ad bujusmodi querelas, [viz. to a certain Address presented to the King against the Archbishop and Bishops] quem libellum tradidit Prolocutori ad perlegendum, ut ostenderet opiniones suas de codem.  
— Sess. 104. Episcopus London. Commissarius recitavit voluntatem Reverendissimi super praedictà Supplicatione, & voluit Prolocutorem, etc. quod concipiant Responsa sua in scriptis.  
— Sess. 105. The Archbishop's Commissary pressing for a Subsidy, monuit Prolocutorem ut alios consultaret de eadem materid, & rediret cum Responsis suis.  
Anno 1534. Dec. 2. Reverendissimus voluit Prolocutorem ingredi, ut examinarent Libros praedictos, & Librum Tyndal; & ut ostendant Opiniones suas.  
Anno 1541. Jan. 27. Reverendissimus ibi tradidit Prolocutori quosdam Libros examinand. & conficerent Leges de Simoniâ vitandâ.  
Anno 1558. Feb. 10. The Prolocutor speaking to the Bishops, Episcopi responderunt, quòd eis expedire videtur, ut Clerus, etc. Preces faciant Dominae Reginae, ne quid oneris imponatur Clero in Parliamento illo.  
Anno 1562. The Prolocutor being sent for, and coming-up with six others, Reverendissimus, de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum hujusmodi, tradidit quosdam Articulos in scriptis conceptos, mandando quatenus super contentis in dictis Articulis diligenter inquirerent, ac quicquid inde invenirint, in scriptis redigant, ac dicto Reverendissimo porrigant & exhibeant.  
Anno 1640. Sess. 10. 1 Conu. Reverendissimus Pater Prolocutorem & alios de Donio Inseriori, Decanos Archidiaconos, & Cleri Procuratores ibidem praesentes voluit ut ipsi inter se convenirent & excogitarent de Benevolentid, etc. & deinde de Canonibus & Constitutionibus statum Ecclesiasticum, & Ecclesiae Utilitatem concernen. componendis, faciendis, & inter se consentiend.  
— Ead. Sess. Prolocutore comparente cum acto Decanis eum comitantibus, Reverendissimus eos voluit ad conveniend. die veneris prox. tempestiuè, & adtuno tractand. cum toto Coetu Domus Inferioris citra Benevolentiam sive Contributionem voluntariam dicto Domino nostro Regi concedend. & ut ipsi Formam Articulorum in Visitationibus imposterum ministrand. concipiant.  
— Sess. 16. De mandato Reverendissimi, Prolocutor cum sex aliis è Domo Inferiori Domum Superiorem intravit; & Reverendissimus ei tradidit Canonem & foreman Juramenti per totum Ca'tum Domûs Inferioris considerand. tractand. & consentiend.  
Anno 1661. Nou. 23. Reverendus, etc. ad eum accersiri jussit Prolocutorem solum; quo adveniente, dictus Reverendus Pater tradidit ei partem libri publicarum Precum per hujusmodi Domum examinat ' & revis ', & in mandatis dedit, ut dictus Prolocutor unà cum Clero dictae Domus Inferioris dictam partem cum omni celeritate quâ potuit, revideat, & emendet si sit necessarium.  
— Nou. 27. Praesidens dedit in manibus dicti Prolocutoris residuar. partem Libri Publicarum Precum, & requisivit dictum Prolocutorem, ut ille una cum Domo suâ eandem omni cum celeritate revideat, & post Revisionem hujusmodi Praesidenti retradat.  
— Dec. 10. Reverendus Pater, etc. voluit ad se accersiri Dominum Prolocutorem ad revidend. Emendationes. Quo adveniente, etc. dictus Locum-tenens ostendit dictas Emendationes per Domum Superiorem fact. & iune & ibidem perlect. & ordinavit eum ad consulend. Domum suam Inferiorem de & super eisdem.  

The Appointment of Committees reserved for the next Chapter.  In drawing down these Testimonies of a Right in the Upper-House to direct the Business of Convocation, I have designedly waved the Committees of the Inferior Clergy, ordered by the Precedent and Bishops, upon particular Matters wherein their Assistance was necessary. Instances of such Appointments are very numerous, and shall be produced at large in the next Chapter, which gins the Proof of a Right in the Archbishop and his Suffragans, to direct the Manner, as well as the Matter, of Proceed in Convocation.  

The Inferences from the foregoing Testimonies.  In the mean time, the foregoing Instances, from the most early Accounts we have of these things, till after the Restoration, may suffice to show a Right in the Upper-House, to send for the Inferior Clergy, either in a Body, or by the Prolocutor, and to direct them to consider or prepare all such Business as their Lordships shall think fit to reccommend to their Care: And that, not only at the beginning, but in the whole Course of the Convocation; nor only Business of an Ecclesiastical, but (while that lasted) of a Civil nature also: Nor was it by way of Request, or upon the foot of a mutual Agreement between the Bishops and Clergy, (as some late Writers have uncanonically represented the Correspondence between the two Houses of Convocation) but both their Retirement and Deliberation were the Effects of an express Command, grounded upon the Canonical Authority of the Metropolitan and Bishops, received by the Clergy with all the Marks of Duty and Obedience, and accordingly executed without the least Appearance of Refusal of Scruple in any one Instance.  
It is needless to explain how unlike this is to the Communication between the two Houses of Parliament; 'tis enough, as we go along, to put the Reader in mind of making the Comparison; and to reflect withal, how well they had considered these things, who could first frame the Parallel, and then publish it to the World, with such a seeming Assurance.   

CHAP. VIII.  
The Right of the Archbishop and his Suffragans to Order Committees of the Lower-House.  
THE two last Chapters show us, how the Precedent, at the Head of his Suffragan Bishops, has at all times, as occasion required, enjoined the Inferior Clergy to consider and prepare Matters according to the Instructions they received. But, because the joint Debates of the whole Body of the Clergy may in some Points be unnecessary and inconvenient in others; therefore the Archbishop and Bishops (the proper Judges thereof) at the same time they referred. Business to the Clergy, have frequently determined it to be done by a Committee, and commanded a Choice immediately for that Purpose: On some Occasions, to debate alone; and on others, to attend a Committee of Bishops appointed for the same Purpose: At one time, confined as to the Number; and at another, left to their own Liberty: In some Instances, required to signify to the Upper-House the Names of the Persons elected, (which we find accordingly done;) and in others, proceeding to their Business without such a Report. Which Variety of Circumstances accompanying the same Act, and all arising from the different Instructions of the Upper-House, are so many Confirmatious of a Right lodged there, to direct the Manner and Method of Proceed in the Lower-House, as they see cause to interpose, and to recommend Business to their Consideration.  

Committees of the Clergy to attend a Committee of Bishops.  I. It has been usual for the Archbishop to order the Choice of Committees out of the Inferior Clergy, to attend a Committee of Bishops appointed for the same Purpose: So I term it, in the Language of their own Actuary, Anno 1661. several times repeated, to express the Ends for which the Committees of the Lower Clergy were chosen. May 16. Chosen for attending the Bishops at Ely-House, four Deans, etc.— May 18. Chosen for the Review, etc. to attend the Bishops, three Deans, etc.— to attend the Bishops at the Savoy, etc. to consult about the Form of Baptising Adults, two Deans, etc.— June 7. Form of Prayer, etc. referred to Eight of this House to attend four Bishops at Ely-House this Afternoon.— June 19 To attend the Bishops at the Savoy, etc. seven Deans, etc.— All these were as late as the Year 1661. but (as the following Testimonies show) grounded upon the ordinary Usage of much elder Times.  
Anno 1428. Nou. 12. Clero & Procuratoribus in solitam Domum Inferiorem de mandato Domini recedentibus, Dominus, etc. Communicationem habuit de & super Provisione seu Ordinatione faciendâ contra Malitiam Haereticorum; & statim extitit avisatum quòd certi Episcopi, Praelatique alii, & Clerici, tam in Theologia quam Jure Civili & Canonico Doctores, Provisionem hujusmodi seu Ordinationem conciperent, & Minutam exinde redigerent in Scripturom.  
Eod. Anno Nou. 20. Dominus intimavit & in publico declaravit, quod diversa Negotia ardua, etc. in hujusmodi Convocatione tractari deberent; & ideircò pro acceleratione & celeriori Expeditione Negotiorum ipsorum, sibi & Confratribus suis videbatur expediens, quòd certi Praelati Religiosi, Decanique Ecclesiarum Cathedralum, Archidiaconi aliqui & Cleri Procuratores quidam magis providi & discreti nominarentur, qui communicare possent cum Episcopis de & super materijs illis; de quo ut (apparuit) omnes reputârunt se contentos. Et tunc Dominus assignavit eisdem Religiosis & alijs tunc ibidem praesentibus terminum ad eligend. personas hujusmodi.  
Anno 1557. Jan. 24. Voluit Reverendissimus Statuta Ecclesiarum noviter erectarum, aut mutatarum à Regularibus ad Seculares, expendi per Episcopos Lincoln, etc. item & Nicolao Wotton, Cant. etc. Ecclesiarum Decanis & quae consideranda sunt, referri Reverendissimo quamprimûm commode poterunt.  
Anno eod. Febr. 4. Upper-House Book: Quod negotium quo faciliùs expediri posset, electi sunt Episcopi London, Elien, Roffen, Lincoln, & Petriburg, quibus adjuncti sunt sex de Domo Inferiore; qui constituerent inter se tam de quantitate solvend. quàm etiam de modo & tempore Solutionis.  
Eod. Anno Feb. 12 or 13. Deinde, quia Liber Concessonis nondum benè absolutus erat, rogavit Reverendissimus, ut dicti London, etc. cum Prolocutore & quatuor ex illis ex Inferiore Domo [accederent] ad Cubiculam Reverendissimi in Aulâ Regiâ apud Westm. circa horam Secundam, etc. ubi ulteriùs deliberarunt.  
Anno 1586. Sess. 7. Mar. 10. The Prolocutor and all the Clergy being sent for to the Upper-house, Tandem omnes supra nominati in Domum hanc redierunt, excepto Domino Prolocutore qui cum eisdem Reverendis Patribus post dicessum reliquorum aliquantisper permansit. Ac deinde in hanc Domum revertens, cum consensu omnium ut praefertur praesentium, elegit Venerabiles Viros, etc. ad tractand. & communicand. unâ secum cum Reverendis Patribus de Constitutionibus & Decretis, licentiâ & vigore literarum Paten. per Dominam nostram Reginam in eâ parte concessarum, stabiliendis pro Collectione, etc.  
Anno 1588. Sess. 3. Dominus Prolocutor significavit universo Coetui, consensum & concordatum fuisse & esse inter Dominos Praelatos Superioris Domûs, quod Reverendi Patres, Domini Winton, etc. Episcopi, tractarent, Statuerent, & deliberarent de Subsidio Dominae nostrae Reginae erogando: Et in eundem finem, Dominus Prolocutor nominavit & elegit Venerabiles Viros [Seven Deans, and Nine others there named] ut similiter vice ac nominibus totius hujus Coetùs communicarent & tractarent de Subsidio hujusmodi.  
Anno 1640. Sess. 3. Apr. 22. Reverendissimus in Examinatores & Correctores libri Subsidiorum nominavit [Three Bishops by Name] & voluit Prolocutorem & totum Coetum Domus Inferioris ad eligendum quatuor vel sex graviores viros de gremio suo, ad idem negotium cum dictis Reverendis Patribus expediend.  
Anno cod. Sess. 5. Apr. 25. Reverendissimus, cum Confratrum suorum consensu, decrevit libitum fore, aliquibus duobus Episcopis, cum quatuor é Coetu Domus Inferioris aliquo tempore ad dictum librum examinand. & corrigend.  
Anno eod. Sess. 22. May 23. Prolocutore dimisso, paulò post revertebat cum duobus vel tribus è Domo Inferiori: Et Reverendissimus in eorum praesentijs elegit Dominos Episcopos Winton. Exon. Elien. & Bristol. ad praesentand. cum ipso instrumentum Benevolentiae sive Contributionis Voluntariae Serenissimo Domino Regi; & voluit Dominum Prolocutorem ad eligend. Sex aut Octo alios Domus Inferioris ad similiter praesentand, cum ipso Prolocutore, dictum Instrumentum.  
Anno 1661. May 16. Habito aliquandiu Tractatu inter Reverendum Patrem [Praesidem] & Reverendos Episcopos Suffraganeos de & super Precibus Specialibus pro die Nativitatis Domini nostri Regis, etc. 29. die mensis jam instantis Maij per quatuor Episcopos hujusmodi Dominos, viz.— in câ parlë respectiuè elect. & per octo Praelatos sive Cleros Domus Inferioris, eligend. concipendis, etc. And another Committee was appointed, the same Session, and in the same manner, to Compile the Service of the 30th of January.  
Eod. Anno Maij 18. Dominus Commissarius intimavit D. Prolocutori de Precibus specialibus & particularibus pro Baptizatione nonnullorum Adult. concipiend. & formand. Et pro conceptione earundem, dictus Reverendus Pater, cum consensu Fratrum, tres, etc. Episcopos elegit, & voluit dictum Prolocutorem Sex Cleros è Domo Inferiori eligere ad procedend. cum dictis Episcopis in dicto negotio.  
Eod. Anno Jun. 7. A Resolution among the Bishops about a Service for the Fast Day (June 12) per quatuor Episcopos hujusmodi Domûs— in eâ parte respective electos, & per 8 Praelatos sive Cleros Domus Inferioris eligendos, concipiend.  
Eod. Anno Jun. 19 The Precedent and Bishops resolve upon a Committee of twelve Bishops, and twenty four of the Lower-Clergy, for the Examination of the Canons, etc. The Bishops being chosen, the Precedent sends for the Prolocutor and all the Clergy, & omnia & singula praemissa dicto Prolocutori & Domui Inferiori significavit; & voluit dictum Prolocutorem ad eligendum viginti quatuor è gremio suo ad conveniend. cum dictis Reverendis Patribus sic ut praefertur electis.  
Eod. Anno Dec. 13. Reverendus Pater unà cum Confratribus, etc. tractatum habuerunt de eligendo personas aptas & idoneas tam ab hujusmodi Domo quàm à Domo Inferiori pro diligenti Examinatione & Revisione Libri Publicarum Precum, etc. The Precedent names three Bishops, and the Prolocutor, three of the Clergy.  
Anno 1663. Jun. 27. The Precedent names a Committee of Bishops to correct the Subsidy Bill, Et voluit Prolocutorem & totum Coetum Domûs Inferioris ad eligend. nonnullos graviores viros de gremio suo ad idem negotium cum dictis Reverendis Patribus expediend.  
Anno 1664. May 4. A new Grammar being brought in, and a Committee of Bishops appointed for the Examination of it, the Prolocutor and Lower-house are sent for; Et Reverendissimus voluit eos ad eligend. certum numerum virorum gravium & discretorum è Gremio suo ad revidend. & examinand. dictum Librum Grammaticalem cum dictis Reverendis Patribus per Domum Superiorem nominatis.  

Committees of the Clergy alone, ordered by the Upper-House.  II. In the same manner, and by the same Authority, do we find Committees of the Lower Clergy, ordered for particular business, at times when no Committees of Bishops were chosen. During the Accounts of the Old Registers, the ordinary way was for the Archbishop and Bishops to refer or commit the consideration of such occasional Points to the whole Body of the Clergy, as appears at large from the VIth and VIIth Chapters. But,  
Anno 1555. The Clergy in the Upper-house, Dominus Praeses eos remisit ad Inferiorem Domum, volens ut inter se eligant. viij. vel x. de gravioribus unà cum Prolocutore, ad audiend. quaedam Arcana non solùm ex parte Regis & Reginae, sed etiam Cardinalis Poli, bonum publicum Regni & Ecclesiae concernen.— At the same time,  
Dominus Elien. vice omnium, (addressing himself to the Lower-Clergy) monuit, ut eligerent inter se Viros doctos, qui examinarent Canones omnes Ecclesiasticos quos utiles putarent; si antiqui non Sufficiant, novas constituant.  
Anno 1603. May 2. In the Extracts out of the Upper-house Books, we meet with these Words: " Bishop of London delivers the Prolocutor a Book of Canons, desiring him to take a Committee of Eight or Ten to consider of them.  
Anno 1640. Sess. 3. Apr. 22. Reverendissimus etc. de mandato Regio voluit divinam Dei gratiam implorari, ac Formulam Precis ad eundem effectum per duos doctos & graviores viros Coetûs Domûs Inferioris, ad hoc per Dominum Prolocutorem cum consensu totius Coetûs dictae Domûs eligendos, concipi.  
Anno eod. Sess. 10. Maij 13. Reverendissimus Pater Prolocutorem & alios de Domo Inferiors, Decanos, Archidiaconos, Capitula & Cleri Procuratores ibidem praesentes voluit, ut ipsi inter se convenirent, & excogitarent de Benevolentiâ, etc. & deinde de Canonibus & Constitutionibus Statum Ecclesiasticum & Ecclesiae Utilitatem concernen. componendis, faciend. & inter se consentiend. Et ut ipsi, pro meliori negotij istius Expeditione, quosdam graviores & doctiores Viros de gremio suo eligerent, dictum negotiunt de Canonibus concipiend. subitur.  
Anno 1640. 2 Conu. Sess. 3. The Prolocutor and Six more sent for. Quibus comparentibus, Reverendissimus eis significavit, quòd ipse audivit esse quasdam discrepantias inter quosdam Clericos citra corum Electiones; & voluit eos, ut ipsi & alij dictae Domus easdem examinarent & determinarent juxta Juris Exigentiam & Consuetudines cujuslibet Dioeceseos, donec aliter ordinatum fuerit.  

The Names of the Persons Elected, returned to the Upper-house.  III. The Direction of the Upper-house to the Lower for the choice of Committees, has been also accompanied with a further Order to return an Account of the Persons Elected; whose Names we find Entered also in the Registers of the Upper-house, with an express Approbation of the choice by the Precedent and his Brethren.  
Anno 1428. Nou. 20. After the Resolution for the choice of a Committee, Dominus assignavit eisdem Religiosis & alijs tunc ibidem praesentibus terminum ad eligend. Personas hujusmodi— Et ad praesentand. sibi Nomina hujusmodi Personarum nominandarum in Scriptis— which were presented accordingly, Nou. 23.— And some Years before, Viz.  
Anno 1408. It is mentioned as a matter of Duty and Decency, tho' no particular order was given, Quarum 24. Personarum Electionem factum idem Inferior Clerus incontinenti Archiepiscopo & Praelatis in Domo Capitulari, ut decuit, retulit seu fecit referri.  
Anno 1640. Sess. 3. Apr. 22. Dominus Prolocutor cum toto Coetu revertens, nomine suo & eorum dixit, se & totam Coetum Domûs Inferioris praedict. elegisse in Examinatores & Correctores libri Subsidiorum praedict. cum praefatis Dominis Episcopis— Venerabiles Viros [the Names particularly entered.] Quam Electionem Dominus Archiepiscopus & Confratres sui Approbarunt.  
The same Session: Prolecutor venit & dixit, se, cum consensu Coetûs Domûs Inferioris elegisse Venerabiles Viros [their Names,] add concipiend. Formulam Precis, etc.  
Eod. Anno Sess. 10. Maij 30. After the direction to choose a Committee for the Canons: Et subsequentur Mr. Willelmus Fisher Netarius Pablicus & Domûs Inferioris Actuarius, mihi praefato Notario certificavit in fidem Notarij, Venerabiles Viros Dom. Prolocutorem [with three Deans, etc. all particularly named] esse electos cum consensu totius Domûs ad effectum praedict.  
Anno 1661. Jun. 19 The Precedent, etc. misit pro Prolocutore & Sex alias Domûs Inferioris ad introducend. Nomina è gremio suo elect. de & super Negotijs tunc tractat '. Quo Prolocutore unà cum sex alijs dictae Domûs Inferioris adveniente, dictus Prolocutor presentavit dicto Reverendo Patri Domina Episcopo London. Schedulam quandam in papiro Scriptam, continen. Nomina Praelator●…m & Cleri Domi●… Inferioris per eos elect. scil. [the Names all entered in the Upper-house Book.] Quibus nominibus per me Notarium publicum, de mandato Reverendi Patris Praesidentis antediuti publicè perlect. dictus Reverendus Pater acceptavit corum respective Nomina & Pers●…s, & di●…sit dictam Prolocutorem, etc.  
Anno 1663. Jun. 27. The Prolocutor declares, quòd ipse & Coetus Domûs Inferioris de propositis diligenter tractarunt— séque & totum Coetum Domûs Inferioris elegisse in Examinatores & Correctores Libri Subsidiorum, etc. Venerabiles Viros, etc. [all the Names entered in the Upper-house Book.] Quam Electionem Dominus Praeses & Confratres sui Approbarunt.  

The Right of the Upper-house to appoint Committees of the Lower, never questioned before 1689. and 1701.  In this manner, have the Archbishop and Bishops in Convocation required Committees of the Lower Clergy in order to treat of any Matters they had to lay before them; either by themselves, or in conjunction with a certain number of Bishops, as the Upper-house judged most convenient. Nor can I find, that Obedience to this their Lordship's Authority and Appointment was ever Scrupled, much less denied by the Inferior Clergy of any Age, before the Convocation of 1689. (Sess. 13.) and the last in 1701. (Sess. 18.) Which Denials not countenanced from any one Precedent, nay, directly opposed by the Numbers we have produced above, ought certainly to be accompanied with very singular Circumstances, and some very cogent Reasons arising from thence, to make them (I will not say Legal, for that nothing under a New Law can do against an Established Usage) but in any measure Excusable.  
This Denial from the Lower-house the last Convocation, produced a Resolution in the Upper, not to receive any Papers from them till the Irregularity of refusing a Committee was set right: And this having been since so freely censured as a groundless Exception, and their Lordships thereupon, made the Authors of breaking the Communication between the Bishops and their Clergy, I will consider that Instance, and the other of 1689. to see whether they afford any Circumstances which may cast the Crime on their Lordship's side, against the authority of so long and uninterrupted a Usage.  

The Refusal in 1689 had not grounds from the Registers.  1. Anno 1689. Sess. 13. Upper-house Book: Dominus Reverendus Pater Praeses antedictus [Viz. Episcopus London] proposuit Prolocutori ad nominand. Coetum Selectum Domûs Inferioris Convocationis, ad conveniend. cum Coetu selecto Superioris Domûs Convocationis, in ordine ad inspiciend. Acta ambarum Domum Convocationis; sed dictus Prolocutor respondebat, se non posse ad id consentire sine Consensu Coetûs Domûs Inferioris Convocationis prius habito— A little after, Dominus Prolocutor, cum numero copioso Domûs Convocationis, comparuit & declaravit quòd dicta Domus noluit consentire ad nominandum Coetum Selectum eorum Domûs ad conveniend. cum Coetu praedict. Domûs Superioris Convocationis ad effect. supra mentionat. durante recessu Convocationis.  
Now, the Archbishop and Bishops, having in their Synods an undoubted Right to the Advice and Assistance of their Presbyters; this act, upon the foundation of Primitive Practice, was a breach of their Canonical Obedience. Again, the Archbishop and Bishops in an English Convocation, having ever required their Clergy's Assistance in this particular of Appointing Committees, and been as constantly obeyed without the least appearance of Scruple, that Refusal is further Aggravated by its opposition to the Established Customs of this National Church. Contrary to which, was the Prolocutor's suspending his Compliance, till he knew the Pleasure of the House: for this implys that the House had a power, if they thought fit, to refuse; but more directly so, was the final Resolution of the House itself. 'Tis true, that Refusal is represented by the Register under one Circumstance, which they seem to have offered as the ground of it, That it was appointed in a Recess of the Convocation. Which Recess, was no more than a Continuation in the common Form, from December 14. to January 24. and if the Precedent and Bishops have a Right to order the Choice of Committees to sit in the Shorter Intervals of Sessions; by what law or Custom are they restrained from doing the same thing in the Longer. On the other hand, it was not only lawful, but at that juncture very necessary too for such a  to have sat upon the business proposed by their Lordships, The inspecting the Registers of both Houses. Because some differences in point of Custom and Privilege had then happened between the two Houses; and that Recess was a proper opportunity to rectify what was past, and by that inspection to prevent future misunderstandings.  

The Refusal of a Committee in the last Convocation, proved Irregular.  2. Anno 1701. Sess. 18. Lower-House Book: " The Archbishop signifies, in Writing, the Appointment of a Committee of five Bishops, to meet with any Committee to be named by the Lower-House, not exceeding the number often, to inspect the Acts of both Houses of Convocation to this time.— Et super eare declarârunt & ordina ant, " That they are of Opinion, that their Act-Books of this Session should not be freely inspected as yet; their Lordship's not having expressed the Intention of any such Inspection.— And then follows an Order, " That Notice be given to their Lordships, that they have not thought fit to appoint such a Committee.  

The Reasons alleged in the Narrative, particularly answered.  Supposing, that the Lower-House had a Right to judge, in what Circumstances it is fit, or unfit, that Committees be appointed; yet the Members refusing it at this time, seem to assign a Reason that is somewhat strange. Why not inspected as yet? and why were their Lordships to give previous Notice of their Intention? If it was, that the Lower-House might have time to frame them into Acts, and so make them more accurate; they afterwards altered their Opinion of Things, when in the Narrative, 
Nar. p. 35.  they prise the Minutes of 1640, (more confused, I an sure, by many Degrees than theirs could be) even above regular Registers, in point of Credit. But, however the Minutes of 1701 might be industriously disparaged, to give a Colour at least to this their Refusal; their own Journal says expressly, That the Acts of the foregoing Session were distinctly read at the opening of the next; which implies a regular Journal; and the fair Copy now in the Register's Office, is said to be (the greatest part of it, if not all) a Transcript from those Acts.  

No inherent Power to admit or decline the Appointment of their Lordships.  This therefore does not seem to be the Reason they abide by; but an Inherent Power of naming or not naming Committees at pleasure. Thus much the Journal intimates in the Notice to be given to their Lordships, " That they have not thought fit to appoint such a Committee; and the Narrative speaks much more plainly; 
Nar. p. 61.  We conceive ourselves entirely at Liberty, to admit or decline their Appointments of Commits, as we shall think fit. This is a clear Declaration of their Principle; and, if I mistake not, the foregoing Account of Committees, is as clear a Proof, that there was no Ground to make it either their Principle, or their Practice. The Narrative derives this Power of Refusing, from being a distinct House; 
Ibid.  but as the third Chapter of this Book shows the Vanity of their Claims in general upon that Foundation, so the Instances of Committees to meet the Bishops, appointed by express Order of the Upper-House, since as much as before their Separation, are a full Answer in this Particular.  

No Power of a Negative, but only in final Resolutions. Nar. p. 61.  Another Reason they add, is, their having Power to descent from the Proposals of the Upper-House. But this is doubtfully expressed: If their Meaning be, That they have a Right to diagree finally from any Matters depending in Convocation, so as to hinder them from passing into Synodical Acts; I grant it: But that being confined to the passing of Business, does not help them in any Point antecedent thereto. Nor can they ever show, either in this or any other Case, that the English Clergy in Convocation have not at all times readily and religiously complied with the Directions of their Metropolitan and Bishops, both as to the Matters recommended to their Consideration, and the Methods and Circumstances of considering them.  

The Right of the Bishops to take Cognizance of the Transactions of the Lower-House. Ibid.  In Vindication of themselves from this Charge of Irregularity, they say further; We conceive, the only regular way of their Lordships knowing the Transactions of our House, is by our own voluntary laying 'em before their Lordships. As if their Lordships had only a Right to direct the Consideration of Business, and not a Right also to prescribe the time of returning it, and to call upon them to know their Resolutions, or what Progress they have made. 'Tis a part also of the very Office of a Prolocutor, to report to the Upper-House the Result of their Debates, (as he has frequently explained the Grounds and Reasons of their Resolutions;) and, on the side of the Archbishop, to do for him what his Grace formerly did in Person, that is, to deliver to them his Commands, and to moderate in their Debates; and (according to a former Observation) to maintain such an Intercourse as may effectually preserve the Synod in an United State, under one Precedent the Metropolitan of the Province. Their Actuary also is an Officer of his Grace, and his Wages limited by an Archiepiscopal Decree, and their Journals finally deposited in the Office of the See, together with those of the Upper-House; where Recourse may be had equally to both, by all the Members of Convocation. What therefore they mean by the Archbishop's detaining from them the Journals of the Lower-House, to which they had free Access upon all Occasions; 
Nar. p. 62.  and what by their saying, 
The Journals belong to the Arch Bishop's Registry.  That they conceive these Journals of Right to belong to them, I cannot imagine; much less account for them, either from Reason or Practice: Nor can I conceive in what Office they would deposit them, were they put into their own Possession. The Language they use in this Case may be proper in Parliament; but sounds strange in an English Synod of Bishops and Presbyters; the latter whereof (the Majority, I mean, of the Lower-House) have in this Denial of a Sight of their Registers, even exceeded the Pattern they propose, the Honourable House of Commons. For as a mutual Freedom of Recourse to the Journals of each House, is well known to be the Custom of Parliament; so should any Jealousies arise between them, and should the one press for such an Inspection of the Journals; a Refusal from the other would make the Cause on that side suffer extremely in the Opinion of the World.  

The Lower House not to give Instructions in such Committees. Nar. p. 61.  One thing more they plead in their Justification; " That since their Lordships neither mention any particular Acts they would inspect, nor assign any particular Reason for such Inspection; we could see no Ground for such a Committee, nor could we give Instructions for the Management of the Matter to be considered by it. Their seeing no Ground for such a Committee, resolves into their first Plea, confuted before, viz. Their Liberty to admit or decline their Lordships Appointment of Committees as they shall think fit, and their Right by consequence to judge in what Case there is Ground for Compliance or Refusal. But that which follows, their giving Instructions for the Management of the Matter to be considered by it, is a Style familiar enough in Parliament, but utterly unknown to the Records of Convocation. For as the Upper-House (according to the forecited Testimonies, from Registers as well Ancient as Modern) have a Right to order Committees of the Lower, in Conjunction with those of their own; prescribing withal the Number, and the Time and Place of meeting, and all this, to consider Matters of their Lordships own proposing; so the only End of their appointing such joint Committees, is to have the Assistance of their Clergy in discussing or preparing those Matters: And in that Case, the Clergies taking from the Metropolitan and Bishops their Instructions, what to do, and how to proceed, is exactly agreeable, both to the original Distinction between Bishops and Presbyters, and to the share that each has ever had as a constituent part of an English Convocation. But if we suppose (according to their Scheme) a Right in the Clergy to refuse their Assistance, or (in case they think fit to comply) to send their Members under the Restraint of special Instructions, and by that means prepared rather to stand upon Terms with their Lordships, than to assist them; whether a Meeting in these Circumstances would not show us a  Power of Presbyters with their Bishops, let the World judge.  

Instructions proper only when they appoint Committees of their own.  When they appoint Committees of their own, and upon Business depending in their own House, they are then at Liberty to give what Instructions they think fit; because, as the Matters to be debated, so also the Methods and Ends of debating them, are all within their own Power. And in the present Case, had they thought fit, either before or after the Appointment by their Lordships, to choose a Committee to give them Information from the Acts of either House in any Point whatsoever; that Choice, and their Instructions thereupon, had (without doubt) been very regular. But when the Archbishop and Bishops; in virtue of their original Right to require the Assistance of their Clergy, do call for it in the way of a Committee, to attend a certain number of their own Body; in that Case, the Directions belong solely to the Upper-House, and the Clergy have no other part besides Assisting and Advising.  
Indeed, if Matters were to be finally determined in Committees, than it would be necessary for the Clergy (who would in that case be concluded by their Act) to put their Members under Restraints agreeable to the Sense and Intention of the House: And this they might do, in virtue of their final Negative upon the Archbishop and Bishops. But Committees are well known to be only for Debate and Preparation; and if the Lower-House think themselves concerned in the Matter or Tendency of their Lordship's Inquiries, they are wholly free (after the Discharge of their Duty there) to make what farther Searches or Resolutions they please; and that also, in the manner they think most proper, i. e. either in the whole House, or by a Committee of their own voluntary Choice.  

The Lower House never consent to the choosing, but only to the Persons or Numbers.  What I have observed and replied to, is all they urge to justify their Refusal of a Committee: And I know but one thing more, that gives any Colour to that Act, viz. It's being sometimes said in the forecited Passages about the Appointment of such Committees, that 'twas done among the Lower-Clergy, with the Consent of the House. It was so, after the Prolocutor (in pursuance of the Direction from the Upper-House) had nominated the Persons according to the Number prescribed; that is, 'twas consented and agreed to by the House, that those particular Persons should be the Committee; and the same Right of Consenting they had to the Number also, when that was not fixed and determined Above. But before 1689, it was never made a Question among the Lower-Clergy, whether they should comply with their Lordships in the Appointment of a Committee, or whether the Prolocutor should immediately proceed to the Nomination; or, lastly, whether they should choose any other Number than that specified in their Lordship's Order. The Course of such Choices, in the Lower-House, at the same time with the Upper, is distinctly described in their Journal, 1588. Sess. 3. That Day's Extracts out of the Upper-House Books, say, A Committee of both Houses chosen to consider of a Subsidy. Accordingly, the Execution of it in the Lower-House is described thus: Dominus Prolocutor [upon his coming from the Upper-House] significavit Universo Coetui, consensum & concordatum fuisse & esse inter Dominos Praelatos Superioris Domûs, quòd Reverendi Patres [three Bishops, named] tractarent, statuerent, & deliberarent de Subsidio Dominae nostrae Reginae erogando: Et in eundem finem, Dominus Prolocutor Nominavit & Elegit Venerabiles Viros [seven Deans, with nine others, named] ut similiter, vice ac nominibus totius hujus Coetûs, communicarent & tractarent de Subsidio hujusmodi. Necnon consensum & assensum omnium supra nominatorum hujus Domûs in Electionem suam hujusmodi petiit & sine morâ obtinuit. The Prolocutor, we see, proceeded immediately to the Nomination of the Persons; and no Consent was given or asked, but only to the Persons so nominated. But in the Year 1640. Sess. 10. May 13. when the Upper-House Register tells us, That in the Business of the Canons, the Clergy were only directed, in general, Quosdam graviores & doctiores viros de gremio suo eligere, and no particular Number was assigned; then the Minutes mention the Houses Consent to the Number also, and to the Proportion of Deans, Arch-deacons, and Proctors: Consensum fuit ut Duodecim è dictâ Domo, viz. tres Decani, tres Archidiaconi, duo Procuratores pro Ecclesiis Cathedralibus, & quatuor Procuratores Cleri, Eligantur pro Examinatione Canonum; and then, giving the Names of the Persons nominated, they mention the Approbation of them as a distinct Act.  

The Lower House chargeable with all the Consequences of refusing a Committee.  This is a plain State, as of the general Power of the Precedent and Bishops to order Committees of the Inferior Clergy, so particularly of the Right they had to make that Appointment, with which the Majority of the last Lower-House refused to comply; and by their Refusal, gave Rise to one unhappy Difference in that Convocation. But yet, as if the Blame evidently lay on the side of the Bishops, and nothing but Innocence on the other, their Lordships stand charged in the late Narrative with all the Consequences of this Irregularity. His Grace, who had it in his Power to censure an Act of Disobedience (so mischievous to Episcopacy, and to the Constitution of an English Synod) with the Severity it would have justified; was pleased to signify his own and his brethren's Dislike of it in a milder way, by refusing to receive any thing at their hands till that Irregularity was set right: And their Lordships hoped, such gentle Methods might bring them to a calmer Consideration of what they had done. 
Nat. p. 56, 58.  But so far was this from having the intended Effect, that his Grace and the Bishops are openly accused of endeavouring, by that Act, to cut off all Communication between the two Houses. A Return, that good Nature and an obliging Treatment must sometimes expect to meet with in this World.  
I know not whether it be worth while to take notice here of the Publisher of the Narrative, who tells the World of a Position laid down in the first Letter, 
Pag. 7.  that I knew to be false, viz. the Power of the Archbishop to order the Choice of Committees, and the Number of which they shall consist. That Page and this Chapter compared, may make the Zealous Man more cautious for the future, how he charges others with speaking against their Knowledge. I will not therefore say, he wrote that Preface against Knowledge; I charitably believe, and am pretty sure, he wrote without it.   

CAHP. IX.  
The Right of the Archbishop and Bishops to prescribe a Time for the Return of Business committed to the Clergy.  
WHen the Precedent and Bishops have put Business into the hands of the Lower Clergy, in a Body or a Committee; their Lordships have frequently thought fit to appoint a certain time for the Return of it. In other Cases also, they have called upon the Clergy for their Answers; who as oft as they were not in a readiness to give it, have desired a further Day: a plain acknowledgement of their Lordship's title to the disposal of their Time. All these will be proved from the Registers in a regular Deduction of Instances; according to the method in which their Right to direct the Matter and Manner of the Clergies Proceed, has been already explained.  

The time for the return of the Clergies Answers expressly prescribed.  I. The Precedent and Bishops have frequently prescribed a Time for the Return of the Clergy's Answers.  
Anno 1369. 10. Kal. Febr. The Archbishop directs the Clergy to draw up their Petitions in Writing, & quòd sibi porrigerent die Veneris— ita quòd super eis cum suis Confratribus poterit consulere & deliberare.  
Anno 1373. Decem. 2. Upon a like Order, 'tis added, quòd Responsiones darent die proximè sequenti.  
Anno 1428. Nou. 20. Et tunc Dominus assignavit eisdem Religiosis & alijs tunc ibidem praesentibus terminum ad eligendum personas hujusmodi— & ad praesentandum sibi Nomina hujusmodi Personarum nominandarum.  
Anno 1433. Nou. 10. Upon the Clergies desire to consult among themselves about the Matter proposed, Dominus liberè concessit; praecipiens eisdem quatenus circa eadem Motiva, cum alijs ab eisdem dependentibus, usque ad diem Jovis diligenter & unanimiter laborarent.  
Anno 1434. Octo. 20. The Clergy being directed by the Precedent to prepare business, receive this additional Order, quód ipsis coram eo & Confratribus suis ostenderent & exhiberent die Veneris prox.  
Anno 1529. Apr. 15. Reverendissimus recessit à Convocatione, & commisit vices suas Episcopis London & Winton. qui fecerunt Responsiones [to a complaint of the Parliament] rursum legi coram Inferiore Domo; quae petijt Copiam earundem Responsionum; & assignatus est dies Veneris ad inferendas Opiniones suas super praemissis Responsionibus,  
Anno 1541. Sess. 2. Reverendissimus tradidit Prolocutori quosdam Libros examinand. & conficerent leges de Simoniâ vitandâ; & referrent Judicia sua proximâ Sessione.  
Anno 1555. Sess. 2. The Commissary puts a Copy of a Diploma into their hands, volens eos maturè consulere, & refer Opiniones proximâ Sessione.  
Anno 1562. Martij 1. Reverendssimus tradîdit Domino Prolocutori Librum [de Disciplina] mandando, quód additis hujusmodi Capitulis sic excogitatis, ipsum Librum cum Additionalibus praedictis denuò exhibeat coram eodem Reverendissimo & Confratribus suis in proximâ Sessione.  

The Clergies Answers called for.  II. When the Business committed to the Clergy was not voluntarily returned within the Time expected, the Precedent and Bishops have called for it; and have also granted a longer term for Consideration, at the Clergy's request.  
Anno 1417. Decem. 3. Certain Persons out of every Diocese had been elected (Nou. 26.) to consider of methods how to promote the Students in the University of Oxford; and, Dec. 3. Dominus Archipiescopus petijt à Personis supra nominatis si aliquid effectualiter laborâssent circa materiam praetractatam, de Relevamine scilicet Studentium & Universitatum.  
Anno 1426. Apr. 17. Dominus petijt á Clero utrum ad tunc plenê fuissent deliberati, quomodo foret procedendum in negotio eisdem, die praecedenti, per ipsum recitato; qui responderunt quôd protunc non plené fuerant advisitati in eadem; Dominus mandavit eis ut ad Domum Inferiorem redirent, ad tractandum & deliberendum.  
Anno 1428. Nou. 18. Upon a Motion (Nou. 17.) that Heretics might occasionally be received and imprisoned in the Religious-Houses, when sent thither by the Ordinary; the Religious desire time to consider: And the next Day, Dominus petijt á Religiosis, si deliberassent de & super materiâ supradictâ; qui responderunt, quód non; sed petierunt adhuc delationem deliberandi in hac parte usque in crastinum: Cui adhuc Petitioni Dominus ex consensu fratrum suorum annuit bono cord.  
Anno eod. Nou. 20. Dominus petijt à Religiosis, si adhuc deliberâssent de & super Materia praelibatâ alias eye ministratâ pro deliberatione habendä: Qui respenderunt, se nondum plenariè deliberásse in hâc parte. Et quia (ut asseruerunt) Materiailla, ut eis videbatur, gravis erat, ac res quaedam insolita & inaudita, supplicârunt Domino pro deliberatione ulteriori in hac parte habendâ; ad finem, quòd possent communicare cum Jurisperitis, ne eis aut eorum Privilegijs seu Indultis Apostolicis praejudicium aliquod generaretur. Cui supplicationi Dominus adhuc annuens, eye ad plené deliberandum, & finaliter respondendum in hac parte terminum assignavit, viz. diem Martis prox. tunc sequentem.  
Anno eod. Nou. 23. Dominus petiit à Religiosis finale responsum, etc. Qui responderunt, ipsos adhuc non deliberasse in hac parte: Unde Dominus eisdem assignavit terminum adhuc ad finaliter respondendum in praemissis, diem, viz. Jovis tunc prox.  
Anno 1433. Nou. 17. Praesidente Reverendissimo Patre, etc. & examinato Clero quid adhuc in praefatis Motivis & dubiis cum suis Incidentibus esset finaliter sentiendum; responsum extitit per Magistrum Thomam Bekyngion Praelocutorem, non completè adhuc determinatum; and thereupon the Archbishop continued the Convocation to a further day.  
Anno 1439. Dec. 22. Dominus petiit responsum finale à Clero reddend. quaiiter deliberati fuerint quoad Subsidium praelibatum concedend. Domino Regi: Et incontinenti Mr. Ricardus Prolocutor Cleri, nomine totius Cleri hujusmodi, Domino quandam Cedulam, etc. praesentavit.  
Anno 1444. Oct. 24. Dominus petiit Responsum à Clero, qualiter deliberati fuerant, quantum ad Subsidium— & quid Sentirent de literâ Regiâ pro die Translationis S. Edwardi, etc. Upon which, the Prolocutor makes his Report to the Precedent and Bishops.  
Anno 1529. Sess. 33. Dominus Prolocutor petiit longiorem terminum ad consultandum de Articulis praedictis: Unde Reverendissimus assignavit horam primam ejusdem diei.  
Anno eod. Sess. 34. Intravit Prolocutor & Clerus, dicentes, se non habere tempus consultandi, & petierunt longiorem terminum; & Reverendissimus concessit horam secundam ejusdem diei.  
Anno eod. Sess. 45. Intravit Prolocutor, & petiit Dilationem super eisdem Constitutionibus legendis; & Reverendissimus concessit usque in proximam Sessionem: In the foregoing Session, there was put into the Prolocutor's hands, Libellus quarundam Constitutionum examinand.  
Anno eod. Sess. 47. Prolocutor petiit longiorem terminum super Constitutionibus.  
Anno 1557. Sess. 5. Praesidens, etc. advocato Prolocutore, rogabat quid Clerus deliberâsset de Subsidio: Qui eorum nomine respondit, omnes aequum sentire, etc. but that they had not agreed de modo & tempore Solutionis. Ideò rogarunt, ut alius dies ad deliberandum Statueretur, qui datus est, viz. dies Mercurij prox. sequens, horâ secundâ post meridiem.  

Inferences from the foregoing Testimonies.  The Inferences from these Appointments of Time by the Bishops, and Requests for a further day by the Clergy, will be obvious to every Reader, without my leading him to them. For there cannot be more plain and direct Testimonies of any thing, than these are of the general Influence and Authority of the Upper House over the business of Convocation, and particularly over the Debates and Consultations of the Inferior Clergy: Who would not have petitioned for a Respite of their Answer and Report, or offered Reasons why they could not be ready against the Time appointed them; but that they knew it was in the Power of their Superiors to require it then, and were desirous to satisfy their Lordships that their not being able to give it, was not want of duty, but purely of time. Nor would they have requested, in the last Instance, ut alius dies ad deliberandum Statueretur, had it been in their own Power to meet and deliberate on Intermediate Days: Which may deserve the consideration of those who have been such Zealous Advocates of late, not only for Meeting and doing business in the Intervals of Sessions (for that the Clergy have often done, and are bound to do at the command of the Upper-House,) but also for an Inherent Power in themselves to come together on those Days, to act in all respects as a House, and to compute such Meetings among the Synodical Sessions. Which (not only without their Bishops, but in defiance of them) are an uncommon Separation of a Synod, and cannot be seen or considered by any Impartial Man, without bringing to his mind a Presbyterian Assembly.  
The same Persons may also please to observe, how ill these Instances of the Upper House's Authority in point of Time, agree with their new Scheme of Alliance between the Honourable House of Commons and the Lower House of Convocation. And particularly, the Publisher of the Preface may know from hence, 
Pref. p. 7. 1. Let. p.  that I wrote not like him, at all Adventures, much less (as he lays the Charge) against my own Conscience, when I asserted this Power of prescribing a Time for the Return of their Answers.   

CHAP. X.  
The Right of the Archbishop and Bishops to require the Answers of the Clergy in Writing.  
THat the Upper House have a Power to prescribe the Time within which the Answers of the Clergy shall be returned, has been proved in the foregoing Chapter; and the design of this, is to show their Right to direct the Manner of their Answers; particularly, to Require a Report either Verbal or in Writing, as their Lordships shall judge most suitable to the nature of the Business recommended to their Consideration. 
The last Lower House refused to answer in Writing.  For upon this Point it is, that the Difference in the last Convocation about Continuations or Adjournments remains (as to the two Houses) undetermined to this day. The Archbishop and Bishops drew up the Reasons of their Claim in Writing, and delivered them to the Inferior Clergy; not only expecting, but directly insisting upon a written Reply. This was refused by the Majority of the Lower House; who resolved to return no Answer in Writing, but only viva voce at a free Conference with their Lordships: And there the matter rested upon this general Question, Whether the Upper House have a right to require of the Clergy an Answer in Scriptis; which I conceive the following Instances clearly determine.  

The Clergy's obligation to answer in Writing when required.  Anno 1396. 10 Kal. Febr. The Clergy having granted a Supply on condition to have Grievances redressed, Archiepiscopus voluit, quòd Clerus & Religiosi Petitiones suas super dictis Injurijs, Violentijs, & Gravaminibus, in Scriptis redigerent, & sibi porrigerent in die Veneris.  
Anno 1411. Dec. 2. The Archbishop directs the Proctors of the Clergy, if they had any Grievances to offer, Quòd vellent & deberent citra diem Veneris extunc proximà futur, coranto: Convocatione Dominorum in Domo Capitulari seriosius intimare.— And on Friday, Coram Archiepiscopo, etc. comparuerunt Procuratores Cleri, qui plura referebant Gravamina; allegantes quòd de tot & tantis se sentijt Clerus malis pergravatum, quòd nisi in Scriptis contineantur, non possent de facili recenseri.— They retire, and the Archbishop and Bishop's debate about the Grievances. Returning about Eleven a Clock, Per Dominum Archiepiscopum adtunc mandabatur, quòd citra proximum diem Convocationis exhibeant & declarent articulatim Gravamina sua in Scriptis redacta. Grievances and Subsidies were the chief things that came from the Clergy in those Days; and this, with other Instances of the same kind upon that Head, shows, that it was not the ordinary way to offer their Grievances in Writing, 
Vid. Infra Cap. 12.  except they were required to do it by the Archbishop and his Brethren.  
Anno 1428. Nou. 20. Dominus assignavit Religiosis, & alijs tunc ibidem praesentibus, terminum ad eligend. Personas [viz. a Committee] & ad praesentandum sibi nomina bujusmodi Personarum nominandarum in Scriptis.  
Eod. Anno Dec. 7. Et quia Clerus provincy, prout tunc ibidem recitatum erat, etc. sentijt se gravatum; ex communi deliberatione Domini & Confratrum suorum, ac totius Concilij, extitit avisatum, ut Gravamina bujusmodi concipi deberent, & redigi in Scripturam.  
Anno 1434. Oct. 8. The Archbishop, in explaining the Causes of calling the Convocation, reckons up several Grievances of the Church: Et tunc habitâ Communicatione super bujusmodi Gravaminibus, ordinatum erat tunc ibidem, ut bujusmodi Gravamina, ac alia quaecunque in quibus Clerus se sentijt gravari, necnon si quae forent Crimina & excessus infra Clerum usitat '. quae necessariâ Reformatione indigerent, in Scriptis redigerentur.  
Anno 1452. Feb. 15. Prolocutor interrogatus à Reverendissimo Patre, an quicquam voluisset pro parte Cleri in Ecclesiâ Anglicanâ Reformatione dignum proponere; continuò & quasi ex insperato quamplurima, etc. proposuit. Et quia non erat facile, singula per ipsum ibidem exposita, memoriae, quae admodum labilis cst, commendare, idcirco admonait eundem Prolocutorem Reverendissimus Pater, ut singula per eum in bac parte proposita, redigeret in Literas, & Concilio traderet pleniùs & maturius super eisdem deliberatur '.  
Anno 1460 May 13. Propositis coram Reverendissimo Patre, & alijs in Domo Capitulari protunc ibidem existentibus, quibusdam Articulis per Prolocutorem viva voce, dictus Reverendissimus Pater decrevit bujusmodi Articulos sic viuâ voce declarat '. in scriptis redigi.  
Anno 1529. Sess. 104. Episcopus London Commissarius recitavit voluntatem Reverendissimi super praelictâ Supplicatione, [viz. an Address of the House of Commons to the King] & voluit Prolocutorem, etc. quòd concipiant Responsa sua in Scriptis.  
Anno 1557. Sess. 3. Deinde monuit Locum tenens Praelatos Inferioris Domûs, ut ipsi exhiberent in Scriptis quod Reformandum putarent.  
Anno 1562. (when the 39 Articles were settled) Feb. 19 Reverendissimus, de & cum cansensu Fratrum suorum, tradidit quosdam Articulos in Scriptis conceptos; mandando quatenùs super contentis in dictis Articulis diligenter inquirerent, ac quicquid inde invenerint, in Scriptis redigant, ac dicto Reverendissimo porrigant & exbibeant.  
Anno 1588. Dominus Prolocutor universo Coetui significavit volantatem Reverendissimi caeterorúnque Praelatorum Superioris Domûs esse, quòd si aliquis bujus Domûs noverit quenquam Ministrum de quo justè conqueri possit, quòd contra Leges Ecclesiasticas, nunc temporis auctoritate legitimâ receptas & approbatas, se gessit & gerit; aut si aliquis noverit quenquam qui Canon's in ultimâ Convocatione approbatos & editos violoverit; eosdem in Scriptis denunciarent Reverendissimo Domino Cant. Archiepiscopo caeterisque Dominis Praelatis praedict. pro debitâ Correctione & Reformatione in eâ parte fiendâ.  
Anno 1640. Sess. 2. Archbishop Laud having recommended to the Clergy the Consideration of certain Canons and Constitutions, adds, Et quicquid inde senserint sive excogitaverint, in Scriptis redigant, & coram ipso Reverendissimo & Confratribus suis Episcopis exhibeant.  
Ead. Conu. Sess. 3. Reverendissimus, etc. Schedulas Domino Prolocutori tradidit, Coetui Domûs Inferior is proponendas, legendas, & publicandas; cum monitione, quòd Copias earum cuicunque tradere minimè praesumat. Et si aliquis dictae Domûs aliquid dictis Capitulis contrarium proponat, porrigat in Scriptis, & in manus Doproponat, Prolocutoris Domino Archiepiscopo & caeteris Episcopis Domûs Superioris exhibiturum, ut ipsi de eisdem consultarent.  

The State of this Case between the two Houses, in the last Convocation.  Thus has the Practice of Convocation stood; and 'tis certainly agreeable to the natural Reason of the thing, that they who have a Right to direct the Consideration of Business, and to prescribe a time for returning it, should also be the proper Judges, whether the Purposes they have in their Eye, be most effectually answered in Writing, or by a verbal Report. Not to insist therefore upon the evident Necessity of Writing in this case, (upon a Point wholly new, to be determined from Records, some of which are very obscure and imperfect, and where a diligent Examination and Comparison of all Particulars was absolutely necessary;) nor yet to observe, that the Refusal of so fair a Method, is a strong Presumption, that the Advocates themselves disinherited their Cause: Not, I say, to insist upon these (however of moment towards the Justification of their Lordships) the Case, and all the Consequences of it, depend principally upon this, Whether the Archbishop and Bishops have a Right to require the Clergy as oft as they judge it expedient, to bring their Answers in Writing? Because, if that Right be vested in them, the Refusal on the other side was a manifest Violation of it; and so the Refusers became obnoxious to the Censure of the Upper-House, and chargeable with all the Mischiess arising from that Act of Disobedience. For so I must beg Leave to call it, after so many plain Precedents of a Command to the Lower-Clergy, to put their Opinions in Writing, without any one Mark of Doubt or Scruple, whether it should be complied with, before the last Convocation. And then indeed it was not only a Scruple, but a flat Denial, and a peremptory Resolution, Not to descend to any Particulars upon the Point of Continuation, but in the way of a free Conserence. Upon the Proposal whereof by those of the Lower-House, (Sess. 12.) with a Declaration of their Lordships, that they insisted upon an Answer in Writing; it was put to the Question, (Sess. 13.) " Whether the House would give their Answer in Writing at large, or desire a free Conference; and carried for a free Conference. Again, (Sess. 14.) it was resolved, that an humble Application be renewed to their Lordships for a free Conference.  

Free Conference, a Term unknown in Convocation.  This is a new Term, borrowed from the Proceed of Parliament, and never known in any Convocation before the last. The Acts frequently speak of the Colloquia and Tractatus which the Archbishop and his Brethren had, in the Upper-House, with the Prolocutor and some of the Inferior Clergy; or (if their Lordships so ordered it) with the Prolocutor alone. 
No such free Conference ever desired by the Clergy.  But I don't remember, in all the Registers before 1689. any Instance of the Clergies desiring a Conference of any kind, except one in the Year 1661. the Circumstances whereof were widely different from the present Case; and they were then very far from insisting upon it, against the express Resolution of the Upper-House. The occasion was this: During the Consideration of the Liturgy, the Lower-House had certain Emendations ready to be carried up to their Lordships. Dec. 12. Dominus Prolocutor, cum consensu, ut asserebatur, totius Domûs Inferioris ad Praesidentem & Domum Inferiorem missus est, ad petend '. se cum tribus vel duobus alijs è Domo Inferiori admitti ad conferend ' come Dominis Episcopis in Domo suâ seden '. Dictoque Prolocutore, etc. admisso & adveniente, dictus Prolocutor praesentavit Domino Praesidenti, & tradidit in manibus suis, nonnullas Papiri Schedas, Emendationes alicujus labri pubiicarum Precum concernen. These were read, debated, and approved; and then the Prolocutor, etc. was dismissed. The occasion of their making this Request, seems to have been a necessity of their explaining to their Lordships the Grounds and Reasons of some of the Alterations they had then made. But what is all this to such a free Conference as is practised in Parliament and was now proposed by the Inferior Clergy; in which Managers of both Sides were to be appointed, with special Instructions from each House. The Prolocutor in 1661. desired to confer with their Lordships, who thinking it in that particular a proper way of receiving the sense of the Lower House, immediately admitted him. But neither he nor the House insisted upon that, as the only way in which they would give their Opinions; much less did they resist an express command from their Lordships to put them in Writing; which was the Case in the last Convocation, and very unlike the Daciful Proceed of the Clergy who assisted in that Revisal and Establishment of our Liturgy.  

Inferences in vindication of their Lordships.  As to the Case in hand, their Lordships had undoubredly a Right to require the Answers of the Lower House in Writing; and judging it a necessary method of coming to a true State of the point of Continuations then in dispute, did insist upon their right, and directly required Obedience. On the other hand, the Clergy refused to do it, and persisted in that Refusal; and not only so, but proceeded also to the Irregularities of Adjourning to different Days and by the consent of their House. Afterwards, as if the Obstruction had laid wholly on their Lordship's side, they passed a formal Vote (May 22.) for a Request to their Lordships, pressing them to put some end to the present difference between the two Houses in relation to their Prorogations and Adjournments. Considering how themselves were then in a State of Contempt, upon refusing to comply with the Lawful Commands of their Superiors, and that nothing but this their Refusal put a stop to the measures of Accommodation; I appeal to any imparial Man, whether that Motion, intended to be made to the Upper House, was fit to be offered any where but in the Lower, in which the Obstruction solely lay.   

CHAP. XI.  
The Right of the Precedent and Bishops to take to them the Assistance of Persons learned in the Law, etc.  
BEsides the Opinion and Assistance of the Inferior Clergy acting in conjunction with the Precedent and Bishops, as Members of the same Convocation; their Lordships have a separate Power to advise with Counsel either in the Common or Civil Law, upon any difficulty in the Course of their Proceed; in Cases, more especially, where there is any danger or appearance of their interfering with the Statutes and Customs of the Realm. The Manner of taking their Advice, has been either by admitting them to the Debates of the House, or appointing a Select number of Bishops to lay before them any Doubts or Difficulties that were in their way, and to desire the Opinion.  
Anno 1419. Sess. 3. Coram Archiepiscopo, etc. adductus fuit quidam Ricardus Walker, etc. quem (ut asserebatur) Prior Ecclesiae Cath. Wigorn. tanquam Sortilegum, & de Sortilegio suspectum, etc. apprehenderat— Being examined, he was remanded to Prison, usque deliberari posset per Jurisperitos quâ poenâ talis Sortilegus esset per Jurisperitos puniendus.  
Anno 1425. Jun. 8. Two Heretics remanded in the same manner, Donec Reverendissimus Pater, de concilio & avisamento Confratrum suorum, ac Jurisperitorum, deliberaret quid cum eye faciend. censeret, & si in Poenam Relapsûs cecidissent neone.  
Anno 1428. Upon the Question, Whether the Religious should receive Heretics as Prisoners into their Houses, the Register adds, Et quia, ut asseruerunt, materia illa (ut eis videbatur) gravis erat, ac res quaedam insolita & inaudita, Supplicarunt Domino pro deliberatione ulteriori in hac parte habendâ, ad finem quòd possent communicare cum Jurisperitis, ne eis aut eorum Privilegijs seu Indultis Apostolicis praejudicium aliquod generaretur.  
Anno 1460. Maij. 20. Administratis per Mr. Johannem Stoks Praelocutorem, etc. certis Articulis utilitatem Regis & Regni Angliae & defensionem Ecclesiae Anglicanae concernentibus, Reverendissimus Pater cum consensu suorum Confratrum in dictâ Convocatione praesentium, elegit certos viros praeeminentis Scientiae, viz. Magistros Rob. Styllington, etc. Legum Doctores, ad interessend. pertractand. & consiliand. cum cis de & super hujusmodi Articulis; coram dicto Reverendissimo Patre, & suis Confratribus, etc.  
Anno 1586. Sess. 3. Mar. 3. Lower House Book, Dominus Prolocutor significavit praesentem Voluntatem Reverendissimi ac aliorum Dominorum Praelatorum de benevolâ Contributione, etc. & quód de bujusmodi Libello concipiendo maturior deliberatio cum Jurisperitorum consilio habeatur.  
Anno 1640. Sess. 12. May 16. Upon a Debare concerning the Fees for Charching, etc. Reverendissimus, cum Consilio & assensu Praelatorum & Confretrum suorum, negotium hujusmodi Attornato Generali Domini Regis significand, fore decrevit, ut ipse de aliquo Remedio pro eye in hac parte curaret.  
Eod. Anno Sess. 13. Reverendissimus, cum Confratrum consensu, elegit Dominos Episcopos Elien & Bristol, ad consulendum cum utroque Dominorum Justiciariorum Primariorum citra certas Clausulas & Verba in Canonibus contra Recusantes. They make their Report, Sess. 15. that Sir Edward Littleton advised, ut quaedam verba in isto Canone expungerentur, & alia verba magis apta in loco eorum conscriberentur.  
Eod. Anno Sess. 25. Reverendissimus in praesentijs Domini Johannis Lamb Militis, etc. qui ad informandum Reverendissimum & Episcopos vocati sunt, tractavit cum Domino Prolocutore citra Canon's.  
Anno 1661. Jan. ult. A Question arising, Whether the Bishops might be present in the House of Lords in Causes of Blood, Concordatum & ordinatum fuit, de & cum consensu totius Domûs [Superioris] ad censulend. Jurisperitos tam in Foro Seculari quàm in Curijs Civilibus & Ecclesiasticis versatos, de & super dictâ Quaestione sive Argumento, erga proximam Convocationem.  
Anno 1662. Apr. 12. Habito tractatu de Subscriptionibus Clericorum Instituendorum, etc. Dominus Episcopus London Praesidens, etc. curam commisit Reverendis Patribus, etc. ad consulend. Jurisperitos de concipiendâ Formâ in Scriptis in & circa Subscriptionem praedict.  

Application of these testimonies  I produce these Evidences, to justify their Lordships from the Reflections cast upon them, for declining to join the Lower House in the Censure of Toland's Book. The History of which Case, with the Reasonableness of what they did therein, is set forth at large in the History of the Proceed of the Upper House; and comes not otherwise under my Consideration, than as their Lordships appear from hence to have acted agreeably to the Practice of Convocation, in advising with Council, and upon that Advice determining themselves.  

The necessity of having recourse to Council about the Censure of Books.  The Penalties of the Statute, 25 H. 8. c. 19 (upon the extent whereof, the Question depended) are very great; and if incurred in Convocation, would have affected the whole Body of the Clergy of this Province. And therefore my Lords the Bishops (the Governors of the Church) could not involve the Clergy, either of this or future times, in a difficulty of that nature, by omitting any methods of informing themselves whether the Act could be clearly warranted in Law. And who were so fit to be their Guides in that Point, as Council Learned in the Law? to whom Recourse has been ever had in all Doubts of the same nature; as it was particularly in the Convocation of 1689. and upon this very Question too, viz. the Power they had in Law to pass a Censure of this kind.  
As their Lordships must be presumed to have taken the Advice and Opinion of the Ablest Men in the Profession, and such withal whom they knew to be Persons of honour and integrity; so it becomes not me, or any other Person so little entitled to Accomplishments of that kind, to call in question either the Justness or the Conscience of that Opinion. The Narrative of the Lower House says, 
P. 53.  that though some eminent Lawyers were against it, there were others perhaps as eminent, who are of a contrary Opinion. It may be so, but did my Lords the Bishops understand so much? or suppose they had, such a Difference in Opinions is no uncommon thing; nor must we in many cases ever determine ourselves, if we stay till all Men be unanimous. Their Lordships therefore having applied to those of the Profession, in whom they thought they could entirely confide, had reason to acquiesce in the Judgement they gave; especially, when they were so expressly warned that the Effects of their Acting against it were to reach the whole Body, and so themselves became thereby much more inexcusable for endangering that Body, after a Caution given them by such competent Judges, and upon so much deliberation.  

Their recommending the Case to the B. of the Diocese agreeable to the Practice of Convocation.  But the Statute being a Restraint upon the Convocation only, and not upon the Ecclesiastical Courts of every Bishop, confirmed and established by Law; their Lordships, desirous to discourage the publication of such Books by all methods consistent with the Clergy's safety, recommended that matter to the Bishop in whose Diocese the Offender resided, and who upon that account had a right to Summon and prosecute him in a Legal way. A method, that we find taken in Cases of that kind, even while the Convocation had an indisputable right not only to judge of Heretical Doctrines, but to convene, censure, and punish the Heretic.  
Anno 1416. May 23. One John Barton, of the Diocese of Lincoln, was accused of holding Heretical Opinions: And, May 26. the Register says, Praefatus Dominus Johannes Barton, per Dominum Cantuariensem fuit deliberatus Reverendo Patri Philippo Lincoln Episcopo, ut ipse procederet contra eum Secundum Canonicas Sanctiones.  
Again, at the conclusion of the same Convocation we find this Entry: Memorandum, quòd Ds. Robertus chapel, etc. post dictam Convocationem finitam, etiam ex deliberatione & confilio Praelatorum inibi existentium, fuit remissus ad Episcopum Roffensem, ad effectum quòd ipse procederet contra eum, prout de jure fuerit procedend.  
Anno 1428. July 16. The Rector of Heggely, of the Diocese of Lincoln, being examined in Convocation, tandem Dominus mandavit ut idem Robertus traheret se ad partem, & ordinavit ut Confrater suus Episcopus Lincoln, etc. procederet contra eundem, ut Ordinarius suus in hac parte.  
Anno 1430. Mar. 2. In the Case of one Thomas Bagley accused of Heresy, Dominus videns quòd ipse & Confratres sui nihil possent proficere in eo ad aedificationem Animae suae, mandavit Domino London, ut ipsum reciperet, & contra eum procederet, Secundum quod in hac parte dictaverunt Sanctiones. And, Mar. 5. Dominus assignavit eidem Thomae diem Veneris tunc prox. ad audiend. Sententiam ferend. contra eum, per Dominum Willielmum London. Ordinarium suum, pro eo quòd in Diaecesi sua extitit Beneficiatus.  
Anno 1463. July 16. An accusation being brought in against one of the Diocese of Winchester, Dominus commisit eum Confratri suo Willelmo Winton, Episcopo puniend.  
And in the very Convocation of 1689 (the Right Reverend the Bishop of London Presiding, and the present Bishops of Rochester, Winchester, Exeter, and Worcester, being then Members of the Upper House) this method was marked out to them, as appears from the Declaration they then made, viz.  
Anno 1689. Sess. 13. The Prolocutor and Lower Clergy being sent for to the Upper House, Reverendus Pater Praeses eis declaravit ad effectum Sequen. Scil. quòd conscij fuerunt diversas esse Clausulas perniciosas in Libris aliàs penes eos ex directione dictae Domûs relict. sed informati sunt per Jurisperitos utriusque Juris, proprias esse Curias Judiciales pro punitione delictorum hujusmodi.  
I do not mention either this or the foregoing Instances, as agreeing in all respects with the present Case; but only to show the readiness of their Lordships (upon a reasonable Apprehension of Danger to the Church and Clergy from the measures proposed) to enter upon such other methods as the Laws of the Land would permit, and they were sure the Practice of Convocation would justify.   

THus far we have seen the Clergy in Convocation debating, preparing and returning Matters immediately recommended to their care by the Precedent and Bishops, and considered in the manner and to the purposes directed by their Lordships.  
Our next business is, to show the Rights to which the Clergy are entitled by the constant Practice of Convocation, and the Regard that upon the same ground is due from my Lords the to their Application and Advice; with the Interest they have in the final issue of all Synodical Acts.  
These I think, come under the four following heads, viz. their Right 

I. To present their own and the Church's Grievances, to the Precedent and Bishops.  
II. To offer to their Lordships their Petitions of any other kind.  
III. To be with them as a part of the Judicature, upon Persons convened and examined in Convocation.  
iv To descent finally from any Matter, so as to hinder its passing into a Synodical Act.     

CAHP. XII.  
The Gravamina and Reformanda, in Convocation.  

The Gravamina often considered and presented with the Subsidies.  I. FRom the most early accounts of Proceed in Convocation, it appears to have been usual for the Clergy to lay before the Precedent and Bishops the Grievances under which they laboured, and with a duitful submission to the judgement of their Lordships to pray a Redress. These were styled the Gravamina or Articuli Cleri, and chief concerned matters relating to Jurisdiction and their Civil-Property, viz. The Encroachments of the Lay-Officers, the Exactions and other Irregularities of Ecclesiastical Courts, and such like, called frequently upon that account Injuriae. Sometimes therefore the Redress of them made an express Condition of the Subsidies they granted; and accordingly, in some Instances, we find them presented to the Court together with the Subsidy Bill, and the King's Answer afterwards reported by the Precedent.  
Anno 1369. Concesserunt Domino Regi decimam biennalem solvendam eidem Domino Regi insra biennium à tempore dictae Concessionis numerandum.— Sub istis tamen Conditionibus adjectis & additis per dictum Clerum, viz. quòd dictus Dominus Rex Injurias & Violentias ac alia Gravamina Viris Ecclesiasticis in enervationem libertatis Ecclesiasticae per Ministros Regios multipliciter attemptata, & per ipsum Clerum in Scriptis redigenda, & dicto Domino Archiepiscopo, & per cum Domino Regi porrigenda, corrigat & reformet. Et tunc Dictus Dominus Archiepiscopus voluit quòd Clerus & Religiosi praedicti Petitiones suas super dictis Injurijs, Violentijs & Gravaminibus in scriptis redigerent, & sibi porrigerent, etc. quòd super eis cum suis Confratribus poterit consulere & deliberare, & cas, habitá deliberatione hujusmodi, unà cum concessione decimae biennalis praedictae dicto Domino Regi intimare; & assignavit dictis Clero & Religiosis diem Sabbatti prox. seq. ad comparendum coram eo in dictâ Capellâ horâ primâ, voluntatem Regiam super dictis Petitionibus, & etiam grates regias pro dictâ Concessione, quas reportabit, audituris. Et ad hoc faciendum continuavit dictam Convocationem ad diem Sabbati supradictum.  
Anno 1373. Dec. 2. Upon the Clergy's Motion to have their Grievances redressed by the King, they were directed to consider of a Subsidy, & quòd interim Informarent Petitiones suas super Reformatione Injuriarum, ut eas conciperent in Scriptis, quòdque responsiones darent die prox. sequenti.  
— Dec. 8. The Bishop of London Presiding, Coram eo Procuratores Cleri ibidem comparentes, Decimam, etc. concesserunt, ac dictam Concessionem in Scriptis dicto Domino London. Episcopo porrexerunt, unà cum quibusdam Supplicationibus pro Reformatione quarundam Injuriarum Ecclesiae Anglicanae illatarum in eadem Scripturâ content.  
Anno 1376. Non. Febr. The Grievances were presented to the Precedent and Bishops; and 12 Kal. Martij. we find the Archbishop making his Report to the King's Answer Praelatis & Clero,— & habita deliberatione per dictos Praelatos & Clerum super hujusmodi Responsione Dominus Continuavit, etc.  
And again, 2. Kal. Martij (I suppose, upon some further Application made by the Clergy) the Archbishop acquaints them with the King's Readiness to comply with their Petitions, Eas salvo jure Coronae suae feliciter expedire.  
Anno 1379. 4. Kal. Martij. Praelati & Clerus concesserunt Domino Regi, etc. rogando Dominum Regem, quód Injurias & Gravamina illata Ecclesiae & Viris Ecclesiasticis faceret revocari.  
Anno 1384. At the end of the Convocation, Clerus porrexit certos Articulos, petendo Remedium; & Concessit Medietatem, etc.  
Anno 1421. The Archbishop's Official, in the name of the rest, produxit unam Cedulam Papiri, formam Concessionis unius integrae Decimae continentem, etc. cum hoc quód per Dominum Regem, auctoritate Parliamenti tunc apud Westm. praesentis, posset adhiberi remedium cortis Gravaminibus eye illatis.  
In these and other Instances, the Clergy (who had a Right to Petition for Redress) were willing those Petitions should accompany the Grant, because that made them sure of a favourable Answer. But this was not constantly observed; 
The Grievances to whom addressed.  nor were all the Grievances addressed to the King, but many of them ultimately to the Archbishop and Bishops, when the Matter thereof concerned their Courts, and so the Redress was in their Lordship's Power. We find also (Anno 1399. Oct. 11.) mention made of such Articles offered to the Pope, in a Case (we may imagine) that was not otherwise to be reformed. Decanus Ecclesiae Hereford. Articulos de mandato Domini Archiepiscopi palam & apertè perlegebat.— Et quia in dictis Articulis continebantur certa Gravamina per Sedem Apostolicam reformanda, visum fuit satis honestum & expediens Domino Archiepiscopo, etc. that the Pope's Collector should be sent for, and advised with: Whose Council was, That the King, the Archbishop and Bishops should write to the Pope pro Reformatione eorundem.  
In like manner we meet with Applications of the same kind, as to the King singly, so to the King in Council, to the King in Parliament; as Redress was most probably and regularly to be had, either in the one or the other.  
The Points of this kind, considered and debated in Convocation, were either General, when the Matters to be reformed had Relation to the Common Good of the Church; and, equally affecting the Bishops and Clergy, were settled in a Synodical way, and addressed and presented in the Names of both; which the Registers call Reformanda in Convocatione, Reformanda in Parliamento, etc. Or else Particular, when the Bishops or Clergy had Grievances to offer that affected only their own Order respectively; and in such cases, tho' the Clergy presented theirs to the Upper-House for their Approbation and the Conveyance of them to the King or Parliament, yet the Form ran in their own Name only; which were properly what we call the Gravamina and Articuli Cleri.  

The Upper house have a Right to direct at what time the Grievances shall be proposed.  These, the Clergy in Convocation have an undoubted Right to present; but, as they are to be laid immediately before the Upper-House, so the Archbishop and Bishops have a Right to direct (as oft as they see cause) at what Time they shall be proposed, and offered in Form.  
Anno 1356. 16. Kal. Jun. Archiepiscopus injunxit Religiosis & alijs de Clero, quòd die tunc crastinâ proponerent Petitiones suas.  
Anno 1369. 10. Kal. Feb. Archiepiscopus voluit, quòd Clerus & Religiosi Petitiones suas super Injurijs, Violentijs, & Gravaminibus, in Scriptis redigerent, & sibi porrigerent die Veneris.  
Anno 1373. The Clergy directed, Quòd interim informarent Petitiones suas super Reformatione Injuriarum, ut eas conciperent in Scriptis, quódque Responsiones darent die prox. Sequent.  
Anno 1377. 2. Id. Nou. The Precedent praemunivit quòd unus Clericus de quolibet Episcopatu dictae Provinciae Cant. veniret ad Ecclesiam S. Pauli London, & ibidem inter se post prandium, etc. deliberarent super Petitionibus formandis de singulis Gravaminibus communiter Clerum cujuslibet Episcopatù; tangentibus.  
Anno 1399. Oct. 6. Quia videbatur Domino Archiepiscopo & alijs Episcopis sue Cant. Provinciae satis difficile omnes Praelatos & Procuratores Cleri in communi congregare ad concipiend. Articulos ex parte Cleri proponendos, propter hoc deputavit 5. Personas, viz. Mag. Thomam Stowe, etc. ad concipiend. Articulos ex parte Praelatorum & Cleri, super quibus praetendunt Ecclesiam & se gravatos.  
Anno 1411. Dec. 2. Archiepiscopus mandavit Procuratoribus Cleri, quatenùs si aliqua essent Gravamina ex parte eorum Reformatione indigentia, quòd vellent & deberent citra diem Veneris extunc proximò futur. coram Convocatione Dominorum in Domo Capitulari seriosiùs intimare.  

The Grievances first offered in a general Representation, viuà voce.  At other times, when the Clergy had received no previous Direction to bring their Grievances in Writing, we find them first making a general Representation thereof, Viuâ voce, to the Archbishop and Bishops, and upon that, either leaving them to their Lordship's Consideration, or receiving Directions, what was further necessary to be done.  
Anno 1356. On the first Day of Business, they are directed only in general quòd die tunc crastinâ proponerent Petitiones suas: And the next Session 'tis thus expressed, Propositis quibusdam Petitionibus per Clerum tam viuâ voce quàm in Scriptis.  
Anno 1373. Dec. 2. The Clergy, upon a general Motion for the Redress of Grievances by the King, are commanded Informare Petitiones suas super Reformatione Injuriarum bujusmodi.  
Anno 1411. Nou. 4. The Clergy (according to the Order of Dec. 2. just now cited, that they should Gravamina, etc. S●ri●siùs intimare) did it on Dec. 4. in the following manner, Comparuerunt Procuratores Cleri, qui plura referebant Gravamina; allegantes, quòd de t●t & tantis se s●ntijt Clerus malis praegravatum, quòd nisi in Scriptis contineantur, non possent de facili recenseri. The Proctors retire, and the Archbishop and Bishop's debate about the same Matter.— Procuratores, etc. reintrarunt circa horam undecimam; quibus per Dominum Archiepiscopum ad tunc mandabatur quòd citra proximum diem Convocationis exhibeant & declarent Articulatim Gravamina sua in Scriptis redacta.— Accordingly, Dec. 7. two of the Members nonnullas Inconvenientias & Gravamina pro & ex parte Cleri, cujus gerebant Organa vocis, exposuerunt, quae in Scriptis redacta exhibuerunt.  
Anno 1452. The Prolocutor having given the Upper-house an Account of what was done about the Subsidy, is asked, An quicquam voluisset pro parte Cleri in Ecclesiâ Anglicanâ Reformatione dignum proponere. And he, continuò & quasi ex insperato quamplurima, etc. proposuit. Et quia non erat facilè singula per ipsum ibidem exposita memoriae, quae admodùm labilis est, commendare, idcircò admonuit eundem Prolocutorem dictus Reverendissimus Pater, ut singula per eum in hac parte proposita redigeret in literas, & Concilio traderet, pleniùs & maturiùs super eisdem deliberaturo.  
Anno 1452. Feb. 7. Praelocutor, post explicationem & declarationem nonnullorum Gravaminum Ecclesiae Anglicanae & Clero ejusdem à Laicis illatorum, super quibus petijt Reformationem debitam, intimavit, etc.  
Anno 1460. May 13. Propositis ibidem coram dicto Reverendissimo Patre & alijs in dictâ Domo Capitulari protunc ibidem existentibus quibusdam Articulis per Prolocutorem viuâ voce, dictus Reverendissimus Pater decrevit hujusmodi Articulos sic viuâ voce declarat '. in Scriptis redigi.  
Anno 1460. May 24. Reverendissimus, etc. auditis per eum pluribus Articulis coram ipso adtunc viuâ voce ministratis, continuavit, etc.  
Anno 1541. Sess. 8. Accessit Prolocutor cum quibusdam de Electis à Clero, & exposuerunt querelas suas.  
Thus, the usual Methods of entering upon the Grievances of the Clergy, were either upon an express Command from the Archbishop and Bishops, or by a general Representation thereof to their Lordships; who being in that manner solicited to redress them, (either by their own ordinary Power, or by Intercession with the King, or Application to the Parliament) were the best Judges of the Methods most proper to be taken for that End, and gave their Directions accordingly.  

The Redress of Grievances.  The Grievances being reduced into Articles, and read in the Upper-house by the Prolocutor, were presented to the Archbishop and Bishops, to be by them particularly considered and debated; in order to their further Prosecution of such Measures as should appear most effectual to the Relief of their Clergy. After mature Deliberation upon them, with the Clergy, or among themselves, as seemed most convenient; the Articles were either suspended for some time, (as those in 1411. Dec. 7. Omnes isti suprascripti Articuli, quorum Reformatio deliberationis & dierum exegit Inducias, de consilio & assensu expressis Dominorum in Convocatione praesentium posit● fuerunt adhuc in suspenso) or, being thought in all Respects just and reasonable, they were approved, and Measures taken by the Precedent and Bishops in Convocation, or by their Ordinary Authority; if the Matters were such as came under their own Power in either of these Capacities. Otherwise, they conveyed them to the King, in Person, in his Council, or in his Parliament, according to the Nature of the Requests they offered.  

The Reformanda frequently proposed by the Arch bishop among the Causes of Convocation.  II. The Reformanda (whether in Convocatione, in Parliamento, or per Regem) were upon Matters that concerned the Good of the Church and Religion in general, and being therefore equally the Care and Concern as well of Bishops as Clergy, were frequently moved and proposed by the Archbishop, at the Opening of the Convocation, among the Causes of his Summons.  
Anno 1400. Jan. 29. The Archbishop explains Causas & negotia Celebrationis sui Concilij Provincialis Convocationis Cleri vulgariter nuncupat. viz. pro defectibus ejusdem Provinciae tam in Clero quàm in Populo juxta Juris Exigentiam Canonicè Reformandis; and then he descends to the Particulars.  
Anno 1404. May 17. (The first Day of Business) the Archbishop continuing the Convocation to May 21. demandavit alijs Praelatis & Clero tunc ibidem praesentibus, quòd singulis diebus interim ad dictum locum [Domum Capitularem] convenirent, & laborarent circa Reformanda in Cantuariensi Provinciâ, & exinde Articulos conciperent in Scriptis redigendos, ut cum Dei adjutorio adhibita corum Benevolentia in hac parte, quaeque Reformanda hujusmodi possent reformari.  
Anno 1416. Nou. 16.— Expositâ per Reverendissimum Patrem Causa Convocationis eorum protunc factae & celebratae, communicató que inter eosdem, [viz. the Bishops and Clergy then present] aliquamdiu de & super varijs Reformandis in Provincia, tandem Dominus Continuavit, etc.  
Anno 1419. Among the Causes of calling the Convocation, particularly explained by the Archbishop, the third is, Pro defectibus in Clero regnantibus, auctoritate illius Provincialis Concilij reformandis: And then he directs the Lower-Clergy to retire to their House, & quòd ibidem de & super materijs praedictis tractarent & communicarent, ad finem quòd babitd deliberatione de & super praemissis, ad Dei laudem auctoritate Concilij finaliter concludi posset & concorditer ordinari.  
Anno 1434. The Archbishop reckons up several Grievances of the Church; Et tunc babita Communicatione super bujusmodi Gravaminibus, ordinatum erat tunc ibidem ut hujusmodi Gravamina ac alia quaecunque in quibus dictus Clerus se sentijt gravari, nec non si quae forent Crimina & Excessus infra Clerum usitat. quae necessariâ Reformatione indigerent, in Scriptis redigerentur; ut super his omnibus ex communi consilio, consensu, & auxilio, Remendium posset debitum adhiberi.  
Anno 1439. The Archbishop declares the Causes of the Convocation, viz. qualiter Jurisdictio Ecclesiastica per Brevia Regia, & praecipuè per Brevia illa de Praemunire facias plus solito extitit perturbata, impedita, atque enormiter laesa.— Qualiter Personae Ecclesiasticae, tam Seculares quàm Regulares, per falsa Indictamenta & alias vias Exquisitas plus solito vexatae & grava●ae sunt his diebus.— And the next Sesson, Dominus mandavit Praelatis & Clero, quartenùs super praemissis & alijs materijs quibuscunque Reformatione recessaria indigentibus, viz. Qualiter illud Breve de Praemunire facias, & ipsa falsa Indictamenta quae hodiernis diebus falsò, nequiter, & malitiosè usitantur & continuantur, in aliquo mitigari aut pro perpetuo deleri & finaliter extingui valeant— & Billas' & alia Advisamenta in hac parte necessaria ad praemissa Reformanda conciperent.  
Anno 1444. After the mention of the foresaid Writ among the Causes of Convocation, the Archbishop adds, Qualiter in Ecclesiâ Anglicana fuerant plurima Reformatione digna, de quibus voluit & asseruit cum Confratribus suis pleniùs deliberare.— And in the next Convocation (when these things made a part of the Speech at the first Opening) we afterwards find the Reformanda in Convocatione, and Reformanda in Parliamento, at large.  

The Methods of bringing in the Reformanda.  In Compliance with such general Directions from his Grace, or (tho' these were not expressly given) in pursuance of one great End of these Synodical Meetings of the Bishops and their Presbyters; we find the Lower-Clergy, 1. Making general Representations to the Precedent and Bishops, viuâ voce, of such things as they conceived to want Reformation. 2. Bringing in Schedules of particular Abuses, that in their Opinion were injurious to the Honour and Interest of the Church.  

The Clergies Right to propose Reformations.  I. The Clergy in Convocation have a Right to offer general Representations of such things as they conceive to want Reformation.  
Anno 1412. At the Conclusion of that Convocation, Domino London. Praesidente, & tradante cum Praelatis & Clero Provinciae super quibusdam ordinand. ad honorem Dei & Ecclesiae, tandem certa proposita fuerunt pro parte Cleri super quibus ordinationes fieri jubebantur, & quae Clerus in Scriptis redegit.  
Anno 1463. Jul. 6. Dominus, assidentibus sibi Episcopis, post communicationem inter eos diu habitam, factáque Supplicatione eisdem vivae vocis oraculo per Praelocutorem pro certis Reformationibus in Ecclesiá habendis, continuavit, etc.  
Anno 1486. Feb. 17. Dominus communicavit cum Confratribus suis, Praelatisque & Clero, de pluribus Reformandis in Ecclesiâ. Et ibidem inter eosdem responsum erat, quòd Privilegia Priori Sancti Johannis Jerusalem in Angliâ & Fratribus suis concessa, malè & enormiter his diebus utebantur: Et quòd Praedicantes verbum Dei apud Crucem S. Pauli London. maximè clamant contra Ecclesiam & Ecclesiasticos in eorum absentiâ & in praesentiâ Laicorum, qui semper Clericis sunt infesti.  
Anno 1529. Sess. 4. Ingressus est Prolocutor cum quibusdam de Clero, qui exposuit certa Capitula in vulgari concernen. utilitatem praedictae Synodi pro Reformatione Abusionum. Et ibi Reverendus monuit Prolocutorem ut rediret in Domum Inferiorem, & conciperet Articulos de Abusionibus. Accordingly,  
— Sess. 6. Ingressus est Prolocutor cum Clero, & ibi exhibuerunt Articulos suos pro Reformatione; & Examinatio delata in prox. Sessionem: And, Sess. 7. Prolocutor exhibuit suos Articulos, deliberandos in proximâ Sessione.  
The Bishops, etc. in the mean time, were also preparing their Articles of Reformation; for so the Register has it,  
— Sess. 5. Reverendissimus voluit ut Suffraganei sui & alijt Praelati conciperent Reformationem, & exhiberent tales Articulos die Lunae prox.— On which Day,  
Sess. 6. Episcopus Heref. exhibuit quosdam Articulos pro Reformatione Clericorum, & Episcopi Exon. Coven. & Lichf. Lincoln. Bathon. & Wellen. exehibuerunt Billas pro Reformatione Abusionum Ecclesiarum Appropriatarum Monasteriis, etc. de quibus deliberatio delata in prox. Sessionem.  
Anno 1562. Jan. 19 The Prolocutor, with certain of the Lower House, comes up to acquaint the Precedent and Bishops, Quòd quidam de dictâ domo exhibuerunt quasdam diversas Schedas de Rebus Reformandis per eos respective excogitat ' & in Scriptis redact. Quae quidem Schedae de communi consensu traditae sunt quibusdam viris gravioribus & doctioribus de Coetu dictae Domûs Inferioris ad hoc electis perspiciend. & considerand. Quibus sic electis (ut asseruit) assignatum est, ut hujusmodi Schedas in Capitula redigant, ac in proxima Sessione exhibeant coram eodem Prolocutore— Et tunc Reverendissimus hujusmodi negotia per dictum Prolocutorem & Clerum incaepta approbavit, ac in eisdem erga prox. Sessionem juxta corum determinationem procedere voluit & mandavit.  

The Clergies Right to bring in Schedules of Reformation.  II. We find the Clergy (i. e. every particular Clergyman) required to bring in their Schedule of Abuses for the information of the Synod, and the enabling the Bishops and Clergy to proceed jointly to a Reformation.  
Anno 1586. Sess. 2. Lower House Book. Post aliquem tractatum inter Reverendos Patres & Dominum Prolocutorem, cum alijs ex Inferiori Coetu, de rebus quibusdam necessarijs, dictus Dominus Prolocutor cum Coetu suo praedicto in dictam Inferiorem Domum revertebatur: And after the House was settled in the accustomed manner, Habita est per Dominum Prolocutorem Admonitio omnibus ex hoc Coetu, etc. ut si qui sint qui aliquas Schedulas proffer vellent de rebus in hujusmodi Convocatione Reformandis, easdem sibi traderent in proximâ Sessione.  
Anno 1586. Sess. 7. (In the Extracts out of the Upper House Journal) Archbishop gives Intimation at a Conference with the Lower House, to Present if any had ' Ordained or Instituted any unworthy Persons, or of any breach of the Canons, that it may be Reform.  
1586. Dec. 2. Extracts out of the Upper House Journal— ' Brought up by the Lower House 2 Schedules: 1. A complaint of Disorders in Norwich Diocese. 2. Another Schedule, entitled Suffolk-Archdeaconry.  
Anno 1586. Sess. 11. Lower House Book: Precibus finitis [Prolocutor] adiit Reverendissimum Patrem & caeteros Praelatos; & paulò pòst revertens, intimavit omnibus praesentibus consultum esse per eosdem Reverendissimum Patrem & Praelatos de Reformatione fiendâ quoad Schedulas eidem Reverendissimo ac Domino Prolocutori exhibitas. Et quòd conventum est inter dictos Reverendissimum & Praelatos de Exercitiis fiend. per Ministros infra Prov. Cant. Et quòd ijdem Reverendi Patres, cum redierint in Dioeceses suas, ordinem corundem significabunt omnibus quibus interest in hac parte.  
Anno 1588. Sess. 2. Lower House Book: Dominus Prolocutor universo Coetui significavit, Voluntatem Reverendissimi caeterorumque Praelatorum esse, quòd si aliquis hujus Domûs noverit quenquam Ministrum de quo justè conqueri possit, quòd contra Leges Ecclesiasticas nunc temporis auctori.tate legitimâ receptas & approbatas se gessit & gérit; aut si aliquis noverit quenquam qui Canenes in ultimâ Convocatione approbatos & ed●…●…iolaverit, eosdem in Scriptis denunciarent Reverendissimo Domino Cant. Archiepiscopo, caeterisque Dominis Praelatis praedict. pro debitâ Correctione & Reformatione in eâ parte faciend. Accordingly,  
The next Session, we find this Intimation of such a Schedule brought in: Isto die porrecta fuit Domino Prolocutori Schedula Reformand. per M. Coton.  

Inferences from the foregoing Accounts.  From the foregoing Passages, I infer this plain account of the Reformanda in Convocation. While the Archbishop and Bishops are supposed to be consulting in the Upper House whether any Regulations in the Church or in their particular Diocese, be necessary at that time; The Clergy in the Lower House (who are supposed to be Eye-witnesses of many things that don't ordinarily reach the notice of their Diocesan) have a right, either jointly or separately, to lay before their Lordships an account of any disorderly Persons or Practices they know: And this, either viuâ voce, by the Prolocutor, or in Schedules put into the Prolocutor's hands, in order to be severally laid before the Archbishop and Bishops, and to be compared and jointly considered with those of the same kind exhibited by their Lordships. These Reformanda, in many cases, could require no more than the strict Exercise of the Ordinary Jurisdiction in in every Diocese, and were therefore answered by a solemn Recommendation of them to the care of the Bishops respectively. But if the Abuses called for a new Law, and the Reformation of them required the assistance of the Prince or the Parliament, these Schedules were reduced into Articles, and upon them (as containing the general sense and request of the Synod) such Solicitations were set a foot, as were judged necessary to bring about the Reformation desired.  

The Care of the Reformanda in Parliamento usually left to the Archbishop, etc.  The Applications upon the Reformanda in Parliamento were usually left to the care of the Archbishop, Bishops, and the Parliamentary Prelates; one instance whereof I will set down at large, because it is more distinct and particular than the rest, and will give the Reader a clear apprehension of this matter.  
Anno 1452. Mar. 3. Quia caetera Negotia quae in Ecclesiâ Anglicanâ Reformatione indigebant, Majestatem Regiam & Jura regni concernebant, & sic definitioni & Sententiae dicti Concilii nequaquam interim subjacebant; supplicatum fuerat ex parte Cleri, quatenus dictus Reverendssimus in Christo Pater, necnon dicti Reverendi in Christo Patres, caeterique Praelati ad tunc ibidem existentes in Parliamento, quod tunc in prox. diebus apud Rading inchoand. fuerat, apud Regiam Celsiudinem, necnon Optimates, Proceres & Communitatem praedict. regni in codem Parliamento in unum congregando; pro Reformatione hujusmodi ritè faciend. efficaciter instarent. Cujus Supplicationi annuit idem Reverendissimus in Christo Pater, Reverendique in Christo Batres, promittentes sc curaturos & acturos apud Regiam Celsitudinem, necnon Optimates, Proceres, Communitatemque praedict. quoad in cis foret, pro felici cita & celeri Reformatione eorundem, sicut & in Parliamento praedict. pro viribus suis pro eadem Reformatione instarunt.  

Deputies appointed by Convocation to assist the Bishops in Soliciting.  On some other occasions, we find a certain number of the Clergy, deputed by Convocation, to assist the Precedent and Bishops in soliciting their business.  
Anno 1444. Octo. 22. The Clergy are directed, quatenùs pro corrigend. & reformand. etc. inter se deliberarent— Oct. 26. Clerus Domûs Inferioris desiderabat ab Episcopis & aliis Praelatis sentire suum super Cedulâ de Reformand. in ipsâ Convocatione per Clerum concept. & ad tunc Dominus Bathon [Commissarius] the Consensù Confratrum suorum Religiosorum & caeterorum Procuratorum Cleri, manu suâ proprlâ subscripsit singulos Articulos in eadem Cedulâ contentos.— Et quantum ad Reformanda per Parliamentum, nominati in dicta Cedulâ fuerunt Deputati ad solicitand. dictam Materiam.  
Anno 1452. Mar. 15. Assignatis insuper quibusdam de Clero, viz. Magistris, etc. ad sollicitandum, instruendum, & pleniùs informandum Reverendissimum in Christo Patrem, Reverendos in Christo Patres, caeterosque Praelatos, in & desuper dictis Materiis & negotiis in Parliamento in proximis diebus inchoand. corrigend. & Reformand.  
Anno 1460. The last day of Convocation, Pluribus Articulis lectis & recitatis, ad Supplicationem totius Cleri, Reverendissimus Pater aliique Reverendi Patres se penes Regiam Majestatem pro Reformatione eorundem promiserunt suos impendere labores. Deinde, certi Viri ex clero electi fuerunt, qui dictûm Reverendissimum Patrem & alios Reverendos Patres ad praemissa facienda solicitarent.  
Thus much is sufficient, to show what part the Clergy in Convocation have always born, and may therefore justly claim, in Grievances and Reformation; distinguished in Convocationlanguage from all other Business, by the known Names of Articuli or Gravamina Cleri and Reformanda. Their Petitions and Applications of other kinds, come next under Consideration.   

CHAP. XIII.  
The Clergy's Petitions of other kinds.  
THE Clergy in Convocation have a Right not only to the Redress of their own particular Grievances, or to interpose of the Reformation for any disorders they may observe in the Church; but also to offer to the Archbishop and Bishops all such Measures as may in their Opinion tend to the honour and interest of Religion. This is regularly done by way of Petition; of which the Registers afford us a Variety, upon several matters and occasions: And my design in the following Enumeration is not (on the one hand) to lay any confinement either upon the matter or occasions of the Clergy's Petitions, nor yet (on the other) to extend them beyond the present Laws of the Realm; but only (in pursuance of my method all along) to give the clearest Insight that the Registers afford, into the Practice of former times: And when that is done, every Man is left to his own application.  

Petitions  The Petitions I have observed, are,  

1. For making new Canons.  I. For the making of new Canons or Ordinations; of which sort we meet with none in the more early times, because then the Clergy had not concern in them: But in the Year 1529. Sess. 7. it is said that the Prolocutor (applying himself to the Upper House) voluit ut Ordinatio fieret de Appropriationibus Ecclesiarum, & de Pensionibus Vicariis persolvendis.— Anno 1541. Sess. 20. Clerus exposuit iv. Petitiones, primò de legibus Ecclesiasticis condendis— 3º de uniendis per jus Beneficiis. 4ᵒ. De Decimis solvendis.  

2. For the revival of old Canons  2. For the revival of such ancient Canons and Constitutions, as were in force, but seemed to be disused and forgotten: So, Anno 1412. Sess. 2. we meet with an Address at large from the Clergy to the Bishops, praying their Lordships to en force the Observation of certain Constitutions.— Anno 1419. The last day of the Convocation, Dominus, ad petitionem Cleri, quandam Constitutionem Provincialem per Rob. Wynchelse Praedecessorem suum editam, qua sic incipit, Capellani Stipendiarij, etc. cum omnibus suis Capitulis, verbis, clausulis & dictionibus in eadem, ad totam Provinciam suam Cantuariensem extendi & omnes artari debere, ex consensu Fratrum suorum & autoritate totius Concilij, declaravit & pronunciavit.  

3. For the Abolition or Suspension of Laws.  3. For the Abolition or Suspension of Laws or Customs that appeared to be burdensome or inconvenient.  
— Anno 1428. The last day of Convocation: Dominus ex assensu Confratrum suorum, & ad Petitionem Cleri, poenam in Constitutione propter excessiva Stipendia Capellanorum, tam contra dantes quam recipientes latam, pro parte dantium suspendit usque ad proximam Convocationem, & ipsos hujusmodi poenâ minimè involutos fore decrevit:— Anno 1529. Sess. 91. Prolocutor intrans, etc. perijt quòd praesentati ad Ecclesiastica Beneficia non arctentar per Diecesanos scripto aliquo obligatorio aut poenâ temporali obligari ad Resi ientiam.— Anno 1541. Sess. 20. Clerus exposuit Pe●…ionem de Conjugies sactis in Bethlem abolendis— Anno 1555. Sess. 3. The Clergy grant a Subsidy; & illie expoluit Clerus tres Petitiones; primùm, quòd omnes Beneficati qui spe Remissionis primorum fructuum ex communi rumore Sacerdotia assecuti sunt, non obligentur rependere duplos, etc. 2 do, ut possint Diplomata Apostolica pro Sacerdotiis retinend. assequi: postremò, quòd Statutum tollatur pro Decimis solvendis, etc. & quòd Decimarum Causae emergentes coram Ordinatio examinentur & decidantur.  

4. About Festivals.  4. For the appointment of new Festivals, or improving the Services of the old.— Anno 1434. Oct. 9 Dominus (ex consensu Confratrum suorum, & ad Petitionem Cleri) ordained that St. Frideswide's Day, cum novem lectionibus & aliis quae ad hujusmodi Festum cum Regimine Chori secundum usum Sarum pertinent, per totam Provinciam suam perpetuò celebraretur.— Anno 1444. Oct. 24. Magister Willelmus Byconil Offic. Curiae Cant. totius Cleri Praelocutor, Supplicabat Domino ex parte Cleri, ut dies Translationis S. Edwardi, etc. sub duplici Festo per suam Provinciam solempnizari posset, de Confratrum suorum consensu, concedere dignaretur.  

5. For the Archbishop's intercession with the King.  5. For the Archbishop's Intercession with the King, to restrain the Lay Officers from oppressing the Church; or to pray their assistance in the Enforcement of Ecclesiastical Laws— Anno 1394. Supplicatio Cleri, directed to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York, Chancellor of England, that, for the Suppression of Lollardy, they will intercede with the King, ut dignetur extendere cum effectu brachium suae Majestatis.— Anno 1463. Jul. 18. Petitum fuit per Magistrum Johannem Stocks Prolocutorem, à Domino, ut ipse Regiae Majestati scriberet pro liberatione certarum Personarum Ecclesiasticarum in Custodià laicali incarceratarum & custoditarum; ut secundum Cartam alias per Regem viris Ecclesiasticis concessam, suis Ordinariis possint liberari.— Anno 1480. Apr. 3. A Petition presented by the Prolocutor to the Archbishop and Bishops, praying them, in the name of the Clergy, to intercede with the King for Protection to the Church, against the encroachments of Lay-Officers, molesting and imprisoning the Clergy.  

6. For the Execution of Discipline.  6. For more strict Execution of Ecclesiastical Discipline: As, Anno 1586. March 15. (Extracts out of the Upper House Book) ' The Lower House beseech the Bishops to be careful of Ordinations, to restrain their Officers from Excessive Fees; and that they will force every Instituted Person within a certain time to take Induction, or else sequester the Profits?  

7. Petitions of several kinds.  7. In the Year 1555. I find at the end of the Journal, an Abstract of the Petitions offered by the Inferior Clergy to the Upper House.  
" Item, Supplication of the Lower House to the Bishops, concerning Spiritual Lands in Temporal men's hands.— Item, for Schools and Hospitals promised in the Statute of Suppression of Colleges.— Item, for Mortmayn, Tithes, Appropriations; of Preachers, of Books, of Statutes and Jurisdiction, against Heretics, of Pluralities, of Seminaries, of Liberties of the Church in Magna Charta, of Praemunire, of the Statute of Submission of the Clergy, of finding great Horses, of Usurers, of Violence against any of the Clergy, of Clarks Apparel, of Priests Married; of Schoolmasters, of exempt Jurisdiction and Peculiar Places in laymen's hands, of the Cognition of Causes of Tithes before the Mayor of London; that Places exempted, may be allotted to certain Priests,— of Chancels decayed, of Priests Marri●… to be reconciled, of Payment for Tithes, of Religious Women Married to be Divorced; that in Divorces innocent Women may enjoy the Lands and Goods which were theirs before the Marriage.  
" That Wardens of Churches may make their Accounts; that Ecclesiastical Persons which spoilt Churches, and plucked down certain Edifices, may be compelled to restitution, and to Build them again.  

Petitions of the Clergy presented immediately to the Upper House.  All Petitions of this nature were delivered to the Archbishop and Bishops, and rested with them; as those others to the King or Parliament, were put into the hands of the Archbishop, singly or jointly with his Suffragans; that after Approbation, they might by their Lordships be conveyed and solicited according to the Intent and Tenor thereof. Nor do I remember to have met with any Petition in the Registers, delivered separately, or immediately by the Clergy themselves, except that one in 1588. Sess. 10. to the House of Lords. The Commons had sent up a Bill for a provision of Arms, etc. by the Clergy; it was therefore the single and immediate concern of the Lower House to prevent it; in order to which, they Addressed the Lords in Parliament, as in a matter of Property; and among the rest, the Petition was directed to the Archbishop and Bishops. Upon which Accounts, it cannot be extended to other Cases of an Ecclesiastical Nature, in all which the Bishops and their Clergy must be jointly concerned.  

The time of presenting such Petitions.  The time of the Clergies presenting their Petions to the Upper House, whether Viuâ voce or in Scriptis, was usually upon Delivery of their Grant, and at the end of Convocation. Not any but they had the same Right to offer them any other time, tho' no Supplies were given; but that being the most desirable opportunity of conveying their Grievances to the King, became thereupon the ordinary time of bringing in their Petitions of all other kinds.   

CHAP. XIV.  
The Part which the Clergy have had in Judicial Cases.  
THE ordinary way of Trying and Convicting Heretics and Offenders against the Canons, was in the Ecclesiastical Courts of every Diocese; where they proceeded according to the stated Rules of such Courts, and the severe Canons and Statutes then in force. But if the Bishop, upon Examination, did not see cause to deliver over the Party accused to the Secular Power, either the Degree or Evidence of the Crime falling short; the Suspicion was however reckoned a sufficient Cause of Imprisonment: That if he had not abjured in Form, he might by that means be compelled to it; or if he had, that he might not be trusted abroad till he had given sufficient Proofs of the Sincerity of his Recantation. In Cases of this kind, the Person was frequently brought before the next Convocation; especially such as had relapsed after an Abjuration of their Errors, according to the Language and corrupt Opinions of those Times. The whole Process in the Interior Courts, was returned into the Archbishop's, to be deposited there against the next Convocation; and when that came, the Person was produced, and a Relation of the former Prosecutions publicly given, either by the Archbishop or the Diocesan.  

Constitution for bringing Heretics before the Convocation.  This was the ordinary Practice, long before that Establishment of it by a Constitution under Archbishop Chichle, Anno 1416. part of which I will here transcribe, because it shows the manner and end of bringing Persons (examined already in the Bishop's Courts) before the whole Body of the Clergy in Convocation. After a general Direction to the several Bishops, Archdeacon's, &c. to be diligent in the Discovery and Prosecution of Heretics: Et si quas personas convictas forsan Curiae Seculari non reliquant, ipsos ad carceres perpetuos sive temporales, prout rei qualitas exegerit, ad minus usque ad prox. Praelatorum & Cleri Cantuariensis Provinciae Convocationem duratur. realiter committant, & in eisdem secundum Juris exigentiam servari faciant, ac de omnibus & singulis supradictis, quomodo, viz. inquisierunt, reperierunt, ac in Processibus se habuerunt personas hujusmodi convictas, diligentiaque aut negligentijs Archidiaconorum sive Commissariorum praedictorum, alijsque omnibus & singulis circumstantijs praemissis quomodolibet concernen. ac praesertim de Abjurationibus, si quos interim haerses abjurare contingat, in prox. Praelatorum & Cleri Convocatione sub forma publica distinct & aperte Nos & Successores nostros certificare curent, & eosdem Processus Officiali Curiae nostrae Cant. effectualiter liberent, penes eundem seu in Registrario Curiae nostrae Cant. remansur. sic videlicet quòd quemlibet cujus interest pro executione ulteriori corundem Processuum, ad eundem Officialem recur. habere poterit cum effectu.  
Such was the Method of those Times; 
Heretics brought before the Archbishop, Bishops and Clergy.  but that which I am chief to consider, is, the Judicature in Convocation; and this was usually the Archbishop, Bishops and Clergy in a Body; before whom the Party accused is generally said to be brought: Coram Reverendissimo, Confratribus suis, & Clero, in Concilio congregatis, adductus fuit, or words to the same effect, is the ordinary Language of the Registers in those Cases: 
Sentence in all their Names.  And the Sentence, running in the name of the Archbishop, is passed, auctoritate, de consilio & assensu, etc. Praelatorum & Cleri: The Instances of both kinds are too numerous to be particularly set down; nor can they be overlookt by any one, who shall cast an Eye upon the Convocation-Acts of those times when such Prosecutions happened.  
'Tis true, they are sometimes said to be produced Coram Domino & Confratribus, without mention of the Clergy, or only praesente Clero, and in praesentiâ Cleri; in which Cases the Archbishop and Bishops might probably act as a pure Provincial Council; for into such we know they sometimes resolved themselves, upon the Opportunity of coming together in Convocation. But in the ordinary Style of the Registers, the Appearance is made before them, and the Sentence ordinarily pronounced by their Authority, in Conjunction with that of the Bishops; and therefore in those Days, and upon those Occasions, they were ordinarily at least, a part of the Judicature in Convocation. As to any Restraints in this Matter, that may have been laid upon the Convocation by subsequent Statutes, I don't pretend to give a Judgement of them; but only assert the Clergy's Rights by ancient Usage, to a share in the Judicature with the Archbishop and Bishops; supposing Cases of that nature to come actually before them.   

CHAP. XV.  
The Clergies Right of a Negative or Final Dissent from the Upper-House.  

The Original of the Clergies Negative.  THE greatest Power enjoyed by the English Clergy in a Provincial Synod, beyond the Presbyters of other Nations, is, a Negative upon the Metropolitan and Bishops, none of whose Resolutions, either in part or in whole, can be passed into Synodical-Acts without the previous Approbation of the Inferior Clergy. 'Tis very true (what we observed before) that it was a Civil Account which brought them by degrees into this Extraordinary Power in Ecclesiastical Affairs: Their Civil Property could not be disposed of, but by their own Consent; and this being the great Business of Convocation at the beginning, the Negative of the Clergy became an established Rule there; and so that Rule took place in Canons, Constitutions, and other Ecclesiastical Affairs, when these also (which before had solely belonged to a Synod of the Archbishop and Bishops) came to be considered and framed in Convocation.  

A Negative or final Dissent, an established Right of the English Clergy.  However, it is now an established Right of the Lower-house, and a part of the Constitution of this National Church: Nor is it my Design to dimi●…sh it, by the Observation I am about to add, That tho' the Clergy's Negative, as to Subfidies, was directly founded in that common Right of English Subjects, Not to be Taxed but by their own Consent; yet, under that Right, the Clergy of those Days preserved such a Sense of Duty to their Ecclesiastical Superiors, 
All Denials of the Clergy made with great Humility.  that all their Denials were made with great Humility, and often accompanied also with a Request to be excused for that time, and also with their particular Reasons, why they could not come up to the Desires of the Archbishop and his Brethren. For the granting of Subsidies was always proposed by the Precedent; upon which the Clergy were directed to retire, and Debate, and return their Answers to him and his Brethren. Generally they concurred with great Readiness; and when they dissented, they usually showed the Causes thereof with the utmost Humility.  
Anno 1356. 12 Kal. Jun. They excused themselves in a formal Address to the Archbishop and Bishops: Vobis Reverendis in Christo Patribus Dominis Die gratia Archiepiscopo Cant. vestrisque Suffraganeis ad celebrandum Concilium Provinc. juxta sacrorum instituta Canonum congregatis, supplicat humiliter & devotè Clerus Cant. Provinciae, quatenus pio sibi compatientes affectu, Rationes suas & Motiva infrà Scripta clementer auscultare dignemini, & eye in examine circumspectae discretionis vestrae diligentius ponderatis, Petitiones ejusdem Cleri admittere gratiose. [they offer several Reasons; and then conclude thus:] Placeat benignitati vestrae absque ulteriori onere hac vice Ecclesiae imponendo, ipsum Clerum, qui dicto Domino Regi semper devotus extitit & ipsum nunc in quantum potuit, ne deterioris conditionis existat quàm Communitos Laicorum, habere se libeat Excusatum, & praemissa pro plenâ & finali responsione Cleri admittere, ipsi quoque Clero assistere, & ipsum erga Dominum nostrum Regem in hac parte excusare.  
Anno 1424. Oct. 23. The Clergy being called upon for their Resolution, as to the Subsidy, gave in their Answer by W. Lyndewood, the Archbishop's Official, negatively; pleading the Poverty of the Clergy, and that the Live were reduced to a smaller value than formerly; & ideò humiliter petierant, se à concessione hujusmodi quacunque excusari.  
Anno eod. (After a Prorogation) Febr. 17. They excuse themselves again upon the poverty of the Clergy; quam ob rem ijdem Procuratores Domino & Confratríbus suis humiliter supplicarunt, quatenûs ipsi Dominus & Confratres sui Clerum praedictum à quacunque concessione hujusmodi protunc faciend. ex causis praeallegatis dignarentur habere pro illâ vice penitûs excusatum.  
Anno 1425. May 4. Among the Causes of the Convocation, explained by the Archbishop; the third, was a Subsidy: The Clergy retire, and in answer to that point, Supplicant, etc. ut consideratis oncribus & Subsidiis quae antehac saepe Supportarunt, haberent ipsum Clerum protunc omninò excusatum propter insufficientiam ejustem & paupertatem ex argument is diversis luculenter approbatam.  
And again, the same Year, Jun. 8. Clerus insufficientiam suam allegans & paupertatem, se de bujusmodi Subventione concedendâ eâ vice pro viribus instanter excusavit, & se protunc excusari petiit & humiliter Supplicavit.  
Dec. 11. 1433. Clerus allegavit certas causas rationabiles, quibus consideratis, deberent meritò à concessione Subsidii eo tempore excusari.  
Anno 1438. Oct.— The Clergy, urging among other things the great Dearth all over the Kingdom, per suum Prolocutorem Domino supplicarunt quatenùs eos ab aliquo Subsidio protunc concedondo haberet favor abiliter excusatos. And the like answer they returned the Saturday following, upon a Second Application made to them.  

These Applications, no prejudice to the Clergies Right of a Negative.  These Instances, as I said before, are not intended either to weaken the Clergies Right of a Negative, or to Suggest in particular, that they who were immediately concerned in those Cases, had not a legal Power of dissenting without either Reasons or Excuses: But by how much the greater liberty they were at, to descent without these; the Applications of this nature are so much the higher testimony of their Duty and Humility: They knew very well, that their Civil Property was by Law entirely in their own disposal; but yet they could not forget that their immediate concern was with their Ecclesiastical Superiors.  
Upon their Refusals in this dutiful Manner, they were sometimes moved to consider of a more favourable Answer; and however steadfast their Resolutions were not to comply, yet they did not refuse further Deliberation, which (when enjoined by their Metropolitan and Bishops) they knew to be a part of their Canonical Obedience. Nor could I ever find an Instance in all the Acts of Convocation, that did in the least countenance the late Notion of their general Negative upon the Upper House, as pleaded in express terms to excuse their Refusal of a Committee: 
Nar. p. ●….  We of the Lower House being a distinct House, and having power to descent from the Proposals of the Upper House, conceive ourselves entirely at liberty to admit or decline their Appointments of Committees, as we shall think fit. Before they made so large a Step towards an entire Independence, as a Negative in that extent would draw after it, methinks it might have been considered whether one Instance was to be met with (either before or since their Separation) from which they could fairly gather that the Lower Clergy had ever disobeyed the Upper House in the matter or method of their Deliberations, or ever attempted to carry their Right of a Negative beyond a power to hinder any business in Convocation from passing finally into a Synodical Act. This is their undoubted Right; but their further pretensions are as groundless in themselves, as they would be mischievous in their Effects, to the Constitution of our Episcopal Church.   

CHAP. XVI.  
The manner of Passing Business in Convocation.  
AFter any matter in Convocation has been duly considered, read, and agreed to by the Bishops and Clergy severally; the Prolocutor and the Inferior Clergy are sent for to the Upper House, and there it is passed into a Synodical Act.  

The manner of Consenting in the Lower House.  The manner of consenting and agreeing in the Lower House, is particularly expressed in the 10th Session of 1586. where the Prolocutor coming from the Upper House, puts the Ordinances for Collecting the Contribution, into the hands of the Actuary: He reads it; quo facto, Dominus Prolocutor interrogavit omnes supra nominates, an Decreta & Ordinationes hujusmodi sibi placerent, eosque rogavit quatenus eorum consensum & assensum eisdem, si eis ita videretur, praeberent. Et tunc omnes easdem Ordinationes in omnibus approbarunt, atque consensum & assensum suos, tam nominibus eorum propriis quàm nominibus omnium aliorum quorum Procuratores in hac parte respectiuè existunt, praebuerunt.  

The Circumstances of that Consent have been reported to the Upper House.  I know not whether the Lower House (who return the Instrument by the Prolocutor) did ever think themselves accountable to their Lordships for any Circumstances relating to their Consent, besides a general assurance by the Prolocutor that it is actually given. But I find, in the Year 1532. May 15. a Report was also made of the number and proportion of Votes. Intravit Prolocutor cum Clero, ubi Reverendissimus interrogabat, quid ipse sentiebat de quâdam Schedulâ sibi traditâ. Unde Prolocutor introduxit numerum affirmantium, numerum negantium & numerum Referentium, quantum ad tres Articulos praedictos. Again, in 1536. Sess. Ult. Prolocutor intravit Domum Capitularem, & praesentavit Reverendissimo Instrumentum continen. Sententiam Definitivam, quam dictus Prolocutor asseruit suisse per omnes Cleri Domûs Inferioris express approbatam.— Some Years before, Anno 1529. Sess. 29. when in the preceding Session the Clergy were directed to bring in their Opinions the Friday following about an Answer to a Petition presented by the House of Commons to the King; on the same Friday, the Answer was read in the Upper House: Et post introitum Prolocutoris rursum perlecta fuerunt responsa: tunc Reverendissimus interrogavit an ipsi consentirent, & conjentiere. But in 1533. not only a general Consent was given in the Upper House, but the Votes also in form, and the Names were praticularly entered in the Register thereof: So says the Abstract, Sess. 2. Quo die Reverendissimus convocavit Inferiorem Domum, ut audiret eorum Opiniones de Quaestione, viz. an ducere liceret uxorem cognitam à Fratre, etc. ubi (referring to the Original Book of the Upper House) exprimuntur Affirmantes, Negantes, & Dubitantes.  

All Instruments read publicly, and finally agreed to in the Upper House.  But however the Consent of the Clergy be given or signified; 'tis certain, that the Instrument after being engrossed, was always read publicly in the Upper House, before the Archbishop, Bishops and Clergy; and by them finally agreed to, either viuâ voce or by Subscription, according to the Nature of the business they passed. The light we have from the Registers, concerning the circumstances of passing business, is but small; but this distinction (I think) is visible enough, since the Reformation at least, That Articles, Canons, and Constitutions have been ever passed by Subscription; but Instruments of other kinds, (Bills of Subsidy, Synodical Letters, etc.) have been enacted, with the consent of the Bishops and Clergy, by the Hand or Seal of the Archbishop (which was properly the Sanction) and the Atrestation of one or more Public Notaries, of its being so Signed or Sealed, or both. To which purpose,  

The Sanction of the Metropolitan.  As to the Sanction of the Metropolitan; Anno 1408. Jan 15. we find this account of Passing the Powers granted by Convocation, to those whom they had just before Elected for the Council of Pisa. In quorum omnium & singulorum fidem & testimonium, praesentes literas aut praesens publicum Instrumentum exinde ficri, ac per Magistrum Johannem Perch, Notarium & Registrarium infra scriptum subscribi & publicari, ejusque Signi consueti appositione: Ac nos Thomas Archiepiscopus, Primas & Legatus antedictus, nostri privati sigilli aurci, ad personales & speciales rogatus omnium dictorum Episcoporum Suffraganeorum nostrorum, ac de expressis consensu & assensu totius Cleri dictae Provinciae, appensione, mandavimus & fecimus fideliter communiri.  
Anno 1557. Sess. 9 The Archbishop's Commissary Evocavit Prolocutorem & Clerum, ut Librum Concessionis Subsidii aliquâ ex parte correctum perlegi audirent; quo perlecto & diligenter ponderato, omnes tam Patres quàm Clerus contenti erant cum omnibus Clausulis, Conditionibus, & Provisionibus.— Tenor verò Instrumenti publici, de Subsidio praedicto confecti, de verbo in verbum illic sequitur, contestatum Subscriptione Thomae Sussex & Johannis Incent.  
Anno 1562. Febr. 24. surrogatum Prolocutoris (Prolocutore absent) & Clerum Domûs Inferioris ad se accersiri jusserunt, ac coram eis publice legi fecerunt Librum de Subsidio Dominae nostrae Reginae concesso in pergameno conscript. ac Sigillo dicti Reverendissimi Patris Sigillat. Cut quidem Libro sie perlecto, ac omnibus & singulis Concessionibus, conditionibus, & provisionibus in eodem mentionatis, sub modo & forma supra Specificatis, Dictus Clerus Inferioris Domûs consensum & assensum suos unanimiter adhibuerunt.  

Articles, Canons, etc. by Subscription.  2. Articles, Canons, and Constitutions, since the Reformation, have (so far as the Registers give any light) been ever passed in the Upper House by the joint Subscriptions of Archbishop, Bishops, and Clergy.  
Anno 1536. Sess. 5. Jul. 11. Episcopus Hereford. produxit quendam Libellum continentem Articulos Fidei & Ceremoniarum. Qui libellus inseritur ad longum. Quo lecto per eundem Episcopum, Honorandus Thomas Cromewell, Reverendissimus, & alii Praelati, Prolocutor, & Clerus Domûs Inferioris, eundem Libellum approbando Subscripserunt.  
Anno 1604. May 18. The Extracts out of the Upper House Journals say, ' The King's Letters with the Articles of 1562. to be by the Convocation approved and allowed— The said Articles read, and Subscribed by both Houses; and the Book so Subscribed, was kept by the Bishop of London, President.  
Anno 1640. Reverendissimus in praesentiis Domini Prolocutoris & totius Coetûs Domûs Inferioris, protulit Librum Canonum in bác Sacrâ Synodo tractat. continen. 17. Capitula Canonum. Quem Reverendissimus in manibus suis tenens cum Domino Prolocutore, alta & intelligibili voce legebat. Quo perlecto, Reverendissimus & Reverendi Patres, etc. ac Dominus Prolocutor & totus Coetus Domûs Inferioris antedictae isto die comparen. nominibus suis & aliorum pro quibus constituti sunt, consensum & assensum suos eisdem Canonibus proestiterunt, & eorum nomina manibus suis propriis eisdem respectiuè Subscripserunt.  
Anno 1661. Dec. 19 Dominus Episcopus London Praesidens, cum Confratribus suis praed '. pro tribunali sedebant, & habito tractatu inter eos de Forma Subscriptionis Libro Publicarum Precum per eos faciend. tandem idem Reverendus Pater Dominus Episcopus & Praesidens antedictus, de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum praed '. commisit curam & considerationem concipiendi dictam Formam Reverendis in Christo Patribus, etc. Posteà, nempe inter boras secundam & quartam post meridiem ejusdem diei, Reverendi Viri Dominus Johannes Dunelmen. & Humfridus Sarum respectiuè Episcopi unà cum dictis respectiuè Cancellar & Vicarris in Spiritualibus generalibus praed. apud Officium Registrarii Principalis D. Arch. Cant. intra Parochiam S. Gregorii London. sit '. convenerunt, & in praesentiis mei Willelmi Fisher & Francisci Mundy Notariorum respectiuè publicorum, inspectis priùs nonnullis Recordis & Libris antiquis & Archivis ibidem remanen. & fideliter custodit. dieti Reverendi patres formam Subscriptionis Libro publicarum Precum faciend. unanimi consensu & assensu conceperunt & desuper concordârunt.  
— Anno eod. Dec. 20. Reverendus Pater Dominus Episcopus London, [Praesidens] etc. una cum Confratribus suis secum assiden '. pro Tribunali sedebat, & Librum Precum Publicarum, Administrations Sacramentorum, aliorumque Rituum Ecclesiae Anglicanae, unà cum Forma & Modo Ordinand. & Consecrand. Episcopos, Presbyteros, Diaconos, juxta literas Regiae Majestatis eye in hâc parte directas revisum, &  
paginas continen. & per Reverendissimum in Christo Patrem & Dominum Dominum Gulielmum Providentiâ Divinâ Cant. Archiepiscopum totius Anglia Primatem & Metropolitanum priùs redact. receipt '. approbat '. & subscript '. Episcopi ejusdem Provinciae in bac Provinciali Synodo legitime congregat '. unanimi assensu & consensu in formam redegerunt, receperunt & approbarunt, eisdemque subscripserunt: Et posteà omnes Episcopi praed. tunc praesen. & congregat '. exceptis Reverendis Patribus Oxon, Assaphen & Landaven. Ep. ad Domum Parliamenti sese contulerunt, & dictos respectiuè Episcopos in dicta Domo Convocationis reliquer. ad vidend. Clerum Inferioris Domus Convocationis dicto Libro subscribere.  
Thus the several sorts of Business in Convocation, however differently passed in some respects, agree in this, That the Inferior Clergy are sent for to the Upper-House, and there the whole Convocation (the Metropolitan, Bishops, and Presbyters, in a Body) give their final Consent.  

Why Articles, Cations, etc. pass now by Subscription.  The Method of Passing Canons and Constitutions before the Statute (25. H. 8. c. 19) was the same that has ever been practised in Synodical Meetings, viz. by the Authority of the Synod, and with the Sanction of the Metropolitan; and these two gave them their full Force and Effect. But now they are framed in order to be laid before the Prince, as agreed on by the Archbishop, Bishops, and Clergy; and none to be of any Force, Effect, or Validity in Law, but only such and so many of them, as he, by his Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England, shall allow, approve, and confirm. This is the Language of the Royal Licence, the Necessity whereof, in order to make, promulge, and execute Canons, etc. is an Abridgement of the Ecclesiastical Power in these Respects; and therefore the ancient Sanction (which always signified a final Authority) could not be continued in any Matters, which were not to be promulged or executed without the Allowance, Approbation and Confirmation of the King by his Letters Patents under the Great Seal of England. But all Synodical-Acts, to which the Royal Licence is not necessary, receive their final Authority from the Sanction of the Metropolitan; i. e. they still pass in the ancient Canonical way; whatever some late Writers, too much bend upon the Diminution of Ecclesiastical Power, may suggest to the contrary.   

CHAP. XVII.  
Of Proroguing and Dissolving a Convocation.  
AS the Archbishop, upon receiving the Royal Writ for Calling a Convocation, is bound by Law, and agreeably to the Deference that has been ever paid to Christian Princes, to exert his Summoning Authority; so is he under the same Obligation to proceed to Prorogations and Dissolutions thereof, in a Canonical way, when the Pleasure of the Prince shall be signified by Royal Writs to those Purposes.  
For how little Truth there is in the late Notion, That the Archbishop, in those Cases, acts purely in a Ministerial way, may appear by a Comparison of the Methods of Executing those Commands in Parliament and Convocation. 
The manner of the A. bishop's Proroguing and Dissolving Authoritative  For the the first (the Prorogation of a Parliament) the King, by his Letters Patents, constitutes such of the Nobility as he thinks fit, his Commissioners for that end, Dantes vobis, tenore praesentium, plenam potestatem, facultatem & authoritatem, etc. ad praesens Parliamentum nostrum nomine nostro prorogand. etc. In the same Style is the Commission for Dissolving, as oft as his Majesty is not present in Person: A Style that is truly and evidently Ministerial.  
But the Writs for doing the same things in Convocation, can be directed to none but the Metropolitan himself, and that without any Conveyance of Authority, or Order to act in his Majesty's Name, or any other Direction besides the Proroguing or Dissolving it according to the accustomed Methods of Convocation: Debito modo prorogetis; and Dissolvetis seu dissolvi faciatis. In pursuance of which Order, the Archbishop Prorogues and Dissolves, either in Person, or by one or more Commissioners, specially constituted by his Grace for those Purposes.  

The Archbishop's Admonitions immediately before a Proragation or Dissolution.  Immediately before a Prorogation or Dissolution, we find the Archbishop (as he saw occasion) publicly recommending to the Bishops and Clergy the due Execution of the Ecclesiastical Laws, and the Reformation of any particular Abuses and Irregularities in the Church.  
Anno 1428. Ulteriúsque rogavit, hortatus est, & requisivit Reverendissimus Pater & Dominus praedictus praefatos Confratres suos, ut in inquisitione fienda contra Lollardoes & Haereticos hujusmodi diligentiam interim omnimodam quam poterant adhiberent, & cù●… revenerint, quid contra eos fecerint, ipsum pleniùs certificarent; & specialiter de illis quorum momina sibi detecta dictis Confratribus suis prout unumquemque in Dioc. suâ concernebant in Cedulis divisis conscripta circa tres Dies antea tradidit & liberavit.  
Anno 1601. Sess. 18. The Extracts out of the Upper-house Books have this Note immediately before the Dissolution: Archbishop exhorts the Bishops to be diligent in their Charge, and careful to observe the Canons in the last Convocation.  
Anno 1586. The Lower-house Book, immediately before the Dissolution: Revere●dissimus Pater Dominus Cant. querelatus est de prauâ & immoderatâ luxuriâ ac minus verecundo gestu ac morum intemperie nonnullorum Clericorum Provinciae Cant. ad fora & loca publica concurrentium. Quare monuit Decanos, Archidiaconos, & alios jam praesentes, ad quos Correctio delinquentium hujusmodi pertinet, ad severè procedend. & puniend. obnoxios & culpahiles, & si incorrigibiles perseveraverint, ad implorand. auxilium & opem Episcopi Diocesani, vel ipsius Reverendissimi Patris, vel etiam ipsius Serenissimae Dominae nostrae Reginae, ne actionum & morum pravitas istorum obnubilet & obscuret Dectrinam Evangelii quod verbis profitentur, quo pluribus perniciosum siet pessimum eorum exemplum.  

The Writs of Prorogation and Dissolution  On the Day of Prorogation or Dissolution, the Royal Writ is produced, and publicly read: But that being only a Direction to the Archbishop, to Prorogue or Dissolve; neither of these are effected by that Publication of the Writ. On the contrary, the very first Writ of Prorogation we meet with (Anno 1532. May 15.) was read in the Morning, (Reverendissimus ostendebat quoddam Breve Regium sibi directum pro Prorogatione hujusmodi Convocationis: Quod Breve idem Reverendissimus publicè legebat;) and yet the Convocation sat till Noon; and after Dinner, met again.— So also, Anno 1434. March 31. The Writ of Prorogation was brought in, and read; and afterwards the Resolutions of the Lower-Clergy, touching the Pope's Supremacy, were delivered; and then the Archbishop is said to Continue to the Day specified in the Writ.  
For so is the Practice of Convocation: The Pleasure of the Prince is signified to the Archbishop by the Writ; but his Grace pursues that Royal Order by a ●ormal Declaration out of a Schedule, mentioning indeed the Royal Writ, but running solely in the Archbishop's Name, and by him pronounced in presence of the Bishops and Clergy.  
The Authors therefore of some late Schemes have done a manifest Injustice to the Constitution of our Protestant Church, in contending, against Law and Practice, that the Reformation put an end to the ancient Canonical Ways of transacting Ecclesiastical Matters, and introduced a new Model, inconsistent with the Primitive Distinctions between Presbyters and Bishops, and unknown before, either to this or any other Episcopal Church.  
The foregoing Chapters, I hope, may vindicate our Reformation from the late Aspersions of that kind; as well as the Ecclesiastical Government thereof, from any such Repugnancy to the Primitive Rules; and may withal make it more easily understood, whether they who have carried on those new Measures, or they who have opposed them, are the truer Friends to the Rights, Liberties and Honour of our Reformed Church.   
FINIS.   

APPENDIX,  

Continens  

I. Acta in Superiore Domo Convocationis incoept. Anno MDLXII. in conficiendo XXXIX Articulos Religionis; Praeside Reverendissimo Patre Matthaeo Parker, Archiep. Cant. Sub jungitur Forma sive descriptio Convocationis.  
II. Acta in Superiore Domo Convocationis incoept. Apr. 14. MDCXL. in Canonibus conficiendis; Praeside Reverendissimo Patre Galielmo Laud, Archiep. Cant.  
III. Acta in Superiore Domo Convocationis incoept. Ann. MDCLXI. in Revisione Libri Precum Publicarum; Praeside Reverendo Patre Gilberto Sheldon Ep. London, Vice Reverendissimi Patris Gulielmi Juxon Archiep. Cant.  
iv Acta in Inferiore Domo Convocationum celebrat. Ann. MDLXXXVI. & MDLXXXVIII. Praeside Reverendissimo Patre Johanne Whitgift, Archiep. Cant.    


Convocatio Praelatorum & Cleri Cantuariensis Provinciae, inchoata in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Divi Pauli London, authoritate Brevis Regij Reverendissimo in Christo Patri & Domino, Domino Matthaeo, permissione divinâ Cantuariensi Archepiscopo, totius Angliae Primati & Metropolitano in hac parte directi, duodecimo die Mensis Januarij, Anno Domini juxta computationem Ecclesiae Anglicanae Millesimo, Quingentesimo, Sexagesimo Secundo, Regnique felicissimae, illustrissimaeque in Christo Principis & Dominae nostrae Dominae Elizabeth, Dei gratia Angliae, Franciae & Hiberniae Reginae, Fidei Defensoris, etc. Anno quinto: Et Consecrationis ipsius Reverendissimi Patris Anno quarto. UNdecimo die Mensis Januarij, Anno Domini juxta computationem Ecclesiae Anglicanae Millesimo Quingentesimo Sexagesimo Secundo,  
in quodam alto Deambulatorio infra Moncrium Reverendissimi in Christo Patris Domini Matthaei, permissione Divinâ Cantuariensis Archiepiscopi, totius Angliae Primatis & Metropolitanis apud Lambehith, in praesentia mei Johannis Incent Notarij Publici, dicti Reverendissimi Patris Registrarij Primarij, constitutus personaliter praefatus Reverendissimus Pater commisit Vices suas Magistris Thomae Yale, Vicario suo in Spiritualibus generali, Roberto Weston, Almae Curiae Cantuariensis Officiali, Henrico Jones & Valentino Daledictae Curiae Cantuariensis Advocatis, Legum Doctoribus, conjunctim & divisim, ad interessendum Vice & nomine suis in Sacrâ Synodo sive Convocatione Praelatorum & Cleri Cantuariensis Provinciae in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London, duodecimo die praesentis mensis Januarii, per ipsum Reverendissimum Patrem authoritate Brevis Regii sibi in hac parte directi, inchoand '. & celebrand '. dictamque Convocationem sive sacram Synodum Provincialem, ac omnia & singula Certificatoria introducta & introducenda in statu quo nunc sunt, usque ad & in diem Mercurii proxime futurum, viz. decimumtertium diem praesentis mensis Januarii, horâ octauâ ante meridiem ejusdem diei, atque ad Domum Capitularem praedictam, cum Ulteriori Prorogatione, dierum & horarum ex tunc sequentium & locorum (si oporteat) continuand '. & prorogand '. caeteraque omnia & singula faciend. exercend. & expediend. quae in praemissis & circa ea necessaria fuerint seu quomodolibet requisita. Et promisit de rat. etc. praesentibus tunc & ibidem dictis Magistro Thoma Yale & Francisco AldridgeGeneroso, Testibus, etc.   

Sessio Prima.  
DUodecimo die mensis Januarii, Anno Domini praedicto, hora nona ante meridiem ejusdem diei, in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli praedict. in praesentia mei Johannis Incent Notarii Publici Registrarii antedicti, praefatus Venerabilis Vir Robertus Weston, Legum Doctor, Almae Curiae Cantuariensis Officialis, judicialiter & pro Tribunali sedens, ob reverentiam & honorem dicti Reverendissimi Patris Domini Matthaei Archiepiscopi Cantuariensis antedicti, Onus Commissionis ejusdem Reverendissimi Patris in se acceptavit, ac juxta vim formam & effectum ejusdem procedendum fore deerevit. Ac consequenter, authoritate sibi commissâ, praesentem Convocationem sive Sacram Synodum Provincialem in Statu quo nunc est, usque ad & in diem Mercurii proximè futurum, viz. decimumtertium diem praesentis mensis Januarii horâ octauâ ante meridiem ejusdem diei, atque ad Domum Capitularem praedictam cum ulteriori prorogatione dierum & horarum ex tunc sequentium, & locorum (si oporteat) continuavit & prorogavit in Scriptis, prout in Schedulâ per eum lectâ plenius continetur, Cujus quidem Schedulae tenor sequitur in haec verba— In Dei Nomine, Amen. Nos Robertus Weston, etc. praesentibusque tunc & ibidem Magistris Johanne Bu●…er Clerico, Canonico Ecclesiae Christi Cantuariensis, Thoma Bolte Canonico, Edmundo Weston in legibus Baccalaureo, & Thoma Willet Notario Publico, testibus, etc.   

Secunda Sessio.  
DIE Mercurij, viz. 13ᵒ. die Mensis Januarij Anno Domini juxta computationem Ecclesiae Anglicanae Millesimo Quingentesimo Sexagesimo Secundo, Reverendissimus in Christo Pater Dominus Matthaeus, Archiepiscopus Cantuariensis, etc. manè circa horam octavam ante Meridiem dicti diei, Lambethâ Solvens in Naviculâ suâ vulgo nuncupatâ à Barge, ad ripam vocatam Paul ' s Wharfe, comitante eum Reverendo Patre Domino Nicholas Lincoln Episcopo, applicuit, ibique ab Advocatis & Procuratoribus & caeteris ministris Curiae suae Cantuariensis acceptus, pedibus ambulans, deductus fuit ad foras Australes Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London, ibique ad Ostium Australe ejusdem Decanus Canonici & caeteri Ministri ejusdem Ecclesiae Superpellitiis induti eum praestolabantur, ac ad vestiarium ejusdem Ecclesiae perduxerunt; ibique amictu & habitu suis vestitus, ac chorum ipsius Ecclesiae (comitantibus eum Episcopis Suffraganeis Provinciae suae Cantuariensis similibus habitibus indutis) ingressus, in Stallo Decani collocatus fuit, caeteris Episcopis Suffraganeis Provinciae Cantuariensis habitibus suis in hujusmodi negotio Convocationis solitis, indutis, in Stallis Praebendariorum ex utraque parte Chori sedentibus; ac consequenter decantata fuit per Ministros Ecclesiae Letania, in Sermone vulgari, (juxta morem & ritum in Libro nuncupato, The Book of Common-Prayers, etc. descriptum.) Quâ finitâ, ac Hymno Veni Creator, etc. per Ministros ejusdem Ecclesiae in vulgari Solemniter decantato, Magister Wilhelmus Daye Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaureus, praepositus Collegij Regalis de Eton, habitu Baccalaurei in Theologiâ indutus, Suggestum in medio Chori positum ingressus fuit, ac ibidem Concionem Latinam Stilo venusto, ad Patres & Clerum ac populum praesentes habuit, acceptis pro themate hiis Divi Petri verbis in quinto Capitulo primae suae Epistolae descriptis, viz. Pascite quantum in vobis est, etc. Finitâ vero concione; ac Psalmo primo (Beatus Vir, etc.) in Sermone vulgari decantato, celebrata fuit Sacra Communio per Reverendum Patrem Dominum Edmundum Grindale Episcopum London, dictusque Reverendissimus Dominus ac caeteri omnes Episcopi praesentes Sacramentum Corporis & Sanguinis Domini communicabant. Finita vero Communione, Reverendissimus Dominus Archiepiscopus Cantuariensis Chorum egressus, ac Domum Capitularem ingressus, comitantibus eum Episcopis, & caeteris Cleri Praelatis, ibidem pro Tribunali sedebat, assidentibus secum undique Episcopis Suffraganeis suis, viz. Domino Edmundo London, Roberto Winton, Wilhelmo Cicestren, Johanne Hereforden, Ricardo Elien, Edwino Wigorn, Rolando Bangor, Nicolao Lincoln, Johanne Sarum, Ricardo Meneven, Edmundo Roffen, Gilberto Bathon & Wellen, Thoma Coven & Lichen, Wilhelmo Exon, Johanne Norwicen, Edmundo Petriburgen, Thoma Asaphen, & Ricardo Glocestren, ac Commendatar '. Bristolien, respective Episcopis. Cui quidem Reverendissimo sic pro Tribunali sedenti praefatus Reverendus Dominus London Episcopus exhibuit Certificatorium suum super Executione Mandati monitorij alias sibi directi, tenorem infra Scriptum continens, Reverendissimo in Christo Patri, etc. Quo quidem Certificatorio per Magistrum Thomam Yale Legum Doctorem, dicti Reverendissimi Patris Vicarium in Spiritualibus Generalem, de mandato ejusdem Reverendissimi, publicè perlecto, Magister Gabriel Goodman, Decanus Westminster eidem Reverendissimo Patri quandam Protestationem in Scriptis conceptam porrexit, ac eâ Protestatione saluâ, comparuit in hujusmodi Sacrâ Synodo sive Convocatione, & non aliter. Tenor vero dictae Protestationis sequitur in haec verba, Sub protestatione de non consentiendo in Authoritatem Reverendissimi Patris Cantuariensis Archiepiscopi quoad hanc Convocationem celebrand ', nisi quatenùs de Jure ac Statutis hujus Regni Angliae & Privilegiis Ecclesiae Collegiatae five Collegii nostri Westminster teneor, neque de non infringend ' aut diminuend ' libertates & privilegia ejusdem nostri Collegij five Ecclesiae Collegiatae. Quibus sic factis, Reverendissimus Dominus Archiepiscopus Cantuariensis brevem quandam Orationem cloquentiae plenam habuit ad Patres & Clerum; per quam, inter alia, Opportunitatem Reformandarum rerum in Ecclesia Anglicana jam oblatam esse aperuit, ac propensos animos tam Illustrissimae Dominae nostrae Reginae, quâm aliorum Magnatum hujus Regni ad hujusmodi Reformationem habendam declaravit; hortando, praecipiendo & mandando Praelatos & Clerum Inferioris Domus in dicta Domo Capitulari, coram eo & reliquis Patribus constitutos, quatenùs ad Conventûs sui locum sese conferentes, unum Virum gravem, doctum & peritum de gremio suo provideant & eligant in eorum Prolocutorem sive Referendarium (commendans illis maximè Decanum Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London Alexandrum Nowell,) ipsumque sic electum exhibeant & praesentent coram eodem Reverendissimo aut ejus locum-tenente die Sabbati proximè futuro, horâ primâ post Meridiem in hoc loco. Deinde dictus Reverendissimus Pater commisit vices suas praefato Magistro Thomae Yale Cancellario suo, ac Magistro Wilhelmo Drury Legum Doctori Commissario ad Facultates, ad recipiendum Certificatoria Episcoporum, ac ad inspiciendum Procuratoria quorumcunque absentium, ac causas absentiarum suarum Examinand ' & approband '. Ac praeterea dictus Reverendissimus Pater pronuntiavit omnes & singulos Decanos, Archidiaconos, Capitula, ac Cleri Procuratores & caeteros quoscunque ad interessendum in hujusmodi Sacra Synodo, sive Convocatione, monitos & citates, ac per se aut Procuratores suos idoneos minimè comparentes, notoriè Contumaces; poenas Contumaciarum suarum hujusmodi usque in proximam Sessionem reservand '. prout in Schedulâ per eum lectâ plenius continetur, cujus quidem Schedulae verus tenor sequitur in haec verba, In Dei Nomine, Amen, etc. Omnibus gestis, praefatus Reverendissimus Pater continuavit & prorogavit hujusmodi Convocationem sive Sacram Synodum, ac omnia & singula Certificatoria introducta & introducenda, in Statu quo nunc sunt, usque in diem Sabbati proximè futurum hora prima post meridiem, ad Domum Capitularem praedictam; prout in Schedulâ per eum lectâ tenorem subscriptum de verbo in verbum in se complectente, dilucidius apparet, In Dei nomine, Amen, etc.   

Sessio Tertia.  
DIE Sabbati, viz. 16ᵒ. die mensis Januarii, Anno Domini praedicto, inter horam primam & secundam post meridiem ejusdem diei, Reverendissimus Dominus Matthaeus Archiepiscopus Cantuariensis, ac Reverendi Patres Domini Edmundus London, Robertus Winton, Johannes Hereforden, Richardus Elien, Edwinus Wigorn, Rolandus Bangor, Nicholaus Lincoln, Johannes Sarum, Richardus Meneven, Edmundus Roffen, Gilbertus Bathon & Wellen, Thomas Coven. & Lichen, Wilhelmus Exon, Johannes Norwicen, Edmundus Petriburgen, Thomas Asaphen, & Ricardus Glocestren, respectiuè Episcopi, in domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London congregati, primum & ante omnia preces Deo Optimo Maximo effundebant, dictâ publice ac alta & intelligibili voce per ipsum Reverendissimum Patrem Letania in Sermone latino unà cum Collectis assuetis ac Oratione Synodo Provinciali dicenda, noviter (ut apparuit) edita, respondentibus aliis Episcopis praedictis ac Praelatis & Clero & populo astantibus. Finitis precibus, ac Clero praedicto ad locum Conventûs sui Sese conferentes, praefatus Reverendissimus, unà cum aliis confratribus suis Provinciae suae Cantuariensis Episcopis Suffraganeis praenominatis, pro Tribunali sedens, post intervallum temporis denuò ad eum accersiri jussit dictos Praelatos & Clerum Domûs inserioris; cui copiosè sese praesentantes exhiberi & sisti fecerunt Venerabilem Virum Magistrum Alexandrum Nowell, Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London Decanum, in Prolocutorem sive Referendarium Domûs Inferioris electum. Quem Eximii Viri Magistri Gabriel Goodman, Decanus Westminster, & Thomas Samson, Decanus Exon. medium inter se ductum vice totius Cleri, praemissâ Oratione brevi Latinâ ab eodem Magistro Gabriele Goodman, personam electam ac ejus virtutes & animi dotes complectente, exhibuerunt. Quâ finitâ, idem Prolocutor per aliam Orationem non inelegantem se variis de causis ad hujusmodi munus obeundum inidoneum declaravit: Sed tandem ne opus tam pium effugere videatur, hujusmodi Provinciam in se lubens acceptare promisit; & tunc habito inter dictum Reverendissimum Patrem & Confratres suos tractatu de idoneitate dicti Prolocutoris, omnes unanimiter & concorditer ipsum Magistrum Nowell ad dictum Officum Prolocutoris obeundum maximè idoneum esse asseruerunt & affirmarunt. Unde Reverendissimus, cum Patrum unanimi consensu, Electionem hujusmodi de persona tam digni Viri factam, venusta Oratione approbavit & confirmavit. Et tunc, dimisso Clero Inferioris Domûs, Reverendissimus rogavit Patres, quòd unusquisque eorum citra proximam Sessionem excogitare velit ea quae in eorum separalibus Diaecesibus Reformatione indigeant, ac in proximâ Sessione proponere dignaretur. Et tunc, habitâ inter dictum Reverendissimum Patrem & Confratres suos secret â quadam communicatione (semotis omnibus arbitris,) tandem dictus Reverendissimus de consensu Patrum continuavit & prorogavit hujusmodi Convocationem sive sacram Synodum Provincialem, omniaque & singula Certificatoria introducta & introducenda, in Statu quo nune sent, Usque ad & in diem Martis proximè futurum horâ primâ post meridiem ejusdem diei ad Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Petri Westminster, prout in quadam Schedulâ per eum lectâ pleniùs continetur, cujus quidem Schedulae verus tenor sequitur, in haec verba, In Dei Nomine, Amen. etc. Deinde dictus Reverendissimus poenas contumaciarum omnium & singulorum absentium, ut priùs, ad ejus arbitrium reservavit.   

Quarta Sessio.  
DIE Martis, viz. 19ᵒ. die mensis Januarii, Anno Domini 1562. horâ secundâ post meridiem in Capellâ nuncupatâ, King Henry the Seventh's Chapel, infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Petri Westminster Situatâ, dictis primitùs & publicè recitatis per Reverendissimum Patrem Dominum Matthaeum Archiepiscopum Cantuariensem, & reliquos Episcopos Suffraganeos Provinciae Cantuariensis precibus de quibus in Superiori Sessione fit mentio coram eodem Reverendissimo Patre pro Tribunali sedente, assidentibus secum Reverendis Patribus Dominis, etc. respectiuè Episcopis, comparuit personaliter Magister Gabriel Goodman, Decanus Ecclesiae Collegiatae Divi Petri Westminster praedictae, ac Vice sua & totius Capituli (ut asseruit) ejusdem Ecclesiae palam & publicè protestatus fuit, Quòd non intendit consentire ut hujusmodi sacra Synodus in dictâ Ecclesiâ Collegiatâ Divi Petri Westminster celebretur, nisi quatenùs per privilegia ejusdem Ecclesiae liceat & non aliter, neque alio modo, quibus quidem privilegiis (ut asseruit) in aliquo derogare noluit, neque intendit, sed eis firmitèr adhaerere ac pro posse suo illaesa in omnibus conservare. Et tunc, habitâ inter dictum Reverendissimum Patrem, ac caeteros Episcopos suos Suffraganeos praenominatos communicatione sive disputatione de quibusdam Articulis ad Christianam fidem facientibus; tandem dictus Reverendissimus accersiri jussit ad se Prolocutorem Domûs Inferioris; qui quidem Prolocutor, unâ cum Sex aliis de Clero dicta Domus Inferioris coram Patribus sui copiam faciens, proposuit & asseruit, quòd quidam de dicta Domo exhibuerant quasdam diversas Schedas de rebus Reformandis per eos respectiuè excogitat. & in Scriptis redact. Quae quidem Schedae de communi consensu traditae sunt quibusdam viris gravioribus & doctioribus de Coetu dictae Domûs Inferioris ad hoc electis perspiciend. & considerand. Quibus sic electis (ut asseruit) assignatum est ut hujusmodi Schedas in Capitula redigant ac in proximâ Sessione exhibeant coram eodem Prolocutore. Et ulteriùs proposuit, quòd Articuli in Synodo Londinensi, tempore nuper Regis Edwardi Sexti (ut asseruit) editi, traditi sunt quibusdam aliis Viris ex Coetu dictae Domûs Inferioris, ad hoc etiam electis, ut eos diligenter perspiciant, examinent, & considerent; ac prout eis visum fuerit, corrigant & reforment, ac in proximâ Sessione etiam exhibeant. Et tunc Reverendissimus hujusmodi negotia per dictum Prolocutorem & Clerum incaepta approbavit, ac in eisdem erga proximam Sessionem juxta eorum determinationem procedere voluit & mandavit. Quibus sic expeditis, Reverendissimus, etc. continuavit, etc. prout in Schedula, etc. In Dei Nomine, Amen. etc.   

Sessio Quinta.  
DIE Mercurij, viz. 20ᵒ. die Mensis Januarii, etc. inter horam secundam & tertiam post meridiem ejusdem diei, Reverendissimus Pater Dominus Matthaeus Archiepiscopus Cantuariensis, etc. Ac Reverendi Patres, etc. in Capellâ nuper Regis Henrici Septimi, infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Petri Westminster, congregati, etc. de & super quibusdam Articulis sacrosanctam Christi Religionem concernentibus, de quibus in Actis hesterni diei fit mentio, per spacium trium horarum aut circiter inter se tractarunt & communicarunt. Ac tandem dictus Reverendissimus, etc. continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc. In Dei Nomine, Amen. etc.   

Sessio Sexta.  
DIE Veneris, viz. xxijo. die Mensis Januarii, circa horam octavam ante meridiem ejusdem diei, praefatus Reverendissimus Pater, Dominus Matthaeus Archiepiscopus Cantuariensis, ac Reverendi Patres, etc. in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London congregati, etc. Secretam quandam communicationem per spacium trium horarum Semotis Arbitris, inter se habuerunt; ac tandem dictus Reverendissimus Pater, etc. continuavit, etc. usque in diem Lunae, etc. inter horas 1. & 2. post meridiem, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc. In Dei Nomine, Amen, etc.   

Sessio Septima.  
DIE Lunae, viz. 25. die mensis Januarii, Anno praedicto, circa horam tertiam post meridiem ejusdem diei, Reverendissimus in Christo Pater Dominus Matthaeus Archiepiscopus Cantuariensis, etc. ac Reverendi Patres, etc. in Capella nuper Regis Henrici Septimi infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Petri Westm. congregati, per spacium duarum horarum aut circiter secretam quandam communicationem inter se habuerunt: Ac tandem Reverendissimus, etc. continuavit, etc. usque ad & in diem Mercurij, etc. inter horam 1 & 3 post meridiem, etc.   

Sessio Octava.  
DIE Mercurij, viz. 27ᵒ. die Mensis Januarij, 1562. horâ secunda post meridiem ejusdem diei in Capella nuper Regis Henrici Septimi, infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Petri Westminster, Reverendissimus in Christo Pater Dominus Matthaeus permissione Divinâ Cantuariensis Archiepiscopus, etc. ac Reverendi Patres Domini, etc. respective Episcopi, pro Tribunali sedentes, per spacium trium fere horarum secretè inter se tractarunt & communicarunt. Ac tandem dictus Reverendissimus, etc. continuavit, etc.   

Sessio Nona.  
DIE Veneris, viz. 29ᵒ. die Mensis Januarij, 1562. inter horam octavam & nonam ante meridiem ejusdem diei, Reverendissimo in Christo Patre Domino Matthaeo Archiepiscopo Cantuariensi, etc. nec non Reverendis Patribus, etc. respective Episcopis in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London congregatis, post tractatum aliquem inter eos habitum, tandem super quibusdam Articulis Orthodoxae Fidei inter Episcopos quorum nomina eis subscribuntur, unanimiter convenit, quorum quidem Articulorum tenores sequuntur & sunt tales: Articuli de quibus, etc. àc deinde Reverendi Patres Domini Edmundus London, Robertus Winton, Nicholaus Lincoln, & Johannes Hereforden, respective Episcopi, per Reverendissimum de consensu Confratrum suorum praenominatorum electi fuerunt ad excogitand. quoedam Capitula de Disciplinâ in Ecclesiâ habend. Quibus sic gestis dictus Reverendissimus, etc. continuavit, etc. usque ad & in diem Mercurij, etc. inter horam 1 & 2 post meridiem, etc.   

Sessio Decima.  
DIE Mercurij, viz. 3o. die Mensis Februarij, 1562. in Capella Regis Henrici Septimi infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Petri Westminster situatâ, Reverendissimus in Christo Pater Dominus Matthaeus Archiepiscopus Cantuariensis, nec non Reverendi Patres Domini, etc. respective Episcopi, pro Tribunali sedentes, secretam quandam communicationem sive tractatum per spacium trium horarum aut circitèr inter se habuerunt. Ac tandem dictus Reverendissimus, etc. continuavit, etc. usque ad & in diem Veneris, etc. inter hor as octavam & nonam antemerid. etc. prout in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio Undecima.  
DIE Veneris, viz. 5ᵒ. die Mensis Februarij, 1562. in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London, coram Reverendis Patribus, etc. respective Episcopis tunc ibidem congregatis, praesentatis per me Johannem Incent, Notarium Publicum Registrarium principalem Reverendissimi Patris Domini Matthaei Archiepiscopi Cantuariensis, etc. Literis Commissionalibus ejusdem Reverendissimi Patris, praefatis Reverendis Patribus Dominis Edmundo London, Roberto Winton, Edwino Wigorn, & Nicholas Lincoln, respectiuè Episcopis, ad tenendum Locum ejusdem Reverendissimi Patris in dictâ Convocatione conjunctim & divisim, factis & concessis, ac per me Notarium Publicum praedictum publice perlectis, praefatus Dominus Edmundus London, de consensu Collegarum suorum hujusmodi, ob reverentiam & honorem dicti Reverendissimi Patris acceptavit in se onus dictarum Literarum Commissionalium, & decrevit procedendum fore juxta vim, formam, & effectum earundem. Deinde, post tractatum aliquem inter Patres praedictos habitum; Reverendi Patres Domini Johannes Sarum, Thomas Coven & Lichen, Richardus Meneven, & Wilhelmus Exon, de unanimi consensu Patrum praedictorum, assignati fuerunt ad examinandum Librum vocatum (the Catechism.) Et tunc habitâ inter Patres communicatione & tractatu de Subsidio Dominae nostrae Reginae per Praelatos & Clerum Provinciae Cantuariensis concedendo, iidem Patres accersiri fecerunt coram eis Prolocutorem Domus Inferioris. Qui quidem Prolocutor cum Sex aliis de coetu Domûs Inferioris, coram eisdem Patribus sui copiam faciens, porrexit & exhibuit coram eisdem Patribus quosdam Articulos sive Libellum de Doctrinâ, etc. à Reverendissimo Domino Archiepiscopo Cantuariensi & aliis Reverendis Patribus ad coetum Ecclesiasticum dictae Domûs Inferioris, alias (ut asseruit) transmissos, ac per dictum coetum perspect '. & propriis manibus nonnullorum ejusdem Coetûs (ut apparuit) Subscript '. ac, nomine & consensu (ut asseruit) totius Coetûs Ecclesiastici dictae Domûs Inferioris, rogavit Patres ut omnes qui hactenùs Articulis dicti Libelli non subscripserunt, id suis propriis manibus publicè in frequenti Coetu Ecclesiastico dictae Domûs Inferioris, aut (si id recusarint) coram eisdem Reverendis Patribus facere cogantur. Et tunc Reverendi Patres unanimi consensu decreverunt, ut omnia & singula nomina eorum qui supra-dictis Articulis nomina sua propriis suis manibus non subscripserunt, à dicto Domino Prolocutore descripta ad eos perferantur in proximâ Sessione. Quibus sic gestis, praefatus Reverendus Dominus London Episcopus, de consensu Collegarum suorum & aliorum Reverendorum Patrum praenominatorum, continuavit, etc. usque in diem Mercurij, etc. inter horas primam & secundam post meridiem, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio Duodecima.  
DIE Mercurij, viz. decimo die mensis Februarii, 1562. in Capella Regis Henrici septimi infra Ecclesiam Callegiatam Divi Petri Westminster, Reverendus Pater Dominus Edmundus London Episcopus, Reverendissimi in Christo Patris & Domini Domini Matthaei permissione divinâ Cantuariensis Archiepiscopi, etc. Locumtenens, Reverendique Patres Domini, etc. respective Episcopi pro Tribunali sedentes, de rebus Ecclesiae aliquandiu tractarunt. Ac tandem Dominus Prolocutor, cum Octo aliis de Coetu Domûs Inferioris, coram dictis Patribus comparens, praesentavit & exhibuit quendam Librum de Subsidio Dominae nostrae Reginae per Clerum Provinciae Cantuariensis concedendo, in Scriptis redactum; ac penes eosdem Patres dimisit, ac etiam praesentavit & exhibuit Libellum Articulorum de doctrina, etc. de quibus in ultimâ Sessione fit mentio; asserens, quòd quidam de Coetu dictae Domûs citra ultimam Sessionem dictis Articulis manus suas subscripserunt, ac quidam alii nondum Subscripserunt. Unde dicti Patres voluerunt & mandarunt, quod nomina eorum, qui hactenùs non subscripserunt, praesententur coram eye in proxima Sessione. Deinde dictus Dominus Locumtenens, de consensu Confratrum suorum praelictorum, continuavit, etc. usque ad & in diem Veneris, etc. inter horas octavam & nonam ante meridiem, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XIII.  
DIE Veneris, viz. 12ᵒ. die mensis Februarij, 1562. in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London. Reverendus in Christo Pater Dominus Edwinus permissione Divinâ Wigorn Episcopus, acceptans in se onus Commissionis Reverendissimi, etc. juxta formam & effectum ejusdem procedendum fore decrevit. As deinde idem Reverendus Pater, authoritate sibi commissâ continuavit, etc. usque ad & in diem Sabbati, etc. inter horas primam & secundam post meridiem, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XIV.  
DIE Sabbati, viz. 13ᵒ. die mensis Februarij, 1562. hora secunda post meridiem ejusdem diei, Reverendissimus in Christo Pater Dominus Matthaeus Archiepiscopus Cantuariensis, etc. necnon Reverendi in Christo Patres, etc. respective Episcopi, in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London congregati, de Subsidio Dominae nostrae Reginae per Praelatos & Clerum Cantuarien. concedend ', aliquamdiu tractarunt. Ac tandem dictus Reverendissimus, etc. continuavit, etc. usque ad & in diem Lunae, etc. inter horas primam & tertiam post meridiem, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XV.  
DIE Lunae, viz. 15ᵒ. die mensis Februarij, 1562. hora secunda post meridiem ejusdem diei in Capella Regis Henrici Septimi infra, etc. Reverendissimus Dominus Matthaeus Archiepiscopus Cantuariensis ac, etc. respectiuè Episcopi, pro Tribunali sedentes, de Subsidio Dominae nostrae Reginae concedendo inter se tractarunt. Ac tandem Reverendissimus praedictus Dominus Matthaeus Archiepiscopus Cant. & Dominus Robertus Winton Episcopus recesserunt. Post quorum recessum, Reverendi Patres Domini Edwinus Wigorn & Nicholaus Lincoln, dicti Reverendissimi Patris Locumtenentes, ac caeteri Reverendi Patres praenominati Librum de hujusmodi Subsidio in Scriptis conceptum coram eis perlegi fecerunt. Quo lecto, dictus Dominus Wigorn. Episcopus de consensu Patrum praenominatorum continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XVI.  
DIE Mercurij, viz. 17ᵒ. die mensis Februarij, 1562. inter horas secundam & tertiam post meridiem ejusdem diei in Capella Regis Henrici Septimi infra, etc. Reverendus in Christo Pater Nicholaus permissione Divinâ Lincoln Episcopus, vice & authoritate Reverendissimi Patris Archiepiscopi Cantuariensis, etc. continuavit, etc. usque ad & in diem Veneris, etc. inter horas octavam & nonam ante meridiem, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XVII.  
DIE Veneris, viz. 19ᵒ. die Mensis Februarii, 1562. in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London, Reverendissimus in Christo Pater Dominus Matthaeus Archiepiscopus Cantuariensis, etc. unà cum Reverendis Patribus Dominis, etc. pro Tribulani sedens, accersiri fecit ad se Prolocutorem Domus Inferioris. Cui quidem Prolocutori & Sex aliis de Clero dictae Domûs Inferioris coram dicto Reverendissimo & aliis Reverendis Patribus praenominatis constitut ' idem Reverendissimus de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum hujusmodi tradidit quosdam Articulos in Scriptis conceptos, mandando quatenùs super contentis in dictis Articulis diligenter inquirant, ac quicquid inde invenerint, in Scriptis redigant, ac dicto Reverendissimo porrigant & exhibeant. Et tunc dimissis dictis Prolocutore & Clero, ac habito secreto tractatu inter dictum Reverendissimum Patrem & Confratres suos per spacium unius horae aut circiter, tandem praefatus Reverendissimus de consensu Confratrum suorum continuavit, etc. usque ad & in diem Lunae, etc. inter horas 1 & 2 post Meridiem, etc. prout in Schedulá, etc.  
Articuli, vero de quibus suprà fit mentio, hic inferiùs describuntur.  
First, Whether if the Writ of (melius inquirend ') be sent forth, the likelihood be that it will turn to the Queen's commodity?  
Item, Whether some Benefices rateable, be not less than they be already valued?  
Item, To inquire of the manner of Dilapidations and other Spoliations that they can remember to have passed upon their Live, and by whom?  
Item, How they been have used for the levying of Arrearage of Tenths and Subsidies, and for how many Years past?  
Item, How many Benefices they find that are charged with Pensions of Religious Persons?  
Item, To certify how many Benefices are vacant in every Diocese?  
Eodem die, Venerabilis Vir Magister Thomas Yale, Legum Doctor, Vicarius in Spiritualibus Generalis dicti Reverendissimi Patris, ac Commissarius in hac parte specialiter deputatus, in Capella beatae Mariae infra Ecclesiam Cathedralem divi Pauli London Situat ' Domo viz. Inferioris Convocationis praedict. in praesentiâ, (ut dicebatur) Magistri Wilhelmi Say, Notarii Publici, dictae Domus Inferioris Registrarii & Actorum Scribae, judicialiter sedens legit quandam Schedulam contra omnes & singulos Decanos, Capitula, Archidiaconos, & Cleri Procuratores, ac caeteros quoscunque in dicta Convocatione, juxta monitionem legitimam in hac parte factam, non comparentes, aut ab eadem sine licentiâ, etc. recedentes. Cujus quidem Schedulae verus tenor sequitur, & est talis, In Dei Nomine, Amen. etc.   

Sessio XVIII.  
DIE Lunae, viz. 22ᵒ. die Mensis Februarii, 1562. Reverendissimus Pater Dominus Mat- Matthaeus Cantuariensis, ac Reverendi Patres Domini, etc. respectiuè Episcopi, in Capella Regis Henrici Septimi infra, etc. congregati, & pro Tribunali sedentes, ac de Sub●idio Dominae nostrae Reginae concedendo aliquandiu tractantes, tandem unanimitèr convenerunt de hujusmodi Subsidio eidem Dominae nostrae Reginae concedendo sub modo & forma ac conditionibus & prousionibus sequentibus, viz. The Prelates and Clergy of the Province of Canterbury, etc. Quibus sic factis, dictus Reverendissimus, etc. continuavit, etc. usque ad & in diem Mercurii, etc. inter horam octavam & decimam ante Meridiem, etc. prout in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio XIX.  
DIE Mercurij, viz. 24. die Mensis Februarii, etc. in Capella Regis Henrici Septimi infra, etc. Reverendissimus, etc. nec non Reverendi Patres, etc. respective Episcopi, congregati, Surrogatum Prolocutoris (dicto Prolocutore absente) & Clerum Domûs Inferioris, ad se accersiri jusserunt; ac coram eis publicè legi fecerunt Librum de Subsidio, Dominae nostrae Reginae concesso, de quo in Actis proximè praecedentis Sessionis fit mentio, in pergameno conscript. ac Sigillo dicti Reverendissimi Patris sigillat '. Cui quidem Libro sic perlecto, ac omnibus & singulis concessionibus, conditionibus & provisionibus in eodem mentionatis sub modo & forma●supra specificatis, dictus Clerus Inferioris Domûs consensum & assensum suos unanimiter adhibuerunt.   

Sessio XX.  
DIE Veneris, viz. 26. die Mensis Februarii, etc. Reverendissimus Pater Dominus Matthaeus Cantuar. etc. in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London congregati, & pro Tribunali sedentes, secretum quendam tractatum aliquandiu inter se habuerunt. Deinde Prolocutor & decem alii de Coetu Domûs Inferioris viz. Magister Georgius Carewe, Decanus Ecclesiae Collegiatae sive Capellae Regiae de Windsor, Magister Pedder Decanus Wigorn, Magister Salisbury Decanus Norwicen, Mag. Latimer Decanus Petriburgen, Mag. cottrel Archidiaconus Dorset, Mag. Kennall Archidiaconus Exon, Mag. Chaundler Archidiaconus Sarum, Mag. Walker Archidiaconus Stafford, Mag. Hewitt Praecentor Meneven. & Mag. Levar Archidiaconus Coven. coram dicta Reverendissimo Patr● ac ceteris Reverendis Patribus praenominatis personaliter comparentes, tam nominibus suis propriis, quam vice & nomine totius Coetûs (ut asserunt) Domûs Inferioris Convocationis praedict. porrexerunt eisdem Patribus quendam Librum de Disciplinâ, etc. in papiro. Cui quidem Libro (ut asseruerunt) dictus Coetus Domûs Inferioris unanimiter consenserunt. Et tunc dictus Liber, de consensu Patrum praedictorum, commissus fuit Reverendissimo Domino Cantuar. ac Reverendis Dominis London, Winton, Cicestren, Hereforden, & Elien, examinandus. Quibus sic gestis, dictus Reverendissimus de consensu Confratrum suorum continuavit, etc. Usque ad & in diem Lunae, etc. inter horas primam & tertiam post meridiem, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XXI.  
DIE Lunae, viz. primo die mensis Martii, etc. Reverendissimus Pater Dominus Matthaeus Cantuar. etc. ac Reverendi Patres Domini, etc. respectiuè Episcopi, in Capella Regis Henrici Septimi insra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Petri Westminster, pro Tribulani sedentes, per spacium duarum horarum aut circitèr inter se secretè communicarunt. Et tunc comparuit coram eye Prolocutor Domûs Inferioris, & allegavit, quòd Coetus dictae Domûs Inferioris excogitavit quaedam Capitula additionalia ad Librum de Disciplinâ coram Patribus ultima Sessione porrectum, quae quidem Capitula dicto Libro (ut asseruit) addi cupit. Unde dictus Reverendissimus tradidit eidem Domino Prolocutori Librum praedictum, mandando quòd additis hujusmodi Capitulis sic excogitatis, ipsum Librum, cum Additionalibus praedictis, denuò exhibeat coram codem Reverendissimo & Confratribus suis in proximâ Sessione. Deinde, dictus Reverendissimus, etc. continuavit, etc. Usque ad & in diem Mercurii, etc. inter horas primam & tertiam post meridiem, etc. prout in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio XXII.  
DIE Mercurij, viz. tertio die mensis Martii, 1562. coram Reverendissimo Patre Domino Archiepiscopo Cantuariensi, ac Reverendis Patribus Dominis, etc. respectiuè Episcopis, in Capellâ Regis Henrici Septimi, etc. Dominus Prolocutor Domûs Inferioris Convocationis, ac Mag. Thomas Samson Decanus Ecclesiae Christi Oxon, & Wilhelmus Deye Praepositus Collegii Regalis de Eton, personaliter comparentes, nomine totius Coetûs dictae Domus Inferioris praesentârunt eisdem Patribus quendam Librum nuncupatum Catechismus puerorum, cui (ut asseruerunt) omnes de Coetu ejusdem Domûs unanimiter consenserunt. Quem quidem Librum penes eosdem Patres dimiserunt. Et tunc, dicto Domino Prolocutore, unàcum praefatis Magistris Samson & Deye ad Domum Inferiorem praedictam sese conferentes, dictus Reverendissimus cum Confratribus suis praenominatis ac Reverendis Patribus Dominis Roberto Winton, Johanne Hereforden, Nicholas Lincoln, & Thomâ Coven & Lichen, respectiuè Episcopis, secretam quandam communicationem sive tractatum per spacium duarum horarum & ultra habuit. Ac postremò ipse Reverendissimus Pater, etc. continuavit, etc. Usque ad & in diem Veneris, etc. inter horas octavam & nonam ante, etc. prout in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio XXIII.  
DIE Veneris, viz. 5. die mensis Martii, 1562. in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London, hora prius assignata, Reverendissimus, etc. ac Reverendi Patres, &c respective Episcopi, pro Tribunali sedentes, secretè inter se aliquandiù communicarunt. Ac tandem comparuit coram eis Dominus Prolocutor Domûs Inferioris, ac Magistri Johannes Warner Decanus Winton, Johannes Salisburye Decanus Nor●…icen, Thomas Watts Archidiaconus Middlesex, & Robertus Weston unus Procuratorum Cleri Diaeces. Lichen. & exhibuerunt coram eisdem Patribus Librum de Disciplinâ, unà cum quibusdam, Capitulis additionalibus ad eundem, viz. de Adulterio, etc. & penes eosdem Patres dimiserunt. Et dictus Reverendissimus, etc. continuavit, etc. Usque in diem Lunae, etc. inter horas primam & secundampost meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XXIV.  
DIE Lunae, 8. viz. die mensis Martii, 1562. in Capella Regis Henrici Septimi, etc. Reverendus Pater Dominus Edmundus London Episcopus, assidentibus. secum Reverendis Patribus Dominis, etc. resp●… Episcopis, vice ac authoritate dicti Reverendissimi Patris, continuavit, etc. Usque ad & in diem Mercurii, etc. inter horas primam & secundam, etc. ad hunc Locum prout in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio XXV.  
DIE Mercurij, viz. decimo die mensis Martii, 1562. in Capella Regis Henrici Septimi, etc. Reverendissimus, etc. unà cum Reverendis Patribus, etc. respectiuè Episcopis pro Tribunali sedens, post tractatum aliquem cum eisdem Confratribus suis per duarum horarum spacium secretè habitum continuavit etc. Usque ad & in diem Veneris, etc. inter horas octavam & nonam ante meridiem, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XXVI.  
DIE Veneris, viz. 12ᵒ. die mensis Martii, etc. in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London, Reverendissimus, etc. una cum Reverendis Patribus etc. respectiuè Episcopis, pro Tribunali sedens, post secretum quendam tractatum cum eisdem Confratribus suis per spacium duarum horarum habitum, etc. prorogavit, etc. Usque ad & in diem Lunae, etc. inter horas primam & secundam post meridiem, etc. ad Capellam Regis Henrici Septimi, etc. prout in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio XXVII.  
DIE Lunae, viz. 15. die mensis Martij, etc. in quodam alto deambulatorio infra manerium Domini Archiepiscopi Cant. apud Lambeth, Reverendissimus, etc. in praesentia mei Johannis Incent Notarii Publici, Registrarii primarii dicti Reverendissimi Patris personaliter constitutus, commisit vices suas Reverendo in Christo Patri Domino Wilhelmo permissione divina Cicestrensi Episcopo ad continuand. & prorogand. praefatam Convoc. sive Sacram Synodum Provinc. in Statu quo nunc est usque ad & in diem Mercurij prox. futurum, viz. 17. diem praesentis mensis Martij, inter horas primam & secundam post meridiem ejusdem diei, ad Capellam Regis Henrici Septimi infra, etc. ac postea de die in diem & de Loco in Locum, quoties ipsum Reverendissimum Patrem abesse contigerit; Ac caetera omnia & singula faciend. & expediend. quae in praemissis aut circa ea necessaria fuerint, seu quomodolibet opportuna. Et promisit de Rat. etc. Deinde eodem die in Capella Regis Henrici Septimi super-mentionatâ, in praesentiâ mei praefati Johannis Incent Notarii Publici ac Registrarii antedicti, dictus Reverendus Pater Dominus Wilhelmus Cicestrensis Episcopus acceptans in se Onus Commissionis praefati Reverendissimi Patris, juxta vim formam & effectum ejusdem procedendum fore decrevit. Ac mox, authoritate sibi commissâ, continuavit, etc. Usque ad & in diem Mercurij etc. inter horas primam & secundam post, etc. prout in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio XXVIIII  
DIE Mercurij, viz. 17. die mensis Martij, etc. in. Capella Regis Henrici Septimi infra, etc. Venerabilis Vir Magister Thomas Yale Legum Doctor, Reverendissimi, etc. Vicarius in Spiritualibus Generalis, & Commissarius ad infra Scripta sufficienter constitutus, vice & authoritate ejusdem Reverendissimi Patris continuavit, etc. Usque ad & in diem Veneris, etc. inter horas nonam & undecimam ante meridiem, etc. prout in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio XXIXI  
DIE Veneris, viz. 19 die mensis Martii, 1562. in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London, Reverendissimus, etc. pro Tribunali sedens, assidentibus secum Reverendis Patribus, etc. respectiuè Episcopis, cum eisdem Confratribus suis per spacium duarum horarum aut circitèr secretè communicavit; ac postea continuavit, etc. Usque ad & in diem Lunae, etc. inter horas 1 & 3 post, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XXX.  
DIE Lunae, viz. 22. die mensis Martii, etc. in Capella Regis Henrici Septimi infra, etc. Reverendus Pater Wilhelmus, etc. Cicestrensis Episcopus, vice & authoritate Reverendissimi Domini, etc. continuavit, etc. Usque ad & in diem Veneris, etc. inter horas octavam & undecimam ante, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XXXI.  
DIE Veneris, viz. 26. die Mensis Martii, 1563. hora nona ante meridiem, in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London, Venerabilis Vir Magister Valentinus Dale, Legum Doctor, vice & authoritate Reverendissimi, etc. continuavit, etc. Usque ad & inter horam primam & tertiam post meridiem hujus diei ad hunc locum, prout in Schedulâ, etc.  
Eodem Die, hora secunda post meridiem ejusdem diei in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Divi Pauli London, Venerabilis Vir Magister Thomas Yale, Legum Doctor, vice & authoritate dicti Reverendissimi Patris, etc. continuavit, etc. Usque ad & in diem Veneris, etc. inter horas octavam & decimam ante, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XXXII.  
DIE Veneris, viz. secundo die mensis Aprilis, 1563. in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London, hora nona ante meridiem ejusdem diei, Venerabilis Vir Magister Thomas Yale Legum Doctor, vice & authoritate Reverendissimi, etc. continuavit, etc. Usque ad & in diem Lunae, etc. inter horas primam & tertiam post, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XXXIII.  
DIE Lunae, viz. 5. die mensis Aprilis, 1563. Venerabilis Vir Magister Thomas Yale Legum Doctor, vice & authoritate Reverendissimi, etc. continuavit, etc. Usque ad & in diem Jovis, etc. inter horas primam & secundam, etc. prout in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio XXXIV.  
DIE Jovis, viz. octavo die mensis Aprilis, etc. in Capella Regis Henrici Septimi, etc. praefatus Magister Thomas Yale vice & authoritate dicti Reverendissimi, etc. continuavit, etc. Usque ad & in diem Sabbati, etc. inter horas primam & tertiam post, etc. prout in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio XXXV.  
DIE Sabbati, viz. Decimo die mensis Aprilis, 1563. in Capella Regis Henrici Septimi infra, etc. Venerabilis Vir Magister Thomas Yale Legum Doctor, Locum Tenens antedictus, vice & authoritate Reverendissimi, etc. continuavit, etc. ad & in diem Mercurij proximè futurum, viz. 14 diem praesentis mensis Aprilis inter horas primam & tertiam post meridiem ejusdem diei ad hunc Locum, prout in Schedulâ per eum lectâ tenore Subscripto plenius continetur. In Dei Nomine, Amen, etc.  
Breve Regium de Convocatione Proroganda.  
Elizabeth, Dei gratiâ, etc. Reverendissimo in Christo Patri Matthaeo eadem gratiâ Cant. Archiepiscopo, etc.  
Commissio Archiepiscopi.  
Nos Matthaeus Cantuariensis Archiepiscopus, etc. habentes Mandatum Dominae nostrae de Prorogandâ Convocatione, etc.   

Sessio XXXVI.  
DIE Mercurij, viz. 14. die mensis Aprilis, An. Dom. 1563. in Capellâ Regis Henrici Septimi, etc. in praesentiâ mei Johannis Incent Notarii Publici Registrarii, etc. Venerabilis Vir Magister Thomas Yale Legum Doctor, pro Tribunali sedens, acceptavit in se onus Commissionis dicti Reverendissimi Patris Domini Matthaei Archiepiscopi Cant. etc. de Convocatione Prorogand. sibi factae, & decrevit procedend. fore juxta vim, formam, & effectum ejusdem. Et mox dictus Mr. Yale, vice & authoritate praefati Reverendissimi Patris, Continuavit & Prorogavit candem Convocationem in Statu quo nune est usque ad & in tertium diem mensis Octobris prox. futur. ad hunc locum, juxta tenorem Brevis Regii suprascript. eidem Reverendo Patri in hac parte direct. Prout in Schedulâ per eum lectâ pleniùs continetur: Cujus quidem Schedulae verus tenor sequitur in haec Verba, In Dei Nomine, Amen. etc.   

Forma sive Descriptio Convocationis Celebrandae, prout ab Antiquo observari consuevit.  
SCiendum est, quòd Omnes qui Auctoritate Reverendissimi Domini Archiepiscopi Cantuar ' citantur ad comparendum coram Eo in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London ' duodecimo die Jan ' prox ' tenentur praefixo tempore interesse, atque in eâdem Ecclesiâ Cath ' praestolari Adventum dicti Reverendissimi. Qui ex more, paulo post octavam ante Meridiem illius diei, solet cum celebri Comitatu apud Portum Thamisis vocatum Pawles Wharf in terram descendere, atque exinde Praeeuntibus Advocatis & Procuratoribus Curiae Cantuar ' certisque Reverendissimi Generosis ac Virgifero Convocationis, ad Ecclesiam Cath ' Divi Pauli London rectà tendere, atque in chorum ibidem ingredi. Vbi postquam in Stallo Decani collocatus fuerit, ac preces dixerit, tam Ipse quam Reliqui Episcopi praesentes habitu Convocationis togati, ex utroque Chori latere in suis stallis sese constitu●nt, & mox incipiunt preces, quibus S. Sancti gratia invocatur; ac Communio subsequitur. Ac tempore Offertorii, tam dictus Reverendissimus quam caeteri suffraganei Episcopi rem divinam celebranti ordine progredientes Oblationem offerre ex more debent. Peractâ in hunc morem Re Divinâ, solet doctus aliquis ex Coetu Convocationis, sive Superioris, sive Inferioris Domûs, ad hoc selectus, è Suggestu in medio Chori Concionem ad Clerum ibidem congregatum Latinè proferre.  
Quâ absolutâ, Reverendissimus statim se confert in Domum Capitularem dictae Ecclesiae; sequentibus Episcopis, & toto Clero. Quibus ingressis ac seclusis Extraneis, Reverendissimo ac caeteris suis Co-Episcopis in suis sedibus ordine considentibus, ac reliquo Clero circumstante, Reverendus Dominus Episcopus London. Mandatum sibi à dicto Reverendissimo ad Convocationem hujusmodi [submonendam] 
Sub●undam, in the MS.  aliàs directum, una cum debito Certificatorio super executione ejusdem, introducere, ac debita cum Reverentia eidem Reverendissimo Patri praesentare & tradere tenetur.  
Quo quidem Certificatorio perlecto, statim porrigitur eidem Reverendissimo Schedula descripta, per quam pronunciat omnes ad eosdem diem, horam & locum non comparentes Contumaces, reservando poenam eorum contumaciae in aliquem diem competentem pro Beneplacito ipsius Reverendissimi.  
Praemissis sic expeditis dictus Reverendissimus ad Episcopos & Clerum tunc praesentes Anglicè sive Latinè Causam sui adventûs ac dictae Convocationis inchoatae exponit.  
Quodque ex laudabili & antiqua Ordinatione eadem Convocatio in duo Membra dividitur, nempe in Superiorem atque Inferiorem domum. Vnde Reverendissimus & caeteri Co-Episcopi Superiorem Domum efficiunt; Inferior verò Domus ex Decanis Ecclesiarum Cath ' Archidiaconis, Collegiorum Magistris, & Capitulorum Cath ' Ecclesiarum, necnon Cleri cujuscunque Dioeceseos Procuratoribus constat.  
Et quoniam si in rerum tractandarum serie unusquisque ex Inferiore Domo suam ipse sententiam, quoties visum esset, diceret, aut si omnes aut plures simul loquerentur, pareret confusionem, igitur semper hactenus observatum fuit, ut Vnus aliquis doctus & disertus ex gremio dictae inferioris Domus in eorum omnium locum ad hoc munus assumatur; ut Is intellectis & scrutatis caeterorum Omnium votis, tanquam unum Eorum omnium Os & Organum loquatur, & consonam eorum sententiam eidem Reverendissimo, cum ad hoc rogatus seu missus fuerit, caeteris silentibus fideliter referat: Qui ex hoc munere Referendarius sive Prolocutor communiter denominatur. Cujus eligendi libera facultas semper penes dictam Inferiorem Domum remanet.  
Vnde ipse Reverendissimus solet eosdem ex Inferiori Domo monere atque hortari, ut statim se conferant in dictam Inferiorem Domum, ibique de viro docto, pio & fideli in Prolocutorem suum assumendo consultantes, unanimiter consentiant & eligant, sicque electum ipsi Reverendissimo in eadem Domo Capitulari prox ' insequente Sessione debita cum solemnitate praesentent. His dictis, descendunt Omnes in Inferiorem Domum ad effectum praedictum.   

Forma Eligendi & Praesentandi Prolocutorem.  
SOlet observari, ut postquam ingressi fuerint Inferiorem Domum, in sedibus se decenter collocent, & si Aliqui ex jis sint Consiliarii sive Sacellani Regiae Majestatis, ut hi superiores sedes occupent; atque ut Vnus ex jis propter Dignitatem & Reverentiam, seu in eorum absentia, Decanus Ecclesiae Cath ' D. Pauli London ' sive Archidiaconus Lond ' Praesidentis officio in hujusmodi Electione fungatur.  
Atque ut ad hoc ritè procedatur, primum jubebit nomina omnium citatorum & qui tunc interesse tenentur à Clerico dictae Inferioris Domus recitari & praeconizari. Notatisque Absentibus, alloquatur praesentes, atque eorum sententiam de idoneo Procuratore eligendo sciscitetur.  
Et postquam de eo convenerint (quod semper quasi statim & absque ullo negotio perfici solebat) mox conveniunt inter se de Duobus eminentioris Ordinis, qui dictum Electum Reverendissimo Domino Cantuar ' in Die statuto debita cum Reverentia & Solennitate praesentent. Quorum Alter sicut, cum dies advenerit, ipsum Prolocutorem cum Latina & docta Oratione praesentare tenetur, sic etiam idem Praesentatus habitu Doctoratûs indutus consimilem Orationem ad dictum Reverendissimum Patrem ac Praelatos & caeteros praesentes habere debet.  
Quibus finitis, praefatus Reverendissimus Oratione Latina tam Electores quam Praesentatorem & Praesentatum pro sua gratia collaudare, ac demum ipsam Electionem sua Archiepiscopali Authoritate expresse confirmare & approbare non dedignabitur.  
Et statim idem Reverendissimus Anglicè (si placeat) exponere solet ulterius Beneplacitum suum; Hortando Clerum, ut de rebus communibus quae Reformatione indigent, consultent & referant die statuto. Ac ad hunc modum de Sessione in Sessionem continuabitur Convocatio quamdiu expedire videbitur, ac donec de eadem dissolvenda Breve Regium eidem Reverendissimo praesentetur.  
Et sciendum est, quod quotiescunque Prolocutor ad praesentiam Reverendissimi causa Convocationis ac tempore Sessionis accesserit, utatur habitu praedicto, ac Janitor sive Virgifer dictae inferioris Domus ipsum reverenter antecedat.  
Ejusdem Prolocutoris est etiam monere omnes ne discedant à Civitate London ' absque Licentia Reverendissimi; Quodque statutis diebus tempestiuè veniant ad Convocationem. Quodque salaria Clericorum tam Superioris quam Inferioris Domus, & Janitoris inferioris Domus, juxta antiquam taxationem, quatenus eorum quemlibet concernit, fideliter persolvant.    

ACTA IN SUPERIORE DOMO CONVOCATIONIS INCOEPTAE DECIMO QUARTO DIE APRILIS ANNO MDCXL. PRAESIDE REVERENDISSIMO PATRE GULIELMO LAUD ARCHIEP. CANT.  

Archbishop LAVD's Mandate to the Bishop of London, for Summoning a Convocation to meet at St. Paul's, April 14. 1640.  
GVlielmus Providentia Divina Cant. Archiepiscopus, totius Angliae Primas & Metropolitanus, Venerabili Confratri nostro Domino Gulielmo eadem Providentia London. Episcopo, summo Angliae Thesaurario, Salutem & Fraternam in Domino Charitatem. Breve Illustrissimi in Christo Principis & Domini nostri CAROLI Dei gratia Angliae, Scotiae, Franciae, & Hiberniae Regis, Fidei Defensoris, etc. Nobis inscriptum & directum, nuper cum ea qua decuit reverentia, observantia & subjectione, humiliter recepimus in haec verba. CAROLUS Dei gratia Angliae, Scotiae, Franciae, & Hiberniae Rex, Fidei Defensor, etc. Reverendissimo in Christo Patri ac Fideli Consiliario nostro Gulielmo eadem gratia Cant. Archiepiscopo, totius Angliae Primati & Metropolitano Salutem. Quibusdam arduis & urgentibus negotiis Nos, Securitatem & Defensionem Ecclesiae Anglicanae ac pacem & tranquillitatem, bonum publicum & defensionem Regni nostri & subditorum nostrorum ejusdem concernentibus, Vobis in fide & dilectione quibus nobis tenemini rogando mandamus, quatenus praemissis debito intuitu attentis & ponderatis, universos & singulos Episcopos vestrae Provinciae, ac Decanos Ecclesiarum Cathedralium, necnon Archidiaconos, Capitula & Collegia, totumque Clerum cujuslibet Dioeceseos ejusdem Provinciae, ad comparendum coram vobis in Ecclesia Cathedrali Sancti Pauli London, decimo quarto die mensis Aprilis proxime futuri, vel alibi prout melius expedire videatis, cum omni celeritate accommoda modo debito convocari faciatis, ad tractandum, consentiendum & concludendum super praemissis & aliis quae sibi clarius exponentur tunc ibidem ex parte nostra. Et hoc sicut nos & statum Regni nostri & honorem & utilitatem Ecclesiae praedictae diligtis, nullatenus omittatis. Teste meipso apud Westm. vicesimo die Februarii Anno Regni nostri decime quinto. Quocira fraternitati vestrae committimus & mandamus, quatenus omnes & singulos Co-Episcopas Ecclesiae nostrae Christi Cant. Suffraganeos infra praefatam Provinciam nostram Cantuariensem constitutos, peremptoriè citetis, ac per eos, Decanos Ecclesiarum Cathedralium & Collegiatarum & singula Capitula earundem, Archidiaconosque & caeteros Ecclesiarum Praelatos Exemptos & non Exemptos, Clerumque cujuslibet Dioec. Provinciae nostrae antedictae peremptoriè citari & praemoneri volumus & mandamus, Quod iidem Episcopi, Decani, Archidiaconi & caeteri Ecclesiarum Praelati Exempti & non Exempti personaliter, & quodlibet Capitulum Ecclesiarum Cathedralium & Collegiatarum per unum, Clerusque cujuslibet Dioec. Provinciae nostrae antedictae per duos sufficientes Procuratores, compareant coram nobis aut nostro in hac parte locum tenente sive Commissario (si nos impediri contigerit) in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis S. Pauli London, decimo quarto die mensis Aprilis prox. futuro post datum praesentium cum continuatione & prorogatione dierum extunc sequentium & locorum (si oporteat) fiend. ad tractandum super arduis & urgentibus negotiis statum & utilitatem, bonum Publicum & defensionem Regni Angliae & subditorum ejusdem concernentibus, ipsis & ibidem seriosius exponend. suaque sana consitia & auxilia super eye impensur. ac his quae ibidem ex deliberatione communi ad honorem Dei & Ecclesie utilitatem salubriter ordinari & statui contigerit, consensur. ulteriusque factur. & receptur. quod justum fuerit et hujusmodi Negotii natura & qualitas de se exigunt & requirunt. Vos autem, Venerabilis Confrater noster, dictum Mandatum quatenus vos & Capitulum Ecclesiae vestrae Cathedralis ac Civitatem & Dioec. London concernit, exequi per omnia faciatis & eidem pareatis in omnibus cum Effectu. Praeterea tenore praesentium vos citamus quatenus eisdem die & loco coram nobis aut nostro in hac parte locum tenente sive Commissario uno vel pluribus unà cum aliis Venerabilibus Confratribus nostris dictae Provinciae nostrae Cant. Co-Episcopis compareatis super hujusmodi negotiis (ut praemittitur) tractatur. necnon factur. & receptur. quod ad vestram Paternitatem attinet, prout superius continetur. Volumus insuper & mandamus quatenus intimetis & denuncietis seu intimari & denunciari faciatis dictae Provinciae nostrae Cant. Co-Episcopis, Decanis, Archidiaconis & caeteris Ecclesiarum Praelatis suprascriptis; quod eos à personali compartitione in hujusmodi negotio Convocationis & Congregationis dictis die & loco (ut praemittitur) Divina favente clementia celebrando excusatos non habere intendimus ista vice nisi ex causa necessaria tunc & ibidem allegand. & proponend. & per nos approband. sed Contumacias eorum qui absentes fuerint Canonicè punire. Et praeterea vobis ut supra injungimus & mandamus, quod omnibus & singulis Co-Episcopis Suffraganeis Provinciae nostrae Cant. predictae injungatis seu faciatis injungi ut singuli eorum sigillatim de facto suo quatenus pertinent ad eosdem Nos seu locum tenentem sive Commissarium nostrum unum vel plures dictis die & loco per literas eorum patentes nomina & cognomina omnium & singulorum per eos respective citatorum continentes distinctè certificent & aperte. De die veroreceptionis praesentium, & quid in praemissis feceritis, Nos aut nostrum Commissarium hujusmodi dictis die & loco debite certificari curetis per literas vestras Patentes, harum seriem una cum Nominibus omnium & singulorum Episcoporum Provinciae nostrae Cant. Decanorum, Archidiaconorum & caeterorum Praelatorum vestrae Dioec. in separata Schedula literis Certificatoriis annectend. complectent. Datum in Manerio nostro de Lambeth vicesimo secundo die mensis Febr. Anno Domini juxta computationem Ecclesiae Anglicanae millesimo sexcentesimo tricesimo nono, & nostrae Translationis Anno Septimo.   

Prima Sessio.  
DIE Martis, decimo quarto viz. die Mensis Aprilis, Anno Domini Millesimo Sexcentesimo quadragesimo, Regnique Serenissimi in Christo Principis & Domini nostri Domini Caroli Dei gratia Angliae, Scotiae, Franciae, & Hibernia Regis, fidei defensoris, etc. anno decimo Sexto, Reverendissimus in Christo Pater, & Dominus Dominus Gulielmus providentia Divina Cantuariensis Archiepiscopus, totius Angliae Primas & Metropolitanus, Manè inter horas octavam & nonam ante meridiem ejusdem diei, à Manerio suo de Lambehith in Naviculo suo dicto Vulgo a Barge, ad Ripam dictam Pawles Wharfe London applicuit, ibidemque ab Advocatis & Procuratoribus ac caeteris Ministris Almae suae Curiae Cantuariensis de Arcubus London. acceptus, in curru sive vehiculo ad Palatium Episcopale London venit. Ac paulò post, Idem Reverendissimus Pater amictu & habitu suis vestitus, ab Advocatis, Procuratoribus, & caeteris Ministris suis Curiae praedictae, ad Ostium boreale Ecclesiae Paulinae juxta Palatium Episcopale London antedictum, & inde in Ecclesiam Cathedralem Sancti Pauli London praedict. ductus fuit. Ibique ad dictum Ostium, Venerabiles Viri Thomas Wynnyff, Sacrae Theologiae Professor, Decanus, ncc non Henricus King & Johannes Montfort, Sacrae Theologiae Professores, Canonici Residentiarii dictae Ecclesiae Cathedralis, Caeterique Ministri ejusdem Ecclesiae Superpelliciis induti, eum praestolabantur, & ad Chorum ipsius Ecclesiae per Occidentale Ostium ejusdem Chori perduxerunt; Comitantibus eum Episcopis Suffraganeis Provincia suae Cantuariensis, similibus habitibus indutis, & ibidem in Stallo Decani collocatus fuit. Caeterisque Episcopis Suffraganeis Provinciae Cantuariensis, habitibus suis in hujusmodi negotio Convocationis solitis & consuetis, indutis, Stallis Praebendariorum, ex utraque parte dicti Chori, sedentibus: Ac consequenter decantato per Ministros Chori praedicti Hymno, TE DEUM LAUDAMUS, etc. in Sermone Anglicano; Venerabilis Vir Thomas Turner Sacrae Theologiae Professor, Canonicus Residentiarius dictae Ecclesic Cathedralis Sancti Pauli London. suggestum in medio Chori positum ingressus fuit. Ac ibidem Concionem venustam & eloquentem Sermone Latino ad Patres ac populum & Clerum praesentes habuit; accepto pro Themate Versu decimo sexto Capituli decimi secundum Evangelium sancti Matthaei, viz. Ecce mitto Vos ut Oves in medium luporum, estote igitur prudentes sicut serpentes, & innocentes ut Columbae. Quâ quidem Concione finitâ, ac decantato per Ministros chori praedicti alio Psalmo sive Hymno, O Lord make thy Servant Charles, etc. Reverendissimus pater Dominus Gulielmus Cantuariensis Archiepiscopus antedictus Chorum praedictum egressus, ac Domum Capitularem Eclesiae Cathedralis praedictae ingressus, comitantibus eum caeteris Episcopis & Cleri Praelatis Provinciae suae Cantuariensis, pro Tribunali sedebat, assidentibus secum undique Episcopis Suffraganeis, viz. Gulielmo London ', Summo Angliae Thesaurario, Waltero Winton ', Johanne Sarum ', Roberto Coven ' & Lichen ', Godfrido Gloucestren ', Josepho Exon ', Johanne Asaphen ', Gulielmo Bathon ' & Wellen ', Johanne Oxon ', Georgio Hereforden ', Matthaeo Elien ', Roberto Bristolien ', Gulielmo Bangor ', Johanne Roffen ', Briano Cicestren ', Johanne Petriburgen ', & Morgano Landaven ', respective Episcopis Personaliter comparentibus. Cui quidem Reverendissimo Patri pro Tribunali sedenti, post lecturam Brevis Regii per me Sacvilum Wade Notarium Publicum Registrarii Deputatum, eidem Reverendissimo Patri in hac parte inscripti & directi, Praefatus Reverendus Pater Dominus Gulielmus London Episcopus exhibuit & praesentavit Certificatorium super Executione Mandati citatorii & monitorii dicti Reverendissimi Patris alias sibi praefato Domino Episcopo London directi: cujus quidem Certificatorii tenor sequitur in haec Verba, etc.  

Certificatorium Domini Episcopi London.  Reverendissimo in Christo Patri ac Domino Domino Gulielmo providentia divina Cantuariensi Archiepiscopo, etc.  
Quo quidem Certificatorio per me praefatum Sacvilum Wade Notarium Publicum antedictum de mandato dicti Reverendissimi Patris, publicè lecto, praeconizatisque publicè omnibus Reverendis Patribus Provinciae Cantuariensis Episcopis Suffraganeis, in eodem Certificatorio nominatis, Praefatus Reverendissimus Pater Verbis latinis concept. Clerum Domus inferioris Convocationis in domo Capitulari praedicta coram eo & caeteris Praelatis constitutum, monuit, quatenùs ad solitum & consuetum Conventûs sui locum sese conserentes, unum Virum gravem, doctum, & Peritum de gremio suo provideant & eligant in eorum Prolocutorem sive Referendarium, Ipsumque sic electum exhibeant & praesentent coram eodem Reverendissimo Patre aut ejus locum-tenente sive Commissario die Veneris proximo, viz. decimo septimo die instantis Mensis Aprilis inter horas nonam & undecimam ante Meridiem ejusdem diei in Capella Regis Henrici septimi infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Beati Petri Westminster. Quo Clero dimisso ad locum solitum, scilicet Capellam beatae Mariae Virginis ad finem Orientalem Ecclesiae Cathedralis praedictae ex parte Australi ejusdem, ad effectum eligendi unum gravem, doctum & peritum Virum de gremio suo in eorum Prolocutorem sive Referendarium, sese conferebant, & post aliquem tractatum inter dictum Reverendissimum Patrem & praefatos Reverendos Patres Confratres suos, Reverendissimus ad se accersiri secit totum Coetum domûs inferioris. Quibus comparentibus, Venerabilis Vir Thomas Wynnyff, sacrae Theologiae Professor, Decanus Ecclesiae Cathedralis Sancti Pauli London. praedict. unus dictae domus ad hoc electus, tam nomine suo quam totius Coetus dictae domûs dicto Reverendissimo Patri significavit se & caeteros dictae domûs, Venerabiles Viros Ricardum Steward Legum Doctorem, Decanum Ecclesiae Cathedralis Cicestren ' in eorum Prolocutorem & Gilbertum Sheldon Sacrae Theologiae Professorem Custodem Collegii omnium animarum fidelium defunctorum Oxon, in Praesentatorem dicti Prolocutoris respectiuè unanimi consensu elegisse. Quibus sic gestis, praefatus Reverendissimus Pater pronunciavit omnes & singulos Decanos, Archi-diaconos, Capitulae, Cleri procuratores, ac caeteros quoscunque ad interessendum istis die, hora & loco, in hujusmodi Sacrâ Synodo sive Convocatione monitos & citatos, & nullo modo comparentes, notoriè Contumaces, poenas verò contumaciarum suarum hujusmodi usque ad & in praedictum decimum septimum diem instantis Mensis Aprilis, inter horas nonam et undeciman ante meridiem ejusdem diei, ad Ecclesiam Collegiatam beati Petri Westminster. praedictam, Reservando; prout in Schedula per eundem Reverendissimum Patrem lecta plenius continetur. 
Schedula contra Contumaces.  Cujus quidem Schedulae tenor sequitur & est talis. In Dei nomine Amen. Nos Gulielmus, etc. postremo dictus Reverendissimus Pater continuavit & Prorogavit praesentem Convocationem sive sacram Synodum, etc. omniaque & singula Certificatoria istis die, hora & loco imroducta & introducenda & non introducta, in eodem Statu quo nunc sunt usque ad & in praedictum decimum septimum diem instantis Mensis Aprilis inter horas nonam & undecimam ante meridiem ejusdem diei ad Ecclesiam Collegiatam beati Petri Westminster, prout in alia Schedulâ per eum lectâ, tenoris sequentis continetur, Viz. 
Schedula Continuationis. Certificatorium Archi-Diaconi Cant Certificatorium Doctoris Farmery pro Diaecese Lincoln.  In Die Nomine Amen, etc. Nos Gulielmus, etc.  
Reverendissimo in Christo patri ac Domino Domino Gulielmo, etc.  
Reverendissimo in Christo patri ac Domino Domino Gulielmo, etc.   

Secunda Sessio.  
DIE Veneris, decimo septimo, Viz. die Mensis Aprilis, Anno Domini, 1640. inter horas nonam & undecimam ante meridiem, etc. Reverendissimus in Christo pater Dominus Gulielmus Cantuariensis Archiepiscopus, ac Reverendi patres Domini Gulielmus London ', Walterus Winton ', Johannes Sarum ', Robertus Coven ' & Lichen ', Godfridus Gloucestren ', Josephus Exon ', Richardus Norwicen ', Johannes Asaphen ', Gulielmus Bathon ' & Wellen ', Johannes Oxon ', Georgius Hereforden ', Matthaeus Elien ', Robertus Bristolien ', Gulielmus Bangor ', Johannes Roffen ', Brianus Cicestren ', Johannes Petriburgen ' & Morganus Landaven ' respective Episcopi, in Capella Regis Henrici Septimi infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Beati Petri Westminster congregati, primo & ante omnia preces Deo Optimo Maximo Flexis genibus humiliter fundebant; Ac finitis precibus, coram praefato Reverendissimo patre, unà cum aliis Confratribus suis praedictis pro Tribunali sedente, in praesentiâ mei Sacvili Wade Notarii Publici, etc. comparuit personalitér Venerabilis Vir Robertus newel Sacrae Theologiae Professor, Sub-Decanus Ecclesiae Collegiatae Beati Petri Westminster praedicti, secum stantibusVenerabilibus Viris, Thoma Wilson, Petro Heylyn, Jonathan Brown, Griffitho Williams, Gulielmo Haywood, & Georgio Aglionby Sacrae Theologiae Professoribus, & Ecclesie Collegiatae Praedictae Praebendariis, ac Roberto Cook Notario Publico, & nonnullis aliis testibus. Qui quidem Venerabilis Vir Robertus newel Sub-Decanus antedictus, tunc & ibidem dixit, allegavit, protestatus est, & caetera fecit, prout in quadam papyri Schedulâ quam in manibus suis tunc & ibidem tenens publicè legebat in haec Verba. 
Protestatio Sub-Decani Westminster.  In Dei Nomine Amen, Coram Vobis Notario Publico, publicàque & Authenticâ Personâ ac testibus fide dignis hic praesentibus, Ego Robertus newel Sacrae Theologiae Professor, Sub-Decanus Ecclesiae Collegiatae beati Petri Westmonasteriensis, etc. Et tunc dictus Reverendissimus Pater pro se & confratribus suis, ac omnibus & singulis Praelatis & Clero suae Cantuariensis Provinciae in hâc praesenti Convocatione sive SacrâSynodo Provinciali praesentibus ac Jus seu Interesse habentibus, protestatus est, & caetera fecit, prout in aliâ Schedulâ per eundem Reverendissimum Patrem lecta tunc & ibidem continetur, Viz. In Dei Nomine Amen, Cum haec Ecclesia Collegiata beati Petri Westminster, etc. 
Protestatio Reverendissimi.  Praesentibus tunc & ibidem Venerabilibus Viris Domino Nathaniele Brent Milite & Legum Doctore, dicti Reverendissimi Patris Vicario in Spiritualibus generali, Domino Carolo Caesar Milite & Legum Doctore, Magistro Rotulorum Domini Regis & Curiae ad Facultates Commissario, & nonnullis aliis testibus, etc. Quibus sic gestis, praenominatus Reverendissimus Pater, post intervallum temporis ad eum ascersiri jussit Praelates & Clerum Domûs inferioris. Qui copiose sese praesentantes, exhiberi & sisti fecerunt Venerabilem Virum Richardum Steward Legum Doctorem, Decanum Ecclesiae Cathedralis Cicestrensis, in Prolocutorem sive Referendarium totius Coetus Domûs inferioris praedictae ultima Sessione electum; quem Venerabilis Vir Gilbertus Sheldon in praesentatorem ista Sessione etiam electus, Vice totius Coetûs praedictae Domûs Inferioris, praemissâ facundâ & eloquenti Oratione per eum, exhibuit & praesentavit dicto Reverendissimo Patri & caeteris Episcopis praedictis. Ac factâ aliâ Oratione eleganti per eundem Prolocutorem sic praesentatum, praefatus Reverendissimus Pater Dominus Archi-Episcopus Cantuariensis antedictus de consensu Confratrum suorum praedictorum eundem Richardum Steward electum hujusmodi, & Electionem praedict. per aliam Crationem Latinam commendavit & approbavit: & tunc idem Reverendissimus pater in praesentiis Reverendorum patrum Confratrum suorum praedictorum, ac Prolocutoris & caeterorum de coetu Domûs Inferioris Convocationis, Serenissimum Dominum Nostrum Carolum Regem pro suo amore & favore speciali erga eos abunde commendans, Literam quandam suam Regiam, Sigillo magno Angliae sigillatam, de Ordinando & Conficiendo quasdam Constitutiones, Ordinationes sive Capitula, Statum Ecclesiasticum, Sinceram Religionem, & Vtilitatem Ecclesiae Anglicanae, concernentes & tendentes, unà cum nonnullis Provisionibus in eâdem Licentiâ insertis, produxit & exhibuit sub tenore sequenti, Viz.  

Licentia prima Domini nostri Regis.  Charles by the grace of God, etc. Quâ per me Sacvilum Wade in hâc parte Actorum Scribam, publicé tunc & ibidem altâ voce perlectâ, dictus Reverendissimus Pater, & caeteri Episcopi secum assidentes, cum omnimodâ Reverentiâ, Subjectione, & Humilitate gratanter acceptarunt & receperunt, & Reverendissimus Pater antedictus, praefatum Prolocutorem & alios de Domo Inferiori, Decanos, Archi-Diacanos, Capitula & Cleri Procuratores ibidem praesentes, Voluit ut ipsi inter se convenirent & maturè excogitarent de Subsidiis dicto Domino nostro Regi concedend ' & Canonibus & Constitutionibus Statum Ecclesiasticum & Christi Religionem in Ecclesiâ Anglicanâ concernentibus, concipiendis, & quicquid inde senserint sive excogitaverint, in scriptis redigant, & coram ipso Reverendissimo & Confratribus suis Episcopis exhibeant. Tunc dimisso Prolocutore cum coetu Domûs inferioris praedictae, habitoque aliquandiu tractatu inter praefatum Reverendissimum & caeteros Episcopos Suffraganeos suos (ut praefertur) comparentes, Reverendissimus Pater de & cum consensu Reverendorum Confratrum suorum praedictorum continuavit & prorogavit praesentem Convecationem sive sacram Synodum Provincialem, in statu quo nunc est usque ad & in Diem Mercurii proximum, Viz. Vicesimum Secundum Diem instantis Mensis Aprilis, inter horas octavani & duodecimam ante meridiem ejusdem diei, ad hunc locum, cum viteriori continuatione & prorogatione dierum & locorum (si oporteat) in ea parte fiendâ, prout in Schedulâ per eum lectâ pleniùs continetur; cujus quidem Schedulae verus tenor sequitur in haec verba, In Dei Nomine Amen. Nos Gulielmus Providentiâ Divinâ Cantuariensis Archi-Episcopus, etc.   

Tertia Sessio.  
DIE Mercurii Vigesimo Secundo, Viz. die Mensis Aprilis Anno Domini 1640. inter horas octavam & duodecimam ante meridiem ejusdem diei, Reverendissimus, etc. tractatum habuit cum eisdem citra negotia Parliamenti eis & aliis Domûs, superioris ejusdem commissa & isto die expedienda, & consensu mutuo eorum decretum fuit per dictum Reverendissimum Patrem ut Reverendi Patres Dominus Gulielmus London ', Robertus Coven ' & Lichen ', Johannes Asaphen ', Georgius Hereforden ', Gulielmus Bangor ', Johannes Roffen ', & Johannes Petriburgen ', respectivè Episcopi antedicti, à Convocatione hujusmodi recederent, & sese ad negotia Parliamenti praedicti subeund ' applicarent: post quorum recessum, tractatu secreto inter Dominum Archi-Episcopum & reliquos Episcopos antedictos secum modò assidentes habito, Reverendissimus ad se accersiri fecit Prolocutorem unà cum toto Coetu Domûs Inferioris. Quibus coram eo, & caeteris Episcopis antedictis, modo (ut praefertur) secum assidentibus, comparentibus, notum fecit illas per magnas Expensas quae per Regiam Majestatem ex causis urgentibus erogandae sunt, & illa non minùs pericula quae & Statum & Regnum Angliae hoc tempore imminent, eisque de causis & aliis per ipsum Reverendissimum expositis, se & Confratres suos praedictos inter se tractasse & convenisse de sex Subsidiis & majori numero Subsidiorum si aliquo tempore major numerus per Praelatos & Clerum Cantuariensis Provinciae concessus ex Registre constaret) Illustrissimo Domino nostro Regi per ipsos concedendis juxta ratam quatuor Solidorum de qualibet librâ sub certis conditionibus & provisionibus in quodam libro desuper concipiend ' & de solvendo dicta subsidia in tam brevi tempore quàm aliqua unquam soluta fuere, eosdemque rogavit, ut in Testimonium singularis eorum Obedientiae & obsequii erga dictum Dominum nostrum Regem Concessioni hujusmodi ad Statum eorum praeberent consensum & responsa darent; habito prius tractatu inter eos de eisdem. Ac tunc praefatus Reverendissimus Pater in Examinatores & Correctores Libri Subsidiorum praedict. Reverendos Patres Dominos Josephum Exon ', Matthaeum Elien ', & Robertum Bristolien ', respectivé Episcopos, nominavit, & voluit Prolocutorem & totum Coetum Domûs Inferioris praedictae, ad eligendum quatuor vel sex graviores Viros de Gremio suo, ad idem negotium cum dictis Reverendis Patribus expediend. Modò, dimisso Prolocutore, cum toto coetu praedicto, Reverendissimus Pater Dominus Archi-Episcopus Cantuariensis antedictus iterum secretè tractavit cum praedictis Reverendis Patribus; & post Temporis intervallum Dominus Prolocutor cum toto coetu praedicto reveretens, nomine suo & eorum dixit, quòd ipse & coetus Domûs Inferioris de propositis diligentèr tractarunt, & omnes eorum consensum libentissimè dederunt Concessioni dictorum sex subsidiorum, & majoris numeri, si major numerus per Clerum unquam concedebatur, juxta ratam quatuor Solidorum è qualibet librâ; seque & totum Coetum Domûs Inferioris praedictae eligisse in Examinatores & Correctores Libri Subsidiorum praedict cum praefatis Dominis Episcopis Exon ', Elien ', & Bristolien ', Venerabiles Viros Isaacum Bargrave & Thomam Wynnyff, Ecclesiarum Cathedralium Cant. & London. Decanos, necnon Thomam Paske & Thomam Wilson Archi-Diacanos London & Westminster, ac Dominum Johannem Lambe militem & legum Doctorem, Almae Curiae Cantuariensis de Arcubus London ' Officialem, unum Procuratorum Clori Lincoln ' & Petrum Heylyn sacrae Theologiae Professorem, Procuratorem pro Capitulo Westminster. Quam Electionem Dominus Archi-Episcopus & Confratres sui Approbarunt. Et ut Deus, bonorum omnium largitor, hoc pr sens Parliamentum ita disponeret, quòd omnes in eodem conventi in unum consentirent ad Dei Gloriam & Honorem, Ecclesiae utilitatem & commodum, ac Regis & Regni pacem & tranquilitatem; praefatus Reverendissimus Pater Dominus Archi Episcopus, de mandato Regio voluit Divinam Dei Gratiam implorari, & formulam Precis ad eundem effectum per duos doctos & Graviores Viros Coetus Domûs Inferioris ad hoc per Dominum Prolocutorem cum consensu totius Coetus dictae Domus eligendos concipi. Quibus sic gestis, ac Prolocutore cum toto coetu Domûs Inferioris praedictae dimisso, Reverendissimus Pater antedictus Sermonem Secretum cum Episcopis Confratribus suis antedictis inivit, & post aliquem tractatum inter eos habitum, Prolocutor venit & dixit, se cum consensu Coetus Domûs Inferioris praedictae elegisse Venerabiles Viros Gulielmum Bray, & Johannem Olliver Sacrae Theologiae Professores, Sacellanos Domini Archi-Episcopi Cantuariensis praedicti, ad concipiendum formulam Precis praedict. Vnde dimisso Domino Prolocutore, Idem Reverendissimus Pater & Confratres sui, Sermonem Secretum iterum inierunt, & Colloquium inter sese habuerunt. Postmodùm verò Dominus Prolocutor cum quinque è Sex illis Correctoribus sive Examinatoribus libri Subsidiorum dictae domûs Inferioris comparuit; & Reverendissimus Pater Dominus Archi-Episcopus antedictus Sermonem habuit cum eis de Capitulis Canonum concipiendis, & dixit se & Confratres suos de duobus Capitulis Eversionem sive Suppressionem Jesuitarum, Presbyterorum, & aliorum Romanae Ecclesiae, concernentibus, tractasse, & de eisdem consentiisse, eademque in bonis Schedulis Papyri (ut apparuit) conscripta produxit; easdemque Schedulas dicto Domino Prolocutori tradidit, toto Coetui Domûs inferioris proponendas, legend. & publicand. cum monitione quòd Copias earum cuicunque tradere minimè praesumat. Et si aliquis dictae Domùs aliquid dictis Capitulis contrarium proponat, porrigat in Scriptis & tradat in manus Domini Prolocutoris, Domino Archi-Episcopo & caeteris Episcopis Domûs Superioris exhibiturum; ut ipsi de eisdem consultarent. Denique, eye dimissis, habitâque inter Dominum Archi-Episcopum & Episcopos praedictos communicatione de rebus Convocationis, Reverendissimus pater de & cum consensu Reverendorum Confratrum suorum praedictorum continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ per eum lectâ plenius continetur, cujus quidem Schedulae verus tenor sequitur in haec Verba. In Dei Nomine Amen, Nos Gulielmus providentia divina Archi-Episcopus Cantuariensis, etc.  

Substitutio.  DIE Veneris 24. Viz. die Mensis Aprilis Anno Domini 1640. Reverendissimus in Christo pater & Dominus Dominus Gulielmus providentiâ divinâ Cantuariensis Archi-Episcopus, etc. In quadam Conclavi superiori infra Manerium suum de Lambeth in Comitatu Surriae, in praesentia mei Sacvili Wade Notarii Publici, etc. substituit, & loco suo constituit Reverendos in Christo Patres ac Venerabiles Confratres suos Dominos Godfridum Gloucestren ', & Johannem Oxon ', respectivè Episcopos, ad interessendum & Praesidendum Vice, Loco, & Authoritate suis in Sacr Synodo sive Convocatione Praelatorum & Cleri Cantuariensis Provinciae, Vigore & Authoritate Bre●… Regii in hac parte directi, decimo quarto, Viz. die instantis Mensis Aprilis (Divinâ favente clementiâ) in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Sancti Pauli London, inchoat '. & celebrat '. ac de die in diem usque ad & in instantem Vicesimum quartum diem Mensis Aprilis praedict ' inter horas secundam & quartam post meridiem ejusdem diei, ad Capellam Regis Henrici Septimi infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam divi Petri Westminster '. continuat '. & prorogat '. nec non ad communicandum & tractandum cum Venerabilibus Confratribus suis dictae Cantuariensis Provinciae Co-Episcopis ac Praelatis & Clero ejusdem suae Provinciae de & super omnibus & singulis causis & negotiis quae in eâ Sacrâ Synodo Provinciali sive Convocatione proponenda, tractanda, & communicanda fuerint: Atque hujusmodi Convocationem sive Sacram Synodum Provincialem à dicto 24 to die Mensis Aprilis usque ad & in diem Sabathi 25 diem ejusdem Mensis Aprilis ad Capellam Regis Henrici Septimi praedictam continuand. & prorogand. Caeteraque omnia & singula alia faciend. exercend. & expediend. quae in eû parte necessariae suerint seu quomodolibet opportuna & requisita Fraternitatibus suis conjunctim & divisim commisit Vices suas & plenam in Domino concessit facultatem.   

Quarta Sessio.  
DIE Veneris 24. Viz. die Mensis Aprilis Anno Domini & loco praedictis, inter horas secundam & quartam post Meridiem ejusdem diei, in praesentia mei Sacvili Wade Notarii Publici, etc. Reverendus pater Dominus Godfridus Gloucestren ' Episcopus in Substitutione Reverendissimi in Christo Patris Domini Gulielmi Cantuariensis Archi-Episcopi antedicti, unà cum Reverendo patre Domino Johanne Oxon Episcopo nominatus, etc. intimatâ Substitutione hujusmodi per me praefatum Notarium Publicum, assumsit in se Onus dictae Substitutionis, & decrevit procedendum fore juxta tenorem, vim, formam, & effectum ejusdem; & sedendo legit Schedulam Continuationis, etc. in Scriptis, etc. Prorogando & Continuando hujusmodi Convocationem in Statu quo nunc est, usque ad & in diem praesentis Mensis Aprilis inter horas Secundam & quartam post meridiem ejusdem diei, ad hunc locum prout latiùs in Schedula per eum lecta continetur. Cujus quidem Schedulae verus tenor sequitur & est talis. In Dei Nomine Amen, Nos Godfridus, permissione Divina Gloucestren ' Episcopus, etc.   

Quinta Sessio.  
DIE Sabbathi 25. Viz. die Mensis Aprilis Anno Domini 1640, inter horas secundam & quartam post meridiem ejusdem diei, Reverendissimus in Christo pater, etc. [ut suprà] Sermonem cum eisdem Reverendis patribus confratribus suis de libro Subsidiorum per quosdam Episcopos & alios clectos Domûs inferioris examinando & corrigendo, & cum Confratrum suorum praedictorum consonsu decrevit libitum fore aliquibus duobus Episcopis cum quatuor è Coetu Domûs Inferioris aliqu● tempore ad dictum librum examinandum & corrigendum; & ulteriùs pro meliori expeditione negotionum hujus Sacrae Synodi, idem Reverendissimus, cum consensis & assensu corundem confratrum suorum Ordinavit, qùod nullus Episcopus aut aliquis ●… Clero, Copiam Canonis aut partem Canonis proposituri & tractaturi, exscribere aut de aliquâ hujusmodi Canone foras fabulare praes●umpserit; donec hâc Convocatione sive sacra Synodo plenarie & finaliter assensum & sacrâ Regiâ Majestate approbatum erit, sub poena Suspensionis cujuslibet è clero per tres Menses, & Synodicae monitionis pro quolibet Praelato qui ita peccaverit; prout in Actu Synodico sequenti continetur, viz.— Quibus sic gestis Dominus Prolocutor venit cum quinque aliis è Domo Inferiori, & Reverendissimus eis declaravit istum Actum Synodicum praecedentem, & voluit eundem Dominum Prolocutorem ad declarandum istum Actum toto Coetui dictae Domûs, & habito tractatu per Reverendissimum cum eodem Domino Prolocutore de Canonibus componendis & faciendis, idem Reverendissimus dimisit Prolocutorem. Quo dimisso, Reverendissimus iterum Sermonem habuit cum dictis Dominis Episcopis Confratribus suis; & praefatus Dominus Prolocutor cum Sex illis Correctoribus sive Examinatoribus Subsidiorum per Domum Inferiorem ad hoc electis mox revertebat, & dixit se & totum Coetum Domûs Inferioris consensum & assensum suos confectioni dicti Actûs Synodici adhibuisse, & eundem unanimiter approbasse; & tunc dictus Dominus Prolocutor in sacras manus Domini Reverendissimi quandam formulam precis per Doctores Bray & Olliver conceptam, omni cum reverentiâ tradidit in formâ sequenti, viz. Omnipotens & Sempiterne Deus, etc. Quam formulam precis Reverendissimus & Confratres sui praedicti hoc Verbo (Anglicanae) addito, approbarunt, & Reverendissimus cum eorum consensu dictam precem in Convocatione quotidie habendam, & immediate ante benedictionem legendam, fore decrevit. Tunc dimisso Domino Prolocutore Reverendissimus post aliquem tractatum inter se & Confratres suos praedictos habitum, continuavit & prorogavit praesentem Convocationem sive Sacram Synodum Provincialem in statu quo nunc est usque ad & in diem Mercurii Vicesimum viz. diem instantis Mensis Aprilis inter horas secundam & quartam post meridiem ejusdem diei ad hunc locum, prout in Schedulâ per eum lectâ continetur; cujus quidem Schedulae verus tenor sequitur in haec verba, In Dei Nomine Amen. Nos Gulielmus, Providentiâ Divinâ Cantuariensis Archi-Episcopus, etc.   

Sexta Sessio.  
DIE Mercurii Vigesimo Nono, viz. die Mensis Aprilis, Anno Domini 1640. etc. inter horas secundam & quartam post meridiem, etc. Reverendus in Christo Pater Dominus Guliebmus, etc. Bathon ' & Wellen ' Episcopus, Reverendissimi in Christo Patris Domini Gulielmi Cant. Archi-Episcopi, etc. Commissarius, inter alios conjunctim & divisim legitime constitut. praesentatis literis Commissionalibus dicti Reverendissimi Patris, eisque per me praefatum Notarium publicè lectis, acceptavit in se Onus Executionis earundem literarum Commissionalium, & decrevit procedendum fore juxta tenorem, vim, formam, & effectum earundem; & immediaté idem Reverendus Pater Commissarius antedictus judicialitèr sedens, Continuavit, etc. Prout in Schedulâ per cum lectâ continetur, cujus quidem Schedula verus tenor sequitur in hac Verba, Viz. In Dei Nomine Amen. Nos Gulielmus, Permissione Divinâ Bathon ' & Wellen ' Episcopus, etc.   

Septima Sessio.  
DIE Sabbathi Secundo, viz. die Mensis Maii Anno Domini 1640. inter boras secundam & quartam post meridiem ejusdem diei in Capella Regis Henrici Septimi infra Ecclesiam collegiatam Beati Petri Westminster, in praesentiâ mei Sacvili Wade Notarii publici, etc. Reverendus Pater Dominus Johannes Asaphensis Episcopus Reverendissimi, etc. Commissarius, inter alios, conjunctim & divisim, etc. constitutus, praesentatâ Commissione per me Sacvilum Wade Notarium publicum antedictum, lectáque, etc. ob honorem dicti Reverendissimi Patris assumpsit in se Onus dictae Commissionis, & decrevit procedendum fore juxta tenorem, Vim, formam, & Effectum ejusdem; & sedendo legit Schedulam continuatonis, etc. in Scriptis, etc. prorogando etc. prout in Schedulâ per eum lectâ continetur; cujus quidem Schedulae verus tenor sequitur & est talis, Viz. In Dei Nomine Amen. Nos Johannes, Permissione Divinà Asaphen ' Episcopus, etc.   

Octava Sessio.  
DIE Martis quinto, Viz. die mensis Maii Anno Dom. 1640. inter horas secundam & quartam post meridiem, etc. Reverendus in Christ● Pater Dominus Johannes Sarum Episcopus in Commissione Reverendissimi, etc. inter alios conjunctim & divisim nominatus, etc. praesentatâ commissione hujusmodi, etc. & lecta, etc. assumpsit, etc. prorogando, etc. prout in Schedulâ per eum lectâ continetur; Cujus, etc. In Dei Nomine Amen. Nos Johannes, etc. Sarum Episcopus, etc.   

Nona Sessio.  
DIE Sabbathi Nono, viz. die Mensis Maii Anno Dom. 1640. etc. inter horas secundam & quartam post meridiem ejusdem Diei, in Capella, etc. Reverendus in Christo pater Dominus Johannes Sarum Episcopus & Commissiarius sive locum-tenens antedictus pro Tribunali sedens, Assidentibus fecum Reverendis, etc. Episcopis, hujusmodi Convocationem sive sacram Synodum Provincialem in statu, etc. una cum ulteriori continuatione & prorogatione dierum extunc sequentium, & locorum si oporteat in ea parte fiendis, continuavit & prorogavit, prout in Schedulâ per eum lectâ plenius continetur; Cujus quidem Schedulae verus tenor, etc. In Dei nomine Amen, Nos, etc. Sarum Episcopus, etc.   

Decima Sessio.  
DIE Mercury 13ᵒ. viz. die Mensis Maii Anno Dom. 1640. inter horas secundam & quartam post Meridiem ejusdem diei, Reverendissimus in Christo Pater Dominus Gulielmus Cant. Archi-Episcopus, etc. pro Tribunali sedens, assidentibus secum, etc. post tractatum habitum cum eisdem de temporis instabilitate ac impetu & tumultu sordidissimae populi sortis prope & circa Civitatem London & suburbia ejusdem nuperrimè confluentis, ac iniquè & hostiliter sese gerentis; Voluit & mandavit Prolocutorem & totum Coetum Domûs Inferioris ad se accersiri. Quibus comparentibus, Reverendissimus, in praesentiis Reverendorum Patrum Confratrum suorum, significavit & intimavit, Serenissimum Dominum nostrum Carolum Regem ex gratiâ sua Speciali Licentiam sive Commissionem magno Sigillo suo Angliae sigillatam de Ordinando & Conficiendo quasdam Constitutiones, Ordinationes sive Canones, Statum Ecclesiasticum concernentes, renovandam curasse, ad Regium suum beneplacitum duraturam, & eandem Licentiam sive Commissionem produxit & exhibuit sub formâ Verborum sequentium, viz.  

Licentia secunda Domini nostri Regis.  Charles by the Grace of God, etc. Quâ per me praefatum Sacvilum Wade in hac parte Actorum Scribam sive Registrarii Deputatum publicè tunc & ibidem altâ voce perlectâ, dictus Reverendissimus Pater & caeteri Episcopi secum assidentes & Clerus Domûs Inferioris praedict, sese coram eis exhibentes, cum omni Reverentia, Obedientiâ, Subjectione, & Humilitate gratis Animis acceptarunt & receperunt: & Reverendissimus Pater antedictus Prolocutorem & alios de Domo Inferiori, Decanos, Archi-Diaconos, Capitula & Cleri procuratores ibidem praesentes, voluit, ut ipsi inter se convenirent & excogitarent de Benevolentiâ sive extraordinariâ Contributione dicto Serenissimo Domino nostro Regi concedendâ; & deinde de Canonibus & Constitutionibus Statum Ecclesiasticum, & Ecclesiae Vtilitatem concernentib ', componend ', faciend ', & inter se consentiend '. Et ut ipsi, pro meliori & celeriori ipsius negotii expeditione, quosdam graviores & doctiores Viros de gremio suo eligerent, dictum negotium de Canonibus concipiendis Subitur '. Et subsequenter Magister Willielmus Fisher Notarius Publicus & Domuns Inferioris Actuarius, mihi praefato Notario certificavit in fidem Notarii, Venerabiles Viros, Dominum Prolocutorem, Isaacum Bargrave, Thomam Wynnyffe, & Richardum Baily Sacrae Theologiae respectiuè Professores, & Decanos Ecclesiarum Cathedralium Cant. London, & Sarum, Thomam Paske, Andream Binge, & Radulphum Brownrigg Sacrae Theologiae Professores, Archi-Diaconos London. Norwicen ' & Coven ', Johannem Montfort & Gilbertum Sheldon Sacrae Theologiae Professores; Procuratores pro Capitulis Ecclesiarum Cathedralium Divi Pauli London ', & Gloucester ', necnon Dominum Johannem Lambe Militem & Legum Doctorem, Benjaminum Laney, Thomam Turner, Edwardum Franklin, Sacrae Theologiae Professores, & Gilbertum Ironside Sacrae Theologiae Baccalaurcum, Procuratores pro Clero Lincoln ', Winton, Norwicen ', & Bristolien ', esse electos cum consensu totius Domûs ad effectum praedictum. Tunc dimisso Domino Prolocutore, cum toto Coet●… Domûs Inferioris, Reverendissimus Colloquium habuit cum confratribus suis, ut excogitarent imprimis de Canonibus Novis concipiendis, & deinde de Veteribus Canonibus percontandis & examinandis; ad effectum cisdem addendi, vel eos supplendi, si hujusmodi sacrae Synodo expedire videatur. Et insuper hortatus est idem Reverendissimus, ut Formae libri Articulorum in qualibet Visitatione posthâc Ministrandorum & de Consecratione Ecclesiarum, Capellarum, & Coemeteriorum concipiantur; & post res ita gestas, praedictus Reverendissimus Pater, jussit Prolocutorem coram se & Confratribus suis vocari. Quo Prolocutore, cum Octo Decanis eum comitantibus, comparente, idem Reverendissimus eos Voluit, ad conveniendum die Veneris proximo, tempestiuè, & ad tunc tractandum cum toto Coetu Domûs Inferioris citra Benevolentiam sive Contributionem voluntariam dicto Domino nostro Regi concedendam: Et ut ipsi Formam Articulorum in Visitationibus imposterum ministrandis concipiant. Denique eis dimissis, Idem Reverendissimus Pater cum Consensu Confratrum suorum, continuavit, etc. prout in Schedula per eum lectâ, etc.  

The Opinion of the Lord Keeper, and other the Judges, and the King's Council, for the Continuance of the Convocation.  The Convocation being called by the King's Writ under the Great Seal, doth continue until it be dissolved by Writ or Commission under the Great Seal, notwithstanding the Parliament be dissolved— 14 Maij, 1640. Jo. Finch, C. S. H. Manchester, John Bramston, Edward Littleton, Ralphe Whitfeld, Jo. Banks, Ro. Heath.   

Sessio XI.  
DIE Veneris 15º, Viz. die Mensis Maij, Anno Dom. 1640. inter horas secundam & quartam post Meridiem, Reverendissimus, etc. Confratribus suis notum fecit, Quòd Serenissimus Dominus Rex honorandum Virum Dominum Henricum Vane Militem, Vnum è Secretariis suis Principalibus & Thesaurarium Hospitij sui Regij, tanquam Nuncium specialem ad hanc Domum destinavit; eundemque honorandum Virum in Capellâ ex parte Australi hujus loci praesentem esse. Ideóque Reverendissimus Pater, cum Consensu confratrum suorum, ad se accersiri fecit dictum honorandum Virum, nec non Dominum Prolocutorem & totum Coetum Domûs Inferioris. Qui quidem honorandus Vir domum hanc Convocationis sive Sacrae Synodi primò intravit, ac deinde Dominus Prolocutor cum toto Coetu Domûs Inferioris; & Dominus Archi-Episcopus, istius Sacrae Synodi Praeses, eundem honorandum Virum benignè recepit, & in Cathedra è manu Sinistrâ positâ eum locavit. Et tunc idem honorandus Vir eisdem Reverendissimo patri ac Praelatis & Clero, brevi Oratione declaravit se fuisse per Dominum Regem ad hanc Domum missum ad Regiam suam voluntatem eidem narrandum, Scilicet, Quod idem Dominus noster Rex Licentiam sive Commissionem de Ordinando Canones & Constitutiones Ecclesiasticas, pro meliori gubernatione Ecclesiae, ad Dei gloriam, Regis honorem, & totius hujus Regni pacem (uti speratur) huic sacrae Synodo, ex gratia Speciali, concedens, cum Dominis è privato suo consilio consultum habuit, an hujusmodi sacra Synodus ad hujusmodi Canones & Constitutiones faciendum procederet necne. Et dicti Domini unanimi Consensu (nullo eorum dissentiente) Vota eorum exhibuerunt, & tanquam maximè necessarium adjudicarunt, ut Sacra haec Synodus ad istos Canones juxta potestatem eidem Synodo datam, faciendum & concipiendum procedat. Ideóque dictus honorandus Vir nomine & ex parte dicti Domini Regis hortatus est, ut tales Canones in brevi tempore fiant, quales Ecclesiae & praesenti huic statui maximè utiles sint. Et subjunctâ aliâ brevi Oratione per Reverendissimum Patrem antedictum Praelatis & toto Coetui praedicto, cum monitione Nomine dicti Domini Regis, ut nullus eorum à dictâ Sacrâ Synodo discedat, donec omnia juxta mandatum Regium praedictum perimpleantur, idem Reverendissimus Pater, unà cum dicto honorando Viro, à dictâ Sacrâ Synodo ad Consilium ineund ' cum Domino Rege apud Whitehall recessit: Et post aliquem tractatum inter Dominos Episcopos antedictos habitum, Reverendus Pater Dominus Johannes Sarum Episcopus & dicti Reverendissimi Patris Commissarius sive locum-tenens, continuavit, etc. prout in Schedula per eum lecta continetur, Cujus, etc.   

Sessio XII.  
DIE Sabbathi 16º, viz. die mensis Maij; Anno Domini 1640, inter horas Octavam & Vndecimam ante Meridiem, etc. Reverendissimus, etc. communicavit cum eisdem Dominis Episcopis. Et inter hujusmodi communicationes comparuit Dominus Prolocutor, cum Decanis Cant ' & London. & tradidit in Manus dicti Reverendissimi Patris, quasdam Schedulas Papyri continentes quaedam Capitula Canonum per eum Prolocutorem & totum clerum Domûs Inferioris excogitat. Quibus receptis, & Domino Prolocutore dimisso, Reverendissimus Dominus Praeses colloquium habuit cum Episcopis antedictis citra exiguitatem Exhibitionum è clero indigentiori, in detinendo ab eis, per Proprietarios & eorum Firmarios, Oblationes & Salaria sive Feoda Ecclesiastica, pro Mulierum post partum Purificationibus, Matrimoniorum Solemnizationibus, & de Mortuorum Sepulturis, & etiam de magnâ illâ Injuriâ Clero per Laicos illatâ in eligendo tales Gardianos & Clericos Parochiales, qui eos opponant & inquietant ad maximum eorum praejudicium & incommodum. Ad quem quidem clerum de hujusmodi injuriis levand. Reverendissimus Pater Praeses antedictus, de & cum Consilio & assensu Praelatorum confratrum suorum, Negotium hujusmodi Attornato Generali Domini Regis significandum fore decrevit; ut ipse de aliquo remedio pro eye in hac parte curaret. Tunc lecto libello sive forma Concessionis Benevolentiae sive contributionis voluntariae, praefatus Reverendissimus Pater & Reverendi Patres antedicti de benevolâ contributione quatuor Solidorum singulis Annis per Sexennium proximè futurum solvendorum de qualibet librâ annualis reditûs cujuslibet Beneficii infra Provinciam Cantuariensem, juxta ratam & taxam eorundem in libris Primitiarum fructuum Domini nostri Regis sub certis conditionibus & Provisionibus in isto libro sive Formâ contributionis Specificat ', tractatum habuerunt, & desuper consenserunt. Et ideo idem Reverendissimus Pater, cum Consensu Confratrum suorum, Dominum Prolocutorem, unà cum Sex illis Assessoribus sive Examinatoribus Domûs Inferioris pro Subsidiorum examinatione electis, ad se accersiri fecit. Quo quidem Prolocutore, unà eum quinque è dictis Assessoribus, scilicet Venerabilibus Viris, Isaaco Bargrave, Thomà Wynnyff, Thomà Paske, Thomâ Wilson, & Domino Johanne Lambe, Milite, hanc Domum superiorem intrante, Reverendissimus Pater Praeses antedictus eidem Prolocutori intimavit, se & Confratres suos de Benevolentia sive Contributione voluntaria dicto Domino Regi concedendâ tractasse, & inter sese consentiisse de concedendo quatuor Solidos è qualibet libra cujusque Beneficij juxta ratam sive taxam, in libris primitiarum Regiarum singulis Annis per Sexennium proximum solvendos, juxta formam sive librum Concessionis desuper conceptum. Quam Formam, Reverendissimus Dominus Praeses, in manus Domini Prolocutoris, per Eum & totum Coetum Domûs inferioris tractand ' & consentiend ' unà cum Copia Canonis contra Recusan ' tradidit. Tunc, dimisso Domino Prolocutore, habitoque aliquo tractatu inter Reverendissimum Dominum Praesidem, & Confratres suos, ad mandatum Reverendissimi Domini Praesidis in domum Inferiorem ego praefatus Notarius descendebam; & Dominus Prolocutor mihi tradidit Formam sive Librum Concessionis praedict ', & dixit se & totam Domum inferiorem super istam Benevolentiam sive Contributionem voluntariam considerasse, & de eâdem unanimiter consentiisse. Quâ per me Receptâ, ad Domum Superiorem instanter revertebam, & humilitèr omnia per Dominum Prolocutorem mihi in mandatis data significavi & intimavi. Deinde Dominus Prolocutor, cum Decanis Cant ' & London. Domum Superiorem intravit, & cum omni Obedientiâ, dicto Reverendissimo Canonem pro Brevi è Curia Cancellariae impetrand ' De Excommunicatis capiendis tradidit. Vnde, dimisso Domino Prolocutore, habitóque tractatu super isto Canone, Reverendissimus Pater Dominus Praeses continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc. Tenor etiam Instrumenti dictae benevolae Contributionis sequitur & est talis, viz. Augustissimo & Serenissimo Domino nostro Carolo Dei gratia Angliae, etc.   

Sessio XIII.  
DIE Lunae 18ᵒ. Viz. die Mensis Maij, Anno Domini 1640. inter horas nonam & undecimam ante merid ', etc. Reverendissimus, etc. post tractatum cum eis [Reverendis Patribus] habitum, ad se accersiri fecit Dominum Prolocutorem cum toto Coetu Domûs Inferioris: Quibus mox comparentibus intimavit, & eye publicè per me praefatum Notarium legi fecit, Literas quasdam Regias sibi & recolendis patribus Confratribus suis & toto Clero in hac Sacrâ Synodo congregatis directas sub Signaculo suo tenoris sequentis. Charles R. Most Reverend Father in God, etc. Deinde, praefatus Reverendissimus Pater Praelatis & Clero antedictis haud inelegantèr locutus est, Quòd multae querelae contra plures è Clero, & nominatim contra Doctorem Beale unum è Domo Inferiori hujus Convocationis ultimo Parliamento exhibitae fuerunt, pro Verbis in eorum praedicationibus prolatis, quae Statum hujus Regni perturbârunt & inquietârunt. De quibus idem Reverendissimus Pater protestatus est, se nunquam ante tempus praedictum audivisse; dicit tamen si antea de eisdem audisset, se velle ea examinare & partes culpabiles punire coram Commissariis Regiis ad causas Ecclesiasticas, sicut punirentur in hac Convocatione sive Sacrâ Synodo, si eadem aliquo tempore competenti continuaret. Sed post hanc Convocationem dissolut ' & dies Privilegiorum finitos, publicè promisit partes praedictas vocare coram Commissariis Regiis antedictis, & juxta Juris exigentiam & eorum demerita contra eos procedere. Tunc dimisso Prolocutore, mox cum Decanis Cant ' & London ' & Archidiaconis Middlesex ' & Roffen ' revertebat, & Canones concernentes Recusantes penes Reverendissimum antedictum dimittens, querelatus est Breve de Subpoena è Curia Scaccarij esse executum in Doctorem Burgis Archi-Diaconum Roffen ', & petiit privilegium Convocationis. Vnde Reverendissimus Pater Dominus Archi-Episcopus antedictus voluit ipsum Prolocutorem cum consensu Domûs Inferioris, ad concipiendum Actum, quid eye in hoc negotio expedire videbitur, & ad transmittendum istum Actum ad hanc Domum Superiorem, ut ipse & Confratres sui de eodem considerent. Modò, dimisso Prolocutore, & habito tractatu inter praefatum Reverendissimum Patrem & Confratres suos, Reverendissimus cum eorum consensu elegit Dominos Episcopos Elien ' & Bristolien ' ad consulendum cum utroque Dominorum Justiciariorum primariorum citra certas clausulas & Verba in Canonibus antedictis contra Recusantes; & sic facta fuit continuatio hujus Convocationis sive sacrae Synodi Provincialis in statu quo nunc est, usque ad & inter horas quartam & sextam post meridiem, etc. prout in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio XIV.  
IN Pomeridiano ejusdem diei in loco praedicto inter horas assignatas, Reverendus, etc. Asaphen ' Episcopus ac Commissarius sive locum-tenens in hac parte legitime deputatus, assidente secum, etc. in praesentiae, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout, etc.   

Sessio XV.  
DIE Martis 19ᵒ. Viz. die Mensis Maij 1640. In Capella Regis Henrici Septimi infra, etc. inter horas Nonam & Vndecimam ante Meridiem, etc. Reverendissimus, etc. pro tribunali sedens, assidentibus secum praedictis Reverendis Patribus, praefatus Reverendus Pater Dominus Matthaeus Elien ' Episcopus, certificavit se & Dominum Episcopum Bristolien ' consuluisse cum Domino Edwardo Littleton Milite, Domino primario Justiciario Curiae ad Placita Domini Regis, juxta assignationem hesterno die factam, circa clausulas & Verba in Canone contra Recusantes facto, & idem Dominus Justiciarius consilium dedit, ut quaedam verba in isto Canone per Dominum Episcopum Elien. specificata, expungentur, & alia verba magis apta in loco eorum conscribentur. Quibus de mandato Reverendissimi, cum consensu confratrum suorum, conscriptis, Reverendissimus voluit ad se accersiri Dominum Prolocutorem cum quibusdam aliis è Coetu Domus Inferioris, qui intravit Domum Superiorem cum Novem dictae Domus Inferioris, & Reverendissimus eis declaravit alterationes Verborum in Canone praedict. de consilio & judicio Domini Justiriarij primarij praedict ' factas; & tradidit istum Canonem dicto Domino Prolocutori, per eum & totam Domum Inferiorem consider and ' & consentiend '. Tunc traditâ per Dominum Prolocutorem cum omni humilitate & reverentiâ, in Sacras manus Reverendissimi, Schedulâ continente principium & conclusionem ad Articulos Potestatis Regiae, Dominus Prolocutor dimissus fuit, & Reverendissimus unà cum Confratribus suis communicavit & consultum habuit citra Principium & Conclusionem ad Articulos Potestatis Regiae; & post consultationem cum eis habitam, Reverendissimus cum unanimi eorum consensu aliqua verba addidit & aliqua expungit. Quibus sic factis, Prolocutor revertebat, & tradidit Reverendissimo quendam Canonem cum consensu Domûs Inferioris contra Socinianos (ut asseruit) factum, etc. Et Reverendissimus ei retradidit Schedulam continentem principium & conclusionem ad Articulos Regiae potestatis, sic (ut praefertur) in aliquo mutatos, per eum & Domum Inferiorem tractand '. Prolocutore dimisso, Reverendissimus unà cum confratribus suis Consilium habuit super istum Canonem contra Socinianos, & post aliquem tractatum & emendationem istius Canonis, Reverendissimus cum Consensu Confratrum suorum continuavit, & prorogavit, etc. Vsque ad & in diem Mercurij Vicesimum, viz. diem instantis Mensis Maij inter horas Octavam & Vndecimam ante Meridiem, etc. in hunc locum, prout in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio XVI.  
DIE Mercurij 20ᵒ. Viz. die Mensis Maij Anno Domini 1640. inter horas Octavam & Vndecimam ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, Reverendissimus, etc. Praeses hujus Convocationis sive sacrae Synodi, etc. tractavit cum Etiscopis, & post multum temporis contritum, consenserunt super Canone contra Socinianos, ultima Sessione tractato, & super formâ Juramenti, etc. hac Sessione per Reverendissimum productâ. Deinde, de mandato Reverendissimi, Prolocutor cum Sex aliis è Domo Inferiori Domum Superiorem intravit, & Reverendissimus ei tradidit dictum Canonem & formam Juramenti praedicti per totum Coetum Domûs Inferioris considerandum, tractandum, & consentiendum: Tunc, dimisso Prolocutore, Reverendissimus mandavit Canonem pro Collectione contributionis voluntariae per me praefatum Notarium legi. Quibus lectis, denuô comparuit Dominus Prolocutor cum duobus aliis è Coetu Domus Inferioris, & in manus Reverendissimi tradidit Schedulam pro Literis de Excommunicatis capiendis contra Recusantes extrahend '. Eóque dimisso, habitoque tractatu cum Episcopis, Reverendissimus continuavit & prorogavit, etc. Vsque ad & in diem Jovis Vicesimam primam, viz. diem, etc. inter horas Nonam & Vndecimam ante Meridiem, etc. prout in Schedulâ per eum lecta continetur, cujus quidem Schedulae verus tenor sequitur, etc.   

Sessio XVII.  
DIE Jovis 21ᵒ. Viz. die Mensis Maii, Anno Domini 1640. inter horas Nonam & Vndecimam ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, Reverendissimus, etc. post aliquem tractatum cum eis [Episcopis] mandavit Prolocutor ', & totum Coetum Domûs Inferioris ad se accersiri. Quibus comparentibus, Reverendissimus coram eis produxit Literas quasdam Regias recolendis Patribus & toti Clero in hujusmodi Convocatione congregato directas, sub Signaculo suo tenoris sequentis, Viz. Charles R. Most Reverend Father in God, etc. Quibus per me Notarium antedictum publicè perlectis, Reverendissimus eis intimavit se & Confratres suos unanimi consensu fecisse quosdam Canones sive Ordinationes juxta potestatem in dictis Literis mentionat ', eis & toti Clero concessam, pro collectione, levatione, solutione, & computatione benevolentiae sive contributionis voluntariae Regiae suae Majestati per eos datae, & Copiam dictorum Canonum dicto Domino Prolocutori tradidit, per Clerum Domûs Inferioris approband ' & consentiend '. Tunc, eye dimissis, Reverendissimus & Confratres sui tractarunt & inter se consultarunt de quodam Canone sive Declaratione per Domum Inferiorem eis transmisso, concernente quosdam Ritus sive gestus in Ecclesiis observandos; & post aliquem tractatum desuper habitum, Prolocutor cum quibusdam aliis è Domo Inferiori revertebat, & praesentavit Canones sive Ordinationes, ut suprâ, pro collectione benevolentiae ei traditas, & humilitèr significavit totam Domum Inferiorem unanimi consensu eosdem approbâsse. Vnde, dimisso Prolocutore, habitoque tractatu inter Reverendissimum & Confratres suos de alio Canone per Dominum Prolocutorem eidem Reverendissimo tradito, Reverendissimus cum consensu Confratrum suorum praesentem Convocationem sive sacram Synodum Provincialem continuavit, etc. Vsque ad & inter horas secundam & quartam post meridiem, etc. hujus diei, prout in Schedulâ per eum lectâ, etc.  
Ordinationes aliquot Synodales factae 21 die Mensis Maij, etc.   

Sessio XVIII.  
IN Pomeridiano ejusdem diei in loco praedicto inter horas assignatas, Reverendus pater Dominus Morganus Landavensis Episcopus ac Commissarius sive Locum-tenens in hac parte legitimè deputatus in praesentia mei, &c, continuavit, etc. Vsque ad & in diem Veneris 22. diem, etc. inter horas 9 & 11, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XIX.  
DIE Veneris 22ᵒ. Viz. die Mensis Maij Anno Domini 1640. in Capella, etc. inter horas nonam & undecimam ante Meridiem, etc. Reverendissimus, etc. Praeses hujus sacrae Synodi, assidentibus secum Reverendis Patribus, etc. tractavit & communicavit cum eisdem recolendis Patribus Confratribus suis citra Canonem pro receptione Sacrae Eucharistiae, & locatione Sacrae Mensae; & inter hujusmodi tractatus Reverendus pater Dominus Godfridus Gloucestren ' Episcopus antedictus, protestatus est, Quòd non intendit consentire ad conceptionem & fabricationem alicujus Canonis in hac Sacrâ Synodo propositi & tractati, vel proponendi & tractandi, nisi aliquem antiquum Precedentem de legitimatione dictae Sacrae Synodi viderit; licet approbavit (ut asseruit) Benevolentiam sive Contributionem voluntariam, hac Sacrâ Synodo Domino nostro Regi concessam, & Canones desuper factos pro collectione & levatione ejusdem; & huic Protestationi in omnibus adhaerere intendit. Deinde comparuit Dominus Prolocutor, cum Octo aliis è Coetu Domûs Inferioris, & praesentavit formam Libri Articulorum & tres Canones per istam Domum tractat. et etiam Literas quasdam petitionales ex parte Vnius Clericorum in partibus Walliae, pro errorum emendatione Liturgiae Wallicae, per falsam impressionem commissorum; & ut ista forma Precis die Inaugurationis Regiae singulis Annis utendae, in linguam Wallicam translata sit. Vnde Reverendissimus cum consensu Confratrum suor ' hujusmodi negotium Dom ' Johanni Asaphen ' Episcopo antedicto retulit. Tunc, eye dimissis, Reverendissimus cum Confratribus suis, tractavit super Canonibus contra Sectarios, Separatistas, & alios Recusantes venire ad preces divinas, & de utendâ prece die Inaugurationis Regiae singulis Annis, & de Consecratione Panis & Vini tempore ministrationis sacrae Eucharistiae, quoties opus fuerit consecrare; & de alio Canone, etc. Quibus sic gestis, Reverendissimus, cum consensu Confratrum suorum, continuavit, etc. Vsque ad & inter horas secundam & quartam post Meridiem, etc. ad hunc locum. Prout in Schedulâ, per eum lectâ tenoris sequentis continetur. In Dei Nomine, etc.   

Sessio XX.  
IN Pomeridiano ejusdem diei, in loco praedicto Reverendi Patres, etc. convenerunt & insimul à horâ tertiâ usque ad post horam Septimam dicti diei consederunt; & tunc Reverendus Pater Dominus Johannes Sarum Episcopus antedictus ac Commissarius, etc. praesentem Convocationem sive Sacram Synodum Provincialem, usque ad & in diem Sabbathi 23, viz. diem instantis Mensis inter horas nonam & undecimam ante meridiem, etc. continuavit, etc. ad hunc locum, prout in Schedula sequenti continetur, viz. In Dei Nomine, etc.   

Sessio XXI.  
DIE Sabbathi 23ᵒ viz. die Mensis Maij Anno Domini 1640. inter horas nonam & undecimam ante Meridiem, etc. Reverendissimus tractavit cum eisdem [Episcopis] de libro Articulorum Visitationibus Parochialibus ministrand '; & inter hujusmodi tractatus, Reverendus Pater Dominus Richardus Norwicen ' Episcopus Domum hanc Superiorem intravit; & citra semihoram posteà, comparuit Prolocutor cum septem aliis è Domo Inferiori: deinde, eye dimissis habitoque tractatu citra Canonem pro ministratione libri Articulorum praedict. & de addend ' eisdem Licentiâ & Dispensatione Reverendissimi sub sigillo suo, Prolocutor revertebat, ad id licentiatus, & Secretè locutus est cum Reverendissimo (me praefato Notario semoto.) Eo dimisso, Reverendissimus cum consensu Confratrum suorum, potestatem commisit Dominis Episcopis Elien ', Exon ' & Oxon ' ad examinandum librum Articulorum praedict '. Deinde, tractatu Secreto cum Episcopis habito, Reverendissimus cum eorum consenst praesentem Convocationem, etc. continuavit, etc. Vsque ad & inter horas secundam & quartam post meridiem, etc. ad hunc Locum. Prout in Schedulâ tenoris sequentis pleniùs continetur, In Dei nomine Amen. Nos, etc.   

Sessio XXII.  
IN Pomerid ' ejusd ' diei in loco praed ', etc. Reverendissimus, etc. post aliquod cum eis [Episcopis] habit ' Colloquium, Prolocutor cum quibusdam aliis è Coetu Domûs Inferioris Domum Superiorem intravit, & praesentavit binos Canones. Tunc, eo dimisso, habitoque tractatu inter Dominum Archi-Episcopum & Episcopos antedictos, revertebat cum decem aliis dictae Domûs Inferioris, & alios praesentavit Canones. Prolocutore iterum dimisso, paulò post revertebat cum duobus vel tribus è Domo Inferiori; & Reverendissimus in eorum praesentiis elegit Dominos Episcopos, Winton ', Exon ' Elien ' & Bristolien ' ad praesentandum cum ipso Instrumentum Benevolentiae sive Contributionis voluntariae, Serenissimo Domino Regi, & Voluit Dominum Prolocutorem ad eligendum Sex aut Octo alios Domûs Inferioris ad similiter praesentandum cum ipso Prolocutore dictum Instrumentum. Deinde, habito tractatu secreto cum eodem Prolocutore (me Notario antedicto semoto) Reverendissimus eundem Prolocutorem dimisit, & praesentem Convocationem, etc. Vsque ad & in diem Mercurij 27. Viz. diem, etc. inter horas nonam & undecimam ante Meridiem continuavit, etc. Prout in Schedulâ tenoris sequentis continetur. In Dei, etc.   

Sessio XXIII.  
DIE Mercurij 27º, Viz. die Mensis Maij, Anno Dom. 1640. inter horas nonam & undecimam ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendissimus, etc. ad se accersiri fecit Dominum Prolocutorem & totum Coetum Domûs Inferioris. Quibus comparentibus, Reverendissimus significavit, Quòd die Lunae ultimo manè Instrumentum Concessionis benevolentiae, sive contributionis voluntariae, unanimi consensu hujus Sacrae Synodi, Serenissimo Domino nostro Regi concessae, in ejus Sacras manus per eos utriusque Domûs ad hoc electos cum omni Humilitate, Obedientiâ, & Subjectione, traditum fuit. Regiaque sacra Majestas eandem Concessionem gratiosè acceptavit, & Voluit ipsum Reverendissimum pro Domo Superiori & Dominum Prolocutorem pro Domo Inferiori, ad gratias utrique Domui nomine suo pro eadem referend ': Quódque die Martis ultimo, Canones in hac sacra Synodo tractat ' per ipsum Reverendissimum Regiae Majestati in praesentiis Dominorum è privato suo Consilio lecti fuerunt, Regiáque Majestas, & Domini è Consilio praedict ', eosdem unanimitèr & sine haesitatione approbârunt: & Dominus Rex voluit eundem Reverendissimum ad habendum gratias utrique Domui hujus Convocationis pro magnâ eorum curâ & labore citra confectionem eorundem. Inter verò hujusmodi Sermonis prolationem, Domino Gulielmo Bangor Episcopo comparente, & in hâc sacrâ Synodo unà cum Dominis Episcopis antedictis sedente, Reverendissimus Prolocutorem & totum Coetum Domûs Inferioris praedictae dimisit. Tunc, habito aliquo tractatu inter Reverendissimum & praefatos Praelatos, Confratres suos, Prolocutor revertebat & secum introduxit Conclusionem cujusdam Canonis pro suppressione accretionis numeri Papistarum, & eandem penes Reverendissimum reliquit. Deinde, dimisso Prolocutore, post aliquod temporis intervallum comparuit Willielmus Fisher Notarius Publicus & Actuarius Domûs Inferioris, & praesentavit Schedulam concernentem titulos cujuslibet Canonis in hac sacrâ Synodo usque in horam praedictam tractat ' per Domum Inferiorem (ut asseruit) fact ' & assens '. Vnde Reverendissimus, cum consensu Confratrum suorum, eosdem titulos approbavit. Denique Prolocutor iterum venit, & exhibuit quosdam Canones contra Judices Ecclesiasticos & eorum Registrarios & Officiarios; eisdemque in sacras manus Reverendissimi traditis, & Prolocutore dimisso, Reverendissimus continuavit, etc. Vsque ad & in diem Jovis 28. viz. diem, etc. inter horas nonam & undecimam ante Meridiem, prout in Schedulâ per eum lectâ continetur, Cujus quidem Schedulae verus tenor sequltur. In Dei Nomine, etc.   

Sessio XXIV.  
DIE Jovis 28ᵒ. Viz. die Mensis Maij, Anno Domini 1640. inter horas nonam & undeoimam ante Meridiem ejusdem diel, Reverendissimus, etc. post aliquem tractatum cum eis [Episcopis] habitum, Dominus Prolocutor venit cum quinque aliis è Coetu Domûs Inferioris, & exparte aliquorum inhabitantium Parochianorum Sancti Clementis Dacorum extra barras Novi Templi London & beatae Mariae Savoy, in Le-Strand, in Comitatu Middlesexiae, exhib●… Literas quasdam Petitionales manibus suis propriis Subsignatas; & quidam Johannes Crosse Lanio, Willielmus Stevenson Lanio, & … Vxor Rogeri Barton, partes in dictis Literis mentionatae, obtulerunt se promptos & paratos ad justificandum suggestiones in eisdem, & nominatim accusarunt Magistrum Johannem Allen Notarium Publicum Registrarij Deputatum, & Arthurum Coleman Apparitorem Domini Archi-Diaconi Middlesexiae, tanquam partes in dictis literis criminosas, & in Officiis suis malè se gerentes. Vnde Reverendissimus, cum Consensu Praelatorum & Cleri, in hâc sacrâ Synodo congregat ' decrevit, eos vocandos fore coram Commissariis Regiis, ac Processum contra eos fieri ex mero Officio, in ista Curia, etiam decrevit. Tunc, dimisso Prolocutore, Reverendissimus tractavit cum Praelatis citra istos Canones contra Cancellarios & alios Judices Ecclesiasticos. & eorum Officiarios. Post istum tractatum, Prolocutor cum 17. aliis è Domo Inferiori revertebat, & Reverendissimus cum eodem Prolocutore tractatum habuit citra istos Canones, & in finem tractatûs eos retradidit eidem Domino Prolocutori per eum & totam domum Inferiorem considerand '. Deinde Prolocutore dimisso, Reverendissimus continuavit, etc. Vsque ad & inter horas secundam & quartam post meridiem hujus diei. Prout in Schedulâ tenoris sequentis continetur. In Dei, etc.   

Sessio XXV.  
IN Pomeridiano ejusdem diei in loco praedicto, Reverendissimus, etc. post tractatum cum eis [Episcopis] habitum, Prolocutor venit cum 19 aliis è Coetu Domûs Inferioris, & proposuit quosdam Canones Ecclesiasticos; & eo pro tempore dimisso, revertebat cum duobus vel tribus è Coetu dictae Domûs, & Reverendissimus in praesentiis Domini Johannis Lambe Militis, Legum Doctoris Officialis de Arcubus & Doctoris Heath Auditoris Curiae Audien ' Cant ' qui ad informandum Reverendissimum & Episcopos vocati sunt, tractavit cum Domino Prolocutore citra Canones praedictos. Post tractatum hujusmodi finitum, Dominoque Prolocutore dimisso, Reverendissimus continuavit, etc. Vsque ad in diem Veneris 29. Viz. diem, etc. inter horas nonam & undecimam ante meridiem, etc. Prout in Schedulà, per eum lectâ tenoris sequentis continetur, viz. In Dei Nomine Amen, etc.   

Ultima Sessio.  
DIE Veneris 29ᵒ. Viz. die Mensis Maij, Anno Domini 1640. inter horas, etc. Reverendissimus, etc. judicialitèr sedens: Prolocutor venit cum quibusdam aliis è Coetu Domûs Inferioris, & proposuit quendam Canonem. Tunc, eo dimisso, habitóque tractatu inter Reverendissimum Patrem antedictum & Confratres suos, super eodem Canone, Prolocutor cum toto Coetu Domûs Inferioris praedictae revertebat; & Reverendissimus cum Vnanimi consensu Praelatorum & Cleri hujus Sacrae Synodi decrevit Regiam Majestatem supplicandam fore, ut Liber publicarum precum, in Latinum versus, reimprimatur, prout in Actu Synodico sequenti continetur, Viz. Decernimus insuper, etc. Deinde, Reverendissimus, in praesentiis dicti Domini Prolocutoris, & totius Coetûs Domûs Inferioris, protulit Librum Canonum in hac Sacrâ Synodo tractat '. continentem septemdecim Capitula Canonum. Quem Reverendissimus in manibus suis tenens, cum Domino Prolocutore, altâ & intelligibili voce legebat. Quo perlecto, Reverendissimus, & Reverendi Patres antedicti (Excepto Domino Episcopo Gloncestren '. antedicto, Subscribere pro tempore denegan ') ac Dominus Prolocutor & totus Coetus Domûs Inferioris antedictae, isto die comparentes, nominibus suis & aliorum pro quibus constituti sunt consensum & assensum suos eisdem Canonibus praestiterunt, & eorum Nomina manibus suis propriis eisdem respective subscripserunt. Et Reverendissimus, inter hasce Subscriptiones, interrogavit dictum Dominum Episcopum Gloucestren ' an dictis Canonibus assensum suum praebere, & nomen Subscribere velit; idem Dominus Episcopus respondendo denegavit. Vnde Reverendissimus primò, secundò & tertiò, monuit eundem Dominum Episcopum ad Subscribendum. Ipse refutavit, & sic ad secundam & tertiam monitionem Canonicam respondebat, nisi ad Subscribendum Negatiuè, petendo beneficium Synodi. Tunc, Reverendissimus eundem Dominum Episcopum Gloucestren '. ob contumaciam & inobedientiam suam hujusmodi, ab Episcopatu suo pro parte sua deprivandum fore decrevit, ac monuit & jussit Dominum Johannem Lambe Militem tunc praesentem, ad concipiendum Sententiam Deprivationis; & ad Vota & Suffragia Praelatorum ad eundem effectum processit. Post aliquem Processum hujusmodi habitum, major pars Praelatorum vota sua deprivationi dicti Domini Episcopi praebuit. Tunc praefatus Dominus Episcopus obtulit ad subscribendum, & de facto Nomen suum dicto libro apposuit. Quibus sic gestis, dictóque Reverendo Patre interrogato per Reverendissimum ad rogat um Prolocutoris & aliorum è Coetu Domûs Inferioris, an ipse subscripsit voluntariè & ex animo, sine aequivocatione, animi evasione, & Secreta reservatione; Respondebat, quòd ipse subscripsit, & aliter denegavit respondere. Deinde, dimisso Domino Prolocutore, cum toto Coetu Domûs Inferioris, Reverendissimus & Confratres sui praedicti super istud grave Scandalum, Ecclesiae Anglicanae, & huic Sacrae Synodo, per dictum Dominum Episcopum illatum, inter se tractarunt, & unanimiter Vota sua dedcrunt pro suspensione ejusdem Episcopi ab Officio & Beneficiis suis Ecclesiasticis. Et mox Dominus Prolocutor cum toto Coetu Domûs Inferioris revertebat, ac nomine suo & totius Coetûs praedicti, dixit se & totum Coetum Domûs suae, citra istud Scandalum Ecclesiae huic Anglicanae & Synodo Sacrae per Dominum Episcopum Gloucestr '. illatum, tractâsse, & Vota sua & corum Suspensioni ejusdem Episcopi ab Officio & Beneficiis praebuisse. Et ulterius Dominus Prolocutor, nomine suo & eorum, Dominum Archi-Episcopum imploravit, ut dictus Dominus Episcopus Gloucestr. ante recessum suum ab hac Civitatc, Juramentum in Sexto Canone in hac sacra Synodo tractat ' mentionat ' praestaret; & ut Reverendissimus interrogaret eundem Dominum Episcopum an ipse Subscripsit bonâ fide sine Aequivocatione & animi evasione. Vnde factâ monitione dicto Domino Episcopo Gloucestren ', quòd non recedat à Civitate, donec Juramentum praedictum ei oblaturum praestiterit & subierit, Reverendissimus cum consensu totius Synodi dictum Dominum Episcopum Gloucestren '. ab Officio & Episcopatu suo Gloucestr. & ab omnibus Reneficiis suis Ecclesiasticis Suspendendum fore decrevit, donec Serenissimo Domino nostro Regi & Sacrae Ecclesiae, ob magnum hujusmodi dedecus & grave Scandalum illatum, Satisfecerit. Eùmque in Scriptis Suspendebat, prout in Schedula sequenti continetur, Viz. In Dei Nomine Amen. Nos Gulielmus, etc. Postremo, habito per Reverendissimum sermone gravi & eleganti, Praelatis & Clero praedictis, Lectóque per me praefatum Notarium Brevi Regio, de mandato dicti Reverendissimi Patris, de Convocatione dissolvendâ, tenoris sequentis, Viz. Carolus Dei gratiâ, etc. Idem Reverendissimus Pater, ob honorem & reverentiam dicti Domini nostri Regis juxta tenorem Brevis Regij praedicti, candem Convocationem five Sacram Synodum Provincialem dissolvit, prout in Schedulâ per dictum Reverendissimum Patremlectâ pleniùs continetur, Cujus quidem Schedulae tenor sequitur & est palis. Viz. In Dei nomine Amen. Nos Gulielmus, etc.    

ACTA SUPERIORIS DOMUS CONVOCATIONIS INCOEPTAE OCTAVO DIE MENSIS MAII ANNO MDCLXI. IN REVISIONELIBRI PRECUM PUBLICARUM ET IN CERTIS CANONIBUS CONFICIENDIS, & C. USQUE AD DIEM XXVI. SEPTEMBRIS ANNO MDCLXVI.  

Archbishop JVXON's Mandate to the Bishop of London, to Summon a Convocation to St. Paul's, May 8. 1661.  

Mandatuus Episcoco London ', direct ' pro Convocat ' summonenda.  GUlielmus Providentiâ Divinâ Cantuar Archiepiscopus, totius Angliae Primas & Metropolitanus; Venerabili Confratri nostro Domino Gilberto eâdem Providentiâ London. Episcopo, Salutem, & fraternam in Domino charitatem. Breve Illustrissimi in Christo Principis, & Domini nostri Domini Caroli secundi, Dei gratiâ Angliae, Scotiae, Franciae, & Hiberniae Regis, Fidei defensoris, etc. nobis inscript '. & direct nuper cum eâ quâ decuit reverentiâ, obedientiâ & subjectione, humiliter recepimus in haec verba. Carolus secundus, Dei gratiâ Angliae, Scotiae, Franciae, & Hiberniae Rex, Fidei Defensor, etc. Reverendissimo in Christo Patri Gulielmo câdem gratiâ Cantuar? Archiepiscopo, totius Angliae Primati & Metrotolitano, Salutem. Quibusdam arduis & urgentibus negotiis Nos, securitatem & defensionem Ecclesue Anglicanae, ac pacem & tranquilitatem, bonum publicum, & defensionem Regni nostri & subditarum nostrorum ejusácm concernen. Vobis in side & dilectione quibus nobis tenemini rogando mandamus, quatenàs praemissis debito intuitu attentis & ponderatis, universos & singulos Episcopos vestrae Provinciae, ac Decanos Ecclesiarum Cathedralium, nec non Archidiaconos, Capitula, & Collegia, Collegia, totumque Clerum cujuslibet Dioeceseos ejusdem Provinciae, ad comparendum coram vobis in Ecclesiâ Cathedrali Sancti Pauli London. octavo die Mensis Maij prox. futur. vel alibi prout melius expedire videritis, cum omni celeritate accommodâ modo debito convocari faciatis, ad tractand '. consentiend '. & concludena '. super praemissis & aliis quae sibi clarius exponentur tunc ibidem ex parte nostra. Et hoc sicut Nos & Statum regni nostri, ac honorem & utilitatem Ecclesiae praedict '. diligitis, nullatenùs omitratis. Teste meipso apud Westm '. Vndecimo die Aprilis, Anno Regni nostri Tertio Decímo.  
Quocirca fraternitati vestrae committimus & mandamus, quatenùs omnes & singulos Co-episcopos Ecclesic nostrae Christi Cantuar '. Suffraganeos, infra praefatam nostram Provinciam Cant. constitutos, peremptoriè citetis, & per eos Decanos Ecclesiarum Cathedralium, & Collegiatarum, & singula Capitula earundem, Archidiaconósque & alios Ecclesiarun; Praelatos exemptos & non exemptos, Clerúmque cujuslibet Dioeceseos Provinciae nostrae Cantuar '. antedict '. peremptoriè citari & praemoneri volumus & mandamus: Quòd iidem Episcopi, Decani, Archidiaconi, & caeteri Ecclesiarum Cathedralium Praelati exempti & non exempti personaliter; & quodlibet Capitulum Ecclesiarum Cathedralium & Collegiatarum per unum, Clerúsque cujuslibet Dioeces. Provinciae nostrae antedict. per duos sufficien '. Procuratores compareant coram nobis aut nostro in hac parte Locum-tenente sive Commissario (si Nos impediri contigerit) in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis sancti Pauli London, 8 die Mensis Maij prox. futur. post Datum Praesentium, cum continuatione & prorogatione dierum extunc sequen ' & locorum (si oporteat) fiend '. ad tractand '. super arduis & urgentibus negotiis, statum & utilitatem, bonum publicum & defensionem Regni Angliae & Subditorum ejusdem concernen '. ipsis tunc & ibidem seriosiùs exponend ' suáque sana consilia & auxilia super eye impensur. ac hiis quae ibidem ex deliberatione communi ad honorem Dei & Ecclesiae utilitatem salubriter Ordinari & Statui contigerit, consensur. ulteriúsque factur. & receptur. quod justum fuerit & hujusmodi negotij natura & qualitas de se exigunt & requirunt. Vos autem, Venerabilis Confrater, dictum Mandatum, quatenùs Vos & Capitulum Ecclesiae vestrae Cathedralis ac Civitatem & Dioc '. London. concernit, exequi per omnia faciatis & eidem pareatis in omnibus cum effectu. Praetereà, tenore praesentium Vos citamus, quatenus eisdem die & loco coram Nobis aut nostro in hac parte Locum-tenente sive Commissario, uno vel pluribus, una cum aliis Venerabilibus Confratribus nostris dictae Provinciae nostrae Cantuar. Co-episcopis, compareatis, super hujusmodi negotiis, ut praemittitur, tractatur. nec non factur. & receptur. quod justum fuerit & quod ad vestram Paternitatem attinet, prout superius continetur. Volumus insuper & mandamus, quatenùs intimets & denuncietis seu intimari & denunciari faciatis dictae Provinciae nostrae Cantuar '. Co-episcopis, Decanis, Archidiaconis, & caeteris Ecclesiarum Praelatis suprascript '. quòd eos à personali comparitione in hujusmodi negotio Convocationis & Congregationis, dictis die & loco (ut praemittitur) Divinâ favente Clementiâ celebrand '. excusatos non habere intendimus ista Vice nisi ex causa necessariâ tunc & ibidem allegand ' & proponend. & per nos approband '. sed Contumacias eorum qui absentes fuerint, Canonicè punire. Et praetereà, Vobis (ut supra) injungimus & mandamus, quòd omnibus & singulis Co-episcopis Suffraganeis provinciae nostrae Cantuar ' praedict '. injungatis & injungi faciatis, ut singuli eorum sigillatim de facto suo quatenùs pertinet ad eosdem, Nos seu Locumtenentem sive Commissarium nostrum unum vel plures dictis die & loco per Literas corum Patentes, Nomina & Cognomina omnium & singulorum per eos respective citatorum continen. distinctè certificent & aperté. De die verò receptionis praesentium, & quid in praemissis feceritis, Nos aut nostrum in hac parte Locum-tenen ' sive Commissarium hujusmodi dictis die & loco debitè certificari curetis per literas vestras Patentes harum seriem una cum nominibus omnium & singulorum Episcoporum Provinciae nostrae Cantuar '. Decanorum, Archidiaconorum, & caeterorum Praelatorum vestrae Dioe●eseos in separatâ Schedulâ literis Certificatoriis annectend '. complecten '. In cujus Rei Testimonium, Sigillum nostrum Archiepiscopale praesentibus apponi fecimus. Dat. in Manerio nostro de Lambeth, duodecimo die mensis Aprilis, Anno Domini Millesimo Sexcentesimo Sexagesimo primo, Et nostrae Translationis Anno Primo, etc.   

Sessio Prima.  
DIE Mercurij, 8ᵒ. Viz. die Mensis Maij, Anno Domini 1661. Annoque Regni Domini nostri Caroli secundi Dei gratiâ Angliae, Scotiae, Franciae, & Hiberniae Regis, Fidei Defensoris, etc. 13. Reverendus in Christo Pater & Dominus Gilbertus Providentiâ divinâ London ' Episcopus, inter horas nonam & decimam antè Meridiem ejusdem diei, unà cum nonnullis Reverendis in Christo Patribus Confratribus & Co-episcopis suis, nec non Decanis, Archidiaconis, caeterísque Clericis & Ministris, nec non Advocatis & Procuratoribus, & caeteris Ministris Almae Curiae Cant ' de Arcubus London ', ab aedibus … Berwick in Medicinis Doctoris intra Pauls Churchyard in Parochiâ Sancti Gregorij Civitatis London '. notorié sit ' & situat ', usque ad & in parvum ostium australe Ecclesiae Paulinae in Ecclesiam Cathedralem Sancti Pauli London ' pervenit; & ibidem Venerabilis vir Matthaeus Nicholas, in Legibus Doctor, Decanus, Thomas Turner, Johannes Hacket & Edwardus Laysield, Sacrae Theologiae Professores, Canonici Residentiarij dictae Ecclesiae Cathedralis, caeterique Canonici & Praebendarij ejusdem Ecclesiae superpelliciis induti, eum praestolabantur, & ad Chorum ipsius Ecclesie perduxerunt, comitantibus eum Episcopis Provinciae Cant ' similibus habitibus indutis. Et ibidem dictus Reverendus Pater in stallo quodam collocatus fuit, caeterisque Episcopis Suffraganeis Provinciae Cant '. habitibus suis in hujusmodi Convocationis negotio folitis & consuetis, indutis, stallis Praebendariorum (jam pro stallis usitatis) ex utraque parte dicti Chori sedentibus, ac decantato per Ministros Chori praedicti Hymno, Te Deum Laudamus, etc. lectòque Capitulo pro lectione secundâ istius diei, & aliis precibus matutinis juxta formam Liturgiae peractis, & alio Hymno, O Lord make thy Servant CHARLES, etc. cantato, Venerabilis Vir Thomas Pierce, S. Theologiae Professor, suggestum usitatum ingressus fuit, ac ibidem Concionem vemustam & eloquentem sermone Latino, ad Reverendos Patres & Populum & Clerum praesentes habuit, accepto pro Themate versu 28 decimi quinti Capituli Act ' Apostolorum, viz. Visum est enim Spiritui Sancto & Nobis, nihil ultra imponere vobis oneris, quàm haec necessaria. Quâ quidem Concione finitâ, ac decantato per Ministros Chori praedicti alio Hymno, O Lord grant the King a long Life, etc. Reverendus Pater Dominus Episcopus London. tanquam Locum-tenens Reverendissimi in Christo Patris ac Domini Domini Providentiâ Divinâ Cant '. Archi-episcopi totius Angliae Primatis & Metropolitanis, legitime constitut '. Chorum praedict '. egressus, ac Domum Capitularem (ut dicitur pro hâc vice) Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London ' praedict ' ingressus, comitantibus eum caeteris Episcopis & Cleris Praelatis Provinc ' Cant '. assidentibus secum undique Episcopis Suffraganeis, viz. Matthaeo Elien ', Gulielmo Bathon ' & Wellen ', Roberto Oxon ', Joanne Roffen ', Henrico Cicestren ', Georgio Wigorn ', Humfrido Sarum, Benjamino Petriburgen ', Edwardo Norwicen ', Nicolao Hereford ', & Gulielmo Gloucestren ' respectivè Episcopis personalilitèr comparentibus, dictoque Reverendo Patre Domino Episcopo London ' pro Tribunali seden ' Venerabilis vir Richardus Chaworth Legum Doctor, dicti Reverendissimi Patris Vicarius in Spiritualibus generalis, & Officialis Principalis legitimè constitutus, praesentavit dicto Reverendo Patri Domino Episcopo London ' Literas quasdam Commissionales dicti Reverendissimi Patris, dicto Domino Episcopo London ' & aliis Co-episcopis conjunctim & divisim direct '. Quibus Literis Commissionalibus per me praefatum Willielmum Fisher, Notarium Publicum & Registrarii deputatum de Mandato dicti Reverendi Patris publicè perlectis, dictus Reverendus Pater Dominus Gilbertus London ' Episcopus onus executionis earundem in se acceptavit & decrevit procedendum fore juxta tenorem earundem.  
Deinde Brevi Regio per dictum Dominum Richardum Chaworth praesentato, dicto Reverendissimo Patri inscripto & directo, & per me praefatum Notarium publicum antedictum, de mandato Domini Gilberti London ' Episcopi publicè perlecto, dictus Venerabilis Vir Richardus Chaworth, tanquam Vicarius in Spiritualibus generalis Domini Episcopi London ', exhibuit & praesentavit Certificatorium super executione mandati citatorij & monitorij dicti Reverendissimi Patris aliàs sibi praefato Domino Episcopo London ' directi. Cujus quidem Certificatorij tenor sequitur in haec verba, etc. Reverendissimo in Christo Patri, ac Domino Domino Gulielmo Providentiâ divinå Cant ' Archi-episcopo, totius, etc.  
Quo quidem Certificatorio per me praefatum Willielmum Fisher, de Mandato dicti Reverendi Patris, publicè lecto, praeconizatísque publicè omnibus & singulis Reverendis Patribus Provinciae Cant ' Episcopis Suffragneis in eodem Certificatorio mentionatis; praefatus Reverendus Pater verbis Latinis conceptis Clerum Domus Inferioris Convocationis in dictâ domo Capitulari coram eo & caeteris Praelatis constitutum, monuit, quatenus ad solitum & consuetum Conventûs sui locum sese conferentes, unum Virum gravem, doctum, & peritum, de gremio suo provideant & eligant in eorum Prolocutorem sive Referendarium, ipsúmque sic electum exhibeant & praesentent coram Reverendissimo Patre, aut ejus Locum-tenente sive Commissario die Jovis prox. decimo sexto die mensis jam instantis Maij, inter horas 9 & 11, ante meridiem ejusdem diei in Capellâ Regis Henrici 7. infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam B. Petri Westm '. Quo Clero dimisso, ad locum solitum, ad effectum elegendi unum gravem, doctum, & peritum Virum de gremio suo in eorum Prolocutorem sive Referendarium sese conferebant, & post aliquem tractatum inter dictum Reverendum Patrem & praefatos Reverendos Patre: Confratres suos, Venerabilis vir Matthaeus Nicholas Legum Doctor, Decanus Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London ' praedictae, unà cum Venerabilibus viris Thoma Turner S. Theol. Professore, & Richardo Bayley S. Theolog. Professore, à dictâ Domo Inferiori ad hoc Electis, tam nomine suo proprio quam totius Coetus dictae Domùs, dicto Reverendo Patri significavit, se & caeteros dictae Domûs convenire, Venerabiles viros Henricum Fearne S. Theologiae Professorem in eorum Prolocutorem, & Johannem Pearson S. Theolog. Professorem in Praesentatorem dicti Prolocutoris respectiuè unanimi consensu elegisse. Quibus sic gestis, praefatus Reverendus Pater pronunciavit omnes & singulos, Decanos, Archidiaconos, Capitula, Cleri Procuratores ac caeteros quoscunque ad interessendum istis die, horâ, & loco, in hujusmodi Synodo Sacrâ sive Convocatione monitos & citatos, & nullo modo comparentes, notoriè Contumaces; poenas verò Contumaciarum suarum hujusmodi usque ad & in decimum sextum instantis mensis Maij inter horas 9 & 11 antè Meridiem ejusdem diei ad Ecclcsiam Collegiatam B. Petri Westm ' praedict ' reservando, & reservabit, prout in Schedulà 
Schedula contra Contumaces.  per dictum Reverendum Patrem lectâ pleniùs liquet. Cujus quidem Schedulae tenor sequitur & est talis. Viz. In Dei nomine, Amen. Nos Gilbertus, etc. Postremò dictus Reverendus Pater Continuavit & Prorogavit praesentem Convocationem sive Sacram Synodum, omniaque & singula Certificatoria istis die, horâ, & loco, introducta ac introducenda & non introducta, in eodem statu quo nunc sunt usque ad & in praedictum decimum sextum diem jam instantis Maij praedict '. inter horas 9 & 11. ante meridiem ejusdem diei, ad Ecclesiam Collegiatam B. Petri Westm. prout in aliâ Schedulâ 
Schedula Continuationis.  per eum lectâ tenoris sequentis continetur, viz. In Dei nomine Amen, Nos Gilbertus, etc.  
Certificatorium Archidiaconi Cant ', Reverendissimo in Christo Patri, etc.   

Secunda Sessio.  
DIE Jovis decimo sexto die Mensis Maij, 1661. inter horas 9 & 11 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, Reverendo in Christo Patre ac Domino Gilberto London ' Episcopo, nec-non Reverendis Patribus Guilielmo Bathon ' & Wellen ', Matthaeo Elien ', Roberto Oxon ', Johanne Roffen ', Henrico Cicestren ', Georgio Wigorn ', Humfrido Sarum, Benjamino Petriburgen ', Georgio Asaphen ', Guilielmo Meneven, Hugone Landaven ', Edwardo Norwicen ' & Guilielmo Gloucestren ', respectiuè Episcopis in Capellâ Regis Henrici 7. infrà Ecclesiam Collegiatam B. Petri Westm ' congregatis, ante preces incoeptas, in praesentiâ mei Willielmi Fisher Notarii Publici, etc. Comparuit personaliter Venerabilis vir Johannes Earles S. Theol. Professor, Decanus Ecclesiae Collegiatae B. Petri Westm ' praedict ', secum stantibus venerabilibus viris Matthaeo Nicholas Legum Doctore, Willielmo Heywood … S. Theologiae respective Professoribus, & Ecclesiae Collegiatae praedict ' Praebendariis, ac Domino … & Johanne Allen Notario Publico, & nonnullis aliis testibus. Qui quidem venerabilis vir Johannes Earles Decanus antedictus tunc & ibidem dixit, allegavit, protestatus est & caetera fecit prout in quâdam Schedulâ 
Protestatio Decani Westm '.  in pergameno script ' & exarat ' quam in manibus suis tunc & ibidem tenens publicè legebat, in haec verba, Ego Johannes Earles, S. Th. Professor, Decanus Ecclesiae Collegiatae B. Petri Westm. ad comparend ', etc. Et tunc Reverendus Pater Dominus Gilbertus London ' Episcopus tanquam Locum-tenens sive Praesidens, &c: pro se & Confratribus suis ac omnibus & singulis Praelatis & Clero suae Cant ' Provinc ' in hâc praesenti Convocatione sive sacrâ Synodo Provinciali jus & interesse habentibus Protestatus est, & caetera fecit, prout in aliâ Schedulà 
Protestatio Reverendi Patris, etc.  in papyro scriptâ, per dictum Reverendum Paetrem lectâ, tunc & ibidem continetur, viz. In Dei nomine. Cum haec Ecclesia Collegiata B. Petri Westm ' &c. praesentibus tunc & ibidem venerabili viro Richardo Chaworth Legum Doctore, Reverendissimi in Christo Patris Domini Archi-episcopi Cant ' Vicario in Spiritualibus generali, Francisco Mundy … praefato Johanne Allen, Notariis Publicis, ac nonnullis aliis testibus, etc. Quibus sic gestis, praenominatus Reverendus Pater post intervallum temporis ad eum accersiri jussit Praelatos & Clerum Domûs Inferioris. Qui copiosè sese praesentantes, exhiberi & sisti fecerunt Venerabilem virum Henricum Fearne, S. Theologiae Professorem, Docunum Ecclesiae Cathedralis Elien ', in Prolocutorem totius Coetûs praedict '. Domûs Inferioris ultimâ Sessione electum; quem venerabilis vir Johannes Pearson S. Theol. Professor in Praesentatorem istâ Sessione etiam electus, vice totius Coetus praedict '. Domûs inferioris, praemissâ facundâ & cloquenti Oratione per eum prolat '. exhibuit & Praesentavit dicto Reverendo Patri & caeteris Episcopis praedictis. Ac, factâ aliâ Oratione eleganti per eundem Prolocutorem sic praesentatum, praefatus Reverendus Pater Dominus Episcopus London ' de consensu Confratrum suorum praedictorum eundem Henricum Fearne electum, & Electionem praedict ' de Personâ suâ in Prolocutorem & Referendarium praedict '. per aliam venustam & eloquentem Orationem Latinam commendavit & approbavit. Tunc, dimisso Prolocutore cum Coetu Domûs Inferioris praedict '; habitóque aliquandiu Tractatu inter dictum Reverendum Patrem & caeteros Episcopos suffraganeos suos ut praefertur comparentes, de & super Precibus specialibus pro die Nativitatis Domini nostri Regis, nec non pro faelicissimâ Restauratione ejus ad & in regna sua, viz. 29 die mensis jam instantis Maij, per quatuor Episcopos hujusmodi Domûs, nempe Matthaeum Elien ', Robertum Oxon ', Benjaminum Petriburgen ', & Humfridum Sarum, respectiuè Episcopos, in eâ parte respectiuè elect ' & per 8 Praelatos sive Cleros Domûs Inferioris eligendos, concipiendus & Publicè isto die annuatim perlegendis; nec non etiam de & super Precibus specialibus & particularibus in 30 diem mensis Januarij in quolibet anno publicè peragendis & perlegendis, & per Reverendos Patres Johannem Raffen ', Hemicum Cicestren ', Georgium Wigorn ', & Edwardum Norwicen ' respectivè Episcopos in eâ parte ●…aectos; & per octo Praelatos sive Cleros dictae Domûs inferioris in eâ parte respectiuè el gendos, concipi●…dis, continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Tertia Sessio.  
DIE Sabbati 18. Viz. die Mensis Maij, 1661. inter horas 9 & 11 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei in Capellâ Regis Hen. 7. infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Petri Westm '. Reverendus Pater Dominus Gilbertus London ', Willielmus Bathon ' & Wellen ', etc. respectiuè Episcopi, congregati, primò & antè omnia preces, Deo Op. Maximo flexis genibus humilitèr fundebant; Precibúsque peractis, praefato Reverendo Patre in praesentiâ mei Willielmi Fisher Notarij Publici, etc. pro Tribunali sedente, assidentibus secum praedictis Reverendis Patribus; Reverendus Pater Dominus Elien ' Episcopus tam pro se quam aliis Episcopis, etc. introduxit Preces de & super Nativitate Domini nostri Regis & Restauratione sua, etc. per dictos Episcopos ultimâ Sessione electos, conceptas; & tradidit eas Domino Commissario sive Locum-tenenti. Et post aliquot tractat '. dictus Dominus Episcopus London ', cum consensu Confratrum suorum hujusmodi, voluit ad se accesiri Dominum Prolocutorem cum quibusdam aliis è Coetu Domûs Inferioris, qui intravit cum sex dictae Domûs Inferioris, & tradidit dicto Prolocutori dictas preces sic (ut praefertur) conceptas, per eum & totam Domum Inferior ' considerandas & consentiendas. Deinde, Dominus Commissarius intimavit dicto Prolocutori de Precibus specialibus & particularibus pro baptizatione nonnullorum Adultorum concipiendis & formandis; & pro conceptione earundem, dictus Reverendus Pater, cum consensu Confratrum suorum, tres Reverendos Patres hujus Domûs, viz. Dominum Humphridum Sarum, Benjaminum Petriburgen ', & Georgium Asaph ' respective Episcopos elegit, & voluit Dominum Prolocutorem sex Cleros è dictâ Domo Inferiori eligere ad procedendum cum dictis Episcopis in dicto negotio.  
Quibus sic gestis, dimissus fuit Prolocutor unà cum sex aliis praedict '; & post tractatum cum Episcopis per dict' Domin ' Commissarium habitum, dictus Commissarius continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Quarta Sessio.  
DIE Mercurij, 22ᵒ die Mensis Maij 1661. inter horas [nonam & undecimam ejusd ' diei] aliàs designatas, in praesentiâ mei Willielmi Fisher Notarij publici, etc. Reverendus in Christo Pater Dominus Johannes permissione divinâ Roffen ' Episcopus, etc. Congregati, primo & ante omnia preces, etc. Dictisque precibus peractis & finitis, dicto Reverendo Patre Domino Johanne Roffen ' Episcopo pro tribunali sedente, assidentibus secum, etc. dictus Reverendus Pater post aliquot tract. inter dictos Reverendos Patres habit '. continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Quinta Sessio.  
DIE Veneris 24ᵒ. Viz. die mensis Maij, etc. inter horas 9 & 11 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater Dominus Willielmus, etc. Bathon ' & Wellen '. Episcopus, etc. post aliquot tractat ' inter dictos Reverendos respectiuè Patres habit '. & fact. etc. continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sexta Sessio.  
DIE Martis 28ᵒ Viz. die mensis Maij, inter horas 9 & 11 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. post aliquot tractat ' habit ' & fact ' inter dictos Reverendos Patres, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Septima Sessio.  
DIE Veneris 31ᵒ die mensis Maij, inter horas 9 & 11 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. introductâ priùs per dictum Episcopum Sarum formâ precum publicarum pro Baptizatione Adult ' celebrand ' & per me Willielmum Fisher, Notarium Publicum antedictum, de mandato dicti Praesidentis, publicè perlect ', & per dictos Reverendos Patres unanimiter approbat '; & lectâ tam petitione cujusdam Ogleby quàm literis Regiis hujusmodi domo direct '. de & super commendatione Biblij impensis dicti Ogleby; & post commendationem ejusdem Petitionis, literarum Regiarum & libri praedicti Domo Inferiori, etc. & post aliquot tractat ', inter dictos Reverendos Patres, dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Octava Sessio.  
SEptimo die mensis Junij, inter horas 9 & 11 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. comparuit personaliter Richardus Aldworth Armiger, & praesentavit dicto Reverendo Praesidenti siuè Locum-tenen ' Licentiam quandam Regiam Sigillo magno Angliae sigillat ' de Emendando, reformando, exponendo, & corrigendo, Constitutiones & Canones aliàs factas; nec non de ordinando & consiciendo nonnullas novas Constitutiones, Ordinationes sive Capitula, statum Ecclesiasticum, sinceram Religionem, & utilitatem Ecclesiae Anglicanae concernen ' & tenden '; unà cum nonnullis aliis Provisionibus in eâdem Licentiâ insertis, sub tenore verborum sequen ' viz. Charleses by the Grace of God, etc. Quibus per me Willielm ' Fisher in hâs parte Actorum scribam publicè tunc & ibidem altâ voce coram dictis respectiuè Patribus perlect ', dictus Reverendus Pater & caeteri Episcopi secum assidentes, cum omnimodâ reverentiâ, subjectione, & humilitate gratantèr acceptârunt & receperunt. Eâdémque Licentiâ sic lectâ, dictus Reverendus Pater, post intervallum temporis, ad eum accersiri jussit Prolocutorem, Praelatos & Clerum Domûs Inferioris. Quibus copiosè sese praesentantibus coram eo caeterisque Episcopis antedictis, modo (ut praefertur) secum assiden ', & dictâ Licentiâ denuò, de mandato dicti Reverendi Patris, per me Notarium Publicum antedict ' publicè perlectâ, dictus Reverendus Pater praefatum Prolocutorem, & alios de Domo Inferiori Decanos, Archidiaconos, Capitula & Cleri Procuratores ibidem praesentes voluit ut ipsi inter se convenirent & maturè excogitarent de Canonibus & Constitutionibus statum Ecclesiasticum & Christi Religionem in Ecclesiâ Anglicanâ concernen ' concipiendis, & quicquid inde senserint sive excogitaverint in scriptis redigant, & coram ipso Reverendo Patre & Confratribus suis Episcopis exhibeant. Deinde, dimisso Prolocutore cum Coetu Domûs Inferioris, introducta fuit Copia Proclamationis per Attournatum Regium generalem (ut asserebatur) concept ' & dictis respective Episcopis destinat ' pro Jejunio Observando; & eâdem de mandato dicti Reverendi Patris per me Notarium Publicum antedictum publicè perlectâ, dictus Reverendus Pater dictam Copiam retradidit. Tunc, habito tractatu inter dictum Dominum Reverendum Patrem & caeteros Episcopos suffraganeos suos ut praefertur comparentes, de & super precibus specialibus & particularibus pro Jejunio juxta Proclamationem praedict ' 12 die jam instan ' mensis Junij celebrando & observando, per quatuor Episcopos hujusmodi domûs, nempè Matthaeum Elien ', Robertum Oxon ', Humfridum Sarum, & Benjaminum Petriburg ', respectivè Episcopos in eâ parte respectiuè electos, & per 8 Praelatos sive Cleros Domûs Inferioris eligend ', concipend ' dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Nona Sessio.  
DIE Veneris 14ᵒ die mensis Junij, inter horas 9 & 11 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. post aliquod tractatum, etc. continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Decima Sessio.  
DIE Mercurij 19 die mensis Junij inter horas 9 & 11 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. Reverendus Pater Dominus Episcopus London ' Praesidens in praesentiis Reverendorum Patrum Confratrum suorum significavit & intimavit, Serenissimum Dominum nostrum Carolum Regem ex gratiâ suâ speciali Licentiam sive Commissionem magno suo sigillo Angliae sigillat ', ad eundem effectum prout prior Commissio sive Licentia aliàs introduct ' suit ac erat, curâsse, ac potestatem dedisse Archi-episcopo & caeteris Episcopis ac Clero Provinc ' Cant '. ad procedend ', emendand ', reformand ', exponend ', corrigend ', ordinand ' & conficiend '. prout in eisdem continetur. Quorum Reverendissimum in Christo Patrem Dominum Dominum Archi-episcopum Cant ', Gilbertum London ', Willielmum Bathon ' & Wellen ' & Matthaeum Elien ', respectivè Episcopos in dictâ Convocatione pro rebus Ecclesiasticis perficiend '. juxtà Commissionem & Licentiam Regiam praedict dictus Dominus noster Rex uni esse voluit & mandavit; & eandem Licentiam sive Commissionem produxit & exhibuit sub tenore verboruta sequentium, viz. Charles by the Grace of God, etc. 
Licentia Secunda Dom ' notiri Regis.  Quâ per me praefatum Willielmum Fisher Notarium Publicum in hâc parte Actorum Scriham sive Registrarium deputatum publicè tunc & ibidem perlectâ, dictus Reverendus Pater Dominus Episcopus London ', Praesidens antedictus, unà cum dictis Reverendis Patribus Confratribus suis, tractatum sive colloquium habuit de & super Examinatione Canonum aliàs fact '. ac de Jurisdictione Ecclesiae, nec non de Regulatione Clericorum & Ecclesiasticorum Officiariorum; & ad eundem effectum, dictus Reverendus Pater, cum unanimi consensu dictorum Reverendorum Patrum Confratrum suorum, elegit duodecim Episcopos viz. Dominum Willielmum Bathon ' & Wellen '. Matthaeum Elien. Robertum Oxon. Johannem Roffen. Henricum Cicestren. Humfridum Sarum, Georgium Wigorn. Robertum Lincoln. Georgium Asaphen. Gulielmum Meneven. Benjaminum Petriburgen. & Johannem Exon. respective Episcopos, & commisit vices suas eisdem aut tribus eorum ad procedend ' in dicto negotio, & viginti quatuor domûs Inferioris per dictam domum eligend. aut sex eorundem; ad conveniend '. in magnâ aulâ Le Savoy die Sabbati prox. horâ tertiâ post Meridiem, & posteà diebus Martis & & Jovis in quâlibet hebdomadâ dictis horâ & loco, donec dictum negotium perficiatur. Et ordinavit ad introducendum eorum relationem quam primùm poterint. Ita tamen, quòd bene liceat & licebit omnibus aliis Reverendis Patribus & Clero ad conveniendum & consulendum cum dictis respectiuè Episcopis, dictis loco & tempore, de & super praemissis, quando & quoties sibimet ipfis videbitur expediens. Tunc dictus Reverendus Pater Dominus Episcopus London ', cum consensu dictorum Reverendorum Patrum Confratrum suorum, ad eum accersiri jussit Prolocutorem, Praelatos, & Clerum Domûs Inferioris; quibus copiose sese praesentantibus coram eo caeterisque Episcopis antedictis modo (ut praefertur) secum assidentibus, dictus Reverendus Pater omnia & singula praemissa dict' Prolocutori & Domui Inferiori significavit, & voluit dictum Prolocutorem ad eligendum viginti quatuor è gremio suo ad conveniendum cum dictis Reverendis Patribus, sic ut praefertur, electis, dictis diebus & luco de & super consultatione praemissorum. Dictóque Prolocutore & Coetu Domûs Inferioris dimisso, & post aliquem tractatum inter dictos Reverendos Patres, dictus Reverendus Pater Dominus Praesidens antedictus, etc. Continuavit, etc. proxt in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio XI.  
DIE Veneris 21ᵒ die mensis Junij, inter horas 9 & 11 ante Meridiem ejusd ' diei, etc. Reverendo Patre Domino Episcopo London ' pro tribunali sedente, assidentibus secum dictis Reverendis respectiuè Patribus, nec non Reverendissimo in Christo Patre ac Domino Accepto Providentiâ divinâ Ebar. Archi-episcopo, etc. … Dunelmen ' Episcopo, & … Cicestron ' Episcopo, dictus Reverendus Pater Dominus Episcopus London ' una cum dictis Reverendis Patribus Confratribus suis tractatum habuit de conceptione unius libri Articulorum in Visitatione cujuslibet Episcopi Oeconomis & Inquisitoribus in qualibet Dioecesi ministrandorum: & ad eunden: intuitum dictus Reverendus Pater, cum unanimi consensu dictorum Confratrum suorum, sex Episcopos Confratres suos nempe Willielmum Bathon ' & Wellen ', Matthaeum Elien ', Robertum Oxon ', Humfridum Sarum, Robertum Lincoln ', & Willielmum Gloucestren ' elegit, & commisit vices suas ●isdem aut eorum tribus ad concipiend ' & formand ' dictos Articulos, etc. ad conveniend ' in aulâ magnâ in Le Savoy die Sabbati prox. ad septimanam hora tertia post meridiem, & postea diebus Lunae & Sabbati in qualibet hebdomadâ, dictis horâ & loco, donec dictum Opus finiatur. Ita tamen quod benè liceat & licebit omnibus aliis Reverendis Patribus ad conveniend ' & consulend '. cum dictis Reverendis Patribus dictis loco & tempore, de & super praemissis, quoties & quando sibimet ipsis videbitur expediens: Et dictus Pater, de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum Episcoporum Cant ' Provinc ', petiit & rogavit Reverendos Patres … Dunelmen ' … Carliolen ' & … Cestren ' respectivè Episcopos infra Provinc. 
Cant ' in the Original, by Mistake.  Ebor. dictis horâ & loco, dictis respective Episcopis in dicto negotio esse interessentes & tunc dictus Reverendus Pater Dominus Episcopus London ', cum consensu dictorum confratrum suorum sibi assiden ', misit pro Prolocutore & sex aliis Domûs Inferioris ad introducendum Nomina è gremio suo Elect '. ad conveniend ' cum Episcopis ultimâ Sessione respectiuè elect '. de & super negotiis tunc tractat '. Quo Prolocutore, unà cum sex aliis dictae Domûs Inferioris advenien ', dictus Prolocutor praesentavit dicto Reverendo Patri Domino Episcopo London ' Schedulam quandam in papyro scriptam continen '. nomina Praelatorum & Cleri domus Inferioris per eos elect ', scilicet, Josephum Henchman Cicestren ', Matthaeum Nicholas Legum Doctorem Sancti Pauli London ', Michaelem Honeywood S. Theol. Professorem Lincoln ', Robertum Creyton S. Th. Professorem Wellen ', Willielmum Brough, S. Th. Professorem Glom ', Henricum Fearne, S. Th. Professor ' Elien ', & Willielmum Paul Lichfield. respective Decanos; nec non Georgium Hall Cant '. Anthonium Sparrow Sudbury, Robertum Pory Midd '. Grindallum Sheafe Wellen ', Johannem Peirson Surrey ', Marcum Frank Sancti Albani, Anthonium Hawles Sarum, & Jasperum maine Cicestren ' respectivè Archidiaconos; nec non Herbertum Thorndike, Josephum Crouther, Willielmum Brabant, Petrum Gunning, Johannem Sudbury, Johannem Priaux, … Marten, Willielmum Pulleyn, Willielmum Heywood & … Fleetwood S. Th. respectiuè Professores, respectiuè Procuratores Cleri infra suas respectiuè Dioeceses. Quibus nominibus per me Notarium Publicum, de mandato Reverendi Patris Praesidentis antedicti publice perlect ', dictus Reverendus Pater acceptavit eorum respectiuè nomina & personas, etc. & dimisit dictum Prolocutorem unà cum Coetu suo praedict '. & tunc habito aliquo tractatu inter dictos Reverendos Patres, dictus Reverendus Pater Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio XII.  
DIE Mercurij, 26 die Mensis Junij, inter horas 9 & 11 ante Meridiem ejusd ' diei, etc. dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. post aliquod tractatum, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XIII.  
DIE Veneris 28. die Mensis Junij, inter horas 9 & 11. ante Meridiem ejusd ' diei, etc. dictus Reverendus Pater Matthaeus Elien ' Episcopus, etc. post tractatum aliquod, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XIV.  
DIE Mercurij 3ᵒ Viz. die Mensis Julij, inter horas 9 & 11 ante Meridiem ejusd ' diei, etc. Reverendo Patre Domino Episcopo London ' pro tribunali seden ', assiden ' secum Reverendis respectiuè Patribus, nec non … Durham ' & … Carliolen ' respectivè assiden ', dictus Reverendus Pater Dominus Episcopus London ', unà cum dictis Reverendis Patribus Confratribus suis tractatum de & super consideratione Actûs quoad Impressionem, etc. habuit; & ad eam intentionem dictus Reverendus Pater, cum una●…imi consensu dictorum Confratrum suorum, octo Episcopos è dicto gremio, nempe … Dunelm ', Robertum Oxon ', Humfridum Sarum, Benjaminum Petriburgen ', … Carliolen ', … Cestren ', Edwardum Norwicen ', & Willielmum Glouc ' respectivè Episcopos elegit; quibus, aut eorum tribus, dictus Reverendus Pater, cum consensu praedict ' commisit vices suas ad effectum praedict '. ad conveniendum in aliquo loco, seu aliquibus diebus per eos inter sese designandis; & deinde post aliud tractatum inter dictum Reverendum Patrem & dictos Reverendos Patres habit ', & fact ', dictus Reverendus Pater Dominus Episcopus London ', etc. continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XV.  
DIE Veneris 5ᵒ. Viz. die Mensis Julij, inter horas 9 & 11 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. dictus Reverendus Pater post aliquod tractat. etc. continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XVI.  
DIE Mercurij, 10. Viz. die Mensis Julij, inter heras 9 & 11 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. post aliquod tractat. etc. continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XVII.  
DIE Veneris 12. Viz. die Mensis Julij, inter horas 9 & 11. ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. post aliquod tract. etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta tenorem Schedulae, etc.   

Sessio XVIII.  
DIE Mercurij 17. die Mensis Julij, inter horas 9 & 11 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. precibus finitis & peractis, Reverendus Pater Dominus Episcopus London ', unà cum dictis respectiuè Episcopis Confratribus suis secum assiden ' pro tribunali sedebat, & tunc post aliquod tractat '. inter se habit ' Reverendus Pater Dominus Episcopus Sarum tam nomine suo proprio quam vices geren ', etc. introduxit & praesentavit Domino Episcopo Praesidenti nonnullos Canones in papyro script ' & exarat '. Quibus publicè perlect ' & nonnullis Emendationibus in eisdem factis, Dominus Episcopus London. Praesidens antedictus, cum consensu Confratrum suorum antedictorum, retradidit dictos Canones dicto Episcopo Sarum pro ulteriori consideratione desuper habendâ: & post alium paululum tractatum inter sese habit ', & fact '. Continuavit, etc. juxtatenorem Schedulae, etc.   

Sessio XIX.  
DIE Martis 19 Viz. die mensis Julij, inter horas 9 & 11 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Dominus Episcopus Glouc. praesentavit Domino Praesidenti & caeteris Episcopis nonnullos Canones conceptos & in papyro script '. Quibus publice perlectis, & nonnullis Emendationibus in eisdem factis, Dominus Episcopus London ' Praesidens antedictus, cum consensu Confratrum suorum, retradidit eos dicto Domino Episcopo pro ulteriori consideratione & revisione corundem habend '; & post tractatum aliquod inter se habit ' & fact ', etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta tenorem Schedulae, etc.   

Sessio XX.  
DIE Lunae 22 die Mensis Julij, inter horas 9 & 11 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Nonnullis Canonibus per Reverendos Patres, Willielmum Bathon ' & Wellen ', & Johannem Warner Roffen '. Episcopos, tam nomine suo proprio quàns aliis in eâ parte Vicesgeren ' & publice perlectis, Dominus Episcopus London ' unà cum consensu Confratrum suorum Episcoporum antedictorum, retradidit eos dictis respectiuè Episcopis, & corum Confratribus, pro ulteriori consideratione super cisdem habend '; & post aliquod tractatum inter sese habit ', & fact ', Continuavit, etc. juxta tenorem Schedulae, etc.   

Sessio XXI.  
DIE Mercurij 24 die mensis Julij, inter horas 9 & 11 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. post nonnullum tractatum, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta tenorem Schedulae, etc.   

Sessio XXII.  
DIE Veneris 26 die mensis Julij, inter horas 9 & 11 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. post aliquot tractat ', etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta tenorem Schedulae, etc.   

Sessio XXIII.  
DIE Sabbati 27 mensis Julij, inter horas secundam & quartam post Meridiem, etc. Reverendus Pater Dominus Episcopus London ', Praesidens, etc. unà cum dictis Confratribus suis secum assiden '. pro tribunali sedebat; & factâ priùs Subscriptione per dictos respectiuè Episcopos pro Regali benevolentiâ Domino nostro Regi prasentandâ, & post aliquot tractat ', etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta tenorem Schedulae, etc.   

Sessio XXIV.  
DIE Mercurij, ultimo, viz. die mensis Julij, inter horas 9 & 11 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. post aliquod tractat ', etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta tenorem Schedulae, etc.   

Sessio XXV.  
DIE Jovis 21 die Mensis Novembris, inter horas secundam & quartam, etc. Literae Domini nostri Regis Domino Archiepiscopo Cant ' direct '. & manu suâ, & sigillo suo privat ' communit '. fuerunt introductae, & de mandato dicti Reverendi Patrispublicè perlectae per me Notarium Publicum antedict '; dictúsque Reverendus Pater Praesidens antedictus & caeteri Episcopi secum assidentes, cum omnimodâ reverentiâ, subjectione, & humilitate, easdem gratantèr acceptarunt & receperunt; & post intervallum temporis, dictus Reverendus Pater, de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum, ad eum accersiri jussit Prolocutorem, Praelatos, & Clerum Domûs inferioris. Quibus sese praesentantibus coram dicto Reverendo Praesidente caeterisque Episcopis antedictis, modo (ut praefertur) secum assiden '. & in praesentiis dicti Prolocutoris, Praelat ', & Cleri Domûs Inferioris praedict ' dictae literae Regiae, de mandato dicti Praesidentis per me Notarium Publicum antedictum fuerant publicè perlectae. Et deinde, dimisso Prolocutore, cum Coetu Domûs Inferioris, dictus Reverendus Pater unà cum dictis Reverendis Patribus Confratribus suis tractatum & colloquium habuit de Revisione Libri publicarum Precum, etc. juxta potestat ' & Libertat '. per easdem Regias eye concess. etc. Et ad eundem effectum, dictus Reverendus Pater, cum unanimi consensu Confratrum suorum, elegit Reverendos in Christo Patres … Dunelmen ', Matthaeum Elien ', Robertum Oxon ', Johannem Roffen ', Humfridum Sarum, Georgium Wigorn ', Robertum Lincoln ', & Willielmum Gloucestren '. & commisit vices suas eisdem, aut eorum tribus ad minus, ad procedendum in dicto negotio; & ordinavit eos ad conveniendum apud Palatium Reverendi Patris Domini Episcopi Elien '. hora quintâ post meridiem cujuslibet diei (exceptis diebus Dominicis,) donec dictum negotium perficiatur. Et posteà consensum fuit inter dictos Episcopos pro meliori & citiori festinatione dicti negotij, ut dictus Liber Publicarum Precum revideatur in hâc Domo pro praesenti; & magnâ parte ejusdem perlectâ & revisâ usque ad … dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta tenorem Schedulae, etc.   

Sessio XXVI.  
DIE Veneris 22 die mensis Novembris, inter horas 8 & 9 ante Meridiem ejusd ' diei, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. post ulteriorem progressum Revisionis Libri publicarum Precum fact '. etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta tenorem Schedulae, etc.   

Sessio XXVII.  
Eodem die inter horas secundam & quartam post meridiem, etc. post ulteriorem progressum Revisionis Libri publicarum Precum per eos fact ' dictus Dominus Episcopus London ', etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XXVIII.  
DIE Sabbati 23 die mensis Novembris, etc. inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. post paululum tractat. de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum, ad eum accersiri jussit Prolocutorem solum; quo adveniente, dictus Reverendus Pater tradidit ei partem Libri publicarum precum per hujusmodi domum examinat '. & revis & in mandatis dedit, ut dictus Prolocutor unà cum Clero dictae Domûs Inferioris dictam partem cum omni celeritate, quâ potuit, revideat, & emendet, si sit necessarium. Dictóque Prolocutore dimisso, & ulteriori in Revisione residui libri publicarum precum progressu habit ' & fact ', dictus Reverendus Pater Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XXVIII.  
EOdem die inter horas secundam & quartam post Meridiem, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. ulteriorum progressum in Revisione Libri Publicarum precum fecit; & post aliquod tractat ' dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XXIX.  
DIE Lunae 25 die mensis Novembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem eiusdem diei, etc. ulteriori progressu in Revisione libri Publicarum precum [fact '] Dominus Praesidens antedictus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XXX.  
DIE Martis 26 die mensis Novembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusd ' diei, etc. dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. post ulteriorem progressum in Revisione libri Publicarum precum habit ' & fact ', etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XXXI.  
DIE Mercurij 27 die mensis Novembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. post paululum tractat ', de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum, ad eum accersiri jussit Prolocutorem solum. Quo adveniente, dictus Prolocutor retradidit partem libri Publicarum Precum per Domum Inferiorem examinat '. & revis ' una cum notulâ sive Schedulâ Emendationum sive Alterationum per eos fact '; quam notulam sive Schedulam obtulit Domino Praesidenti pro ejus & Confratrum suorum consideratione & consultatione, etc. Deinde, acceptatâ dictâ notulâ sive Schedulâ per dictum Praesidentem, dictus Praesidens dedit in manibus dicti Prolocutoris residuam partem libri publicarum precum, & requisivit dictum Prolocutorem ut ille unà cum domo sua eundem omni cum celeritate revideat; & post revisionem ejusdem dicto Praesidenti retradat. Eóque dimisso, ac dicta Schedulâ in parte per dictum Praesidentem & Confratres suos secum assiden ' lectâ & examinatâ, dictus Reverendus Pater Praesidens antedict ', etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XXXII.  
DIE Jovis 28 Novembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Schedula sive alterat ' aliâs per Prolocutorem nomine Domûs Inferioris introduct ', revis ' & examinat ' & parte Psalmorum Davidis perlect ' & recitat '. idem Reverendus Pater Dominus Praesidens, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XXXIII.  
DIE Veneris 29 Novembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. post Revisionem aliquam libri de Consecratione Diaconorum, Presbyterorum & Episcoporum habit ' & fact ', dictus Reverendus Pater Praesidens antedictus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XXXIV.  
DIE Lunae 2ᵒ die mensis Decembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusd ' diei, etc. Praefatium sive Exordium libri publicarum precum fuit introduct ' & publicè perlect '. & dictus Reverendus Pater Praesidens antedictus curam pro Examinatione & Consideratione ejusdem Reverendis Patribus Matthaeo Elien ', Roberto Oxon ', Humfrido Sarum, & Georgio Asaphen ', respectivè Episcopis, commisit; & post aliquod tractat ', etc. dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XXXV.  
DIE Martis 3ᵒ Decembris inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. post paululum tractat ', etc. dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XXXVI.  
DIE Mercurij 4ᵒ die mensis Decembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusd ' diei, etc. post tractatum, etc. dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XXXVII.  
DIE Jovis 5ᵒ die mensis Decembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusd ' diei, etc. Magister Pell introduxit Calendarium libro Publicarum precum annectendum; & post inspectionem ejusdem, dictus Reverendus Pater Praesidens antedictus, de & cum cum consensu Confratrum suorum, retulit & commisit examinationem & revisionem ejusdem Domino Episcopo Carliolen '. Et deinde habito tractatu de Formâ Precum concipiendâ super alto Mari usitandâ & observandâ, idem Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XXXVIII.  
DIE Veneris 6ᵒ. Viz. die mensis Decembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Praefatio sive Exordio libri publicarum precum, per Episcopos seu eorum aliquos, quibus cura examinationis ejusdem fuit aliàs commissa, introducto, & in parte publicè perlecto, idem Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XXXIX.  
DIE Sabbati 7ᵒ die mensis Decembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusd ' diei, etc. habito tractatu, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XL.  
DIE Lunae 9ᵒ Decembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Nonnullae Emendationes concernentes funera & funeralia personarum super alto Mari deceden ' & sepult ', & Comminatione & … mulierum parturien '. fuerunt introductae & perlectae, in aliquâ parte; Et hiis peractis, dicti Reverendi Patres unanimi consensu & assensu in votis dederunt pro unicâ Formâ Precum tam ante quàm post Sermonem sive Orationem praedicatam usitandâ & observandâ per Ministros intra Provinc. Cant '. & habito alio tractatu inter eos dictus Dominus Praesidens, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XLI.  
DIE Martis 10 die mensis Decembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. Nonnullis Emendationibus in comminatione in libro Publicarum precum mentionat ' citra Introductione earundem, à Domo Inferiori introduct ' per Episcopos fact. & post aliquot tractat '. desuper, Reverendus Pater Elien ' Episcopus, de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum hujusmodi, voluit ad se accersiri Dominum Prolocutorem ad Revidend. dictas Emendationes. Quo adveniente, associat ' cum venerabilibus viris Johanne Barwick, Decano Ecclesiae Cathedralis Sancti Pauli London ', & … Brough Decano Glouc ', dictus Locum-tenens ostendit dictas Emendationes, per Domum Superiorem, ut praefertur, fact ', & tunc & ibidem perlect ', & ordinavit eum ad consulend ' Domum suam Inferiorem de & super eisdem. Dictóque Prolocutore dimisso, cum Confratribus suis, idem Locum-tenens, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta tenorem Schedulae, etc.   

Sessio XLII.  
DIE Mercurij 11 die mensis Decembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. post aliquot tractat. etc. Reverendus Pater Dom. Matthaeus Elien ', etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XLIII.  
DIE Jovis 12 die mensis Decembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. Dominus Prolocutor cum consensu, ut asserebatur, totius Domûs Inferioris ad Praesiden '. & Domum Superiorem missus est, ad petend ' se cum tribus vel duobus aliis è domo Inferiori admitti ad Conferend ' cum Dominis Episcopis in Domo suâ seden '. Dictóque Prolocutore una cum … Brough Decano Glouc. & duobus aliis Domûs Inferioris, admisso, & adveniente, dictus Prolocutor praesentavit Domino Praesidenti & tradidit in manibus suis nonnullas papyri Schedas, Emendationes alicujus partis libri publicarum precum concernentes; quibus perlectis, & habitâ consideratione diligenti desuper, & approbatione earundem, dictóque Prolocutore dimisso, idem Praesidens antedictus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XLIV.  
DIE Veneris 13 Decembris, inter horas 8 & 10, etc. Reverendus Pater una cum Confratribus, etc. tractatum habuerunt de eligendo personas aptas & idoneas tam ab hujusmodi Domo quam à Domo Inferiori, pro diligenti Examinatione & Revisione Libri publicarum precum & administrationis Sacramentorum, aliorumque Rituum Ecclesiae Anglicanae, debitâ formâ script ' & exarat ', & tandem idem Reverendus Pater, de & cum consensu confratrum suorum, nominavit, & commisit curam pro Examinatione & Revisione ejusdem Reverendis Patribus Humfrido Sarum, Georgio Asaphen ', Richardo Carliolen ', & Willielmo Glouc ' respectivè Episcopis, nomine Domûs Superioris; nec non Prolocutor Domûs Inferioris nominat. commisit curam Roberto Pory, Johanni Pearson … Sparrowe, S. Theol. respective Professoribus, nomine Domûs Inferioris; & deinde nonnullis Emendationibus aliàs in Praefatio dicti Libri Publicarum Precum, etc. fact ' & introduct ', nec non quibusdam novis Collectis publicè perlectis & revisis, idem Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XLV.  
DIE Sabbati 14. Viz. die mensis Decembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater Dominus Episcopus Norwicen ' introduxit & in manus Domini Praesidentis tradidit formam cujusdam Precis aliàs per eum concept. concern '. Deo gratias pro generalibus Misericordiis publice usitand ': quâ Prece publicè perlectâ, & post aliquot tractat. desuper habit ' & fact ', idem Reverendus Pater Dominus Praesidens antedict ', etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XLVI.  
DIE Mercurij 18 Decembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. post tractat, etc. dictus Reverendus Vir, Praesidens antedictus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XLVII.  
DIE Jovis 19 Decembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. habito tractatu inter eos de Forma Subscriptionis libro Publicarum Precum per eos faciend '. tandem idem Reverendus Pater, etc. de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum praedict '. commisit curam & considerationem concipiendi dictam formam Reverendis in Christo Patribus Johanni Dunelmen ', & Humfrido Sarum, respectiuè Episcopis, una cum Doctore Chaworth Vicario in Spiritualibus generali Domini Episcopi London. nec non Doctore Burrell, Vicario in Spiritualibus generali Domini Episcopi Dunelmen ' assisten ' & tunc post tractatum, etc. dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.  
Posteà, nempe inter horas secundam & quartam post meridiem ejusdem diei, dicti Reverendi viri Dominus Johannes Dunelmen ' & Humfridus Sarum respectivè Episcopi, unà cum dictis respectiuè Cancellar ' & Vicariis in Spiritualibus Generalibus praedict ' apud Officium Registrarij Principalis Domini Archiepiscopi Cant ' intra Parochiam S. Gregorij London ', sit ', Convenerunt; & in praesentiis mei Willielmi Fisher & Francisci Mundy, Notariorum respectiuè publicorum, inspectis prius nonnullis Recordis & Libris antiquis, & Archivis ibidem remanen ' & fidelitèr custodit ', dicti Reverendi Patres Formam Subscriptionis Libro Publicarum Precum faciend ', unanimi consensu & assensu conceperunt, & desuper concordarunt.   

Sessio XLVIII.  
DIE Veneris 20 Decembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusdem diei, etc. Librum Precum publicarum, Administrationis Sacramentorum, aliorumque Rituum Ecclesiae Anglicanae, unà cum formâ & modo Ordinandi & Consecrandi Episcopos, Presbyteros, & Diaconos, (juxtà literas Regiae Majestatis eye in hâc parte directas revisum & … paginas continen '. & per Reverendissimum in Christo Patrem & Dominum Dominum Guilielmum Providentiâ Divinâ Cant '. Archiepiscopum, totius Angliae Primatem & Metropolitanum priùs redact '. recept ' approbat ' & subscript ';) dicti Episcopi ejusdem Provinciae in Sacrà Provinciali Synodo legitimè congregati unanimi assensu & consensu in formam redegerunt, receperunt, & approbârunt, eisdemque subscripserunt. Et postea omnes Episcopi praedicti tunc praesen ' & congregat ', exceptis Reverendis Patribus Dominis Oxon ', Asaphen ', & Landaven ' Episcopis, ad Domum Parliamenti sese contulerunt, & dictos respectiuè Episcopos in dicta domo Convocationis reliquerunt ad videndum Clerum Inferioris Domûs Convocationis dicto libro subscribere; dictóque Clero unanimi consensu subscribente idem Reverendus Pater Robertus Oxon ' Episcopus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XLIX.  
EOdem die inter horas primam & quartam post Meridiem, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. post tractatum, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio L.  
OCtavo die mensis Januarij, etc. inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. habito tractatu de & super Revisione Canonum sive Constitutionum in Anno Domino 1640. edit '; & consideratione desuper, quinam eorundem fuerunt aut sunt debitè & idoneè observand ' & usitandi, idem Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LI.  
DIE Veneris 10 Januarij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. post tractatum, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LII.  
DIE Mercurij 15 Januarij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusd ' diei, etc. post tractatum, etc. Reverendus Pater & Dominus Robertus, etc. Oxon. Episcopus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LIII.  
DIE Veneris 17 Januarij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. inter sese tractatum iidem Episcopi habuerunt de Revisione Canonum & Constitutionum aliàs edit '. & provis ' & Dominus Episcopus London ', de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum, commisit curam & Revisionem eorundem Willielmo Bathon ' & Wellen ', Roberto Oxon ', Georgio Asaphen ', Benjamino Petriburgen ', Roberto Lincoln ', Richardo Carliolen ', Edwardo Norwicen ', & Willielmo Glouc. respectiuè Episcopis; & post alium tractat ' inter eos habit ' & fact ' idem Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LIV.  
DIE Mercurij 22 Januarii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. post tractat. etc. Reverendus Pater antedictus continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LV.  
DIE Veneris 24 Januarij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusd ' diei, etc. habito tractatu de & super Revisione Canonum & Constitutionum aliàs ultima Sessione proposit ', idem Reverendus Pater, de & cum expresso & unanimi consensu omnium & singulorum membrorum dictae Domûs Superioris, statuit & ordinavit, quòdomnes caeteri Episcopi non adhuc nominati, Reverendis Viris Episcopis aliàs ultimâ Sessione nominar ' & assignat ', in diligenti Revisione & Examinatione dictorum Canonum & Constitutionum praed ' adjungerentur; Et hoc facto, Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LVI.  
DIE Mercurij 29 Januarij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. habito tractatu inter eos de & super Actu Parliamenti Librum Publicarum Precum, etc. concernen ', idem Reverendus Vir, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LVII.  
DIE Veneris ultimo Januarij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. quaestio oriebatur inter Episcopos congregatos & assidentes, an tutum, licitum aut consentaneum fuit pro Dominis Episcopis ad sedend ' aut eorum praesen '. exhibend ' in domo Procerum Parliamenti, cùm & quando negotium circa personas condemnatas pro Proditione nefanda, in Domo Parliamenti inter Proceres agitaretur; & post multa argumenta inter eos habit ', & fact ', & concordatum & ordinatum fuit, de & cum consensu totius Domûs, ad consulend ' Juris peritos tam in Foro Saeculari quam in Curiis Civilibus & Ecclesiasticis versatos de & super dictâ questione sive argumento praed ' erga prox. Conventionem, & deinde dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LVIII.  
DIE Sabbati 1ᵒ Februarij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Notitiâ Domino Episcopo London ' de attendentiis nonnullorum Jurisperitorum in Jure civili datà, extra domum Convocationis; dictus Dominus Episcopus London ' de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum, eos ad exhibendum corum praesentias coram Convocatione petiit. Et tunc comparuerunt Dominus Willielmus Merrick Miles, Robertus King, Dominus Edwardus Lake, … Burrell, & Johannes Berkenhead, Legum respectiuè Doctores; & post nonnullas quaestiones & argumenta inter dictos Episcopos & Jurisconsultos habit ' & fact ' de & super corum praesentiis in Domo Procerum super personis condemnatis, iidem omnes & singuli Jurisperiti unanimi consensu corum respectiuè Opiniones in scriptis dederunt, Dictos Episcopos in domo Parliamenti unà cum Proceribus circa negotium personarum condemnatarum tutissimè & sine ullo detrimento aut praejudicio sedere, & eorum praesentias exhibere posse; & eidem scripto manus suas subscripserunt, & dictum scriptum sic subscriptum dicto Domino Episcopo London ' tradiderunt. Et, hoc facto, dictus Dominus Praesidens, nomine totius Domûs, gratias dictis Jurisconsultis agebat; quibus dimissis, Dominus Episcopus London ', etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LIX.  
DIE Mercurij 5ᵒ Februarij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. post tract ' etc. Reverendus Pater Gulielmus Bathon ' & Wellen ' Episcopus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LX.  
DIE Veneris 7ᵒ Februarij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. post tractatum, etc. Reverendus Pater Robertus Oxon. Episcopus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXI.  
DIE Veneris 14 Februarij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. post tractatum, etc. Reverendus Pater Robertus Oxon. Episcopus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXII.  
DIE Martis 18 Februarij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater Praesidens, de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum, voluit ad se accersiri Cleros Domûs Inferioris Convocationis, quibus advenientibus, Dictus Dominus Praesidens antedictus (verbis Latinis conceptis) eosdem Cleros dictae Domûs Inferioris monuit quatenus ad solitum & consuetum Conventûs sui locum sese conferentes, unum virum gravem, doctum, & peritum, de gremio suo provideant & eligant in eorum Prolocutorem & Referendarium in loco Reverendi Viri Henrici Fearne S. Theol. Professoris, ultimi Prolocutoris, ratione Promotionis suae ad Episcopatum Cestren ' jam vacan ', & ipsum sic Electum exhbeant coram eo hoc in loco immediate post Electionem suam factam. Quibus dimissis, ad locum solitum suum, ad effectum eligendi virum gravem & doctum de gremio suo, in eorum Prolocutorem sive Referendarium, sese conferebant, & post aliquot tractat ' inter Episcopos habit ' & fact ', Reverendus Vir Thomas Turner S. Th. Professor, Decanus Ecclesie Cathedralis & Metropoliticae Christi Cant ' & Johannes Earles S. etiam Theol. Professor, Decanus Ecclesiae Collegiatae B. Petri Westm ' unà cum coetu Domûs Inferioris, Praesentarunt & Exhibuerunt & sisti secerunt Venerabilem Virum Johannem Barwick S. Th. Professorem in Prolocutorem totius Coetûs praedict. Domûs Inferioris unanimiter electum, vice totius Coetûs praedict '; & praemissâ facundâ & eleganti oratione per dictum Decanum Westm ', & factâ aliâ facundâ oratione in latinis verbis concept '. per eundem Prolocutorem sic praesentatum, praefatus Reverendus Pater Dominus Episcopus London ' de consensu Confratruns suorum praedict '. cundem Johannem Barwick, S. Th. Professorem electum, & Electionem praedict '. de personâ suâ in Prolocutorem sive Referendarium, per aliam venustam & eloquentem orationem Latinam commendavit & approbavit. Tunc, dimisso Prolocutore, cum Coetu Domûs Inferioris, & habitâ consultatione de casu Sacerdotum Catholicorum Romanorum praesentato & perlecto, Dominus Episcopus London ', etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXIII.  
DIE Sabbati, 22ᵒ Febr. inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. tractatum inter eos habuit de & super Revisione Canonum & Constitutionum aliàs in Anno Domini 1640. in Convocatione tunc congregat ' edit ' & provis ' & post aliquot tractat ' desuper Dominus Episcopus London ' de consensu Confratrum suorum curam diligentis Revisionis & Examinationis eorundem Reverendis Viris Domino Roberto Oxon ', Humfrido Sarum ', Georgio Wigorn ', Georgio Asaphen ', Richardo Carliolen ', Herberto Herefordien ', & Briano Cestren ' respectivè Episcopis; & pro meliori curâ desuper habend ' ordinavit eos ad conveniend ' die Lunae prox. in Camerâ communiter vocat Jerusalem-Chamber intra Collegium B. Petri Westm ', sit ' & situat '. Hiisque sic gestis, & curâ concipiendi Articulos in Visitationibus observandos Domino Johanni Episcopo Dunelmen '. commissâ & relatâ; dictus Dominus, &c: Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXIV.  
DIE Jovis 27. Febr. inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid. ejusdem diei, etc. post tractaturr, etc. Reverendus Pater Dominus Episcopus Dunelmen ' Locumtenens, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXV.  
DIE Lunae 3. Martij inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. post tractat ' etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXVI.  
DIE Mercurij 5 Martij inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid. ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater Dominus Robertus Oxon. Episcopus, etc. tractatum habuit inter eos circa nonnullas Emendationes sive Alterationes aliàs in libro Publicarum Precum per Domum Parliamenti fact ', & dictus Dominus Episcopus London ' de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum, curam Revisionis carundem Alterationum Reverendis Viris Georgio Asaphen ', Richardo Carliolen ', Briano Cestren ' respective Episcopis conjunctim & divisim, & eye conjunctim & divisim dedit potestatem & Commissionem nomine totius Domûs Superioris Convocationis ad emendand ' & corrigend ' easdem alterationes, etc. His gestis dictus Dominus Praesidens cum consensu Confratrum suorum, jussit me ad accersend ' Dominum Prolocutorem, etc. Quo adveniente, cum tribus vel duobus Domûs Inferioris, Dominus Praesidens antedictus declaravit ei quid per dictos Episcopos fuerat actum de & super dictis alterationibus, & quibus cura desuper commissa fuerat; & instantèr rogavit se eadem communicasse Domo Inferiori, ut eorum consensus desuper habeatur. Vnde dicto Prolocutore, cum ejus Associatis, ad domum Inferiorem redeunte, & habito tractatu inter Cleros desuper, omnes & singuli Cleri dictae Domûs Inferioris, in praesentiâ mei Willielmi Fisher, Notarii Publici, etc. unanimiter eorum Consensum praebuerunt omnibus & singulis per dictos Dominos Episcopos circa Alterationes praedict ' fact ', salvis eorum Privilegiis, etc. Et hiis sic gestis, Dominus Episcopus London ', etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXVII.  
DIE Sabbati 8ᵒ Martii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Vir Dominus Johannes Dunelmen ' Episcopus, secundum Mandatum ei datum & curam ei commissam, introduxit & tradidit in manus Domini Praesidentis librum Articulorum Visitationem concernen ', alias per eum concept '; & unanimiter assensum fuit, ut iidem Articuli Domino Archiepiscopo Cant ' destinarentur pro ejus perlectione & debita consideratione eorundem, & pro eorum Emendatione, Reformatione & Correctione suâ. Hoc facto, tractatum inivit de & super Impressione libri Publicarum Precum, & post intervallum temporis, Dominus Episcopus London, etc. de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum, constituit & ordinavit Doctorem Sandcroft esse Supervisorem …, & Magistros Scattergood & Dillingham esse Correctores dicti Libri in Impressione ejusdem. Hiis peractis, Dominus Episcopus London ' Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXVIII.  
DIE Martis 11 Martii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. post tractatum, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXIX.  
DIE Sabbati 15 Martij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. post tractat '. etc. Reverendus Pater Dominus Robertus Oxon ' Episcopus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXX.  
DIE Martis 18 Martij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. post tractatum, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. cum consensu confratrum suorum, ad eum accersiri jussic Prolocutorem, Praelatos, & Clerum Domûs Inferioris. Quibus advenientibus, dictus Reverendus Pater cum consensu, etc. publicè significavit & intimavit eisdem Prolocutori, Praelatis & Clero antedictis Librum Precum Publicarum, Administrationis Sacramentorum, aliorúmque Rituum Ecclesiae Anglicana, unà cum Forma & Modo Ordinandi & Consecrandi Episcopos, Presbyteros, & Diaconos (alias per Reverendos Patres, & Praelatos & Clerum Domùs Inferioris Convocationis, juxta Literas Regiae Majestatis eye in eâ parte directas, revisum) per Proceres & Magnates in Parliamento congregat ', fuisse & esse gratantèr acceptatum; & Honorandum Virum Dominum Edwardum Dominum Cancellarium Angliae, tam nomine suo proprio, quàm nomine totius Domûs Procerum & Magnatum in Parliamento (ut praefertur) congregat ', maximas gratias Archi-episcopis & Episcopis utriusque Provinciae, pro eorum magna curâ & industriâ in & circa Revisionem dicti libri Publicarum Precum, etc. dedisse & prabuisse. Et insuper dictus Reverendus Pater declaravit quòd dictus Honorandus Vir Dominus Cancellarius Angliae voluit se Reverendum Patrem, nomine totius domûs Procerum & Magnatum praedict ', ad reddend ' & praebend '. gratias Prolocutori, Praelatis & Clero Domûs Inferioris Convocationis praedict ', pro eorum respectiuè simili curá & labore in & circa Revisionem libri praedict '. Et tunc, dicto Prolocutore & toto Coetu Domûs Inferioris dimissis, dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio LXXI.  
DIE Sabbati 22 Martii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. habito Tractatu inter eos de speciali forma concipiend ' in & circa Consecrationem Ecclesiarum Parochialium & quarumcunque Capellarum intra hoc Regnum Angliae, quoties & quandocunque evenerit eas benedicend '. fore; dictus Dominus Episcopus London ', etc. de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum curam in & circa conceptionem formae praedictae Reverendo Patri Domino Johanni permissione divinâ Dunelmen ' Episcopo unanimiter commisit; & post alium tractatum, idem Reverendus Pater Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXXII.  
DIE Jovis 27 Martij, 1662. inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. post tractatum, etc. Reverendus Pater Dominus Robertus Oxon ' Episcopus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXXIII.  
DIE Jovis 3ᵒ Aprilis, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. post Tractatum, etc. Reverendus Pater Dominus Episiopus Oxon ', etc. post Tractatum, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXXIV.  
DIE Mercurij 9ᵒ Aprilis, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. post tractatum, etc. Reverendus Pater, [Robertus Oxon ' Episcopus] etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXXV.  
DIE Sabbati 12 Aprilis, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Habito tractatu de Subscriptionibus Clericorum Instituendorum & Ludimagistrorum licentiandorum, & tribus Articulis 36 Canone, etc. Dominus Episcopus London ' Praesidens, etc. de & cum consensu, etc. curam commisit Reverendis Patribus Dominis Episcopis Sarum, & Coven ' & Lichen ', ad consulend ' Jurisperitos de concipiend ' forma in scriptis in & circa subscriptionem praedict. Et hoc facto, ulterius tractatum habuit de eligendo personas aptas & idoneas ad corrigend ' Impressionem libri Publicarum Precum; quódque post impressionem dicti libri factam Episcopi cujuslibet Dioeceseos curam in sese suscipiunt ad recipiend ' eosdem libros, & ad procurand ' eosdem publicari & asportari Ecclesiis Parochialibus separalibus in eorum respective Dioecesibus. Et deinde Dominus Episcopus London ' Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXXVI.  
DIE Mercurij 16 Aprilis, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. post tractatum, etc. Reverendus Pater, [Robertus Oxon ' Episcopus] etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXXVII.  
DIE Sabbati 19 Aprilis, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. post tractat ', etc. Reverendus Pater [Robertus Oxon ' Episcopus] etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXXVIII.  
DIE Lunae 21 Aprilis, inter horas 8 & 10 ante meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. tractat ' habuit cum confratribus suis de Imprimendo libro Publicarum Precum ante 24 diem mensis Augusti prox. nec non de recipiend '. Directionibus à Domino Cancellario Angliae, quibus mediis verbum Children in loco Persons (not baptised) per Domum Communitatis Parliamenti in libro Publicarum Precum inseratur. Et hoc facto Dominus Episcopus London ' de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum decrevit & ordinavit, quòd Dominus Episcopus Dunelmen ' in loco Domini Episcopi Cestren ' modò defunct ', Dominis Episcopis in & circa Alterationes dicti libri Publicarum Precum 5 Martij ult ' elaps '. assignatis, adjungeretur; & ulterius statuit, quòd nullae Ordinationes Clericorum per aliquos Episcopos fierent, nisi intra quatuor tempora pro Ordinationibus assignata; quodque nullus Episcopus extra Dioecesin suam aliquos Clericos ad Sacros vel Diaconatûs vel Presbyteratûs Ordines admitteret, nisi priùs literis dimissoriis à Reverendissimo Patre Cant ' Archiepiscopo obtentis. Et hoc facto, dictus Dominus Episcopus London ', de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum, etc. Curam & Revisionem libri Publicarum Precum concernen '. 5 diem Novembris, Reverendo Patri Domino Episcopo Dunelmen ' commisit, & continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXXIX.  
DIE Mercurij 23 Aprilis inter horas 8 & 10 ante meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. post tractatum, etc. Reverendus Pater Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXXX.  
DIE Sabbati 26 Aprilis, inter horas 8 & 10 ante merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. Formae Precum pro 5 Novembris, 30 Januarij, & 29 Maij, fuerunt introductae & publicè perlectae, & unanimi consensu approbatae. Et tractatu inter eos habit ' & fact ' de Translatione libri Publicarum Precum in sermonem Latinum, Dominus Episcopus London, etc. de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum, etc. curam Translationis ejusdem Reverendis Viris Johanni Earle Decano B. Petri Westm ' & Johanni Peirson sacrae respectiuè Theologiae Professoribus commisit. Et hoc facto, dict' Dominus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXXXI.  
DIE Mercurij ultimo; viz. Aprilis, inter horas 8 & 10 ante merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. post tractatum, etc. Reverendus Pater Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXXXII.  
DIE Veneris 2 Maij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. post tractatum, etc. Reverendus Pater Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXXXIII.  
DIE Lunae 5 Maii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. post tractatum, etc. Reverendus Pater Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXXXIV.  
DIE Mercurij 7 Maij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. post tractat ', etc. Reverendus Pater, [Robertus Episcopus Oxon '] etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXXXV.  
DIE Sabbati 10 Maii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. Habito tractatu ex directione Domûs Communitatis Parliamenti de Reverentiâ solenni inter Liturgiae Publicae celebrationem, nec non tempore Sermonum & Homiliarum adhibendâ; major pars dictae Domus Superioris Convocationis, in votis dedit, ut Constitutio in libro Constitutionum sive Canonum Ecclesiasticorum aliàs in Anno Domini 1603. sub titulo De solenni Reverentiâ inter Liturgiae publicae celebrationem, Edit '. & Provij '. dictae Domui Communitatis Parliamenti praesentetur; habitâ priùs consideratione de & super dicto Canone per Domum Inferiorem hujusmodi Convocationis. Et hoc facto, Dominus Praesidens antedictus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXXXVI.  
DIE Lunae 12 Maii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. Constitutio sive Canon de Reverentiâ tempore divinorum adhibendâ, aliàs ultimâ Sessione in hac domo tractat '. à Domo Inseriori Convocationis unà cum nonnullis Alteratiombus sive Emendationibus per eos factis, fuit introduct ', dictóque Canone, unà cum dictis emendationibus publice perlectis, eadem Constitutio fuit unanimi consensu & assensu totius Domûs Superioris approbat '. & confirmat '. Et hoc facto, dictus Dominus continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXXXVII.  
DIE Mercurij 14 Maii, inter horaes 3 & 5 post Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. post tractatum, etc. Reverend ' Pater Gulielmus Bathon ' & Wellen ', etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta, Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXXXVIII.  
DIE Veneris 16 Maii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. post tractat ', etc. Reverendus Pater Gulielmus Bathon ' & Wellen ', etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio LXXXIX.  
DIE Lunae 19 Maii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusd diei, etc. post Tractatum, etc. Reverendus Pater [Gulielmus Bathon ' & Wellen '] etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio XC.  
DIE Martis 20 Maii, inter horas 9 & 11 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. Exhibito Brevi Regio, nec non literis Commissionalibus Domini Archiepiscopi Cant ', & per me publicè de Mandato Domini Willielmi Bathon ' & Wellen ' Episcopi locum-tenentis, etc. perlectis; dictus Dominus, etc. acceptavit in se onus Executionis dictae Commissionis, & decrevit procedendum sore juxta tenorem & effectum ejusdem, etc. & juxta tenorem dicti Brevis Regii Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XCI.  
DIE Jovis 19 die mensis Februarii, Anno Domini 1662. juxta, etc. inter horas 2 & 4, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. post tractatum secretum per tres horas aut eò circitèr, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XCII.  
DIE Mercurij 25 Februarii inter horas 2 & 4 post Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater Dominus Robertus Oxon ' Episcopus, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XCIII.  
DIE Jovis 5 Martii, inter horas 2 & 4 post Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. Tractatum habuit de & super Compoto de …; dictúsque Compotus fuit relatus considerationi Reverendorum in Christo Patrum Humfridi Sarum, & Georgii Asaphen ' Episcoporum, etc. Et hoc facto, dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XCIV.  
DIE Jovis 12 Martii, inter horas 2 & 4 post Meridiem ejusd ' diei, etc. Dominus Robertus Oxon ', etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XCV.  
DIE Jovis 19 Martij, inter horas 2 & 4 post Merid. ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus in Christo Pater Dominus Robertus Oxon ', etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XCVI.  
DIE Sabbati 28 Martii 1663. inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. Habito tractatu de & super confectione Libri Grammaticalis tam in linguâ Latinâ quam 
Grammaticali in the Original.  Graecâ adhibend '. in qualibet Scholá Grammaticali; relatum fuit Prolocutori Domus Inferioris ad concipiend ' dictum Librum, & ad consulend '. desuper quascunque personas, prout ei conveniens fuerit, exceptis cum Ludimagistris & Paedagogis, etc. Et hoc sacto dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XCVII.  
DIE Sabbati 4 Aprilis inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. habità consideratione de perficiendo Compoto Doctoris Bargrave llcèt absen ' usque ad primam Sessionem prox. futur ' post Festum Paschae prox. Reverendus Pater [Robertus Oxon '.] etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio XCVIII.  
DIE Sabbati 11 Aprilis, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. Reverendus Pater Robertus Oxon ' Episcopus, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio XCIX.  
DIE Martis 14 Aprilis inter horas 2 & 4 post Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Exhibitis literis Commissionalibus, etc. iisdemque de mandato dicti locum-tenentis per me perlectis, dictus Reverenaus Pater, etc. Onus Executionis earundem in se acceptavit, & decrevit procedendum fore juxta tenorem earundem, etc. Et continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio C.  
DIE Sabbati 2 Maii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. Dominus Episcopus London ' Locum-tenens, etc. unà cum confratribus suis, etc. habito prius tractatu de & super impetratione Formae quoad Consecrationem Ecclesiarum, Capellarum, aliorumque locorum Ecclesiasticorum, etc. tradend ' Domino Episcopo Dunelmen ', etc. ad perficiend ' dictum opus, etc.) Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio CI.  
DIE Sabbati 9 Maii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. Oxon ' Episcopus Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio CII.  
DIE Sabbati 16 Maii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Vir Dominus Locumtenens [Oxon. Episcopus] etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio CIII.  
DIE Sabbati 23 Maii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusd ' diei, etc. habito secreto tractatu, me absente ex mandato dicti Locum-tenentis, dictus Dominus, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio CIV.  
DIE Sabbati 30 Maii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusd ' diei, etc. habito tractatu de & super libro Grammaticali, etc. & vocato Magistro Syllack, eóque requisito ad conficiend ' acquiet antiam legalem pro pecuniarum summa per eum à Doctore Bargrave recept ', & ad introducend '. eandem hoc in loco prox. Sessione; idem Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio CV.  
DIE Sabbati 13 Junii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. exhibitis & praesentatis literis Commissionalibus Venerabilium Virorum Dominorum Decani & Capituli Ecclesiae Cathedralis Christi Cant ' (ad quos omnis & omnimoda Jurisdictio Spiritualis & Ecclesiastica quae ad Archi-episcopum Cant ' sede plenâ pertinuit, ipsae sede jam vacante notoriè dignoscitur pertinere,) iisdemque literis, de mandato Praesidentis publicè perlectis, dictus Reverendus Pater Gilbertus London '. Episcopus, Praeses, etc. acceptavit in se onus Executionis earundem; & decrevit procedend ' fore juxta, vim, formam, tenorem, & effectum earundem; Et hoc facto idem Reverendus, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio CVI  
DIE Sabbati 20 Junii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. praesentatâ substitutione Domini Praesiden ', etc. eáque publicè lectâ, Forma Consecrationis Ecclesiarum & Capellarum fuit per Praesiden ' etc. introducta; & relata fuit curae Reverendorum Virorum Domini Roberti Oxon ', Humfridi Sarum, Roberti Lincoln ', & Johannis Coven ' & Lichen ', respectivè Episcoporum, pro diligenti Revisione ejusdem, & hoc facto dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio CVII.  
DIE Sabbati 27 Junij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. ad se accersiri fecit Prolocutorem, unà cum toto Coetu Domûs Inferioris. Quibus comparentibus idem Reverendus Pater, etc. unà cum Confratribus suis praedict ' (ut praefertur) comparent '. Tractatum habuit, & convenit de quatuor Subsidiis Illustrissimo Domino Nostro Regi per ipsos concedendis, juxta Ratam quatuor solidorum de quâlibet librâ, sub certis conditionibus & provisionibus in quodam libro desuper concipiend '.; ac de solvendo dicta subsidia infra terminum quatuor annorum proximè sequen '. unum integrum subsidium eorundem solvendum ad Festum Natalis Domini Nostri Jesus, & residuum eorundem solvendum quolibet dimidio anni ex tunc sequen '. Eosdemque Prolocutorem & totum Coetum Domûs Inferioris rogavit, ut in Testimonium singularis eorum obedientiae & obsequii erga Dominum Nostrum Regem, concessioni hujusmodi eorum consensus praeberent, habito prius tractatu inter eos de eisdem. Ac tanc praefatus Reverendus Pater, etc. de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum, in Examinatores & Correctores libri subsidiorum praedict ' Reverendos Patres Georgium Winton ', Humfridum Sarum, Georgium Asaphen ', Robertum Lincoln ', & Willielmum Meneven ', respectivè Episcopos, nominavit; & voluit Prolocutorem & totum Coetum Domûs Inferioris praedict ' ad eligendum nonnullos graviores Viros de gremio suo ad idem negotium cum dictis Reverendis Patribus expediendum. Modò, dimisso Prolocutore, cum toto Coetu praedict ' praefatus Reverendus Pater, etc. iterum tractavit cum praedictis Reverendis Patribus. Et post intervallum temporis, Dominus Prolocutor cum toto Coetu● praedict ' revertens, nomine suo & eorum dixit & declaravit quòd ipse & Coetus Domûs Inferioris de propositis diligenter tractârunt & omnes eorum Consensus libentissimè dederunt Concessioni dictorum quatuor subsidiorum, juxta Ratam quatuor solidorum è qualibet librâ; séque & totum Coetum Domûs Inferioris praedict. elegisse in examinatores & correctores libri subsidiorum praedict ' cum praefatis respectiuè Episcopis, Venerabiles Viros Johannem Barwick S. Th. Professorem Prolocutorem, etc. Thomam Turner S. Th. Professorem, Decanum Ecclesiae Cathedralis & Metropoliticae Christi Cant ', … Dolben S. Th. Professorem, Decanum Westm ', Michaelem Honywood Decanum Winton ', Edwardum Layfield S. Th. Professorem Archidiaconum Essex ', Robertum Pory S. Th. Professorem Archidiaconum Midd ', Philippum King Archidiaconum Lewen ', Georgium Stradling & Richardum Ball, S. Theologiae respectiuè Professores, Procuratores, etc. Quam Electionem Dominus Prases & Confratres sui approbârunt. Et tunc Dominus Episcopus London ', etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio CVIII.  
DIE Mercurij 1 Julii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. Liber subsidiorum Regiorum fuit introductus, etc. jussu dicti Reverendi Patris, etc. publicè per me notarium publicum fuit perlectus; & post lecturam ejusdem, missus fuit Prolocutori & Domui Inferiori pro eorum Revisione & Examinatione. Et tunc Dominus Gilbertus, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio CIX.  
DIE Sabbati 4 Julii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Praefatio & conclusione libri subsidiorum Regiorum introductis, & per me Notarium Publicum publicè porlectis, idem Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio CX.  
DIE Mercurij 8 Julii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. introducto libro subsidiorum Regiorum in pergameno ingrossat '. & jussu Praesidentis, etc. publicè per me Notarium Publicum antedict ' perlect '. & per totam Convocationem approbat '. dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. in diem Veneris, 10 Julij, etc. prout in Schedulâ, etc.   

Sessio CXI.  
DIE Veneris 10 Julij, inter horas 2 & 4 post meridiem. ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater Dominus Episcopus Bathon; & Wellen, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio CXII.  
DIE Lunae, 13 Julij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater Dominus Episcopus Bathon. & Wellen, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio CXIII.  
DIE Mercurij 15 Julij, inter horas 8 & 10 antè Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendo Patre Domino Roberto Asaphen ' Episcopo assignato ad sedend ' cum aliis Episcopis, etc. aliàs constitutis ad concipiend '. formam quoad Consecrationem Capellarum, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout per Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXIV.  
DIE Sabbati 18 Julij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater Sarum Episcopus, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio CXV.  
DIE Veneris 24 Julij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater Sarum Episcopus, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio CXVI.  
DIE Lunae 27 Julij, inter horas 2 & 4 post Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater Sarum Episcopus, etc. Continuavit, etc. usque ad & inter horas 6 & 9 hujus diei, etc. Eisdem die & loco, inter horas 6 & 9, etc. Reverendus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXVII.  
DIE Jovis 17 Martii 1663. inter horas 8 & 10. ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendissimus Pater, etc. de & cum consensu, etc. ad se accersiri fecit Prolocutorem Domûs Inferioris, unà cum toto numero sive Coetu ejusdem. Quibus comparentibus, dicti Reverendissimus Pater, introducto Brevi Regio sibi directo, ac in manus suas tradito idem de mandato dicti Reverendissimi Patris per me Notarium publicum praedictum publicè fuit perlectum. Ac post lecturam ejusdem, idem Reverendissimus Pater onus Executionis ejusdem in se assumpsit, & juxta formam & effectum ejusdem procedendum fore decrevit. Deinde, literis Commissionalibus dicti Reverendissimi Patris, etc. exhibits, & per me, jussu Reverendissimi Patris publicè perlectis, Domini Commissarij tunc praesetes onus Executionis earundem in sese acceptarunt; ac post tractatum, etc. idem Reverendissimus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. prout in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio CXVIII.  
DIE Jovis 24 Martij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater London ' Episcopus, etc. Continuavit, etc. in diem Jovis ultimum, viz. diem instant. Martij, etc. prout in Schedula, etc.   

Sessio CXIX.  
DIE Jovis, ultimo, viz. die Martij 1664. inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. post tractatum, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXX.  
DIE Mercurij 20 Aprilis, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendissimus Pater ac Confratres respectiuè sui praedict '. tractatum inierunt de & super Libro Grammaticali introducendum in prox '. & de Personis tunc eligendis pro Examinatione ejusdem. Et tunc, introductâ petitione Clericorum indlgentium in Insulâ Vectis remanen '. & residen ' relatum fuit Reverendo Patri Domino Episcopo London ' ad deliberand ' desuper, & ad certificand '. etc. in prox ' etc. Et tunc dictus Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXXI.  
DIE Mercurij 27 Aprilis, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. introductâ petitione per Dominum Episcopum Nonwicensem, eáque publice perlectâ, Domini Episcopi duxerunt ad deliberandum desuper; & tunc dictus Reverendus Pater Dominus Episcopus London ', etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXXII.  
DIE Mercurij 4 Maij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Liber Grammaticalis per Johannem Peirson S. T. P. unum è gremio Domûs Inferioris fuit introduct ' & dictus Reverendissimus Pater, de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum Curam, Revisionem, & Examinationem ejusdem commisit Reverendissimo Patri …, Providentiâ divinâ Eborum Archiepiscopo, Reverendis in Christo Patribus Georgio Winton ', Humfrido London ', Roberto Wigorn ', Georgio Asaphen ', Willielmo Glouc ', & Johanni Coven ', & Lichen ' respectivè Episcopis. Et posteà, de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum, ad se accersiri fecit Prolocutorem unà cum toto Coetu Domûs Inferioris quibus advenien ' dictus Reverendissimus Pater, de & cum ratihabitione Confratrum suorum praedict '. voluit eos ad eligendum certum numerum virorum gravium & discretorum è gremio suo, ad Revidendum & Examinandum dictum librum Grammaticalem cum dictis Reverendis Patribus per Domum superiorem nominatis. Et dimisso dicto Prolocutore cum toto Coetu praedict '. idem Reverendissimus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXXIII.  
DIE Sabbati 14 Maij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXXIV.  
DIE Lunae 16 Maij, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendissimus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXXV.  
DIE Mercurij 18 Maii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. introducto libro Precum in latina concept '. relatum fuit curae & revisioni Reverendi in Christo Patris Johannis permissione divinâ Sarum Episcopi, & Johannis Dolben S. T. P. Decani Westm '. Et deinde dictus Reverendissimus Pater, etc. continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXXVI.  
DIE Martis 23 Augusti, inter horas 8 & 10 ante meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Episcopus London, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXXVII.  
DIE Veneris 25 Novembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus, Pater London ' Episcopus, etc. post intervallum temporis, & de & cum consensu Confratrum suorum voluit ad se accersiri Clerum Domûs Inferioris Convocationis: quibus advenientibus, etc. cosdem Cleros dictae Domûs Inferioris monuit, quatenùs [ad] solitum & consuetum Conventûs sui locum sese conferentes, unum virum gravem, doctum & peritum de gremio suo provideant & eligant in eorum Prolocutorem & Referendarium, in loco Venerabilis Viri Johannis Barwick S. T. P. ratione ejus mortis jam vacan ', ac ipsum sic electum exhibeant, & praesentent coram Reverendiss. Patre aut ejus Locumten ' sive Commiss. etc. die Veneris prox. 2ᵒ viz. die mensis Decembris prox. futur ' inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, hoc in loco. Quo Clero dimisso, etc. Praeses antedictus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXXVIII.  
DIE Veneris 2 Decembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. Winton. Episcopus, etc. post intervallum temporis ad eum accersiri jussit Clerum domûs Inferioris. Qui sese praesentantes exhiberi & sisti fecerunt Venerabilem Virum Johannem Dolben S. T. P. Decanum Ecclesiae Collegiatae S. Petri Westm '. in Prolocutorem & Referendarium totius Coetûs Domûs Inferioris ultimâ Sessione electum; quem Venerabilis Vir … Boulton S. T. P. in Praesentatorem etiam electus, vice totius Coetûs Domûs Inferioris, praemissâ facundâ & eloquenti oratione, per eum exhibuit & praesentavit dictis Reverendis Episcopis; & factâ aliâ latinâ oratione eleganti per eundem Prolocutorem sic praesentatum praefatus Reverendus Pater, etc. de consensu Confratrum suorum praed ' antedictum Johannem Dolben in Prolocutorem electum, & Electionem hujusmodi per aliam Orationem latinam commendavit & approbavit. Tunc dimisso Prolocutore, cum Coetu Domûs inferioris praedict ', habitóque tractatu aliquandiu inter Episcopos praedict. idem Reverendus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXXIX.  
DIE Veneris 9 Decembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. Elien ' Episcopus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXXX.  
DIE Veneris 16 Decembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater, etc. Wigorn ' Episcopus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXXXI.  
DIE Martis 20 Decembris, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. Reverendus Pater Episcopus Wigorn ', etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXXXII.  
DIE Martis 10 Januarii 1664. inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus Pater, Episcopus Winton ', etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXXXIII,  
DIE Mercurij 18 Januarii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. Reverendus Pater, Robertus Wigorn ' Episcopus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXXXIV.  
DIE Veneris 27 Januarii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXXXV.  
DIE Veneris 3 Febr. etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXXXVI.  
DIE Sabbati 11 Febr. etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXXXVII.  
DIE Sabbati 18 Februarii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendissimus Pater, etc. voluit Episcopos praesentes, cum ad eorum respectiuè Dioeceses pervenerint, ad destinand ' sibi nomina & cognomina Clericorum intra easdem respectiuè Dioeceses ab eorum respectiuè Curis eject ' & loca eorum respectiuè habitatidnis; & hoc facto, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, &c   

Sessio CXXXVIII.  
DIE Martis 21 Februarii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusa ' diei, etc. Reverendissimus Pater, etc. post tractatum, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXXXIX.  
DIE Jovis 2 Martii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante Merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. Reverendus Pater London. Episcopus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXL.  
DIE Sabbati 4 Martii, inter horas 8 & 10 ante merid ' ejusd ' diei, etc. Reverendissimus Pater, etc. voluit omnes Episcopos Confratres suos praesentes, ad exhibend ' omnem quamcunque curam & diligentiam, ut quilibet Ministri vel Rectores vel Vicarii, seu eorum Curati, cujuslibet Ecclesiae in & per eorum respectiuè Dioeceses, Divinas Preces juxta formam Libri Publicarum Precum in eâ parte stabilit ', distinctè & plenariè, absque aliquâ omissione earundem in aliqua parte, superpelliceis indutis, discreto ordine perlegant. Et hoc facto, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXLI.  
DIE Jovis 22 Junii 1665. inter horas 8 & 10 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendissimus Pater, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXLII.  
SEcundo die mensis Augusti, etc. prout in actu annex ' &c. 
No Entry is made of this Day's Act.    

Sessio CXLIII.  
DIE Veneris 26 die Mensis Januarii, 1665. inter horas 8 & 11 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus, etc. London ' Episcopus, etc. Continuavit, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXLIV.  
DIE Martis 24 Aprilis 1666. inter horas 8 & 11 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, etc. Reverendus, London ' Episcopus, etc. Continuavit, etc. uxta Schedulam, etc.   

Sessio CXLV.  
DIE Mercurij 19 Septembris 1666. inter horas 8 & 11 ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, Reverendissimus, etc. post tractatum, etc. continuavit, etc. in diem Mercurii 26 diem jam instantis Septembris, etc. juxta Schedulam, etc.   
FINIS.   

ACTA IN INFERIORE DOMO CONVOCATIONIS, ANNIS MDCLXXXVI & MDCLXXXVIII.  


Electio Prolocutoris.  
DIE Mercurij, Secundo Viz. die Mensis Novembris, Anno Domini 1586. & Regni Serenissimae Dominae nostrae Dominae Elizabethae, Dei gratiâ Angliae, Franciae & Hiberniae Reginae, fidei Defensoris, etc. Anno Vicessimo Octavo: In Inferiori Domo Synodalis Convocationis Praelatorum & Cleri Cant. Provinciae, in Sacello olim nuncupato Beatae Mariae in Orientali parte Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London. notoriè Situato; Coram Venerabilibus Viris Decanis, Archidiaconis, Procuratoribus Capitulorum, Ecclesiarum Cathedralium & Cleri, tunc ibidem ad hujusmodi Convocationem celebrandam juxta effectum brevis Regij & praeteriti temporis morem insimul Congregatis, comparuit Venerabilis Vir Magister Alexander Nowell Decanus Sancti Pauli, London: Cui praesenti, ex antiquo more & consuetudine dictae Ecclesiae Cathedralis Sancti Pauli praedictae, Jus dirigendi Electionem futuri Prolocutoris competit. Et ex parte Reverendissimi Domini Johannis, Providentiâ Divinâ Cantuar. Archiepiscopi, significavit, Ut ad Electionem suturi Prolocutoris procedere licitè & liberè valeant & possint. Unde mox omnes tunc praesentes uno Ore Venerabilem Virum Magistrum Willelmum Redman Archidiaconum Cantuariensem, alias in ultimâ Convocatione hujus Domûs in Prolocutorem electum, ac modò absentem, denuo sine morâ in eorum & dicti Coetus Inferioris Domûs Cleri Prolocutorem & Referendarium concorditer unanimi consensu nominarunt & elegerunt, nemine contradicente. Et consequenter nominarunt & elegerunt Venerabilem Virum Magistrum Johannem Styll Archidiaconum Sudbury praesentem, ad praesentandum dictum Prolocutorem Reverendissimo Domino Johanni Cant. Archiepiscopo & caeteris Praelatis in Superiori Domo, die Veneris proximo inter horas secundam & quartam post meridiem in Ecclesiâ Collegiatâ Westminster, cum debitâ & solitâ Solemnitate; Et moniti sunt omnes praesentes quatenùs dictis die horâ & loco conveniant ad effectum praedictum. Acta & gesta fuerunt praemissa ut supra, in praesentiâ mei Thomae Barker Notarij Publici in ejusdem Inferioris Domus Acto [rum Scribam] assumpti.  
Nomina praesentium Electioni praedictae, quae mihi Notario praedicto ex aspectu noti erant, quae ob brevitatem temporis capere potui. Reliquorum verò quam plurimorum etiam praesentium, quoniam praefatus Dominus Decanus Sancti Pauli London. noluit ob causam praedictam Praeconizationem fieri, describere minimè potui.  
Mr. D. Goodman. Mr. D. Pearne, etc.   

Sessio Secunda.  
DIE Veneris, Viz. Quarto die mensis Novembris, Anno Domini 1586. inter horas secundam & quartam post meridiem ejusdem diei, in quodom Sacello ex parte australi Ecclesiae Collegiatae Westminster, in praesentiâ Edwardi Say & Thomae Barker, Notariorum Publicorum, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Wood, etc.  
Isto die, postquam convenerunt omnes supranominati Venerabiles Viri, ipse Venerabilis Praesentator una cum caeteris supranominatis ex dicto Inferiori Coetu, accersiti in Superiorem Domum, eundem Venerabilem Virum Magistrum Willelmum Redman Prolocutorem electum conduxit ad Superiorem Domum, eumque dicto Reverendissimo Patri Cant. Archiepiscopo, & caeteris Praelatis praesentavit; ubi habitâ & pramissâ doctâ Oratione à praefato Venerabili Viro Magistro Johanne Styll Archidiacono Suffolk Praesentatore, & ea finitâ, alterâ piâ Oratione seu praefatione ipsius Venerabilis Viri Domini electi Prolocutoris; dictus Reverendissimus Pater, cum caeteris Dominis Praelatis tunc praesentibus, Electionem hujusmodi, & Dominum Prolocutorem Electum concorditer Approbarunt & Ratificarunt. His expeditis, post aliquem tractatum inter eosdem Reverendissimos Patres & dictum Dominum Prolocutorem cum alijs ex dicto Inferiore Coetu, de rebus quibusdam necessariis; dictus Dominus Prolocutor cum Coetu suo praedicto in dictam Inferiorem Domum revertebatur; ubi post finitas preces, facta fuit Praeconizatio omnium interesse debentium, etc. Quâ peractâ, Dominus Prolocutor assignavit Venerabiles Viros, Decanum Sancti Pauli, Decanum Westminster, Decanum Elien. Decanum Sarum, Decanum Exon, Decanum Coven. & Lichen, Archidiaconum London, Archidiaconum Sudbury, Archidiaconum Bedford, Archidiaconum Taunton, Archidiaconum Derby; D. Bell, D. Walker, D. Copcotte, & D. Wythers, in Assessores sibi, tractaturos de rebus & negotiis in hujusmodi Convocatione tractandis & expediendis. Cui quidem assignationi omnes praesentes unanimiter consentierunt. Quibus sic gestis, habitâ per Dominum Prolocutorem Admonitione omnibus ex hoc Coetu, ut habitu Clericali incedant, alioquin abstineant ab hac Domo, ac etiam admonitione, ut si qui sint qui aliquas Scedulas proferre vellent de rebus in hujusmodi Convocatione Reformandis, easdem sibi traderent in proximâ Sessione, deinde Dominus Prolocutor intimavit omnibus supranominatis, Convocationem hujusmodi esse continuatam usque in diem Mercurij proximum inter horas nonam & undecimam ante Meridiem in hoc loco; & monuit omnes ad interessendam, etc.   

Sessio Tertia.  
DIE Mercurij, Nono Viz. die Mensis Novembris 1586. horà nona ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, in Ecclesiâ Collegiatâ Westminster, praedictâ, in praesentiâ mei Edwardi Saie, & Thomae Barker, Notariorum, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Coldwell, etc.  
Isto die, post finitas preces comparûere omnes supra nominati Venerabiles Viri; ac deinde ortâ quaestione inter Venerabilem Virum Magistrum Johannem Dey Legum Doctorem, & quendam Magistrum Johannem Knewstubbs de eorum electione in Procuratorem unius partis Cleri Norwicen. Dominus Prolocutor ad veritatem in hâc parte inquirendam juramento oneravit quosdam Venerabiles Viros, Magistrum Georgium Gardiner, Decanum Norwicen. & Johannem Walker Sacrae Theologiae Professorem, de modo observato antehac in hujusmodi Electione, necnon quendam Thomam Nuce— Theologiae Baccalaureum, de ejus notic●â in hac. re. Qui sic jurati, dixerunt & deposuerunt prout sequitur in infra-Scriptis. Necnon Magister Dey exhibuit Testimonium Magistri Johannis Maplezden Archidiaconi Suffolk, & Roberti Pecke Notarij Publici ejus Registrarij, ac depositionem Magistri Christopheri Best eorum respective manibus Subscript. & infrascript. content. Unde Dominus Prolocutor assignavit Magistro Knewstubbs ad proponendum causas quare Mr. D. Dey non admitteretur in Coetum hujus Domûs in proxim. Ac deinde Dominus Prolocutor continuavit hujusmodi Convocationem quoad hanc Domum usque in diem Veneris prox. horâ nonâ ante Meridiem in hoc loco, & monuit omnes ad interessendum, etc.  
I Testify, That Mr. Fowle was Clerk of the Convocation for the Clergy of the Archdeaconry of Sudbury.  
That, the next Parliament D. Norton was chosen for the Clergy of the Archdeaconry of Suffolk at Bliburrough in the same Archdeaconry, I being present at the choice.  
That now at this Session, One for Sudbury-Archdeaconry was to be chosen, and that they were to be chosen of the Archdeaconries alternis vicibus, and so ever reported for the Custom.  
J. Maplezden Archi. Suffolk.  
I Testify, That in the xiijth Year of the Queen's majesty's Reign, there came Warrant from the Bishop of Norwich to the Archdeacon of Suffolk and his Official, for the Summoning of the Clergy of the same Archdeaconry, to appear at Hopal within the same Archdeaconry, to make choice of a Clerk for the Convocation, at which place many of the said Archdeaconry did appear before Mr. D. Master's Chancellor to the Bishop, and made choice of Mr. Doctor Walker: And at that time none of the Clergy of the other Archdeaconry did appear, neither did any of them contribute towards his Charges.  
At the next Parliament, which was (as I take it) in the xviijth. Year of her majesty's Reign, there was chosen within the Archdeaconry of Sudbury, Mr. Fowl. And at that time, the Clergy of the Archdeaconry of Suffolk neither had Summons nor bore any Charges. At the next choice, Mr. Doctor Norton was chosen for the Archdeaconry of Suffolk at Blithburgh, and none of the Archdeaconry of Sudbury did either appear or pay: And further during my knowledge, and also as I have heard it Reported of others before my time, the Archdeaconries of Suffolk and Sudbury have chosen alternis vicibus, and likewise paid.  
Robert Pecke Reg. of the Archdeaconry of Suffolk.  
Christopher Best, Mr. of Arts, Vicar of Wichambrooke, in the Archdeaconry of Sudbury, doth Testify, that it is accounted to be the Custom in the Archdeaconries of Suffolk and Sudbury, that they shall choose the Clerk of the Convocation within those Archdeaconries, alterni vicibus; and at the Convocation last holden, the Proctor for the Clergy was chosen within the Archdeaconry of Suffolk; the Clergy of the Archdeaconry of Sudbury not being Summoned thereunto, and paying nothing towards his charges: And that now at this time, the Proctor for the Clergy aforesaid, aught according to their Custom, to be chosen by the Clergy of the Archdeaconry of Sudbury only, without Summoning the Archdeaconry of Suffolk; Yet notwithstanding, he saith that at this present time of Election, there were chosen by some, Mr. D. Dey, and by others, Mr: Knewstubbes; the greater number by Pole of those that might lawfully choose, to this Deponents judgement, appearing to be on Mr. D. Dey's side. Yet he saith, when they were numbered by Scrutiny, the greater number was on Mr. Knewstubb's side by Eight, viz. of Mr. Dr. Dey's side, there were Cxxxij. Mr. D. Jones, and Mr. Nuce being reckoned therein; and on Mr. Knewstubb's side, Lxxxx. whereof he believeth there were xx Parsons, Vicars, or Curates and more, of the Archdeaconry of Suffolk, with other Curutes, which according to their Customs, have no Voices in this Election as he hath heard.  
Per me Christoferum Best.  
Mr. Georgius Gardiner Decanus Norwicen. juramento oneratus per Dominum Prolocutorem, & per eum interrogatus quid novit quoad Electionem Procuratoris Cleri pro Archidiaconatu Suffolk, & Archidiaconatu Sudbury, saith, that by the space of xxv. Years he hath known the Order of the same Election, and saith that the Custom is, and by all that time hath been, that the same Archdeaconries have chosen a Clerk alternis vivibus. Johannes Walker sacrae Theologiae Professor juratus dicit, That he hath known the Custom to be as Mr. Doctor Gardiner hath deposed, ab Anno quinto Illustrissimae Reginae Elisabetha, etc. and that he this Deponent was so chosen of the same Archdeaconries.  
Thomas Nuce jurat●…s dicit, That he hath heard, that the Custom is as Mr. D. Gardiner, and Mr. D. Walker have deposed. And touching the Order of this Election, he saith, That upon the nameing of Mr. D. Dey by some, and Mr. Knewstubbs by others, the House was divided, no number taken by Poll; and in this Deponent's judgement, the greater number seemed to be on Mr. D. Dey's side. Wherefore the difference being but small, they fell to a Scrutiny therein, whereby it appeared, That Mr. Knewstubbs had the greater number by viij. viz. Mr. D. Dey had Cxxxij. reckoning Mr. D. Jones, and Mr. Nuce, who were Scrutators; and Mr. Knewstubbs had Lxxxx. Whereupon he saith afterwards they reckoned the Curates on both sides, who they took to have no Voices there, and they found one Curate on Mr. D. Dey's side, and xiij. Curates on Mr. Knewstubb's side. And also, because he had heard, that by the Custom aforesaid, none of the Archdeaconry of Suffolk had any Voices there; they also reckoned how many of that Archdeaconry were there, and they found xxvij. on Mr. Knewstubbs side, and knoweth not whether there was any on D. Dey's side or not.   

Sessio Quarta.  
DIE Veneris xi. die Mensis Novembris 1586. borâ & loco alias assignatis in Inseriori Domo Convocationis, etc. in praesentia mei Edw. Say & Thomae Barker Notariorum, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Gilpin, etc.  
Isto die, post finitas preces comparuêre omnes supra nominati; & tunc Magister D. Dey petiit se admitti & recipi in Procuratorem Cleri Archidiaconatûs Sudbury, juxta Electionem de Personâ suâ aliàs factam. Et deinde quia Mr. Knewstubbs, aliàs ad ipsius petitionem monitus ad interessendum istis die & loco, propositurus quae ex parte suâ habet proponend. comparens nullas proposuit causas rationabiles pro parte suâ, quare sit admittendus in Procuratorem ejusdem Cleri; & quia constat ex depositionibus nonnullorum fide-dignorum testium, Magistrum Knewstubbs fuisse Superiorem Magistro D. Dey in Electione praedictâ, tantum per Curatos, & alios qui secundum consuetudinem Electionis infra Archidiaconatus Suffolk & Sudbury in hâc Electione nullam habuere vocem; & eye demptis, compertum est Magistrum Dey fuisse superiorem; igitur Dominus Prolocutor decrevit dictum Magistrum Doctorem Dey recipiendum fore in Procuratorem ejusdem Cleri & in Coetum hujus Domûs, eûmque sic recepit. Deinde Dominus Prolocutor certior factus de voluntate Reverendissimi Patris (per Magistrum Thomam Redman ejus Registrarium) quood controversiam super Electione Clericorum Diaeceseos Norwicen. viz. quòd idem Reverendissimus Pater tulit Sententiam suam pro parte Magistri West contra Magistrum Thorowgood, intimavit haec omnibus praesentibus & monuit eos ad recipiendum eundem Magistrum West in Coetum hujus Domûs. Quibus sic gestis, dictus Dominus Prolocutor continuavit hujusmodi Convocationem quoad hanc Domum, usque in diem Mercurij proximum in hoc loco, & monuit omnes ad interessendum, etc.   

Sessio Quinta.  
DIE Mercurij, xvjo. die Mensis Novembris 1586. hora & loco praeassignatis in Inferiori Domo Convocationis, etc. in praesentiâ mei Edwardi Say Notarij, etc. assumpti, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Goodman, etc.  
Isto die comparuère omnes suprà nominati; & post preces finitas Dominus Prolocutor continuavit hujusmodi Convocationem quoad hanc Domum usque in diem Veneris proximum hora Nona ante meridiem in hoc loco, & monuit omnes ad interessendum, etc.   

Sessio Sexta.  
DIE Veneris xviijo. die Mensis Novembris 1586. hora & loco praeassignatis in Inferiori Domo Convocationis, etc. & prasente me Edwardo Say Notario Publico, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Pearne, etc.  
Isto die comparûere omnes supra nominati; & post finitas preces Dominus Prolocutor accersitus ad Reverendissimum Patrem illuc accessit, Decano Elien. & Decano Oxon. eum comitantibus. Et post aliqualem tractatum cum Reverendissimo & caeteris Praelatis, accersiti fuerunt omnes ad eosdem Reverendissimum & Praelatos, & ibi habita fuit ijs omnibus Admonitio per dictum Reverendissimum, ut Leges hactenùs editae diligenter secundum Canones Stabilitae observentur. Et ut fiat reformatio in Ecclesiis eorum, etc. Ac deinde revertentes omnes in Inferiorem Domum, habità exhortatione per Dominum Prolocutorem, ut reminiscantur Admonitionem Reverendissimi Patris ijs factam, dictus Dominus Prolocutor continuavit hujusmodi Convocationem quoad hanc Domum, usque in diem Mercurij proximum, horâ Nonâ ante Meridiem in hoc loco; & monuit omnes ad interessendum.   

Sessio Septima.  
DIE Mercurij xxiijo. die Menfis Novembris 1586. horâ & loco praeassignatis, in Inferiori Domo Convocationis, praesente me Edwardo Say Notario, etc.  
D. Bulleyn, D. James.  
Isto die comparuere omnes supra nominati; & precibus finitis Magister D. Bulleyn Decanus Lichen. nomine Domini Prolocutoris intimavit omnibus praesentibus hujusmodi Convocationem esse continuatam, usque in diem Veneris proximum, hora nona ante Meridiem in hoc loco, & monuit omnes ad interessendum, etc.   

Sessio Octava.  
DIE Veneris xxvo. die Mensis Novembris, 1586. horâ & loco praeassignatis, praesente Thoma Barker Notario Publico, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Kennal, etc.  
Isto die comparuere omnes supranominati, & precibus finitis accersitus fuit Dominus Prolocutor ad Reverendissimum in superiori Domo existentem, caeterosque Dominos Episcopos ibidem; & comitati sunt cum Magistri D. Goodman, & D. James. Unde paulo post reverten. Dominus Prolocutor intimavit omnibus praesentibus, hanc Convocationem esse continuatam & prorogatam usque in diem Luna proxmum inter horas Octavam & undecimam ante Meridiem in hoc loco, & monuit omnes ad interessendum, etc.   

Sessio Nona.  
DIE Lunae xxviij. die Mensis Novembris 1586. hora & loco praeassignatis, in Inferiori Domo Convocationis, etc. praesente Thoma Barker Notario Publico, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Perne, etc.  
Isto die, comparûere omnes supra nominati; & post preces finitas Dominus Prolocutor continuavit hujusmodi Convocationem quoad hanc Domum, in diem Veneris proximum inter horas octavam & undecimam ante Meridiem in hoc loco, & monuit omnes ad interessendum, etc.   

Sessio Decima.  
DIE Veneris 2ᵒ. die Mensis Decembris 1586. hora & loco praeassignatis, in Inferiori Domo Convocationis, etc. in praesentiâ mei Edwardi Say Notarij Publici, etc.  
D. Goodman, D. Bevans, etc.  
Isto die compau ûere omnes supranominati, & finitis precibus Mr. Gabriel Goodman Decanus Westminster, nomine Domini Prolocutoris continuavit hujusmodi Convocationem quoad hanc Domum, Usque inter horas primam & secundam post meridium hujus diei, & prorogavit locum hujusmodi, Usque ad & in Sacello olim nuncupato Beatae Mariae in Orientali parte Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London, notariè situato, etc. & monuit omnes ad interessendum, etc.   

Sessio Undecima.  
EOdem die, inter horas, & loco praeassignat. in Inferiori Convocationis, praesente me Edwardo Say Notario Publico, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Culpeper.  
Quibus horis & loco comparûere omnes supranominati; & precibus finitis, eum comitantibus Magistris Perne, Mullins & Gilpin, adiit Reverendissimum Patrem & caeteros Praelatos; & paulo post revertens intimavit omnibus praesentibus, consultum esse per eosdem Reverendissimum Patrem & Praelatos, de Reformatione fiendâ quoad Scedulas eidem Reverendissimo ac Domino Prolocutori exhibitas, etc. Et quòd conventum est inter dictos Reverendissimum & Praelatos de Exercitijs fiendis per Ministros infra Provinciam Cantuariensem; Et quòd ijdem Reverendi Patres, cùm redierint in Diaeceses suas, Ordinem eorundem significabunt omnibus quibus interest in hâc parte. Quibus sic expeditis, dictus Dominus Prolocutor continuavit hujusmodi Convocationem, quoad hanc Domum, Usque in diem Veneris xvij. viz. diem mensis Februarij proximi inter horas nonam & undecimam ante meridiem, etc. in hoc loco, & monuit omnes ad tunc interessendum.  
DIE Veneris, viz. 17ᵒ. Februarij 1586. secundum, etc. in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London, in praesentia Edwardi Say Notarij Publici assumpti, etc. ac inter horas nonam & undecimam ante meridiem.  
Continuata est hujusmodi Convocatio ab undecimo Decembris 1586. in statu quo tunc fuit, Usque in hos diem horam & locum. Quibus die, hora & loco, Venerabilis Vir Magister Wilhelmus Awbrey Legum Doctor, Commissarius Reverendissimi Patris Domini Johannis Cant. Archiepiscopi, etc. authoritate sufficienti ad hoc fulcitus, Continuavit hujusmodi Convocationem, in statu quo ●st, Usque in diem Veneris, viz. 24. diem praesentis mensis Februarij, inter horas nonam & undecimam ante meridiem ejusdem diei, & prorogavit locum usque ad & in Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Petri Westminster, etc. praesentibus tunc ibidem venerabilibus Viris Magistris Mullyns & Walker ex Coetu Inferioris Domûs, nec non alijs testibus, etc.   

Sessio prima.  
DIE Veneris, viz. 24ᵒ. Februarij. 1586. secundum, etc. in quodam Sacello ex parte australi infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Petri Westminster, inter horas nonam & undecimam ante meridiem in presentia Edwardi Say & Thomae Barker Notariorum Publicorum Inferioris Domûs Actorum Scribarum assumptorum, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Episcopus Dovor, etc.  
Isto die, omnes supranominati in locum praedictum convenerunt; & postquam Dominus Prolocutor una cum supranominatis preces divinas peregerat mox idem Dominus Prolocutor accersitus fuit ad Reverendissimum Patrem caeterosque ejus Confratres Praelatos in Superiori Domo infra dictam Ecclesiam Collegiatam Westminster. existen. ad quos se contulit, eûmque comitati sunt Decanus Cant. & Decanus Elien. Ac statim reliqui omnes Inferioris Domûs similiter accersiti erant, atque eosdem Reverendos Patres adierunt; ibique Reverendissimus Pater Dominus Cant. Archiepiscopus ob paucitatem Comparentium, etc. intimavit Domino Prolocutori absentes ab eorum Contumacias, etc. suspendendos fore debere, etc. Ac deinde declaravit nonnullas causas de Subsidio Domina nostra Reginae praestand, etc. Necnon Reverendus Pater Dominus London. Episcopus querelatus est de negligentia Magistri Georgij Gardiner Decani Norwicen. ac aliorum, in non concionando in publico Suggestu infra Coemiterium Paulinum situat '. juxta monitionem eye in eâ parte factam, etc. Ac postea Dominus Prolocutor ac cateri Inferioris Domûs supranominati redierunt in Domum Inferiorem, ibique elegit quosdam in Assessores sibi hic in margine hujus Actûs nominat '. factaque publicâ praeconizatione omnium citatorum, etc. ac monitorum, etc. & non comparentium Dominus pronuntiavit eos, & eorum quemlibet Contumaces, exceptis licentiatis discedendi, aut alias isto die infra Civitatem London, aut Suburbia ejusdem concionantibus, reservatâ eorum poenâ in diem Mercurij proxmum, etc. inter horas pri. mam & tertiam post Meridiem. Et tunc, interrogatis omnibus per Dominum Prolocutorem utrum consentirent ut ipse Dominus Prolocutor eligeret ex Assessoribus sibi Sex quorum duo essent Decani, duo Archidiaconi & reliqui duo ex hac domo prout sibi videretur, qui de libello concipiendo 
Electi in Assessores isto die sunt, 

Rev. Pater Dec. Cant  
Dec. St. Pauli Lond.  
Dec. Westminster.  
Dec. Roffen.  
Dec. Elien.  
Dec. Oxon.  
Archid. London.  
Archid. Lincoln.  
Archid. Sudbury.  
Archid. Derby.  
D. Walker.  
D. Wood  
D. Brancrafte.  
Magister Wylson.  
Magister Winter.    pro Subsidio Dominae nostrae Reginae praestando tractarent, Uno Ore consensum & assensum suos praebuerunt, nemine contradicente. Ac deinde Dominus Prolocutor intimavit omnibus praesentibus hanc Convocationem esse continuatam usque in diem Mercurij proximum, etc. inter horas primam & tertiam post Meridiem in hunc locum, & monuit omnes jam praesentes ad tunc ibidem interessendum, etc.   

Sessio Secunda.  
DIE Mercurij, viz. primo die Mensis Martij, Anno Domini 1586. secundum, etc. in quodam Sacello infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Petri Westminster, ex parte australi inter horas primam & tertiam post Meridiem, praesentibus Edwardo Say & Thoma Barker, Notarijs Publicis assumptis, etc.  
Dom. Prolocutor, Decanus Cant.  
Die praedicto, comparuerunt omnes supranominati: Et post preces finitas Dominus Prolocutor accersitus fuit ad Reverendos Patres Dominos Praelatos in superiori Domo, nempe Reverendum Patrem Dominum Winton Episcopum, Dominum Lincoln. Episcopum, & Dominum Hereforden. Episcopum; eûmque comitati sunt Decanus Cant. & Mr. Johannes Wynter. Unde mox reverten ', quidam Gabriel Holte, Verbi Dei praedicator paupertate coactus petiit benevolentiam hujus Coetus, ac protulit & ostendit Domino Prolocutori literas quasdam Testimoniales in eundem effectum. Unde statim facta fuit Collectio xxvi s. iid. quam Summam Dominus Prolocutor tunc & ibidem tradidit eidem Holte. Ac deinde Dominus Prolocutor intimavit omnibus praesentibus, hujusmodi Convocationem esse continuatam Usque in diem Veneris inter horas octavam & undecimam ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, & reservavit poenas Contumacium usque in eundem diem; Et moniti sunt omnes, etc. ad tunc interessendum in hoc loco, Sess. etc. Isto die assidebant Domino Prolocutori, Dominus Decanus Cant. D. Wood, D. Walker, D. Barefoote, D. Coldwell, Mr. Mullyns, Mr. Wynter.   

Sessio Tertia.  
DIE Veneris, viz. tertio Martij, 1586. secundum, etc. in loco Solito praeassignato, viz. in quodam Sacello infra Ecclesium Collegiatam beati Petri Westminster, inter horas octavam & undecimam ante Meridiem in praesentia mei Thomae Barker Notarij Publici assumpti, etc.  
Dom. Prolocutor, Decanus Cant. etc.  
Die praedicto, convenerunt omnes supranominati, ibique post Divini numinis implorationem Dominus Prolocutor accersitus fuit ad Reverendissimum Dominum Cant. Archiepiscopum, Caeterosque Reverendos Patres Dominos Praelatos, in Superiori Domo: Eumque comitati sunt Decanus Cant. & Deoanus Elien. Unde mox revertens Dominus Prolocutor in poenam Contumaciarum citatorum, etc. & non comparentium, etc. decrevit procedendum fore, ac postea narravit praesenti Coetui hujus Domus, se unà cum Assessoribus suis egisse cum praedicto Reverendissimo Patre ac Praelatis de Subsidio Dominae nostrae Reginae praebendo; Ac concordatum esse de eodem juxta ratam & formam, alias in ultimo Subsidio usitatam. Quod factum omnes praesentes tam nominibus eorum proprijs, quam nominibus reliquorum hujus Domûs quorum Procuratores existunt, ratificarunt & approbarunt. Et ulteriùs Dominus Prolocutor significavit supranominatis hujus Domûs praesentibus voluntatem Reverendissimi ac aliorum Dominorum Praelatorum de benevolâ contributione, ultra Subsidium praedictum Dominae nostrae Reginae sine longâ morâ concedend. ac partim solvend. ob urgentes causas, & maximè propter bellum imminens, & graves minas hostium Evangelii, viz. de Contributione trium solidorum de quâlibet librâ annualis reditûs cujuslibet Beneficii infra Provinciam Cant. juxta ratam & taxam eorundem in libris primitiarum Dominae nostrae Reginae; exceptis Vicarijs quorum Beneficia non attingunt Summam, xl. juxta ratam praedictam, nec non Canonicis minoribus Ecclesiarum Cathedralium & Collegiatarum, caeterisque Ministris Inferioribus, etc. Et quod de hujusmodi libello concipiendo maturior deliberatio cum Jurisperitorum consilio habeatur. Quibus omnibus sic declaratis, omnes ut suprà praesentes, sine morâ aut haesitatione quâcunque consensum & assensum suos praebuerunt. Et tunc ego Notarius antedictus, ex mandato Domini Prolocutoris, monui omnes isto die comparentes ad exhibendum & introducendum Procuratoria, si quae habeant, ad comparend. pro absentibus citatis ad comparendum in hâc Sacra Synodo in proximâ Sessione, etc. deinde Dominus Prolocutor ac caeteri omnes hujus Domus praenominati accersiti fuerunt ad dictum Reverendissimum, ac caetoros Praelatos Superioris Domus; ibique significarunt, omnia & singula per eos gesta, etc. Ac Dominus Prolocutor petiit, quòd si posthàc aliqua alia impositio five taxatio sit in Clerum imponenda, durante tempore assignando pro Solutione Summarum jam concessarum; ut eadem taxatio fiat per ipsum Clerum inter se, & quod de eâdem liberentur quoad fieri poterit: Cui petitioni annuerunt. Et tunc publicè ibidem perlectus fuit per Magistrum Thomam Redman Notarium Publicum Libellus pro Subsidio concesso conceptus, & in aliquibus sui partibus emendatus, correctus, & perfectus redditus. Ac mox in Domum Inferiorem reversi sunt Dominus Prolocutor Caeterique ejusdem Domûs, ibique Dominus pronuntiavit absentes, etc. Contumaces, reservatâ eorum poenâ in prox. etc. Et praetereà, intimavit praesentibus hanc Convocationem esse continuatam in crastinum inter horas tertiam & quintam post Meridiem, & in hunc locum, ac monuit eos ad interessendum.   

Sessio Quarta.  
DIE Sabbathi, viz. quarto Martii, 1586. secundum, etc. inter horas tertiam & quintam post Meridiem in Sacello ex parte australi Ecclesiae Collegiatae Westminster, praesente Magistro Edwardo Say Notario Publico, etc.  
Dominus Prolocutor, D. Pearne, etc.  
Die praedicto camparuêre omnes supranominati; & Dominus Prolocutor adivit Dominos Praelatos in Superiori Domo, eúmque comitati sunt Decanus Elien & Archidiaconus Lincoln. Unde, post aliquam ibidem moram, tandem redierunt, ibique ex relatione Domini Prolocutoris publice perlectus fuit Libellus pro-benevolâ contributione Regiae Majestati concessâ conceptus, & aliqualiter emendatus ac perfectus redditus, etc. deinde per totum Coetum praesentem approbatus. Et tunc Dominus Prolocutor reservavit poenas Contumacium, ut priùs, in proximam Sessionem, etc. & intimavit praesentibus hujusmodi Convocationem esse continuatam, Usque in diem Lunae proximum, etc. inter horas primam & quintam, & in hunc locum; & monuit praesentes ad tunc & ibidem comparendum, etc.   

Sessio Quinta.  
DIE Lunae, viz. sexto Martii, 1586. secundum, etc. inter horas primam & quintam post Meridiem ejusdem diei, in Sacello ex parte Australi Ecclesiae Collegiatae Westminster, praesente Johanne Mabill, Notario Publico, etc.  
Quibus die & loco comparuerunt Magistri D. powel, Say, Gilpin, West & Maxfield, hujus Domûs; quibus intimatum fuit hujusmodi Convocationem de mandato & voluntate Reverendissimi Patris Domini Cant. Archiepiscopi esse continuandam in diem Mercurii proximum, etc. inter horas octovam & undecimam ante Meridiem ejusdem diei; prout revera continuata fuit: unde postea discesserunt, etc.   

Sessio Sexta.  
DIE Mercurij, viz. 8ᵒ. die Mensis Martii, Anno Dom. 1586. secundum, etc. inter horas octavam & undecimam ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, in loco consueto praeassignato infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Westminster, praesente me Thoma Barker Notario Publico.  
Quibus die, horâ, & loco, comparuerunt Magistri Marston, Say, Bynam, Dylworth, Studley, Barret, & Maxfield, ex Coetu Inferioris Domûs; & eo quòd satis bene nôrunt hujusmodi Convocationem esse continuatam, in diem Veneris proximum, etc. viz. decimum diem praesentis Mensis Martii, post aliqualem moram discesserunt.   

Sessio Septima.  
DIE Veneris, viz. decimo die Martii, 1586. secundum, etc. inter horas octavam & undecimam ante Meridiem, in quodam Sacello ex parte australi Ecclesiae Collegiatae Westminster, praesente Magistro Edwardo Say, Notario Publico, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Reneger, etc.  
Quibus die & loco, comparuerunt omnes supranominati; & post preces finitas, Dominus Prolocutor accersitus fuit ad Reverendissimum Dominum Cant. Archiepiscopum, caeterósque Dominos Praelatos in Superiori Domo, unà cum toto praesenti Coetu; eosque adierunt, atque ibidem aliquandiu morati sunt. Ac tandem omnes supranominati in Domum hanc redierunt; excepto Domino Prolocutore, qui cum eisdem Reverendis Patribus post discessum reliquorum aliquantisper permansit. Ac deinde in hanc Domum revertens, cum consensu omnium ut praefertur praesentium, elegit Venerabiles Viros Dominum Decanum Elien. Archidiaconum Lincoln, & Archidiaconum Taunton, ad tractandum & communicandum una secum cum Reverendis Patribus, de Constitutionibus & Decretis, licentiâ & vigore Literarum Patentium per Dominam nostram Reginam in ea parte concessarum stabiliendis, pro collectione benevolae Contributionis Dictae Dominae nostrae Reginae concessae, etc. Et tunc Dominus Prolocutor intimavit omnibus praesentibus hanc Convocationem esse continuatam & prorogatam in crastinum, inter horas primam & quartam post Meridiem ejusdem diei, in hunc locum; & monuit omnes jam praesentes ad tunc ibidem interessendum. Ac insuper reservavit poenas Contumacium usque in eosdem diem & locum.   

Sessio Octava.  
DIE Sabbathi, viz. undecimo die Martii, 1586. secundum, etc. in Ecclesiâ Collegiatâ beati Petri Westminster, inter horas nonam & undecimam ante meridiem ejusdem diei, prasente Johanne Mabill, Notario Publico, etc. Quibus die horâ & loco, comparuerunt Magistri Stallard, West, Owens, & Proctor; quibus significatum fuit, hjusmodi Convocationem esse continuandam in diem Mercurii proximum, viz. 15. diem praesentis mensis Martii inter horas nonam & undecimam ante meridiem ejusdem diei, de mandato Reverendissimi Patris Domini Cant. Archiepiscopi, prout revera sic continuata fuit per Magistrum Lucam Gilpin sufficeinter & legitimè in eà parte Deputatum. Unde mox supranominati ex Coetu Inferioris Domûs discesserunt.   

Sessio Nona.  
DIE Mercurij, 15ᵒ. Martij 1586. secundum, etc. in Ecclesiâ Collegiatâ beati Petri, Westm. inter horas nonam & undecimam ante meridiem ejusdem diei in praesentiâ mei Thomae Barker, Notarij Publici, etc.  
Quibus die horâ & loco, comparuerunt Magistri Bynam, Meredith, Morgan, D. Dey, D. Freake, West, Webb, Bancks, Studley, Proctor, Maxfeild, Rowland, Owens & Jones; quibus intimatum fuit hujusmodi Convocationem fore de mandato Reverendissimi Patris Domini Cant. Archiepiscopi continuandam, usque inter horas primam & quintam post meridiem hujus diei, ac in locum solitum; prout reverà de certâ Scientiâ mei Notarij antedicti posteà sic continuata fuit. Unde mox omnes supranominati discesserunt.   

Sessio Decima.  
EOdem die, inter horas praeassignatas; in quodam Sacello ex parte Australi infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam beati Petri, Westm. in praesentiâ mei Thomae Barker, Notarij Publici, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, Decanus Cant.  
Quibus die horâ & loco, comparuerunt omnes supranominati; & post preces ibidem peractas Dominus Prolocutor accersitus fuit ad Reverendissimum Patrem Dominum Cant. Archiepiscopum, Caeterósque Dominos Praelatos, in Superiori Domo; eúmque comitati sunt Decanus Cant. & Decanus Elien. Ac post aliquam ibidem moram revertebant, & tunc Dominus Prolocutor tradidit mihi Notario antedicto quasdam Constitutiones sive Ordinationes in Scriptis conceptas pro fideli & justa collectione ac Solutione benevolae Contributionis alias Regiae Majestati in hac Sacra Synodo per Clerum Cant. Provinciae concessae, quas, de ejus mandato, statim tunc ibidem altâ & intelligibili voce perlegi. Quo facto, Dominus Prolocutor interrogavit omnes supranominatos, an Decreta, & Ordinationes hujusmodi sibi placerent; eósque rogavit quatenùs eorum consensum & assensum eisdem, si eis ita videretur, praeberent; & tunc omnes easdem Ordinationes in omnibus approbarunt, atque consensum & assensum suos tam nominibus eorum proprijs, quam nominibus omnium aliorum quorum Procuratores in hac parte respectiuè existunt, praebuerunt. Tamen Magister Gilpin petijt, ut Apparitores Ordinarij infra Provinciam Cant. (quibus incumbit onus monendi omnes & singulos, huic benevolae contributioni obnoxios, juxta Ordinationes modo lectas) habeant aliqua Feoda pro eorum laboribus in eâ parte impendendis: Et super hoc orta est aliqua disceptatio inter eum & Dominum Prolocutorem. Ac deinde Dominus Prolocutor unà cum Decano Cant. Decano Elien. & Decano Westm. iterum adivit Reverendissimum Patrem Dominum Cant. Archiepiscopum, ac reliquos Reverendos Patres in Superiori Domo, ad certificandum eos de gestis hujusmodi. Unde brevi reverten. Dominus Prolocutor intimavit hujusmodi Convocationem esse continuatam in diem Veneris proximum, etc. in hunc locum, inter horas octavam & undecimum ante meridiem ejusdem diei; & moniti sunt omnes supranominati ad tunc ibidem interessendum, etc. Magistri Nowell, Walker, Humphrey, Byss, powel, & Say, ex Relatione Domini Prolocutoris, isto die sunt licentiati quoad eorum personalem comparitionem, etc.   

Sessio Undecima.  
DIE Veneris, viz. 17ᵒ. Martij 1586. Secundum, etc. in quodam Sacello ex parte australi Ecclesiae Collegiatae beati Petri, Westm. inter horas Octavam & Undecimam ante meridiem ejusdem diei, in praesentiâ mei Thomae Barker, Notarij Publici, etc.  
Quibus die hora & loco, comparuerunt Dominus Prolocutor nec non Magistri Marston, R●. Smyth, Dey, West, Bancks, Studley, Freake, Prat, Proctor, Jones, Webb, Bynam & Heywood: Quibus Dominus Prolocutor intimavit hujusmodi Convocationem esse continuatam usque in diem Mercurij proximum, viz. Vicesimum secundum diem praesentis Mensis Martij, inter horas octavam & undecimam ante meridiem ejusdem diei, in hun● locum; & monuit eos ad tunc ibidem interessendum, etc.   

Sessio Duodecima.  
DIE Mercurij, viz. 22ᵒ. Martij 1586. secundum, etc. in Ecclesiâ Collegiatâ Divi Petri, Westm. inter horas octavam & undecimam ante meridiem, significatum erat hujusmodi Convocationem esse continuatam in diem Veneris proximum, viz. vicesimum quartum Martij praedict. inter boras octavam & undecimam ante meridiem, & in bunc locum.   

Sessio Decima Tertia.  
DIE Veneris, viz. 24ᵒ. Martij 1586. secundum, etc. Continuata fuit hujusmodi Convocatio, per Venerabilem Virum Magistrum Willielmum Awbrey Legum Doctorem, Vicarium in Spiritualibus generalem Reverendissimi Patris Domini Johannis Providentia Divinâ Cant. Archiepiscopi, nec non Commissarium in câ parte spectaliter deputatum, usque ad & inter boras primam & quartam postmeridianas, ac in lecum praedictum. Ac insuper idem Venerabilis Vir jussit ut omnes hujus Domûs qui ad locum praedictum ante meridiem illius diei venirent, moneantur ad tempestiuè in locum solitum congregandum praedictum, statim à prandie, etc. prout ex Relatione Mri. Redman Deputati Registrarij Superioris Domûs, ego Thomas Barker, Notarius antedictus accepi, etc.   

Sessio Decima Quarta.  
EOdem die inter horas primam & quartam post meridiem in loco solito praeassignato, praesente me Thoma Barker, Notario, etc. comparuerunt personaliter omnes & finguli quorum nomina hic Subscribuntur, viz.  
D. Prolocutor, Dom. Pearne, etc.  
Et tunc precibus prius ritè ac debitè peractis, de mandato Domini Prolocutoris facta fuit publica preconizatio omnium citatorum ad comparendum in hac Domo juxta consuetudinem alias usitatam, & juxta tenores Mandatorum & Certificatoriorum alias respectiuè coram ipso Reverendissimo Patre Domino Cant. Archiepiscopo, etc. exhibitorum & introductorum. Eáque praeconizatione vix completâ, Dominus Prolocutor una cum integro Coetu hujus Domûs tunc praesente, accersiti fuerunt ad dictum Reverendissimum Patrem, aliosque Praelatos in Capellâ vulgaritèr dictâ Capella Regis Henrici Septimi existentes; ad quos finitâ praeconisatione citatorum (ut praesertur) immediatè sese contulerunt; ibique Reverendissimus Pater Dominus Cant. Archiepiscopus querelatus est de incuriâ, negligentiâ, & contumaciâ citatorum, etc. & non comparentium, etc. ac etiam de prauâ & immoderatâ luxuriâ & minùs vereundo gestu ac morum intemperie nonnullorum Clericorum Provinciae Cant. ad Fora & Loca publica concurrentium: Quare monuit Decanos, Archidiaconos & alios jam praesentes, ad quos correctio delinquentium hujusmodi pertinet, ad severè procedendum & puniendum obnoxios & culpabiles; & si incorrigibiles perseveraverint, ad implorandum auxilium & open Episcopi Diaecesani, vel ipsius Reverendissimi Patris, vel etiam ipsius Serenissimae Dominae nostrae Regira, ne actionum & morum pravitas istorum obnubilet & obscuret Doctrinam Evangelij, quod vervis profitentur; quo pluribus pernitiosum siet pessimum eorum Exemplum. Et tunc porrectâ sibi Scedalâ Suspensionis, unà cum Scedulâ continente nomina & cognomina contumaciter absentium ab hâc Sacra Synodo; idem Reverendissimus cos●… & singulos in bujusmodi Scedulâ nominatos à celebratione divinorum & omnimodo exercitio Ecclesiasticae Jurisdictionis Suspendit; prout in ipsa Scedulá penes Registrarium ipsius Reverendissimi Patris quoad Superiorem Domum remanente, continetur. Ac deinde Idem Reverendissimus Pater, vigore & authoritate brevis Regij sibi in eâ parte directi, ac penes Registrarium suum praedictum etiam remanentis, Convocationem hujusmodi dissolvit, etc.    

ANNO MDLXXXVIII.  

DIE Mercurij, viz. quinto die mensis Februarii, Anno Domini secundum Ecclesiae Anglicanae computationem 1588. & Regni Serenissimae Dominae nostrae Dominae Elizabeth, Dei gratia Angliae, Franciae & Hiberniae Reginae, fidei Defensoris, etc. Anno tricesimo primo. Venerabilis Vir Magister Johannes Styll, Archidiaconus Sudbury, ac Sacrae Theologiae Professor, intravit Suggestum in Cancello infra Ecclesiam Cathedralem Divi Pauli London, ibique apud Reverendissimum Dominum Cant. caeterosque Dominos Episcopos & Praelatos necnon nonnullos alios Provinciae Cant. doctam habuit ac edidit Concionem in Sermone Romano. Quâ debite finitâ per Semihoram ante undecimam horam ejusdem diei, complures ex Clero Provinciae Cant. praed. recesserunt in Inferiorem Domum Synodalis Convocationis Praelatorum & Cleri Cant. Provinciae, viz. in Sacellum olim nuncupatum beatae Mariae in Orientali parte Eccles●ae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London, notoriè Situat. Ibique coram Venerabilibus Viris, Decanis, Archidiaconis, Procuratoribus Capitulorum Ecclesiarum Cathedralium, & Cleri tunc ibidem ad hujusmodi Convocationem celebrandum juxta effectum brevis Regii & prae●eriti temporis morem infimul congregatis, Comparuit Venerabilis Vir Magister Alexander Nowell, Decanus Sancti Pauli London, cui praesenti ex antiquo more & consuetudine dictae Ecclesiae Cathedralis Sancti Pauli praedicti, Jus dirigendi Electionem futuri Prolocutoris competit: Et ex parte dicti Reverendissimi Patris Domini Johannis providentiâ divinâ Cant. Archiepiscopi significavit, ut ad Electionem futuri Prolocutoris procedere licitè & liberè valeant & possint, & commendavit eis praefatum Venerabilem Virum Magistrum Johannem Styll tunc ibidem praesentem. Unde omnes tunc praesentes uno ore eundem Magistrum Johannem Styll sine morâ in eorum & dicti Coetûs Inferioris Domûs Cleri, Prolocutorem & Referendarium concorditer unanimi consensu nominarunt & elegerunt, nemine contradicente. Et consequenter nominârunt & elegerunt Venerabilem Virum Magistrum Richardum Fletcher, Sacrae Theologie Professorem, Decaenum Petriburgen, praesentem, ad. praesentandum dictum Dominum Prolocutorem Reverendissimo Domino Johanni Cant. Archiepiscopo, & caeteris Praelatis in Superiori Domo, die Veneris proximo, inter horas primam & quartam post meridiem in Ecclesiâ Collegiatâ Westminster, cum debitâ & solitâ Solemnitate. Et moniti sunt omnes praesentes, quatenùs dictis die, horâ & loco conveniant ad effectum praedictum. Act●… & gesta fuerunt praemissa in praesentiâ Johannis Coston & mei Thomae Barker Notariorum Publicorum, in ejusdem Domûs Inferioris Actorum Scrib. assumptorum.  
Nomina quorundam praesentium Electioni praedictae qui mihi Thomae Barker Notario praedicto ex aspectu noti erant; reliquorum verò quam plurimorum etiam praesentium ob brevitatem temporis capere minimè potui.  
D. Pearne, D. Bell, etc.   

Sessio Secunda.  
DIE Veneris, viz. septimo Fabruarii, 1588. secundum, etc. inter horas secundam & quartam post meridiem ejusdem diei, in loco consueto infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Petri Westm. in praesentia Johannis Coston & Thomae Barker, Notariorum Publicorum assumptorum, etc.  
Quibus die, horâ & loco, postquam omnes supranominati Venerabiles Viri convenerunt, dictus Venerabilis Praesentator (ut praefertur) designatus, unà cum caeteris supranominatis ex dicto Inferiori Domo, accersiti fuerunt in Superiorem Domum; dictumque Venerabilem Virum Magistrum Johannem Styll, Prolocutorem electum conduxerunt ad Superiorem Domum in Orientali parte dictae Ecclesiae existentem; ibique praefatus Praesentator eundem Magistrum Styll dicto Reverendissimo Patri Domino Cant. Archiepiscopo, & caeteris Superioris Domûs Praelatis praesentavit; ubi habitâ & praemissâ docta Oratione à praefato Venerabili Viro Magistro Richardo Fletcher, Praesentatore antedicto, & eâ finitâ, alterâ docta Oratione seu Praefatione ipsius Venerabilis Viri Domini Prolocutoris, dictus Reverendissimus Pater cum caeteris Dominic Praelatis tunc praesentibus Electionem hujusmodi, & Dominum Prolocutorem electum concorditer Approbarnut & Ratificarunt. Hijs expeditis, Dominus Prolocutor cum Coetu suo praedicto, in dictam Inferiorem Domum revertebatur; ubi de ejus mandato facta fuit praeconizatio omnium interesse debentium, etc. quâ peractâ Dominus Prolocutor accersitus fuit ad Reverendissimum caeterosque Dominos Praelatos in Superiori Domo, eumque comitati sunt Venerabiles Viri Magistri D. Pearne, D. Goodman, D. Coldwell, D. Fletcher, D. Barefoot, & D. Chamberleyne; ubi aliquantisper commorantes, mox reversi sunt, Dictusque Dominus Prolocutor universo Coetui significavit voluntatem Reverendissimi caeterorumque Praelatorum Superioris Domûs esse, quòd si aliquis hujus Domûs noverit quenquam Ministrum, de quo justè conqueri possit, quòd contra Leges Eccles●asticas nunc temporis autoritate legitimâ receptas & approbatas sese gessit & gerit, aut si aliquis noverit quenquam qui Canones in ultimâ Convocatione approbatos & editos violaverit, eosdem in scriptis denuntiarent Reverendissimo Domino Cant. Archiepiscopo, caeterisque Dominis Praelatis praedictis pro debitâ correctione & reformatione in ea parte faciend. Et ulterius Dominus Prolocutor monuit omnes supranominatos praesentes, ut decenter incedant habitu Clericali ad evitandum Calumniam & Scandalum hominum cerebrosorum horum temporum. Ac deinde Dominus Prolocutor intimavit omnibus supranominatis Convocationem hujusmodi esse continuatam. Usque in diem Mercurij proximum inter horas nonam & undecimam ante meridiem, & in Ecclesiam Collegiatam praedictam, & monuit omnes jam praesentes ad tunc ibidem interessendum, etc.   

Sessio Tertia.  
DIE Mercurij, viz. duodecimo die Februarii, Anno Domini 1588. secundum, etc. in quodam Sacello ex parte Septentrionali Ecclesiae Collegiatae Divi Petri Westminster, inter horas nonam & undecimam ante meridiem ejusdem diei in praesentiâ Johannis Coston & Thomae Barker, Notariorum Publicorum, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Pearne, etc.  
Quibus die, hora & loco, comparuerunt omnes supranominati Venerabiles Viri; & post preces peractas Dominus Prolocutor elegit sibi in Assessores Venerabiles Viros, Decanum Elien. Decanum Roffen. Decanum Sarum. Decanum Lichen. Decanum Petriburgen. D. Bell, D. Barefoot, D. Wythers; quam Electionem omnes supranominati approbârunt & ratificarunt. Ac mox accersitus suit Dominus Prolocutor ad Reverendissimum Dominum Cant. Archiepiscopum, caeterósque Dominos Praelatos, in Superiori Domo; quò sine mora se contulit, eúmque comitati sunt Domini Assessores praenominati. Unde paulo post revertentes in locum praedictum, Dominus Prolocutor significavit universo Coetui, consensum & concordatum fuisse & esse inter Dominos Praelatos Superioris Domûs, quòd Reverendi Patres Domini Winton Episcopus, Episcopus Roffen & Episcopus Hereford, tractarent, statuerent, & deliberarent de subsidio Dominae nostrae Reginae erogando; & in eundem finem Dominus Prolocutor nominavit & elegit Venerabiles Viros, Decanum Elien. Decanum Westm. Decanum Sarum, Decanum Divi Pauli London. Decanum Roffen. Decanum Cicestren, Decanum Petriburgen, D. Kennal, D. Bell. D. Reneger, D. Wythers, D. Capcott, Magistrum Mullyns, Magistrum Redman, D. Barefoot, Magistrum Bungey, ut similiter vice ac nominibus totius hujus Coetûs communicarent & tractarent de subsidio hujusmodi, nec non consensum & assensum omnium supranominatorum hujus Coetûs in Electionem suam hujusmodi petiit, & sine morâ obtinuit. Unde monuit omnes praesentes ne revelarent gesta hujusmodi isto die, donec manifestè notum foret, quid Laici in eorum Domo Parliamenti de Subsidio per eos praestando prope diem statuerent.  
Quibus sic gestis, Dominus Prolocutor intimavit hujusmodi Convocationem esse continuatam, usque istum diem ad septimanam inter horas nonam & undecimam ante Meridiem in hoc loco, & monuit omnes jam praesentes ad tunc ibidem interessendum, etc.  
Isto die porrecta fuit Domino Prolocutori Scedula Reformand. per Magistrum Coton.   

Sessio Quarta.  
DIE Mercurij, viz. ixo. Februarii, 1588. secundum, etc. in quodam Sacello ex parte septentrionali Ecclesiae Collegiatae Divi Petri Westminster, in praesentiâ Johannis Coston, & mei Thomae Barker, Notariorum Publicorum assumptorum, etc. inter horas praeassignatas, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Bridges, etc.  
Quibus die, hora & loco, inter horas praeassignatas comparuerunt omnes supranominati; & post divini numinis implorationem, Venerabiles Viri Magistri D. Pearne, D. Bridges, D. Coldwell, D. James, D. Goodman, D. Bulleyn, D. Barefoot, D. Wythers, & Archidiaconus Cant. ex rogatu Domini Prolocutoris, sibi assidebant. Ac deinde nuntiatum fuit Domino Prolocutori de voluntate Reverendissimi Patris Domini Cant. Archiepiscopi & coeterorum Dominorum Episcoporum in Superiori Domo, quòd ad se accederet cum Assessoribus suis praedictis. Quo mox sese cantuelerunt; ibique aliquantisper commorantes, in eorum reversu in hujusmodi Coetu, Dominus Prolocutor obnixè rogabat & petebat à universo Coetu, quatenùs intuitu bellorum per Adversaries & hostes hujus Regni intentatorum, ac maturè & providè per Dominam nostram Reginam ejusque Senatum propulsorum & propellend. & ob alias justas & legitimas causas, darent & concederent eidem Dominae nostrae Reginae, ultra Subsidium solitum, Semi-Subsidium solvendum similibus diebus & terminis alias assignatis pro solutione benevolae Contributionis dictae Dominae nostrae Reginae nuper concessae successive & immediatè post lapsum eorundem terminorum alias (ut prae●ertur) ossignatorum in uno & eodem libro sive Instrumento aut in diversis concipiend. Cujus petitioni nonnulli hujus Domûs annuebant, ac alii nonnulli adversabantur; ita quòd difficile erat judicare utra pars major esset. Unde vocatis nominatim omnibus praesentibus, apparuit numerum Consentientium huic Semi-Subsidio aliquantulam minorem esse quàm Dissentientium. Et quoniam lapsus temporis non pateretur in praesenti ulteriorem tractatum de hac re, Dominus Prolecutor monuit omnes praesentes, ne publicè revelarent traclata & gesta isto die: Et ulterius intimavit eis hujusmodi Convocationem esse continuatam, usque in Diem Veneris proximum in hoc loco, inter horas nonam & undecimam ante Meridem; & monuit eos ad tunc ibidem interessendum, etc.   

Sessio Quinta.  
DIE Veneris, viz. 21ᵒ Februarii, 1588. secundum, etc. in quodam Sacello ex parte Septentrionali Ecclesiae Collgiatae Divi Petri Westminster, inter horas nonam & undecimam ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, in praesentiâ mei Thomae Baker, Notarii Publici assumpti, &.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Coldwell etc.  
Quibus die, hora & loco, comparuerunt omnes supranominati; & post preces finitas, Dominus Prolocutor obnixè petiit & rogavit ab omnibus praesentibus, ob causas alias per eum ultimâ Sessione declaratas, quatenùs ipsi darent & concederent Dominae nostrae Reginae duplex Sabsidium juxta formam Subsidii ultimi sibi concessi, viz. Summam duodecim Solidorum ex qualibet libra annui Valoris cujuslibet Dignitatis sive Beneficii Ecclesiastici, juxta Valorem eorandem beneficiorum in libris primitiarum dictae Dominae nostrae Reginae expressum, solvend. infra spatium sex annorum post lapsum sive expirationem terminorum alias pro solatione Subsidii jamdudum concessi assignatorum: Cujus petitioni omnes supranominati consentierunt. Et mox Dominus Prolocutor accersitus suit ad Reverendissimum Dominum Cant. Archiepiscopum, caeterosque Dominos Praelatos in Superiori Domo; quò se contulit, comitantibus eum Decano Westminster, Decano Roffen, Decano Sarum. Decano Elien. Doctore Bell; Archidiacono Mullyns, Archidiacono Redman. Unde paulo pòst revertens, retulit universo Coetui hujus Domûs, se significasse eisdem Dominis Praelatis Consensum hujus Domûs in concessione duplicis Subsidii petiti, nec non eorum petitionem pro immunitate suâ obtinendâ ab omni exhibitione sive praestatione munitionum bellicarum. Et ulteriùs Dominus Prolocutor ad petitionem quorundam hujus Domûs elegit Magistrum D. Bolde, Magistrum Wilhelmum Coton, & Magistrum Bayneham, ad tractandum & communicandum cum caeteris aliis electis de libro concipiendo pro Subsidiis hujusmodi. Ac deinde Dominus Prolocutor intimavit omnibus praesentibus hujusmodi Convocationem esse continuatam, usque diem Mercurii proximum inter horas nonam & undecimam ante Meridiem in hoc loco, & monuit eas ad tunc ibjdem interessendum.   

Sessio Sexta.  
DIE Mercurii, viz. 26. Februarii, 1588. secundum, etc. in quodam Sacello ex parte septentrionali infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Petri Westminster, inter horas nonam & undecimam ante Meridiem ejusdem diei in praesentiâ mei Thomae Barker, Notarii Publici assumpti, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Pearne, etc.  
Quibus die, horâ & loco, comparuerunt omnes supranominati; & post preces celebratas, ex mandato Domini Prolocutoris ego Notarius antedictus publicè, ac altâ & intellibili voce, perlegi librum conceptum pro duobus Subsidiis Dominae nostra Reginae concessis; & post lecturam ejusdem omnes praesentes eundem librum, omnesque Sententias, clausulas, ac provisiones, tam veteres minime reformatas quam recentiores & novas, nuper ac noviter emendatas & additas, juxta petitiones & scedulas Domino Prolocutori porrectas unanimiter approbarunt & ratificarunt. Ac statim postea accersitus fuit Dominus Prolocutor, ad Dominos Praelatos in Superiori Domo, secumque ad eos transtulit librum Subsidiorum praedict. comitantibus eum qui sibi assidebant die praedicto viz. D. Pearne, D. Goodman, D. Coldwell, D. Bridges, D. Fletcher, D. James, & D. Chamberleyne, & in eorum reversu in hanc Domum, Dominus Prolocutor significavit omnibus praesentibus, quòd Reverendi Patres in Superiori Domo minime approbarunt quasdam ex Clausis sive Provisionibus in libro Subsidiorum praedicto, sic ut praefertur lecto, & per totum Coetum hujus Domûs approbato; quòdque lapsus temporis non pateretur in praesenti ulteriorem tractatum sive deliberationem de eâ re; Ideoque ulterius significavit continuationem esse factam usque inter horas secundam & quartam horam pomeridianam in hoc loco, & monuit omnes ad interessendum, etc.   

Sessio Septima.  
EOdem die in loco predicto ac inter horas praeassignatas, in praesentia mei Thomae Barker, Notarij Publici assumpti, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Bell, etc.  
Dictis die horâ & loco, comparuerunt omnes supranominati; & mox Venerabiles viri D. Pearne, D. Bulleyn, D. Bell, D. Tyndall, D. Goodman, D. Coldwell, D. Wylson, Mr. Red. man, Mr. Bungey, Mr. Hutchinson, & Mr. Rilston, deduxerunt sive comitati sunt Dominum Prolocutorem ad Reverendos Patres Dominos Praelatos in Superiori Domo; ibique habità inter eos Consultatione sive Communicatione de modo & forma Conceptionis Libri Subsidiorum praedict. Domini Praelati declarârunt Domino Prolocutori caeterisque supranominatis nonnullas causas & rationes ob quas dictus Liber Subsidiorum reformatur per eos in quibusdam nuper additis & emendatis per Domum Inferiorem, necnon rogarunt Dominum Prolocutorem ut causas & rationes hujusmodi toto Coetui Domûs Inferioris renuntiaret. Quibus sic gestis, Dominus Prolocutor & caeteri praenominati reversi sunt in Inferiorem Domum praedictam; & juxta requisitionem sibi factam, ipse & Dominus Archidiaconus Cant. renunciarunt causas reformationis Libri Subsidiorum praelict. & eye auditis, ortus est dissensus de forma conceptionis dicti Libri. Unde, de mandato Domini Prolocutoris, omnes praesentes per me Notarium Publicum praedictum nominatim evocati sunt ad reddendum corum Suffragia de Forma conceptionis dicti Libri; ac deinde evidenter constitit numerum consentientium formae dicti Libri per Dominos Episcopos, ut praefertur, reformati, majorem esse numero dissentientium. Unde mox Dominus Prolocutor intimavit continuationem hujus Convocationis esse factam usque diem Veneris proximum inter horas nonam & undecimam ante meridiem ejusdem diei in hoc loco, & monuit omnes praesentes ad interessendum, etc.   

Sessio Octava.  
DIE Veneris, viz. 28ᵒ. Februarij 1588. secundum, etc. in quodam Sacello ex parte Septentrionali infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Perri Westm. inter horas nonam & undecimam ante meridiem, in praesentiâ mei Thomae Barker, Notarij Publici assumpti, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Chamberleyne, etc. Quibus die horâ & loco, comparuerunt omnes supranominati; & post Divini Numinis implorationem, Dominus Prolocutor evocatus fuit ad Dominos Episcopos in Superiori Domo; ac Dominus Decanus Westm. Dominus Decanus Lichen. Dominus Decanus Roffen. Dominus Decanus Ecclesiae Christi Oxon. eum comitati sunt. Unde paulo post revertentes, Dominus Prolocutor publicè declaravit omnibus praesentibus, praefatos Dominos Episcopos nuper certiores factos esse de adversâ valitudine Reverendissimi Patris Domini Cant. Archiepiscopi, ita quòd non potest sine vitae suae periculo ad hanc Ecclesiam Collegiatam accedere. Et ideo intimavit quòd concessus hujus Domûs continuatur usque inter horas secundam & quartam pomeridianam in Palatio dicti Reverendissimi Patris apud Lambehith, & monuit omnes ad interessendum, etc.   

Sessio Nona.  
Eodem die inter horas secundam & quartam pomeridianas, in Sacello Reverendissimi Patris Domini Archiepiscopi Cant. infra Palatium suum apud Lambehith, in praesentiâ mei Thomae Barker, Notarij Publici assumpti, etc.  
Die horâ & loco praedictis, comparuerunt omnes infra nominati; & mox Dominus Prolocutor totúsque Coetus hujus Domûs accersiti fuerunt ad Dominos Episcopos existentes in quadam Camerâ jacente prope praedictum Sacellum; ibique aperte, distinctè, & publicé, perlectus fuit liber Subsidiorum. Quo sic perlecto, nullus praesentium dictum librum aut formam ejusdem contradixit. Et tunc Dominus Episcopus London, vigore Commissionis sibi in eà parte factae, continuavit hujusmodi Convocationem usque diem Mercurij proximum in Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Petri West. inter horas octavam & decimam ante meridiem, quam Continuationem Dominus Prolocutor intimavit omnibus praesentibus; & monuit eos ad tunc ibidem interessendum, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Bulleyn, etc.   

Sessio Decima.  
DIE Mercurij, viz. 5ᵒ. die Mensis Martij Anno Domini 1588. secundum, etc. in quodam Sacello, ex parte boreali Ecclesiae Collegiatae Divi Petri Westm. in presentiâ Magistri Johannis Coston, Natarij Publici, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Coldwell, etc.  
Quibus die horâ & loco, comparuerunt omnes supranominati; & post preces peractas, Dominus Prolocutor declaravit, quòd-quum ex side dignâ relatione acceperit, Laici hujus regni quandam Billam sive petitionem pro Provisione Armorum per Clerum hujus Regni fiendâ Superiori Domo Parliamenti exhibuêre, ideóque Dominus Prolocutor duxit consentaneum esse, ut integer Coetus hujus Domûs Petitionem sive Supplicationem aliquam eidem Parliamento porrigeret, ad impediendum seu saltem mitigandum & reformandum formam illius billae quoad Clerum: Ac mox Dominus Prolocutor Supplicationem quandam in finem praedictum conceptam tunc ibidem protulit, ac palam & publicè perlegit; in se continentem inter alia nonnullas causas & rationes, quare Clerus hujus regni minimè oneretur Subministratione & Provisione militum, armorum, & munitionum bellicarum, prout in dictâ billâ, (ut praefertur) exhibitâ, fuit & est insertum: Quam quidem petitionem sic lectam omnes praesentes approbarunt, ac expressè consentierunt, ut eadem nomine totius Domûs exhiberctur Dominis Archiepiscopis, Episcopis, Baronibus, & Proceribus Superioris Domûs Parliamenti, ad effectum praedict.   

Sessio Undecima.  
DIE Veneris, viz. 7ᵒ. Martij 1588. secundum, etc. in quodam Sacello ex parte boreali infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Petri Westm. inter horas octavam & decimam ante meridiem, in praesentia Magistri Johannis Coston & mei Thomae Barker, Notariorum Publicorum assumptorum, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Walsal, etc.  
Quibus die horâ & loco, comparuerunt omnes supranominati; quibus Dominus Prolocutor intimavit Continuationem hujus Domûs Convocationis esse factam in diem Mercurij proximum inter horas octavam & decimam ante meridiem in hoc loco, & monuit omnes praesentes ad interessendum, etc.   

Sessio Duodecima.  
DIE Mercurij, viz. 12ᵒ. Martij, 1588. secundum, etc. in quodam Sacello ex parte boreali infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Petri Westm. inter horas octavam & undecimam ante meridiem ejusdem diei, in praesentiâ Johannis Coston, & mei Thomae Barker, Notariorum Publicorum assumptorum, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Chamberleyn, etc.  
Quibus die hora & loco, comparuerunt omnes supranominati; & post preces celebratas, Dominus Prolocutor praeconizari fecit citatos ad comparendum in hac parte; & praeconizatione hujusmodi minimè finitâ, Reverendissimus Pater Dominus Cant. Archiepiscopus, caeterique Domini Praelati in Superiori Domo, accersiverunt ad se integrum Coetum hujus Domûs; eosdemque Dominos Praelatos adierunt in Ecclesiâ Collegiata praedictâ. Ibique dictus Reverendissimus Pater reprehendit negligentiam sive contumaciam nonnullorum citatorum & monitorum ad comparendum in hac Domo, & non comparentium; ac expressè affirmavit se velle propter eorum contumacias contra eos procedere juxta Juris exigentiam, etc. Et deinde post aliquem tractatum de alijs quibusdam serijs rebus, instanter rogavit omnes praesentes ad contribuendum & praestandum aliquam pecuniarum Summam, in Sustentationem & sublevamen quorundam Tyrrell & Tydder Presbyterorum, aliquando seductorum instigationibus & persuasionibus falsis scelerati Romani Pontificis ejusque adhaerentium, ac nuper Errores suos publicè confitentium, nec non sinceram Religionem modò authoritate Regia stabilitam profitentium. Et mox omnes supranominati in Inferiorem Domum praedict. reversi sunt, & tunc ibidem finita fuit praeconizatio, ut praefertur, citatorum, etc. ac etiam facta fuit collectio in usum praefatorum Tyrrell & Tydder ad Summam 3l. 14s. 10d. Quibus sic gestis, Dominus Prolocutor intimavit omnibus praesentibus continuationem hujus Convocationis esse factam, usque diem Veneris proximum in hoc loco, inter horas octavam & decimam ante meridiem, & monuit omnes jam praesentes ad tunc ibidem interessendum.   

Sessio Decima Tertia.  
DIE Veneris, viz. 14ᵒ. Martij, 1588. secundum, etc. in Ecclesiâ Collegiatâ Divi Petri Westm. comparuerunt omnes infraneminati inter horas praeassignatas, in praesentî Johannis Coston & mei Thomae Barker, Notariorum Publicorum assumptorum, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Wood, etc.  
Dictis die horâ & loco, comparuerunt omnes supranominati; quibus facta fuit intimatio de Continuatione hujusmodi Convocationis, usque in diem Mercurij proximum inter horas octavam & undecimam ante meridiem, in hoc loco.   

Sessio Decima Quarta.  
DIE Mercurij, viz. 19ᵒ. Martij, 1588. secundum, etc. in quodam Sacello infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Petri Westm. inter horas octavam & decimam ante meridiem ejusdem diei, in praesentiâ mei Thomae Barker, Notarij Publici assumpti, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Bulleyn, etc.  
Quibus die hora & loco, convenerunt omnes supranominati; quibus facta fuit intimatio de Continuatione hujus Convocationis, usque inter horas secundam & quartam pomeridianas, in hoc loco.   

Sessio Decima Quinta.  
EOdem die in loco ac inter horas praeassignatas in praesentiâ Magistri Johannis Coston & mei Thomae Barker, Notariorum Publicorum assumptorum, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Chamberleyn, etc.  
Quibus die hora & loco, comparuerunt omnes supranominati; & mox accersiti fuerunt ad Reverendissimum Patrem aliosque Dominos Praelatos in Superiori Domo, eosque adierunt, ibique Reveren lissimus Pater perlegi fecit quosdam Articulos nuper per Regiam autoritatem approbatos, ac per totam Provinciam Cant. observatos, quoad pers●…m Residentiam super beneficijs Ecclesiasticis, & Pluralitates beneficiorum, etc. Ac po●…ea tractat●…m aliquem de 〈◊〉 re invicem habuerunt. Quibus sic gestis, reversi sunt in Inferiorem Domum, ibique Dominus Prolocutor intimavit omnibus praesentibus continuationem hujus Convocationis esse factam usque in diem Veneris proximum, in hoc loco, inter horas octavam & decimam ante meridiem.   

Sessio Decima Sexta.  
DIE Veneris, viz. 21ᵒ. Martij, 1588. secundum, etc. in quodam Sacello ex parte boreali infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Petri Westm. inter horas octavam & decimam ante meridiem in praesentiâ Magistri Johannis Coston & mei Thomae Barker, Notariorum Publicorum assumptorum, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. James, etc.  
Quibus die hora & loco, comparuerunt omnes supranominati; ac eorum plures intrarunt Domum Convocationis unà cum Domino Prolocutore; ubi Dominus Prolocutor statim intimavit omnibus praesentibus hanc Convocationem esse continuatam, usque inter horas secundam & quartam pomeridianam in hoc loco; & monuit omnes praesentes ad tunc interessendum.   

Sessio Decima Septima.  
EOdem die, in loco ac inter horas praeassignatas, in praesentiâ Magistri Johannis Coston & mei Thomae Barker, Notariorum Publicorum assumptorum.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Pearne, etc.  
Quibus die horâ & loco, comparuerunt omnes supranominati; quorum nonnulli intrârunt Domum Convocations, unà cum Domino Prolocutore; quibus intimavit ad statim Continuationem hujus Convocationis esse factam, Vsque in diem Mercurii proximum, inter horas octavam & decimam ante meridiem in hoc loco; & monuit omnes praesentes ad tunc ibidem interessendum, etc.   

Sessio Decima Octava.  
DIE Mercurii, 26ᵒ. viz. die mensis Martii, Anno Domini 1589. in quodam Sacello ex parte boreali infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Petri Westminster, inter horas octavam & decimam ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, in praesentiâ mei Johannus Coston, Notarii Publici, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. Wood, etc.  
Illis comparentibus Dominus Prolocutor significavit Convocationem esse prorogatam in Crastinum diem, viz. diem Jovis 27. diem praesentis Mensis Martii inter horas nonam & undecimam ante Meridiem in hoc loco. Et monuit praesentes ad tunc ibidem interessendum.   

Sessio Decima Nona.  
DIE Jovis, 27. viz. die mensis Martii, 1589. in quodam Sacello infra Ecclesiam Collegiatam Divi Petri Westminster, ex parte boreali ejusdem Ecclesiae, inter horas octavam & decimam ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, in praesentiâ mei Johannis Coston Notarii Publici.  
D. Prolocutor, D. James, etc.  
Quibus die & loco, Dominus Prolocutor significavit hiis comparentibus Convocationem hujusmodi esse prorogatam in Crastinum diem, viz. 28. diem praesentis mensis Martii, inter horas octavam & decimam ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, ad hunc locum, & monuit, etc.   

Sessio Vicesima.  
DIE Veneris, 28ᵒ. die Mensis Martii, Anno Domini 1589. in loco praedicto in praesentiâ mei Johannis Coston, Notarij Publici, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, D. chamberlain, etc.  
Quibus die & loco, Dominus Prolocutor intimavit hiis comparentibus Convocationem hujusmodi esse prorogatam, in pomeridiano hujus diei inter horas primam & quartam ad hunc locum, etc.   

Sessio Vicesima Prima.  
IN Pomeridiano ejusdem diei, in loco praedicto, in praesentiâ mei Johannis Coston, Notarij Publici, etc.  
D. Prolocutor, Mr. Gabriel Goodman, etc.  
Quibus die & loco, Dominus Prolocutor verbo tenùs intimavit hujusmodi Convocationem esse continuatam juxta decretum Domini Archiepiscopi Cant. viz. in diem Mercurij proximum, viz. secundum diem Mensis Aprilis, inter horas nonam & undecimam ante Meridiem ejusdem diei, ad hunc locum, etc.  
Quo die adveniente, Dissoluta extitit hujusmodi Convocatio ad honorem Dei celebrat '. etc.     


OBSERVATIONS FROM The foregoing Acts of the Upper and Lower House, concerning the Right of CONTINUING the Convocation, etc.  
THIS Question about the Right to Continue, has been considered at large under all its Circumstances: for a more particular Account whereof, the Reader is referred to the Vindication of the Archbishop's Right, and the Reflections upon the late Expedient. At present, I intent to confine myself to the SCHEDULE OF CONTINUATION, and such short Remarks thereupon as arise more especially from the Acts of those five Convocations which are here made public. The Acts, being the most entire that remain to either House, and all along expressing the Forms at length, are undoubtedly our proper Guide; and the Questions upon this Head, turn immediately upon the true Meaning and Extent of the Schedule: however some late Writers, to avoid the force both of the Acts and the Schedule, have perplexed the Cause, and amused the World, with a variety of little Circumstances, obscurely entered in some imperfect Minutes.  

The Schedule constantly mentioned in the upper-house Registers.  In the Upper-house Acts, Anno 1562, 1640, & 1661., the Reader will observe the Schedule of Continuation all along mentioned at the end of the Sessions, to specify the Manner of that Act, and of the Execution thereof by his Grace: Prout in Schedula per eum Lecta, Juxta Schedulam per eum Lectam, Juxta tenorem Schedulae per eum Lectae: And then the Entry usually introduced in these words, Cujus quidem Schedulae verus Tenor sequitur in haec verba, In Dei nomine, Amen, Nos etc. But the original Schedules being deposited in the Registry of the Archiepiscopal See, the Notaries thought it sufficient to refer to them in that manner, and have left us not one Copy thereof in all the Acts of Convocation. Whatever Schedules remained in the Office Anno 1666. were consumed in the Fire of London; but from that time we have great numbers of 'em, beginning as the ancient ones did, and without doubt copied from them. Those from the Year 1666, to 1670 inclusive, have been discovered lately, and will be produced anon, to prove that the Clause Convocatio Praelatorum & Cleri, is not only a very material, but also a genuine part of the Archiepiscopal Schedule.  

The Antiquity of Schedules in Convocation.  The Use of Schedules in an English Synod, is much more ancient than the Reformation, or the Division of the two Houses. Under Archbishop Chichele, we meet with frequent mention of them in the Business of Subsidies, Constitutions, etc. but I have never observed any Foot-step of a separate Schedule of Continuation, while the two Houses debated together. In 1438 the Register of that Year gives us the Copy of a Decree or Sentence against the Absents, 
See it at large p. 33. of this Book.  which includes a Prorogation also, with an Admonition to the Members then present, to attend according to the Tenor thereof, Et praesentem Convocationem usque in & ad, etc. Continuamus: Monentes insuper omnes & singulos jam praesentes, ut die praedicto compareant, etc. But whether in those days all the Continuations were formally drawn in Writing, or only pronounced viuà voce by the Archbishop or his Commissary, the Acts have not where told us; nor do I meet with any Circumstance upon which a Conjecture on either side may be fairly grounded. The Registers of the Archbishops say nothing of Proceed in Convocation after the Year 1488. from which time we have no Accounts (at least that I know of) before 1529. when the Extracts out of the Upper-house Books begin. In some Sessions of that Year, we find it expressly mentioned as a written Form; and the Form itself directly referred to by the Abridger, as entered at length in the original Acts.— Sess. 2. Continuavit, etc. cum verbis in Scriptis, quod Scriptum ibidem Sequitur.— Quod fecit in Scriptis, ut ibidem. Anno 1532. Sess. 1. it is said in the Abstracts with Reference to the original Register, Item inseritur Tenor Continuationis sive Prorogationis in diem Martis prox. But within two Years (Anno 1534. Dec. 16.) express mention is made of the Schedule, as a separate Paper out of which the Continuation was pronounced: Episcopus London [Commissarius] Continuavit in diem Veneris in horam secundam, ut in papyri Schedulâ quam in manu tenuit.  
Till this time, for aught appears, the Form of Continuation was entered at length in the Registers, as it still is in the Convocation of York, where the Clergy (if they be retired on any particular Occasion) are sent for to be present at the Continuation solemnly pronounced out of that Form by the Archbishop or his CommissAry. And so it probably was (for we can go no farther than Probabilities) in the Province of Canterbury, for some time after their Separation. 
The Inferior Clergy present at the Archbishop ' s Continnutions'.  Even in these Extracts, express mention is made of the Presence of the Inferior-Clergy at the Continuations of the Precedent; and there are other Instances, in which their Attendance in the Upper-house, and the Continuations there are so expressed, as to make it probable at least that some of the Clergy, if not the whole Body, were present at them.  
Anno 1529. Sess. 14. The Continuation in the Upper-house is made to the Friday following, Praesentibus aliquibus de Clero, sed paucis Suffraganeis.  
Anno 1529. Sess. 2. The Upper-house Book: Monitus est Prolocutor cum Clero— quòd comparerent prox. die Veneris, loco & horâ, etc. & sic continuavit, etc. to the same Day.  
Anno 1529. Sess. 17. The Commissaries Continue in the Upper-house, Praesentibus Prolocutore & multis aliis de Clero.  
Anno 1555. Sess. 2. The Lower-house having received in charge what they were to consider against the next Session, Dominus Praeses, absentibus omnibus priùs praeconizatis & nullo modo comparentibus, pro Contumacibus pronunciatis, continuavit—  
Anno 1557. Sess. 8. The Archbishop having admonished Clerum Domûs Inferioris, not to departed without leave, inde continuavit in diem Mercurij 16. Februarij, prox. horâ 2. postmeridiem, etc. monuitque omnes, etc. ad interessendum.  
Anno 1586. Dr. Awbrey, as Commissary to the Archbishop, Continues Hujusmodi Convocationem in Statu quo nunc est, etc. praesentibus tunc ibidem Venerabilibus Viris Mrs. Mullyns & Walker ex Coetu Inferioris Domûs, necnon aliis testibus, etc. This was done in the Chapterhouse of St. Paul's, the Place of the Bishops; and is entered in the Lower-house-Journal as the Continuation of that House, Edward Say their Actuary being also present.  

A short Account of the Schedule.  From the foregoing Observations upon the Form and Manner of Continuation, this Account of it may (in my Opinion) be fairly collected. While the Custom was, to enter it at large in the Register, (as we see they did in 1529 and 1532.) the Convocation was either Continued in a Body, as it still is in the Province of York, or notice thereof was given to the Inferior-Clergy by the Prolocutor, or some other Authentic Hand. But the Business of Convocations increasing, and the Clergy growing thereupon into a more separate State as to their Debates; the Prolocutor's coming up constantly to receive the Notice might appear troublesome, and a proper Person by whom to convey it immediately to the Lower-Clergy might not always be in readiness; and so the Form, which the Actuary was wont to enter in the Register for the Archbishop's Reading, began to be drawn upon a separate Paper or Schedule, from whence (as a Notice more certain and easy) the Prolocutor should Intimate the Continuation to the Lower-house. And then we find that the Notary, instead of Transcribing it into the Register at length (as he had done at the beginning) thought it sufficient to refer to that original Schedule, as ultimately deposited in the same Office with the Acts of both Houses of Convocation.  

The deriving our Schedules from the Lateran-Council, an improbable Scheme.  I have been told of a Scheme lately offered, to show that the Use of these Schedules in our English Convocation, was derived from the same Method in the Lateran Council under Julius XI. and Leo X. If this Scheme be made more public, we may expect that the Author thereof show us, either some particular Constitution in that Council establishing such a Rule for the future Proceed of Provincial Synods; or some notice in our Histories that Archbishop Warham (out of a particular liking to the Model) resolved to make it a Rule for his own Synods; or at least some evident changes of the manner of holding an English Convocation, in conformity to that of the Lateran Council, upon the publication thereof by order of Pope Leo the Tenth.  
These are proofs which will be naturally called for to support such a Notion. And yet (if I am not much mistaken) the Author of that Scheme will not be able to confirm it by any one of them: And the Form (I am sure) of those Schedules in the Lateran Council, are as different in all respects from our most early Schedules of Continuation, as two Instruments of the same design and tendency can well be conceived.  
The reason why so many Schedules appear in the Printed Acts of that Lateran Council, is plainly this: After it was over, Pope Leo employed one of the Cardinals, Antonius de Monte, to draw up the Acts and Proceed Entire; taking every thing at large, as they lay in the orial gi'en Instruments and were entered by the Notaries upon the place. This was afterwards made public, by Authority of the Pope: But I hope this new account of the Original of English Schedules depends not upon this strange Inference, that because the same Schedules appear not in the Printed Acts of former Councils (the Matter and Decrees whereof, were only made public, without the Forms of Proceeding) therefore such Schedules were not used in the holding of Councils before. And, as to those that came after, had Pope Leo intended this we speak of, for a Pattern to future Councils, we might at least expect to find every thing in the Council of Trent exactly agreeable to that Model: And yet these Methods don't appear there; and so the same argument (the silence of the Printed Acts) which makes those in the Lateran Council the first of the kind, will prove them also to be the last. But as the thing appears to me at present, I see no reason to doubt whether the Councils both before and after, did not proceed in the same methods with those we see in the Lateran; only the other Popes happened not to be so curious as Leo the Tenth, in publishing the Forms of Proceeding, with the Decrees of their Councils. Tho' as to this point of the Schedules, even in the Year 1431. (long enough before the Lateran Council) we find the Legate and the other Prelates, etc. in the Council of Basil, solemnly met in certâ Aulâ, etc. in quâ soliti sunt pro Conciliis tenendis in unum convenire, and decreeing a Day for the first Session expressly by Schedule; prout in Schedulâ, cujus tenor inferiùs primo loco describitur, pleniùs continetur.  
However, what is here said concerning Schedules in the Councils Abroad, I offer only as my own present thoughts; not knowing particularly enough how that Scheme, deriving our Methods from the Lateran Council, is laid. 
The Dispute depends not upon Proroguing by Schedule, or otherwise  Nor would I have the foregoing account of the use of Schedules in an English Convocation to be so understood, as if in the present Dispute it were at all material, whether his Grace pronounced the Continuation from a separate Paper, or from the Form written in the Register; or yet whether the Prolocutor's Intimation to the Clergy be upon Notice by the Schedule, or by any other Authentic Conveyance of his Grace's Act. I only proposed, according to my Method in explaining the other Heads, to lay before the Reader whatever the Registers of Convocation afford upon this.  
But in the Disputes depending between the two Houses, the Conveyance of this Notice is no longer a Question, since those of the Lower-Clergy have receded from their Independent Power of Adjourning to a Day beyond that of the Upper-house. For as their owning an Obligation to attend at his Grace's time, supposes a necessity of some kind of Notice to what Day and Hour the Continuation is made; so if that Notice be but authentic, 'tis indifferent in what manner it comes.  

The Heads upon which the Dispute turns.  The Questions therefore in short, are these: I. What is it that the Archbishop or his Commissary pronounces in the Upper-house? II. What is it that is thereupon intimated or signified to the Lower?  
I. What is it that the Archbishop or his Commissary pronounces in the Upper-house? Is it the Continuation of the Bishops and Clergy; i. e. of the whole Convocation? or, Is it the Continuation of the Upper-house only?  

The Bishops and Clergy jointy Continued in the Upper House.  In the current Style of these three entire Registers of the Upper House, the Body Continued is hujusmodi Convocatio sive sacra Synodus Provincialis. And as I may appeal to every unprejudiced Person whether he had ever any notion of these terms, than as including the Prelates and Clergy assembled in Convocation; so for a proof that they have constantly the same sense in the Acts of Convocation, I may safely refer to almost every Page of the Registers, and to the Account given from thence in a larger Vindication of the Archbishop's Right. 
Page 44, 45.  Not to mention, that this is the expression in several remaining Schedules by which the Convocation is Continued upon the Royal Writ; and in those Cases the Lower Clergy are acknowledged on all hands to be certainly Included.  

The Schedule evidently comprehends both Bishops and Clergy.  But, as I observed before, the Registers only mention the Continuations with reference to the Schedule, from which the Act is immediately pronounced, and the meaning and extent thereof is by consequence to be taken. It is well known that the Schedules before 1666. were all consumed in the Fire of London; and the most early one that was thought to remain in the Office when I published the Right of the Archbishop, is in the Year 1670. An entire Copy thereof is given in that Book; 
Page 39  and by it the Precedent (without any mention of the Consent of his Brethren) Continues praesentem sacram Synodum sive Convocationem Praelatorum & Cleri, to a certain day, hour and place, all distinctly specified therein.  
To evade the force of this, some frivolous Ojections were raised at the first against the Notary and the Schedule; 
Right of the A. B. P. 40, 41.  but these have been already considered; indeed, much more particularly than they deserved.  
It has been further urged, that from the Year 1673. the remaining Schedules usually run in a different Style, 
Right, etc. P. 44, 45.  Nos, etc. Continuamus hujusmodi Convocationem sive sacram Synodum Provincialem. But suppose these terms not to include the Lower Clergy so effectually as those of the Schedules in 1670. etc. 
The Clause Proel. & Cle●…. a genuine part of the Schedule.  (which yet we have proved they do;) the most Early Schedules must certainly have a better Title to be thought the true and genuine Forms, than any of those that come after them. But this Cavil, if it were of any moment, is now sufficiently answered by many more Schedules lately come to light, from the Fire of London to 1670. fifty three in number, and all in the same terms with those of 1670, etc. viz. praesentem sacram Synodum sive Convocationem Praelatorum & Cleri Cant. Prov. This therefore being the genuine Language of the Archiepiscopal Schedule, and the Continuations of the Lower Clergy having by our concurrent Registers been ever to the same time and place with those of the Upper House; let the common reason of Mankind judge, how any scruple can remain Whether the Clergy have been always comprehended in the Continuations Above?  

The transmission of the Schedule, only a circumstance in this dispute. Reflex. upon the Exp. P. 19  The Journals affording no direct Testimonies of the transmission of the Schedule to the Lower Clergy, this has lately been made another question. In Answer to which, I have elsewhere shown more at large, that if the Lower Clergy be Included in the Continuation Above (as we have just now proved they are) it matters not which way the Notice thereof is conveyed, so long as the Conveyance is clear and authentic.  

Reasons to believe that the Schedule has been ever sent down.  However, 1. It is enough that the Custom of sending down the Schedule is in Possession; having been constantly practised in the Convocation of 1689. without any scruple or opposition from the Lower Clergy. And therefore, by all the Rules of deciding questions of this Kind, We have a right to plead Possession, and it lays on Their Side to prove the Practice an Innovation.  
But, 2. we urge, according to the foregoing account of the Schedule and the Rise thereof, that there could be no other end in changing the usual Entry in the Register into a Separate Schedule, besides the transmission of it to some other place: Observing withal, that in the Convocation of York, where the Bishops and Clergy are Continued in a Body, the Form is still Read by the Precedent out of the Journal itself.  
3. That by the tenor of the Schedule, it is the Reading which effects the Continuation; and therefore the Additional Signing must be in Order to make it an Authentic Act to some other Body. Accordingly, in the Province of York it is never Signed, because the Clergy being present, there is no occasion to send it down.  
As to the Attestation, there is this difference between the Schedules before and after the Year 1670. that those before are usually attested by the Notarie's adding the Names of the Bishop's present, as Witnesses of the Act; whereas the following ones (when no Bishops seem to have been present) are attested by the Notary himself.  
4. In the Lower House Book of 1588. Sess. 21. the Reader will find an Intimation thus expressed, Dominus Prolocutor verbo tenus intimavit hujusmodi Convocationem esse continuatam juxta Decretum Domini Archiepiscopi Cant. This unusual Addition of the Words Verbo tenus must imply that the usual way of Intimating was from a written Paper; and having never seen or heard of any such Paper used in Continuations besides the Archiepiscopal Schedule, I must conclude (till some other Paper be produced) that this expression is directly opposed to the Intimations from the Schedule, as the Established way of Continuing the Lower House at that time. Adding withal, that this transmission of it is no Act of Necessity on the Archbishop's Side (for his Grace has a right either to send up for the Prolocutor to receive the Notice, or to send it down to the House by any other Authentic Hand, and both shall be equally binding with the Schedule;) but it was designed only for an Ease to the Prolocutor, and a more sure Conveyance to the Inferior Clergy.  

The Prolocutor is judge of the time of Intimating when the Precedent does not interpose.  The Schedule put into the Prolocutor's hands, is a legal Notice of the Act above; not to the House, but only to him, who governs the Debates there under the Precedent, and is bound in this and all other Cases, to signify to the Lower-house the Instructions and Commands of the Upper. The thing to be signified, is the Continuation of Bishops and Clergy, or of the whole Synod, pronounced in the Upper-house by the Precedent, who has thereby (in strictness of Law) a Right to put an end to the Session in the Lower-house by an immediate Intimation, if he see cause to require it of the Prolocutor; 
See Right of the Archbishop, p. 98.  and it is this legal Power which I assert in the larger Vindication of the Archbishop's Right, pag. 98, etc. But since the Precedent, uncapable in this separate State, to moderate the Debates of the whole Synod, commits that Care to the Prolocutor in the Lower-house; if the Schedule be not accompanied with any particular Direction as to the Time of breaking up, his Grace is presumed to leave the Person entrusted with moderating there, to judge when the Business of that Day is over, and when by consequence the House shall have legal Notice of the Continuation. Nor can they who plead for a Right in the Clergy themselves to make this Judgement, show us, that the Consent or Opinion of the Clergy was ever asked or given in order to this Intimation, before the first Convocation in 1701.  

The Form of Intimating to be taken from the two exact Journals  The true Form of this Intimation can be no where learned, but from the Lower-house Books of 1586 and 1588., which I have often observed to be the only exact Journals of that House now remaining; those of 1640, 1661., etc. being only short Minutes of what passed, in order to be afterwards reduced into Acts by the Addition of the usual Forms and Methods of Proceeding. And when Men openly decline to follow plain and distinct Directions, and chose rather to be guided by some imperfect Hints, it looks as if they neither cared nor intended to keep in the right way.  

The ordinary Phrase ought in reason to be the established Form  These two Journals therefore are our proper Guides in this Matter; and if an established Form were to be settled and agreed on, the most reasonable Proposition would certainly be, to adhere to the current and ordinary Style, and to lay aside any accidental Exceptions, upon a Presumption of their having only been used upon some special Occasions.  

Declaring by Intimation, the ordinary Form.  The Forms of Declaring the Continuations in the Lower-house during the foremention'd Convocations, are now printed at large; but that the Reader may be enabled to make a sure and easy Judgement, he shall have the same general View of them that has been lately drawn in the Reflections upon the Expedient proposed.  
" By INTIMATION expressly, 1586 (the first Meeting) Sess. 2, 7, 8. The second Meeting, Sess. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11. Anno 1588. Sess. 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21. By SIGNIFICATION (of the selfsame Import with the Intimations) Anno 1586. (the second Meeting) Sess. 8, 12. Anno 1588. Sess. 6, 18, 19— These, with the Continuations by Dr. Awbrey (February 17. and March 22. 1586.) and the Departure of the Lower-house Members (March 8. 1586.) upon hearing of the Continuation by the Commissary; make up the thirty six Instances on the Archbishops' side, which I affirmed to be in these two Journals of the Lower-house. 
Right of the Archbishop, p. 32.   
The Continuations in a different Style, Continuavit quoad hanc Domum, are seven; all in 1586. (the first Meeting) Sess. 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10, 11.  

Phrase introduced on extraordinary Occasions, not to be the ordinary Form.  From hence, the ordinary way of Declaring appears to be by Intimation: And as the Continuations quoad hanc Domum are few in Comparison of the others, so the very Writer who has carried the Independence of the Lower-house much higher than any of his Brethren, assures us at the same time that the Phrase was introduced upon a very particular Occasion, viz. 
Power of the Lower-house, p. 7, col. 2.  the Archbishop's putting the Prolocutor into his Commission for Proroguing. As to the present Case therefore, he will not (I hope) propose the Use of an extraordinary Form, on ordinary Occasions, or in any other Circumstances than those from which it is known to have taken its Rise. Especially, when the Declaring by Intimation (which appears to have been the common and ordinary Form) is so apposite in all respects to the Design and Nature of that Business. For,  
II. The thing to be declared by the Prolocutor to the Lower Clergy, is the Act of Continuation pronounced in the Upper House: 
Right of the Archbishop, p. 59, etc.  And it has been elsewhere shown at large, that the term Intimavit, as well in its natural notion, as in Convocation language, properly signifies a Conveyance of the knowledge or notice of a thing from one Body or Person to another; as this of the Prolocutor is, from the Upper House to the Lower.  

The Prolocutor's Intimation refers not to the Consent of the House, but only to the Act of the Archbishop.  It was warmly pleaded at the beginning, that the Prolocutor's Intimation had immediate reference to an Act or Vote of the Lower House; but that Notion seems now to be deserted, both upon an evident absurdity of Intimating to the House a Notice received directly from the House, and also the want of Proof, or even a Colour thereof, that any such Vote or Consent, of which they supposed this to be the Intimation, was ever passed or mentioned in the House antecedent to that Act of the Prolocutor.  
And yet the late form Intimamus hanc Convocationem, etc. seems to have been introduced to give the House a part at least in the Authority of Continuing; because the Prolocutor can have no such Right, as the Precedent exercises, to speak of himself and his own Act in the Plural. If that be the intention of using it (as I see not what else can be meant) I must beg leave to think it an Innovation highly prejudicial to the Authority of his Grace and the Upper House; till some footsteps can be shown of the Consent or Vote of the House, employed in that Form, or at least the Form itself can be justified by Precedent: For as to the Intimations in 1586, and 1588. 'tis evident enough that they were the sole Act of the Prolocutor, Prolocutor intimavit hanc Convocationem esse Continuatam, Prolocutor intimavit Continuationem hujus Convocationis, etc.  

The Intimation given at the Command of the Precedent.  And it is no less plain (whatever hath been pretended to the contrary) that this Act of the Prolocutor was then understood to be purely an Intimation of what was done in the Upper House, given in the Lower by the Command and Authority of the Precedent. To which purpose it is Remarkable all along, and the Reader himself will observe it, that the Intimation is frequently made at the Conclusion of other Notices delivered by the Prolocutor from the Upper House. But in some places it is expressly said to be done by the Decree and Command of the Archbishop; 
See Anno 1586. Sess. 5. 8. 9 & 1588. Sess. 21.  and in others to be a direct and immediate Notice of the Continuation pronounced Above. So, Anno 1588. Sess. 9 Dominus Episcopus London, etc. Continuavit, etc. Quam Continuationem Dominus Prolocutor intimavit omnibus praesentibus. Add to these, the instance of the Archbishop's Indisposition, 
Anno 1588. Sess. 8.  and the Adjournment thereupon to Lambeth: The Prolocutor coming from the Upper House, acquaints the Clergy that the Bishops had received notice of his Grace's illness, ita quòd non potest sine vitae suae periculo hanc Ecclesiam Collegiatam accedere. Et ideò intimavit quòd Concessus hujus Domûs continuatur usque inter horas, etc. in Palatio dicti Reverendissimi Patris, etc. To the same purpose, is that in 1588. Sess. 6. where the Prolocutor at his return from the Upper House, significavit omnibus praesentibus, Quòd Reverendi Patres minimè approbârunt quasdam ex Clausulis, etc. Quódque lapsus temporis non pateretur in praesenti ulteriorem tractatum sive deliberationem de ea re; Ideoque ulteriùs significavit Continuationem hujus Convocationis esse factam, etc.  
After so many and plain testimonies, I suppose it will be ackowledged that the Intimation in those two Journals was a Notice of the Continuations in the Upper House, declared to the Lower by the Prolocutor, upon the Command and Authority of the Precedent. And as to the Question, Whether the Lower Clergy be determined by such Continuations, this resolves into their being Included in the terms of them; which I hope is already proved both here and elsewhere, to the full satisfaction of every impartial Reader. 
Reflex. on Exp. p. 22.  And I appeal once more to the common reason of Mankind, Whether the Prolocutor or Actuary of that time (supposing them, according to the new Notion, to mean the Continuation of the Upper House only) would not at least have expressed the Intimation in a more general Way, Convocationem esse Continuatam, and have omitted the Words, which yet they all along express, hanc or hujusmodi; which might indeed confine it to the Continuation of the Lower House▪ if the sense of the Word Convocatio would bear it, but can never imply the Separate Continuation of the Upper.  

A formal Intimation of the Prolocutor, not necessary to Continue the Lower House.  It may be proper to observe here from the Journal of 1586. that a formal Intimation by the Prolocutor is not at all necessary to Continue the Lower House. In the 5th, 8th, and 9th. Sessions of the Second meeting of that Year, the Prolocutor was absent; and the Continuation must therefore be Intimated by some other Person coming from the Upper House, who had knowledge of the day. For the Journal having reckoned by Name all the Lower House Members who were present on those days, adds, Quibus Intimatum (and, in one Instance, Significatum) fuit hujusmodi Convocationem esse Continuandam, etc. The 6th. Session is yet more remarkable to this purpose. Then, seven of the Lower House appear, but no Prolocutor, Et eo quod satis bene nôrunt hujusmodi Convocationem esse Continuatam in diem Veneris prox. etc. post aliqualem moram discesserunt.  
Can any thing be clearer, than that the Members in all these Instances took themselves to be comprehended in the Continuation Above, and absolutely determined by it? As soon as they knew what had been, or was to be, done in the Upper House, they asked no more Questions; but presently departed, and attended punctually according to the time and place appointed there: Which attendance is said in the Journal to be inter horas praeassignatas; and 'tis plain there was no other Assignment of Time, but what his Grace's Commissary made.  

Continuations to be shortened at pleasure, shows the Clergy to be Included.  The Continuations by the Archbishop in the Upper House, with a reservation of power to shorten or alter the Time upon notice to the Bishops and Clergy, are another evident Testimony that the Clergy in those days were thought to be absolutely concluded by his Grace's Act. For how could they be otherwise affected by the Limitations of it, and think themselves under an obligation to comply therewith? Many Instances of this kind appear in the Extracts out of the Upper House Registers, between the Years 1532, and 1588. particularly enumerated and applied in the Right of the Archbishop, etc. p. 48, 49. To which place I refer the Reader, intending to confine myself as much as may be to such Observations as arise from the Acts of the Five foregoing Covocations.  

The President's Right to Continue the Clergy in the Upper House.  Upon one head only (the President's Right to Continue the Inferior Clergy in the Upper House) I have before brought Testimonies from other Journals also, because the Right has been so lately questioned, and the Exercise of it so freely censured as new and unprecedented.  
It is acknowledged on all hands, that while the Bishops and Clergy remained together, they were jointly Continued by an Act of the Precedent. 
Rights, etc. Pag. 492. Ed. 2.  Doctor Atterbury confesses that he preserved this Power [of Adjourning the Inferior Clergy] after they were separated: And it has since been abundantly proved, that they are Included as much as ever in the Continuation Above. They were therefore, after the Separation, equally affected by the President's Act; and it made no difference, whether it was declared to them immediately by his Grace, or by any other Hand legally empowr'd to report the Commands and Directions of the Upper House. And since it had the self same Effect when notified by such a hand, and so the attendance of the whole Body of the Clergy was an unnecessary trouble; therefore the Intimation thereof by the Prolocutor, became the ordinary Method. But will any Man say, that the Precedent by this Indulgence to the Inferior Clergy (I mean, an Exemption from Constantly coming up) could ever intent to preclude his Right of requiring their Personal Attendance, as oft as he saw occasion? Being only a matter of Form, and done also as effectually by Intimation, and the Precedent intending ordinarily that the Lower Clergy should not be obliged to break up till they could finish their Debates: On these accounts, that Right may have been seldom exercised; but yet not wholly disused, as appears from the foregoing Instances, and would probably be seen in many more, if our Accounts of Convocation since the Bishops and Clergy debated apart, were not so very imperfect.  
But the late instance complained of, is not only to be justified, as that Power is legally vested in the Precedent, but also as the Exercise of it in those Circumstances was indeed the effect of Necessity. The Prolocutor being indisposed, had made a Substitution to another, who took the Chair without the Confirmation of the Precedent and Bishops: This was opposed by several of the Members, as irregular; and as such was represented to the Upper House, who were of the same Opinion, but resolved however to take the matter into Consideration against the next meeting. At the best therefore, it was doubtful whether any one was legally Substituted to exercise the Office of a Prolocutor: But, which is more, the Intimation of the Act of Continuing is a Referendary-Act (a Report from their Lordships to the Lower House,) and they who contended the most Zealously for his taking the Chair, declared it to be their intention that he should not act in any instance as a Referendary, till he had been confirmed by their Lordships. To argue upon their own principles, I only suppose this distinction between a Prolocutor and a Referendary; but no such appears in the Registers, which style him not only Prolocutor & Referendarius, but Prolocutor sive Referendarius, implying the names to be of the same Import in the language of Convocation. But this will be explained more largely under another head. At present I will pursue my Observations upon the general Right of Continuing, from the five Journals which are here made public.  

The Phrase Continuavit quoad hanc Domum, no Argument for a Separate Power in the L. House.  The only colour that can be drawn from these, of a Separate Power of Continuation in the Lower House, is the Phrase of some Continuations in 1586, Prolocutor continuavit quoad hanc domum. But here, no Act or Power is expressed besides that of the Prolocutor; and they who are so earnest for an Inherent Power in the House, are yet as zealous as we against all pretences to a Personal Authority in the Prolocutor.  
The Question therefore is, by whose Authority he must be supposed to Continue in those Cases? by that of his Grace, or of the Lower House? He had certainly notice of the Continuations in the Upper House, because these in the Lower are declared to the same time. And the Advocates for this Inherent Right are at last brought to Acknowledge an Obligation to attend on his Grace's Day, and by consequence the necessity of having an Authentic Notice thereof. The Prolocutor is also known by his Office to be the Referendary or Reporter of all Messages from the Upper House, and I think sufficiently proved in the 4th Chapter of this Book to moderate the Debates of the Lower in his Grace's stead. These are natural reasons why Continuations (expressed in such general terms) should be the pure Effects of the President's Authority; but as to the Vote, Act, or Consent of the Lower House, there is no mark or footstep of it either in these or any other Separate Continuations.  
The Phrase itself, not to be met with elsewhere in all our Journals of Convocation, was introduced by the Prolocutor's being put into the President's Commission to Prorogue. This obliged him to pronounce the Continuation in the Upper House, at least to bear a part in it; and coming from thence to give notice to the Lower, the Actuary's use of the ordinary Style Intimavit would not have been so consistent with the meaning thereof in Convocation Language. But while he considered him not only as Prolocutor, but as Commissary to the Precedent, it was natural to change Intimavit, a Ministerial word, into terms that might better express the Authority he then had as Commissary to his Grace.  

The Phrase in Parliament Dom. Canc. Contin. praesens Parl. no argument for the Lower House. See the Right of the A. Bishop, p. 43, 44.  To this, I will add a short but clear reply to another Suggestion why the Lower Clergy are not comprehended in the terms of the Archbishop's Continuations: It is, that in Parliament the Adjournments of the House of Peers are entered Dominus Cancellarius continuavit praesens Parliamentum; and yet the Act of the Chancellor Adjourns the Lords only.  
But the distinctions in this Case between the two Houses of Parliament and Convocation, are too remarkable to leave room for such a Parallel. 1. There is no original Subordination between the constituent Members of the two Houses of Parliament, nor any Relation but what arises purely from the Usage and Constitution of the Kingdom: But in the two Houses of Convocation (as the Bishops make the Upper, and Presbyters the Lower) a Subordination is established in the Lower by Apostolical Institution, and (in Conformity thereto) by the Constitution of this National Church: And so, every step made by Presbyters towards a  or independent Power, is a proportionable Deviation in the constitution of our Church, from the pattern of the purest Ages. For, 2. The Adjournment of the House of Peers is pronounced by one who has no Authority over the Commons, nor any concern even among the Lords, besides that of Moderating; except he be a Peer of the Realm, and in Right of his Peerage have a Title to Vote, etc.  
But in Convocation, the Continuation is pronounced by the Metropolitan of the whole Province, and the Precedent of the whole Convocation; who advising with his Brethren the Bishops, directs the business of Convocation, and is at the head of Proceed in both Houses, nay, (which is more) has a final Negative upon them, and by his Concurrence gives the Sanction to their Acts, in all matters to the framing and Promulging whereof the Royal Licence and Authority are not necessary in Law. 3. That Act of the Lord Chancellor in the House of Peers is plainly Ministerial, or the effect of an immediate direction from the House; but his Grace's in Convocation is Authoritative (Nos Continuamus) in virtue of a Power belonging to him as Precedent of the whole Body. 4. The terms of the two Continuations or Adjournments are widely Different. In the House of Lords it is the praesens Parliamentum which the Lord Chancellor Adjourns by word of Mouth; and it is no extraordinary thing to find the Word Parliamentum signifying one House, when the standing Clerk thereof is Styled Clericus Parliamentorum. But the Archbishop in a formal Instrument Continues praesentem sacram Synodum sive Convocationem Praelatorum & Cleri Cantuariensis Provinciae, where the Parties thereby Continued (the Bishops and Clergy) are directly expressed; nor is the Register of the Upper House (tho' acting by a Deputy in the Lower also) ever termed Registrarius Convocationum, or the word Convocatio (much less Convocatio Praelatorum & Cleri) ever applied to one House Separately. 5. Tho' those Expressions were used on any other occasions (which they are not) to signify the Upper House only; yet the known Effect they have always had in this Case of Continuation, would necessarily extend them to the Lower as well as Upper House. For whereas the Adjournment in the House of Lords is never notified to the Commons (who equally govern their own times of meeting and sitting) and so no Concurrence as to time appears in the Sessions of the two Houses of Parliament; In Convocation, the Lower House has express and authentic Notice of the Act in the Upper, and so the Clergy (according to all the concurrent Books of the two Houses) have ever met again at the time and place specified in the Act above.  
I know no way to determine the Strict and Legal meaning of Words in any Case, but by the known and ordinary acceptation of them in general, and the effect or operation they have, and ever had, in particular Cases that may fall under my Consideration. In this therefore, I refer myself to the Judgement of any impartial Man: Suppose, ' That by our Constitution the House of Commons in their Proceed were bound to receive and follow the directions of the Peers; ' That both these Houses sat and acted under one common Precedent, the L. Chancellor or Keeper; ' That all the Adjournments were solemnly pronounced by him in his own Name, and in Terms directly expressing the whole Parliament, nay specifying the Lords and Commons; ' That an Authentic Notice hereof were immediately transmitted to the House of Commons; ' That in fact, according to all the contemporary Journals, it appeared that the Adjournments Below had been to the same Day, Hour, and Place, with those Above: Under these Circumstances, I say (for in Convocation this is the Case) could it be a Doubt with any unprejudiced Man, Whether that Constant Adjournment of the Commons from and to the same Time with the Lords could spring from any Cause, but the sending down a Constant Notice of the Adjournment Above, and a perpetual Persuasion among the Commons that they were Included in that Adjournment, and absolutely determined by it.  

The necessity of Insisting upon it, that the L. Clergy are Included in the Continuation Above.  As therefore this concurrence of Sessions in the Upper and Lower House, is an undeniable proof that Authentic Notice of the President's Act has been ever conveyed to the Inferior Clergy, so the form of that Continuation in the Schedule and Journals, proves the whole Convocation to have been always Included in the Act. And whoever reflects upon the Consequenees of their not being Included, will agree with me, that 'tis highly necessary his Grace should insist on it at this Juncture, when the terms of the Schedule have been so publicly pretended to comprehend the Upper House only, and the Intimation is reduced to a bare Notice of the Day and Hour to which their Lordships have Adjourned themselves, without any Authority that shall bind or affect the Inferior Clergy. Add to this, The ask the express Consent of the House, and, The Intimating out of a written Paper of their own; both of 'em without Precedent, and both Intended for a more open and public Declaration that it is an Act of their own, upon an Inherent Power in the House. 
A separate Power of Continuing in the L. House, opens a way to perpetual divisions of the Synod.  A Principle, evidently introducing a Separation of the Synod, both as to Bishops and Clergy, and of the Clergy among themselves, when Discontents happen to arise among the Presbyters, or Designs against Episcopacy shall be set a foot. For if they be not Included in the Continuation Above, it is wholly at their own Pleasure whether they will attend at the next meeting of their Lordships: The Precedent can have no right in Law to oblige them to attend, or to punish them for non attendance, which upon that Supposition of their Adjourning themselves) is no Disobedience to any Command of his Grace, or Contempt of His Authority. The present Presbyters of our Church may probably be content to observe their Lordship's Days. But I think Wise Men, in the Settlement of all Constitutions, are wont to look a little beyond the present time: And should the Inferior Clergy of the next Age, be disposed to take all Advantages which these Principles of their Predecessors (supposing them to be now established) would give, I ●ee not what Fence the Church or Bishops will have against a Presbyterian Assembly.  
The same Principle opens a ready way to Divisions among the Inferior Clergy themselves: Suppose (for the purpose) that any number of the Lower-house Members should dislike the Proceed, and refuse to attend in pursuance of the separate Adjournment of the Majority; neither the House, nor the Prolocutor have a Right in Law Temporal or Ecclesiastical to oblige them to it. 
Reflect. on Exped. p. 10.  " The Effect whereof (as hath been observed elsewhere) is a Session, under the Name of a Synodical-Meeting, protested against by the Archbishop, Bishops, and any number of the Inferior Clergy under the Majority; and, which is yet worse, no Provision made by the Laws, either of Church or State, to reunite even the Clergy themselves. The Archbishop, who Summons the Clergy, hath also a Right to enforce their Attendance according to the Continuations that shall be made in the Upper-house; which is a coherent Scheme of Government, and will perpetually secure the Unity of the Synod. The Presbyterian Assemblies also are at least thus far regular, that the Assembly which Adjourns, is supposed by them to have a Power of proceeding to Censures in case of non-attendance. But the present Claim of separate Adjournments made by Episcopal Divines under the Persuasion of a Want of Power to enforce Attendance, is (in my Apprehension) a very inconsistent Scheme, and has a direct Tendency to perpetual Distractions and Divisions, both between the Bishops and their Clergy, and among the Clergy themselves.  

A separate Power takes away all the Means of reuniting the Synod.  I will add, That if this Principle (I mean a Right in the Clergy to Adjourn, tho' they have no Power to enforce Attendance) were true, it would not only break the Union of the Synod, but take away all the means of reuniting it. The Precedent has the Power of Censures, but he cannot inflict them for Non-attendance, upon Persons not enjoined upon his Authority to attend: The Lower-house by this Principle are supposed to have the Right of enjoining their Members to attend, but then they have no Authority in case of Non-attendance to censure and punish. This Scheme therefore is a very unworthy Reflection upon the Wisdom of our Constitution: It supposes a Power lodged in the Governors of our Church over the Inferior Members thereof, for the Preservation of Peace and Union; and yet that the Inferior Members are exempted from that Power: It supposes also an easy way left open for factious Spirits to destroy the Union, and by degrees the Being, of our Episcopal Church, without any Provision made to repair the Breach, and restore that Union: That is, it makes our Constitution an incoherent and inessectual Scheme of Government; below the Wisdom even of Human Policy, and much more unbecoming the Dignity of an Apostolical Institution.  
These Principles, you observe, make all Attendance, whether on his Grace's Days or their own, a mere voluntary Act of every particular Member of the Lower-house; there being no Coercive Power to reach or censure them for Non-attendance. The Majority in the last and present Convocations have not yet exerted the Right which their Principles would give, of denying Attendance when the Upper-house met; 
Intermediate Sessions a great Irregularity, and Mischief to our Church.  but they have held several INTERMEDIATE SESSIONS without their Metropolitan and Bishops; a short State whereof I will give the Reader out of a late Letter to the Author of the Expedient proposed: 
Reflect. on Exped. p. 11.  " You say, (p. 15. c 2.) that you have Precedents for meeting on Intermediate Days, and threaten to exert that Power, except the Upper-house will submit to your Method of Continuing. But is it a fair part in you, to leave your Reader to imagine, that such Meetings, as a House, are warranted by a Number of unexceptionable Precedents, when you know in your Conscience that no more than two can be fairly pretended, and that the Invalidity of these two has been shown at large. The first, that of May 9 1640. (as you very well know) happened at a time when neither Bishops nor Clergy were sure of their being a legal Convocation, and will equally justify the Clergies Adjourning to a Day beyond the Appointment of the Upper-house; which yet is a Practice disowned by the Advocates for Intermediate Sessions. When the second Adjournment of this kind happened, the Archbishop was in Custody, and the Bishops (justly Apprehensive of Danger amidst the popular prejudices of those times against their Order) could not think it safe to come together, nor had they met in Convocation some Weeks before. These, together with the want of Authority in the Minutes, and some other Exceptions, have been urged so largely already, that I am ashamed to see one (who could not but know all this) insisting upon them, without any attempt to remove the Objections; and also referring to these two in such general terms as may lead the Reader into a Belief of many more.  
" There is another Objection (and that a very material one) equally concluding against these two Precedents, viz. That no Business appears to have been done on either of the Days to which the Adjournments were made, when yet the Preparation for business is the only pretence upon which the Claim of Intermediate Days is advanced. If therefore Men were serious in their Inquiries about the Usage of former Times, in order to make it a Rule to their present Practice; they would consider how the Sessions of the Lower House have stood with regard to those of the Upper, at times when business of moment was depending in Convocation: Because then, we may suppose, the Clergy would have Exerted this Power, if they had thought themselves possessed of it.  

The Clergy of former times did not think of Intermediate Sessions. " Now, this Notice is not to be had, but from concurrent Journals of the two Houses; the first of which are in the Years 1586, and 1588. when we have no more than Extracts out of the Registers of the Upper House; but all the Sessions that are expressed (above 20 in Number) concur exactly with those of the Lower House, without any Appearance of Intermediate Meetings.  
" The next concurrent Books that remain, are those in the two Convocations of 1640, the Minutes whereof express the Days of several of the Sessions, and they all appear to answer the Continuations of the Upper House; except the two we just now mentioned, which are so fully and particularly accounted for elsewhere.  
" The Compilers of the late Narrative (p. 37.) speaking of the two Instances in 1640, add, We may fairly prefume, we might have found more in other Convocations, if the Books of both Houses had been extant to have been compared. Two Instances, so exceptionable and under such singular Circumstances, could be no fair ground for such a presumption: But if Intermediate Meetings were any where to be expected, no time so likely as in the Convocation which begun May the 8th, 1661. the first after the Restoration: For in that, the whole Common Prayer was Revised, several Prayers and Services added, many Canons and Constitutions compiled, and other Matters of great Importance transacted. In all this work, the Clergy under Direction of the A. B. and Bps, had their constant share, as appears distinctly from the Original Register of the Upper House (from May 8. 1661., to Sept. 19 1666.) which has been all along thought to be lost but by great Providence was lately retrieved.  
" The Constant Style of Continuations in this Register, is the same with that of 1640.— Dominus, etc. de & cum Consensu Confratrum suorum, Continuavit & Prorogavit hujusmodi Convocationem sive sacram Synodum Provincialem. The Book contains above 140 Sessions; and all that while the Sessions of the Lower House are distinctly set down in Mr. Mundy's Minutes. I have made an exact Comparison of them, and find not the least footstep of an Intermediate Meeting; though both the Nature and the Length of the business before them, would have prompted them at that time, more than any other, to hold Intermediate Sessions, had they dreamt of such an Inherent Power of Adjourning as some of their Successors have lately taken up.  
And yet in the last Convocation, several of these Intermediate Sessions were held by the Majority of the Lower House, with all the appearance of Synodical Meetings. Suppose then, that the Members of some Presbyterian Assembly, taking the Advantage of one of those Sessions, had entered their Claim of Alliance to that Majority of the Lower House, as meeting, sitting, acting, and departing, upon the sole Authority of Presbyters, without any Appearance of a Superior Order; I fear, they would hardly have been driven from their Claim, except the Lower House Members could have pleaded that they met there by the Authority, or at least the Permission of their Metropolitan and Bishops; and yet these their Ecclesiastical Superiors (it is well known) had publicly declared against such Intermediate Sessions, and against all the business transacted in them, as Vnsynodical.  
Tho' therefore an Inherent Power of Continuing, with a Right thereupon to hold Intermediate Sessions, had some countenance from the Practice of former Convocations, as we see they have none; yet it could be no decent part in Episcopal Divines to contend with all this Zeal for Privileges so favourable to the measures of Presbytery. And I hope, before the Majority of the present Lower House resume these Claims and return to the like Practices, they will consider how little warrant they have from antecedent Practice, and how mischievous they are in the Consequences to our Episcopal Constitution.   

Observations touching the RIGHT to determine Controverted Elections.  

Instances of Controverted Elections occurring in the remaining Acts. An. 1586. p. 140. App.  THE first instances we find of determining Elections in Convocation, are those two set down at large in the Journal of 1586, Sess. 3, 4. which need not therefore be transcribed in this Place. Anno 1586. The Elections of both the Proctors for the Diocese of Norwich happened to be controverted; and being also different Choices in the two Archdeaconries, they were thereupon two different Cases. One was heard and determined by the Archbishop in the Upper House, the other by the Prolocutor in the Lower.  
1. As to that in the Lower House, we find (Sess. 3.) that the Prolocutor ad veritatem in hac parte inquirendam juramento oneravit quosdam, etc. de modo observato antehac in hujusmodi Electione, etc. Qui sic jurati dixerunt & deposuerunt prout sequitur, etc.— Then the Prolocutor assignavit Magistro Knewstubbs ad proponendum causas quare Mr. D. Dey, non admitteretur in Coetum hujus Domûs in proxim.—— Sess. 4. D. Dey desires: to be admitted, and his Competitor showing no reasonable Cause why he should not, Dominus Prolocutor decrevit dictum Magistrum Dey recipiendum fore in Procuratorem ejusdem Cleri & in Coetum hujus Donûs, eumque sic recepit.  
2. Concerning the other Election determined in the Upper House; the Index (the only account that remains of their Lordship's proceed at that time) has this Note under the Session in which the Prolocutor gave Judgement. Nou. 11. Decided against Mr. Thorowgood for Mr. West in a Cause of Election to be Clerks in Convocation. And we find in the Lower House Journal of the same Day, that the Prolocutor (having notice by the Register of his Grace's Sentence for Mr. West against Mr Thorowgood) intimavit haec omnibus praesentibus, & monuit eos ad recipiendum eundem Magistrum West in Coetum hujus Domûs.  

An. 1640.  Anno 1640. Nou. 11. The Minutes of the Lower House give this Account. Eodem die orta fuit Contentio sive Disputatio quoad Electionem Procuratorum Cleri pro Diaeces. Lincoln, & lecta prius—— ad audiend. eandem elegerunt tres Decanos, tres Procuratores pro Capitulis, & tres Procuratores pro Diaeces. [all named;] quibus commisserunt ad conveniend. prox. die 12 Nou. post meridiem in dicto loco inter horas secundam & quartam, etc.— The Committee met accordingly, & post maturam deliberationem, etc. ordinavit ut sequitur, Whether Proctors are lawful in the choice of Proctors; and if Lawful, Whether it doth avail non designatis personis; and for aught yet appears to the Committee, the Custom observed in the Diocese of Lincoln hath been, that Proxies have prevailed. It is desired on both sides, that their Counsel may be heard in Law.  
The next Session, Nou. 14. The Upper House Register says, Reverendissimus accersiri fecit Dominum Prolocutorem & sex alios Domûs Inferioris. Quibus comparentibus, Reverendissimus cis significavit, quòd ipse audivit esse quasdam discrepantias inter quosdam Clericos citra eorum Electines; & voluit eos ut ipsi & alii dictae Domûs easdem examinarent & determinarent juxta Juris Exigentiam & Consuetudines cujuslibet Diaeceseos, donec aliter ordinatum fuerit. Whereupon they proceeded the same day to the business recommended by his Grace; and the Examinations and final Decisions ran in the Name of the House, as Commissioned for those purposes.— Nou. 14. Domini continuarunt ulteriorem determinationem hujus materiae— & statuerunt, ut partes hinc inde introducerent eorum Consilium— Nou. 21. Coram Dominis Praelatis & Cleris Domus Inferioris Convocat. etc. comparuerunt Mri. Hirst, Tuckney, & Palmer, etc. in quorum praesentiis (post Suffragia Domûs in eâ parte fact.) declararunt & ordinarunt, etc.— Nou. 25. Domini consenserunt, eò quòd Mr. Porter suit absens, se nolle finem huic Negotio imponere hoc die, sed declararunt se velle finale suum decretum interponere die Sabbati prox.— Domi ni unanimi consensu aequum censuerunt, rebus sic stantibus, nibil statuendum aut agendum fore debere, etc. Nou. 29. Suffragiis in ea parte promulgatis (nempe 29. pro Mr. Thorowgood & 16 pro Mro. Porter, etc.) Dominus Prolocutor de & cum Consensu, etc. pronunciavit pro Electione dicti Magistri Thorowgood, & revocavit, etc.— Dec. 2. Dominus de & cum consensu, etc. pronunciavit pro Electione Doctoris Sanderson & Hirst, etc. & admisit, etc.— Jan. 27. Upon a Petition for a Review of the Election for the Diocese of Lincoln, habitâ priùs maturâ consideratione Contentorum in petitione mentionat '. Domini Praelati dictas respectiuè partes interrogarunt, etc. [Whether they would finally acquiesce in the Sentence upon that Review '] They agree to acquiesce; Unde Domini ex causis & promissis praedict. decreverunt pro Revisione & Re-examinatione dicti Negotii, & ad interponend. finale Judicium in prox. etc.—— Feb. 3. After this Review, dicta Domus ad eorum finale decretum processit; and according to the Majority upon a Division then made, Dominus Prolocutor ratificavit & confirmavit Electionem D. Sanderson & Hirst.  

Anno 1689.  Anno 1689. Sess. 11. In the Upper-house-Book: Comparuit personaliter Johannes Cawley Sacrae Theologiae Professor, Archidiaconus (ut asseruit) Archidiaconatûs Lincoln, & introduxit & exhibuit supplicem Libellum sive Petitionem in Scriptis concept '; in quâ querelatus est, quòd licet se fuisse per 23 Annos ac in praesenti esse Archidiaconum Archidiaconatûs Lincoln, ac per Episcopos Lincoln pro tempore Existen ' tanquam Archidiaconum Lincoln citat '. ad comparend '. in Convocationibus: Praemissis tamen non obstantibus, Reverendus Pater ac Dominus Dominus Thomas, Permissione Divinâ Lincoln. Episcopus, quendam Thomam Oldys in Legibus Baccalaureum tanquam Archidiaconum Archidiaconatûs Lincoln. citasse ad comparend. in hâc Convocatione sive Sacrâ Synodo Provinciali in praejudicium Juris & Tit●li fui & in hâc Convocatione nunc sedere. Quare humiliter petiit Jus & Justitiam sibi in hac parte fieri & ministrari. Unde Reverendus Pater Praeses antedictus, cum consensu Confratrum suorum Episcoporum predict ', hanc Petitionem recepit & legi mandavit: Quâ lectâ, dictus Reverendus Pater Praeses antedictus mihi in mandatis dedit, ad tradend '. Copiam ejusdem Petitionis praefato Magistro Oldys, & ad eum informand '. quòd compareat die Veneris prox. cum Responsis suis dictae Petitioni in Scriptis concept '. & decrevit ut dictus Doctor Cawley tunc compareat.  
Sess. 12. Venerabilis Vir, Thomas Oldys Clericus, Archidiaconus (ut asseruit) Archidiaconatûs Lincoln '. comparuit, & dedit responsum suum in Scriptis concept '. Petitioni sive supplici Libello aliàs contra eum ultimâ Sessione hujus Convocationis ex parte Johannis Cawley Sacrae Theo. Profess. asseren se esse Archidiaconum Lincoln. exhibit '. Quod responsum, de mandato dicti Reverendi Patris Praesidis antedicti, fuit per me Notarium Publicum antedictum publicè lectum: Quo lecto, & dicto Magistro Oldys pro praesenti dismisso, dictus Reverendus Pater Praeses antedictus & caeteri Episcopi super petitione & responsis praedict. maturè deliberdrunt, & postea decreverunt dictos Doctorem Cawley & Magistrum Oldys intromittend '. fore. Quibus comparentibus, dictus Reverendus Pater Praeses antedictus, cum Consensu Confratrum suorum Episcoporum praedict. eò quòd eis constat duas Sententias Definitivas fuisse contra dictum Doctorem Cawley in eodem latas, unam in almâ Curiâ Cant. de Arcubus, & alteram in supremâ Curiâ Delegatorum; & quòd Commissio pro Revisione dicti negotij fuit per Serenissimos in Christo Principes ac Dominos nostros Dominos Willelmum & Mariam Dei Gratiâ Angliae, Scotiae, Franciae & Hiberniae Regem & Reginam fidei Defensores, etc. ad petitionem dicti Doctoris Cawley concessa, & quòd idem negotium per Judices Revisionis non est adhuc decisum, dimisit dictum Magistrum Oldys ab omni ulteriori Judicij observatione.  
The foregoing Instances are all the Light we have from our Books, touching the Determination of Controverted Elections: And I observe from them,  

No question, whether the Archbishop have a Right to determine Elections.  1. That it is no part of the Question, Whether the Metropolitan at the Head of his Suffragan-Bishops, have a Right to receive Petitions touching controverted Elections? or, Whether he may proceed to the Examination and final Decision of them in the Upper-house? The Exercise of all these appears evidently in the Instances of 1689, where we see a Petition is offered, received and considered; and of 1586, where Sentence is actually given by his Grace. And what can be more reasonable, than that the Archbishop who by his Mandate order the Election of Members, and has the Returns of all Elections made ultimately to him; who also at the Opening, appoints his Commissioners to examine those Returns, and during the Convocation, presides over the Lower as well as the Upper House; what (I say) can be more natural than that he should have a direct and immediate Right to take Cognizance how far such Elections, with the Returns thereupon, are duly and regularly made? But I could never learn how the Lower-house could have a Power to Interpose about Returns (whether made unduly or not at all) otherwise than by Petitioning the Metropolitan, upon some extraordinary Occasion, that he will please to demand or examine them, as of right to be made to him, and none else. But in the Acts of the last Convocation, Anno 1700. Sess. 4. 
The Lower-house have no Right to intermeddle in Returns.  I find an Instance of the Lower-house's taking Cognizance of a Return, and that in a very singular manner: The Words are these, Propositum fuit per Guil. Bincks S. T. P. etc. ad effectum sequen. That whereas there hath been no Return made from the Chapter of Litchfield of a Member to serve for them in this present Convocation; and whereas the said William Bincks being a Member of that Chapter, informed this House, that the Defect of such Return was occasioned by a Dispute that happened before the said Chapter, concerning the Election of a Proctor to represent them: That therefore this House would order a Letter to be sent, signed by Mr. Prolocutor in the name of this Lower-house, to the Dean and Chapter of the said Cathedral Church of Litchfield, desiring them forthwith to transmit the whole Proceed concerning the said Election, under their common Seal, to this House: Cui consensum fuit.  
This so Solemnly passed and entered thus circumstantially, may be a temptation to Presbyters (if the same Spirit should hereafter arise) to take the cognizance of Returns, and thereby the Jurisdiction over the Members, out of the hands of the Metropolitan. But care (I hope) will be taken to leave some public testimony of the offence it gave to his Grace and the Bishops, whose Rights were jointly invaded by this Act of the Lower House. For it is very plain, both in Law, Reason, and Practice, that the Enquiry after such a Return, aught to have gone by the same Course or Channel, through which the Return itself (if made) was to have passed, viz. from the Archbishop to the Bishop, and from the Bishop to the Dean.  
2. It is no part of the Dispute, Whether the Metropolitan may enjoin the Inferior Clergy to Examine and Determine Controverted Elections? His Grace's Power to require their Assistance, and their Obligation to pursue his Directions, are both sufficiently expressed in that remarkable Instance from the second Convocation of 1640.  
3. Nor can it be a question, Whether his Grace, having Commissioned the Prolocutor or Lower House, to examine any doubtful Election, may not take it out of their hands into his own immediate Cognizance, if he see Cause. This (I think) is a Rule in most Commissions; and an Express Reservation to that purpose is made in this of 1640, empowering them to proceed donec aliter ordinatum fuerit.  
Thus, the Archbishop's Right to determine Controversies about Elections, is uncontested: But the Question is, Whether the Right be solely in his Grace, exclusive of the Inferior Clergy, or, Whether the Lower House have not a concurrent Right?  

The Arguments for a concurrent Right in the Lower-house, considered. Anno 1586  In behalf of a Concurrent Right, two Instances are pleaded.  
I. That of 1586. Sess. 3. 4. Where we find the Prolocutor examining Witnesses upon Oath, appointing the Parties a time of Appearance, and then giving the final Sentence or Judgement. But we must observe, as to the Point before us,  
1. That the Upper-House-Books of that time are not in being; nor can it possibly be known whether he had not such a Commission from his Grace, as we are sure was given afterwards to the Prolocutor and Lower House in 1640. Two Elections of the same Diocese were determined the same day, one by the Archbishop, the other by the Prolocutor: And I think it is not likely that one of these Appellants should make original Application to the Upper, and the other to the Lower House; but much more probable, that the Petition in both Cases was first offered to his Grace, and that he divided the Work of Examining and Determining, between himself in the Upper, and the Prolocutor in the Lower House.  
2. The Prolocutor (we see) examines the Witnesses upon Oath; and the very Writer, who in all other respects is the main Advocate for the Independence of the Lower House, solves the Prolocutor's giving an Oath, by an Authority derived immediately from the Archbishop. The Words are these: 
P●…er of the Lower-house, p. 7. c. 2.  The Prolocutor was on that Day put into the Archbishop's Commission for Proroguing the Upper House, in order (I suppose) to empower him to give Oaths, as he did at the trial of an Election that day below. I know the Narrative says, 
P ●4.  in the Name of the Majority, That they are well assured that the Prolocutor has this Power by Virtue of his Office. This is roundly spoken; but to make others also assured, it had been kind to offer some Reasons why the Prolocutor of the Spiritual Commons is in this Particular above the Speaker of the Commons Temporal? And such Reasons had been the more necessary, when they took upon them to descent from the express Judgement of a Writer, who understands the Value of his own Opinions too well to be easy under Contradiction.  
But leaving that Point to be disputed between this Author and the Majority of the House; the Circumstance upon which I chief insist in this Matter, is,  

It was not the House, but the Prolocutor, who determined the Election.  3. That those of the Lower Clergy contend not for this Power of determining Elections, as lodged in the Prolocutor, but in their House; and not the least Mention is made of the House or any Member of it in determining this Election of 1586. but the Proceeding and Sentence run solely in the name of the Prolocutor. The Question therefore is, By whose Authority was that Sentence given? It must be either from his Grace, or from the House. The Journal, tho' very exact and particular, makes not the least mention of the House's interposing; which Silence is the stronger Argument that they had no Right to interpose (the Matter in all appearance being committed to the Prolocutor alone) because in the other Instances of 1640. when the Prolocutor and Lower Clergy were all equally concerned, the whole Proceeding was carried on in the name of the House; Coram Dominis Praelatis & Cleris comparuerunt; Domini, and Domini Praelati interrogârunt, determinationem continuàrunt— consenserunt, censuerunt rebus sic stantibus nihil statuendum, etc. And when they came to Sentence, Domus ad eorum finale decretum processit, and, Post Suffragia Domûs in eâ parte fact. declararunt & ordinarunt— Suffragiis in eâ parte promulgatis, Dominus Prolocutor, de & cum consensu, etc. pronunciavit.—  
Considering how distinctly the Minutes of 1640. express the part which the House had in these Proceed, I leave it to the Opinion of every Reader, whether the complete Journal of 1586. would not have left us some Footsteps at least of the Houses Concern at that time, either in the Course of the Proceeding, or at least the final Sentence, if the Cause had not been committed to the sole Examination and Decision of the Prolocutor. And if the Power was solely in him, it can be no Question, whether he derived from the House (who were present, and might as well have proceeded by their own immediate Authority, if any such had been lodged in them) or from the Archbishop, who could not be there in Person, whose Absence the Prolocutor supplies in all other Respects, and who was also hearing a like Cause in the Upper-house at the same time.  

The Instance of 1640. considered.  II. The other Instance of a Right in the Lower-house to take Cognizance of Elections, concurrent with that of his Grace, is in some respects more full to their purpose than the foregoing Testimony. In the Year 1640. Nou. 11. the House appointed a Committee upon a controverted Election in Lincoln-Diocese; which Committee met Nou. 12. and yet the Archbishop appears not to have interposed till Nou. 14. nay, the Preface to the Order he then gave, shows that to have been the first time of his interposing, Reverendissimus eis significavit, quòd ipse audivit esse quasdam discrepantias, etc. As far then as a single Instance can affect the Rights of a Judicial Court, and alter the natural Course of legal Proceed, and establish a concurrent Jurisdiction; so far is this Instance before us a Testimony of the Lower-house's Right to inquire into the Circumstances of doubtful Elections. I say, to Inquire; 
It goes no farther than Enquiring-  for this Precedent goes no farther than an Enquiry about the Custom of the Diocese in their Election of Proctors; and a Right founded upon a single Precedent, can never be extended beyond that Precedent. It proceeds not to a formal Examination of Witnesses upon Oath, and much less to a final Judgement. These, and all the other marks of a Judicial Proceeding, commence upon his Grace's Special Order to the Prolocutor and House, ut examinarent & determinarent juxta Juris Exigentiam, & Consuetudines cujuslibet Dioeceseos, donec aliter ordinatum fuerit.  
From which Order (I think) these three things are fairly inferred, 1. That if Archbishop Laud had thought the Lower-house to have an inherent Power of Examining and Determining Judicially, he would not have interposed in that Matter, after they were actually entered upon their Inquiries. 2. That if the Clergy themselves had believed such a Power to be lodged in their House, they would have declared against that Interposition, as an Invasion of their own inherent Authority. 3. That in Virtue of the Reservation (donec aliter ordinatum fuerit) it still remained in his Grace's Power to revoke that Order, and either to put a stop to the Proceeding, or to remove it (as he should see cause) to his own immediate Cognizance.   

III. An Additional Account of the Substitution of a Prolocutor.  
IN explaining the Election and Office of a Procutor (Chap. IU.) I took occasion to consider how far he had a Right to make a Substitution in cases of Sickness or Business. For tho' the Speaker of the House of Commons, as executing that Office upon a Royal Confirmation, never pretended to depute another; tho' also the Confirmation of the Archbishop and Bishops be no less necessary, in order to execute the Office of a Prolocutor; and tho' (lastly) it appear that Applications for leave to substitute in those Cases have been actually made to the Upper-house; yet against all these it had been confidently affirmed, that the Deputations of this kind might be made without the Archbishop's Consent or Privity; 
Power of the Lower-house, p. 9 c. 1.  and the manner of making them is farther urged, to give the Prolocutor some such Figure in the Lower-house, as the Archbishop is known to have in the Upper.  

The late Substitution in 1701.  That Writer had concealed all the Instances of Application for Leave made to the Precedent and Bishops; but he was afterwards put in mind of them by the Author of the Right of the Archbishop. 
p. 66, 67.  Very lately, a Substitution being made by the Prolocutor upon the Authority of a Precedent (already considered) in the Year 1640, 
V Sup. p. 76.  the Person so deputed was actually put into the Chair, without the Approbation or Knowledge of the Archbishop and Bishops.  

The Account of it in a Paper marked Numb. 1.  To justify the Proceed of the Majority in this and some other Particulars, a Paper came out, marked Numb. 1. in the way of a News-Letter; and in Truth much of the same Authority, both in the Relation of Facts, and the Reasonings upon them, with the flying Intelligence of other kinds. Only there is this difference in the Case of our Ecclesiastical News-Writer and his Brother Intelligencers; their imperfect Representations are usually the Effects of Ignorance and Haste; but his savours too much of Partiality and Design.  
God knows, it is a sad Omen to our poor Church, that any of her own Ministers can thus triumph in her Misfortunes, and comply with such mean methods to proclaim her Breaches, and make her the public scorn of her Enemies. For the sake of our Church and Religion, may the Author of these Methods be once brought to such a Spirit and Temper, as shall at least oblige him to common Decency, or however restrain him from such open and virulent abuses of his Ecclesiastical Governors. 
Orders made in Convocation against the Publication of Debatés whil●… depending▪  He seems to have overcome the obligations of Duty, but may remember that in some former Convocations particular Orders have been made against Revealing the Debates, even in Discourse, till finished; and that upon Penaltiés, which he is taking great Pains to Deserve.  
Anno 1529. Sess. 3. Reverendissimus monuit omnes sub poenâ Excommunicationis, ne aliquis revelet extra-Domum aliquibus personis cujuscunqué Statûs; nisi inter Semetipsos.  
Anno 1529. Sess. 19 Reverendissimus omnes & singulos admonuit ne quicquam revelent de hujusmodi Communicatione.  
Anno 1529. Sess. 20. Episcopus London Commissarius, etc. monuit omnes ne quicquam Revelarent ibi dictum vel recitatum, sub poenâ Excommunicationis latae Sententiae.  
Anno 1541. Sess. 8. Accessit Prolocutor cum quibusdam de Electis à Clero, & exposuerunt querelas suas, etc. ubi Reverendissimus praecepit ne quid effutirent de rebus ipsis expositis.  
Anno 1557. The Archbishop having explained to the Bishops and Clergy the Causes of the Convocation, viz. the Reformation of Abuses in the Church, etc. enjoins them to consider of proper methods, Et quid sibi videatur, Voluit eos sibi servare.  
Anno 1588. Sess. 4. The Prolocutor (having been in the Upper House to receive directions about the Subsidy, which was afterwards considered and debated below) monuit omnes praesentes ne publicè revelarent tractata & gesta isto die.  
Anno 1640. Sess. 5. Apr. 25. Et ulteriùs, pro meliori Expeditione negotiorum hujus sacrae Synodi, idem Reverendissimus, cum consensu & assensu corundem Confratrum suorum, ordinavit, Quòd nullus Episcopus aut aliquis è Clero Copiam Canonis aut partis Canonis proposituri & tractaturi exscribere aut de aliquo hujusmodi Canone foras fabulare praesumpserit, donec hac Convocatione sive Sacrâ Synodo plenary & finaliter assensum & sacra Regia Majestate approbat. erit, sub poena Suspensionis cujuslibet è Clero per tres menses, & Synodicae monitionis pro quolibet Praelato qui ita peccaverit, prout in Actu Synodico sequen. continetur, viz. etc.— Dominus Prolocutor venit cum 5 aliis è Domo Inferiori; & eye declaravit istum Actum Synodicum praeceden. & voluit eundem Dominum Prolocutorem ad declarand. istum Actum toto Coetui dictae Domûs. Mox revertebat, & dixit se & totum Coetum Domûs Inferioris consensum & assensum suos Confectioni dicti Actûs Synodici adhibuisse & eundem unanimiter approbâsse.  
The Convocations in which those strict Provisions for Secrecy were made, would without doubt have animadverted severely upon such a shameful Method of sending the Debates (I am sorry to say, the Divisions) Session by Session, into all parts of the Kingdom. But after a general request to this Writer, that in the manner of venting his Resentments, he will at least have a greater regard to the honour of our Church; I will consider the Matter of his Paper so far as it concerns the Substitution of a Prolocutor, and affects the Account I have given of this Point. 
Chap. 4. p.  His Insincerity in the other parts of that Relation has been already laid open; and this about Substitutions (as depending upon the Registers of Convocation) is the only Head that falls under my Consideration.  

Reasons why a Sub-Prolocutor ought to be confirmed in the Upper House.  In the fourth Chapter (p. 74.) I infer a necessity that the Substitute be admitted and confirmed by the Upper House, because without this, he is not the Person agreed on between the Bishops and Clergy for the mutual conveyance of their Messages; nor can their Lordships receive any thing from him as the Sense of the Inferior Clergy, and much less Return their own Pleasure by him. Add to this, that at the Opening of Convocation, and in the middle upon Death or Promotion, the Clergy cannot proceed to an Election without his Grace's leave; nor was he ever thought to be qualified for the Exercise of any part of the Office, before Confirmation. He blames me for a further observation to the same purpose (Right of the Archbishop, p. 67.) that neither the Speaker of the House of Commons, nor the House it self have the Power to Substitute a Speaker. But however I had declared all along against inferring an Independence of the Lower House from the Independence of the Commons, it was (I hope) no unseasonable Suggestion to those who so much desire to make the Proceed in Parliament their Rule, that in this point of Substitutions they go beyond their Rule, 'Tis true, the Dignitaries of the Lower House have a personal Right to be Summoned, and as such are capable of appearing by Proxy; but cannot actually appear so, without the consent and approbation of the Precedent. Nor is it at all to the purpose, to talk of the ordinary Substitutions of Proxies, unless that Power inferred an absolute and immediate Right to Substitute a Prolocutor or Speaker; 
See Chap. 3.  which he must needs know to be otherwise in the House of Peers, where the Nobility Substitute their Proxies, but not a Speaker.  

Instances of Substitutions o● Authority of the Upper House, defended against the late. Paper, Number 1.  These Considerations from the Reason of the thing, and the Nature of the Office, are confirmed (p. 75.) by Instances of Application to the Upper House upon the Substitution of a Prolocutor for the Lower. The first, that of Archdeacon Wolman, is too express to be evaded. Anno 1533. Sess. 3. in the Upper House Book, Ibidem Dominus Prolocutor D. Wolman affirmavit se aegrotum esse, & petiit ut durante infirmitate ejus, Mr. Fox si vellet adesse, vel Mr. D. Bell exerceret officium suum, & concessum est. And this instance is made more full and clear by the Additional Remark he brings out of some other Extracts, which are yet concealed. Another Extract from the same Register (says he, p. 8.) gives this further Account of it.— " Which done, the Prolocutor being Sick, desired that Mr. Fox, Archdeacon of Leicester, and Mr. Bell Archdeacon of Gloucester, might be Substituted in his Place." Ad cujus Petitionem, dictus Dominus Praesidens, cum consensu Dominorum Episcoporum, & Praelatorum, & Cleri, tunc praesentium, licentiavit dictum Ri. Wolmannum abesse pro tempore Infirmitatis suae.  
I know not certainly in whose hands these Extracts are, but must beg leave to think that in the Course of this Controversy we should have heard more of them, had they been to the Advantage of that side of the Cause. And considering that the present Disputes in Convocation have been chief owing to the want of Registers, the Proprietor (whoever he be) had an opportunity of showing his affection to truth and unity, by bringing forth these Extracts e'er now; in imitation of his Grace the Lord Archbishop, who so freely laid before the two Houses an entire Register he lately retrieved.  
Till it be known in whose hands they are, I must hope for no other light from them in this or any other particular, besides the Citation he has been pleased to produce. Supposing it therefore fairly and entirely repeated, the Observations I make upon it are, 1. That the Prolocutor evidently applies himself to his Grace and the Bishops, for leave to make the Substitution. 2. That we cannot conceive he would have made this Application, if the Substitution had been valid without it; or that he would have been suffered to make it, had the Lower House thought their own Consent and Authority sufficient. 3. That a Sub-Prolocutor is regularly constituted in the same manner as a Prolocutor, i. e. by the concurrence and agreement of both Houses; the formal Conveyance of the Authority belonging to his Grace.  
This Writer may refine, as nicely as he pleases, upon the Prolocutor's dislike of Archbishop Cronmer; but 'tis no part of the question, whether Sickness was the real Cause of his desire to make that Substitution, or only a pretence for Absence. Supposing it only a pretence, it must be carried on in the usual form; and 'tis enough in the present Case, that he actually applied to the Upper House, and pleaded his Indisposition, and had their express Leave to Substitute.  
2. The next Testimony of Application to their Lordships, is grounded upon a Memorandum of a Substitution, entered in the end of the Upper House Acts, Anno 1554. which (as I observe in the forementioned Chapter) 
Vid. supr. p. 75.  could not way have come into that Register, but as the Upper House had their share in the Substitution. Nor does the late Paper offer any thing to invalidate the Authority of this Testimony or my Inference from it, besides a precarious Supposition that it might possibly be taken from the concurrent Lower House Books; when in all the Acts of that Convocation, there are no signs that the Extracter had ever seen a Lower House Book of that time; much less that he had it then before him, or that omitting all the other Matters, he singled out this Substitution, as the only thing worthy of his Notice. 'Tis a sign the Case is Desperate, when Suppositions so very groundless are the best Defence that an Artful and Evasive Writer can find.  
3. I produce a third Instance from the Minutes of the Lower House in another Convocation of the same Year: Die Jovis, 5ᵒ. Aprilis, Praesidente Episcopo Londo●, praesentatur praedictus Prolocutor per N. Harpsfield & Jo. Wimblesey, ubi tractarunt de Eligendis quibusdam de Clero qui Vice totius Cleri mitterentur Oxoniam ad tractand. cum Domino Cranmero, Domino Ridleo nuper praetenso Episcopo London, & Hugone Latymer, de quibusdam Articulis Religionem concernentibus; & delecti sunt D. Weston, Oglethorp, Chedsey, Seton, Cole, Jefery, Fecknam & Harpsfield, ad effectum praedictum. Et quum praedictus Prolocutor non potuit adesse dictae Convocationi, Substituit N. Harpsfield & Johannem Wimbleseys, conjunctim & divisim in loco suo.  
The late Paper urges this instance in behalf of the Power of the Lower House, because it was entered in the Acts of that House: When the Writer could not but know, that as oft as the Lower Clergy appear before the Precedent and Bishops, the business thereof (particularly 〈◊〉 the Presentation of their Prolocutor) is entered of Course in the Lower House Journal as well as that of the Upper. And I have given the Acts of the Day entire (which for good reasons he did not think fit to do,) that no doubt may remain with the Reader, whether the Presentation of a Prolocutor, the Choice of Persons for the Dispute, and the Substitution immediately made upon the Prolocutor's being named for one, were not all done in the same Place; that is, in the Upper House.  
I take these three Instances to be full for the Power of the Upper House; especially the first, as it is more circumstantial than the other two. To these I will add a fourth, which makes not directly for either side; but is confidently urged by that Paper in favour of the Lower House.  
Anno 1562. Feb. 24. The Archbishop and Bishops Surrogatum Prolocutoris (dicto Prolocutore absent) ad se accersiri jusserunt. It is not said, that their Lordships sent for the Prolocutor, and that he being absent, his Surrogate came up, but that they sent for the Surrogatus Prolocutoris; which must imply, that they knew the Prolocutor had made a Substitution; and how can we more naturally account for that knowledge, than from the usual Application for Leave to do it?  

The Arguments for an Independent Power of Substitution in the Lower House, answered.  The Arguments opposed to these Testimonies, arise, 1. from the Want, and 2. from the silence of the Upper House Registers, at times when the Journals or Minutes of the Lower House make mention of a Sub-Prolocutor. But none of the Instances under either head speak of a Substitution, as made by the Prolocutor (one excepted, which is already accounted for, p. 75.) and they did not therefore properly come into that Account of the Election and Office of a Prolocutor: Nor are they at all serviceable to the Power of the Lower House, unless they mentioned the House as the sole Authors of the several Substitutions. For where the Registers of the Upper House are wanting, 'tis an equal doubt whether they did or did not Apply to their Lordships; and I hope, in some other Cases, the bare silence or omission of the Books of the Upper House (of the Debates whereof such Substitutions are not strictly a part) will not be set against positive Testimonies proving an actual Application for Leave. A bare Omission may be easily accounted for, upon the Negligence or Forgetfulness of a Register, or from his opinion that this matter (as a thing of Form) was not necessary to be inserted in the Acts; or lastly (which was the Case of three of these Instances) they might not happen on days of business, and so nothing was entered besides the Continuation in Form. By all, or any of these Suppositions, the Confirmation of a Sub-Prolocutor by the Precedent and Bishops, becomes consistent with the Silence of the Registers: But where the Journals speak of Substitutions actually made Above, no room is left for Suspicion that they were not made there; nor can any reason be assigned why they should be made and entered there, besides a persuasion in the Clergy of those times, that of themselves they had no Power to make such Substitutions.  
But to descend to the Particulars:  

Instances, where we want the Registers of the Upper House, of no force.  1. In some of the Instances which speak of a Sub-Prolocutor in the Lower House, we Want the Registers of the Upper. Anno 1586. Nou. 23. the Dean of Lichfield, and Dec. 2. D. Goodman, are said to Intimate the Continuations Nomine Domini Prolocutoris. The Writer of the late Paper observes upon these, that a good Abridgement of the Contemporary Registers of the Upper House, etc. mentions nothing of the Archbishop's Approving either of these Substitutions.  
This Abridgement has been very differently described on that Side; and the Designs of those different Characters are obvious enough. When its mentioning no Licence was to be an Evidence for D. Atterbury, 
Rights. etc. p 647. 662.  that such Licenses in those days were not thought necessary in order to treat or debate of Canons, it's reputation run high; it was a good Abridgement of the Journals of the Upper House, and not only so, but a full and particular Abridgement, giving an account of the Acts, etc. day by day, and leaf by leaf.  
Afterwards, it happened to be urged (in Concurrence with the Journals of the Clergy) 
Right of the Archbishop, p. 101.  against the Lower House and their Intermediate meetings; and the fullness and goodness of the Abridgement did evidently Enforce the Argument against that Claim. Upon this, it fell into disgrace with the Writer of the Power of the Lower House, etc. 
P. 13. c. 1  and presently shrunk into a short Abstract or Index of the Bishop's Journal.  
Of late, since this Question about Substitutions arose, it's Silence as to any Confirmations in the Upper House, was to make these two Deputations in 1586. the Sole effect of a Power in the Lower: Now therefore it has recovered its former Credit, and is restored to its ancient Title of a good Abridgement, and is to keep it, so long as it continues in the Service of that Side.  
In the mean time, what unsufferable Shifting and Glozing is this! To make the same Notes good and bad, a short Abstract and a full Account, now an Index and then a particular Abridgement; as the several Characters will help to disguise a defenceless cause. The truth is, this Abridgement is little more than an Index; but specifying in about twenty Instances the Days on which the Sessions were, and those the same with the Sessions in the Lower House; so far they became a proper proof against Intermediate Days. But I think the silence of Index's or Abridgements' so very lean, are not usually thought a proof, that this or that particular matter was not in the original Book. Not to observe, that the first of these two Instances which speak of a Sub-Prolocutor, happened on a day when the Upper House did not meet, but the Convocation was Continued by Commission.  

The bare Silence of the Upper House Books of no authority against positive Evidences.  2. In other places where the Minutes of the Lower House speak of Substitutions, their Lordship's Register is silent; and that Silence is the only argument pretended for their having no share therein.  
Anno 1661. June 14. Substitutus est Decanus Cicestrensis in locum Prolocutoris, durante absentiâ ejusdem.  
Anno 1662. May 5. D. Frank nominatur & eligitur in Vice-Prolocutorem.  
At both these times we have the original Registers of the Upper House: But, 1. It happens that the business transacted there on both Days is entered in gross, Reverendissimus post aliquod Tractatum cum Confratribus Continuavit, etc. and what particulars passed on either day, we cannot tell. 2. These Minutes don't say (any more than the Journal of 1586.) by whom or upon whose Authority these Substitutions were made. The Acts of 1586. speak of other Persons Continuing nomine Prolocutoris, and these Minutes speak of a Prolocutor's being substituted, and named, and chosen; but where and in what manner these things were done, Whether in the Upper or the Lower House? by the Bishops and Clergy, or by the Clergy alone? neither the Acts nor Minutes have told us. We have therefore no way to come to any knowledge about the manner of making these, but by interpreting such general Expressions in accommodation to other Substitutions, the Circumstances whereof are more particularly expressed. Such is that of Archdeacon Wolman recited above: And such also, as to the present Case, are the two other Substitutions in the Upper House; the Entries thereof in the Register of that House being a Circumstance which sufficiently proves Application to have been made there; and that Application, is the thing we contend for, as necessary to enable a Substitute to Act.  

The Precedent of 1640. particularly considered.  The only particular Entry upon the Lower House Books in any Convocation, is that of 1640. May 2. (repeated in short May 5.) Die Sabbati, 2. Maii 1640. Dominus Prolocutor apud ejus aedes in Westm. me praesente, constituit & ordinavit Doctorem Bargrave & Doctorem Nevil & eorum alterum conjunctim & divisim prose & ejus nomine pro hac Sessione, ad legend. preces in Domo Inferiori, etc. & vetum & Suffragium suum reddere pro Prorogatione prox. Sequent. etc. Et sactâ declaratione Constitutionis hujusmodi Clero Domûs Inferioris, Cleri eandem approbârunt.  
Here, the dispute is not, whether this be an Authentic Precedent as it stands in the Minutes of 1640. We question not its Authority, nor deny the Lower House any advantage that it will fairly Yield; but own (on the contrary) that in virtue hereof the Prolocutor's Proposal of the Person or Persons, and the Approbation of the House, are both Regular. But the only question is (and I once more leave it to the decision of every Reader) Whether the mere Silence of the Upper House Register, be a sufficient Argument that their Lordship's Confirmation is not necessary in such Substitutions? ' When this Silence can but amount at most to a probable proof that it was not given even in that Instance, ' When we have clear and certain testimonies of its being desired and given in other Instances, ' When also no account is to be given of the Application to the Upper House in those Instances, besides a persuasion among the Clergy, that it was the regular way; and lastly, ' When the contrary is attended with so many absurdities, as ' That a Prolocutor who himself cannot act till he be confirmed by the Precedent and Bishops, should have Power to Commission another to Act without Confirmation, ' That a Person who is to be the common Inter-nuncio between the two Houses, shall not first be approved by both, That their Lordships, who are to receive the Sense of the House, and to return their Pleasure to the House by his Hands, shall neither have previous Notice that he is the real Representative and Organ of the House, nor any Assurance that the House will reckon their Commands (if conveyed by him) obligatory and authentic.  

The Paper (Numb. 1.) speaks against the Sense of the House.  Notwithstanding these Absurdities, as well as the positive testimonies of Application to the Upper House; the Writer of the late Paper affirms in the name of the Majority, That they were thoroughly satisfied of their Right to depute a Prolocutor in such an Exigence as this, without acquainting his Grace and the Bishops at all with it. But if he should be mistaken in the Sense of that side or in his own Opinion that they will be governed by his Notions; it will not be the first Instance of his reckoning too hastily upon their implicit Concurrence. While the Generality continued in the Dark, they were glad to put themselves under the first Guide they could find; but as new Light broke forth, and the Constitution and Usages of an English Synod came to be more clearly seen, the Scheme which had been laid by a certain Author, appeared too extravagant for Practice; and he has had the Mortification to see his Principles tacitly dropped and disowned by his very Friends, in a Refusal to act and proceed upon them.  
So, upon this Head of Substitutions, the Writer of the late Paper proceeds all along upon a Power in the House independent on his Grace and the Bishops: And yet it is said (and he himself hints it) that a considerable Member on the same side declared openly, that they had no Intention to make a common Referendary without the Approbation of his Grace: which reduces the Point under Dispute, from that absolute Exclusion of the Cognizance of the Upper-house, to a Distinction between the Office of a Prolocutor and Referendary.  

No difference between a Prolocutor and a Referendary.  According to all the Observations I have been able to make upon this Office, and the mention of it in the Registers, I could never see the least difference in the Import and Meaning of these two Terms. The Prolocutor, or (as the Acts before the Reformation more usually write it) the Praelocutor, was the Person who spoke in the name of the Clergy, and reported to their Lordships their Resolutions and Answers, the whole Body of the Clergy being all the while present. From hence he was called Organum Cleri; and as that was originally the only Business of the Office, so the Person executing it is most commonly mentioned under the single Name of Prolocutor.  
His other Style is Referendarius; the most natural Interpretation whereof, is the Reporter of the Sense or Resolutions of a Body; and so it is used in our Registers before the Application of it to a Prolocutor. Anno 1411. Dec. 2. The King's Commissioners come to the Convocation, and the Chancellor who was empowered to speak for the rest, is called Referendarius: Per dictum Dominum Referendarium devocius Supplicatum; and again, dicto Domino Referendario & Dominis temporalibus qui intrarunt, se paululum retrahentibus. But that no Doubt may remain, whether this Name and that other of Prolocutor did imply the self same thing, the first formal Choice we find at the beginning of Convocation, was upon a Direction to the Clergy 
Anno 1425.  Ut unum Referendarium sive Praelocutorem ex seipsis eligerent, qui vice eorum omnium & singulorum causas exponeret & responsa. Again, Anno 1536, they are ordered to choose one of their Members in Referendarium & Prolocutorem, qui eorum nomine loqui possit. Anno 1562. Ut eligant in eorum Prolocutorem sive Referendarium, etc. and they present the Dean of St. Paul's in Prolocutorem sive Referendarium Domûs Inferioris electum.— Anno 1586 and 1588., they have leave to proceed ad Electionem futuri Prolocutoris, only; and yet the Journal mentions the Presentation conjunctively under both Titles. Anno 1640, in both Convocations, they are directed to choose Virum, etc. in eorum Prolocutorem five Referendarium; and at the Presentation upon both Choices the Register repeats the very same words.  
But to show that it makes no difference in the Language of Convocation, whether the Expression be Prolocutor, or Prolocutor & Referendarius, or Prolocutor five Referendarius; observe the promiscuous use of all the three in a Choice upon the Promotion of a Prolocutor, Anno 1661. Feb. 18. The Clergy are directed ut unum, etc. eligant in eorum Prolocutorem & Referendarium: They retire ad effectum eligendi, etc. in eorum Prolocutorem sive Referendarium: They present Dr. Barwick in Prolocutorem totius Cleri Domûs Inferioris unanimiter Electum: The Precedent and his Brethren confirm him in Prolocutorem sive Referendarium.  

The Duties belonging to the Office of Prolocutor, are all annexed to that of Reporting.  We see then, the promiscuous Use of these two Terms is as ancient as the first Election of a Prolocutor; and upon what Authority they are now made two distinct Offices, I know not. 'Tis plain, that the Reporting (or in other words the being a Referendary and a Speaker at the Head of the Body) was originally intended in the Office, and the only thing employed in both the Names; and the Business of Reading Prayers, and being the standing Moderator in their Debates, came in afterwards, when they grew into a separate House. So that these were the Consequences of the Referendary's Office, and annexed to it, and lodged in the Person of the Prolocutor, as first chosen and confirmed for the original End, that of Reporting. And therefore, at the beginning of Convocation, tho' his Grace actually direct the Choice of a Prolocutor, and a Person accordingly be Elected in form by the Clergy, yet he is not thought capable either of Moderating, or Reading Prayers, till he be Confirmed in the Office of Prolocutor or Common Referendary, and by Consequence in the other Offices annexed to it. Which Confirmation it is, that puts the Clergy in a Capacity to Act as a House, and the whole Convocation to proceed to business, upon that forma Establishment of a Correspondence between the two Houses. As therefore the Prolocutor is obliged to be always in readiness within the Synodical Hour to attend the Upper House and bring their Instructions to the Lower, so in Case of any Inability to pay such Attendance, it must certainly be his duty to give timely notice thereof to their Lordships; that either the Sitting of Convocation may be intermitted for the time, or (if business require) another Person may be chosen by the Clergy, and confirmed by the Precedent and Bishops, to put the Lower House in a condition to proceed, and to be for that Interval the known Internuncio between the two Houses.  
One thing more I would observe upon this head, That if the appointment of a Person to read Prayers, and moderate their Debates in the Chair, and so to make them a House, be in the Power of the Lower Clergy; and if the sole concern of the Upper House be afterwards in the confirmation of a Common Referendary; all the complaints against the Government for not suffering them to become a House by the choice of such a Person, turn directly upon themselves. For it was in their own Power (upon this Principle) to become a House when they pleased, and not the less so for his Grace's Delaying the Appointment of a Common Referendary. But in truth, since the Separation of the two Houses in their Debates, the title of Prolocutor has comprehended all the Offices of the Place, as the Confirmation of his Grace and the Bishops, has been ever thought to Instate him in the Office, and make the Lower Clergy a House, to act in a due Subordination to those their Superiors.  
And this new division of the Office is evidently framed to Support the notion of their being a Separate House, and in a Condition to debate business of their own, antecedent to this Act and the Authority of their Lordships: Which being once allowed, would quickly establish them in a  State, and open a way to any degrees of Independence they should hereafter please to insist on.   

iv Additional Observations touching the AUTHORITY of the SUMMONS to Convocation.  

The Authority of Summoning applied both to the King and the Archbishop.  P. 189. The title of the Convocation of 1562. (as of others since the Act of Submission) runs thus: 
Convocatio Praelatorum & Cleri Cantuar. Provinciae inchoat. in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Divi Pauli London, Auctoritate Brevis Regij Reverendissimo, etc. in hac parte directi, etc.   
P. 1. App. The form of holding a Convocation, drawn by Archbishop Parker for that of 1562. gins thus: 
Sciendum est quòd omnes qui Auctoritate Reverendissimi Domini Archiepiscopi Cant. citantur ad comparendum coram eo in in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Divi Pauli London, etc.   
The Titles of our Convocations before and since the Reformation agree in the first Clause, Convocatio Praelatorum & Cleri Cantuarlensis Provinciae; which shows that by our Protestant Constitution they are no less an Ecclesiastical and Provincial Synod of Bishops and their Clergy under one common head the Metropolitan of of the Province, than in the times of Popery they were. If therefore the Clergy (as has been pleaded of late) be not comprehended in that Phrase Convocationem Praelatorum & Cleri in the form of Continuing, they are by the same rule no Members of an English Convocation.  
But whereas the Convocations before the Reformation are generally said in the Title to be Factae per Reverendissimum, etc. upon the Submission Act the Style seems to have been changed, because the first title we have entire after that Act (this, I mean, of 1562.) makes the Convocation to be begun Auctoritate Brevis Regij Reverendissimo etc. direct. And yet we see that Archbishop Parker looked upon the Convocation of that very Year to be Cited or Summoned, Auctoritate Reverendissimi, etc.  
Hereupon a question arises about the true meaning of the term Authoritas, as used in these titles and on some other Occasions: In what Sense the Bishops and Clergy are said to be Summoned to Convocation by the King's Authority, and in what, by the Authority of the Archbishop?  

The Archiepiscopal Summons Authoritative before the Act.  It is agreed on all hands, that before the Act of Submission, an English Convocation was Summoned by the Sole Authority of the Metropolitan: Nor do we deny that Act to have been a considerable Abridgement of the Liberties of the Church in the matter of holding Synods, but only that it did not so far affect the Ecclesiastical Power as to change them into Civil Meetings, i. e. Meetings Summoned and acting in virtue of that Summons, immediately upon a Civil Authority.  

The Civil Summons, an argument of the Papists against our Reformation.  This Civil Summons and the Authority of it has been warmly asserted by two sorts of Persons, 1. By the Papists, who ever since the Reformation have taken the Advantage of that Act of Submission to asperse our Protestant Synods as Civil Meetings, and the Canons etc. made in them as of a Secular Original. 2. By some late Opposers of the Metropolitical and Episcopal Authority in Convocation: One of whom forms this New and very Uncanonical Scheme of Summoning and Holding Synods, upon that Expression in the Submission-Act.  
The Authority by which the Convocation meets, is now purely Royal: 
Power of the Lower House. p. 3. c. 1.  The words of the Act are express in the case— which shall always be assembled by Authority of the King's Writ.— So that since this Statute, the Archbishop's share in Convening them is not Authoritative but Ministerial. And when therefore, he frames his Mandate upon the King's Writ, he does it as the King's Instrument only, and the proper Officer who is to execute the Royal Summons.— The Argument arising from hence is, that his Grace has now no Authority to Convene the Body of the Clergy.  
Again, 
Ibid. p. 17. c. 1. 2.  An English Metropolitan, Presiding over a Synod, etc. called together not any way by his, but purely by Royal Authority. And in another place, 
Ibid. p. 20. c. 2.  The Convocation Subsists by the King's Writ.  
Let the most virulent Adversary of this Protestant Church, frame (if he can) a description of its Synodical Meetings, that shall be a deeper Reproach to our happy Reformation.  
Against the first sort of Adversaries, the Papists (and Protestants, one would think, should be as easily answered,) a full Vindication of our Reformed Church has been built upon the Genuine meaning of the Act of Submission interpreted according to the true intent thereof, and the antecedent and subsequent Practice, with other Circumstances; all which we have been forced more particularly to Urge and enforce of late, to defend the honour of our Constitution against the Second sort of Adversaries also. As,  

The intent of the Statute, no more than to restrain the Archbishop from exerting his Authority without the Royal Licence.  That the Crown did not want the Assistance of any Act, to have a Convocation at pleasure; because the Right of enjoining the Archbishop to Summon it in due form as our Princes saw Occasion, was always thought a Power Inherent in the Crown, and was all along practised in England, both before and since the Reformation; and is indeed a Right belonging to Christian Princes in general.  
But till the Act of Submission, the Archbishop also had a Power of Summoning Convocations (according to the Exigencies of the Church) without the permission or direction of the Royal Writ.  
And King Henry VIII. apprehending that the Archbishop, Bishops, and Clergy in Convocation might protest against or obstruct his Measures of Reformation, got a sufficient Security against that danger, by making himself (in virtue of that Act) the Sole Judge when a Convocation should be Summoned.  
As the King neither gained nor wanted more than this; so nothing was taken from the Archbishop but the ancient Right of Exerting his Summoning Authority AT PLEASURE; the Authority itself remaining Entire, and as full and effectual as ever, when that Restraint is taken off.  
The Power which the King gained, and the Archbishop lost, is expressed by the Statute in the word Always— Which shall Always be assembled by Authority of the King's Writ. Before that Statute, the Convocation had been sometimes called at the sole Motion and Pleasure of the Archbishop, and sometimes upon the Royal Writ; but since, the Archbishop is confined to wait for the Direction of the Royal Writ.  
The Intention therefore of directing the Royal Writ to the Archbishop, is twofold. 1. To signify the Pleasure of the Prince, that at that particular time his Grace shall exert the Summoning-Authority inherent in his See; as it has been ever exerted at the Command of the Kings of England. 2. To be a legal Discharge from the Restraint of this Statute, and a Security against the Penalties of Summoning without the Royal Licence.  

The word Authority in the Statute only implys a le- Leave or Licence.  For that the word Authority, as it stands in the Act, was intended for no more than a Leave or Licence to Summon, is evident from the very Submission (upon which the Act was immediately founded:)— We will never from henceforth, etc. unless your Highness by your Royal Assent shall Licence us to assemble our Convocation.— And from the Dedication of the Clergy to the King, prefixed to the Institution of a Christian Man.— Without your Majesty's Power and Licence we acknowledge and confess that we have not Authority to assemble together for any Pretence or Purpose, etc. And lastly, from the Style given to the Royal-Writ by Queen Elizabeth.— Cum Nos, etc. Archiepiscopo mandaverimus, eidémque Licentiam Concesserimus quòd Convocari faceret singulos Episcopos, etc.  
As therefore the Bishops and Clergy in Convocation, apprehensive of the Penalties of the Statute, have taken care to use the very Expression of it, with Reference to the Royal-Writ; so that Expression being directly taken from the Statute, is of course to be interpreted according to the Extent and Meaning thereof.  

The Archbishop's Summons Authoritative, from the Style of the Mandate and Returns.  The Methods of Summoning, antecedent and subsequent to that Statute, are a clear Argument that the Archbishop's Authority therein remained entire. That all his Summons before it (tho' issued upon a Royal Writ, and that expressly recited in the Mandate) were yet Authoritative, is not denied: And if this Act of Submission had been intended to change the Archiepiscopal Summons into a Ministerial Office, it would have given Directions for changing the Authoritative into a Ministerial Style; at least such a Change must of course have been made. But no such Alteration appears either in the Mandate or the Dean of the Province's Certificate of the Execution.  
The Writ comes to the Archbishop (for it can be directed to none else) in the same Style and Manner, as before the Statute it did; and is now no otherwise inserted in the Archiepiscopal Mandate than was usual before the Reformation. The Archbishop, directing that Mandate to the Dean of the Province, goes on, Breve Regis, etc. recepimus in haec verba.— After a recital of the Writ, he proceeds, Quocirca (i. e. having received this Royal Permission and Direction to exert the Summoning-Power inherent in the See) Fraternitati vestrae COMMITTIMUS & MANDAMUS — VOLUMUS & MANDAMUS— INJUNGIMUS & MANDAMUS.— All express Terms of Authority, in his Grace's own Name, and under the Archiepiscopal Seal.  
Accordingly the Dean of the Province's Certificatorium or Return declares his Execution of every particular Branch thereof to have been in Virtue and by Authority of his Grace's Mandate: Literas vestras Reverendissimas Citatorias & Monitoriales jam dudum nobis sab sigillo vestro directas, cum câ quâ decuit Reverentiâ humiliter recepimus; Quarum literarum VIGORE pariter & AUTORITATE— AUTORITATE & per receptionem Literarum vestrarum— juxta VIM, FORMAM, & EFFECTUM earundem— secundum FORMAM & TENOREM Literarum Vestrarum.  
In like manner the Returns of all the other Suffragans are made immediately to his Grace, and ultimately lodged (where they ever were before the Submission-Act) in the Registry of the Archiepiscopal See: Whereas all Executions by the King's Authority, are returnable of course into the Offices belonging to the Crown.  

Right of the Archbishop, p. 9 etc. Hist. of Con. p. 14.  This Point (of the Metropolitan's Authoritative-Summons) has been more largely proved and explained elsewhere: But the contrary Doctrine of its being Ministerial, is attended with Consequences so very dishonourable to our Reformed Church, that I could not leave the Reader under any Danger of being miss into that Opinion by this general Expression of the Statute, transcribed from thence into the Titles of our Acts, and into some of the Instruments of Convocation. For if that new Notion were true, the Proceed of Convocation would be so far from agreeing to the Principles of an Episcopal Church, that they would not be the Proceed of any Church at all. The Ecclesiastical Power must then be swallowed up in the Civil; and the Methods of Proceeding would not be influenced by the ancient Synodical Rules, or the Distinction of Bishops and Presbyters, but founded entirely upon a Model framed and established by the State.  
Enough (I think) has been said to expose and overthrow that Uncanonical Scheme; but because it is come in my way, I will take the Opportunity of adding an Observation or two:  
1. That at the Opening of Convocations, as well since as before the Act of Submission, the first step in certifying the due Execution of the Summons, has been the Exhibiting and Reading the Dean of the Province's Certificatorium or Return, directed to the Metropolitan alone; in pursuance of whose Command and Authority every particular (as we have seen) is said to be duly executed. Nor has any more Notice been taken of the Royal-Writ, than as 'tis recited in the Archiepiscopal Mandate, just as it was before the Statute at the Opening of all Convocations which were Summoned upon the Writ.  
2. The Contumacy pronounced thereupon is merely for not attending according to the Tenor of his Grace's Mandates to the several Bishops, with their Lordship's Certificates to his Grace of the due Execution; and the Censures for Absence being all purely Canonical, show them to be inflicted for an Act of Disobedience to the Authority of their Canonical Superior.  
3. Cardinal Pool held a Convocation in the Year 1557, the latter end of Queen Mary's Reign; and the Title of it is Convocatio sive Sacra Synodus Convocata auctoritate Brevis Regis Philippi & Mariae, etc. Now, 'tis not to be imagined that either the Queen or the Cardinal (so remarkably tender of the Privilegdes and Immunities of the Church) would have given way to a Convocation upon that Foot, had it been the Opinion of those Times that the Authority of the Royal Writ destroyed that Authoritative Summons which the Archbishops before the Reformation had always exercised.  

The Case of the Convocation's being Dissolved by the Death of the Prince.  The same Convocation is said in the Extracts out of the Upper-house Books to be Soluta per mortem Reginae Mariae; as we find afterwards (Anno 1624.) that the Convocation was dissolved by the Death of King James the First.  
On the contrary, before the Reformation, Anno 1412. we find that Archbishop Arundel summoned a Convocation in Obedience to the King's Writ; and yet it was continued for some time after the Death of Henry the Fourth. Again, Anno 1460. Archbishop Bourchier issued his Summons in a like Obedience to the Royal Writ; but the same Convocation, not expiring with the Death of Henry the Sixth, continued in the Reign of Edward the Fourth.  
The difference in this Matter, before and since the Reformation, naturally arises from the foregoing Construction of the Submission-Act. Before that was made, the Archbishop had a Right to hold Convocations independent of the Prince, and was by consequence under no Obligation to discontinue them upon the Death or Demise of the Prince: He was bound to obey the Royal Writ (as oft as it was sent him) by exerting the Summoning-Authority according to the Tenor thereof; but he was not absolutely confined to wait for and receive such Writ, in order to Summon or Hold; nor was a Convocation, holden by the Archbishop independent of the King, an illegal Assembly by the Laws then in being.  
But by the Statute of Submission, interpreted in its most genuine Meaning, an absolute Restraint is laid upon the Archbishop from holding his Convocation, unless authorised so to do by the Royal Writ. By this means, any such Meeting of the Bishops and Clergy, holden by the Archbishop without such Writ, is become an illegal Assembly. Now the Force of the Writ (directed to the Archbishop to take off the Restraint laid upon him by the Statute) must cease and expire with the Prince, in whose Name and under whose Seal it was issued: And when that happens, the Archbishop is by Law reduced to the same Inability to hold a Convocation, as he was under before the Reception of such Writ.  

A Dissolution by the King's Death, no Prejudice to the Archiepiscopal Authority.  That therefore a Convocation dies in Law with the Prince, resolves wholly into that Incapacity which is acknowledged both in this Section and elsewhere to be laid upon the Ecclesiastical Power by the Statute of Submission. And so the most that such a Dissolution can infer, is, that the Archbishop is now uncapable in Law to hold a Convocation, unless authorised by the King's Writ to hold it, or (in other words) that without the Force and Warrant of such Writ he cannot now (as before the Statute he could) give Subsistence to a Convocation. But to argue from hence; That the Convocation subsists by the sole Authority of the Crown, and that the Authority of the Archbishop is wholly lost, and so his share in summoning and holding is purely Ministerial; these Inferences are a direct Violence to the Statute, such as one would naturally expect from some Advocate of an Erastian-Church, or a declared Enemy to our Reformation, but 'tis strange to see a professed Member, and which is more, a Minister of our Reformed Church, wresting the Statute into a Sense so very injurious to her Liberty and her Honour.  
The Statute, as it lodges in the Civil Power the sole Right of judging when our Synods shall be held, is an Abridgement of the Liberties of the Church; and we must be content: But let us bless God, that the Power of the Church is not so affected either by this or any other Statute, but that the Metropolitans of both Provinces have a Right (after the Writ has given them the Liberty of exerting their Power) first to Summon their Convocations in an Authoritative or Canonical way, and then to hold them by the ancient Ecclesiastical Rules. A Blessing, for which they are very ungrateful, who can so much delight in saying and even pleading that the Convocation subsists by the Royal Writ, exclusive of the Archiepiscopal Authority; when the Dean of the Province's Certificatorium or Return (with the exhibiting whereof the Convocation properly opens) declares and recognizes in every particular the immediate Authority by which they assemble.  

The Archiepiscopal Authority directly recognised in the Dean of the Province's Certificatorium.  I have before repeated some of the Terms, in which that Instrument recognizes the Archiepiscopal Authority; but for a more full Satisfaction to the Reader, I will here subjoin it at large.  
REverendissimo in Christo Patri ac Domino Domino Thomae Providentia Divina Cantuar. Archiepiscopo, totius Angliae Primati & Metropolitano, vestrove in hac parte Locum tenenti sive Commissario vel Commissariis, Henricus permissione Divina London Episcopus omnimodam Reverentiam & Obedientiam tanto Reverendissimo Patri debitam cum Honore: Literas vestras Reverendissimas Citatorias & Monitoriales, jamdudum Nobis sub sigillo vestro direct. cum ea qua decuit Reverentia humiliter recepimus exequend. sub tenore verborum sequentium, videl. Thomas Providentia Divina, etc. See the Form of the Mandate, p. 9, 57 Quarum quidem Literarum vigore pariter & authoritate, Nos praefatus Henricus London. Episcopus, omnes & singulos Confratres nostros Co-Episcopos Ecclesiae vestrae Christi Cant. constitutos, peremptory citari & premoneri, ac per eos Decanos Ecclesiarum Cathedralium & Collegiatarum, & singula Capitula earundem, Archidiaconosque, & alios Ecclesiarum Praelatos Exemptos & non Exemptos, Clerumque cujuslibet Dioec. Provinciae vestrae Cantuar. antedictae peremptorie citari & praemoneri respective fecimus; Quòd iidem Episcopi, Decani, etc. compareant coram Peternitate vestra Reverendissima aut vestro in hac parte Locum tenente sive Commissario vel Commissariis die & loco in eisdem vestris Literis Reverendissimis plenius specificat. & designat. cum Continuatione & Prorogatione dierum extunc sequentium & locorum, si & quatenus expediat: Ad tractandum super arduis & urgentibus negotiis, etc. [ut prius in Mandato.] Ulteriusque, Authoritate & per Receptionem Literarum Destrarum Reverendissimarum Citotoriarum & Monitorialium praedictarum, fatemur Nos Henricum London. Episcopum antedictum peremptorie fore & esse citatum ad comparendum coram vestra Reverendissima Paternitate aut vestro in hac parte Locum tenente sive Commissario vel Commissariis hujusmodi, die & loco praecitatis de & super Negotiis memoratis tractatur '. Et nos iisdem Literis vestris Reverendissimis hujusmodi juxta vim, formam, tenorem, & effectum carundem debite parebimus. Intimavimus insuper & denuntiavimus, & intimari & denuntiari fecimus dictae Provinciae vestrae Cantuar. Coepiscopis, etc. quòd eos a personali comparitione in hujusmodi negotio Convocationis & Congregationis dictis die & loco, ut praemittitur, divina favente clementia, excusatos Reverendissima vestra Paternitas non habere intendit ista vice nisi ex causa necessaria tunc & ibidem alleganda & proponend. & per Paternitatem vestram Reverendissimam approband. sed eorum contumacias qui absentes fuerint canonice punire. Et sic Literas vestras Reverendissimas antedictas quatenus ad Nos attinet & in nobis est fuimus Executi. Dat. in Palatio nostro apad London. ultimo die mensis Januarij Anno Domini (stylo Angliae) millesimo septingentesimo, nostraeque translationis vicesimo sexto.  
If this Instrument (the Exhibiting and Reading whereof opens the Convocation) be not a pl●in Declaration of the Authority by which it is immediately summoned, and subsists, I know not where Words will be found to declare or express it. Nor can I conceive, either how the issuing a Mandate in the Name and under the Hand and Seal of the Archbishop, or the certifying to his Grace an Execution in Virtue and by the Authority of his Mandate, can consist with the late Notion of his Grace's issuing that Mandate in a mere Ministerial way.   

V Observations upon the Table of Fees, and the Catalogue of Members, prefixed to the Registers of Convocation.  
AT the beginning of the Upper-house Registers, we generally find a Catalogue of Fees due to the Officers in Convocation from the Members of each House, according to their several Degrees and Stations. Which Catalogue is Copied, word for word, from a larger Table signed and established by Archbishop Whitgift, containing the Fees due to the Officers of his Grace's Courts, for every particular Business to be executed therein. The Title of the Table is as follows:  
A Table of Fees of the most Reverend Father in God, John, by the Providence of God Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate and Metropolitan of all England, his Grace's Chancellor, Vicar-General, Register-Principal, Apparitor-General, and other Ministers.  
Among these, the several Officers in Convocation, belonging to the Lower as well as the Upper-house, have their Fees assigned (as Members of his Grace's Court) according to the Proportions which Archbishop Whitgift found to be their customary Allowance.  
The part of that Table which relates to Convocation, and is therefore usually transcribed into the Registers thereof, is as follows:  
¶ Feoda Solvenda Registrario Primario, & Apparitori Generali Domini Archiepiscopi Cant. in Convocatione Provinciae Cant. juxta antiquum morem ejusdem Convocationis.  
 Registrario.  s. d. Inprimis, Quilibet Episcopus Provinc. Cant. Solvit Registrario praedicto, 6 8 Et si absens fuerit toto, 13 4 Item, Quilibet Decanus comparens per Procuratorem, 5 0 Item, Quilibet Archidiaconus comparens per Procuratorem solvit 5 0 Item, Procurator cujuslibet Capituli solvit 5 0 Item, Quilibet Procurator Cleri solvit xx d. viz. duo Procuratores, 3 4  
 Apparitori. Item, Quilibet Episcopus solvit Apparitori, 6 8  
Similia Feoda solvenda sunt qualibet Sessione, cum Convocatio prorogetur authoritate Brevis Regij.  
¶ Feoda Actuario Domûs Inferioris Convocationis solvend.  
 Actuario.  s. d. Inprimis, Quilibet Decanus solvit 2 8 Item, Quilibet Archidiaconus, 1 8 Item, Quilibet Procurator Capituli, 1 8 Item, Quilibet Procurator Cleri, 1 4  
¶ Ostiario Domûs Inferioris.  
 Ostiario. Inprimis, Quilibet Decanus solvit 1 4 Item, Quilibet Archidiaconus, 1 0 Item, Quilibet Procurator Capituli, 1 0 Item, Quilibet Procurator Cleri, 0 8  

Observations upon the Table of Fees.  1. These Particulars, as ranked among the Fees for the Office of Vicar-General, and usually entered at the beginning of the Journals of each House, show all the Officers of Convocation to be under the immediate Jurisdiction of the Archbishop and Members of his Court.  
2. We may observe also, that in the Provision made for the Appearance of a Dean or Archdeacon by Proxy, the Fee for exhibiting the Instruments is directly assigned to the Archbishop's Register, as it is the sole Right of his Grace to admit, and by consequence of his proper Officer to receive them.  
3. Provision being only made for exhibiting the Procuratorial Letters of the Cathedral and Diocesan Proctors, and none for Proxies in case of their Absence; 'tis plain, that in those days none was thought to have a Right of substituting his Proxy, but who had a Right to be Personally Cited, viz. Bishops, Deans, and Archdeacon's.  

The Catalogues of the Members of Convocation.  II. The Table of Fees is usually followed by a Catalogue of the Members; to which the General Title of the Convocation is prefixed: The Title of that in 1640, is as follows:  
Convocatio Praelatorum & Cleri Cantuar. Provinciae, inchoata in Domo Capitulari Ecclesiae Cathedralis Sancti Pauli London. Autoritate Brevis Regij Reverendissimo in Christo Patri ac fideli Consiliario suo Domino Gulielmo Providentiâ Divinâ Cantuariensi Archiepiscopo, totius Angliae Primati & Metropolitano in hac parte direct. inchoata die Martis, decimo quarto, viz. die mentis Aprilis, Anno Domini millesimo sexcentesimo quadragesimo, Regnique Serenissimi in Christo Principis & Domini nostri Domini Caroli Dei Gratiâ. Angliae, Scotiae, Franciae, & Hiberniae Regis Fidei Defensoris, etc. Anno decimo sexto.  
The same Title, with the necessary Variations as to Time, etc. is also put before the Register of 1661. After which, in both the Convocations, the Members of the Upper-house are severally entered under the following Head:  
Nomina Reverendorum Patrum Episcoporum modernorum Cant. Provinciae, citatorum & monitorum ad comparendum in Convocatione praedictâ.  
And after them, come the Members of the Lower-house, according to their several Churches, Dieceses, and respective Stations therein, under this Title:  
Nomina citatorum ad comparendum in Inferiore Domo Convocationis Praelatorum & Cleri Cant. Provinciae, inchoat. die & loco praedict.  

Observations upon the Catalogues.  Upon the foregoing Account of these Introductions to the Upper-house Acts, I observe,  
1. That this Entry of the Inferior Clergy (together with the Bishops) in the Books of the Upper-house, is the Consequence of that House's being properly the Locus Synodi, and of the Convocation's being one Body consisting of Bishops and Presbyters as the Members, and assembled under one common Head or Precedent, the Metropolitan of the Province. 
Vid. Supr. Cap. 2.  It further implies a Right in the Archbishop to take Cognizance of the Members of the Lower-house as to their Attendance in Convocation: For why else should the Names of the Persons cited upon the Archiepiscopal Mandate, be so distinctly entered in the Registers of the Upper-house?  
2. The whole Convocation is not only expressed in general under the Name Convocatio Praelatorum & Cleri Cantuariensis Provinciae, but the Lower-house in particular, as a Member thereof, is styled Domus Inserior Convocationis Praelatorum & Cleri Cant. Provinciae. Upon what ground therefore it can be pretended, that the Lower-house is not included in a Schedule of Continuation running in the self same Terms, is to me very unaccountable.  
3. As in the Years 1640. and 1661. the English Clergy in general were remarkably zealous for the Rights of the Church; so many of the Members in the two Convocations, were some of the most eminent Assertors of those Rights, that our Church or Nation has known. Not to mention more, we find,  
Anno 1640. in the Upper-house, Archbishop Laud, with the Bishops, Juxon, Wren, Davenant, Montague, Duppa, Warner, etc. In the Lower, we meet with Dr Lancy, Potter, Brownrig, Frewen, Heylin, Sheldon, Feil, Hammond, Steward, with many others, distinguished soon after by their eminent Sufferings in Defence of the Rights and Discipline of the Church.  
Anno 1661. in the Upper-house, Archbishop Juxon, and the Bishops Sheldon, Wren, Duppa, Sanderson, Henchman, Morley, Warner, Laney, etc. In the Lower, Dr. Gunning, Earl, Sudbury, Pearson, Fell, Dolben, Thorndike, Lamplugh, Oliver, Ward, Sparrow, Blanford, Fleetwood, etc.  
It will not (I hope) he said, much less believed, That the Members of these two Convocations did not understand and pursue the true Interests of the Church, or that they either knew not or did not regard the established Methods of Proceeding in an English Convocation. Nor do the Characters of the Members in each House suffer us to imagine either that the Bishops were in the least Disposition to Invade the Liberties of the Clergy, or (if they had) that the Clergy would have given way to any Violation of the Rights of their Order, and the Privileges of their House.  
It has been the Care of our present Prelates, to govern their Proceed by the Practice of former times, and particularly of such Convocations as had before them the Registers now consumed and consisted of Members so deservedly celebrated among us for a strict Regard to the Interest, the Rights, and Discipline of the Church. It may therefore be justly expected, that the Persons who on account of these Proceed have so freely charged my Lords the Bishops with Designs of subverting the Church and oppressing the Clergy, that they (I say) should produce the Instances in which their Lordships have deviated from the Example of those their Predecessors, whose Affection to the Church and Clergy was never questioned, till struck at in some late Censures of our present Prelates for imitating them in the Canonical Method of holding a Convocation. Nor can they of the Lower-house, who desire to act in a dutiful Subordination to their Ecclesiastical Superiors, be liable to any Censures for this their Submission, which will not equally make those Learned and Orthodox Presbyters in 1640 and 1661., the Betrayers of the Rights of their Order, whether through Negligence or mean Compliances for Secular Ends.  
4. If it be objected against the Authority of the Register of 1661., that the disuse of Convocations during the Civil-Wars might make the Clergy less acquainted with the true Methods of holding them, the Answer is obvious; That they had then the Direction of all the Registers entire, and appear in Fact to have followed the Methods in 1640, as that (without doubt) proceeded by the Pattern of former Convocations. Add to this, That several of the Persons in 1661. had been Members also in the Convocation of 1640, and must therefore be presumed to have a sufficient Knowledge of the Manner of Proceeding. By comparing the Lists of these two Convocations, I find (besides the Archbishop) that six of the Bishops (Duppa, Pierce, Wren, Warner, Roberts, and Skinner) were Members of the Upper-house in both; and four more, viz. Sheldon, Floyd, Griffith, and Ironside (advanced to the Dignity of Bishops at the Restoration) to have been Members of the Lower-house in 1640. And as to the Lower-house itself, D●, Oliver, Fleetwood, Rives. Baily, with several others, at least twenty in all, appear to have been Members thereof in both these Convocations of 1640 and 1661. and (suppose all former Registers to have been lost, as they then remained entire) it would not be suggested that in 1661. these ancient Members were either unable to direct their Brethren, or willing to misled them.   
FINIS.   

AN INDEX REFERRING To the most remarkable Matters in the foregoing Registers of the upper-house, and Journals of the Lower.  

A  
ARticles (XXXIX.) debated, page 193, 194. 

Passed, 196.    
Archbishop's going from Lambeth to St. Paul's, the first day of Convocation, 1, 9, 61, 194.  
Assessors to the Prolocutor, vid. Prolocutor.   

B  
Beale (Doctor) a Member of the Lower-house, threatened with Censures by the Archbishop, upon a Complaint against him in Parliament, 38.  
Benevolences of the Clergy to the King, over and above the ordinary Subsidies, 31, 33, 36, 43, 82, 154, 170.   

C  
Calendar of the Common-Prayer revised, 89.  
Canons begun, 23, 31. 

finished, 43.  
laid before the Council, 48.  
read, and passed by Subscription, 52.    
Canons of 1640, revised in 1661. 96, 97, 98, 102.  
Catechism examined by a Committee of Bishops, 206. 

confirmed by the Lower-house, 215.    
Causae Convocationis explained to the Bishops and Clergy by the Precedent, 3, 196.  
Certificatorium of the due Execution of the Mandate, exhibited to his Grace by the Dean of the Province, 2, 63, 195,  
Certificates of the other Bishops exhibited to a Commissioner appointed by his Grace, 197.  
Commination-Service in the Liturgy, 90.  
Committees of both Houses appointed and ordered in the Upper-house, 22, 26, 47, 67, 68, 72, 74, 92, 124, 125, 168.  
Committees of Bishops, 39, 45, 47, 76, 79, 84, 88, 94, 97, 102, 103, 107, 108, 110, 114, 116, 118, 120, 158, 206, 213.  
Committees of the Lower-house ordered by the Archbishop, 23, 32.  
Committee of the whole House ordered by the Archbishop, 33.  
Committees (i. e. the Names of the Members chosen) notified to the Upper-house, 22, 23, 32, 76, 119.  
Common-Prayer, V Prayer.  
Conference, 92.  
Consecration and Ordination of Deacons, Presbyters and Bishops, the Form revised, 88  
Consecration of Parish-Churches; a Form thereof compiled, 107, 116, 118, 121.  
Constitutions for collecting a Subsidy, 158. 

passed, 160.    
Contumacy for Absence, and the Schedules thereof, 2, 16, 64, 197. 

executed by the Archbishop upon the Inferior Clergy, 151, 153, 163.  
threatened to be executed, 170, 2.    
Contumacy pronounced in the Lower-house by Dr. Yale, as his Grace's Commissary, 211.  
Convocation; the opening thereof, 1, 2, 13, 61, 137, 164, 194. 

Sitting after the Parliament, 33.  
divided into two Houses, 3.  
Council advised with in Convocation, 36, 39, 40, 51, 99, 108, 154.  
Courts (Ecclesiastical) reformed, 49, 50, 74.     

D  
Disciplina (Capitula de) brought in, 196. 

completed, 213.  
Additions made, 214, 215.    
Dissolution of the Convocation, 54, 164, 176.   

E  
Elections tried, one in the Upper house, another in the Lower by the Prolocutor, 140, etc.  
Excommunicate. capiend. (Breve de) 37, 42.  
Exercises to be performed by Ministers, 149.   

F  
Fees unjustly detained from the Clergy, 36.   

G  
Goodman (Bishop of Gloucester) protests, 44. 

suspended for not subscribing, 52.    
Grammars to be used in all Schools, 115, 117, 123, 124.   

H  
Habits of Convocation. 1.   

I  
Jesuits; Canon against them, 23.   

K  
King's Thanks to the Convocation, for their Care and Pains in preparing Canons, 48. 

his Letters to the Convocation, 38, 42, 83.     

L  
Licenses from the King, 19, 31, 34, 71, 73, 83.  
Lower-house directed to proceed upon particular Business by the Archbishop and Bishops, 5, 20, 22, 24, 37, 39, 40, 42, 50, 68, 70, 72, 85, 87, 91, 104, 118, 210.  
Lower-house go up voluntarily, 22, 37, 41, 45, 46, 50, 174, 207, 213, 214, 215.  
Lower-house bring up and return Business, 27, 35, 37, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 45, 47, 49, 51, 91, 92, 112, 119, 155, 160, 173, 206, 213, 214, 215.   

M  
Mandates from the Archbishop for Summoning a Convocation, 9, 57   

N  
Notice given to the Upper-house of Persons chosen for Committees in the Lower. V Committees.   

O  
Oblations unjustly detained from the Clergy, 35.  
Offertory at the Opening of Convocation, 2.  
Ogleby's Bible, 70.  
Ordinations determined to the 4 Seasons, 109. 

not to be performed out of the Diocese without Letters dimissory from the Archbishop, 109.     

P  
Parliament; Prayer for it made in Convocation, 23, 27. 

Thanks from the Lords in Parliament to the Bishops and Clergy, for their Care and Labour in Revising the Common-Prayer, 106.  
Point, whether lawful for Bishops to sit in Parliament in Cases of Blood, considered, 99    
Petition presented to the Lower-house, laid before the Upper, 45, 50. 

from the Clergy in the Isle of Wight, 123.  
by the Bishop of Norwich, 124.  
from the Lower-Clergy to the House of Lords, in the Case of a Money-Bill, 176, 177.    
Pluralities, 172, 2.  
Praeconizations, 139, 163, 167, 170.  
Prayer (Common) revised, 84, 85, 86, 87, 92. 

Preface to it, 90, 93.  
General Thanksgiving, 93.  
General Revisal of the whole, 93.  
Subscriptions to it, with the Preparation of a Form, 94, 95.  
Act of Parliament for establishing the Common-Prayer, debated in Convocation, 98.  
Alterations made by Parliament in the Common-Prayer, debated in Convocation, 103.  
Orders for Printing the Book of Common-Prayer, 104.  
Appointment of a Supervisor, and Correctors, 105.  
Thanks to the Bishops and Clergy from the House of Lords, for their Care and Labour in Revising the Common-Prayer, 106.  
Method of dispersing the Books of Common-Prayer, 108.    
Prayer [Form of] for the King's Restoration, 67. 

for the 30th of January, 67.  
for the 5th of November, 110.    
The three foregoing Forms brought in and approved, 110.  
Prayers at Sea, 89, 90.  
Prayer before Sermon [unica Forma Precum] 90.  
Privilege (Breach of) 39  
Prolocutor or Referendary chosen (by Order or Leave from the Archbishop) at the beginning of Convocation, 3, 4, 5, 16, 63, 137, 165, 196. 

chosen in the middle of Convocation, upon the Promotion of another, 101.  
chosen upon Death, 126.    
Prolocutor recommended by the Archbishop, 196. 

presented to the Archbishop and Bishops, 19, 67, 101, 126, 139, 166, 199.  
Office, 6.  
Assessors appointed by him, 139, 151, 153, 168, 170.  
comes alone to the U. house, 23, 35, 37, 155.  
confers in private with the Precedent, 46, 47.  
confers with the Presid. and Bish. 157.    
Prolocutor sent for (alone, with a certain number, or with the whole House) to the Upper-house [Reverendissimus, etc. Voluit & mandavit Prolocutorem ad se accersiri, Fecit ad se accersiri, Jussit Prolocutorem coram se & Confratribus suis vocari,— Nunciatum fuit Domino Prolocutori de voluntate Reverendissimi, etc. quòd ad se accederet, etc.] 18, 21, 31, 33, 36, 38, 40, 42, 46, 48, 67, 68, 69, 71, 75, 76, 83, 85, 87, 91, 101, 104, 105, 118, 122, 125, 126, 146, 147, 150, 152, 153, 154, 157, 159, 167, 168, 170, 171, 175, 176, 170, 2, 172, 2, 198, 206, 210.  
Prolocutor dismissed by the Archbishop and Bishops [Dimisso Prolocutore, Eyes dimissis, etc.] 20, 22, 23, 24, 27, 32, 35, 37, 38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 49, 50, 51, 53, 67, 72, 75, 83, 85, 87, 91, 92, 101, 102, 119, 124, 126, 199, 210. 

acting by a Deputy, 147, 148, 212.    
Protestation, 44,  
Proxies ordered to be brought in by the Archbishop, 154.  
Psalms revised, 88   

R  
Recusants, Canon against them, 39, 45.  
Residence enjoined, 172, 2.   

S  
Schedules of Continuation. At the Conclusion of every Session in the Upper-house-Books.  
Schedules of Reformation, 140, 149, 167, 193.  
Silence enjoined, 24, 26, 169.  
Socinians (Canons against) 41.  
Subsidies, 20, 21, 118, 120, 206, 212.  
Subsidy-Bills reviewed and corrected by Committees, 23, 26, 118, 151, 154. 

read, 156.  
passed in Form, 212.    
Subscription to the Book of Common-Pray. 94, 95.  
Subscriptions to the 39 Articles debated, 108.  
Substitution of a Presid. 24, 62, 192, 193, 205, 217.   

V  
Visitational-Articles, 75, 102, 104.   

W  
Welsh Common-Prayer, 45.  
Westminster (Dean of) protests his Appearance in Convocation to be with a Salvo jure to the Rights of his Church, 196.  
Protestation of the Church of Westminster, 18, 65, 192.  
Writ of Prorogation, 113, 122. 

of Dissolution, 163.     

Y  
York, the Archbishop and Bishops of that Province in the Convocation of 1661. 75, 76, etc.     

Addenda & Emendanda.  
IN the Catalogue of Convocation Acts, add, 1st. (after the Year 1380.) 1382— Nou. 18. — Courtney fol. 33. a.— 2 lie. At the Year 1554. add, The Acts of the Upper House are Entered in Bishop Bonner's Register.— 3 lie. At the Year 1562. add, A fragment of the Proceed in the Lower House (Febr. 13. 1562.) is in the hands of Mr. Petyt.— 4 lie. Concerning the Index in Dr. Atterbury's hands, it is to be observed, that the few passages Cited in this Book, are immediately taken out of a late Extract from thence of such things as concern the present Controversy.  
[Pag. 34.] After the Sentence of Contumacy by Archbishop Chichele, add, But a much elder than this, is entered in the Register of Archbishop Courtney, Anno 1391.— Dominus contra [Absentes] sub hac Formâ processit— Nos Willelmus permissione Divina Cantuariensis Archiepiscopus, totius Angliae Primas, & Apostolicae Sedis Legatus, etc. omnes & singulos— ad praesens Concilium nostrum legitimè & peremptoriè citatos, praeconizatos, & diucius expectatoes & non comparentes, reputamus & pronunciamus Contumaces, & in paenam Contumaciarum suarum hujusmodi Decernimus, Declaramus [&] Pronunciamus omnia & singula, in praesenti Concilio habita atque facta, suum debitum sortiri debere effectum, ipsorum Contumacijs in aliquo non obstantibus in hac parte; poenam aliam Canonicam eyes & eorum singulis infligendam Nobis seu Commissario nostro quem ad id duxerimus deputandum, nihilominùs specialiter Reservantes.  
[Pag. 47. lin. 23.] Paenâ sibi reservatâ is not the express language of the present Schedule; but sufficiently appears to be the meaning of it, both from the frequent mention, in the Registers, of such Reservations to the Archbishop singly, and the no less frequent Inflictions of such Canonical Punishment upon the Lower Clergy; and that by the Precedent, without any interposition or concurrence of the Bishops or Clergy.  
[Pag. 53. lin. 16.] Add, To which purpose, the Extracts out of the Upper House Books, (Anno 1541.) conclude with the following Note, ' Memorandum, in fine Libri Inseruntur Constitutiones, & Substitutiones in Convocatione praedictâ ex Licentiâ Reverendissimi; ubi habentur Scripta diversarum Absolutionum eorum qui Absentes erant.  
[Pag. 61. lin. 19] for Suspend, read Supersede.  
[Pag. 183. lin. 12.] To the Chapter Of the manner of Passing Business in Convocation, add, And even in Canons, and all other matters Passing by Subscription, the Metropolitan's ancient Authority remains thus far entire, that without his Concurrence, the Agreement of all the rest is not the Act of Convocation, nor can be presented as such to the Prince for his Royal Confirmation.  
[Pag. 186. lin. 12.] For 1434. read 1534.  
[App. p. 131.] For 1686 and 1688. read 1586, and 1588.  
[Pag. 233. lin. antepe●…] I am since assured, That in York-Province, the Archbishop or his Commissary always Sign the Instrument of Continuation after Reading.  
[Pag. 295. lin. 8.] Read their Church.— lin. 13. add, They knew the Kings of England had often directed their Writs to the Archbishop before the Act of Submission was thought of, and were as constantly obeyed: And the Writ being an immediate Direction to the Archbishop, and not to any particular Member of Convocation, they were so far from thinking that a Summons upon the Authority of such Writ destroyed his Grace's authoritative Summons, that we see they use the Term even while the Act was repealed, and they were by consequence under no Obligation to use it.  
☞ Throughout the Book, wherever mention is made of the Last Convocation, 'tis to be understood of that which began Febr. 10. 1700 1700/1 1, wherein these unhappy Differences between the two Houses first arose.  
P. 138. l. 32. read Domum Superiorem. P. 165. l. 1. read de uniendis parvis Beneficiis. P. 169. l. 1. read Not but. P. 228. l. 13. for Julius' XI. read Julius II.