Page images
PDF
EPUB

lordships with the rest) is party and privy to an act of parliament, and bound in conscience to the observance of it. Nor is there either bishop, or clergyman in the church of England, who has not subscribed to the lawfulness of this declaration's being read in the church during the time of divine service. As thus:-Every clergyman, at the time of his institution, subscribes (in a book kept for that purpose) that the king's majesty, under God, is the only supreme governor of this realm, and that the book of Common Prayer containeth nothing in it contrary to the word of God.' Now, the book of Common Prayer, as it is now used in and through the church of England, is enacted, by authority of parliament, to be read in such order and form as is mentioned in the said book; and the rubric, i. e. the order and form how those prayers shall be read, is, to all intents and purposes, as much enacted as the book itself; and in that rubric, next after the Nicene creed, (in the communion service,) follow these words: "Then shall the curate declare unto the people what holy-days, or fasting-days, are in the week following to be observed, &c. And that nothing shall be proclaimed or pub lished in the church, during the time of divine service, but by the minister; nor by him any thing, but what is prescribed by the rules of this book, or enjoined by the king, or by the ordinary of the place." Now, when all clergymen have subscribed that the book of Common Prayer containeth nothing in it contrary to the word of God, and that the king has enjoined that his declaration be read in all churches, during the time of divine service, these subscriptions of theirs (besides the authority of king and parlia ment) conclude themselves from offering any thing against the lawfulness of reading it, as it had been enjoined to them, and the rubric required of them; and being so, what excuse can there be why they did not read it?

Or suppose that clause, " Or enjoined by the king," had not been in the rubric, (as it was first inserted in this act of uniformity, and every man that was of the convocation of 1661, knows by whom,) were none of the king's declarations ever read in churches (and that during the time of divine service) before that time? I think there were, and (amongst many others) that of the declaration of sports for one. Or that the "ordinary of the place" had enjoined the contrary, ought not the king, the supreme ordinary, and, as their subscriptions farther acknowledge, "the supreme governor of this realm under God," to have been first obeyed? I think he ought; for the authority of the greater supersedes the lesser; nor is there any power in his dominions but what is derived from him; and whatever station the king has given them in the church, it is not to be presumed he thereby locked out himself. Nor must a remark of the said Bishop of Chester, in his sermon before mentioned, be forgotten here: "The Jews (saith he') say, that the keys of the temple were not hung at the high priest's girdle, but laid every night under Solomon's pillow, as belonging to his charge." The moral of it holds true; for when a prince shall have little authority in the church, it is not to be expected he should have much better in the state.

And, lastly, for their lordships "so far making themselves parties to it, as the distribution and reading of it, &c. must amount to, in common and reasonable construction." A clergyman's merely reading the Common Prayer in his church, is not giving his assent to it, unless, after his so reading it, he shall publicly and openly, before the congregation there assembled, declare his unfeigned assent and consent to all and every thing contained and prescribed in and by the said book, intitled, The Book of Common Prayer, &c., which necessarily implies that neither the distributing nor reading it, &c. can in common and reasonable construction amount to the making the publisher, or reader of it, a party to it.3!

The apostle says, "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake;"

[blocks in formation]

Or

and upon this the Bishop of Hereford grounds his judgment for the reading this declaration. "The king (saith he') expressly commanding it to be read in all churches, without requiring him that reads it to declare either his consent, assent, allowing, or liking it; I would gladly know how this is contrary to the word of God? Shew it me. if, as it is said, this dispensing power be contrary to the laws of the land, as is declared in the parliament 1662 and 1672, is it contrary to the law of God? Shew it me," page 5, 6. Or that to read any thing in the house of God is declaring my consent to it?" page 8. "No certainly;" page 9, " for in the reading this declaration there is no doctrine taught, only matter of fact declared, and perchance to try my obedience," page 10," and done out of pure obedience to my king, upon God's command, and to so good an end as the preserving truth and peace among us; which if we lose on this occasion, they will have much to answer for who are the authors of it," page 13. Besides whom, there are several other bishops of the church of England, who have obeyed his majesty's commands in it, albeit they may not have so publicly declared it. And having said so much to the matter of the paper, I think I may well pass the prayer of it, "That his majesty will be graciously pleased not to insist upon the distribution and reading that declaration."

And therefore, upon the whole, if this declaration had not been thought fit to have been distributed, as enjoined, less ought the said paper to have been dispersed privately, and by such previous disposition, stolen the form of the design into the matter it was to work on; and considering the evils we had passed, and that the kingdom wanted a lenitive, not a corrosive, least of all ought the people on the wall to have been heard with new jealousies. The people (I say) who need more a balance than a fly, somewhat to moderate, not multiply, their motion.

In short, trust is the sinew of society, which is the right object of true policy; and distrust, a disbanding of it. The king, as he has "more than once acknowledged the church of England's loyalty," has as often declared, that "he will protect and maintain his archbishops, bishops, and clergy, and all other his subjects of the church of England, in the free exercise of their religion, as by law established; and in the quiet and full enjoyment of all their possessions, without any molestation and disturbance whatever." The king has said it, and shall he not perform it? He has pledged his royal word, and shall we doubt the truth of it? It is not with God that he should lie; nor with his vicegerent that he should be changed; and, therefore, let us (as his majesty by his declaration conjures us) lay aside all private animosities and groundless jealousies, let us fear God and honour the king, and not discover the falsehood of our own hearts by distrusting our princes.

In a word, let every man in his station contribute (his mite) to the peace and greatness of his country; let him shew his love to God in his obedience to his prince; and let no man, by setting up conscience against duty, run the hazard of dashing the first table against the second.

His late discourse on this occasion.

The Articles recommended by the Archbishop of Canterbury to all the Bishops within his Metropolitan Jurisdiction, the 16th of July, 1688.

The bishops were no sooner acquitted and discharged from the Tower, than they resolved upon measures for improving the victory they had obtained. The result of their consultation was the following paper of instructions to the clergy, the political import of which is, that they ought strenuously to maintain the protestant cause in its various branches, ally themselves as closely as possible with the gentry and landed interest, and make common cause with the dissenters against the church of Rome. In the latter point the common danger had so much moved the prelates, that even Sancroft, though a rigid high-church-man, projected a comprehension with the more moderate dissenters, and a revision of the service of the church, to accomplish that purpose.

SIR,

YESTERDAY the Archbishop of Canterbury delivered the articles, which I send you inclosed, to those bishops who are at present in this place; and ordered copies of them to be likewise sent in his name to the absent bishops. By the contents of them you will see, that the storm in which he is does not frighten him from doing his duty; but rather awakens him to do it with so much the more vigour: and indeed, the zeal that he expresses in these articles, both against the corruptions of the church of Rome on the one hand, and the unhappy differences that are among protestants on the other, are such apostolical things, that all good men rejoice to see so great a prelate at the head of our church, who, in this critical time, has had the courage to do his duty in so signal a manner. I am, London, July 27, 1688.

Sir,

Yours.

Some Heads of Things to be more fully insisted upon by the Bishops in their Addresses to the Clergy and People of their respective Diocesses.

I. That the clergy often read over the forms of their ordination; and seriously consider, what solemn vows and professions they made therein to God and his church, together with the several oaths and subscriptions they have taken, and made upon divers occasions.

II. That in compliance with those and other obligations, they be active and zealous in all the parts and instances of their duty, and especially strict and exact in all holy conversation, that so they may become examples to the flock.

III. To this end, that they be constantly resident upon their cures in their incumbent houses; and keep sober hospitality there, according to their ability.

IV. That they diligently catechise the children and youth of their parishes, (as the rubrick of the Common-Prayer Book, and the 59th canon injoin,) and so prepare them to be brought in due time to confirmation, when there shall be opportunity; and that they also, at the same time, expound the grounds of religion, and the common Christianity, in the method of the Catechism, for the instruction and benefit of the whole parish, teaching them what they are to believe, and what to do, and what to pray for; and particularly often and earnestly inculcating upon the importance and obligation of their baptismal vows.

V. That they perform the daily office publicly (with all decency, affection, and gravity) in all market and other great towns, and even in villages, and less populous places, bring people to public prayers as frequently as may be; especially on such days, and at such times, as the rubrick and canons appointed on holy days, and their eves, on Ember and Rogation days, on Wednesdays and Fridays in each week, and especially in Advent and Lent.

VI. That they use their utmost endeavour, both in their sermons and by private applications, to prevail with such of their flock as are of competent age, to receive frequently the Holy Communion: And to this end, that they administer it in the greater be protowns once in every month, and even in the lesser too, if communicants may cured, or, however, as often as they may: and that they take all due care, both by preaching and otherwise, to prepare all for the worthy receiving of it.

VII. That in their sermons they teach and inform their people (four times a year at the least, as what the canons require) that all usurped and foreign jurisdiction is for most just causes taken away and abolished in this realm, and no manner of obedience or subjection due to the same, or to any that pretend to act by virtue of it: but that the king's power being in his dominions highest under God, they upon all occasions persuade the people to loyalty and obedience to his majesty in all things lawful, and to patient submission in the rest; promoting (as far as in them lies) the public peace and quiet of the world.

VIII. That they maintain fair correspondence (full of the kindest respects of all sorts) with the gentry and persons of quality in their neighbourhood, as being deeply sensible what reasonable assistance and countenance this poor church hath received from them in her necessities.

IX. That they often exhort all those of our communion, to continue stedfast to the end in their most holy faith, and constant to their profession; and to that end, to take heed of all seducers, and especially of popish emissaries, who are now in great numbers gone forth amongst them, and more busy and active than ever. And that they take all occasions to convince our own flock, that it is not enough for them to be members of an excellent church, rightly and duly reformed, both in faith and worship, unless they do also reform and amend their own lives, and so order their conversation in all things as becomes the gospel of Christ.

X. And forasmuch as those Romish emissaries, like the old serpent, Insidiantur Calcaneo, are wont to be most busy and troublesome to our people at the end of their lives, labouring to unsettle and perplex them in time of sickness, and at the hour of death; that therefore all, who have the cure of souls, be more especially vigilant over them at that dangerous season; and that they stay not till they be sent for, but inquire out the sick in their respective parishes, and visit them frequently: that they examine them particularly concerning the state of their souls, and instruct them in their duties, and settle them in their doubts, and comfort them in their sorrows and sufferings, and pray often with them, and for them; and, by all the methods which our church prescribes, prepare them for the due and worthy receiving of the holy Eucharist, the pledge of their happy resurrection. Thus with their utmost diligence,

watching over every sheep within their fold (especially in that critical moment) lest. those evening wolves devour them.

XI. That they also walk in wisdom towards those that are not of our communion : and if there be in their parishes any such, that they neglect not frequently to concur with them in the spirit of meekness, seeking by all good ways and means to gain and win them over to our communion: more especially that they have a very tender regard to our brethren the protestant dissenters; that, upon occasion offered, they visit them at their houses, and receive them kindly at their own, and treat them fairly wherever they meet them, discoursing calmly and civilly with them; persuading them (if it may be) to a full compliance with our church, or, at least, that whereto we have already attained, we may all walk by the same rule, and mind the same thing. And in order hereunto, that they take all opportunities of assuring and convincing them that the bishops of this church are really and sincerely irreconcileable enemies to the errors, superstitions, idolatries, and tyrannies of the church of Rome; and that the very unkind jealousies which some have had of us to the contrary, were altogether groundless. And in the last place, that they warmly and most affectionately exhort them to join with us in daily fervent prayer to the God of Peace, for an universal blessed union of all reformed churches, both at home and abroad, against our common enemies; and that all they who do confess the holy name of our dear Lord, and do agree in the truth of his holy word, may also meet in one holy communion, and live in perfect unity and godly love,

The Examination of the Bishops, upon their Refusal of reading his Majesty's most gracious Declaration; and the Non-concurrence of the Church of England in Repeal of the Penal Laws and Test fully debated and argued.

Ir hath pleased that Almighty Power, which rules the hearts of princes, to enlighten and adorn his present gracious majesty with such peculiar beams of grace and clemency, those truly royal virtues that render him the nearest pourtrait of that Deity whose vicegerent he is: To win, therefore, the universal love of his people, a conquest truly worthy of it indeed, reserved for his great self, he has set up the standard of compassion, resolving to recover the alienated affections of those of his subjects whom the administration of his predecessors may have any ways rendered uneasy.

There are but two things in the world dear to all mankind, religion and property. The last of these I confess in the most moderate distribution of common right has all along had its free course in the true channels of equity, only the first has been a little restrained, for conscience has sometimes been shackled.

The sighs therefore and groans that have lately breathed from that restraint have lately moved him to that sacred commiseration, that he is resolved to break the fetters that extort 'em, the penal laws. Which to effect he has already declared his determination for that choice of magistrates in authority under him, that in his princely judgment he thinks will be most hearty in contributing their best and ablest endeavours for that great end.

To carry on this pious work, it is not at all to be doubted but the suffering party on all sides, who are aggrieved by those laws, by the meer dictates of self-preservation, will be no ways wanting to throw off a yoke they have so long unquietly borne.

« PreviousContinue »