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A
DIALOGUE Between the
Rev. Mr. Ten kin Evans
ASSISTANT
Minifter to the Curate otWhite-chapel^

AND

Mr. Peter Dobson,
A Man of Sense and fome Learning, and
a Citizen of LONT>ON.
CONCERNING
BISHOPS,
Particularly the
B I S H O P S in the Principality of WA LES.
LONDON:
Printed for M. Cooper, at the' Globe in
Pater-nojler-row. M DCC XLIV.
[Price One Shilling.]

( I )

DIALOGUE BETWEEN
The Rev. Mr. Jenkin Evans and
Mr. Peter Dob/on,
CONCERNING
BISHOPS.
<D. f \~\ H E Reverend Mr. Evans here!
| This is a Favour indeed 3 I hope.
¦*- you have not been come long?
E. About half an Hour , I have been
amufing my felf in your little Library; upon
my Word you have a pretty Collection of
Books and well chofen.
2). You know, Doft or, I have in a great
Meafure left off Bufinefs j my Friends gave
me a tolerable Education 5 I was brought up
at St. ^Paul's School, and I was pretty near'
the Top ; j. have taken care to preferve at
leaft the Learning I had, and can llill under
ftand a Latin Author reafonably well ; my
Father defign'd mc for a Clergyman, but
having a Difpnte with the Minifter of the
B PariOi

I 2 )
Parifh about hisDues, he put me into Trade >
Mr. Evans, you are a happy Man, you were
brought up at the Univerfity ;
E. I thank God, Mr. T>obfon, I have
fuck'd the Breafts of Aljna Mater ; I was
fent to Jefus College before I was Twenty ;
in two Years I was made Senior Soph, and
had not feen four and Twenty when I was
Batchelor of Arts.
T>. I fee you have my Folio Common
Prayer-Book before you : I bought it when
I was Church- warden of the Parifh.
E. I think I always find it open upon
the Table ; I am glad yea put fo great a
Value upon that excellent Book ,- I am fallen
accidentally upon the Office concerning the
Ordaining and Confe erat ing of Bifhops.
T>. I am glad of it with all my Heart ; I
have longed a great while to know fome-
thing about that Bufinefs, but you will never
have Patience with all my impertinent Quef
tions. {Jflow fnufl I humour this choleric
Welfh 'Divine, or I fhall get nothing out of
him : He is a ftrange Mixture, God knows.
Afide.] E. I fhall be ready to anfwer any thing
that lies in my Power, but it is a ferious
Matter, and requires great Gravity and Con
sideration. 2X To be fure it does ; Then Mr. Evans,
fince you are fo good, pray tell me -in the
fifft Place what's properly meant by a
^ E. A

( 3 ').
E. A Bifhop according to the Greek De
rivation is an Overfeer.
1). Why is he called a B.ifhop ?
E. He has that Name from the Saxon.
Word Bifcop, which we derive from the
Greek Epifcopos, Speculator, Explorator,
a Spy, a Looker-out, a Sentinel or Watch
man ; in fhort he is as I may fay, a Super-
•vifor of the Bufinefs and Affairs of the
Church: This before us you fee is the Form
of Ordaining or Confecrating of Bifhops,
that is of Englifh Bifhops, of Chriftian.
Bifhops. 1). God forbid there fhould beany Bifhops
that arc not Chri/lian Bifhops, fure there are
no Heathen Bifhops.
E. There were Heathen Bifhops and good
Bifhops too; The old Grecians had their
Epifcopoi, and fo had the Romans ; I re
member that the divine Cicero in one of his
Epiftles tells us that he was a Bifhop.
T>. What was the Bufinefs of thofe Bifhops?
E. To inquire into the Manners of the
People under their Jurifdi&ion, and take
notice of their Conduit and Behaviour.
Ti. But are there no Heathen Bifhops
now? E. No not one upon the Face of the
Earth,
Rara avis in ter r is nigroq; Jimillima Cygno.
You'll excufe the Latin Mr. T)obfon?
B z <D. Q

( 4 )
f*D. O Dear Doctor, I love it of all things.
This Sacred Office, I find, begins with an
excellent Prayer. I with thofe that are con
cerned would frequently reflecl: upon it with
the Attention it deferves  Give Grace
we befeech thee to all Bifhops and Paftors
of thy Church that they may diligently
preach thy Word, and duly adminifler the
Godly Difcipline thereof The venerable
Compilers of this Form, I fuppofe had no
Notion that a Bifhop as foon as he was con-
fecratcd was difcharg'd from the Duty of a
Prieft, or was immediately to burn his Com
monplace Book, as if it was beneath his Dig
nity to preach diligently, that is, conftantly
in his Diocefe ; whereas a Bifhop has without
doubt the principal Care of every Soul with
in his Diftrift, and is more efpecially bound
not only to fee the Offices of the Church,
the Duties of Praying, Preaching and Ad-
miniftring the Sacraments are faithfully and
regularly executed by the parochial Clergy,
but to preach diligently himfelf in one o?
other of his Churches, as he finds moft con
ducive to the Edification ofhis People, and
the fpiritual Improvements of the Flocks
committed to his Charge. This muft be
the Meaning of the Words, if they have any
Meaning at all, and how They acquit them
felves in this important Cafe, I fhould be.
glad to be inform'd.
E. That may be eafily done ; for when
They are refident in their Sees, They are a
mighty

( 5 )
mighty Relief to the parochial Clergy ; They
travel from Church to Church in all Weathers,
through Froft and Snow, over Hills arid high
Mountains ; They Preach here, read Prayers
there, Catechife, Expound, Confirm. They
are never idle, for They well know that Woe
be unto them if they preach not the Gofpel.
Do you think they wrap their Talents in a Nap
kin and let them grow rufty ? Can you ima
gine they do nothing but walk to the Cathe
dral on a Sunday in State with the Vergers
with their Stiver-Maces before them?
T>. Why Sir,* fome of them do not refide
in their Diocefes at all ; others arc there for
a Month or two to take the Benefit of the
Summer Air, and tafte the Venifon of the
Country, and then perhaps they may preach
once or fo, and a mighty Favour it is ; but
the chief Account of their Treaching we have
from the News Papers; you hear now and
then of a Charity Sermon, or a Sermon before
the Lords, and exceedingly feldom, they will
vouchfafe to afeend the Pulpit of the' Parifh
wherein they live, and fet all the Congegation
upon the Stare. Some of them do not preach
five times in a Year in their own Diocefe, and
many of them not once. I would recom
mend to them the Reading of old Bifhop La
timer's Sermons, and particularly this Remark,
which I took down in my Pocket-book.
' While They controul in great Towns and
< about Court, who is it that controuls the
' Pevi: at home? Whether They refide or not,
* the

f 6 )
4 the Devil is not wanting on his Part, he is
' never unoccupied, he is ever in his Parifh,
' he keeps Residence at all times, he ever ap-
' plies his Bufinefs, he is never idle, his Office
' is to hinder Religion  Oh that Tr elates,
* would be as diligent to fow the Corn of
*'• good Dodrine, as Satan is to fow Cockle
* and Darnel.  The Devil is no unpreaching
* Prelate, he is no Lordly Loiterer from his
* Cure, he ftill applies his Bufinefs; if
' you will not learn of God or good Men,
1 learn Diligence in your Bufinefs even of the
' Devil, ad Erubefcentiam veftram dico, I
* fpeak it to your Shame/ This indefenfible
Practice of Non-Refidence muft one time or
other be of pernicious Confequence to EpiC-
copacy : The Church of Rome with all her
Abfurdities, all her Obligations to favour Ig
norance and Blindnefs could never fwallow
that monftrousContradi&ion of Non-Refidence.
The Council of Trent (as I have read) decrees
exprefly that every Bifhop who was fix Months
abfent from his Bifhop ric, of what Title or
Preeminence foever he fhall be, he fhould
forfeit a fourth Part of the Revenue's of it, and
if fix Months more, another Fourth, and the
Contumacy increafing, the Metropolitan was
to inform the Pope againft him that he might
inflict fome fevere Punifhment, or remove
him from his Bifhopric and place a better in
his Room. What a rniferable Cafe it is that
a poor Clergyman, whofe Family wants Bread
at home, if he has any Bufinefs with his Bifhop, muft

( 7 )
muft be obliged to run after him from' one End
of the Kingdom to the other, and be forced to
beg his way home again?
E. There's no fuch Thing. The Bilhop
I aflure you defrays every Farthing of the Ex-
psnce out of his own Pocket, and gives his
poor Brother fomcthing to buy a good Book
with when he comes home.
*D. So much the better ; but we are rambled
from the Subject ; fpare me a Word more,
when Epifcopacy was run down in the Civil
Wars, a great Objection againft the Bifhops
was, That they never preached. They were
called the moft opprobrious Names upon that
Account, Idle Shepherds, Blind Watchmen,
IDumb  1 don't care to repeat the Diftinclions
and Characters bellowed upon them in thofe
Times : I remember Mr. Fiennes, in his Speech
upon that Occafion, fays, that ' the Bifhops
* neither can nor will preach ; They cannot,
' becaufe they are fo entangled with the Affairs
1 of this World ; they will not, becaufe their
* Dignities and Honours make them fo ftately
* that they think it not Epif copal' to preach
c often. They arc fo fat and live fo much at
* their Eafe, that they are overrun with Idle-
' nefs, and cannot bring their Minds to it.' I
wifh as well to the Epifcopal Order as any
Man in England, nor do I think it reafonable
to argue againft the Ufe of an Office from the
Abufe of it, but I am forry to fay 
E. To fay any thing to the Purpofe yorr
mean ; why that Fiennes was a Rebel, a Re
publican,

( 8 )
publican, a Fanatic; he was condemned to
be hang'd for the cowardly Surrender of
Briftol to Prince Rupert. Have you no better
Authority than this? Read on, read oh.
1). What is meant by duly Adminiftring
theGodlycDifcipline of God's Word, as men
tioned in this Prayer?
E. That Expreffion relates chiefly to the
Cenfures of the Church, thofe dreadful and
terrible Weapons that God has committed in
to the Hands of Bifhops to punifh and cutoff
notorious Offenders that cannot otherwife be
reclaimed, to fhut them out of the Pale of
God's Fold, and to deliver them over to Satan,
until by their Penitence and Submiffion they
are qualified to be readmitted, and to be re
ftored to the common Privileges of the
Chriftian Church.
CD. Is that Godly ffifcipline adminiftred at
this time according to the original Defign of
itslnftitution? E. I hope fo ; the Offender I fuppofe, is
cited before the Bifhop, who fits in Confiftory
with his 'presbyters about him, and takes im
mediate Cognizance of the Caufe himfelf;
There the Sinner is examined, reproved, ad-
monifhed, threatened, and upon his continued
Obftancy eaft out of the Church. The Matter
is not turned over to Chancellors, Commif
fioners, Officials, and a Parcel of hungry un
hallowed Lay -Officers (who can pretend to no
Relation to the Com miffion of Chrift and his
Apoftles) to perfecute ahd fquceze the poor
Wretch,

"I 9 )
Wretch, to torment him with cruel tedious
and, expenfive Proceffes, and when they have
racked him to Death, and ruined him in his
Fortune, then at laft to excommunicate him,
and for any little Failure in the Form of their
enflaving Proceedings to throw him out of all
Spiritual and Civil Commerce and Society, to
banifhhim as a Vagabond like Cain, and make
him infamous to all about him ; and as if this
were not enough, to call for Help upon the Tem
poral Sword, to clap him up in a Goal, and
let him rot ina Dungeon  This would
be fetting up an Inquifition with a Vengeance %
from which and all other Topifi Crafts and Cru
elties, Good Lord deliver us. Do you think
this was the Manner of binding and loofing in
tended by the Commiffion delivered by Chrijl
to his Apoftles, and by them to the Bifiops their
Succeflbrs in the Church ? Can you imagine
that the Sentence of fuch Judges is ratified in
Heaven ? that God will ever fign fuch dead
Warrants as thefe? Can this be the Defign of
that Petition offered up by the Archbifhop in
the Office of Confecration, Grant we befeech
thee to this thy Servant fuch Grace thai he
may ufe the Authority given him not to De-
ftrucfion but to Salvation, not to hurt, but to
help ?
2). If the Bifhop himfelf 'was to fit in judg
ment, and to execute the Cenfures according
to the Defign of his Lord and Mafter, the Sen
tence, no doubt, would be dreadful and of
fatal EfFecl, but when fo many Exc9mmunica-
C tions

( io 1
tions arc thundred out and publifhed, in a
ludicrous unedifying Manner for the moft
trifling Occafions, which the Bifhop, knows
nothing of, when he never hfars xiox.fe.es the
Offender, nor takes the leaft i Care of -the Hap
pinefs of his Soul, but leaves that entirely to
his Officers to be faved or damned, as the fub-
tle unrighteous Forms of their unftriptural
Proceedings (firft invented for the Support of
llapal Power, and fpun out into a Sort of
Trade by Canon Lawyers, the. Spawn of To-
fery) fhall think fit to pronounce ; to confign
a poor Creature to eternal Flames for fome
pitiful Matter, to enjoin him Penance perhaps,
and then for & little Money to loofe him and
let him go j if this be the due Admmiftring of
Godly 'Difcipline according to this excellent
jprayer, let the Confidences of thofe declare to
whom it belongs. What a horrid Profanenefs
and Mockery of God it is to give it folemnly
in Charge to a Bifhop eleiJ when he is confe-
crated to exereife Godly Difcipline, to be fo
merciful that he is not too remifs, and to mi
nifter Difcipline that he forget not Mercy.
When at the fame time he never knows any
thing of the Offender, nor of the Caufe 
I could fay much more, but it has been often
faid to no Purpofe  This has been a con
tinual Subject of Complaint from tht Reform
ation to this Day ; It remains ftill unredreff-
ed, and is a Grievance of fo high a Nature j
it is fuch a Peryerfion, fuch a Burlefque of the
moft folemn and tremendous Ad of Church
Authority,

( II )
Authority, that it hangs like a Mvllftone upon
the Neck Of Epifcopacy, which I am afraid
will one time or other ftnk it to the Bottom
never to arife more.
E. God forbid ; I hope Things will mend,
don't be fo hot. Come we'll go on : He that
de fir eth the Office of a Bifhop defireth a god'd
Work ; He defires the Office of a Bifhop on
purpofe to enable him to promote the Intereft
of Piety, Virtue and Charity, and to do more
good Works than he was capable of doing
before. D. Do Bifhops defire the Office only for
thofe excellent Ends ? Have they no Worldly
Profpedsinviewtb advance themfelves or their
Families? Have they no Ambition to fit in
Parliaments, or to appear in the Courts of
Princes ? Do they do more Good Works in
Proportion tb the Increafe of their Revenue,
and the Advantages of their Station ?
E. Yes marry do they ; ahd were it not for
thofe worthy Ends they would be dragged by
no Violence from their Studies in the Obfcurity
of a College, or the Privacy of a Country
Parifh ; and as for their Families, if they have
any Food and Raiment convenient for them,
they leave, the reft to Providence. Indeed,
they have Preferments in their Gifts fufficient
to fupport their Sons in a handfome Manner,
but TJetur digniffimo is the Word. If a Bifhop's
Son be the moft learned Clergyman in the
Diocefe, as it generally happens under the In
fluence of Paternal Example, Similifrondefcit
C z virga

( 12 )
virga met alio, as the Poet fings; and if the
Father upon a ftrid Examination finds him fo,
then indeed he will advance him perhaps to an
Archdeaconry, pr to a good Living; but what
of that ? He fends him out bare, and without
Furniture, without giving him fo much as a
little Senfe, or his Common-place-book, or
one old Sermon, or the leaft Hint, or Divifion,
or general Head, but leaves the poor young
Man, who is not ufed to hard Labour, to work
and fw eat, andmakeitallout ofhis own Brain;
in (hort, it is a cruel thing to be a Bifhop's
Son. *D. It is fo at this rate, but one would think
they might make fome Allowance, and incline
a little in Favour of their own Flefh and Blood,
E,. No doubt, they have been often told
fo, but they will not bear the Thoughts of it ;
they will have no refped of Perfons : If my
Lady the Mother was to beg upon her bended
Knees it would fignify nothing ; I do affure you
when a Bifhop examines his Son for Orders,
he works him about the Pig-market ; he asks
him the hardeft Queftions, and puts him to
the crabbideft Place in all the Book. And then
for their Daughters 
cf>. I knew a Bifhop that married his Daugh
ters to Clergymen, and provided handfomly
for them,
E. But how is that? If a Clergyman falls in
love with a Bifhop's Daughter (and indeed they
are the moft beautiful and accomplifhed young
Indies in the Kingdom) he knows he ig to
exped.

( 13 )
exped nothing from the Father but by his
Merits; the Bifhop tells him fo beforehand.
' If you have a Mind to my Daughter, God
' blefs you both together ; but look for no
* Preferment from me upon that Account;
* my Favours are the Rewards of hard Study,
' of found Principles and regular Behaviour;
1 you muft fhine ficut inter Stellas Luna mi-
' nores, to be diftinguifhed by me. 'So that if
you fee the Son or Relation of a Bifhop raifed
to the higheft Preferments in the Church, you
may depend upon it he is the moft Learned
and the beft Preacher in all the Dioccfe. You'll
find it a difficult Matter to prove the con
trary. ©. Does a Bifhop give his Daughters no For
tune in Money?
E. A very Trifle j befides his Bleffing, and
how can it be? what with Charity at home and
Charity abroad, with endowing of Hofpitals,
and founding of Exhibitions, and buying
Books in all the Eaftern Languages to con
vert the Jews and Arabians, what can be
faved ? I think the Natural Piety and Virtue
of a Bifhop's Daughter is Portion fufficient and
a competent Stock ifor a young Clergyman to
begin with.
T). But I have heard that a Female Rela
tion, or a Waiting- woman in a Bifhop's Family
is fometimes married to a Clergyman who has
a Living given him upon that Account.
E. There is no fuch Thing; I defy the
rankeft Presbyterian to produce one Inftance
of it fince the Reformation. 2?. I

( 14 )
¥). I hope then, they obferve the fame
rigid Impartiality in preferring any Clergyman
upon the ftrohgeft Recommendation from
others ?
E. They I do affure you ; for between you
and I, if the greateft King, or Prince, or Duke,
Or Earl in all the World recommends a Clergy
man to a Bifhop, he firft examines him ftridly
in Latin, Greek and Hebrew, and if he
catches him tripping he is rejeded y there is
no Regard to the greateft Power or the higheft
Title, he is fent away Re infecla, with a Flea
in his Ear, and makes as filly a Figure, as if he
had been recommended by You or Me.
2). Good lack !
E. I tell you 'tis Merit only muft do the
Bufinefs; and to encourage Merit there is a moft
laudable Cuftom now univerfally followed by
all the Governors of the Church, which is, to
keep a conflant Correfpondence with the
Heads of all the Colleges in both Univerfities ;
and when they find a poor Lad of promifing
Parts, and a good fober Behaviour, one of the
Bifhops, whofe Turn it is, immediately adopts
him for his own, makes him a handfome Al
lowance to live comfortably, fends for him
at proper Times to his own Palace to have him
under his Eye; there he direds him in the Me
thod of his Studies, fettles him in good Prin
ciples, and particularly in a Love and Venera
tion for the Dodrine and Difcipline of the
Eftablifhed Church j and when he is quali
fied for Ordets, he advances him gradually to
the

the higheft Dignities, and gives him the Pre
ference to all Sons and Relations in the World.
T>. But do not, Bifhops generally appoint
one of their Relations to be their Secretaries
or fo ?
E: Very rarely •> their Way is to look out
for fome worthy Clergyman in their Diocefe
who is reduced to Misfortunes, or fome young
Student juft in Orders; fuch a One they take
into their Family, and allow him the fmall
Perquifites of that Employment, and fmall
enough they are, God knows : But if no fuch
Perfon can be found, which fcaree ever hap
pens, then they will make ufe of a Nephew
of fhining Parts, or fome diftant Relations and
where's the mighty Harm of this ?
T). None in the leaft.
E. Then, as for Pride and Ambition 
1). Have Bifhops no Pride or Ambition ?
E. No more than a fucking Child; and
tho"tis well known that the Bifhops in England
are defcended from the beft and moft ancient
Families in the Kingdom, you never hear
them talk of their Pedigrees, they are rather
the more humble on that Account. One is
the Son of Duke, another the Son of a 
I tell you they are not like Mufhrooms fprung
up in a Night, or raifed in a Minute like Puff*-
pafte ; they have no Occafion, like Upftarts hi
other Profeflions, to buy Coats of Arms at
the Heralds Office : They and their Ladies
have them by Defcent ; Ab Avis etproavis, et
Aiii numerantur Avorum. T). Do

( 16 )
"" T>. Do they not affed to make a Figure at
Court ?
E. Affed, afiddki They had rather live ina
Cell than undergo the Fatigue of Attendance
at any Court in Chriftcndom j but there they
go to difcharge a good Confcience; they are
a fort of Proteftant Confeffors ready to folve
all difficult Cafes, to fupport the Weak, • to
comfort the Afflided, to relieve the Diftreffed,
to chcar up the Poorfpirited, to eafe fuch as
are troubled with evil Thoughts, to de
liver fuch as are under ftrong Temptation.
They have always before their Eyes that ex
cellent Canon of the Council of Sardis. The
Fathers of that Synod obferving that Bifhops
ufed to go to Court upon By-ends, and private.
Defigns of their own, ordained that no Bifhop
fhould go to Court unlefs immediately fum-
mon'd by the Emperor's Letters, or that their
Affiftance was required to right the Widows
or Orphans, and to refcue them from the un-
juft Grafps of potent and mercilefs Oppreffors.
I'll tell you a Secret : If the greateft King or
Peer in the World was known to live in any
habitual Sin, they would not fuffer the Sin
upon him one Moment, they would reprove
him to his Face, tho' they were all fure to pe
rifh in a Dungeon.
Tf>. Well done Dodor ; but do not Bifhops
delight to fit in the Parliament Houfe ?
E. They delight to ferve their Country, if
you will : There they fit facer e vota pro Re-
jpublica, to make Tray ers, or Vows, or Votes for

( 17 ),
for the Commonwealth, for fo the Phrafe may
be tranflated ; thus we read in Horace,Voti corrt-
pos, a Man has a good Vote; ex VotoVivitur,
when a Man lives according to his Vote •, net
voto vivitur uno, when he keeps a good
Houfe by giving a double Vote. They fit in
in Parliament, ne quid detrimenti capiat Ec-
clefiia, that- the Church fuffers no Wrong.
And 'tis moft comfortable to obferve how they
are all jinfpired with a wonderful Spirit of
Concord and Unanimity ; for they all Tray,
or Vow, or Vote the fame way, yet every one
feverally follows the Didates of his Confcience,
and Votes as the Merits of the Caufe require.
They ad by a fort of divine Inftind, without
any manner of Communication with one ano
ther. They are like the feventy Interpreters
that tranflated the Old Teftament into Greek,
they were locked up feparately in different
Cells, yet' they fay, there Was not a Syllable
difference in their feveral Tranfhtions ; fo
thefe Interpreters of Holy Writ, without
fpeaking a Word to one another agree always
in their Tray ers or Votes, they rife up as one
Mr. 1, they are of one Heart and of one Soul.
Delight to fit in Parliaments? fo far from it
any more than their Duty obliges them, thas
they never concern themfelves about the E-
leclion of Parliament Men in the Country
where they live; they never offer to clofer,
to fend circular Letters to influence or menace
their Clergy, their Tenants or their Tradefmen,
but leave them all to their Liberty to Vote as
D their

( i8 ]
their Confciences dircd, without Favour or
Affedion. They do not hurry their Servants
abroad at all Hours, Night and Day, and make
them fcour about the Country on the Coach-
Horfes through thick and thin ; or keep their
Cellars open to make a Party, but every^Man
that belongs to them remains free and unbiaffed
according to Ad of Parliament, and the efla
blifhed Liberty ofthe Subjed, and fundamental
Rights of the Conftitution.
T>. That's Glorious! but have Bifhops no
Pride? E. Did you ever obferve them to ftrut or
fwagger, or Puff out their Scarves ? Do they
fpread open or difplay their filken fhining Cir-
cingles over their Caflbcks ? No, they wrap ,
themfelves clofe in their Holy Veftments, they
walk foftly with their Eyes downward up
on the Ground, inwardly lamenting and be
moaning the flagrant Wickednefs of a finful
Nation. You may be fure thofe thin lean
Bodies, and Pale fad Countenances are the Ef-
feds of long Fading, ftrong Crying and Tears,
of hard Study, and continual Mortification.
*\D. I don't know what you mean by Pale
Faces, but I have feen a Bifhop with a Red Face
before now.
E. And have you not feen Ladies with red
Faces by drinking of too much Water ?
2>. But dear Dodor, are not Bifhops exceed
ingly pleafed to ride in Coaches?
E. What would you have thofe ride in who
have almoft crippled themfelves by a ftudious feden-

( i9 )
fedentary Life, and their Limbs are benumb'd
fo that they are fcaree able to walk ? But then
they always pull up the Blinds, for the Huz-
zaes and Acclamations of the People would
be troublefome to them if they were feen as
they pafs along; Topularity gives them Of
fence. O Mr. Dobfon, give me leave, indulge
me or my Heart will burft : There is fomc-
thing (o peculiarly noble in a Bifhop's Lady
as fhe fit's in her Coach, whether you obferve
the Beauty and Dignity of her Perfon, the Ma
jefty of her Appearance, the Genteelnefs ofher
.Drefs, nothing of the "Dowdy about her;
with what Gracefulnefs fhe fits as if fhe was
born for Greatnefs : O they arc the Ornaments
of their Sex, the Patterns'of Politenefs, Ele
gancy, and Decorum, the Delicia humani
Generis, raifed on purpofe by Providence to
be the Nurfing Mothers of the  Did you
never obferve a Bifhop's Lady in her Coach
at a Mercer's Door upon Ludgate Hill, how
humbly fhe looks with her little Daughters,
pretty Moppets ! about her, teaching them to
Knot and fay their Catechifms? You might
fwearfhe was an Epifcopal Gentlewoman with
out feeing the Golden Mitre on the Outfide.
D. 'Tis wonderful 1 confefs, but Dodor,
fet us goon : A Bifhop muft be the Husband of
one Wife i no doubt of it, he ought not ,to
have two at one Time.
E. Pray, Mr. Dobfon, leave the expound
ing of Scripture to me, I think it is more my
Province. ¦ This Injundion does not relate to
D 2 aPlu-

( 2© )
a "Plurality of Wives, but 'tis as much as, if one
fhould fay  what would you give to know ?
D. Not much; but pray Dodor was there
ever any fuch a Thing as a Bifhop's committ
ing; Fornication ?
E. Nor
D. Nor Adultery?
JS.'No, never.
D. But did a Bifhop never look upon a
Woman to luft after her, and fo commit A-
dultery with her in his Heart?
E. Yes, Topifh Bifhops in abundance :
They all commit Adultery with the ^Vhore of
Babylon, and with other loofe Huffey's, or
they are much belied. But I never heard
nor read of a Troteftant Bifhop's being a
Whoremonger not Adulterer, name one if
you dare.
D. Nor Archbifhop ?
E. No.
D. Good lack ! but do they never look up
on a pretty Woman with Delight? Do they
never drink Tea among the Ladies?
E- They look upon a fine Woman as ybu
do upon a beautiful Horfe, to admire thp
Works of the Creation, but without any man
ner of Concupifcence I affure you,
D. And then, they wear fiich huge broad-
brim'd Hats on purpofe to keep their Eyes
from Wandring upon ftrange Objcds ?
E- Well obferv'd, they do fo ; and as for
drinking Tea among the Ladies, they do it to
'have the better Opportunity to draw them off
from

( 21 )
from the Pomps and Vanities of this wicked
World, and all the finful Lufts of the Flefh,
They are ever meditating upon -thefe Verfes,
which (as you may fee in the Office) they fing
when they are confecrated.
Our Weaknefs ftrengthen and confirm,
{For, Lord, thou knowft us frail)
That neither Devil, World, nor Flefh
Againft us may prevail.
They do not fpend their Time upon trifling
Subjeds, pinching of Snuff, admiring their
Ribbons, or gallanting their Fans, but in ex
plaining the Catechifm, or expounding fome
difficult Text. O, 'tis a Heaven upon Earth,
to fit at a Tea-Table with a Bifhop, or, in
deed, with a Bifhop's Lddy.
D. Do not fome Bifhops keep Ladies in
their Houfes, whom they call Coufms, or
Nieces ?
E. No, never ; and in this they are truly
primitive ,• for in the firft Ages of the Cuurch
particular Care was taken, that no Bifhop, un
der Penalty of being depofed, fhould enter
tain any Woman' in his Family, either Rela
tion, or Stranger, that fo all Pretence, either
of Temptation or Scandal might be cut off.
D. But, dear Dodor, may not a Bifhop
have wandering Thoughts ?
E,. Mr. Dobfon, ask pertinent Queftions :
It is no jefting Matter, Ludere cum Sacris :
You will ask me by and by, if Bifhops do not
go to Tlays ? <£>, Nov/

( 22 )
D. Now you fpeak of that, I will not fay
that Bifhops go to Plays, but I am fure fome
of them read Plays, and very fmutty ones too.
Pray, did not a Bifhop publifh fome Latin
Plays, Terence's Comedies ? I am fure there
is BaWdy in fome of them ; I have read them :
There's a plump juicy Girl, would make your
Teeth water : And then there's a Plot to de
bauch a Woman, by a Man that pretends to
have no Stones. I thought a Bifhop might
find himfelf better Bufinefs than to recom
mend and explain fuch Stuff as that. I faw,
lately an A  's Name among a Lift of
Subscribers to a Colledion of old Plays, in
which are Expreffions fo obfcene, fo filthy,
lewd and impious.-- — Ah, Dodor, there are
other Sluts in the World befide the Whore
of Babylon.
E. 1 have a good mind to cite you into the
Spiritual Court for Defamation : I fee you
obferve no Bounds : I'll have no more to fay
to you : I renounce all Communication with
you : Here am I taking all the Pains to edify
and improve your Underftanding, and you
affront me to my Teeth : I will never darken
your Doors again.
D. Pardon mc, Reverend Si-r, this one
time i don't, I befeech you, let mc lofe your
learned Acquaintance. I beg you would bring
good Mrs. Evans to eat a Bit of roaft Tig
with me to-morrow.
E. Have you broached the Barrel of Ale
you told me of r I am fome what hafty, I
own ;

1 "«3 )
own; but, upon your Submiffion, I pafs it
by. D. Do Bifhops love their Wives as Chrift
loved his Church?
E. Yes, they do, and would lay down their
Lives to fave them.
D. Do Bifhops (as the Office direds) rule
their Wives well ?
E. Yes; mighty well.
D. Is not a Bifhop's Diocefe faid to be his
fpiritual Wife ? How then comes he, for the
fake of a richer Dower, to leave his firft Lovey
and to give her a Bill of Divorce, and to marry
himfelf to another Bifhoprick ?
E. The old Tresbyterian Cant ! A Bifhop,
you muft know, is not married to any parti
cular Diocefe, but to the Church in general.
I find you arc nibbling about the Tranflation
of Bifhops ; that Pradice, I do affure you, is
juftified by the Ufe of the firft and pureft Ages,
from the Apoftles Days down to the Times we
live in ; it is Jure divino, and may be proved
by undeniable Authority. Do not you read
exprefly that Enoch was tranflated?
D. You have convinced me ; and yet, not-
withftanding this plain Proof, I have read fome-
where of a Bifhop of Rochefter in former Days*
one Fifher, who, when he was offer'd a richer
Bifhopric, was ufed to fay, his Church was his
Wife, and he would never part with her be
caufe fhe was poor.
E. He was a Topifh Bifhop ; don't mind
him ; Foxes and Firebrands ! Tapifts and Tref
byterians I

fyteriaris ! all againft the poor Church of Eng
land ! God help her !
D. I remember now ; it was in Collkr's
Church Hiftory where I read that Saying of the
Bifhop's ; and the fame Writer, in another
Place, fpeaks fomething of the Tranflation of
Bifhops, I'll turn to the Index; here it is; let
me fee ; look here, Dodor, he fays that " it
" is decreed by the Apoftles Canons, that it
*' is not lawful for a Bifhop to leave his own
" Diocefe, and remove to another, without a
" justifiable Motive; that is, unlefs he has a
" fair Profped of doing more Service to the
" Church upon fuch a Tranflation. But even
" in this Cafe he is not to remove without
" ftrong Sollicitation, and by the Order of a
" great Number bf Bifhops. The Council of
" Nice fays, if any Bifhop quits his own See
" and fettles in another, his Tranflation fhall
" be void, and he fhall be return'd to the Dio-
" cefe to which he was at firft confecrated.
" And the Council of Sardica complain'd
" that Covetoufnefs and Ambition had brought
" an ill Cuftom upon the Church; that it
" was too common a Pradice for Bifhops to
** remove from a lefs See to a greater, and
" that an Inftance the other way was feldom
" or never to be met with; from whence it
*c was plain they were govern'd by Confidera-
" tions of Intereft." Now, fpare me a Que-
ftion or two. Are Bifhops tranflated merely
becaufe they can do the Church more Servia
in a rich Bifhopric than a poor one ? Do they
deny

1 25 "7
deny to be tranflated till they are prefs'd by
the ftrongeft Sollicitation ? Do all the reft of
Bifhops go to him in a Body, and beg of him
to be tranflated? Do they ever defire to be
tranflated from a rich Bifhopric to a poor one,
becaufe they may be able to do more Service
to the Church ?
E. All Forgery ! Topery / Forgery ! That
Collier was a rank Jacobite ! a Nonjuror !
Give me my Hat and Gloves. That Book ought
to be burnt by the Hangman. I won't flay a
Moment,* left the Earth fhould open and fwal-
low us up, and the Houfe tumble about our
Ears. D. Patience, Reverend Sir, I only refer you
to what I have read ; you know I have often
told you I was pretty near the upper End of
Taul's School, and, though I may not talk
fo learnedly as you Gentlemen of the Univer
fity, I have read a great deal of Englifh Hiftory.
But I am of your Opinion all the while ; I
think as well bf Bifhops as you do, and would
go as far to ferve them.
E. Say 'ft thou fo ! Give me thy Hand ; then
I'll fill the other Pipe. I tell you, once for all,
that no Bifhop would endure the Thoughts of
being tranflated, unlefs he was fure it was for
the Good of the Church; and what think
you is the Reafon that the fame holy Man will
be a Bifhop of one Church, Dean of another,
Trebend of another, hold a Living or two in
Commendam, and take the Trouble of other
Cures upon him, but only to qualify himfelf
E to

( 26 )
to do the more Good in his Generation ? and if
they thought that other Clergymen would pro
mote the Bufinefs of Charity and Religion in
thofe Benefices, with an equal or fuperior In-
duftry and Care, they would inftantly renounce
them all; but, alas! Mr. Dobfon, the Harveft
truly is great, but the Labourers are few, very
few ! Could they find Perfons proper to receive
them, they would foon refign their Pluralities ; -
but when, upon ftrid Enquiry, no fuch are to
be found, they keep them in their own Hands
for thofe worthy and pious Purpofcs. Nay,
they are fo eager and refolute to advance thofe
excellent Ends, that you will, fometimes, fee
a holy Man refufe, as it were, a Bifhopric, un
lefs he be, likewife, allow 'd to be a Dean, a
Trebend and a Rector, for fear the Duties of
thofe Places fhould not be fo properly exe
cuted, and their Revenues not confeientioufly
managed for the Good of Souls. I am well
affured they do not fave a Penny of the Profits
into their own Pockets, but lay it out in the
moft ufeful and extenfive Charities, to fupport
poor Vicars; to fupply the Wants of the in
terior Clergy; to found Libraries in Market-
Towns, in ufum Cleri; to build Parfonage-
Houfes, that are now running into Decay all
over England ; to repair the Epifcopal Palaces,
especially in Wales ; to relieve the Fatherlcfs,
and make the Widow's Heart to fing.
D. You were faying, Dodor, that the Bi
fhops, fometimes, hold a Living or two in
Commendam,

( 27 )
Commendam , what is the Meaning of that
Word ?
Ea Sir, I do not take upon me to be a re
gular Doctor, but only am call'd fo by the
Courtefy of England. Why, you muft know,
that, in fome of the fmall Bifhopricks-, that
do not exceed above five or fix hundred, or a
thoufand Pounds a Year, (and what is that for
the Reprefentatjve of an Apoftle ? ) there is,
fometimes, a good Living annex'd, and, fome
times, the King (God blefs him and his Royal
Houfe for ever!) is fo gracious as to permit
the holy Man to hold a Living, or a Dignity,
which he had before, along with his Bifhop-
ric, to affift him to fupport the Charader of
his Fundion, to enable h m to keep a better
Table, and to enlarge his charitable Heart ;
and thefe good Defigns, I dare fay, are exe
cuted to a tittle, a very Trifle is laid up to
make Provifion for his Family ; the Poor are
his Penfioners, they are his Children.
D. But, how is it that the fame holy Man
fhould be the Head of a Church in one Dio
cefe, and be a Tarifh Trieft, and fubjed to
another Bifhop, in another  ; how fuch
unbecoming Condefcenfions, fuch fluffing of
Scenes, fuch mean Sinking in their Charaders,
from being Bifhops to become Parochial
Triefts in other Diocefes, how fuch a Pradice,
fuch an irregular kind of Tlurality agrees with
the Canons and' Difcipline of the Church, I
could never yet be able to comprehend.
E z E. What

( 28 )
E. What fignifies it whether you can com
prehend it or not ? Will you deny the King's
Supremacy ? Pray, was not Amos a Prophet
of the Lord, and, at the fame time, one of
the Herdmen of Tekoa ?
D. Very true, Dodor ; I am fatisfy 'd.
Now, if you pleafe, we'll go on a little far
ther. A Bifhop muft be vigilant, fiber, of
good Behaviour, given to Hofpitality.
E. That is, He muft be temperate, and not
indulge, the rapacious Cravings of his Sto
mach; he muft keep a good Look-out, and be
upon the Watch ; and above all, and for the
fake of all, fupport a generous and well- fpread
Table, to entertain Strangers, to receive his
Clergy, and welcome his Neighbours; not
that he is to make his Houfe an Inn or a
Tavern, open at all Hours, and free to all
Comers. D. I take you right. But how can they be
faid to keep up to this Precept of the Apoftle,
when not one in fix of them lives in his own
proper Diocefe ?
E. What of that? tho' they do not refide
conftantly in their Country Palaces becaufe
they are obliged to take care of the Church,
and the King, and the Nation in Parliament,
yet they provide that as plentiful a Houfe be
kept in their Abfence as if they were them
felves upon the Spot. They do not when
they come away fallen up the Doors, and let
the Grafs grow in the Courtyard, but they
leave

( 29 >
leave a regular Table behind them. There is
a Chaplain to reprefent his Lordfhip, a Steward
and proper Servants, and the Bell rings, and
the Cloth is laid and fumptuoufly covered,
where the Clergy, the neighbouring Gentry,
and the Yoemanry are handfomly received,
and their Horfes put into the Stable and well
rubbed down, and the Poor of the adjacent
Villages are comfortably fed, and fent away
with full Bellies, and fometimes with a Piece
of Money in their Pocket befides } There the
Traveller and the Stranger are welcome, at
all times, to a Slice of Bread and a Cup of
Ale ; the People of the Country do not feel
the Want of Monafteries and Religious Houfes,
which ufed to beftow their Alms and their
Hofpitality fo liberally among them, as long
as their Room is fo well fupply'd by the boun
tiful Diftributions of the Bifhop of the Dio
cefe.  They remember faithfully the Que
ftion put to them, when they are confecrated.
Will you fhew your felf gentle, and be mer
ciful, for Chrift's fake, to Poor and
Needy, and to all Strangers deftitute of
Help ? Anfwer.
jf" will fo few myfelf, by God's Help.
And, then, when the Bufinefs of the Nation
calls them to London, they do not, like fome
Members of Parliament, hide themfelves iiV
obfeure

( 3o )
obfcure Corners, that their People do not
know where to find them. They do not take
private Lodgings, or hire little, pitiful Houfes
of two Rooms on a Floor, in dark Lanes or
Alleys, but (if they have no Palaces in Town
that belong to their See) they chufe the moft
open and public Streets, and the moft fpacious
Houfes, where they live nobly and magnifi
cently, like Peers of the Realm ; here their
Clergy, when they come to Town, are wel
come; here they are entertain'd at Bed and
Board ; here they have the Benefit of my Lord's
Library, to employ themfelves at leifure
Hours ; the poor young Candidates for Orders
remain here, and are fupply'd with every thing,
till they are ordain'd ; and the Toor are daily
relieved by the Porter, in the great Court.
You may eafily know where a Bifhop lives, by
the Crowd of poor People in the Street before
the Door, fo that Paffengers can fcaree go
along ; it is really a Grievance to the Neigh
bours, they have hardly Room to go about their
lawful Bufinefs, efpecially in Chriftmas time,
when the Steward is delivering out the Beef
and Coals, and fitting the elder Sort with their
grey Gowns. To prove how unbounded is
the Extent of Trelatical Charity , how foft
and tender Epifcopal Bowels are towards the
Miferies of the Poor, do but look into the Lift
of Benefadors for the Relief of the Sufferers
by the Fire at Crediton.  O, Sir \ when a
Bifhop goes to fleep with his Fathers ; when
he is taken from us by the Stroak of Death ;
when

( 3i )
when he is hid from our Eyes, and is no more,
what a Thunderclap is felt throughout the Na*
tion ! What running to the Churches and the
Altars ! What beating of Breads, wringing of
Hands, and diflbevelling of Hair, as in Times'
of national Calamity and Diftrefs ! He is gone !
He is gone ! My Father ! My Father ! The
Chariot of Ifrael, and the Horfemen thereof!
Then ; then we find the Lofs ; Virtutem in-
columem odimus, fublatam ex oculis quarimus
invidi. Were he not like the Golden Bough,
in the Evangelical Poet,
Trimo avulfo, non deficit alter Aureus ;
We fhould be utterly inconfolable.  The
Death of the great St. Bafil ftrikes full upon
my Memory. When that worthy Prelate
lay a dying, the whole City came about him,
not able to bear the Thoughts of 'his Depar
ture ; they pray'd as" if they would lay hands
upon his very Soul, and, by force, detain it
in his Body ; they were diftraded with the
Thoughts of fo great a Lofs. His Funeral was
folemnizcd with all poffible Teftimonies of
Love and honourable Attendance, and with
the abundant Tears not only of Chriftians, but
of Jews and Heathens. The Confluence was
fo great, that many were prefs'd to death in
the Crowd, and fent to bear him company to
his long Home.  An exad Type of the pious
Times we live in! faving that not quite fo
many are trod to Death now as were formerly. D. Bur,

( 32^r
D. But, Sir, I have often heard tfie Clergy
complain,' that when they have dined with the
Bifhop, and are coming away, they are forced
to run the Ga?itlope through a Lane of impu
dent Footmen and Servants, who look upon
them as the Devil over Lincoln, if every one-
does not give them a Shilling a-piece, when
fome of them have not one more in their
Pockets. This is a great Hardfhip upon the
poor Clergy, who pay dear for their Dinners.
Where's the Hofpitality of thisPradice?
E. I don't believe a Word of it ; I never
gave a Bifhop's Servant a Farthing in all my
Life ; not the Value of a Tipe of Tobacco.
D. Pray, Mr. Evans, who does London-
Houfe in Alderfgate-Street belong to ?
E. Why, to the Bifhop of London.
D. There are no fuch Doings in that Place
as you talk of. No Bifhop has refided there
for many Years, nor any body to reprefent
him. That ancient Building is all ruinous, and
ftrangely perverted ; -it is let into fcurvy Lod
gings and Apartments ; turn'd into Ware-
houfes, Shops and Wine- Vaults, and made
ufe of by a fort of Tenants that do fmall Re
putation to the Fabrick or the Landlord. I be
lieve the Bifhop would call the Minifter of a
Parifh to a ftrid Account, that fhould let out
his Parfonage- Houfe to fuch odd Ufes, and fuf-
it to run to Ruin in fuch a difmal Manner.
That venerable Pile, where fo many Kings
and Princes have been entertain'd, and fat in
Council, fo many learned and renown'd Pre-
. lates

( 33 )
lates, Ridley, Bancroft, Sandys, King, and
many other great Reformers, and the Glory of
their Times, lived with fo much Honour and
Hofpitality, is now become a Neft of  .
Would a Chriftian believe, that one End of the
Archbifhop's Palace in Tor k is converted to a
Dancing School, and the other End into a Tlay-
Houfe ? The Epifcopal Houfe at Worcefter,
and in many other Sees, is all in Ruins.- — I do
not fuppofe but large Sums have been received,
from time to time, for Dilapidations ; they
look fharp enough after that. Pray, Sir, if fuch.
Monies are not honeftly laid out, where lies
ifoc Remedy, or who muft call the Bifhop to
Account ? I have look'd into the Codex, and
cannot find a Word upon this Subjed.
E. Let me tell you, your Insinuation is vile
and Atheiftical. The inferior Clergy, if you
will, look fharp, as you call it, after Dilapi
dations, and, perhaps, are too rigid and hard
hearted upon that Account % but the Right Re
verend 'Predates proceed, in that Refped, with
all Tendernefs and Humanity ; they confider
the Circumftances of the Family left behind,
and are more likely to affift them out of the
Revenues of the enfuingYear, than to harrafs
them with Dilapidations. Come, call a new
Caufe ; read on.
D. A Bifhop muft be apt to Teach.
E. They muft be qualify'd, by their Study
of the Scriptures, and their great Skill in ex
plaining them, to inftrud and feed the Flock
committed to their Charge. And how can
F they

( 34 )
they be otherwife, when the whole Bufiheft
of their Lives has been to turn over and medi
tate upon thofe facred Pages ? when they have
the Bible ad unguem, and have fpent the
choiceft of 'their Time, their Breath and
Strength in Catechifing, in Expounding and
Treaching ? They unravel all difficult Places,
all the Similies, Types, Parables, Examples, Alle
gories ; they reconcile feeming Contradidions,
and can repeat you all the parallel Texts from,
the Beginning to the End. They are no ob-
fcure Perfons, that the World never heard of
till they were call'd to the Chair ; they are no
Novices, or (as the old Tranflation .Jus jjtjjv*
young Scholars, left they fwell and fall into
the Judgment of the evil Speaker j they are no-
frefh Men, no raw, unfledged, pen-feather'd
Divines, but ripe and in full Plumage, the
moft ftaunch and celebrated Dodors ofthe firft
Clafs, the admired Orators and Preachers of
the Age. They have, taken their Degrees, re
gularly, in our Univerfities, whe(re,their Nana*!?
will be immortal ; they perform'ci their Exer-
cifes with Applaufe, and the Schools rung
with the Acclamations of the Audience ; they
preach'd Latin Sermons, read Lectures, were
folidand acute in Difputation, famous for de
fending the primitive and pure Dodrines of
Chriftianity, againft Atheifts, Deifts, Socinians,
Tapifts, Fanatics, Enthufiafts, Methodifts,
Turks, Jews and Heathens ,• their Dodrinal
and Controverfial Writings are admired and,
almoft, adored all Europe overj their Sound is
gone

( 35 )
gone out into all Lands, and their Names, and
their Fames too, unto the Ends of the World.
How can they be but apt to Teach, when they
have read over all the Expofitors, the Com
mentators in all Languages, all the Dodors of
the Eaftern and Weftern Churches ? There is
not a Man of them, but may fafely fay of him
felf what the Oxford Mufe fo fweetly warbles :
Notior at nulli vox eft fua quam mihi
quicquid
Graius, Arabs, Italus, Chaldajus, Hebraus
et Affur,
./Ethiopefve fonant facrum aut Memphitica
Coptos,
Is fum qui Latices ex ipfo fonte petit os
Malim, quam longo cir cum diducere Rivo.
Hine, ut me laudem, legi Targumque, Ma-
foramque,
Onkelon et Kimchi, qua te vel nomina ter-
rent,
Commentatores Rabbinos, Kabbala quicquid
Implicuit nodis, cacoque <^/Enigmate texit.
I was exercifing my Toetic Fancy, fometime
ago, in tranflating thefe Lines into Englifh
Verfe ; you know I have a pretty Knack at
Poetry, though I do not make it my Profef
fion; but,
Dignum laude virum Mufa vet at mori.
My Mufe forbids the worthy Man to die.
F 2 I am

I am glad I can repeat them ; for> I am fut(|
you will be pleafed.
There's no Man's Voice is to himfelf more
known
Than is to me the holy Religion
Of Grecian, Arabian and Italian,
ChakUean, Hebracan and Affyrian,
What the ^Ethiopians teach, and what the
Copti,
I am the Man } with Bucket and a Rope I
Chufe to draw Water from the Fountain-
Head,
, Than from the wand'ring Streams the
Rivers Jheds
And tho' I praife my felf I have readthe\
Targum,
TheMzfbtz,Onkt\osandK.\mch\'s Jargon,
Whofe very Names wou'd fright thee and I
the Devil into the Bargain, y
The Rabbins Comments, and the Kabbala"|
That foldeth up its Meaning, I do fay, L
In twifted Knots and dark ^Eriigmata, J
What think you of that, my Boy ! But if you
chufe to have it rather in Scripture Phrafe, it
will run thus : Tarthians and Medes, and
Elamites, and the Dwellers in Mefopotamia9
and in Judaa and Cappadocia, in Tontus and
Afia, Thrygia and Tamphylia, in t^JEgypt
and in the Parts of Ly bia about Cyrene, Stran
gers of Rome, Jews and Profelites, Cretes
and Arabians, we do all hear them fpeak in
our

( 37 )
our own Tongue the  The World would
not be furprized to fee a new Tranflation of
the Bible from the prefent Bench of Bifhops ;
there's not one of them but is capable to ex
ecute the Whole, had he but Time and - — •>
They can repeat you every Syllable of More
Nevoch, Medrafheoth, Tirke Avoth, Ke-
ther Malcuth." -.And yet to look them
in the Face you would not think it ; fuch is
the feeming Simplicity of their venerable Af-
peds; but Front i nulla Fides  O Libro-
rum Helluones ! O Gormandifers of Books !
They have f wallowed and digefted all the Fa
thers, the Codes, Trovincials, Decretals,
Tandecls, Councils, Canons ; are Matters of
all the Schoolmen, not to fill their Heads and
fluff their Writings with Quidditie s and Quod-
dities, and far-fetched unintelligible Diftindi-
ons, but to be able to reafon clofely, to ar
gue folidly, to rebuke, to confute, to reply,
to rejoind, to fyllogize, to criticize, to apo
logize, to advertize, to fermonize, to decy-
pherize, to 
D. Heyday ! The Dodor is in a Rapture !
E. They pafs to the Epifcopal Chair through
all the lower Ecclefiaftical Offices; they do
not, as a learned Writer obferves, commence
Divines and Bifhops the fame Moment ; nor
are they like the Dragon's Teeth that Cad
mus fowed at Thebes, which immediately
fprung up Giants out of the>Earth armed Cap-
a-pee, perfed Men and perfed Warriors in one
Day  ^ Look" into the Acta Eruditorum, there

( 38 )
there you will fee their Names mentioned
with Honour, and their worthy Labours re
commended to Pofterity.  O Mr. Dobfon,
could you but peep into a Bifhop's Library,
and fee the Holy Man fitting in his Turple Cap
and Slippers,with his Table covered with Books
in all the learned Languages, and like Julius
Cafar, didating to two or three Amanuenfes
at the fame time, and direding a Correfpond-
ence among the Literati over the known
World  Their Latin is neat, chafte, elegant,
and tcrfe, and fo is their Welfh  They are
Claffical to the Back- bone. The Britifh Bifhops
are better known Abroad than they are at
Home: But a Prophet has no Honour in his
own Country  Illuftrifftmi Anglia? Pratfu-
les, Dottiffimi Literarum Fautores Britannias
Epifcopi, or Indefatigabiliffimi, as they are
called by the Learned Siberians. Thefe and
fuch are the Compellations ufed to our Tre-
lates when they are addreffed by Foreigners.
 And then, as to that folemn Injundion of
the Archbifhop to the Bifhop Eled.
Are you ready with all faithful Diligence
to banifh and drive away all erroneous
and Strange Dodrine and both pri
vately and openly to call upon, and en
courage others to do the fame ?
In this Cafe, I fay, they are the Mallei
Hareticorum, Tapiftarum, Taganorum, the
Mauls, the Beetles and Wedges of Heretics, Tapifts%

_ ( 39 )
'Papifts, and Infidels; if a Blafphemou« or
wicked Book creeps out one or other of them
foon cuts it to Pieces, to the utter Shame and
Confufion of the Gainfayer. They have an
Antidote ready to expell the Poifon ; they
Pray againft it, Preach againft it, write againft
it, and encourage and follicit their Clergy to
do the fame. Such Reverend Champions they
favour and diftinguifh, and prefer them before
all the Relations in the World. They buy
and difperfe their Books, they affift them in
their Studies, and warm them in their Bofoms.
They do not as the Great Dons, in other
Profcffions, negled, depreciate and brow- beat
Writers of their own Order out of a Spirit of
Tarty, or from a Principle of Envy, as if
they obfcured their own Charaders, or 
in fix.:t, Herefy and Infidelity never had
fewer Friends and Followers than in thefe
bleffed Times, and ail owing to the unwearied
Indnftr." 4p*\ Vigilance of thefe Shepherds,
tQeie Watchmen of Ifrael. I'll tell you what,
I was at Church in the City about three Sun
days ago, where two great Trelates were in
the fame Pew, and at the repeating the Atha-
nafian Creed, they both reverently flood up,
and made their Refponfes aloud with their
Eyes towards Heaven, to the great Comfort of
myfelf and all the Congregation: Neither of
them took Snuff, or loll'd Sauntringly over the
Pew, or talked to any body near him all the
While. D. You

( 4o )
D. You have taken a deal of Pains to prove
that the Bifhops are a learned Body, which
feems to be out of Difpute ; for you fee here
in the Office before us, that the Bifhop Elect
fhall be prefented by two Bifhops to the Arch
bifhop of fat Province in this Form.
Moft Reverend Father in God, we prefent
unto you this Godly and well learned
Man to be ordained and Confecratedk
lifhot

But I have a fmall Scruple upon me in this;
Matter; how do thefe two Bifhops know1
that the Bifhop Elect is well learned?
E. Do you think they give this Teftimony
of him by Hearfay, or by common Fame, for
Favour or AfFedion? Can you fuppofe they;
would prefent him in that folemn Manner,
in the Prefence of God, and in the Face of
all the Congregation, unlefs tftejpeeuld do Jt
with a fafc Confcience and from their own
exprefs Knowledge? No, no, they examine
him ftridly and feverely in the Tolyglot, I
fuppofe, Thefaurus Rerum Ecclefiafticarum,
Liber Valorum, and other godly Books ; and
finding him as learned as they exped, they juftly
beftow that Charader upon him, they would
be unjuft ifthey did not; I believe the whole
World would not prevail upon them to go
againft their firm Belief and Convidion in
that Matter, even their Enemies themfelves
being Judges. 2). Who

( 41 )
D. Who doubts it ? But admit that the
Bifhops are pick'd Men, well difciplin'd, and
cull'd out of the Body of the Priefthood on
account of their profound Erudition, yet if
they be ever fo Learned or fo apt to Teach,
you will allow I fuppofe that it is impoflible
they fhould Teach or feed their Flock unlefs
they be able to Teach the People in a Language
they underftand.
E. I allow that, and what then ?
D. Why then I fhould be glad to know how
a Bifhop of a Diocefe in Wales is capable of
doing his Duty with a good Confcience, When
he does not underftand one Syllable of the
Welfh Tongue and the People don't underftand
a Word of Englifh. ?
E. The Anfwer is plain, I deny your Sup
position ; you are to confider when an emir
nent Divine finds himfelf improving in Spirit
ual Knowledge, and Spreading, and Stretchings
and Thickning and Reaching further, and
widening, and enlarging his Capacities, and
budding and bloffoming, and growing ripe,
and as it were Maturus Epifcopatu, he then
prefently applies himfelf to the Study of
the Welfh Language againft the Time comes i
this he finds a moft eafie and delishtful Enter-
tainmentj for the Welfh is a Soft, Harmonious,
and mellifluous Tongue, all Mufic and Mehr
dy, not thickned with Cdnfonants, nor throt
tling you with Gutturals, it does not make
your Tongue ftrike double againft the Roof
of your Mouth, or knock out your Foreteeth^
or fhake your Grinders like many of your Nor-
G thera

( 42 )
them Dialeds. And then it has abundance of
Hebrew Words intermixed, and fo the holy
Man being' perfedly Mafter of the Orientals
before, finds it an eafy Matter to attain the
Cambro britannic. I Verily believe that
Adam fpoke fomething of the Welfh Tongue
in Paradife when he was talking to the Brutes ;
and it is my firm Opinion that every Bifhop of
a Welfh Diocefe is qualified to inftrud his Flock,
to Preach and Pray in the Language ofthe Coun
try ; I am fure the laft good Lord of St. Davids
Was, for he Was a mighty Decypherer of
Tongues. The Prelates of Wales muft and do
Treach and Pray in feafon and out of feafon,
or elfe what do they do there? A Bifhopric is
asmuch or rather more a Cure of Souls than a
Parfonage or Vicarage, and it would be ftrange
they fhould cloath themfelves with the Wool!,
and take no Care of feeding the Flock i but
to Treach or Tray tb the People in an unknown
Tongue would be Toperyf downright To-
peryl D. It would fo ; but not to urge this further
at prefent, I cannot be altogether of your
Opinion that the Bifhops in Wales underftand
the Language of the Country, for I have a little
Book in my Library ( as you are pleafed to call
it) that gives a quite different Account of this
Matter, and likewife of the Hofpitality that is
preferv'd (as you fay) in the Palaces of Bifhops-
of that Country, either when they do or do
not refide in their Diocefes. You know the
Bifhopric of St. Davids?
E. I had the Honour to be born in that
Diocefe;

( 43 )
Diocefe; It is a See of a very large Extent, aod
takes in the Counties of Tembroke, Caermar-
then, Cardigan, Brecon, and all Radnor
except fix Parifhes, a confiderable part of Gla-
morganfhire, and many Parifhes in the Coun
ties of Hereford and Monmouth; O 'tis a
curious fine Bifhopric.
D. The Book I fpoke of is called A View
of the State of Religion in the Diocefe of St.
Davids ; it was written by a Doctor of Divinity
in that Principality, and his Obfervations are
founded upon his own Knowledge; Here is
fuch a Scene of Mifery and Diftrefs, of Barbarifm
and Barbarity, fuch fcandalous Abufe of Dif
cipline and Church Power! But 'tis no wonder,
for a Welfh Bifhopric is commonly no more
than a Stopgap, an Earneft of higher Promo
tions ; you leldom find a Bifhop die in Poffeffion
of a See in that Country, they hope not to con
tinue there long, they have no time, if they
had an Inclination, to make themfelves acquaint
ed with their Clergy or their People ; fome ne
ver go there at all, and others but once or fo
to take Poffeffion, tb fettle their Rents and re
ceive their Prefents, they go in Snug and fo
they go out, they keep their own Counfel, their
Houfes are tumbling down, and fo there is no
Pretence for Refidence, one fucceeds another
and takes things as he finds them, Alter et idem !
The Country lies in a remote Corner of the
Ifland not much frequented or inquired after;
the Gentry and People of Fafhion make no
Complaint, they enjoy their Impropriations,
and generally live in London and fpend their
G 2 Money

( 44 )
Money there, or in other places at a Diftance,
and don't regard how the Livings are ferved,
how the People are Taught, and how the Clergy
are ftarvedj but I will reach the Book, here it
is, I remark'd fome particular Paffages that
made my Heart bleed  and firft Dodor for
your Hofpitality in the Bifhop's Palace at St.
David's. E. I never was at St. David's but I have
been received with great Hofpitality, and
drunk very good Ale at the Palace of Abergwyly.
D. To begin then; ' St. David's, once a
* celebrated Seat of Learning, and an Alma
e Mater ofthe Mufes, once the happy Abode as
' of our Arch bifhops and Bifhops, fo Of our
' Archdeacons, Canons zndTrebendaries, who
' were encouraged and thought themfelves
* obliged to maintain the Honour of Religion
1 to attend the Service of their Church, to re-
' pair their Fabric and their Houfes creditably,
1 to fperid the reft Of their Revenues in Hof-
* pitality and Charity, in kindly welcoming
' and entertaining pious Vifitors and Strangers
' and relieving the Poor as liberally. Thefe
* were the good laudable Pradices of the an-
' cient Times: But alas! what an amazing
* Change has now befallen us; the College of
< our Students is long fince diflblved, a great
' part of our facred and moft ancient Cathe-
' drdl is in Rubbage, and of the Bifhops Ta-
c lace there is nothing to be feen but ftately
c Ruins, and almoft all the Habitations of our
' Dignitaries demolifhed, fo that they have in a
< Manner left us and confequently Hofpitality 1 and

( 45 )
' and Charity are gone away too, and the
* Marks of forfaken Poverty and Defolation
* feem to overfpread the whole Neighbour-
* hood; there remains fcaree anything befide
* poor Lodgings for the Chapter to keep their
* Audit for a Week or Fortnight at St. James's
* Tide, and then we are to hope for the Plea-
1 fure of feeing them no more till the next
* Seafon comes again.' That is as much as to
fay, that they come once a Year to receive their
Money, and the Church, and the Palace, and
the Cathedral, and the Service, Hofpitality
and Charity may go1  The Poor con
tinue Naked, Miserable, and unrelieved, The
Revenue is carried away to London and other
Places, none of it is feattered upon the Ground
from whence it came, it is confumed in other
Diocefes among Forigners commonly in a
ftovenly ungenteel riotous way of living, or an
aukward Affectation of Greatnefs -, for few
of thofe fort of Clergy die worth a Shilling,
but leave their Families in the utmoft Mifery
and Diftrefs; as they are generally Vain, Igno
rant, and Haughty, fo they are Expenfive, Prodi
gal, and Wafteful. Theyfvv agger among the little
Curates, and the gaping Clowns in the Country,
under the Title of Mr. Dean, Mr. Archdeacon ;
with this Diftindion they ftrut in a Title Tage
if they chance to write a Silly 'Pamphlet or
print a Stolen Sermon, but as for the Fundions
of their Office, to vifit their Jurifdidions, and
regulate the Diforders of it; Gallio cares for
none of rhefe Things. And the Cafe I am
afraid

( 46 )
afraid is much the fame in all the other Bi-
fhoprics of the Principality.
E. Go on, have you any more? I fhall come
over you by and by.
D. Truly I have much more than I could
wifh. The fame pious Regard obferved in fup-
porting Hofpitality in the f alace of the Bifhop,
appears notorioufly in keeping up the Houfes
of the Tarochial Clergy, and providing them
Habitations comfortable and proper for their
Refidence and Abode ; the Cafe, in fhort, is
this. ' Did you but fee what very forry and
' mean Cottages (if any) that are left for Tar-
' fonage and Vicarage Houfes ? In moft Parifh-
' es there are no Provifions of any kind for
' that Ufe, no Glebe, no Ground to build upon,
' but where there are any, they are common-
' ly fo mean and inconvenient, as that the
' Clergy, poor as they are, cannot think them
1 habitable for themfelves, and therefore are
* obliged to part with them to any one that
' will pleafe to rent them ; but very often
* they fall to the Sextons lot, who to get a
' forry Maintenance is allowed the Privilege
' of felling Ale by the Church-yard Side. '
E. How can this be, when to my Know
ledge there be fo many Rocks and Stones in
that Country ready at Hand ? When the Arch
deacons of the Diocefe and the Rural Deans
who are Officers under them, are folemnly
appointed to vifit the Houfes of the Clergy,
and to order the repairing of them, that they
may be kept in Order and not be fuffered to
run

( 47 )
run to ruin. The Bifhops have Authority to
compel the Impropriator to find a fuitable
Habitation for his Curate, as well as to pro
vide him a comfortable Maintenance ; the
Archdeacon is alter Oculus Epifcopi, as the
Dean is the other.; he is one of the Eyes of
the Bifhop, and his Jurifdidion extends chiefly
to thefe Affairs ; if the Houfe of the Minifter
be out of repair, the Churchwardens are ob
liged to prefent it at the Vifitation, and the
Archdeacon is bound to take Cognizance of
it, and to provide againft it.
D. What fignifies where the Power is
lodged, if it be never executed? The Archdea
cons do not refide, though they are ob
liged to Refidence by Law ; and the Bifhops
take no Care to compel them to it. Watfon
in his Compleat Incumbent (which I bought
when I was Churchwarden) fays exprefly, if
an Archdeacon be wilfully abfent from his
Dignity for the Space of a Month together, or
for the Space of two Months, to be account
ed at feveral times in the Space of one Year,
and for fuch a Time refides in any other Place,
he fhall for every; fuch Default forfeit ten
Tounds. What Havock would the Execution
of this Law make among the Welfh. Archdea
cons, and' among many of the Englifh ones
too? What Advantages would acrue to Reli
gion, what fcandalous Imputations would be
filenced by the conftant enforcing of it? It is
their Duty to vifit two Years in three, yet if
they chance to come into the Diocefe at all,
they

( 4« )
they do not hold their Vifitations in any re
gular Manner, fo that neither Clergy nor Peo
ple know when, or where, or how to apply.
An Archdeacon may be one of the Eyes of
the Bifhop, yet that Officer muft have a very
ftrong Sight to fee from Highgate, into Car
diganshire. And then to help the Matter,
the Bifhop, who feldom refides at all, fome
times holds an Archdeaconry or two along
with his Bifhopric, and fo deprives the Church
of that ufeful Officer, when there are many
valuable Clergymen in the Diocefe (notwith-
ftanding the Poverty and Diftrefs of moft of
them) who are well qualified to fill the Place
and difcharge the Duties of it. The Bifhop
of Bangor (I think) is Archdeacon of Ban
gor and Archdeacon of Anglefey ; the Bifhop
of St. Afaph, is Archdeacon likewife of St.
Afaph; what a monftrous Thing is this ? What
a ftrange Accumulation of Preferments in their
own Natures utterly inconfiftent and untena
ble, and of the moft fatal Tendency to the
Difcipline and good Order of the Diocefe, the
Clergy and People? If they appoint Archdea
cons they do not oblige them to refide, or hold-
their Vifitations as the Law requires ; and if
they are Archdeacons themfelves, it is impofli
ble they fhould do their Duty in that Office,
when, as they are Bifhops they do not live in
their Diocefe, and confequenriy cannot be ab
fent as Bifhops and prefent as Archdeacons at
the fame Time ; and yet Wat fon declares it
for Law, that though a Bifhop perhaps be not
tied

'( 49 )
tied to Refidence by the Statute of the 2 1 ft of
H. VIII. yet he is thereto obliged by the Ec-
cleftaftical Law, and may be compelled to
keep Refidence by Ecclefiaftical Cenfures.
And if a Bifhop hold in Commendam an Arch
deaconry, Deanery, or like inferior Dignity,
Parfonage or Vicarage, with his Bifhopric, he
is punifhable by the fame Statute, if according
to the fame he be not refident upon fuch Dig
nity, Parfonage or Vicarage, and that though
he be conftantly refident upon his Bifhopric,
he fhall not be excufed thereby. But the Diffi
culty is, how to put thefe Laws properly in
Execution. The Bifhops difpenfe with the Re
fidence of their Archdeacons, and it would be
ftrange they fhould infift upon it, when they
make fo light a Matter of difpenfing with their
own ; but (as the Poet fweetly warbles) De-
fendit numerus junttteque Umbone Tha-
langes. E. Is the Man mad? What a terrible Thing
would it be to fee a Bifhop excommunicated
by his Metropolitan for Non-refidence ?
D. I can't help that. And now I am upon
this Subjed, I muft take notice that the Bi
fhops confcious of their own Negled of Refi
dence, are obliged as it were to difpenfe with
the Refidence of thofe Parochial Clergy, whofe
Livings are fufficient to afford them a hand-
•fome and comfortable Maintenance; for tho'
many Churches are ftript of their Revenues in
a deplorable Manner, yet fome of them (I have
heard) do ftill enjoy their full Endowments,
H and

r 50 )
afford Provifion for the Incumbents whereby
they may live reputably upon the Spot, and
do good Service to Religion, and fupport their
Charader with Credit and Honour. But thefe
Sort of Clergy leave their Flocks to wretched
miferable Hirelings, and run out of the Coun
try into a warmer Sun, and hunt after Pre
ferments generally in London ; there they creep
into Curacies and little Lectures (and their
Modefty will fometimes raife them into a pal
try Popular Chaplain/hip) where their broken
and unintelligible Englifh, and their fqueak-
ing Welfh Dialed give great Offence to all fe-
rious and devout Chriftians, and adminifter
Mirth and Mockery to giggling Girlsr and
young Fellows, who make their Reading and
Treaching and even their common Converfa-
tion a Matter of Sport and Ridicule.
E. What's that you fay Sir ? Don't I fpeak
as proper Englifh as any of you all, though
I would not forget my Welfh for all your lin-
fey woolfey mungrel Gibberifh?
D. You, Sir, have had the Advantage of a
good Education ; your Language is polifhed by
keeping the beft of Company, you dine once a
Year with the Dodor ofthe Parifh, your Accent
is foftned by your frequent fpeaking in Public.
I have heard you Preach at St. Antholins in a
Morning with the general Applaufe of that
elegant and diftinguifhing Affembly.  You
fhall now fee what Regard is had by thefe
Spiritual Governors to the Decency and Con-
veniency of divine Worfhip, by taking a fhort
Survey of the miferable and ruinous Condi tion

( 5i )
tion of the Tarochial Churches in that Coun
try. * Some Churches are totally negleded,
and very rarely if at all have any Service per
formed in them, and which if they are not
converted to Barns and Stables, do only
ferve for the folitary Habitations of Owls,
and Jackdaws. In fome Places we have
Churches without Chancels, in others we
have but fome piece of a Church, that is,
one End or a Side Ifle, and the defolate
Appearance of moft of thofe that are yet
ftanding, fpeak how difficult they Subfift,
and how miferably they are negleded. ' In
fome not only the Bells are taken away, but
th.e Towers are demolifhed, and in many
others there are fcaree any Seats except here
and there a few ill contrived and broken
Stools and Benches; their little Windows
are without Glafs, and darkned with Boards,
Matts, or Lettices; their Roofs decaying,
tottering, and leaky; their Walls green,
mouldy, and naufeous, and very often with
out Wafh or Plaifter ; and their Floors ridg
ed up with noifome Graves without any
Pavement, and only covered with a few
Rufhes. Did you fee -fo many Tarochial
Churches and Chapels of the Bifhops Pala
ces, and of almoft all the Parfonage Houfes
in the Diocefe ¦> it might well tempt you to
think that we had lain in the Road of the
Turks a.n&. Saracens, in fome of their wild Ex-
curfions, or that we had but very lately paffed
the Diligence and Reformation of an Oli-
H 2 ' verian

( 52 )
' ver ian Army'. Such are the bleffed Effeds
of the due Adminiftration of Godly Difci
pline in that Country ! Such 
E. What is the Man talking of? I don't
fay our Churches in Wales are as fine as yours
in London -, and adorned with Tictures and
Taintings, and God knows what; it is not
the Walls, or the Bells, or the Tews, that
make a Church. Don't you read that Mofes
made the Altar of Burnt Offering of Earth
and rough unhewn Stones ? Our Churches are
built of the very fame^ there's a great deal of
Tlainnefs and Simplicity in them, nothing
to draw the Eyes of the Congregation into Su-
perftition and Idolatry.
D. You are right ; you fhall next fee what
Simple Sort of Clergy are appointed in thefe
Simple Churches, as you call them. You came
fomewhat young out of the Country, and
therefore it may be a Curiofity to hear the
Defcription of a Welfh Curate. ' In fome
' Places the 'Chriftian Service is totally dif-
' ufed, there are other fome that may be faid
* to be but half ferved; there being feveral
* Churches where we are but rarely, if at all, to
* meet with Treaching, Catechifing, or admi-
' niftring the Holy Communion. In others the
* Service of the Prayers is but partly read, and
* that perhaps but once a Month, or once in
' a quarter of a Year; nor is it indeed reafon-
f able to exped that they fhould be better ferv-
( ed, while the Stipends allowed for the Ser-
f viee of them, are fo fmall, that a poor Cu-
• rate

( 53 )
* rate muft fometimes fubmit to ferve three or
' four Churches for ten or twelve Pounds a
* Year, and that perhaps when they are almoft
' as many Miles diftant from each other. And
' when it is thus with them, with what Or-
' der or Regularity are they capable of doing
1 that Service? And having fo little Time, and
c fo many Places to attend upon, how pre-
' cipitately and as if out of Breath, are they
* obliged to read the Prayers, or to fhorten
1 and abridge them? And what time have
c they or their Congregation to compofe
c themfelves for their Devotion, while thus
' forced to a kind of perpetual Motion, and
' like hafty Itinerants, to hurry from Place to
* Place? There is no Time fixed to go to
c Church, fo it be on Sunday j fo that the
' poor Man muft begin at any Time with as
' many as«re at hand, fooner or later, as he
' can perform his Round. He then abruptly
' huddles over as many Prayers as may be in
' half an Hours time, and then returns again
1 to his Road fading, till he has difpatched
' his Circuit, and that Wearinefs or Dark-
' nefs obliges him to reft, or perhaps for want
1 of a little neceflary Refrefhmcnt at Home,
1 to go where he ought not, where it's odds
1 but he will meet with many of his Congrc-
' gation; who, when their fhort Service is
' over, are too apt to think themfelves at Li-
1 bcrty to fpend the remaining Part of the
* Day at an Alehoufe, or at fome Paftimc or
' Diverfion, as they are difpofed. What Ho
fpitality

( 54 )
e fpitality to Neighbours, or to Strangers, or
' Charity to the Poor can they afford to give,
' who are themfelves fo very indigent as to be
* moft in need of Charity ? How conformable
1 to the Canons in their Drefs and Habits,
1 fuch as are required and becoming of their
c Orders, viz. in their Gowns and Caffiocs
1 are they capable of appearing when their
* mean Salaries will fcaree afford th?m Shoes
* and Stockings ' ? It feems they literally.
obey the Evangelical Precept: They provide
neither Gold nor Silver, nor Scrip for their
Journey, neither two Coats, neither Shoes;
Alas ! they have fcaree Cloaths to cover their
Nakednefs; whence comes the common
Proverb, As ragged as a Welfh Curate.
Would not any Man of Senfe and common
Piety ftand amazed, how fuel) Wretches could
ever get into Orders ? How a Bifhop could
devote fuch ignorant poor Creatures to mi
nifter in Holy Things ? What a Sort of Ex
amination muft pafs upon them before they
are ordained? A Bifhop is commanded to lay
Hands fuddenly on no Man, without a ftrid
Inquiry into his Life and Abilities -3 but fure
ly he could not upon the leaft Deliberation
lay Hands upon fuch Itinerant Vagabond Hire
lings as thefe. But fo it is, and with a good
Confcience no doubt — - And now, as this
worthy Writer obferves, ' What Chriftian
f Knowledge, what Senfe of Piety, what Va-
' lue for Religion are wc reafonably to hope for
* in a Country thus abandoned, when Perfons 1 are

( 55 )
' arc ordained that are contemptible in them-
' felves, when any little A -be darian School-
* mafter, a Gentleman's Butler, a Mount e-
' bank, or what not, fhall be fo cheaply ad-
' mitted to commence Clerks, on the prevail-
' ing Merit only, perhaps, of fome potent Im-
1 propriator's Recommendation, who may be
' Sollicitous for a cheap Chaplain, or to pack
* off an ufelefs Servant '.
What is the Meaning of that folemn Charge
given by the Bifhop to the Archdeacon when
he prefents a Perfon to be ordained either
Deacon or Trieft ?
The Bifhop.
Take heed that the Terfon whom you pre
fent unto us be apt and meet for his
Learning, and godly Converfation, to
exereife his Miniftry duly to the Hononrof
God and the Edification ofhis Church.
The Archdeacon fhall Anfwer.
I have enquired of him, and alfo examined
him, and think him fo to be.
What is the Intention of the Anfwer given
by the Bifhop Elect to the Archbifhop, when
he is confe crated?
Will you be faithful in ordaining, fending,
or laying hands upon others? Anfwer.

• ¦( 56 )
Anfwer.
/ will do fo by the Help of God.
How does he do fo when he ordains fuch
Fellows who are fcandaloufly illiterate, and
are incapable in any Senfe to do Honour to
God, or to edify his Church?
When I refled upon thefe Things I am ut
terly confounded, they can never be recon
ciled. I fhall fay no more, than that all thefe
Miferies, all thefe Prophanations and Scandals
it is in the Power of the Bifhop and his Offi
cers in a great Meafure to remedy and fup-
prefs ; there are Laws to fupport them in the
Execution of their Duty, the Confequences
muft therefore lie at their own Doors.
E. Between you and I, Mr. Dobfon, I am
afraid this is too true ; but I beg of you for
the Love of God and out of Refped to the
Cloth, that you would not fay fo much Abroad ;
O tell it not in Gath !
D. I am come now to that abfurd and in-
defenfiblePradiceofHolyMen(as you call them)
who accept of Bifhoprics in Wales when they
are utterly and in any Senfe incapable of doing
their Duty, becaufe they do not underftand the
Language of the People they are to Inftrud ;
How can they ( as the Office of Confecration
enjoins) feed the Flock over which the Holy
Ghoft hath made them Overfeeers, and for
which Chrift died, how can the Sheep know the

I 57 )
the Shepherd's Voice, when they do not know
the Meaning of one Syllable he fays? With
what Reverence and Complacency muft they
receive his Benediction when he bleft es them
iii an unknown Tongue? To fee a Bifhop lay
his Hand upon a Perfon's Head, and mutter
a few Words over him not to be underftoodi
looks more like a Charm than a Bleffing. In
the Office of Confecration God Almighty is
addreffed to endue the Bifhop Elect with his
Holy Spirit that He Treaching the Word
may not only be earneft to reprove, befeech and
rebuke with all Patience and lHottrine, but al
fo may be to fuch as believe, a Wholefome Ex
ample in Word and Converfation, &c. But
what a Scene is this when he is appointed over
the Souls of People to whom he cannot fpeak
a Word to be underftood, and is utterly in
capable to reprove, befeech, or rebuke, or to
hold any manner of Converfation with them?
What is the Meaning of this folenin Queftion
and Anfwer, much too folcmn to be ufed only
fot Form? The Archbifhop.
tVill you inftruct the Tebple committed to
your Charge (which fhews a Bifhopric is a
Cure of Souls) and call upon God for the
true Underftanding of the Scriptures,
fo as ye may be able by them to Treach
and Exhort with wholefome Doctrine,
and to withftand and convince ihe Gain-
f dyers ? I Anfwer,-

{ 5» )
Anfwer.
I wilt do fo hythe Help of God.
How can he Teach, and Treach, and 'Ex
hort with whblcfottle Dodririe and irtftrUd the
People, withftdnd and convince the Gain-
fayers in his Diocefe, when the People perhaps
never once faw the Fdce of him, or if they
had, he may as well Talk to them in Arabic
and be as well Underftood? For God's Sake
have not Bifhops Soitls tb be faved ? Is Reli
gion a Thing real or is it 'Prieftcrajt arid Jug
gling and a Trade to live by ? Is this Office rib
more than Playing of a Farce or ading of a
Droll? Is. God the fure Avenger of Breaches
bf Promife and Truft made and publiflied in
his own mbft facred Name? \Vhat can the
People think, ot what Refped cari they enter-
fain of their Paftors wlifen- — .but this honeft
Writer reprefents the Cafe in a much, better
Light; tlio' he fpedks with great Waririefs
and Caution (for the Subjed it feems is ex
ceeding Tendjer) yet he fays enough tb expbfe
and explode fo unjuftifiable a Cuftom, fo op-
jjofite to common Senfe, and which can admit
no Glofs Or Shadow Of Reafon to recommend
it. E. I wifh you had done with your Book ; for
my Time is almoft come, I exped the Clerk
every Moment.
D. ' The difpofing of Welfh Preferments
1 to fuch as are wholly ignorant of the Lan-'
* guage, has contributed not a little to the De-
' cay

( 59 )
e eay and Defolation of our Religion. Th?
Benefits of the Church fhould be accepted
for no other End but of being ufeful and do
ing the Service of the Church whofe Bread
they Eat; it being Juft and Equitable that they
fhould be qualified for the Duty where they
receive the Trpfits and it can't be fuppofe4
that tliey are fo till they make themfelves in
telligible to the Flocks they are to guide and,
overfce. For as St. Taul obferves when the
Voice of him that Speaketh is not Under
ftood, then both he that fpeaks and he that
is fpoken to are mutually Barbarians to each
other; and a greater yet infinitely than St.
Taul hath told us, that it ought to go into,
the Charader of a good Shepherd that the
Sheep fhould know his Voice ; which plainly
enough fignifies that no one can be faid to
be an ufeful and good T aft or whofe Speech
or Voice is unintelligible to his Teople.
The Reafon of the Thing is fo clear and
unanfwerable, as that it is in Truth amazing,
that Ambition itfelf with all its fuhtle Inven
tions fhould think tofind out Arguments to
juftify the contrary; for of what Ufe can any
one be (let his Learning in other Refpeds
be ever fo great) to inftruct and teach thofe
whom he cannot fpeak to? And therefore
what Benefit are the People to exped as to
Knowledge or Information from the Miniftry
of fuch who can neither Preach nor Tray
fo as to be underftood^ them? Will after
Ages believe that there fhould arife among
I 2 « the

( 60 )
¦ the Learned and the Knowing thofe whq
1 fhould not doubt of their Sufficiency for, or
f of their Faithfulnefs in, the Difcharge of this
« moft folemn Truft, without either Under-.
* ftanding the Language or ever feeing the
5 Faces of thofe they are fpiritually to Feed
* and Overfee ? While Things continue thus,
« with what kind of Decency can we declaim
1 againft the Topifh Pradice of Teaching Men
1 it is neither neceffary they fhould Read the
*. Scriptures nor Underftand the Prayers, when
e what amounts to fo much the fame Thing,
1 and is fo like it, is Pradifed and Allowed
¦ e among ourfelves by affigning Taftors that
* are Unintelligible to their Congregation?
E. On my Word your Author fpeaks good
Senfe, his Obfervations are juft; And what
ever has been the Pradice of late in filling
the Welfh Bifhoprics with Pallors that are
Strangers to the Language, yet that the Cafe
was otherwife formerly, appears by an Ad
paffed in the Reign of Charles the Second,
which injoins that the Bifhops of Hereford,
St. Davids, Afaph, Bangor, and Landaff,
and their Succeffors fhall take fuch Order
among themfelves for the Soul's Health of the
Flock committed to their Charge, that the
Liturgy of the Church of England be truly
and exactly Tranflated into the Britifh or Welfh
Tongue, and the fame fo Tranflarcd, and by
them or any three of them at leaft, viewed,
perufed, and allowed, be Imprinted, and the
whole Divine Service be ufed and faid by the
MinLlers

( 6i )
Minifters and Curates throughout all Wales
in the Britifh or Welfh Tongue; and therefore
it is, that if a Clerk be prefented to a Church
in Wales who does not underftand the Lan
guage, the Ordinary may lawfully refufe him,
becaufe he is Incapable of the Cure.
D. It is certain by the Act you mention
that Bifhops were in thofe Days appointed to
the Welfh Sees who perfedly underftood the
Language; for to what purpofe were they
ordered to view and perufe the Tranflation
of the Liturgy, if they were not able to un
derftand it? Their Succeffors, by this Ad, are
likewife fuppofed to be capable from Time to
Time to view and perufe and See the Liturgy
Imprinted in Welfh; and how fufficient the
prefent Sett are to Difcharge or Attend
fuch a Bufinefs may be eafily conjedured when
I believe not one of them can Read or Under
ftand one Sentence in the whole Book. I
find there is a Defign at prefent to Publifh a
a large Impreffion of Welfh Bibles under the
Direction of the Bifhops ofthe Principality j
Tenderly Expreffed ! 1 fhould be glad to know
which of them Terufes the Sheets, or Correds
the Prefs ? How Shocking is it to confider that
the Bible, on which the Salvation of fo many
Thoufands depends, fhould be left to the Mercy
of a Hackney Tranflator, to add, to omit, or
alter what Dodrines he pleafes? What Havock
may be made with the Article of the Trinity
at this rate? And then, with regard to the
Power rhey have by Law to refufe a Clerk who

(62 )
who does not Underftand the Welfh Tongup^
and to keep him out pf the Diocefe, and tq
fecure by that Means that the Divine Service
might be perfqrm'd in the Language of the
Country, they are fofar from exercifing this
Authority, wherein Religion and the Good of
Souls are fo nearly concerned, that they frequent
ly pf efent to Livings in their own Gift and admit
by the Prefentatiqn of others fuch Clerks as are
Englifbmen, and fometimes Refugees of other
Countries, whq cannot fpeak one Syllable, and
underftand aslittle ofthe Language as themfelves.
. E. Whajt Think you of Dr. Trevor the
Bifhop of St. Davids ? There are many Families'
of the Trevors in Wales.
D. That may be; bnt let me goon with
my Book ; 1 have almoft done. ' The emi-
t nently pious Bifhop Bedel-, when he was
* promoted to an Irifh See, thought himfelf
* obliged to learn that Language, to which
* he fo applied himfelf, as to be fo great a
* Mafter of it and fuch a Critic as to corred
* a Tranflation which he ordered to be mads
* of the Qld Teftament into Irifh, in order
' to be join'd with the New and the Common
z Trayer which were done before. Having
' given this Example in his own Perfon, he
c with the more Authority could require his
' Clergy, as he accordingly did, to conform
' themfelves unto it; he therefore plainly told
* them that fuch only he would encourage and
1 prefer there, who could officiate mdpreacfc
.< in ,the Irifh Language, which was', he faid,
• **> ' a Qua:

( 63 )
a Qualification abfolutely neceffary in every
Minifter that had the Care of an Irifh Con

gregation.

c It was upon the fame View, that is, of
being as ufeful as poffible in his Diocefe,
that the late moft Learned and Tious Bifhop
Lloyd of W6rcefter, on his Promotion to the
Bifhopric of St. Afaph, thought it his Duty
alfo to learn the Language of the Country,
fo far at leaft as to be able to read it, to ad-
minifter the Sacraments, to confirm them,
and to officiate publicly among them in
their own Tongue; which was a Means not
only to render him more ferviceable, but of
mightily endearing him to his People, who
could not be infenfible of the Goodnefs and
lingular Condefcenfion he expreffed by being
at the Pains of learning their Language for
no other End but to fhew his earned Defires
of doing them more good. Again it was
upon the fame Principle (as I am informed)
that Dr. Bradford, the worthy and learned
Bifhop of Carlifte, though there were many
Motives to induce him to it, did yet de
cline of accepting a Bifhopric in Wales, be
caufe he was a Stranger to the Language ;
and that he therefore confcientioufly feared
he fhould not be able to hcfo ufeful to his
Diocefe, nor fo capable of edifying and in-
ftrutting them as he thought himfelf obliged
to be. What think you of fuch Men as
thefe ? ' E. Thofe

( 64 .)
E. Thofe were brave Men indeed; but I
admire, Mr. Dobfon, why Gentlemen > of En
gland will give themfelves the Trouble of\
learning a ftrange ±t,ahguage and clamoring
with their Tortmantedu's and Cloak-bags into
the Cold hilly Country of Wales for Bifhcp-
rics, when there are fo many of the Native*
who are ufed to the Roughnefs of the Roads
and the Sharpnefs of the Air, that are fuffici
ently qualified by underftanding the Welfh
Tongue to execute that venerable Office ; fbi?
my own Part, I can only anfwer for myfelf j
I fhall be always ready upon the leaft Notice
when' God and my King fhall pleafe to call
me to that laborious and important Truft; and
I may fay without Vanity — but, I fee one of
the Bearers coming ; they ftay for me in the
Church-yard; I muft take my leave.
D. Remember the Tig To-morrow.

FINIS,

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