\ 
 
 1 
 
 V 
 
 


T H F 
 
 BISHOP 
 
 O F 
 
 WO RGESTE R' S 
 
 CHARGE 
 
 To the 
 
 C L E R G Y 
 
 OF HIS 
 
 D I O C E S E 
 
 IN HIS 
 
 ^tmatp Btfttatton, 
 
 BEGUN 
 At W O R/C ESTER, Sept. I I. l6*0O. 
 
 LONDON, 
 
 Printed for Henry Mortlock, and are to be fold by 
 
 Samp/on Evans, Bookfeller in Worcefter. MDCXCI. 
 
To the Reverend 
 
 C L E R G Y 
 
 Of the 
 
 DIOCESE 
 
 of 
 
 WORCESTER- 
 
 My BRETHREN, 
 
 W Hat I lately delivered among you in 
 the federal T laces of my Vijita** 
 tion, and what IhaTpefince thought 
 fit in fome particulars to add, I have here put 
 together, and fent it to you, that it wight re- 
 main with you, not only as an In/lance of my 
 Duty, hut as a Monitor of your own. And I 
 may reafpnably. hope, as well as de fire, that the 
 frequent Reading and Confidering the Things I 
 here recommend to you, will ma^e a deeper Im-> 
 preffion on your Mmds, than a mere tranfient 
 
 T>ifcourfe ; 
 
Ttifcourfe $ for I know nothing * will mere 
 effeBually preferve the Honor and- Interefl 
 of the Church ^England, than a diligent 
 and confeientious T>ifcharge of the Duties of 
 our fever -al Tlaces. In this time of general 
 Liberty, our Adtierfarks, of all kinds, thinly 
 themf elves let loofe upon us ; and therefore -we 
 have the more reafon to lool^ to our febes, 
 and to the Flock committed to our 
 Charge. 
 
 %t, I do not quejlion, but through the (food- 
 nefs of Cjod, and the ferious and "vigorous 
 Application of our Minds to the great 'Buji* 
 nefs of our High and Holy Calling, that 
 Church 'which we fo juflly yalue, mil efcape^ 
 fining in the Qjaick-Sands, as it hath hi^ 
 t her to, being da/bed againfl the liocfy. If we 
 behaye our J elves with that 'Prudence and Zeal 
 and CircumfpeBion which becomes us, I hope 
 the Inclinations of the People will ne- 
 yer be made ufe of as an ^Argument againfl 
 us. For, although in a Corrupt Age, that 
 be one of the weakefl Arguments in the World 
 Qif it be true") and only /hews the Treya- 
 lency of Folly and Fadlion ; %t there 
 
 is 
 
is no fab- Way to prevent the fpreading of 
 both, as our conflant Carj to inflruB our Teo- 
 fie in the main Duties of Religion, and going 
 before them in the Ways of Holynefs and 
 Teace^. 
 
 In the following Vifcourfe, I have firfl 
 endeavoured to Affert and Vindicate the Au~ 
 thority of Bilhops in the Chriflian Church ; 
 and in as few Words, and with as much 
 Qearnefs as I could, I have proved their 
 Afoflolical Inflitution. $And the fudgment 
 and TraBice of the Vniverfal Qourch from 
 the Apojlles Times, mil prevail with all un- 
 byas'd Terfons above any modern violent In- 
 clinations to the contrary. 
 
 In the next place I have recommended to 
 you fuch things, which I am fure are much 
 for the Qhurches Service and Honour, as 
 well as our own, and therefore, 1 hope you 
 will the more regard thern^. 
 
 In the lafk place, I have made it my T)e- 
 fign to clear fever al Tarts of the Eccle- 
 fiaftical Law, which concerns Church-Men, 
 and have /hewed the Stature, Force, and 
 Extent of it 5 and how agreeable it is to 
 
 the 
 
the Common Law of England/ In thefe 
 things^ my aim was £o da fomething towards 
 the (food of this Church, . and particularly of 
 this Diocefe, And that the (flory of Qod, 
 the Sahation of Souls, and Holinefs and 
 Teace may be 'Promoted therein, is the^j 
 hearty Trayer of 
 
 wftminji: Your Affe&ioriatc Brother, 
 
 Jan, aj. * 
 
 and Fellow-Servant to 
 
 Our Common Lord, 
 
 ED. Wigorm 
 
O) 
 
 My Brethren, 
 
 >■ ML m *^HIS being my Primary Vtfttation, I 
 
 thought it fitting to acquaint my (elf 
 
 with the Ancient as well as Modern 
 
 •*~ Practice of Epifcopal Vijitations, and as 
 
 near as I could , to obferve the Rules prefcribed 
 
 therein, with relpecT: to the Clergy , who are now 
 
 Summoned to appear. And I find there were two 
 
 principal Parts in them, a Charge and an Enquiry. 
 
 The Charge was given by the fiijbop himfelf, and 
 was called Admonitio Epifcopi , or Jllocutio ; wherein Rtgim. i. u 
 he informed them of their Duty, and exhorted them %£»'. condi. 
 to perform it. p * 19 * 
 
 The Enquiry was made according to certain Arti- 
 cles drawn out of the Canons, which were generally 
 the fame ,• according to which the Juratores Synodt (as Repm coiicX. 
 the antient Canontfls call them,- or Tejles Synodales) pTic\! b ' z ' 
 were to give in their Anfwers upon Oath ; which was Burchrd - f u 
 
 _ O J L a 091,92- 
 
 therefore called Juramentum SynodM ; for the 'Bifhops &<***» 35. 
 Vifitatton was accounted an EpiJ copal Synod. 
 
 The former of thefe is my prefent bufinefs,* and I 
 (hall take leave to fpeak my mind freely to you, this 
 firft time , concerning feveral things which I think 
 mod ufeful, and fit to be confidered and practifed 
 by the Clergy of this Viocefs. 
 
 For,fince it hath pleafed God,by his wife and over- 
 ruling Providence, (without my feeking) to bring mc 
 B into 
 
( 1 ) 
 
 into this ftation in his Church, I fliall cfteem it the 
 bed Circumftance of my prefent Condition, if he 
 pleafe to make me an Inftrument ofdobjggood among 
 you. To this End, I thought it necellary in the firjl 
 place, mod humbly to implorefhis Divine Affiftance, 
 that I might both rightly understand, and confcienti^ 
 oufly perform that great Duty which is incumbent 
 upon me ; for without his help, all our Thoughts are 
 vain, and our beft Purpofes will be ineffectual. But 
 God is not wanting to thofe who fincerely endeavour 
 to know, and to do their Duty ,• and therefore in the 
 next place, 1 fet my felf (as far as my Health and other 
 Occafions would permit) to confider the Nature and 
 Extent of my Duty j with a Refolution not to bedif- 
 couraged, altho I met with Difficulties in the perfor- 
 mance of it. For fuch is the State and Condition of the 
 World, That no Man can defign'to do good in it ; 
 but when that croiTes the particular Interefis and In- 
 clinations of others, he muft expect to meet with as 
 much Trouble as their unquiet Paffions can give him. 
 If we therefore confulted nothing but our own 
 Eafe, the only way were to let People follow their 
 Humours and Inclinations, and to be as little con- 
 cerned as might be, at what they either lay or do. For 
 if we go about to rowze and awaken them, and much 
 more to reprove and reform them, we fliall foon 
 find them unealie and impatient ,- for few love to 
 hear of their Faults, and fewer to amend them. 
 
 But it is the peculiar honour of the Chriflian <I{eligl 
 on, to have an Order of Men, fet apart, not meerly as 
 friejis, to offer Sacrifices (for that all Religions have 
 
 had)- 
 
(i ) 
 
 had) but as Treacher s of${ighteouf>iefs, to fee Good and 
 Evil before the People committed to their Charge ; 
 to inform them of their Duties, to reprove them for 
 their Mifcarriages ; and that, not in order to their 
 Shame, but their Reformation : Which requires nor 
 only Zeal, but Dijcretion, and a great mixture of Cou- 
 rage m&Trudencej\ut we may neither fail in doing our 
 Duty, nor in the bed means of attaining the end of it. 
 If we could reafonably fuppofe, that all thofe who 
 are bound to tell others their Duties, would certainly 
 do their own, there would be lefs need of any fuch 
 Office in the Church as that o£'Bifl?ops •, who are to in- 
 fpect, and govern, and vilit, and reform thofe who 
 are to watch over others. But iince there may be too 
 great failings even in thefe;too great neglect in fome, 
 and diforder in others; too great pronenefs to Faction 
 and Schifm, and impatience of Contradiction from 
 mere Equals ,- therefore S.Jerom himfelf grants, That 
 to avoid thefe mifchiefs, there was a neceflicy of a Su- 
 perior Order to Presbyters in the Church of God - y ad quern meron com. 
 omnis EcclefaCura pertmeret, & Schifmatum jeminatolk-™*; adTl ' 
 rentur; as he fpeaks, even where he Teems mod to lef- ^\ ad 
 fen the Authority of Bifhops. But whatever fome ex- 
 pressions of his may be, (when the (Bifrop of Jerufakm 
 and thc^oman Deacons came into his head)his Reafons 
 are very much for the Advantage of Epifcopal Go 
 vernment.For can any Man lay more in point of Rea- 
 fon for it, than that nothing but Fatlion and Dijorder fol- 
 lowed the Government of Presbyters , and therefore the whole 
 Chrijiian Church agreed in the neceffity of a higher Order^and 
 that tlxTeaw and Safety of the Church depends upon it-, that f^' ud ^" 
 B 2 tf 
 
(4) 
 
 if it be taken away, nothing but Schifms and confufions will 
 follow. I wifli thofe who magnifle S. Jeroms Authority 
 in this matter, would fubmit to his <%eafon and Autho- 
 rity both, as to the Neceffity and Ufefulnefs of the 
 Order of Bijbops in the Church. 
 iiier. inPftL But beyond this, in feveral Places, he makes the 
 Ad^fck <Bifbops to be fucceffors of the Apoflles, as well as the 
 e}!'™'66. reft of the mod Eminent Fathers of the Church have 
 AH *' * pf - 44* done. If the Apoflolical Office, as far as it concerns 
 Ambrof. ad t he Care and Government of Churches, were not to 
 xc£\l\i. continue after their Deceafe, how came the beft, the 
 r iT\m. 1 3 . moil learned, the neareft to the Afoflolical Times, to 
 be fo wonderfully deceived ? For if the Bifhops did 
 not fucceed by the Apoflles own Appointment, they 
 muft be Intruders zndllfurpers of the Apoflolical Fun- 
 tlion ; and can we imagine the Church of God would 
 have fo univerfally confentcd to it ? Befides, the A- 
 poftles did not die all at once ; but there were Succef- 
 jors in feveral of the Afoflolical Churches, while fome 
 of the Apoflles were living ; can we again imagine, 
 thofe would not have vindicated the ^ight of their 
 own Order, and declared to the Church, That this Of- 
 fice was peculiar to themfelves * The Change of the 
 Name from Apoflles to 'Bifhops, would not have been 
 fufficient Excufe for them ; for the Prefumption had 
 been as great in the Exercife of the Power without 
 the "Name. So that I can fee no Medium, but that either 
 iren. 1. 3 . c . 3. the Primitive Bifliops did fucceed the Apoflles by their 
 own Appointment and Approbation, (which IrenAws ex- 
 prefly affirms, Qui ab Apoflolvs ipfis inftitutifunt Epifcopi 
 m Ecclefiis) or elfe thofe who governed theApoftolical 
 
 Churches 
 
(f) 
 
 Churches after them,out-went Diotrephes himfelf ,• for 
 he only rejefted rhofe whom the Apojfle fent ,• but theft 
 affumed to them/elves the Exercife of an Apoflolical Au- ^» * Io - 
 thority over the Churches planted and fetled by them. 
 But to let us fee how far the Apoflks were from 
 thinking that this part of their Office was peculiar to 
 themfelves, we find them in their own time, as they 
 faw occafion, to appoint others to take care of the 
 Government of the Churches, within fuch bounds as 
 they thought fit. Thus Timothy was appointed by i rim. ?. 2,3, 
 St. Tatil at Ephefus, to examine the Qualifications of ^ c * 
 fuch as were to be Ordained ,• and not to lay bands fud- 
 denly on any ; to receive Accufations, if there were caufe, 5- "•- 
 even againft Elders, to proceed judicially before two or 19- 
 three Witnejjes : and if there were Reafon, to give them 
 a publick^buke. And that this ought not to be thought 20. 
 a flight matter, he prefently adds, I charge thee before %u. 
 God, and the Lordjefus Chrifi, and the Elect Angels, that 
 thou obJerVe thefe things, without preferring one before an- 
 other, doing nothing by partiality. Here is a very ftricl: 
 and fevere Charge for the Impartial Exercife of Dif 
 cipline in the Church upon Offenders. And although 
 in the Epiftle to Titus, he be only in general required rim Ji 5> 
 tofet in order the things that are wanting, and to ordain 
 Elders in every City, as he had appointed him ; yet we are 
 not to fuppofe, that this Power extended not to a 
 JuriJdiSiion over them when he had ordained them. 
 For if any of thofe whom he Ordained (as believing 
 them qualified according to the Apoflles Rules) fhould 
 afterwards demean themfelves otherwife ; and be 
 felf willed, frownrd, given to Wine, Brawlers, Covetous, 
 
or any way fcandalous to the Church, can we believe 
 that Titus was not as weU bound to correct them af 
 terwards, as to examine them before ? And what was 
 this Power otOrdination and Jurifditlion, but the very 
 fame which the Biftwps have exercifed ever fince the 
 Apoftles Times? But they who go about to Unbifhop 
 Timothy and Titus, may as well Unfcripture the Epiftles 
 that were written to them ; and make them only 
 ibme particular and occasional Writings , as they make 
 Timothy and Titus to have been only fome particular 
 and occafional Officers. But tte Chriftian Church prefer- 
 vingthefe Epiftles, as of conftant and perpetual Ufe, 
 did thereby fuppofe the fame kind of Office to con- 
 tinue, for the fake whereof thofe excellent Epiftles 
 were written : And we have no greater AiTurance 
 that thefe Epiftles were written by St. <?W, than we 
 have that there were Bifbops to fucceed the Apoftks in 
 the Care and Government of Churches. 
 
 Having faid thus much to clear the Authority we 
 acl: by, I now proceed to confider the %ules by which 
 we are to govern our felves. 
 
 Every Bijbop of this Church, in the time of his 
 Conlecration, makes a folemn Profeflion , among 
 other things, " That he will not only maintain and 
 " fet forward, as much as lies in him, quietnefs, love 
 " and peace among all Men ; but that he will correct 
 " and punilh fuch as be unquiet, difobedient, and- 
 " criminous wichin his Dioceis , according to fuch 
 " Authority as he hath by God s Word, and to him 
 " (hall be committed by the Ordinance of this %ealm. 
 
 So that we have two <%ules to proceed by, vi^. the 
 
 Wotd 
 
(7) 
 
 Ward of God, and the Eccleftaftical Law of this G{ealm.. 
 ( i .) (By the Word of God ; and that requires from us, 
 Diligence, and Care, and Faithfulnefs, and Imparti- 
 ality, remembring the Account we mu ft give, that we may 
 do it with Joy, and not with Grief And we are not merely 
 required to correct and punifh, but to warn and in- 
 ftrucl:, and exhort the Perfons under our Care, to do 
 thofe things which tend m oft to the Honour of our 
 Holy Religion, and the Church whereof we are 
 Members. And for thefe Ends there are fome things 
 I fhall more particularly recommend to You. 
 
 (j.) That you would often confider the Solemn 
 Charge that was given you,and the Profeffion you made 
 of yourRefolution to do yourDuty at your Ordination. 
 
 I find by the Provincial Conflitution of this Church, newtofowti 
 that the Bijhops were to have their folemn Profejfion read L)Jd*!f. 103- 
 oyer to them twice in the year, to put them in mind of 
 their Duty. And in the Legatine Conftitutims of Otho, cowl. Anglic 
 (iz H. $.) the fame Conftitution is renewed, not™ 
 merely by a Legatine Tower, but by Confent of the 
 Archbijhops, and Pnfbops of both Provinces - 3 wherein it c«$i otfon. 
 is declared, that Bifhops ought to Vifit their Dioceffes at %£9£ Angl 
 fit times, Correcting and Reforming what wo* amifs, and voLx ' f 1 ^- 
 Jowing the Word of Life in the Lords Field} and to put 
 them the more in mind of it, they were twice in the year 
 to have their folemn Profejfion read to them ; It feems then, 
 that Profeffion contained theie things in it - y or elfe the 
 reading that could not ftk them up to do thefe things. 
 What the Profejfion was which Presbyters then made at 
 their Ordination, we have not fo clear an Account, 
 but in the fame Council at Oxford y 8 H, 3 . it is ft-ricl:- 
 
 h 
 
Sfoe'oScio ly enjoined, that all P^Bors and Vicars fhould inftruB the 
 Artby-vresbj- (people committed to their Charge, and Feed them y Pabulo 
 Sid/' ^I'gik. Verbi Dei, with the Food of Gods Word ,• and ic is intro- 
 w. i. p. 1 83- d ucc £ w j cn tna t Expreflion,t/^t tky might excite thePa, 
 rochial Clergy to he more diligent in what was mofl proper for 
 thofe times. And if they do it not, they are there called 
 bnd». v. h. Canes muti : and Lyndwood beftows many other hard 
 VabJov?Dci. Terms upon them, which I (hall not mention ,- but 
 he faith afterward, thofe who do it not, are hut like Idols , 
 which hear the fimilitude of a Man, hut do not the Offices 
 proper to Men. Nay, he goes fo far as to fay, Tfjat the 
 Spiritual Food of God's Word is as neceffary to the Health of 
 the Soul, as Corporal Food is to the Health of the Body. 
 Which words are taken out of a Preface to a Canon in 
 the Decretals De Officio Jud. Or dinar ii, inter Cetera. But 
 they ferve very well to (hew how much even in the 
 dark times of Popery,they were then convinced of the 
 neceffity and ufefulnefs of Preaching. Thefe Conftitutions 
 were flighted fo much, that in 9 Edw. I. the Offices of 
 + prov.conflit. Preaching was funk fo low,that in a ^Provincial Conftitu- 
 PmfyffrtC tionzx. that time, great complaint is made of the Igno- 
 v7% Anglk ' rance and Stupidity of the Parochial Clergy, that they rather 
 made the People worfe than better. But at that time the 
 Preaching Friers had got that work into their hands by 
 particular Privileges, where it is well obferved/tar they 
 did not go to places which mofl needed their help,but toCities 
 and Corporations, where they found mofl Incourage- 
 ment. But what Remedy was found by this Provin- 
 cial Council ? Truly, every Parochial Prieft four times 
 a year was bound to read an Explication of the Creed, Ten 
 Commandment s y the Two Precepts of Charity, the Seven' 
 
 Worh 
 
(9) 
 
 Works of Mercy, the Seven deadly Sins, the Seven princi- 
 pal Virtues > and the Seven Sacraments. This was te- CoKil M Ue 
 newed in the Province of 7br^,(which had diftincl: Pro- * voi: p. 700- 
 VincialConftitutions) in the time of Edw. 4. And here 7 ° 7 ' 
 was all they were bound to by thefe Conftitutions. 
 
 But when Widijfmd his followers had awakened 
 the People fo far, that there was no fatisfying them 
 without Preaching, then a new Provincial Conftitution emit. Anglic. 
 was made under Arundel, Archbifnop of Canterbury ; Hftit?' 649# 
 and the former Conftitution was reftrained to Parochial %?£'*' 
 Priefts who officiated as Curates ; but feveral others 
 were Authorifed to Preach ,• as (1.) The Mendicant 
 Friars were faid to be authorifed Jure Communi ; or ra- 
 ther Privdegio fpeciali, (but therefore Lynwood faith, Ljnd*.t. 155. 
 it is faid to be Jure communi, becaufe that Privilege is 
 recorded in the Text of the Canon Law) thefe were not 
 only allowed to Preach in their own Churches, but in 
 Placets publtcis faith Lyndwood out of the Canon Law c . Dudum. 
 (wherein thofe words were expre(Ted),and at any hour, ^;£ Se ' 
 unlefs it were the time of preaching in other Churches; 
 .but other Orders, as Auguftimans and Carmelites, had 
 no fuch general Licenfe. Thofe Preaching Friars were 
 a fort of Licenfed Preachers at that time, who had no 
 Cures of Souls,- but they were then accounted a kind 
 of Paftors. For Jo. de Athon diflinguiflieth two forts j ,deMon. 
 oiPaftors ,• Thofe who had Ecclefiaftical Offices, and %jjfff' € 
 thofe who had none, but were fuch only Verbo <sr Ex- 
 emplo } but they gave very great difturbance to the 
 Clergy, as the Pope himfelf confefles in the Canon c. Dudum de 
 Law. (2.) Legal Incumbents authorifed to Preach SepH,w " 
 in their own Parifhes Jure fcripto. Ail Perfons who 
 C had 
 
( 10) 
 
 had Cures of Souls, and legal Titles were faid to be 
 mijji a jure ad locum t*r Populum Cur&fu&, and therefore 
 might preach to their own People without zf pedal Li- 
 cence i but if any one Preached in other Parts of the 
 Diocefs, or were a Stranger in it, then he was to be 
 examined by the Viocefan, and if he were found tarn 
 Moribus quam Scientia idoneus, he might fend him to 
 Preach to one or more Parifhes, as he thought meet ; 
 and he was to fhew his Licence to the Incumbent of the 
 Place before he was to be permitted to Preach, under 
 the Epif copal Seal. And thus, as far as I can find, the 
 Matter flood as to Preaching, before the (Reformation. 
 
 After it, when the Office of Ordination was reviewed 
 and brought nearer to the (Primitive Form ; and inftead 
 of delivering the Chalice and Patten, with thefe words, 
 Accife poteflatem off err e Deo Sacrificium, &*c. theBifliop 
 delivered the 'Bible with thefe words, Take thou Authority 
 to Preach tfa Word of God, and to minifler the Holy Sa- 
 craments in the Congregation, <tsrc. The Priefts Exhorta- 
 tion was made agreeable thereto, wherein he exhorts 
 the Perfons in the " Name of our Lord Jefus Chrift; 
 " to confider the weight and importance of the Office 
 " and Charge they are called to ; not barely to inftrucl: 
 " thofe who are already of Chrift's Flock ; but to en- 
 " deavour the Salvation of thofe who are in the midft 
 "of this naughty World. And therefore he perfwades 
 " and charges them from a due regard to Chrift, who 
 "furfered for his Sheep, and to the Church of Chrift, 
 "which is fo dear to him, to omit no Labor, Care, or 
 " Diligence in inftrucfrng and reforming thofe who are 
 " committed co their Charge. And the better to cn- 
 
 " able 
 
( u ) 
 
 " able them to perform thefe things, there are fome 
 " Duties efpecially recommended to them, vi%. Prayer 
 " and Study of the Holy Scriptures,according to which 
 " that they are to inftrucl others, and to order their own 
 . Lives, and of thofe who belong to them. And that 
 " they might the better attend fo great a Work, they 
 " are required to forfake and fet afide (as much as they 
 "may) all worldly Cares and Studies, and apply 
 " themfelves wholly to this one thing, that they may 
 " fave themfelves and them that hear them. After 
 which follows the folemn Trofejfion, wherein they un- 
 dertake to do thefe things. 
 
 This is that, my Brethren, which I earneftly defire 
 of you that you would often confider. You are not 
 at liberty now, whether you will do thefe things or 
 not - } for you are under a mod folemn Engagement 
 to it. You have put your hands to the Plow, and it 
 is too late to think of looking back i and you all know 
 the Husbandman's Work is laborious and painful,and 
 continually Returning. It is poffible after all his pains, 
 theHarveft may notanfwerhis expectation - t but yet 
 if he neither plows nor fows,he can expect no Return ; 
 if he be idle and carelefs, and puts off the main of his 
 Work to others, can he reafonably look for the fame 
 Succefs ? Believe it, all our Pains are little enough to 
 awake the fleepy and fecure Sinners, to inftruct the ig- 
 norant, to reclaim the vitious, to rebuke the profane, 
 to convince the erroneous, to fatisfie the doubtful, to 
 confirm the wavering, to recover the lapfed, and to 
 be ufeful to all, according to their feveral Circumftan- 
 ces and Conditions. It is not to Preach a Sermon or 
 C 2 two 
 
( 11 ) 
 
 two in a Weeks time to your Parishioners, that is the 
 main of your Duty ; that is no fuch difficult Task, if 
 Men apply their Minds as they ought to do to Divine 
 Matters, and do not fpend their Retirements in ufelefs 
 Mi pouft # Studies j but the great Difficulty lies in Watching over 
 fat™ e ims your Flock, i. e. knowing their Condition, and apply- 
 %'plZ d tl m % y our ^ e ^ ves fa^bly t0 tft em. He that is a Stran- 
 dt. Extr. de g er to his Flock, and only vifits them now and then, 
 urisc.io. ^^ never De fad to watch over it ,• he may watch over 
 the Fleeces ; but he underftands little of the State of 
 his Flock, vi%j. of the Diftempers they are under, and 
 the Remedies proper for them. 
 Reginald. pra- TheCafuifts fay, TIm the reafon why there is no Com- 
 Z"w*i?' mm & f or Perfonal ^efidence in Scripture, is, becau/e the 
 Nature of the Duty it f elf requires it -, for if a Perfon be 
 required to do fuch things which cannot be done with- 
 out it, Q{efidence is imply ed. As a Pilot to a Ship needs 
 no Command to be in his Ship ,• for how can lie do 
 the Office of a Pilot out of it ? Let none think to ex- 
 cufe themfelvcs by faying that our Church only takes them 
 for Curates, and that the <Bifhops have the Pajioral Charge ; 
 conjiit. pro- for, by our old Provincial Conflitutions (which are it-ill 
 fk'nmRefii i n f° rce f° ^ as tne y are not repugnant to the Law of 
 <.qitm boftii. the Land) even thofe who have the fmaHefl Cures are 
 called Tajlors ; and Lyndwood there notes, thar Tarochia- 
 lisSacerdos dicitur Paftor ; and that not merely by way 
 of Allufion, but in refped of the Care of Souls. But 
 we need not go fo far back. For what is it they are ad- 
 mitted to ? Is it not ad Curam Jnimarum ? Did not 
 they promife in their Ordination, To teach the People 
 committed to their Care and Change 1 
 
 The 
 
( »J ) 
 
 The Cafuifts diftinguifli a threefold Cure of Souls. 
 I. In foro inter fori tantum, and this they fay is the 
 Parochial Cure. 2. In foro exteriori tantum, where 
 there is Authority to perform Minifterial ACts, as to 
 fufpend, excommunicate, abfolve, (fine TafioraliCura :) 
 and this Archdeacons have by virtue of their Office. 
 3. In utroque fimul ,• where there is a fpecial (iare, 
 together with Jurifdi&ion : this is the Bifhops. And 
 every one of thefe, fay they, fecundum commune Jus 
 Qnonicum, is obliged to Residence ; i. e. by the common 
 Law Ecclefiafiical -, of which more afterwards. The 
 Obligation is to perpetual Refidence, but as it is in 
 other pofitive Duties, there may other Duties inter- 
 vene, which may take away the prefent force of it ,- 
 as Care of Health, neceflary Bufinefs, publick Service joh.Mon ad 
 of the King, or Church, <src. But then we are toff*' otbM - 
 obferve, that no Difpenfation can juftifie a Man in 
 point of Confcience, unlefs there be a fufficient Caufe; 
 and no Cuftom can be fufficient againft the natural 
 Equity of the Cafe,whereby every one is bound from j^y. itt 
 the Nature of the Office he hath undertaken. * 5* 
 
 I confefs the Cafe in Reafon is different, where 
 there is a fufficient Provifion by another fit Perfon, 
 and approved by thofe who are to take Care that Pla- 
 ces be well fupplied, and where there is not - 3 but yet, 
 this doth not take off the force of the Per final Obliga- 
 tion^ arifing from undertaking the Cure themfelves, 
 which the Ecclefiaftical Law underftands to be, not can. Relation 
 merely by Promife, but cum ejfetlu, as the Cano- £\£'£/£" 
 nifts fpeak ; which implies perfonal Refidence. Not 
 that they are never to be away j Nonfic amark intelligi 
 
 debet 
 
( 14.) 
 
 L ^ofiit.' debet utnunquarn hide recedat, faith Lwdwood; but thefe 
 
 Recant 'cum Words are to be underftood ciVdi modo, as he expref- 
 
 fes k, u e. not without great Reafon. There muft 
 
 job. de Mon. not be, faith he, Callida Interpretatio fed talis ut ceffent 
 
 ILn./!'i 4 f " fraudes & negligentU; i.e. There muft be no Art ufed to 
 
 cmmm. evade the Law, nor any grofs Neglect of it. It's 
 
 true, the Canonifts have ditlinguifhed between <%eclo- 
 
 ries and Vicarages, as to Terfonal ^efidence ,• but we are 
 
 can. Extir. to confider thefe things, i . The Canon Law ftri&ly 
 
 I7nf.& D!gn.°^W s ever y one tnat ^ atn a ^ aroc ^ lc d Cure to perpe- 
 tual (ftefedence ; and excepts only two Cafes, when the 
 Living is annexed to a Prebend or Dignity ,• and then 
 he who hath it, is to have a perpetual Vicar inftituted, 
 with a fufficient Maintenance. 2. After this Liberty 
 obtained for dignified Perfons to have Vicars endowed 
 in their Places, the Point of ^efidence was ftrictly in- 
 joyned to them : and we find in the Provincial Con- 
 De prompt, fticutions a Difference made between Terfonatus and 
 f. 55.2. Vicar ia -, but this was ftill meant of a Vicarage endow- 
 ed. This was in the time of Stephen Langton, Arch- 
 De cjencit bifhop of Canterbury ; and in another Confiitution he 
 TwfofliT' ^qui^d an Oath of Terfonal ^efidence from all fuch 
 & c ' Vicars, altho' the Place were not above the value of five 
 
 Lyndw. f. 34. Marks i which, as appears by Lyndwoo d elfe where, 
 i n ob ctfift. b °o- was tn ^ n fufficient for Maintenance and Hofpitality. 
 thon.f. 12. And to cover the fhameful Difpenfations that were 
 commonly granted to the higher Clergy, under Pre- 
 tence of the (papal Tower, the poor Vicars by a Confli- 
 ct de in- tution of Otho, were bound to take a Ariel: Oath oixon- 
 cthtion^t timc d ^efidence 5 and without it their Inftitution was 
 declared to be Null. But even in that Cafe the Glofsi 
 
 & 
 
 er« 
 
( IJ ) 
 
 there faith, That tfxy ntay be fome time abfeht for the Be- 
 nefit of theOmrch or State ; but not for their own par- 
 ticular Advantage. 3. The Obligation in point of 
 Confcience remains the fame, but Vtfpenfing with Laws 
 may take away the ^Penalty of Non-^efedence in fome Job. de Mm. 
 Cafes. Joh. de Jtlnn, Canon of 'Lincoln, who wrote th'elJS. °' 
 Gloffes on the Legatine Conflitut'wns, doth not deny, but 
 that ($etlors are as well bound to ^efidence as Vicars \ but 
 thefe are more ftri&ly tied by their Oath,- add becaufe 
 a Vicar cannot appoint a Vicar,but a Tar/on may. And 
 althothat Name among fome be ufed as a Term of 
 Reproach, yet in former Ages Terfonatus and Dignitas can. Q#i* 
 were the fame thing ; and fo ufed here in England in the ^"S tn 
 Time of Henry II. but afterwards it came to be appli- *&*:, 
 ed to him that had the Tojjeffion ot a Tarochal 'Benefice i.e. 5- 
 in his own immediate (Right; and was therefore bound 
 to take Care of it. For the Obligation mud in Reafon 
 be fuppofed to go along with the Advantage ,• how- 
 ever Local Statutes may have taken off the Penalty. 
 
 II. When you have thus confidered the Obligation 
 which lies upon you, to take Care of your Flock, let 
 me in the next place recommend to you a plain, ufe- 
 ful, and practical Way of Preaching among them. I 
 mean, fuch as is moil: likely to do good upon them 
 (wh'ch certainly ought to be the juffc Meafure of 
 Preaching.) I do not mean therefore a loofe and care- 
 leis way of Talking in the Pulpit, which will neither 
 profit you, nor thofe that hear you. He that once 
 gets an ill Habit of fpeaking extempore, will be temp- 
 ted to continue it by the Eafinefs of k to himfelf, 
 and the Plaufiblenefs of it to lefs judicious People. 
 
 There 
 
There is on the other fide a Clofenefs and Strength of 
 Reafoning, which is too elaborate for common Un- 
 derftandings ; and there is an affected Finenefs of Ex- 
 preflion, which by no means becomes the Pulpit : but 
 it feems to be like flroaking the Confciences of Peo- 
 ple by Feathers dipt in Oil. And there is a way pf put- 
 ting Scripture-Thrafes together without the Senfe of 
 them, which tjiofe arc the moil apt to admire, who 
 understand them lead : But for thofe who have not 
 improved their Minds by Education, the plaineft way 
 is certainly the beft and hardeft, provided, it be not 
 flat, and dry, and incoherent, or defultory, going from 
 one thing to another, without purfuing any particu- 
 lar Point home to Practice, and applying it to the 
 Confciences of the Hearers. And give me leave to tell 
 you, That mere general Difcourfes have commonly 
 little Effect on the Peoples Minds ; if any thing moves 
 them, it is particular Application as to fuch things which 
 their Confciences are concerned in. 
 
 And here I muft recommend to you the purfuing 
 the Defign of His Majefiies Letter, which hath been 
 fome time fince communicated to you ; by it you are 
 required to Preach at fome Times on thofe particular 
 Vices which you obferve to be molt prevalent in the 
 Places you relate to, fuch as Vrunkennefs, Whoredom, 
 Swearing, Profaning the Lor As Day, &c. If ever we 
 hope to reform them, you muft throughly convince 
 them, that what they do is difpleafing to God. 
 
 And there are two forts of men you are to deal with, 
 
 1. Profane Scoffers at Religion. Thefe feldora 
 
 trouble you ; but if any Good be to be done upon 
 
 them, 
 
C >7) 
 
 them, it is by plain and evident Proofs of the Good 
 and Evil of Moral Anions. For, as long as they 
 think them indifferent, they will never regard what 
 you fay, as ta the Rewards or Punifhments of them. 
 
 l. Stupid and fenflefs People, whofe Minds are 
 wholly funk into the Affairs of the World, buying and 
 felling, and getting gain. It is a very hard thing to get 
 a thought into them above thefe Matters. And what- 
 ever you talk of mere Religion, and another Life, is 
 like Metapkyjicks to them ; they understand you not, 
 and take no Care to do it : but if you can convince 
 them, that they live in the Practice of great Sins, 
 which they (hall certainly fuffer for,, if they do not 
 Repent, they may poffibly be awakened this way; 
 if not, nothing but immediate Grace can work upon 
 them j which mud work on the Will, whatever be- 
 comes of the Underftanding. 
 
 III. After preaching,let meintreat you to look after 
 Catechifing and inftructing the Youth of your Parifhes. 
 He that would Reform the World to purpofe, muft 
 begin with the Youth ; and train them up betimes, 
 in the Ways of Religion and Virtue. There is far 
 lefs probability of prevailing on thole who have ac- 
 cuftomed themfelves to vicious Habits, and are har- 
 dened in their Wickednefs. It feems ftrange to fome, 
 that coniidering the (hortnefs of Human Life, Man- 
 kind fhould be fo long before they come to Ma- 
 turity i the bed Account I know of it is, that there is 
 fo much longer time for the Care of their Education, 
 to inftil the Principles of Virtue and Religion into 
 them, thereby to foften the Fiercenefs, to direct the 
 D Weaknefs, 
 
( 18 ) 
 
 Weaknefs, to govern the Inclinations of Mankind. It is 
 truly a fad Confideration that Chriftian Parents are fo 
 little fenfible of their Duties ,as to the Education of their 
 Children ; when thofe who have had only Natural 
 Realbn to* direct them, have laid fo much Weight 
 
 . upon it. Without it, Tlato faith, that Mankind grew 
 the moji unruly of all Creatures. Ariftotle, that as by 
 Nature they are capable of being the beft,fo being negleSied, 
 they. become the worjl of Animals , i. e. when they are brought 
 
 i. up without Virtue. Education and Virtue, faith he, is a great 
 things yea, it is all in all, and without it they will be much 
 worfe than Beafts. The main Care of the Education 
 of Children mifft lie upon Parents ; but yet Minifters 
 ought not only to put them in mind oi their Duty, 
 but to affift them all ihey can, and by publick Cate- 
 chifing, frequently to inftruct both thofe who have 
 not learned, and thole who are afhamed to learn any 
 other way. And you mud ufe the beft means you 
 can to bring them into an Efteem of it ; which is by 
 letting them fee, that you do it, not merely becaufe 
 you are required to do it, but becaufe it is a thing fo 
 ufeful and beneficial to them, .and to their Children. 
 There is a great deal of difference between Peoples 
 being able to talk over a Set of (pbrajes, about Reli- 
 gious Matters, and underftanding the true Grounds of 
 Religion ; which are eafiefl: learned, and underftood, 
 and remembered in the fhort Catechetical Way. But 
 I am truly forry to hear , that where the Clergy are 
 willing to take pains this way, the People are unwil- 
 ling to fend their Children. They would not be un- 
 willing to hear them inftructed, as early as might be, 
 
 in 
 
C 19 ) 
 
 in the way- to get an Eftate, but would be very thank- 
 ful to thofe who would do them fuch a kindnefs ; 
 and therefore it is really a Contempt of God 
 and Religion , and another World, which makes 
 them fo backward to have their Children taught 
 the way to it. And methinks thole who have any 
 Zeal for the Reformation mould love and purfue 
 that which came into Reque/l with it. Indeed ' the 
 Church of(2fyme it lei f hath been made fbfenilbleof 
 the Neceffity of it; that even the Council of Trent stf.14.JeHc- 
 doth not only require Catechifing Children, but the <Bi- form - c,A ' 
 flops to proceed with Ecclejiajlical Cenfures againft thole 
 who neglect it. But in the old Provincial Conflitutions 
 I can find but one InjunBion about Catechifing ; and 
 that is when the Frieft doubts whether the Children were LynJm. p rov . 
 Baptised or not j and if they be born eight days before Eafter c x f 5 ' f ' I34, 
 and Whitfuntide, they are not to be baptised till thofe days, cenciUtigiie. 
 and in the mean time they are to receive Catechijm. What 330. 
 is this receiving Catechijm by Children, before they are 
 eight days old ? It is well Exorcifm is joyned with 
 it-, and (o we are to underftand by it the Interrogato- 
 ries in Baptifm: and Lyndwood faith, the Catechijm is^cmfecr. 
 not only required for Instruction in Faith, but propter 57- 
 fponfionem, when the Godfather anfwers, De Fidei Ob- 
 fervantia. 
 
 It is true the Canon Law requires in adult Pcrfons 
 Chatechi/ing before (Baptifm j but I find nothing of the 
 Catechifing Children after it - y and no wonder, iince Lynd* LMfi '• u. 
 wood faith, the Laity are bound to no more than to believe l""; im habe _ 
 m the Church believes ; nor the Clergy neither, unlefs they can g^*S^ p 
 bear the Charges of Studying, and have Matters to inllruEi . e cart»t »Ji 
 
 r*v \l phi< (ciant 
 
 D 2 themJ Jl4a) J nUtCh 
 
( io) 
 
 them. This was good Doctrin, when the Defign 
 was to keep People in Ignorance. For Learning is 
 an irreconcilable Enemy to the Fundamental Policy 
 of the (Roman Church ; and it was that which brought 
 in the Reformation, fince which a juft Care hath 
 ftill been required for the Inftruction of Youth ,• and 
 the fifty ninth Canon of our Church is very ftricl: in it, 
 which I defire you often to confider with the firft Ru- 
 brick after the Catechifm, and to act accordingly. 
 
 IV. After Catechizing, I recommend to you the due 
 Care of bringing the Children of your Parifties to Con- 
 firmation. Which would be of excellent uie in the 
 Church, if the ieveral Minifters would take that 
 Pains about it, which they ought to do. Remember 
 that you are required to bring or fend in Writing, with' 
 your Names fubfcribed, the Names of all fuch Perfons in 
 your (parifh, as you fb all think ft to be Trefented to the !Bi- 
 (hop to be Confirmed. If you take no Care about it, and 
 iufter them to come unprepared for fo great, lo folemn 
 a thing, as renewing the Tromife and Vow made in Baptifm, 
 can you think your felves free from any Guilt in it ? In 
 the Church of ^pme indeed great Care was taken to 
 haften Confirmation of Children all they could : Woft 
 Provi? lc . con- Btytifmum quam citius poterint, as it is in our Conftitution 
 'D-'sicr'i ^ r ^( tncia H m another Synodical, the Parochial Triefts 
 Vaft.f.is. Are charged to tdl their Tari/hioners, that they ought to get 
 zToi^^. ^ir Children Confirmed as foon as they can. In a Synod at 
 Worcefter, under Walter de Canttlupo y in the time of 
 Henry III. the Sacrament of Confirmation is declared ne- 
 cndLAngi ceffar y *°. r Strength a g am ft the Tower ofVarknefs; and 
 ^*v./m 4 o. therefore it was called S acr amentum pugnantium: and no 
 
 wonder 
 
wonder then that the Parochial Priefts fTiould be ai- 
 led upon Co earneftly to bring the Children to Confirma- 
 tion > and the Parents were to be forbidden to enter 
 into the Church, if they neglected ic for a Tear after 
 the Birth of the Child , if they had opportunity. 
 The Synod of Exeter allowed two Years i and then 
 if they were not Confirmed, the Parents were toFafi 
 every Friday, with Bread and Water, till it were done. 
 And to the fame purpofe, the Synod of Winchefter m^ 440j 
 the time of Edw. I. in the Conjlitutions of Richard Bi- s 
 (hop of Sarum, two Years were allowed , but that 
 Time was afterwards thought too long 5 and then the p. H3 . 
 Prieft as well as the Parents was to be fufpended from 
 entrance into the Church. But what Preparation was 
 required ? None that I can find: But great Care is 
 taken about the Fillets to bind their Heads to receive the 
 Unclion, and the taking them off at the Font, and burning 
 them, left they JJ?ould be ufedfor Witchcraft , as Lyndwood Lynd». /: i 9 
 informs us. But we have no fuch Cuftoms nor any 
 of the Reformed Churches ; We depend, not upon 
 the Opus operatum, but fuppofe a due and ferious Prepa- 
 ration of Mind necefTary, and a folemn Performance of 
 it. I hope, by God's Afliftance, to be able, in time, 
 to bring the Performance of this Office into a better 
 Method ,• in the mean time, I fhall not fajl doing my 
 Duty, have you a care you do not fail in yours. 
 
 V. As to the tPublick Offices of the ' Church, I do 
 not only recommend to you a due Care of the Dili- 
 gent but of the Devout Performance of them. I have 
 often wondered how a fixed and ftated Liturgy for 
 general Uie, ihould become a matter of Scruple and 
 
 Difpute 
 
(-.**>■ 
 
 Difpute among any in a Chriftian Church ; unlefs 
 there be fomething in Chriftianity which makes it un- 
 lawful to pray together for things which we all un- 
 derftand beforehand to be the Subject of our Prayers. 
 If our common Neceflities and Duties are the fame; 
 if we have the fame Blefiings to pray and to thank 
 God for in our folemn Devotions, why fhould any 
 think it unlawful or unfitting to ufe the fame Expref- 
 iions i Is God pleafed with the Change of our Words 
 and Phraies ? Can we imagin the Holy Spirit is gi- 
 ven to dictate new Expreflions in Prayers ? Then they 
 muft pray by immediate Infpiration (which I think 
 they will not pretend to, left all the Miftakes and 
 Incongruities of fuch Prayers be imputed to the Holy 
 Ghoft), but if not, then they are left to their own 
 Conceptions, and the Spirits Afliftance is only in the 
 Exciting the Affections and Motions of the Soul to- 
 wards the things prayed for ; and if this be allowed, 
 it is impofiible to give a Reafon why the Spirit of God 
 may not as .well excite thofe inward Defires, when the 
 Words ate the fame as when they are different. And 
 we are certain, that from the Apoftles times down- 
 wards, no one Church or Society of Chriftians can be 
 produced, who held it unlawful to pray by a fet Form. 
 On the other fide, we have very early Proofs of fome 
 common Forms of Prayer, which were generally ufed 
 m the Chriftian Churches, and were the Foundations 
 of thofe Ancient Liturgies, ■ which, by degrees were 
 much enlarged. And the Interpolations of latter 
 times, do no more overthrow the Antiquity of the 
 Ground- work of them, than the large Additions to a 
 
 Building,- 
 
C *? ) 
 
 Building, do prove there was no Houfe before. Ie 
 is an eaiie matter to fay that fuch Liturgies couid not 
 be S.James's or S. Marks, becaufe of fuch Errors and 
 Miftakes, and Interpolations of things and Phrafes of 
 latter times ; but what then? Is this an Argument; 
 there were no Ancient Liturgies in the Churches of 
 Jerufalem or Alexandria ; when fo long fince, as in 
 Origeris time we find an entire Collect produced by him orig. inGer. 
 out of the Alexandrian Liturgy ? and the like may be SE^'i 1 
 fhewed as to other Churches, which by degrees came 
 to have their Liturgies much enlarged by the Devout 
 Prayers of fome extraordinary Men, fuch as 5. OBaftl 
 and S. Chrjfoftom in the Eaftern Churches. 
 
 But my defign is not to vindicate our ufe of an ex- 
 cellent Liturgy, but to put you upon the ufing it in fuch 
 manner, as may mod recommend it to the People. I 
 mean with that Gravity, Serioufnefs, Attention, and 
 Devotion, which becomes fb fblemn a Duty as Prayer 
 to God is. It will give too juft a caufe of Prejudice to 
 our Prayers, if the People obferve you to be carelefs 
 and negligent about them ; or to run them over with 
 fo great hafte, as if you minded nothing i'o much as 
 to get to the end of them. If you mind them fo little 
 your felves, they will think themfelves excufed, if they 
 mind them lefs. I could heartily wifh, that in greater 
 places., efpecially in fuch Towns where there are Peo- 
 ple more at liberty, the conftant Morning and Even- 
 ing Prayers were duly and devoutly read ; as it is al- 
 ready done with good Succefs in London, and fome 
 other Cities. By this means Religion will gain ground, 
 when the publick Offices are daily performed ; and the. 
 
 People 
 
( H) 
 
 "People will be more acquainted with Scripture, in 
 hearing the Leflbns, and have a better eftecm of the 
 Prayers, when they become their daily Service, which 
 they offer up to God as their Morning and Evening 
 Sacrifice ; and the defign of our Church will be beft 
 anfvvered, which appoints the Order for Morning and 
 Evening'Trayer daily to be /aid, and ufed throughout the Year. 
 VI. As to the Di/Jenters from the Church; the 
 prefent Circumftances of our Affairs require a more 
 than ordinary (prudence in your Behaviour towards 
 them. It is to no purpofe to provoke or exafperate 
 them, fince they will be butfo much more your Ene- 
 mies for it ; and if you (eem to court them loo much, 
 they will interpret your Kindnefs to be a liking their 
 Way better than your own j fo that were it not for 
 fome worldly Intereft, you would bejuft what they 
 are ,• which is in effecl: to fay, you would be Men of 
 Confcience, if ye had a little more Honefty. For they 
 can never think thofe honeft Men, who comply with 
 things againft their Confciences, only for their tempo- 
 ral Advantage; but they may like them as Men of a 
 Party, who under fome ipecious Colours promote 
 their Intereft. For my own part 5 as I do fincerely value 
 and efteem the Church of England ( and I hope ever 
 f hall), fo I am not againft fuch a due temper towards 
 them, as is confident with "the pteferving the Confti- 
 tution of our Church. But if any think, under a Pre- 
 tence of Liberty, to undermine and deftroy it, we have 
 reafon to take the beft care we can, in order to its Pre- 
 fervation. I do not mean by oppoiing Law*, or af- 
 fronting Authority, but by countermining them in the 
 
 beft 
 
(15 ) . 
 bed way ; i. e. by outdoing them in thole things which 
 make themPmod Popular, if they are confident with 
 Integrity and a good Confcience. If they gain upon 
 the People by an appearance of more than, ordinary 
 Zeal for the good of Souls ; I would have you to go 
 beyond them in a true and hearty Concernment for 
 them,- not in irregular Heats and Paflions, but in the 
 MeeknefsofWiJdom-y in a calm and fedate Temper j 
 in doing good even to them who mod defpightfully 
 reproach you, and withdraw thenffelves and the Peo- 
 ple from you. If they get an Intered among them by 
 Indudry, and going from Place to Place, and Family 
 to Family ; I hope you will think it your Duty to con- 
 vert more freely and familiarly with your own People. 
 Be not Strangers, and you will make them Friends. 
 Let them fee by your particular Application to them, 
 that you do not defpife them. For Men love to value 
 thofe who feem to value them 5 and if you once 
 flight them, you run the hazard of making them 
 your Enemies. It is fome Tryal of a Chriftians Pa- 
 tience as well as Humility , to condefcend to the Weak- 
 nefles of others j but where it is our Duty, we mud 
 do it, and that chearfully, in order to the bed End, 
 Ipfe Doing the more good upon them. And all Con- 
 deicenfion and Kindnefs for fuch an End, is true Wif- 
 dom, as well as Humility. I am afraid Didance and 
 too great StirTnefs of Behaviour towards them, have 
 made fome more our Enemies than they would have 
 been. I hope they are now convinced, that the Per- 
 fection which they complained lately fo much of, 
 was carried on by other Men, and for other Dsfigns 
 E than 
 
c 2<n 
 
 than they would then feem to believe. But that Perfe- 
 ction was then a Popular Argument for them ; for, 
 the complaining fide hath always the mod Pity. But 
 now that is taken off, you may deal with them on 
 more equal Terms. Now there is nothing to af- 
 fright them, and we think we have Reafon enough 
 on our fide to perfuade them. The Cafe of Separa- 
 tion ftands juft as it did in Point of Confcience, 
 which is not now^one jot more reafbnable or juft 
 than it was before. Some think Severity makes Men 
 • confider ; but I am afraid it heats them too much, 
 and makes them too violent and refractory. You 
 have more reafon to fear now, what the Intereft of 
 a Party will do, than any Strength of Argument. 
 How very few among them underftand any reafon 
 at all for their Separation ! But Education, Prejudice, 
 Authority of their Teachers fway them ; remove thefe 
 and you convince them. And in order thereto, ac- 
 quaint your felves with them, endeavour to oblige 
 tnem, let them fee you have no other Defign upon 
 them, but to do them good ; if any thing will gain 
 upon them, this will. 
 
 But if after all, they grow more headftrong and 
 infolent by the Indulgence which the Law gives them ,- 
 then obferve, whether they obferve thofe Conditi- 
 ons on which the Law gives it to them. For thefe 
 u.fi 5 c6 are known Rules in Law, that he forfeits his Trivi- 
 Lynaw.adi.de lege who goes beyond the 'Bounds of it ,• that no Privileges 
 Extr.dePnv.are to be extended beyond the Bounds which the Laws give 
 Gioj™ '" ^ em > f Qr ( J ,e y ou $ n t0 be obferved as they are given. 
 I leave it to be confidered, whether all fuch who 
 
 do 
 
C 27 ) 
 
 do not obferve the Conditions of the Indulgence, -be 
 not as liable to the Law as if they had none. 
 
 But there is a very profane abufe of this Liberty 
 among fome, as though it were an Indulgence not 
 to ferve God at all. Suckas thefe, as they were never 
 intended by the Law, fo they ought to enjoy no Be- 
 nefit by it. For this were to Countenance Profane- 
 nefs and Irreligion ; which I am afraid will grow too 
 much upon us, unlefs fome effectual Care be taken 
 to fflpprefs it. 
 
 VII. There is another Duty incumbent upon you, 
 which I muft particularly recommend to your Care, 
 and that is, of Viftting the Sick. I do not mean bare- 
 ly to perform the Office prefcribed, which is of very 
 good ufe, and ought not to be neglected ,• but a par- 
 ticular Application of your felves to the State and Con- 
 dition of the Perfons you vifit. It is no hard matter 
 to run over fome Prayers, and fo take leave j but this 
 doth not come up to the Defign of our Church in that 
 Office : For, after the general Exhortation and Pro- 
 fe/Iion of the Chriftian Faith, our Church requires, 
 that the fick T erf on be moved to make facial Confeffion of 
 his Sim, if he feel his Confcience troubled with any weigh- 
 ty matter ; and then if the fick Terfon humbly and hear- 
 tily dejires it, he is to be abfohed after this manner, Our 
 Lord Jefus Chrift, who hath left Tower in his Church to 
 abfolve all Sinners who truly repent and believe in him, &c. 
 Where the Power of Abfolution is grounded upon 
 the Suppofition of true Faith and Repentance 5 and 
 therefore, when it is faid afterwards, And by his Au- 
 thority committed to me, I abfolve thee from the fame, Sec. 
 E 2 it 
 
( z8.) 
 
 it mud proceed on the fame fuppofition. For the 
 Church cannot abfolve when God doth not. So that all 
 the real Comfort of the Abfolution depends upon the 
 Satisfaction of the Perfon's Mind, as to the Sincerity of 
 his Repentance and Faith in Chrift. Now here lies the 
 great Difficulty of this Office 5 how to give your felves 
 and the wounded Conicience Satisfaction^ as to the 
 Sincerity of thofe A6ts ; I do not mean as to the Since- 
 rity, of his prefent Thoughts, but as to the Accepta ble- 
 nds of his Faith and Repentance with God in order 
 to Remiffion of Sins. But what if you find the Per- 
 fons fo ignorant, as not to underftand what Faith and 
 Repentance mean ? What if they have led fuch care- 
 lefs and fecure Lives in this World, as hardly ever 
 to have had one ferious Thought of another ? Is no- 
 thing to be done but to come and pray by them, 
 and fo difmifs them into their Eternal State? Is this 
 all the good you can, or are bound to do them? I 
 confefs, it is a very uncomfortable thing to tell Men 
 how they are to begin to live, when they are liker to 
 dye than to live (and the People generally have a 
 ftrange fuperftitious Fear of fending for the Minifter, 
 while there is any hope of Recovery J. But at lafl you 
 are fent for 5 and what a -melancholy Work are you 
 then to go about ? You are, it may be, to make a 
 Man fenfible of his Sins, who never before confider- 
 ed. what they were, or agarnft whom they were com- 
 mitted, or what eternal Mifery he deferves by com- 
 mitting them. But I Will fuppofe the beft I can in 
 this Cafe, vi% That by your warm and ferious Dif- 
 courfe, you throughly awaken the Confcience of a 
 
 long 
 
C 19 ) 
 
 long and habitual Sinner - y what are you then to do ? 
 Will you prefently apply all the Promifes of Grace 
 and Salvation to one whofe Confcience is awakened 
 only with the Fears of Death, and the Terrors of 
 a Day of Judgment ? This, I confefs, is a hard Cafe ; 
 on the one fide, we muft not dilcourage good Be- 
 ginnings in any ; we muft not caft an awakened Sin- 
 ner into Defpair ,• we muft not limit the infinite Mer- 
 cy of God : But on the other fide, we muft have a 
 great care of encouraging prelumptuous Sinners to 
 put off their Repentance to the laft, becaufe then 
 upon Confeffion of their Sins, they can fo eafily obtain 
 the Churches Abfolution, which goes no farther, 
 than truly Repenting and Believing. But here is the 
 Difficulty, how we can fatisfie our felves that thefe 
 do truly (Repent and 'Believe ; who are out of a Capacity 
 of giving Proof of their Sincerity by Amendment of 
 Life ? I do not queftion the Sincerity of their prefent 
 purpofes ; but how often do we find thofe to come 
 to nothing, when they recover and fall into the for- 
 mer Temptations.? How then fhall they know their 
 own Sincerity till it betryed ? How can it be try ed, 
 when they are going out of the State of Tryal ? The 
 moft we can do, is to encourage them to do the beft 
 they can in their prefent Condition, and to fhew as 
 many of the Fruits of true Repentance as their Circum- 
 ftances will allow j and with the greateft humility of 
 Mind, and moft earneft Supplications to implore the 
 infinke Mercy of God to their Souls. But befides 
 thefe, there are many Cafes of fick Perfons, which re- 
 quire very particular Advice and Spiritual Direction, 
 
 which 
 
( ?o ) 
 
 which you ought to be able to give them, and it cannot 
 be done without fome good Meafure of Skill and Ex- 
 perience in Cafuiftical Divinity. As, How to fatisfie a 
 doubting Confcience, as to its own Sincerity, when fo 
 many Infirmities are mixed with our beffc A&ions ? 
 How a Sinner who hath reiapfed after Repentance can 
 be fatisfied of the Truth of his Repentance, when he 
 doth not know, but he may farther relapfe upon 
 frefh Temptations ? How, he fhall know what 
 Failings are confident with the State of Grace, and 
 the Hopes of Heaven, and what not ? What Meafure 
 of Conviction and Power of Refiftance is necef- 
 iary to make Sins to be Wilful and Prefumptuous ? 
 What the juft Meafures of Reftitution are in order 
 to true Repentance, in all i'uch Injuries which are ca- 
 pable of it ? I might name many others, but thefe I on- 
 ly mention to fhew how neceflary it is for you to apply 
 your f elves to Moral and Cafuiftical Divinity , and not to 
 content your felves barely with the knowledg of what 
 is called <Pofitive and Controverjial. I am afraid there 
 are too many who think they need to look after 
 no more than what qualifies them for the Pulpit ; 
 (and I wifti all did take (ufficient Care of that) but 
 if we would do our Duty as we ought, we miift in- 
 quire into, and be able to Refolve Cafes of Confci- 
 ence. For the Triefts Lips fhould keep this kind of fyiow* 
 ledge i and the People fhould feek the Law at his mouth j 
 for he is the Mefjenger of the Lord of Hofts, Mai. 2. 7. If 
 this held in the Levitical Priefthood, much more cer- 
 tainly under the Gofpel, where the Rates and Meafures 
 of our Duties are not to be determined by Levitical 
 
 Precepts, 
 
Cji ) 
 
 Precepts, but by the general Reafon and Nature of 
 Moral Actions. 
 
 VIII. Among the Duties of Tublick Worfhip, I mull 
 put you in mind of a Frequent Celebration of the Lord's 
 Supper. There is generally too great a Neglect of 
 this, which is the mod proper part of Evangelical 
 Wbrfbip. The Duties of prayers and Traifes, are ex- 
 cellent and becoming Duties, as we are Creatures with 
 refpect to our Maker and Preferver. The Duty of 
 hearing the Word of God read and explained, is con- 
 fequent upon our owning in to be the Rule of our 
 Faith and Manners ; and all who defire to underftand 
 and practife their Duty, can never defpife or neglect 
 it. But that folemn Act of Worfhip wherein we do 
 moft fliew our felves Chriftians, is the celebra- 
 ting the Holy. Euchanfl. For , therein we own 
 and declare the infinite Love of God in fending his Son 
 into the world to die for Sinners, in order to their Salva- 
 tion ; and that this is not only a true Saying, but worthy of all 
 men to be credited. Therein, we lift up our Hearts, and 
 give Thanks to our Lord God\ we joyn with Angels and 
 Archangels in lauding and magnifying his Glorious Name. 
 Therein, we not only commemorate the Death and 
 Sufferings of our Lord, but are made Partakers of his 
 Body and Blood, after a Real, but Sacramental Man- 
 ner. Therein we offer up our felves to God y to be a 
 <%eafonable, Holy and Lively Sacrifice unto him. There- 
 in we Adore and Glonfie the ever Bkffed Trinity ; 
 and humbly implore the Grace and Affiftance of our 
 ever BleiTed Mediator. And what now is there in all 
 this, which is not very agreeable to the Faith, Hope, 
 
 and 
 
C I* ) 
 
 avid Charity of Chriftians? Nay, what Duty is 
 there, which fo much expreffes all thefe together, as 
 this doth ? Nor, whereby we may more reafonably 
 expect greater Supplies of Divine Grace to be beftow- 
 ed upon us? What then makes fo many to be fo back- 
 ward in this Duty, which pi»ofefs a Zeal and For- 
 wardnefs in many others ? If we had that Warmth and 
 Fervor of Devotion, that Love toChrifl, and to each 
 other, which the Primitive Chriftians had, we mould 
 make it as conftant a part of our Publick Worfhip, as 
 they did j but this is not to be expected. Neither did 
 -ft always continue in the Primitive Church, when Li- 
 berty, and Eafe, and Worldly Temptations made 
 Perlbns grow more remifs and carelefs in the ibiemn 
 Duties of their Religion. 
 
 S. Chryjojlom takes notice in his time- of the different 
 in Hebr.Hom. Behaviour of Perfons, with refpect to the holy Eucha- 
 JJ- J" WW rift. There were Tome who pretended to greater Ho- 
 linefs and Aufterity of Life than others, who with- 
 drew from the common Converfation of Mankind, 
 and fo by degrees from joining in the Acts of Publick 
 Worfhip with them. Which did unfpeakable Mifchief 
 to Chriftianity ; for then the Perfection of the Chrifti- 
 an Life, was not fuppofed to coniift in the active part 
 of k, but in Retirement and Contemplation. As 
 mo our higheft imitation of Chrift lay in following him 
 into the Wilder mfs to be tempted of the T>evil ; and not in 
 walking a? he walked, who frequented the Synagogues, 
 
 and went about doin? <rood. 
 .00 
 
 But this way ot Retirement happening to be admi- 
 red by (ome great Men, the Publick Worfhip came to 
 
 be 
 
C %\ ) 
 
 be in lefs efteem ; and others upon Reafons of a dif- 
 ferent Nature withdrew themfelves from fuch Acts of 
 Devotion as required a flrider Attendance, and a more 
 prepared Temper of Mind. And there were fome who 
 did abftain, becaufe they were not fo well fatisfied 
 with themfelves as to their own Preparations ; and 
 fuch as thefe S. Cbry/oftom feems to favor, rather than 
 fuch who came often without due care, as to the whole 
 Courfe of their Lives ; only out of cuflom, or out of 
 regard to the Orders of the Church. From hence ma- 
 ny thought it better to forbear, as long as they did it 
 not out of Contempt. And fo by degrees the People 
 were content to look on it as a Sacrifice for them to be 
 performed by others, rather than as an Office, where- 
 in they were to bear a part themfelves ,- at leaft, they 
 thought once or thrice a year fufficient for them. And 
 to this, as appears by our old Provincial Conftitutions. c ° ncil An z ltc ' 
 they were forced by levere Canons. 166, 299. 
 
 When the Reformation began, this Difufe of this 
 holy Sacrament, was looked on, by the chief Refor- 
 mers, as a great Abule and Corruption. crept into the 
 Church, which ought by all means to be Reformed ; 
 and the frequent Celebration of it fet up in the Re- cahin. injur. 
 formed Churches. But unreafonable Scruples in fome, pt. AtorS 44 " 
 and Mifapprehenfions in others, and a general Cold- ^' c £* elCm 
 nefs and Indifference, as to Matters of Religion, have In > Cor - «• 
 hitherto hindered the Reviving this Primitive Part, of B»d' r m 
 Devotion among us. £*Jjj£ i6 ' 
 
 I do not go about to determin the Frequency in 
 
 your Parifhes, which the Scripture doth not as to the 
 
 Chnftian Church, but fuppoies it to be often done ; 
 
 F but 
 
( MO 
 
 but I may require you to take Care, that Chrift's In- 
 ftitution be obferved among you ; and that with your 
 utmoft Care, both as to the Decency and Purity 
 of k. 
 
 The laft thing I recommend to you all, is, To have 
 a great Care of your Converfations. I do not fpeak 
 it out of a diftruft of you ; I hope you do it already : 
 and your Cafe will be Co much worfe, if you do it 
 not, becaufe you very well know how much you 
 ought to do it. For the Honor of God and Religion, 
 and the Succefs of your Miniftry, as well as your own 
 Salvation, depend very much upon it. Lead your 
 Flock by your Example, as well as by your Doctrine, 
 and then you may rn^ich better hope that they will fol- 
 low you i Cox the People are naturally Spies upon their 
 Mnijkrsy and if they obierve them to mind nothing 
 but the World all the Week, they will not believe 
 them in earneft, when on the Lord's Days they per- 
 fuade them againft it. And it takes off the Weight of 
 all Reproof of other Mens Faults, if thofe they reprove 
 have reafon to believe them guilty of the fame. I do not 
 think it enough for a Treacher of ^ghteoufnefs merely 
 to avoid open and fcandalous Sins, but he. ought to be 
 a great Example to others in the moft excellent Vir- 
 tues which adorn our Profeflion, not only in Tempe- 
 rance and Chaftity, in Juflice and orSnary Charity, but m 
 2. readinefs to do good to all, in forgiving Injuries^ in 
 loving Enemies, in evenneis of Temper, in Humility 
 and Meeknefs, and Patience, and Submiffion to God's 
 Will, and in frequent Retirements from the World, 
 not merely for Study, but for Devotion. If by thefe and 
 
 fuch 
 
C 55) 
 
 fiich things you fhine as Lights among your People, 
 they will be more ready to follow your Conduct j 
 and in probability you will not only (lop their Mouths, 
 but gain their Hearts. For among all the Ways of 
 advancing the Credit and Intereft. of the Church of 
 England, one of the mod fuccefsful will be the diligent 
 Labors, and the exemplary Lives of the Clergy in it. 
 
 But if Men will not regard their own, or the 
 Churches Intereft in this matter; if they will break 
 their Rules in fuch a manner, as to difhonor God, and 
 the Church, and themfelves by it; then you are to 
 confider the next thing I was to (peak to, which is, . 
 
 II. What Authority is given to us for the punifliing 
 Offenders in our Diocejjes by the Eccleftaftical Law of this 
 Realm. For this we are to confider, that our Autho- 
 rity herein is not derived from any modern Canons or 
 Confiitutions of this Church (altho due Regard ought 
 to be (hewed to them) but from the ancient Common 
 Law Ecclefiaftical in this Realm, which (till continues 
 in force. For as there is a Common Law with refpect to 
 Civil (Rights, which depends not on the Feudal Confii- 
 tutions, altho in many things it be the fame with 
 them i but upon ancient Tratlice, and general Con/ent of 
 the People from Age to Age. So, I fay, there is a 
 Common Law Ecclefiaftical, which altho in many things 
 it may be the fame with the Canon Law, which is 
 read in the Books ; yet it hath not irs force from any 
 Tapal or Le&atine Confiitutions, but from the Acceptance 
 andTratlice of it in our Church. I could eafily (hew 
 (if the time would permit) that Tapal and Legatine 
 Confiitutions were not received here, altho directed hi- 
 F 2 ther; 
 
( *o 
 
 x H- 6v ther ; that fome Provincial Conftitutions never obtained 
 the Force of Ecclefiaftical Laws j but my bufinefs is to 
 fhew what did obtain and continue ftill to have the 
 force of fuch Ecclefiaftical haws among us. 
 
 By the Statute of 25 H. 8. c. 19. it is declared, 
 " That fuch Canons, Conftitutions, Ordinances and 
 <£ Synodals Provincial being already made, which be 
 <c not contrariant nor repugnant to the Lawsj Statutes, 
 " and Cuftoms of this Realm, nor to the Damage or 
 " Hurt of the King's Prerogative Royal, mall now 
 " ftill be ufed and executed as they were afore the 
 " making of this Act, <src. It's true, a { %eview was 
 appointed, but fuch Difficulties were found in it, as to 
 the making the Foundations of the Ecclefiaftical Law 
 here, that nothing was ever legally eftablimed in it ; 
 and therefore this Law is ftill in force. 
 
 In the Statute 25H8.cn. it is faid, " That this 
 " Realm Recognifing no Superior under God but the 
 " King, hath been, and is free from Subjection to 
 " any Man's Laws, but only to fuch as have been 
 <c Deviled, Made, and Obferved within this Realm, 
 " for the Wealth of the fame : or to fuch other, as by 
 " the Sufferance of the King and his Progenitors, the 
 cl People of this Realm have taken at their free Liber- 
 " ty, by their own confent, to be ufed amongfl them, 
 " and have bound themielves by long ufeand cuftom 
 " to obfervance of the fame, not as to the obfervance 
 " of the Laws of any Foreign Prince, Potentate, or 
 " Prelate, but as to the Cuftoms and ancient Laws of 
 " this Realm, originally eftablimed, as Laws of the 
 " fame, by the laid Sufferance, Confent, Cuftom, and 
 " none other wife. 
 
 AH 
 
C 37 ) 
 
 All that I have mow to do, is to fhew what Au* 
 thority the Bijhops had over the Clergy by the Ancient 
 Ecclefiaftical Law of this Realm ; and what Cenfurcs 
 chey were lyable to for fome particular Offences. 
 
 I. By the Ecclejtaftical Law the Bifhop is Judg of 
 the Fttnefs of any Clerk prefented to a (Benefice. This 
 is confefled by the Lord Coke in thefe Words. And tbe lln £*&i 
 Examination of the Ability, and Sufficiency of the V erf on 
 prefented, belongs to the <Bifwp, who is the Ecclefiafti- 
 cal Judg, and in the. Examination he is a Judg, and not 
 a Minifter y and may and ought to refufe the Terfon pre- 
 fented, if he be not Perfbna idonea. But this is plain. 
 to have been the Ancient Ecclejtaftical Law of this 
 Realm, by the Articui Cleri in JLdw. II. time, De ldonei- 
 tate tperfona prxfentate ad 'Beneficium Eccleftaflicum per- 
 tinet Examinatio ad Judicem Eccleftaflicum % <&- it a eft ha* 
 tlenus ufttatum & fiat in futurum. 
 
 By the Provincial Conftitutions at Oxford in the time &**»?•&*£'. 
 of Hrn.UU the Bifhop is required to admit the Clerk /"I?. """ 
 who is prefented, without Oppofition, within two 
 Months, dum tamen idmeus fit -, if he thinks him fit. 
 So much time is allowed, propter Examinationem, 
 faith Lyndwood; even when there is no difpute about 
 Right of Patronage. The main thing he is to be 
 examined upon is his Ability to dif charge his Taftoral 
 Duty, as Coke calls it ; or as Lyndwood faith, whether 
 he be commendandus Scientia Is* Moribus. As to the 
 former, the Bifhop may judg himfelf ,- but as to the 
 • latter, he mud take the Teftimonials of others j and I 
 heartily wifh the Clergy would be more careful in 
 giving them, by looking on it as a Matter of Confci- 
 
 ence-, 
 
i *& » 
 
 ( ;8) 
 
 mce, and not merely of Civility -, for othetwife it will 
 be impoffible to avoid the peftering the Church with 
 fcandalous and ignorant Wretches. If the Bifhop re- 
 fufes to admit within the time (which by the mo- 
 dern Canons is limited to twenty eight days after the 
 Piefentation delivered) he is liable to a Duplex Que- 
 rela in the Ecclefiaftical Courts, and a Qgare impedit 
 at Common Law ; and then he muft certifie the Rea- 
 •fons of his Refufal. In Specofs Cafe it is faid, that 
 in \j Hen. 7.^7,8. All the Judges agreed, that the Bi- 
 fhop is Judg in the Examination, and there fork' the haw 
 giveth Faith and Credit to his Judgment. But becaufc 
 great Iuconveniencies might otherwife happen, the 
 general Allegation is noc fufticient, but he muft cer- 
 ti fefpecially and dire&ly ; and the general Rule is, and 
 it was fo refolved by the Judges, That all fuch as are 
 »-NbdtMMnpp fufficknt Caufes of Deprivation of an Incumbent, are fuf- 
 
 diunt promc. J ' J . r * J r r <T> r\ n I_ I W 
 
 vendum an* ficient Caujes to refuje a 'rrejentee. But by the Ca- 
 G7o$"c7 5 non Law* more are allowed. In the Confiitutions of 
 j£2 & eric Qthobon, the Bifhop is required particularly to enquire 
 c chnjiano/mto the Life and Converfation of him that is pre- 
 sented j and afterwards, that if a Bilhop admits ano- 
 ther who is guilty of the fame Fault for which he 
 ; ^ Jure ^rejected the former, his Inftitution is declared null 
 trm.c. p.^-and void. By the Canon Law, if a Bifhop mali- 
 ce**. c j ou (]y rt £ u fe s to a J m ic a fit Peribn, he is bound to 
 provide another Benefice for him ; but our Ecclefia- 
 ftical Law, much better puts him upon the Proof 
 of the Caule of his Refufal. But if the Bifhop doth 
 <ih(T. in can not €xam * a n * m > tne Canonists % it is a Proof fuf- 
 4$ w4/;;w^.\ficknt that he did it malitiose. If a Bifhop once re- 
 jects 
 
c ?9 ; 
 
 jeiSts a Man for Infufliciency, he cannot afterwards 
 accept or admit of him j as was adjudged in the Bi- 
 fhop of Hereford 's Cafe. If a Man brings a Pre- Mw as. ei. 3 .- 
 fentation to a Benefice, the Bifhop is not barely to 3 Cr ' 2? * 
 examin him as to Life and Abilities, but he muft be 
 fatisfied that he is in Orders. How can he be fatis- 
 fied, unlefs the other produce them ? How can he pro- 
 duce them, when it may be they are loft?. What is 
 to be done in this Cafe ? The Canon is exprefs, That can. ■&. 
 no Bifhop frail Infiitute any to a Benefice, who hath been . 
 Ordained by any other %fhop ( for it he Ordained him. 
 himfelf, he cannot after reject him, becaufe the Law 
 fuppofes him to have examined and approved him) 
 except he firft [hew unto him his Letters of Orders, and. 
 bring him a fufficient Teftimony of Ins former good Life 
 and Behaviour, if the Bif?op Jball require it, and laftly 
 [hall appear upon due Examination to be worthy of the, 
 Mniftry. But yet in Palmes and the Bifhop of Peter- 
 borough's Cafe, it was adjudged that no Lapfe did, 
 accrue by the Clerk's not (hewing his Orders, for the. 
 Bifliop upon his not coming to him again, Collated, 
 after fix Months. But the Court agreed, that the3Cr. 34 i. 
 Clerk ought to make Proof of his Orders; but they ' *?»*** 
 differed about the manner of their Proof. Anderfon. 
 faid, the Bifhop might give him his Oath. But if a 
 Proof were neceffary, and the Clerk did not come 
 to make Proof, it ieems to. me to. be a very hard 
 Judgment. 
 
 II. The Bifhop by the Ecclefiaftical Law, is to 
 viilt his Diocefs, and to take an account of the Cler- *#'**/. '• 
 gy how they behave themfelves in. the Duties oftheiriV^'%-- 
 
 Places. ****s*> 
 
places. By the elded Canons lean find, the Biflhops 
 Vifitation is fuppofed as a thing implyed in his Of- 
 fice ; whereby he is obliged to look after the good 
 Eftate of his whole Diocefs, and efpecially of the 
 Clergy, in it. In the time of Hubert Arch-Bifhop of 
 ' *d Canterbury, in the beginning of King Johns time care 
 ° " ,I4 ' is taken in the Canons then made, That %fhops 
 fhould. not be burdenfom to the Clergy in the Number of 
 the Attendants in their Vifitations $» which then were Paro- 
 chial, and the Number allowed of 20 or 2.0 Horfe, was 
 too heavy for the Clergy to bear. And therefore by de- 
 grees it was thought fit to turn that Charge into a 
 Certainty , which was the Original of Procurations. 
 By the Fourth Council of Toledo, the Bifhop was to 
 %.^cJ'm ^^ c n ' s wno ^ e Diocels, Parochially, every Year. 
 ■E'Tmli i.t.7- The Glofs faith, if there were occafion for it; and that 
 the 'Bifhop may vijtt as often as he fees Caufe ; but if he 
 be hindred, the Canon faith, be may fend others (which 
 is the original of the Arch-Deacons Vifitation) to fee not 
 only the Condition of the Churches, but the Lives of the Mi- 
 cor.cH. Braga. n'tflers. The Council ot&rqga in the latter end of the 
 l>ucait l .°' q ' 1 ' Sixth Century, makes this the firft, Canon, That all 
 Bidiops mould viiit their Diocefles by Pariflies, and 
 there ihould firfi: examin the Clergy, and then the 
 People ,• and in another Canon he was required to 
 receive only his Cathedraticum, i.e. a certain Sum in 
 lieu of Entertainment ; which came to be fetled by 
 covdi. cabii. Prefcription. The Council of Cavailon in France, 
 a. 0. 14. J. J), x^i. fixed no Sum, but defired the Bifhops 
 to be no Burdens to the Clergy in their Parochial Vi- 
 fitations. Lyndwood faith the Ancient Procuration here 
 
 was 
 
 ; 
 
C 41 ) 
 
 was a Day and Nights Entertainment; which after came $f\l' n ^* 
 be a cuftomary Payment : But however it was paid, it is De off do 
 an evident Proof of the Right of the Bifhops Vifitations a Z%V.Pr%' 
 by the ancient Ecclefiaftical Law ,• and by fuch a Cu- curni ' 
 ftom as is allowable by the Rules of our Common Law. 
 
 III. There are fbme Faults which make the Clergy 
 lyable to Deprivation by Virture of the Ecdefiaftical 
 Law, which was here received. I fhall name only 
 fome of them and conclude ; thefe being fufficient for 
 my prelent purpofe. 
 
 I. Exce (five Drinking. All drinking (adfotus <equa- 
 les) was abfolutely forbidden to Clergymen, on painJJ^-^'"* 
 of Sufpenfon after Admonition ; not only by a Synodi-*oo.' 
 cal, but by a Provincial Conftitution under Edmund 
 Arch-Bifhop of Canterbury. The Canon Law faith 
 in that Cafe, ah Officio vel Beneficiofufpendatur : But our &*• &rita 
 Conftitution is more fever e, a Beneficio <r Officio. The cieru. \*\\. 
 Council of Oxford not only ftrictly forbids all Cler- 
 gymen whatever tends to Gluttony and Drunkennefs ; ftw. c<mt. 
 but it requires the Bifhops to proceed ftrictly againft ' 
 thofe who are guilty, according to the Form of the 
 General Council, i. e. the Lateran 4. vi%. by Admonition 
 firft, and then Suffenflon. Lyndwood complains, that 
 this was not fo much looked after as it jhould be, becaufe 
 it brought no Profit ; I hope that Reaion will not hold 
 among thofe who pretend to Reformation ; which 
 will be very defective if it extend not to our Lives 
 as well as our Doctrines : For there can be no greater 
 Reproach, than to fee thofe loofe and diiTolute in their 
 Converfations, who think it their Honour to be Mi- 
 nisters of a Reformed Church. It was a flinging 
 Reflection upon our Church by the Arch-Bifhop or 
 G Spalato 
 
C4-* ) 
 
 Spatato, (.who was no very ftricl Man himfelf) that h 
 faw nothing (Reformed among us but our TfoBrines. I 
 fy ? ^?o/ no P e tnere was more o£ Satyr than ot Truth in it; for 
 } i ■■'■' / - I do not cjueftion, but there were many then (as there 
 
 are now) of Exemplary Lives and unblameable Con- 
 verfations ; but if there be any others, it will be the 
 more fliame not to proceed againft them; fince even 
 before the Reformation, the Canons were fo ftricl: 
 and fevere in this matter. In the Council at Wefimin- 
 fler in Henr. II. time, under Richard Arch Bifhop of 
 Canterbury y all Clergymen are forbidden going into Taverns 
 to eat or drink, unlejs upon Travelling; and the San^ 
 
 iZi L ?o glic ' ^ on °^ c ' lis Canon is > aut ce JJ et > mt deponatur. The 
 fame was forbidden in the Council at York, in the time 
 
 /. 122. °f Orchard I. in the Council at London under Hubert^ 
 m the time of King John. And fince the Reforma- 
 tion, the fame Canon is renewed, That no Ecclejiafti- 
 cal (perfons JJ?all at any time otlyer than for their honefl 
 
 can 78. Neceffitics, re fort to any Taverns or Alehoujes. And there 
 have been Inftances of the Severity of our Ecclefiafti- 
 cal Cenfures againft Drunkennefs in Clergy- men. 
 In 8 Jac. barker was deprived of his Benefice for 
 
 Brotnnim** Drunkennefs, and moved for a Prohibition, but ic 
 
 s^f-ti- W as denyed him. 
 
 In 9 Jac. another was deprived for the fame Fault ; 
 and the Judges at Common Law allowed the Sen- 
 tence to be good. 
 
 fa* 7o No doubt there are other Inftances, but we had 
 
 not known of thefe, if they had not been preferved 
 in Books of Reports. 
 
 II. Incontinency. Lyndwood faith, thofe who are. 
 
 Lynd*.f.$. proved to be guilty of it, are ipfo Jure privati-, but 
 
 he 
 
 i 
 
he thinks a Declaratory Sentence of the Ecclefiafticai 
 Judges neceiTary for the Execution of it. Since the 
 Reformation, we have Inftances of Deprivation for 6 - c h- 
 Adultery in our Law Books. One 12 Eli^. another o«w* 87- 
 \6 Eli%. a third 27 Eli%. Thefe are enough to (hew lCr '4'- 78f: 
 that the Ecclefiafticai Law is allowed by the Judges of 
 Common Law, to continue in fufflcient force for 
 Deprivation in this Cafe. 
 
 III. Simony. Which is the Name given by the 
 Ecclefiafticai Law, to all Contracts for Gain in the 
 difpofing or obtaining any Ecclefiafticai Promotion or 
 Miniftry. It is true, thefe do not come up to the aSZm^ 
 very Sin of Simon Magus , which related to the i^f^JJv* -1 
 mediate Gifts of the Holy Ghoft; but becaufe the mum Dei 
 whole Ministerial Office in all the Parts of it (efpe- faTZJaH] 
 daily the Cure of Souls) is of a Spiritual Nature ,• 
 and all Bargains are Co repugnant to the Defign of it, 
 therefore the Ecclefiafticai Law hath fixed that dete- 
 ftable Name upon it : For, all contractus non gratuiti 
 in thefe things favour of turpe lucrum, and tend to 
 bring in turpe Commercium into the Church ; which 
 would really overturn the whole Defign of that Mi- 
 niftry, which wasdefigned for the Salvation of Souls, 
 And therefore it was neceiTary, that when Perfons 
 had received (by the Favor of Temporal Princes and 
 other Benefactors, who were Founders of Churches) 
 fuch Endowments as might encourage them in then- 
 Function , that fevere Laws fhould be made againft 
 any fuch fordid and mifchievous Contracts. And 
 fuch there were here in England long before the ex^ 
 cellent Stat, of j 1 Eli^ c. 6. although it feems the * 
 force of them was fo much worn out, as to make 
 G 2 that 
 
C 44- ) 
 
 that Statute necelTary for avoiding of Simony-, which 
 is there explained to be Corruption in beftowing or getting 
 Pojfefjion of Promotions Ecclefiaflical. 
 Coved. Anglic j n a c ounc i[ at London under Lanfranc in the Con- 
 
 zvol.p. a. jo. , h i • i i 
 
 queror's time, Stmony was forbidden, under the Name 
 of 'Buying and Selling of Orders. And it could be no- 
 thing elfe before the Churches Revenue was fetled : 
 f- 35 But in the time of Henr. I. Ecclefiaflical Benefices were 
 forbidden to be bought or fold, and it was Deprivation then 
 to any Clergy -Man ib be convitled of it ,• and a Lay Man 
 was to be out- law d and excommunicated, and deprived of 
 Ins Pjght of Patronage. And this was done by a 
 Provincial Synod of that time, 
 *• »°i- In the Reign of Henr. II. it was decreed, that if 
 
 t52. ' ' any P erf on received any Mony for a Prefentation, he was 
 to be for ever deprived of the Patronage of that Church ; 
 and this was not merely a Provincial Conslitution y but 
 two Kings were prefent {Hen. II. and his Son), and 
 added their Authority to it. This was not depriving 
 
 Parfons coun a Man of his Freehold by a Canon, as a learned Gentle- 
 
 fciior, sea. 5- man ca u s j c . f or nere was tRe greatefl Authority, Tem- 
 poral as well as Ecclefiaflical added to it. 
 
 But we are told, the fe Canons were of as little effetl, 
 as that of Othobon, which made all Simoniacal ContraBs 
 void j but fome of the molt judicious Lawyers have 
 
 mb. 167. held, that Simony being contratlus ex turpi causa, is 
 void between Parties. 
 
 All that I aim at is to (hew, that by our old Eccle- 
 fiaflical Law, Simoniacus incurred a Deprivation and 
 Dif ability before the Stat. 3 1 Eli%. and therein I have 
 
 1 &//J.237: tne Opinion of a very Learned Judge concurring with 
 me. 
 
 4. Dila- 
 
C 45 ) 
 
 IV. Dilapidation*. By which the Ecclejtaftical Law 
 underftands any confiderabfe Impairing the EdijiceSy7oh.de Athon. 
 Woods and (Revenues belonging to Ecclefiaftical Peribns, "Lb!/. |s. i. 
 by Virtue of their Places. For it is the greateft Inte- 35£- u 
 reft and Concernment of the Church to have things 
 
 prefer ved for the Good of SuccefTors y - and it is a part 
 of common Jujlice and Honefty fo to do. And the 
 Lord Coke pofitively affirms, that Dilapidation is a good II l R '7^ 
 Caufe of Deprivation. And it wasfo reiblved by zhcM>or 9n . ' 
 Judges in the JQngs Bendy \ijac. Not by Virtue Ro/istiS* 
 of any new Law or Statute, but by the old Eccleli- \ 9 ^ l6 - 
 afticai Law. For which Coke refers to the Year-««w*<s.2o. 
 Books, which not only fliew what the Ecclejtaftical 9 " 4 ' 34- 
 Law then was, but that it was allowed by theCom-£<W?»>.o^. 
 mon Law of England - y and we are told, that is never ' 
 given to change ; but it may be forced to it by a New 
 Lawy which cannot be pretended in this Cafe. And 
 by the old Conftitutions here received, the Bifhops are 
 required to put the Clergy in mind of keeping their Houfes°^°^fVi^-. 
 in fuffi'cient Reparations , and if they do it not within two 
 Months, the Bifhop is to take care, it be done out of the 
 (profits of the Benefice. By the Injunctions of Ed. Vl. 
 and Queen Elizabeth, all Peribns having Ecclefiaftical 
 Benefices are required to let apart the Fifth of their 
 Revenue to Repair their Houfes ; and afterwards to, 
 maintain them in good condition. 
 
 V. Pluralities. By the Ecclefiaftical Law, which *™™ c - Con ' 
 was here received, the a ftual receiving Inftitution into 
 
 a fecond Benefice made the firft void ipfo jure , and if 
 he fought to keep both above a Month, the fecond was 
 void too. Lyndwood obferves, that the Ecclefiaftical 
 Law had varied in this mucer. And it proceeded 
 
 by 
 
c +6 ; 
 
 vjif'commt ty tne ^ fteps, (which are more than Lyndw. mentions.) 
 " c I. It was abfolutely forbidden to have two Parifties, 
 
 vmo. ' " if there were more than ten Inhabitants in them, be- 
 caufe no Man could do his Duty in both Places. And if 
 any Bifhop neglected the Execution of it, he was to 
 
 Condi. Toin. t> e excommunicated for two Months, and to be refto- 
 red only upon Promife to fee this Canon executed. 
 II. The Rule was allowed to hold, as to Cicies, 
 
 at.**.* i ^ ut an Exception was made as to fmall and remote 
 
 c Uncus. Places, where there was a greater Scarcity of Perfons 
 to fupply them. 
 
 r&fent* * III. If a Man had two Benefices, it was left to his 
 Choice, which he would have : but he could not hold 
 both. This kind of Option was allowed by the 
 Ecclefiaflical Law then in force. 
 
 ttJ^idem. IV - That if he takes a fecond Benefice, that Infti- 
 
 e.^4WK««/-tutionisvoid, by the third Council of Lateran, under 
 Alexander III. 
 
 Ex de pr*b. c. V. ' That by taking a fecond the firft is void ,• which 
 is the famous Canon of the fourth Lateran Council. 
 
 VI. That if he were not contented with the lafl, 
 but endeavour to keep both, he fhould be deprived of 
 both. And this was the Eccleftajiical Law as it was 
 declared in our Provincial Conflttutions. But the gene- 
 ral Practice was to avoid the former, according to the 
 Lateran Council. Thefe were very (evere Canons, but 
 that one Claufe of the Tope s difpenfing Tower made them 
 to fignifie little, unlefs it were to advance his Power 
 and Revenue. For when the Difpenjing Tower came 
 to be owned, the Law had very little force ; efpecially 
 as to the Confciences of Men. For if it were a Law 
 -of God, how could any man difpenfe with it ? unlefs 
 
C47) 
 
 it were as apparent that he had given a Power in Tome 
 Cafes to Difpoife, as that he had made the Law. 
 Thole Cafuifts are very hard put to ic, who make Re- 
 fidence Jure Divino, and yet lay the Pope may difpenfe 
 with it ,- which at laft comes only to this, that the 
 Pope can authoritatively declare the fufficiency of the 
 Caufe : fo that the whole matter depends upon the 
 Caufe i whether there can be any fufficient to excufe 
 from Perfonal Refidence. 
 
 It is agreed on all hands, that the habitual Neglect 
 of a Charge we have taken upon our felves, is an evil 
 thing, and that it is fo to heap up Preferments merely 
 for Riches, or Luxury, or Ambition ; but the main 
 Queftion in point of Confcience is, What is a fufficient 
 Caufe to juftific any Man's breaking fo reafonable and 
 juft a Rule as that of Refidence is . 
 
 It cannot be denied, that the eldeft Canons of the 
 Church werefo ftrict and fevere, that they made it un- 
 lawful for any Man to go from that Church in which 
 he firft received Orders j as well as to take another Be- 
 nefice in it : and Co for any Bifhop to betranflated from 
 that Place he was firft Confecrated to; as well as to 
 hold another with it. But the Good of the Church 
 being the main Foundation of all the Rules of it ,-. 
 when that might be better promoted by a Tranjlation, 
 it was by a tacit Confent looked on, as no unjuft 
 violation of its Rules. The Queftion then is, whe- 
 ther the Churches Benefit may not in fome Cafes make 
 the Canons againft Non-Rehdence as Difpenfible, as 
 thofe againft Tranjlauons ? And the Reiolution of it 
 doth not depend upon the voiding the particular Obli, 
 gation of the Incumbent to his Cure 5 but upon fbmc 
 
 mors. 
 
_ (4S ) 
 
 more general Reafbn with Refpecl: to trie State of the 
 Church 5 as being imployed in the Service of it, which 
 requires a Perfons having (not a bare Competency for 
 Subfiftence, but) a fufficiency to provide NecelTaries for 
 fuch Service : For thofe feem to have very little re- 
 gard to the flourifhing Condition of a Church, who 
 would confine the Sufficiency of a Subfiftence, merely 
 to the NecelTaries of Life. But it feems to be reafon- 
 able 3 that Clergy-Men mould have Incouragement 
 fufficient, not only to keep them above Contempt, 
 but in fome refpecl: agreeable to the more ample Pro- 
 vifion of other Orders of Men. And by God's own 
 Appointment the Tribe of Levi did not fall fliort of 
 any of the reft, if it did not very much exceed the Pro- 
 portion of others. We do not pretend to the Pri- 
 vileges they had, only we obferve from thence, that 
 God himfelf did appoint a plentiful Subfiftence for 
 thofe who attended upon his Service. And I do not 
 know, what there is Levitical or Ceremonial in that. I 
 am fure, the Dutes of the Clergy now require a greater 
 Freedom of Mind from the anxious Cares of the World, 
 than the Imployments of the friefts and Levites under 
 the Law. But we need not go fo far back ; if the 
 Church injoyed all her Revenues as entirely, as when 
 the fevere Canons againft Pluralities were made, there 
 would not be fuch a Plea for them, as there is too 
 much Caufe for in lome Places, from the want of a 
 competent Subfiftence. But fince that time, the Abun- 
 dance of Appropriations (fince turned into Lay-Fees) hath 
 extremely leiTened the Churches Revenues, and have 
 left us a great number of poor Vicarages, and Arbitrary 
 Cures, which would hardly have afforded a Mainte- 
 
C 4-9 ) 
 
 nance for the Netbinims under the Law, who were on- 
 ly to be Hewers of Wood, and Drawers of Water. But 
 this doth not yet clear the Difficulty : For the Queftion 
 is, whether the Subfiftence of the Clergy can lawfully 
 be improved by a Plurality of Livings ? Truly, I think 
 this (if it be allowed in fome Cafes lawful) to be the 
 lean: defirable way of any ; but in fome Circumftances 
 it is much more excufabie than in others. As when 
 the Benefices are mean, when they lie near each other, 
 when great Care is taken to put in fufficient Curates 
 with good Allowance ; when Perfons take all Oppor- 
 tunities to do their Duties themfelves, and do not live 
 at a diftance from their Benefices in an idle and care- 
 lefs manner. But for Men to put in Curates merely to 
 fatisfie the Law, and to mind nothing of the Duties 
 of their Places, is a horrible Scandal to Religion and 
 our Church, and that., which if not amended, may 
 juflly bring down the Wrath of God upon us. For 
 the loofeft of all the Popifli Cafuifts, look upon this 
 as a very great Sin, even thole who attributed to the 
 Pope the higheft Diipenimg Power in this Cafe. 
 
 But when the great Liberty of Ttifpenfing had made 
 the Ecclefiaftical Laws in great meafure ufelefs, then 
 it was thought fit by our Law-makers to Reftrain and 
 Limit it by a Stature made 21 H. VIII. wherein #. 
 is Enacted, i That if any Perfon or Perfons having 
 i one Benefice with Cure of Souls, being of the yearly 
 x value of eight Pounds, or above, accept or take any 
 { other with Cure of Souls, and be inftituted, and in- 
 f! dueled in pofleflion of the fame, that then, and im- 
 1 mediately after fuch PolTeflion had thereof, the firft 
 J Benefice (hall be adjudged to be void. And ail Li- 
 
 H cenfes 
 
C 50 ) 
 
 c cenfes and Difpenfations to the contrary, are declared 
 * to be void and of none effect. 
 
 This, one would have thought had been an effe- 
 ctual Remedy againft all fuch Pluralities and Difpenfa- 
 tions to obtain them ; and this, no doubt, was the 
 Primary Defign of the Law ; but then follow fo ma- 
 ny Provifos or Qualified Men to get Difpenfations, as 
 take off a great deal of the Force and Effect of this 
 Law. But then it ought well to be confider'd, whe- 
 ther fuch a Licenfe being againft the chief Defign of a 
 Law, can fatisfie any Man in point of Confcience, 
 where there is not a juft and lumcient Caufe ? For, if 
 the Topes Difpenfation, with the fuppofed Plenitude of 
 his Power, could not fatisfie a Man s Confcience with- 
 out an antecedent Caufe, as the Cafuifts refolve, much 
 lefs can fuch Provifos do it. 
 \mo. 2 7. °' 3 * It w the general Opinion of Divines and Lawyers, faith 
 Leffius, that no Man is fafe in Confcience by the Popes Di- 
 fpenfation for Pluralities, unlefs there be a juft Caufe for it. 
 xl'/kiit" 1 ' ^° Man can with a fafe Confcience, take a Dijpenfation 
 s/!v. Bsntf A from the Pope for more (Benefices than one, merely for his 
 ttnL-ys®' own Advantage, faith Panormit an ; and from him SyU 
 
 vefter and Summ. Angelica. 
 Toh-t summa ' A Difpenfation, faith Card. Tolet, fecures a Man as 
 cijmi 5.C82. w t f ?e L aw . y u t as f Q Confcience there mufi be a good, 
 Caufe for it 5 and that is, when the Church hath more 
 benefit by it, than it would have without it. 
 
 But the Pope s Difpenfing Power went much farther 
 in Point of Conference in their Opinion,than that which 
 is fetled among us by Act of Parliament. For it is ex- 
 preffed in the Stat. 2 1 Hen. VIII. that the Difpenfation is 
 intended to keep Men from incurring the Danger, Pe- 
 nalty, 
 
nalty, and Forfeiture in this Statute comprifed. So that 
 the mod qualified Perfon can only fay, that the Law 
 doth not deprive him ; but he can never plead that it 
 can fatisfie him in Point of Confcience, unlefs there be 
 folyie Cauie for it, which is of more moment to the 
 Church , than a Man's fole and conftant Attendance 
 on a particular Cure is. Put this Stat, is more favour- 
 able to the Clergy, than the Canon Law was before, in 
 two Particulars. 
 
 1 . In declaring that no Jimple Benefices, or mere Dig- 
 nities, as the Canonijts call them, are comprehended under 
 the Name of Benefices, having Cure of Souls , viz. No. 
 Deanery , Arch-deaconry , Chancellor fhip , Treafitrerfhip , 
 Chanter prip, or Prebend in any Cathedral or Collegiate Churchy 
 nor Parfonagt that hath a Vicar endowed, nor any Benefice 
 perpetually appropriate. But all thefe before were within 
 the reach of the Canon Law, and a Difpeniation was 
 necefTary for them : Which fhews, that this Law had a 
 particular refpecl: to the necefTary Attendance on Paro- 
 chial Cures, and looked on other Dignities and Pre- 
 ferments in the Church, as a fufficient Encouragement 
 to extraordinary Merit. 
 
 i. That no notice is taken of Livings under the Valu- 
 ation of 8/. which I fuppofe is that of 20 E. 1 . for that 
 of H. 8 was not till five Years after that Stat. But af- 
 ter that Valuation, it was to be judged according to ir, 
 and not according to the real Value, as the Judges de- 
 clared n Car. I. in the Cafe of Drake and Hill Now 
 here was a regard had to thePoorneis of Benefices, fo 
 far , that the Statute doth not deprive the Incumbent 
 upon taking a fecond Living, if che former be under: 
 8. /. The Queftion that arifes from hence is , Whether 
 
 iucK , 
 
 
 
( 50 
 
 fuch Perfons are allowed to enjoy fuch Pluralities by 
 Law, or only left to the Ecclefiaftical Law, as it was be- 
 c 4 75. Hoi- foie ? It is certain, that fuch are not liable t^j the Penalty 
 n ' * Ca - S ' of this Law ; but before any Perfon might be deprived 
 by the Ecclefiaftical Law for taking a fecond Ben&ice 
 without Difpenfation, of what value .foever the for- 
 mer were ; now here comes a Statute , which enacts 
 that all who take a fecond Benefice having one of 8/. 
 without Qualification, (hall lofe his legal Title to the 
 firft j but what if it be under ? Shall he lofe it or not ? 
 Nor, by this Law. But fuppofe the Ecclefiaftical Law 
 before makes him liable to Deprivation ; doth the Sta- 
 tute alter the Law without any Words to that purpofe ? 
 The Bifhop had a Power before to deprive, where is it 
 taken away I The Patron had a Right to prefent upon 
 filch Deprivation ; how comes he to lofe it ? And I 
 take it for granted, that no antecedent Rights are taken 
 away by Implications ,• but there muft be exprefs Clau- 
 fes to that purpofe. So that I conclude the ancient Ec- 
 clefiaftical Law to be ftill in force, where it is not taken 
 away by Statute. 
 
 And thus my Brethren, I have laid before you the 
 Authority and the tftyles we are to act by ; I have endea- 
 voured to recommend to you, the mod ufeful Parts of 
 your Duty ; and I hope you will not give me occafion 
 to fhew what Power we have by the Ecclefiaftical Law 
 of this Realm to proceed againft Offenders. Nothing 
 will be more uneafie to me, than to be forced to make 
 uk of any Severity againft you. And my Hearts defire 
 is, that we may all fincerely and faithfully difcharge the 
 Duties of our ieveral Places, that the Blefiing of God 
 may be upon us all j 10 that we mzyfave our [elves and 
 thoje committed to our Charge. 
 
 . FINIS. 
 
/ 
 
 *L