The rights, powers, and priviledges, of an English convocation, stated and vindicated in answer to a late book of D. Wake's, entituled, The authority of Christian princes over their ecclesiastical synods asserted, &c. and to several other pieces.

CHAP. II.

THus does our Right to these Assemblies stand by the Law Ecclesiastical: Which Law has been consider'd by it self, for the clearer Evidence of the Argument, and not in any opposition to the Temporal Government: It not following from hence that such Assem∣blies should be held, contrary to the Will of the Sovereign Power; but that the Sovereign Christian Power should be desired to permit, or rather to encourage them: If in this Re∣quest we were not already prevented by the Law of the Land, which not only allows, but commands them; as will appear, if, as hi∣therto I have enquir'd only into the Rights of a Synod of the Province of Canterbury at large, so I go on now to consider it as Attendant upon a Parliament of England. For so the matter at present stands, and has stood for 400 Years and upwards; to speak at the lowest: Tho' in the Elder Ages it plainly enough appears, that the Clergy came at once from both Pro∣vinces, and joined Nationally with the Lay Assembly.

That this was the usage of the Saxon Reigns is acknowledg'd from the remaining Monu∣ments

of those Times: But what the Order of these National Assemblies was, is not, as I see, yet clearly discover'd. As therefore the most knowing and exact of our Antiquaries have thought it proper, for the better understand∣ing of our Saxon Government, to go over in∣to Germany, and consult the Laws and Man∣ners of those Places from whence we came; so possibly we might not be much out of our way in this Argument, if we looked into France, and enquir'd how the Franks there govern'd themselves; those Fellow-Germans, and near Neighbours of our Ancestors; and who had much about the same time possessed themselves of Gaul, as these had of this part of Britain; especially if we consider the times of Charles the Great, that Renown'd and Mighty Mo∣narch; whose Example, had it vary'd from the Common Original Practice, would yet proba∣bly have been imitated by our Lesser Kings.

And here we may content our selves with what the judicious De Marca reports to us of this matter in his Excellent Work De Concordiâ Sacerdotii & Imperii * 1.1: That in King Pepin's time, when the Kingdom began to recover it self from the Disorders it suffer'd before, it was re∣solv'd that two National Ecclesiastical Synods should be held every Year; the One in March in the King's presence, and where-ever he should appoint; the other in October, at the Place where the Bishops, in their former Meet∣ing should agree upon. That whereas this last was a pure Ecclesiastical Council, the other was a Royal One, to which the Great Men of the Kingdom resorted from all Parts of it, to take their Resolutions for the succeeding Year:

As there was also towards the Winter, another Royal, but Privy Council, consisting only of the Great Ministers, and such others as the King thought fit to call; in which Matters, were prepared, and digested into Heads, to be proposed to the Greater Assembly in the Spring.

This General Convocation of the Spiritualty and Laity, which was after by Pepin's Son, Charles the Great, appointed to meet on the first of May, was call'd indifferently Conventus, Fla∣citum, Concilium, Synodus, or Colloquium; and in Latter Times, Parliamentum, which word also is still retained. In it the Clergy and Laity deli∣berated sometimes together, and sometimes apart, according as the nature of the Business to be treated of was; whether purely Secular, Ecclesiastical, or mixt. When they were apart, as well as when together, the Great Persons; Earls, &c. were distinguish'd from those of a lower Degree; sitting by themselves, and on Honourable Seats. These too manag'd the De∣bates, and formed the Conclusions: the Com∣moners assenting, and sometimes speaking; but so, as rather to signifie their Opinion, than give a Vote. This we may suppose to have been the Method also on the Spiritual side: And so Hincmar (out of Adalbardas Cousin and Coun∣cellor to this Charles) expresses it. * 1.2 Generalias (says he) Universorum tam Clericorum quam Laico∣rum conveniebat: Seniores [that is, the Magnates, whether Counts or Bishops] propter Consilium ordi∣nandum; Minores [that is, the Lesser Barons, and Inferior, but qualified Clergy] propter idem suscipi∣endum, & interdum pariter tractandum; & non ex Potestate, sed ex proprio mentis intellectu vel senten∣tiâ confirmandum. And after all, what was re∣solv'd

on, in this Great Assembly, was present∣ed to the Emperor: And what he in his Wis∣dom approv'd, was to be observ'd by all * 1.3.

Much after the same manner, I suppose, were the mixt Meetings of our Saxon Kings held. They were call'd by the same Name; be∣ing styl'd Synodi † 1.4, and Concilia; tho' Secular Persons join'd, and Secular Affairs were trans∣acted in them. They were compos'd of the same Persons: For there sat the Bishops, Counts, &c. and there attended the Lesser Thanes, and their Equals ‖ 1.5, the Priests, &c. the Spiritual and Temporal part of the Convention consult∣ing together, or asunder ∴ 1.6 as they saw occasi∣on. They were conven'd, in like manner, twice a Year, by a Law of King Alfred's (*) 1.7 and one of those Meetings was fix'd (if not in his time, yet afterwards) to the Calends of May, (†) 1.8 as it was in Germany: And to this all the Proceres reg∣ni & Milites, & Liberi Homines universi totius reg∣ni Britanniae (‖) 1.9 resorted, and it was stil'd Plenus Folcmote, and distinguish'd from the other Folcmote

where only the Episcopi, Principes, & Comites were present, which was the foundation of that diffe∣rence that appears afterwards in our Records, between a Great Council and a Parliament; (or Full Parliament, as it is often Emphatically cal∣led) the one being a Select Convention of the Nobles and Great Men, the other a Gene∣ral Assembly of all the States of the Realm: And both the latter and elder Practice among us, as well as the Institution of Pepin and Charles the Great, were originally derived from the more ancient Usages of the Barbarous Germans, which Tacitus, in a well known pas∣sage thus describes; De Minoribus Rebus Princi∣pes consultant, de Majoribus Omnes, and adds, Ita tamen ut ea quoque quorum penes Plebem Arbitrium est, apud Principes praetractentur * 1.10: which is ex∣actly the same account that Hincmar has given us of the Custom, as it stood revived Seven hundred years afterwards.

The Members also of our Saxon Councils were alike distinguished into such as had right of Suffrage and Subscription, and such as were present chiefly in order to † 1.11 Approve. And

some Footsteps there are of this Difference still visible in the several Writs to the Lords, and for the Commoners; the one running, Quòd intersi∣tis cum Praelatis & Magnatibus — tractaturi, ve∣strúmque Concilium impensuri; The other Order∣ing them to be sent, Ad faciendum & consentien∣dum hiis quae tunc ibidem de Communi Concilio con∣tigerit ordinari de Negotiis antedictis: as the Infe∣rior Clergy's Summons also was antiently word∣ed; tho since the Compleat Separation of the two Bodies it has ran, ad consentiendum only.

And the same Distinction doubtless there was between their Manner of Attending those great Councils, which was such, as shew'd re∣gard and distance; and is even now kept up to a Degree, when the Commons come to the Bar of the House of Lords at the Open∣ing and Dismission of the Parliament, and on other solemn occasions. And so did the Inferior Clergy too; and that sometimes, even after their Separation, as the Rolls of * 1.12 Parliament, when produced in their proper place, will shew.

To all which I shall add one Remark made on these Saxon Meetings by Mr. Selden, which will bring what has been said of them nearer home to our present purpose. He observes † 1.13, That the Shire-Gemots, or Sheriffs Turns, were not only ordered by the Old Saxon Laws ‖ 1.14 to be held Twice a Year, as Provincial Councils were by the Canons; but punctually at the same Time also that those Councils were to be Summoned (i. e. after Easter and Michaelmas) as the Thirty fifth Chapter of Magna Charta shews. And this he supposes to have been practised on the State side, in compliance with

the Rules of the Church; That the Bishop and the Earl (or his Sheriff) might have an Op∣portunity of sitting together in Court, accord∣ing to the mixt Policy of those times. This does not exactly square; because the Canons related to a Synod of the Province, whereas this was only a County Meeting: However I thankfully accept the Hint, and desire thus to improve it, — That the Two General Folc∣motes, (not the Particular Shiremots) were adjusted to the Canonical Times of Assem∣bling. For one of these we find, was to be held constantly at the beginning of May * 1.15, that is, immediately after the Easter Turn was over (for at the same Time both could not be held, since the same Persons were obliged to Attend both) and therefore the other, we may presume, if it Met that Year, was held at the like Distance from the Michaelmas Turn. These County-Courts being Preparative to the National Assembly; either as to the Causes that were first to be Tried there, and then fi∣nally determined here † 1.16; or (if the Antiquaries would give me leave to say so) for the Return of Members. How∣ever that may be, certain it is, that in after-times, the Quindena Paschae, and Quinde∣na Michaëlis, were Customary Periods of As∣sembling the Parliament; and are so often mentioned as such by our Histories, as to give us good ground to believe, they might spring from the old Saxon Usage, as That did from Ecclesiastical Practice.

Thus our Church Then held her Synods concurrently with the Lay-Councils; not in∣deed according to the strict Letter of the Ca∣nons (for both Provinces Assembled together) but so however, as to satisfy the Intent of them, and to prevent other Synods, that were purely Provincial, from Assembling so often as they should, and would otherwise have done. And this therefore may be added to the Rea∣sons that the most Learned De Marca has given * 1.17 for the Intermission of those Meetings here in the West; notwithstanding the frequent De∣crees of the Church for their Continuance or Revival.

The Norman Revolution made no change in this respect: for though the Conqueror is known to have divided the Court of the Bishop and Earl, who before mix'd Jurisdictions; yet he continued still to Assemble the Clergy Nationally with the Laity, here as in Nor∣mandy † 1.18; and united them more closely than before by his new Tenure of Knight-Service, which oblig'd all Persons that held of the Crown, whether Spiritual or Temporal, equally to Attend his Great Coun∣cils. And to These therefore were Summon∣ed, not the Bishops, and great Abbots alone, but many others also of the Lower, and even of the Undignified Clergy; who, as Dooms∣day Book shews, held Lands of the King in every Shire † 1.19; and to be sure therefore were present, together with the other Crown-Te∣nants, even in the Conqueror's Curiae, held acourse at the Three great Festivals; and ap∣pear'd

no doubt in greater Numbers, at his more full and general Assemblies of all the States of the Realm. At such only, Church-Affairs seem to have been Transacted; not at his Ordinary Curiae, (though some of the Clergy of all Ranks might be present there:) unless when these Curiae, and those great Councils were co-incident, and the latter Summoned to meet extraordinarily at the same time that the former met acourse. As the Case was in that mixt Convention at Win∣chester, where Stigand was Deprived; and in another at Gloucester, where several Bishops were made.

How long exactly the Saxon Manner of Mix'd Councils continued, is not easy to say. However that for several Reigns after the Conquest it obtained, is certain; and it is probable, that the Disuse of it might begin toward the middle of H. II. when the Clergy, we are told, Disjoined them∣selves from the Laity ‖ 1.20 in every respect, and set up to be Independent; being en∣couraged in this Attempt by the Pope (whose Power was then very great) and by the Success which they had in their struggle with the Crown about the Affair of Archbishop Becket, and the Articles of Clarendon.

And this Division of the Spiritualty from the Temporalty, which began in H. the IIds. time, took Root under his Successors, and was settled more and more by the Absence of Richard the First in the Holy Land, by King Iohn's weak, and H. the IIIds. troubled Reign.

Now therefore the Clergy seem to have de∣clin'd Obedience to the Lay-Summons; ex∣cept such of them only as were oblig'd to at∣tend the Great Councils of the Realm by their Offices, or their Tenures; so that in the Sixth of King Iohn, when the King had a mind to have all the Abbots and Priors present in Parlia∣ment, he was forced to Cite them by the se∣veral Bishops of the Dioceses * 1.21, and not by an immediate Summons. And in 49 H. 3. when every Abbot had his Distinct Writ, they are said to have been Voluntariè summoniti † 1.22, i. e. by their own Consent; not as of Right, or as owing the Crown any such Service.

To this Recess a way had been before open∣ed by the Dispute between the Two Metropo∣litans, Thurstan Archbishop of York, refusing that Subjection to the See of Canterbury, which had been paid to it by his Predecessors from Lan∣franks time; when in a great Council (held first at Winchester, and then at Windsor) it was solemnly determined, That the Archbishop of York, and his Clergy, should attend the Arch∣bishop of Canterbury's Conciliary Meetings and Summons ‖ 1.23. But this Rule was broke in upon in less than Fifty Years after it was settled; and the See of York, by the favour of the Pope made Independent. And now therefore, the Archbishop of Canterbury's Authority being confined to his own Province, and the Interest of the Crown in calling the Body of the Clergy together, afterwards lessening apace; the Affairs of the Church came at length to be transacted in Two separate Provincial Sy∣nods, and the Clergy seldome to Assemble Na∣tionally, but at the Command of a Legate; who

often called them together in H. the IIId's Reign; and that (to bring the Observation nearer to my Subject) at the very time of Parliament: And sometimes I find, that both the Regal and Legantine Authority joined in Convening them. * 1.24

But their ordinary way of attending the Parliament, was not in one National Council, but in two separate Assemblies of the Province, as is manifest from the Constitution of Reading formerly Cited; where Two Proctors are ap∣pointed to be sent from every Diocese, to ap∣pear in proximâ Congregatione nostrâ tempore Par∣liamenti proximi † 1.25. Here we see the Provincial Synods of the Clergy (for the Council of Reading was such) are spoken of in the 7th Year of E. I. (when this Council was held) as Meeting acourse together with the Parlia∣ment. And we may be sure therefore, that the Custom was of Elder date; though when it arose canot be precisely determined.

But this Wise and High-spirited Prince, finding the Clergy thus divided from the Laity, and from one another, hard to be dealt with, resolved to restore the old Practice, and to bring them Nationally to Parliament; which he did, by inserting into the Bishop's Writ that Clause which begins with the word Pre∣munientes, and Summoning by the means of it, all the Secular Clergy under Bishops, either in Person, or by their Proxy's; as also those Religious, who were so far Secular as to be Chapters to the Bishops, and placed in the Heads of the several Dioceses; such as the Priors and Convents of Canterbury, Winchester, Wor∣cester, &c. were. The Mere Religious, as pro∣fessing

to be out of the World, had the Privi∣lege also of being left out of those Summons; the Crown contenting it self to direct particu∣lar Writs to all the great Abbots and Priors, whether holding by Barony or not; without commanding the Attendance of their Convents.

The Numbers of the Lower Clergy Cited by the Archbishop to his Parliamentary Con∣vocations had born some proportion all along to those of the Lower Laity called at the same time to Parliaments * 1.26; and the Premunitory Summons therefore, when first practised by this King, still carried on the Parallel. By it some were ordered to appear for the Diocese (the County Christian) and some for the Cathedral Clergy of those Cities that sent Members to Parliament. And as the Welch Shires return'd but one Knight apiece † 1.27, so their several Dioceses were to appear by a single Proctor ‖ 1.28. And beside all these, the Archdeacons (*) 1.29 and Deans (†) 1.30 having been long before called to the Great Councils of the Realm, were not omitted now, but com∣prised in the same Writ of Summons.

Nor were their Numbers only in some mea∣sure proportionable, but the Powers also with which they came, Originally the very same; so that their first Writs of Summons ran equal∣ly, ad Tractandum, Ordinan∣dum, & Faciendum * 1.31; and when the one Summoned ad Ordinandum only † 1.32, or ad Fa∣ciendum & Consentiendum ‖ 1.33, so did the other: The Minute Alterations of these Forms taking place in both Writs at once, in various Instances; and the Procuratoria, which were fram'd upon those Writs for the Lower Clergy, answering almost in Terms the Re∣turns that were made for the ∵ 1.34 Laity. To omit other Correspondencies which might be observed, if these were not sufficient, to shew, That the Clergy brought to Parliament by the Premunientes, were to all intents and purposes, what they were long afterwards in the Rolls of Parliament called, The Commons Spiritual of the Realm.

This Clause, how much soever to the real Interest and Advantage of the Lower Clergy, was yet thought a Burthen by them, and an inroad upon their Priviledges; and they tried all ways therefore of withstanding or declining it; but in vain: for the Genius of that mighty Monarch, who was not us'd to be baffled in any Attempt, carried it against all their Oppo∣sition. And the Ground he had thus gained upon them, he kept throughout all his Reign; as appears by the Records of the last Parlia∣ment (but the First, whose Proxy Roll is

preserved) which Ryley has Printed at l••••gth in his Placita Parliamentaria * 1.35. There the Proxy's are enter'd of every Bishop Abbot, Prior, Dean, and Archdeacon, that did not Personally appear in Parliament, as also of the Clergy of every Chapter and Diocese.

But a weak Prince, and a disorderly Go∣vernment succeeding, they laid hold of that favourable Opportunity to resume their pre∣tences to Exemption. The wise Maxim was now forgotten by which they governed them∣selves, and made their stand against the Pope in Henry the Third's Reign [Regnum & Sacer∣dotium nullatenùs sint divisa † 1.36]: A Maxim, that never hurt the Clergy when they stuck to it, as it has never prosper'd with them when they departed from it; nor, I believe, ever will. They liked not the Premunientes at first, and the severe Taxes they had smarted under ever since it went out, made them like it still worse; and had quite alter'd their Mind and their Measures: So that now they thought, their Interest and Safety lay in Uniting as closely with the Pope, and Dividing as far as they could from the Laity. The Archbishop, no doubt, favouring this Opinion, with a pro∣spect of sharing the Pope's Power over them; and under the Pretence that it would be more for the Honour of him and his Clergy to be still by Them∣selves in Two Assemblies of Convocation, answerable in some proportion to the Two Houses of Parliament; according to Bishop Ravis's just and impartial ‖ 1.37 Observation. The Separation therefore was resolved on; attempted in Edward the First's, advanc'd very far in Edward the Second's, and fully settled in Edward the Third's Reign.

Even under the former of these Princes, though the Clergy obeyed the Parliamentary Summons duly, yet were they backward to answer the Ends of it, unless they might do it in their own Manner; and therefore referred themselves more than once to a Fuller Assem∣bly of the Province, to be gathered by the Archbishop; where they knew they should be join'd by All the Religious, and by Their help be enabled either better to put off the Burthen that might be laid upon them, or bet∣ter to bear it.

His easy Successor was prevailed with yet further, to mix Authorities, and to take the Archbishop's Power along with him in Con∣vening them; so that under him the way was often, when the Bishop's Writ with the Clause Premunientes went out, to send Two other Writs to the Two Metropolitans, directing them to cite Those [and Those Only] of their Province by a general Mandate, which were Summon'd severally by the Bishops Writs. But because this, though a great Con∣descention of the Crown, was still an Hard∣ship upon the Archbishop, out of whose Pro∣vince the Parliament was held, who could not regularly bring his Subjects to any place not within his Jurisdiction; and because it was known to be more agreeable to the Rules of the Church, and found to be more conducive to the Peace of the State * 1.38, that the Clergy of each Province should Assemble apart; there∣fore

this Accommodation afterwards took place; That the Premunientes should still Sum∣mon them from the King to meet Parliamen∣tarily, but that sufficient Obedience should be understood to be paid to it, if the Clergy met Provincially, though not at the same Place, yet about the same Time, and to the same Pur∣pose, to be ready to hear what should be Pro∣posed from the King; to give their Advice when ask'd, and their Consent when requisite; to offer their Aids, and their Petitions; and, in short, to answer the necessary Affairs of the King and Kingdom.

Not that the Clause Premunientes now grew useless and insignificant: for still the Bishop (who executed the Royal Writs upon the Cler∣gy of the Diocese, as the Sheriff did upon the Laity of the County) when he received his Summons to Parliament, transmitted it to those of the Lower Clergy concern'd; and they still made their returns to it: Such of them as were not to Attend in Person, for∣mally Impowering their Proctors to Appear and Consent for them in Parliament, according to the Tenor of the Bishops Writ; though those Proctors sat afterwards and acted in Con∣vocation. An instance of such a Procuratorium for the Parliament, I have seen as low as 1507. and another of an execution of the Premunien∣tes by the Bishop; yet lower in the Reign of Edward the Sixth; though Returns had then Ceas'd, or at least were not Enter'd. Thus the Forms were kept up, and by that means the King's Right of Summoning the Clergy asserted and owned: And, so the State-ends of Summoning them were also answered, they

were left to do it in an Ecclesiastical way; and to attend the Parliament and the Business of it, not in One Body, as they were called, but in Two Provincial Assemblies. This they did at first by the Connivance of the Crown, rather than any express Allowance; the Archbishop of his own accord sending out a Provincial Cita∣tion concurrently with the Bishops Writs of Summons; which Method obtaining, and these Meetings of the Province being tacitly accepted in lieu of the Clergy's resort to Par∣liament; it grew necessary for the King to employ his Authority also in Convening them; for otherwise it had been at the Archbishop's Discretion, whether he would have any such Meetings or not; and so the Crown might have lost the Clergy's Assistance in Parliament. This gave birth to the custom of issuing out Two Convocation-Writs, when a New Parlia∣ment was to be Chosen; which though set on foot before, yet settled not into a Rule till some Years after Edward the Third was in the Throne; and then it was practised as duly and regularly, and in much the same manner as it is at this day: Take one Instance (and that not the Earliest which might be given) instead of many.

In the Parliament Roll of his Eighteenth Year we read, That

it had been agreed for the urgent Affairs of the Kingdom, to hold a Parliament at Westminster [on the Monday after the Octaves of Trinity] and that the Archbishop should call a Convocati∣on of the Prelates and others of the Clergy of his Province, to the Church of St. Paul's, London, on the Morrow of Trinity, for the

Dispatch of the said Affairs. To which Convocation none of the greater Prelates came on the said Morrow of Trinity, or in the Eight days ensuing, except the Arch∣bishop, [or Two or Three other Bishops there named] as the King was given to un∣derstand; at which he much marvelled: As also that the Great Men were not come to the Parliament upon the Day to which they were Summoned: — And he charged the Archbishop therefore to do what be∣longed to him, in relation to those of the Clergy of his Province, who came not to the said Convocation, nor Obeyed his Mandate: And the King would do what belonged to himself, in relation to such as came not to Parliament, nor Obeyed his Commands. * 1.39

If we supply this Record with the Writs extant on the Back of the Roll, it will appear that the Clergy were Summoned here just as they are now, by the Archbishop, at the King's Order, or Letter of Request, as it was then deemed and † 1.40 stiled; though it ran, as now, Ro∣gando Mandamus, and though the peremptory Time and Place of the Clergy's Assem∣bling were prefixed by it: and we see therefore that Pu∣nishment is Ordered in the Roll for their disobeying the Archbishop's Mandate; but not a word of their not comply∣ing with the King's Summons. But this was only the Language of Popery, by which they kept up their pretences to Exemption; and

the Clergy were indulged in the Form, so the Thing were but effectually done; which was, to have them Meet together with the Parliament, and for the Dispatch of the same urgent Affairs of the Kingdom * 1.41; for which the Parliament Met. And this was no new Practice, but a Method now Settled and Customary; of which, va∣rious Precedent Instances might, if they were needful, be given; but it is a short and sufficient Proof of it, that the Words of the the King's Writ to the Archbishop run, More solito convocari faciatis.

We shall find also, that the Archbishop of York had a Writ for That Province, as the Archbishop of Canterbury had for This; only he was to Convene his Clergy about a Fortnight Later, than the other Province met † 1.42. And in this the way then taken varied a little from Modern Practice, which has made those Two Meet∣ings perfectly Coincident. But the ancient Usage was, for the Clergy of Canterbury to As∣semble first, in order to set the President, which it was expected that the other Province should almost implicitly follow: and with reason; since, if the Two Provinces had continued to attend the Parliament in One Body, as they did of Old, the York Clergy would have had no Negative upon the Parliamentary Grants of the Clergy; being a very unproportioned part of the Assembly. When therefore they de∣sired

to Meet and grant Separately, the Crown had reason to expect, that what the greater Province did, should be a Rule to the less, or otherwise not to have consented to their Sepa∣ration. Very early in the Rolls therefore this Passage occurs,

That the Archbishop of Canterbury, and other Nobles [the King's Commissioners in his absence] should re∣quire the Archbishop of York to contribute for the Defence of the North, as They [i. e. I suppose, as the Archbishop of Canterbury and his Clergy] had done * 1.43.

And even in Church Acts, as well as State Aids, what had passed the one, was held to be a kind of Law to the other; so that in 1463 we find the Con∣vocation of York adopting at once all the Con∣stitutions made by that of Canterbury, and as yet not receiv'd † 1.44; a Practice that I doubt not was often in elder times repeated, and we know is still continu'd.

And as the time of the Convocation of Can∣terbury's assembling was, in this and in most o∣other Ancient Instances different from that of her Sister Province; so was it, we see, dif∣ferent also from that of Parliament. Here it preceded, ‖ 1.45 but generally it followed the Par∣liament a Week or two; on purpose, as I ap∣prehend, that the Bishops and Parliamentary

Abbots might be at leisure to attend both those Meetings. And this was the usual Di∣stance throughout Edward the Third, and Ri∣chard the Second's Reigns, till Henry the Fourth began to enlarge it; in and after whose time the Clergy held their Assemblies during, and near the Sessions of Parliament, but not tho∣roughly concurrent with them; the Archbi∣shop it seems, affecting Independency, and the King, who above all things desir'd to stand well with the Clergy, favouring him and them in that respect; and giving way to their being call'd later, or dismiss'd sooner than the Laity, as having been already answer'd in his Demands, at that, or some other Sy∣nod of the Province, call'd out of Parliament-time: Such Assemblies being frequent in those days, and transacting all Affairs that belong'd even to Parliamentary Convocations.

But this was only an Interruption of the Old Practice for a time, not a through alteration of it: for about the Entrance of the last Age, when the Prerogative began to recover the Ground it had lost to the Church, we find these Meet∣ings of the Clergy and Laity more closely u∣nited; the Dates of Henry the Eighth's Con∣vocation being all one, or a few days before, or after, (if not altogether the same with) those of his Parliaments: And from 1 Edw. 6. to this Reign the Clergy have, I think, met al∣ways and parted within a day of the Parlia∣ment; the day it self on which the Parlia∣ment sat and rose, being not judg'd so proper for this purpose, because the Bishops were then to attend the House of Lords. But since the late Revolution, the Business of these Two

Meetings not interfering, the same day has serv'd to open both of 'em; or rather to open the one, and shut up the other. There have been no Deviations from this Rule that I know of, except in a Legatin Synod or two; (which are no Presidents) and once in the Convocation of 1640: but that Experiment succeeded too ill to be ever try'd a Second Time.

The Clergy therefore, tho' by a Mistake in their Politicks separated from the Parlia∣ment, yet continu'd still to attend it, in Two Provincial Assemblies, or Convocations: which, as they met for the same Purpose, and had the same Reasons of State inserted into their Writs of Summons, as the Parliament had; so did they (to manifest yet more their Origin and Ally∣ance) keep closely up to the Forms, and Rules, and Manner of Sitting, and Acting, practis'd in Parliament. I cannot do right to my Subject, without pointing out several Particulars, where∣in this Conformity was preserv'd; and I shall not therefore, I hope, be misinterpreted in doing it.

The Two Houses of Parliament sat together Originally; and so therefore did the Two Houses of Convocation: of which, to omit o∣ther Proofs, I shall mention that only which may be drawn from the Inferior Clergy's being sent as Delegates from the Bishops to represent, and act for 'em in Convocation: an Usage, which tho' practis'd long after the Greater Prelates divided from the Less, yet must, in all Probability, have had its Rise, when they were together; as the like Custom also in Parliament had: whither the Lords Spiritual and Temporal being us'd to send

Commoners to Vote for them, while the States were together, continu'd the Practice also, long after they were asunder; as appears, on the Spiritual Side, by Numerous Instruments of Proxy, yet remaining in the Bishops Registers; and, on the Temporal, by some Probable In∣ferences of Mr. Elsyng * 1.46; tho' Direct Proofs of it are, together with the Proxy Rolls, lost † 1.47

As the Commons in Process of Time with∣drew from the Peers, so did the Inferior Cler∣gy from the Bishops and Abbats: Each having their Prolocutor in ordinary (the very Word, that is us'd every where in the Latin Rolls * 1.48 for the Speaker) and not withdrawing only from the Great Lords upon occasion, for Liberty of Debate, and in order the better to agree, up∣on their Petitions, and Opinions, as I presume they always did even in the Old mixt Assem∣blies; but meeting together, at the very first in a Distinct Body, and joyning with the Up∣per House only on Great Occasions.

The Prolocutor was so chosen, as the Speaker, by the Body, whose Mouth he was; so pre∣sented to the Archbishop, and confirm'd by him, as the other was by the King. His Office was much the same on either side; He mode∣rated their Debates, kept them to Order, and attended the Lords sometimes with the sense of the House; and at the Entrance of his Office, disabled himself in form; several

Instances of which occur in the latter Acts of Convocation * 1.49.

Bills of Money, and Grievances, (but espe∣cially the latter) began usually in the Lower House, here, as well as there; had alike seve∣ral Readings; and were Enacted at the Petiti∣on of that House, as Statutes antiently were: and the Successive Variations in the Enacting Forms of our Statutes were observ'd and tran∣scrib'd generally into the Clergy's Constitutions.

Their Subsidies were often given Conditi∣onally, and with Appropriating Clauses; and Indentures drawn upon those Conditions, be∣tween the Archbishop and the King, if the Grant was to the Crown; or between the Archbishop and the Prolocutor of the Lower House † 1.50, if to the Archbishop; just as the Way was in the Grants of the Commons.

In Matters of Jurisdiction the Upper House gave Sentence, the Lower House prosecuted, as was usual in Parliament: for which reason the Act of H. 8. * 1.51 which in all Causes relating to the King or his Successors, allow'd an Ap∣peal to Convocation, mention'd the Bishops, Ab∣bats and Priors of the Upper House only, be∣cause They only were Judges.

But over their Own Members both Houses of Convocation had Power, in like manner as those of Parliament; which they exercis'd, ei∣ther

joyntly, or apart; by Mulcts (a) 1.52, and Confinements (b) 1.53 sometimes: but chiefly, by inflicting Ecclesiastical Censures; by Excom∣municating (c) 1.54, Suspending (d) 1.55, Depri∣ving (e) 1.56.

My Lord of Sarum has suggested * 1.57 another Branch of this Parallel; that as none were of the Lower House of Parliament, but such as came thither by Election, and all that had Personal Summons, sat Above; so the Lower House of Convocation was compos'd of those who were deputed thither from others, and the Upper of such as sat in their own Right. But this Conjecture contradicting not only the Records of the Convocations in Henry the Eighth's Reign (to which my Lord applys it) but all the Elder Accounts of our Synods in the Archbishop's Registers; where the Deans, and Archdeacons are said always, as now, to sit together with the Proctors of the Clergy; I am sorry, that I cannot fall in with it: the rather, because it would give me an opportu∣nity of adorning these Rude Collections with something drawn from his Lordship's Exacter

Works, and of making him my Publick Ac∣knowledgments for it.

His Lordship would perhaps have omitted this Guess, had he consider'd, that the Provin∣cial Assemblies of the Clergy were (as I have shewn) in lieu of that Parliamentary Atten∣dance which the Crown challeng'd by the Premunientes; and their Session therefore in Two Houses was adapted to the Parliamentary Summons: so that between Them and the Laiety the Parallel in this respect ran, that, as all of the Laiety who were Summon'd singly * 1.58 by the King, sat in Parliament as Peers, and all who were Summon'd generally by the She∣riff, as Commoners; so in the Convocation, all of the Clergy, who had been call'd imme∣diately, and by Name to Parliament, belong'd to the Bishop's house; but such as were us'd to be cited at second Hand only, and Mediante Episcopo (as Deans, Cathedral-Priors † 1.59, Arch∣deacons, and the Proctors of the Clergy) sat apart by themselves.

That which led his Lordship into this Opi∣nion was it seems a Passage in Ioscelin * 1.60, where a Question † 1.61 is said to have been carried for the Crown by 216 in the Upper House; (i. e. by the whole Upper House, for there were none against it) whereas in the Lower, 23. on∣ly were present, and but 14. of those for it. Which Disparity of Numbers his Lord∣ship is at a loss how to account for other∣wise than by the Supposition laid down. But

since that is plainly Erroneous, I may, I hope, without Presumption, endeavour to solve the Difficulty ••nother way. His Lordship knows very well, that the Bishops with those Abbats and Priors, who were of some consideration, amounted to several Hundreds in Number; out of which there is no doubt but 216 might be got to do the King's Business; especially at that Critical Juncture, when the General Dis∣solution of Monasteries was threat∣ned, and already in part begun * 1.62 and the Regulars had no way to escape the Storm which they saw gathering, but by complying with the King's Demands, tho' never so unreasonable: Whereas the Inferior Secu∣lars having no such Fears, and lying generally out of the Reach either of the Awe or Bribes of a Court, were as backward to give their helping hand in this case as the Religious were forward; and but 14. therefore of the Lower House could be prevail'd with to lend the King a Vote. This perhaps may be no improbab••e Solution of the Difficulty, if after all it ••e not a Numeral Mistake of the Transcriber, or Printer; such as I find sometimes in that Work (I mean in the Hanover Edition of it, which alone I have): for instance, the C••n∣vocation in 1536, is said to meet Nonis Iulii, instead of Nono [die] Iulii: for it met not on the 5th. but the 9th. of Iuly, as the Writ still extant shews.

But enough of this:—I return to those Marks of Resemblance which were between the Parliament and Convocation long after they separated; and by which, as by some

common Ensigns of Honour, the One of these may be plainly discern'd to be of the same Fa∣mily and Descent, as it were, with the O∣ther.

The Instruments impowering the Proctors of the Clergy to act for the several Dioceses were drawn up, I have said, in the same Form almost with those for the Knights of Shires. I add, that they had equally Wages from those they represented: and those Wages were laid on the Diocese with the same Distinction that the Others were on the County; all such as came Personally to Parliament, either as Coun∣cellors, or Assistants, being excus'd from con∣tributing to em: not to descend to yet minu∣ter Differences, which were still on both sides alike observed

And which is very Material, the Proctors enjoying these Expences, are in the Writs and Records of that time expresly said to be entitled to 'em, on the account of their Service in Parliament: tho', strictly speaking, they sat not in Parliament; but only, as they do now; in a Convocation held concurrently with it. Of which I will stop to give the Reader here two very significant Instances: the One is, of a Discharge which the Abbat of Leicester obtain'd from Personal Attendance on the Parliament, on condition, as the Pa∣tent speaks, Quod dictus Abbas & successores sui in Procuratores ad hujusmodi Parliamenta & Concilia per Clerum mittendos consentiant, &, ut moris est, expensis contribuant eorundem † 1.63. The other is, of a Writ in Fitz-herbert * 1.64, forbidding the Arch∣deacon to compell the King's Clerks in Chan∣cery attending his Parliaments, tho' Benefic'd

in the Diocese, ad contribuendum ratione benefici∣orum suorum Expensis Procuratorum qui ad dictum Parliamentum pro Clero dictae Dioeces. venerunt, seu aliorum Procuratorum, quos ad alia Parliamenta, &c. per nos nunc tenenda venire continget. This Writ issu'd by Authority of Parliament; for it re∣cites an Ordinance, made to this purpose in a Parliament held 4 R. 2. * 1.65 and is founded upon it.

And that the Levy of these Expences conti∣nu'd throughout the succeeding Reigns, to the very time of the Reformation, I have seen a good Proof, in a certain Bishop's Mandate † 1.66, for collecting a Peny in the Pound to this pur∣pose: which, it says, De laudabili legitiméque praescriptâ Consuetudine—in qualibet Convocatione hujusmodi contribui solebat, & solet, & ex aequitate, consideratis praemissis, debet. How long after∣wards they were paid, or when first disconti∣nu'd, I know not; but suppose, that the Dis∣use of them, as to the Deputed Clergy, might come on by much the same steps, and about the same time that it did in the House of Com∣mons.

In one thing however the Clergy Delegates differ'd from those of the Laity; that the first, tho' Proxys themselves, could, upon occasion, appoint other Proxys in their stead, if their Instruments ran, Cum potestate substituendi alium Procuratorem, as they often anciently did * 1.67.

Whereas I find no Instance, that this was ever practis'd among the Commons: The reason of which I conceive to be, that the Clergy were to attend the Call, not only of the King in his Parliaments, but of the Pope, and the Archbishop also in their several Synods; and having therefore a Greater Burthen in this respect than the Laity, were indulged also a Greater Liberty.

Further, the Members of Convocation had not only Parliamentary Wages, but Parliamen∣tary Priviledges too; and those, I question not, from their first Separation: tho' we find, that they were solemnly setled upon them, long afterward, in the 8 H. 6. But that Act might be made, as well to affirm the Old Priviledges, which, after the Clergy had been dismembred so long, might begin to be disputed; as to add the New, which had accru'd, since the Sepa∣ration: and withal to confer them both, not only on Parliamentary Convocations, but on Convocations in general, whenever meeting at the King's Summons.

Nor was the Separation so compleat, but that the Inferior Clergy joyn'd Occasionally with the Laity, and attended the King together with the States of Parliament; either at the first Opening, or Dissolution of it, or at other solemn times, when the King came to the House of Lords, and something was to be done en plein Parlement, i. e. in a Full Assembly of the Clergy and Laity, as that Expression some∣times in the Elder Rolls seems to imply * 1.68. That

they appear'd antiently in Parliament, the first day of its Session, the Roll of the first Parlia∣ment held 6 E. 3. is a clear Proof: where, after Sir Ieffery le Scroop, had in the King's Presence; declard the Causes of calling it, it is said, that the Bishops, and Proctors of the Clergy, went apart to * 1.69 consult by themselves. That they came thither also on other Solemn Occasions, during the Sessi∣on, the following Passage im∣plies; where, upon the King's declaring the Bishop of Norwich's Pardon from the Throne, it is said, that

the Archbishop, with his Bre∣thren, the Abbats, and Priors, and the Cler∣gy, there assembled † 1.70, most humbly kneel∣ing, thank'd his Majesty for his Royal Grace and Goodness.

Which I mention the rather, because the Abridgement of the Rolls ∴ 1.71 takes no notice of any but Bishops, on this occasion.

But these are rare Instances: we have oft∣ner Accounts of the Lower House of Convo∣cation joyning with that of Parliament, (not indeed in one Assembly, but however) in the same Parliamentary Requests; and there are ma∣ny Instances, by which it appears, that they were in such Requests, and on other Occasions, still reputed, and call'd a part of the Communi∣ty of the Realm. Witness that Petition in Par∣liament to Hen. the 4th. which begins, The Commons of your Realm, as well Spiritual as Tem∣poral

* 1.72 most humbly pray. And here agen the Abridgment is remarkably silent. And this Style I can trace as low as the 35 H. 8. a Proclamation of which year recites, that,

The Nobles and Com∣mons bothe Spyrytuall and Temporall assembled in our Court of Parliamente have upon Goode Law∣full and Vertuous Groundes, and for the Publique Weale of this our Realme, by oone hole Assente graunted, and annexed, knytte and unyed to the Crowne Imperyall of the same the Tytle, Dignitye, and Style of Supreme Heede in Erthe ymmediate∣lye under Godd of the Churche of England.

The Proclamation is in Bonner's Register † 1.73, which tho' my Lord of Sarum perused, yet, it seems, he overlook'd this Paper, and the Pas∣sage I have mention'd from it: I must believe so, because it is upon so Material a Point, and express'd in so Extraordinary a Manner, that, had his Lordship observ'd it, he would, me∣thinks, have given his Readers notice of it.

Many years therefore after the Clergy had submitted, they are, by their Supreme Head himself own'd, to be the Commons Spiritual of Parliament. And when therefore in the O••d Rolls we find 'em not expresly mention'd as such, we must believe, that they lay hid often under the General Denomination of Commons; as the Case plainly was in the Petition just now produc'd, which is enter'd in the Rolls among the Petitions of the Commons, tho' the Clergy joyn'd in it; and as it probably was in that menti∣on'd by Mr. Elsyng (pag. 275. but with false Numbers) where the Archbishops, Bishops, Earls, Barons, Et autres Gens de la Cominaltie

d'Engleterre, pray that they may let out to Farm the Wasts of Mannors held of the King in capite, without his License,—which being the Case of many Inferior Clergy-men, who held such Mannors of the Crown, it is to be suppos'd that they also joyn'd in the Petition, and are under the [Autres Gens de la Cominaltie] included. But more express to this purpose is the Statute of the Clergy, 18 E. 3. which recites * 1.74, That the Prelates, Great Men, and Commons, had advis'd and aided the King—and afterwards—the Great Men aforesaid grant so and so—and the said Prelates and Procurators of the Clergy grant so and so: whereas there is no Previous Mention of the Procurators of the Clergy, but under the Title of Commons.

To these many other Records might be added, which mention the Convocation-Clergy as of the Parliament, and in it: But, that I may not load the Reader, a few of these taken from the Beginning, the Middle, and the End of that Period, we are considering, shall suffice. The rest will find as proper a place in another part of these Collections: and thither therefore I shall refer the Reader for an account of them.

In the 10 E. 3. a Writ issu'd to the Archbi∣shop of York, reciting, that the Clergy of Can∣terbury-Province had given the King a Tenth in Parliamento nostro Westminster, and exciting Him and his Clergy to follow their Example † 1.75.

The like Recitals are to be met with often in latter Writs, as particularly in 43 E. 3. Cl. m. 6.

Dors. which begins, Rex Arch^o. Cant. salutem. Qualiter negotia nostra tam Nos & Statum Regni nostri quam necessariam defensionem ejusdem concer∣nentia ac onera nobis per hoc incumbentia Vobis & Aliis in ultimo Parliamento nostro existen∣tibus plenius exposuimus vos non latet. Ad quorum onerum supportationem absque adjutorio fidelium no∣strorum non sufficimus, sicut scitis; propter quod ali∣quod subsidium congruum in supportationem tan∣torum onerum à Vobis & Aliis de Clero Dioece∣seos & Provinciae vestrarum in dicto Parlia∣mento tunc existentibus nobis concedi petivimus, &c. And the same Passage in Terms recurs in another Letter of the same kind to the Arch∣bishop two years afterwards, Cl. 45 E. 3. m. 35. Dors.

The Great Deed of Entail in the 8 Hen. 4. by which the Crown was setled on his Heirs male, and which was witness'd by the Great Men, and by Sir I. Typtot the Speaker, in behalf of the whole Body of the Commons, recites, Quòd in Parliamento nostro apud Westminster, 7^o. Die Iulii Anno Regni nostri 7^o. per nos de con∣sensu & avisamento omnium Praelatorum Magnatum & Procerum ac Cleri & Communitatis regni nostri Angliae fuerit Statutum & Ordinatum.—And proceeds to make void what had been so or∣dain'd in these Memorable words, Nos igitur— ad instantem Petitionem eorundem Praelatorum Mag∣natum Procerum, Cleri & Communitatis supradictae, & de eorum omnium & singulorum Voluntate & Assensu expressis, nec non nostrâ & praesentis Par∣liamenti nostri auctoritate Statutum & Ordinatio∣nem praedictam cassamus & adnullamus—Nec non ad eorundem Praelatorum Magnatum, Procerum, Cleri, & Communitatis praedictae Petitionem & Rogatum,

ac de E••rum Consensu concordi & auctoritate, &c.

And this too Pryn has abridg'd * 1.76 in his way, without taking notice of these Passages, which are so Material and Instructive. The Original Record with all its appendant Seals intire, (tho' the Deed it self be cancel'd) is preserv'd still in the Cottonian Library † 1.77; and affords a ma∣nifest Proof of the Interest which the Con∣vocation Clergy at that time had in Parliament: for it would be ridiculous to imagin that by Clergy in this Instrument, thus plac'd between the Lords and Lay-Commons, any other than the Convocation-Clergy are intended.

For near 140 years afterwards, the Lan∣guage I find continu'd the same in the Bishops Mandates to their Archdeacons for the Colle∣ction of Subsidies: for thus speaks one of Bon∣ner's ∴ 1.78, Cum Praelati & Clerus Prov. Cant. in Parliamento hujus regni Angliae nuperrimè apud Westminster tento, & celebrato quoddam Subsidi∣um sub certis modo & formâ tunc expressis Illustrissi∣mo, &c. Ex nonnullis rationabilibus causis dederint & concesserint, &c. Oct. 10. 1543.

And if I should beyond all this affirm, that the Convocation attended the Parliament, as One of the Three States of the Realm, I should say no more than the Rolls have in express Terms said before me; where the King is mention'd as calling Tres Status Regni ad Palatium suum Westm. viz. Praelatos & Clerum, Nobiles, & Mag∣nates, nec non Communitates dicti regni * 1.79. And when more than Three States are menti∣on'd (as in the Antient Piece of the Manner of Holding Parliaments) the Inferior Clergy is still reckon'd as one of them. Judge Thirnyng there∣fore thus addresses himself to Richard the IId, at his Deposition † 1.80.

SIRE It is wele knowe to zowe that there was a Parlement Somond of all the States of the Reaume for to be at Westmyn∣stre, &c. bycause of the whiche Sommons all the States of t••is Lond were there gadyr'd, the whiche States hole made thes same persones that ben comen here to zowe nowe her Procuratours and gafen him full au∣ctorite and Power and charged him for to say the wordes that we shall say to zowe in her name, and on thair behalve; that is to wytten the Byshop of Seint Assa for Ersbishoppes and Bi∣shoppes; the Abbot of Gla••••enbury for Ab∣bots and Priours, and all other Men of Holy Chirche, Seculers, and Rewelers, the Erle of Gloucestre for Dukes and Erles, the Lord of Berkeley for Barones and Ba∣nerettes, Sir Thomas Irpyngham Cham∣berleyn for all the Bachilers and Commons of this Lond be south, Sire Thomas Grey for all the Bachilers and Commons by North, and my Felawe Iohn Markham and Me to come with him for All this States; and so Sire these wordes and the doying that we sall say to zowe is not onlych our wordes bot the wordes and doyings of all the States of this Lond, &c.

I desire not to be misunderstood in the Re∣cital of these Testimonies: I have no other Aim in 'em than barely to shew, that the In∣ferior

Clergy, tho' meeting and consulting a∣part from the Parliament, yet were still reck∣on'd to belong to it, and to be (in some sense, and to some Purposes) a Member of it; and together with the Prelates of the Upper House to compose (not indeed one of the Three E∣states of Parliament, but however) an Estate of the Realm, assembling joyntly with the Parlia∣ment, and oblig'd by the Rules of our Consti∣tution to attend always upon it. If my Proofs may be allow'd to reach thus far, (and I have no manner of Mistrust but that they will) I give up willingly whatever beyond this they may seem to imply; which neither my Argu∣ment, nor my Inclination any ways leads me to maintain. It is so far from being in my In∣tention, that it is not in my Wishes, to set up a Plea for any of those Old Priviledges and Preheminences of the Clergy, which are long since Dead, and Buried; and which, I think, ought never to be reviv'd, even for the sake o•• the Clergy themselves, who have thriven best always under a Competency of Power, and Moderate Pretences. The Present Rights they stand plainly possess'd of by Law, are sufficient to render them useful Members of the Common∣wealth, within their Proper Spheres, and that these Rights may be well understood, and se∣cur'd, is the great and only design of these Pa∣pers. To that end I have vouch'd the Prece∣dent Passages from the Records of Parliament and Convocation: not to set up any vain Pre∣tence, to the utmost of that Parliamentary In∣terest, which the Clergy sometime had; but to secure only what remains of it to them, by shewing, that their Separation from Parlia∣ment,

did not cut them off from all manner of Relation to it; but that still, after that, their Convocations, though held at a distance from the Parliament, were, in their own nature, as well as in the Acceptance of the Crown, and in the Eye of the Law, Parliamentary Assemblies.

These Parliamentary Meetings of the Cler∣gy were at first Congregationes, or Convocationes Cleri; but not therefore Concilia Provincialia: Which were Extraordinary Assemblies for Church Business only; for the restoring laps'd Discipline, and reforming Ecclesiastical Abuses: whereas the Others were originally held for Civil Purposes alone, and the Com∣mon Affairs of the State. And when Arch∣bishop Stratford therefore called a Council of his Province * 1.81, the Preamble of his Letters Summonitory owns, both the Obligation he was under by the Canons of Assembling them Yearly, and his having omitted to do it for Eight Years last past; though, doubtless, he had often in that time Convened the Clergy of his Province to Parliament. However this Distinction held not very long; the Business of Provincial Councils being in tract of time done in the ordinary Congregations of the Clergy; and these and those being promiscuously stiled Con∣vocations: Till at last Provincial Councils, properly so called, ceased altogether; and Par∣liamentary Convocations came into their room: The Frequency and fix'd Certainty of which,

gave the Clergy a Regular Opportunity of do∣ing all that for which the other Synods did but occasionally serve. And when Warham therefore in 1509. did by his Own Authority call a Synod for the Redress of Abuses, and Re∣formation of Manners, his Mandate warn'd it to meet a few days after the Parlia∣ment * 1.82, and stiled it, not a Pro∣vincial Council, but a Convocation of the Clergy: And this Word therefore afterwards in the Submission-Act (as I understand it) was applied strictly to signify, the Clergy's Parliamentary Meetings: For otherwise, it could with no co∣lour of Truth have been affirmed, as it is, there, That the Convocation had always been Assem∣bled by the King's Writ; unless both the Sub∣mitters and Enacters had by the Word Convoca∣tion understood the Consults of the Clergy in time of Parliament: which, in some sense, were held always by the King's Writ, that is, by the Premunitory Clause in the Bishops Summons: and, let me add, are so held still; as good Lawyers own † 1.83, and Bishop Ravis, in his Paper of Reasons to Queen Elizabeth ‖ 1.84, af∣firms; and the whole Lower House did to the same Queen upon occasion solemnly declare, Witness their Remonstrance in 1558; to justi∣fy the Freedom of which, they in the Pream∣ble of it suggest the several Authorities by which they Assemble. The Instrument is Printed in Fuller ∵ 1.85, but with the Omission of some words, which in that part of it, which we have occasion to mention may be thus sup∣plied, — Nos Cantuariens. Provinciae Inferior [&] Secundarius Clerus in ano (Deo sic dispo∣nente,

ac Serenissimae Dominae nostrae Reginae [Ius∣su] Decani & Capituli Cantuariensis Mandato, Brevi Parliamenti, ac Monitione Ecclesiasticâ sic exigente) convenientes, partium nostrarum esse ex∣istimavimus, &c.

And this Opinion also that Parliament was of, which Voted the Canons of 1640. Illegal, chiefly on this head, because they were made in an Assembly, which, though it met by the Parliament Writ, yet Sate and Acted after the Parliament was determined. Nor were they contradicted in it by the Famous Judgment given under the Hands of his Majesty's Coun∣sel, and other Honourable Persons Learned in the Law, if the Words of that Judgment be well considered, which are these;

The Convocation being called by the King's Writ under the Great Seal, doth continue, until it be dissolved by Writ, or Commission under the Great Seal, notwithstanding the Parliament be dissolved.

(Troub. Try. Laud. p. 80.) Which is all very true; and yet it may be true too, that such a Writ, or Commission ought of course, to issue from the Crown, up∣on the Dissolution of the Parliament. But this Point is not touch'd upon in the Judge∣ment given, and seems to have been purposely declined: For otherwise, it had been a clearer and fuller Determination of the Matter in Question, if they had said, That the King might by his Prerogative keep a Convocation sitting as long as he pleased, notwithstanding the Dissolution of that Parliament, with which it was called.

I will not say, That the Parliament of 1660. were certainly of the same mind, though

it is probable they were; and that this was One, if not the Chief Reason, why in the Act * 1.86 Restoring Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction they so particularly, and by Name, excepted those Canons from a Parliamentary Confirmation.

However that may be, sure we are, That the Convocation of the Clergy have (as has been said already) for above 150 Years in every Instance (except that of Forty, and the Synods Legatin) Met and Rose within a day of the Parliament. And if Custom there∣fore be the Law of Convocations, as it is of Par∣liaments (and we have Dr. Wake's Word for it, that it is † 1.87) then is it Law, that the Con∣vocation should meet Only, and Always in time of Parliament. The Learned Mr. Cambden knew no better, whose Words are, Synodus quae Convocatio Cleri dicitur, & semper simul cum Parliamento habetur ‖ 1.88. Thus stood Britannia Then; though a late Paultry Compiler of the New State of England will have it, that it is an Assembly which now and then Meets, and that in time of Parliament * 1.89: Thanks to Dr. Wake for furnishing him with the occasion for such a Definition! which I trust however that the Doctor and all his Friends, shall not, in the Event, be able to prove a True One; not even by that only Argument which can ever possibly prove it so, Future practice.

The very Warrant to the Keeper of the Great Seal for issuing out Writs for a Parlia∣ment, is a standing Testimony against these new Notions: It ran thus in Iames the First's time, and I suppose, runs so still:

Whereas we are resolved to have a Parliament at, &c. These are to Will and Require you forth∣with

upon Receipt hereof, to Issue forth our Writs of Summons to all the Peers of our Kingdom; and also all other Usual Writs for the Electing of such Knights, Citizens, and Burg••sses, as are to Serve therein; and with∣all to Issue out all Usual Writs for the Sum∣moning of the Clergy of both Provinces in their Houses of Convocation. And this shall be your Warrant so to do * 1.90.

So that the Writs for the Convocation are, it seems, as Usual as those for the Commons; and the One Assembly therefore is as Customary as the Other.

My Lord of Sarum seems to have had no other thoughts, where, in the Entrance of his History of our Reformed Synods, (for such every History of our Reformation is, or should be) he lays it down, That with the Writs for a Parlia∣ment there went out always a Summons to the Two Archbishops for calling a Convocation of their Pro∣vinces † 1.91: Always, i, e. long before the times of H. VIII. of which his Lordship is Writing. I doubt not but his Lordship's Meaning then was, That these Writs went out to Purpose, and had their due and full Effect: for the Distinction, which some State-Logicians since have Coin'd ‖ 1.92, between a Right of being Sum∣moned, and a Right of M••••••ing in Virtue of that Summons, was not then Invented. But I presume too far in venturing to guess at his Lordship's Thoughts, when his Words are such as may indifferently serve either Hypothesis, and can therefore, I must confess, be a good Authority for neither. Let us have Recourse therefore to Those who are more determined in their Expressions.

Archbishop Cranmer in that Speech by which he opened the first Convocation under E. 6. affirms it to be * 1.93, De more regni Angliae, primo quoque anno regni cujuslibet Regis citare Parliamen∣tum, nec non & Convocare Synodum Episcoporum & Cleri; sicque fieri in praesenti de Mandato Regis. He speaks of a Custom only in the First Year of every Reign, because That was the Present Case: whereas Cardinal Pool at a Synod held in the latter end of Queen Mary, en∣larges the Assertion, and says, † 1.94 Quòd cum de antiquo more Rex Angliae ob aliquot arduas Causas Praelatos hujus Regni ad Concilium sive Parliamen∣tum suum adesse jubet propter Regis Securitatem & Regni Statum — Concilia & Auxilia sua imp••n∣suros: Ita Archiepiscopus Cantuariensis Episcopos suos Suffraganeos, Praelatos, &c. ad Sacrum Concilium evocare assolet, de iisdem Causis tractaturos, & auxilia sua consimili modo daturos.

And to the same purpose the Good Martyr, Archdeacon Philpott, a Member of Convoca∣tion, and well skill'd in the Rights of it: He, in his Supplication to the King, Queen, and Parliament, complains,

That where there was by the Queen's Highness a Parliament called, and after the Old Custom a Convoca∣tion of the Clergy ‖ 1.95.

Nor did those Lords of the Council, who disputed other Points with him, deny this; but agreed in Terms,

That the Convocation-House was called by One Writ of Summons of the Parliament, of an Old ∵ 1.96 Custom.

I lay no great weight upon their Opinion, because it was casually given, and by Persons, who, though of the King's Privy Council, yet might, perhaps, be as Ill inform'd of these Matters as Meaner

Men: For a Seat at that Honourable Board does not necessarily imply a thorough knowledge of this part of our Constitution. I mention their Opinion, only to meet with Dr. Wake, who has produced it on the other side with as much Gravity and Deference, as if it were a Reso∣lution of the Twelve Judges Assembled * 1.97. He had been Reading, I suppose, in that Notable Book of the Law, The Attorney's Academy, where he found it thus formally vouch'd † 1.98: And he thought he might safely Write after so Worthy a Pattern.

To make amends for this slight Authority, I shall produce another of somewhat more force; even the Judgment of a whole Synod in Queen Mary's time, who introduce their Petition about the Confirmation of Abby Lands to the Patentees, with this Preamble; ‖ 1.99 Nos Episcopi & Clerus Cant. Prov. in hâc Synodo, more nostro solito, dum Regni Parliamentum ce∣lebratur, congregati — Where we see they lay claim to an Old Immemorial Custom, not only of being Called, by the King's Writ, to∣gether with every Parliament, but of Meeting also upon that Call, by the same Custom. For unluckily it happens (to spoil Dr. Wake's New Scheme) that they place the Usage, in their being more solito Congregati; not Convocati, or Summoniti; as the Word should have been, to make Their Assertion consistent with His. But alas! they knew nothing of this new Doctrine, and their Expressions therefore are not so con∣trived as to favour it. They were then Assem∣bled in a Synod, and Acting as a Synod, when they drew up this Petition▪ And 'tis of a Cu∣stom therefore of so Assembling and Acting

that they speak; and not of being only Summoned. Nor was this the Sense of the Clergy alone, but of an Whole Parliament too, which recited this Petition Verbatim in a Statute; and by that means set their Seal, as it were, to the Truth of the Suggestion con∣tained in it.

It would be needless after this to argue from the Old Parliamentary Practice of appointing Convocation-days * 1.100 upon which the Temporal Lords Adjourned, that the Parliament-Prelates might be at Liberty to Consult with the Infe∣rior Clergy: Of this Custom we have an Ac∣count, as high as the first Years of H. VIII. i. e. as high as we have any Iournals of Par∣liament.

To as little purpose would it be to urge the Decision of the Committee of Both Houses, 21 H. VIII. † 1.101; and of the House of Com∣mons, 10. Mariae ‖ 1.102; that a Clergyman could not be Chosen into that House, * 1.103 Because he was Represented in another House: Which implies, I think, that that other House was to sit concur∣rently with the Parliament; or else I see not what force there is in the Reason given.

Much less will it, perhaps, after what I have said, be thought Material to observe, that 24 H. VIII. c. 12. in Matters touching the Crown allows an Appeal within Fifteen days, to the Upper House of Convocation, then be∣ing,

or next insuing: which supposes this Assem∣bly to Meet often, and to have its Regular and Stated Returns; as the Parliament has.

These, though good Presumptions of the Truth I contend for, yet arise not up to the fulness of several of those Proofs which I have before suggested: And because they may ad∣mit a Cavil therefore, I hint them only, with∣out dwelling upon them. The Evidence al∣ready given is sufficient to clear the Practice, as it stood 150 Years ago, and had then stood, Time out of mind. And that it has not altered since, is too well known to need a Proof: There being no Instance to be given, I believe, from the time of the Reformation down to that of our late Revolution, wherein a New Parliament has sate, for any time, without a Convocation to attend it: Nor any one Author of Note, I verily think, to be produced, throughout that Period, who has given it as his Opinion, that the Former of these Meetings might by the Law of the Realm be held without the Latter. Dr. Wake is for ought I can find, the very first Writer that has ever Taught this Doctrine; with how much Truth or Probability, the Reader by this time begins to judge, and will, in the Course of these Papers more clearly see: Wherein I hope to set the Clergy's Right to such Con∣current Meetings in so full and clear a Light, that as no One ever denied it before Dr. Wake, so neither shall any Man of tolerable Skill, or Honesty ever Dispute it after him.

I have been large upon this Head, and I fear, by reason of the variety of the Matter, somewhat confus'd: It may be proper there∣fore,

here at the close of it, to recollect the several Branches of the Proof there advanc'd: They stand in this Order.

That, as far back as we have any Memoirs of the Civil or Ecclesiastical Affairs of this King∣dom, it appears that the Clergy and Laity Met together in the great Councils of the Realm: That this they did, in the Saxon times, and for some Reigns after the Conquest, Nationally; joining closely with the Laity in Civil Debates, and taking Their Sanction along with them in all Ecclesiastical Acts and Ordinances: That they divided afterwards from the Laity, and from one another; and attended the Parlia∣ment not in One Body, but in Two Provincial Synods, held under their several Archbishops: That, though it does not clearly appear, when this Practice first had its Rise, yet sure we are, that it is between 4 and 500 years old, and has for so long at least, regularly obtain'd; excepting only the Interruption that was given to it by the Premunitory Clause, inserted into the Bishops Writs; which once again warn'd, and brought the Clergy Nationally to Parlia∣ment: That a strict Compliance with this Clause was at first exacted by the Crown, and paid by the Clergy; but that they soon found ways of being released from the Rigor of it, and prevail'd upon the King to accept of their former manner of Assembling with the Parlia∣ment in Two Provincial Synods, in lieu of that Closer Attendance which the Premunientes challenged; the Forms however being still kept up, by which the King's Right of Sum∣moning them immediately to Parliament was declar'd all along, and their Obligation to

obey his Summons in the way it prescribed, was duly acknowledged: That these Provin∣cial Assemblies, though held apart from the Parliament, yet belong'd to it; Met by the Parliamentary, no less than the Provincial Writ; and were State-Meetings, as well as Church-Synods: In them Parliamentary Mat∣ters were Transacted, and Parliamentary Forms and Methods observed; the Members of them were Entitled to Parliamentary Wages, and enjoyed Parliamentary Priviledges: That the Inferior Clergy, though divided in Place from the Lower Laity, yet join'd with them often in the same Acts and Petitions, and were still esteem'd and called the Commons Spiritual of the Realm; and what They and the Prelates in Convocation did, was long after the Separa∣tion spoken of in our Records, as done in Parliament: That these Parliamentary Conven∣tions of the Clergy were held at first near the time at which the Laity met; afterwards with a Latitude: But that This Irregularity was Re∣formed before the Reformation of Religion; and their Meeting and Departing fixed, with∣in a Day of the Assembling and Dismission of the Parliament; and that this Custom has now for above an Age and Half continued: That for so long therefore (not to say how much longer) the Convocation has been a word of Art, which signifies a Meeting of the Clergy in time of Parliament: That such Meetings have by All that understood our Constitution been held Necessary; Dr. Wake being the First Writer, that has ever asserted them to be Pre∣carious, and put it in the Prince's, or the Arch∣bishop's Power, whether they will have such Assemblies, or no.

The Result of All is This, That, if some Hundred Years Custom can make a Law, then may we, without Offence, affirm it to be Law, that the Convocation should Sit with every New Parliament: If the True Notion of a Convocation be, That it is an Assembly of the Clergy always attending the Parliament, then is it no Presumption to say, That we have the same Law for the Sitting of a Con∣vocation, as we have for that of a Parliament. And by this Law the Clergy (as was said be∣fore in relation to the Canons of the Church) are not only under a Duty to attend, but have also a Right to meet; so that, as their Writs for Assembling concurrently with a Parlia∣ment, are not mere Letters of Grace and Compliment, but to be emitted ex debito Iusti∣tiae, and whether the Government has any thing to propose to them or no; so likewise are their Assemblies at such times to be held by the same Law, notwithstanding it may be pretended that there is no Occasion for them. For although their Consent may not be neces∣sary, nor their Advice seem wanting; yet, as they are bound to wait, if Either shall be ask'd; So may the Clergy themselves have some Informations and Remembrances to of∣fer, and some Petitions to make concerning such things, as they may be supposed to take more particular notice of, or wherein they may be more peculiarly concern'd. And this Liberty and Opportunity of representing what they may think necessary, is to be esteemed by them as their great Parliamentary Privi∣ledge; not to be Wav'd, like the Others, for the better course of common Justice;

but to be Asserted and Confirmed for the Good of the whole Kingdom.

Such a Liberty therefore and Opportunity is not only provided for by Canons, but se∣cur'd, I say, by the Law: Both by the Law of Custom, which is the Law of Parliaments; and by Express Statute: an Act of Edward the Third appointing a Parliament, and con∣sequently * 1.104 a Convocation to be held just within the Ca∣nonical distance, Yearly; and the present Law enjoyn∣ing, That it shall be frequent∣ly held, and once at least in Three Years: Held, I say, and not only Called; for that is the Right we speak of: A Right, that has been all along own'd by constant Practice; or, if perchance not exerci∣sed at some Particular time, through Forget∣fulness, or Distraction (to allow the utmost, and more perhaps, than can be proved); yet never Purposely, and, if I may so speak, Re∣gularly Neglected till Now.

Notes

• * 1.1

  L.VI. c. 24, 25.
• * 1.2

  Ad Pro∣ceres pro Institutio∣ne Ca••o∣lom Regis. c. 29.
• * 1.3

  c. 34.
• † 1.4

  Which the Learn∣ed Mr. Ni∣cholson, with all his Saxon knowledge, seems not to have consider'd, where he asserts the Meeting at Twiford, in which St. Cuth∣bert was chosen Bi∣shop, to have been no Sy∣nod, but a Parlia∣ment. [See his Notes on Northumberland, in the Engl. Cambden p. 859.] An Instance, which shews how fit he is for that Office he has taken upon him∣self of being an Umpire in this Controversy.
• ‖ 1.5

  LL. Athelst. §. 71. Missae Presbyteri & Saecularis Thani Jusjurandum in Anglorum Lege computatur aeque carum. LL. H. 1. c. 64.
• ∴ 1.6

  See Council of Cloveshoe Ann. 747. where tho' King Ethelbald his Princes and Dukes were present, yet are the Canons said to be made by the Clergy alone; who went aside for that purpose. Spelm. Conc. I. 1. p. 245. And the same thing is observed in the Glossary, concerning the Laws of Athelstan, in voce Parliamentum.
• (*) 1.7

  Mirror c. 1. Sect. 3.
• (†) 1.8

  LL. Edv. c. 35. Debent Populi omnes & Gentes Universae singu∣lis annis Convenire, scil. in capite Calendarum Maii.
• (‖) 1.9

  LL. Edv. eod. cap. [Vide & Spelm. in Gemotum.] and in such a full Folcmote as this Earl Godwin was Out-law'd in the Confessors time: For so is Knighton's account of it. Edwardus in Parliamento pleno God winum cum Filiis suis exlegavit. X. Script. p. 2331.

  There was another Full Folcmote, which was a County Court only.
• * 1.10

  De Situ Moribus & Popu∣lis Ger∣maniae.
• † 1.11

  Thus a Charter of K. Ina is passed, Consentientbus omnibus Britanniae Regibus, Archiepiscopis, Epis∣copis, Ducibus atque Abbatibus. And they Subscribed and Confirmed it, Cum Praesentiâ Populationis. Monast. Vol. 1. p. 14, 15.

  And so his Laws were made, Exhortatione & Doctrinâ Episcoporum & Seniorum Sapientum. And in Magna Frequentiâ Servorum Dei. i. e. of Inferior Churchmen. Jorval p. 761.

  And in relation both to the Lower Clergy and Laity, that Passage in one of Ingulphus's Charters is very observable, Fidelium Infinitâ Multitudi∣ne, qui omnes Regium Chirographum Laudaverunt; Dignita••••s ••erò sua nomina Subscripserunt. p. 17.

  I cannot bring my self to think that these and such like Phrases, signify only a Rabble, or mixt Multitude that resorted to such Meetings as these of their own Accord; but must, till I am better inform'd, 〈◊〉〈◊〉 that some Order and Method was observed in Convening them.
• * 1.12

  Rot. Par. 2. H. 4. n. 14.
• † 1.13

  Notae in Eadme∣rum. p. 167. LL. Ed∣gari Polit. c. 5.
• ‖ 1.14

  LL. Ed. Conf. c. 35.
• * 1.15

  Vide Spelm. in Gemotum.
• † 1.16

  According to that Law of Ca∣nutus (Part 2. §. 18.) which allowed the Plantiff an immediate Appeal to the King, if the Shire-Gemot delayed his Remedy above Four Court Days.
• * 1.17

  L. VI. c. 5.
• † 1.18

  Vide Orderic. Vital. ad an. 1080. p. 552. ad an. 1095. p. 722. Where also it is said, Ab∣bates totius Provinciae cum Clero & parte Procerum affuerunt.
• † 1.19

  4711. Knight's Fees were Vested in Parochial Churches, says the Author of Eulogi∣um.
• ‖ 1.20

  Post Turonense Concilium (which was in 1163. about the Time of the Council of Clarendon) cum Omnibus penè in Rebus Clerus se a Populo disjunxisset. Antiqu. Britann. p. 131.
• * 1.21

  Cl. 6. Jo. M. 3. dors.
• † 1.22

  Pat. 26. E. 3. PS. 1. M. 22. in Pryn's Reg. of Par. Writ. Vol. 1. p. 142.
• ‖ 1.23

  Diceto de Archi. Cant. p. 685.
• * 1.24

  Compare M. Par. p. 915. with the Ann. of Burt. p. 355.
• † 1.25

  Constit. Provinc. p. 25.
• * 1.26

  For this Reason the Constituti∣on of Read∣ing ap∣pointed two Proctors for every Diocese. And a Mandate of Peck∣am in 1290. (See his Register) Cited out of every Dio∣cese, Duos vel tres Procuratores, when the Commons Writ of the same Year ra••, Duos vel tres de discretioribus milibus. Brady Introd. p. 149.
• † 1.27

  When this began I know not; for many Years after the Commons were Summoned as they are now, I find the Community of Wales appearing in Parliament, as those of Scotland sometimes did, by a certain Number re∣turn'd for the Whole.
• ‖ 1.28

  So I gather from the Usage of those Assemblies which were purely Ecclesi∣astical. To one of which (An. 1302.) the English Clergy were Summoned by Two, and the Welch by One Proctor apiece. Registr. Winchel••ey. fol. 147.
• (*) 1.29

  M. Par. ad Ann. 1247. p. 719.
• (†) 1.30

  Idem p. 240. ad 15. Joh.
• * 1.31

  22. E. 1. in Registro Henr. Prioris.

  23. E. 1. apud Dugdal. Sum∣mon.
• † 1.32

  Registr. Hen. Pr. Fol. 69. Dugd. Summ. p. 13.
• ‖ 1.33

  17. E. 2. Dugd. p. 92. Pryn. Reg. Parl. Wr. Vol. 2. p. 77. 5 E. 3. Dugd. p. 163. Pryn. Ibid. p. 86, &c.
• ∵ 1.34

  Pryn R. P. W. 4. Vol. p. 436.
• * 1.35

  P. 321.
• † 1.36

  An. Burt. P. 307.
• ‖ 1.37

  In his Reasons for a Reunion presented to Q. Eliz. Hist. Ref. Part 2. Coll. of Records, n. 18.
• * 1.38

  In re∣spect to the Controversy about the Supreme Bearing of the Archiepiscopal Crosses; which never rag'd so high, as when the Archbishops met one another at the Head of the Clergy of their Provinces.
• * 1.39

  Rot. Par. 18. E. 3. n. 1.
• † 1.40

  Even by the Crown it self; for in the 25 E. 3. a Writ to the Archbishop of York, in the Close Roll of that Year recites, that the Archbishop of Canterbury had called his Clergy in Quindenâ Paschae, ad Rogatum Nostrum.
• * 1.41

  Pur treter, Parler, & or∣deigner ce que soit miet, af∣faire pur l' esploit des dit bu∣soignes — Are the Words of the Roll; and one of these words is that from whence the Name of Parliament is derived.
• † 1.42

  Province of Canterbury met on the Morrow of Trinity, i. e. May 31. Easter falling that Year on April 4. That of York the Wednesday after St. Barnabas, i. e. June 16.
• * 1.43

  13 E. 3. n. 18.
• † 1.44

  Memo∣rand. quòd Prae∣lati & Clerus in Convocatione 1463. Concedunt Unanimiter, quòd Effectus Constitutionum Provincialium Cantuar. Prov. ante haec tempora tent. & habit. Constitutionibus Prov. Ebor. nullo modo repugnant, seu prejudicial & non aliter nec alio modo admittantur. Et quòd hu∣jusmodi Constitutiones Prov. Cant. & Effectus earundem, ut praefer∣tur, inter Constitutiones Provinciae Ebor. prout indiget, & decet in serantur, & cum eisdem de caetero servandae incorporentur, & pro Jure observentur. Registrum Bothe. Arch. Ebor. f. 143.
• ‖ 1.45

  Seven Days.
• * 1.46

  Cap. 5. p. 126.
• † 1.47

  One I find, in the 5 H. 5. where Th. de la Warre, a Baron gives Letters of Proxy to two Commoners; and those (which is very particular) of the Clergy: but his case was particular for his Ba∣rony descended to him after he was in Orders; and he is styl'd therefore con∣stantly Magister, and not Dom. de la Warre in his Summons to Parliament.
• * 1.48

  And sometimes in the En∣glish Iour∣nals. See Sir Sy∣monds d'Ewe••, p. 15. & p. 328, &c.
• * 1.49

  Act. MS. Conv. 1541 Sess. 2. & 1554. Sess. 3. & 1562. ad Ian. 16.
• † 1.50

  Scriptu∣tura In∣dentata— inter Re∣verendissi∣mum Tho—ex unâ parte, & Mag. Dogett Prolocutorem Cleri—& e∣undem Clerum ex alterâ testatur quòd dictus Clerus—concessit dicto Reverendissimo Patri Caritativum Subsidium—Registrum Wottonian. ad fin.

  And so the Commons granted, per quandam Indenturam Sigillo Pro∣locutoris Sigillatam.
• * 1.51

  24 H. 8. c. 12.
• (a) 1.52

  See an Instance An 1462. in Anth. Harmar. p. 32.
• (b) 1.53

  If you will not give place (quoth the Prolocutor to Archdeacon Philpot; being Commission'd, I suppose, so to speak, by the House) I will send you to Pri∣son. This is not, quoth Philpot, according to your Promise▪ &c. not denying the House's Power, but the Justice only of exerting it in his Case. Fox.
• (c) 1.54

  See Instance of Bishop Cheyney, Excommunicated for departing the Convocation without Leave. Hist. of the Troubl. and Try. of Laud. p. 82.
• (d) 1.55

  See Bancroft's Register, fol. 138, 139. for an Instance of a Dean, an Archdeacon, and a Proctor suspended, for deserting the Synod—Mandatis nostris licitis vel Prolocutoris dictae Convocationis minimè obtempe∣rantes,— As the Archbishop's Sentence of Suspension runs.
• (e) 1.56

  See an Instance of Bishop Goodman, Sentenc'd to be depriv'd by the Convoc. of 1640. for refusing to subscribe the Canons. Heyl. Life of Laud. Pag. 446.
• * 1.57

  Hist. Ref. Vol. 1. p. 130.
• * 1.58

  Singilla∣tim and in Gene∣rali, are the words of Art us'd to distin∣guish these Two sorts of Sum∣mons in K. John's Charter.
• † 1.59

  These for a long time after the Distinction of the two Houses of Convocation, sat in the Lower House; but afterwards with the other Priors and Abbats in the Upper.
• * 1.60

  Ad Ann. 1532.
• † 1.61

  About the Unlaw∣fulness of the King's first Mar∣riage.
• * 1.62

  For in June before this Convocation sat, the King procur'd a Bull from the Pope to suppress several. Hist. Ref. 1. Vol. p. 121.
• † 1.63

  Pat. 26. E. 3. par. 1. M. 22. See it in Selden's Tit. of Hon. par. 2. c. 5. p. 607.
• * 1.64

  Nat. Prev. §. 141.
• * 1.65

  Not 4 E. 3. as the Printed Writ in Fitzh. implys; for no Parliament met at Northampton in the 4th. Year of his Reign.
• † 1.66

  Anno 1543.
• * 1.67

  And some∣times of late: for 1 E. 6. One of the Pro∣ctors for the Clergy of Hereford appointed Two others in his room. [See Sy∣nodalia.] And in his last Year the Procuratorium for the Dean and Chap∣ter of Paul's had that Clause in it: for so it stands enter'd in Bishop Ridley's Register. Fol. 294.
• * 1.68

  6 E. 3. n. 9. Something is said to be agreed, per touz en plein Parle∣ment; and those are thus reck∣oned up be∣fore in the same Number,—Les Prelats, Countes, Baronns, & touz les autres Somons a mesme le Parlement: which includes the Inferior Cler∣gy, for They were Summon'd this time by the Premunientes. See Dugd. p. ••67▪
• * 1.69

  Si alerent mesmes les Pre∣latz & les Procurators de la Clergie per eux mesmes, a con∣seiler de choses susdites.—
• † 1.70

  Ft la 〈◊〉〈◊〉 il∣loneques esteant••—(Rot. Parl. 2 H. 4. n. 14.) By which, whether the Convocation-Clergy be meant, cannot, I think, well bear a Doubt; it being very improbable, that those few Inferior Clerks, who were of the King's Counsel, or otherwise call'd up to the House of Lords, s••ould be only intended.
• ∴ 1.71

  P. 405.
• * 1.72

  Supplien•• humblement les Communes de vostre Roialme, si bien Espirituelz come Tempo∣relz. Rot. Parl. 7, & 8. Hen. 4. n. 128.
• † 1.73

  Fol. 42.
• * 1.74

  I take the words of it from Ra∣stal, with the more assurance, because Pryn says he has compar'd the Print with the Record, and that they agree. Abridg. of Rec. p. 44.
• † 1.75

  Cl. 10 E. 3. m. 36. dors.
• * 1.76

  See Abr. of Records, p. 454.
• † 1.77

  Inter Chartas in Pyxide Galba.
• ∴ 1.78

  In Re∣gistro.
• * 1.79

  Rot Parl. 9 H. 5. n. 15.
• † 1.80

  See the Roll of Parliam. Printed at the End of X. Script. p. 2760.
• * 1.81

  By a Writ dated 10 Kal. Aug. 1341. which begins thus—Quam∣vis sit Sacris Canonibus Consti∣tutum quod Metropolitani, Ar∣chiepiscopi, & Primates annis singulis Legitimo Impedimento cessante, pro Excessibus corri∣gendis, & Moribus reforman∣dis, debeant Provinciale Con∣cilium celebrare.
• * 1.82

  Parliament Met, Jan. 21. Convocation, Jan. 26. See Man∣date in Bishop Burnet's Collection of Records, Vol. I. p. 6.
• † 1.83

  Bagshaw in his Ar∣gument a∣bout the Canons.
• ‖ 1.84

  § 5.
• ∵ 1.85

  Ch. Hist. IX Book. p. 55.
• * 1.86

  13 Car. II. c. 12.
• † 1.87

  Pp. 105, ••98.
• ‖ 1.88

  Britan∣nia in Cap. de Tribu∣nalibus.
• * 1.89

  Miege's New State of Eng∣land. Part. III. p. 64.
• * 1.90

  H••c••er's Life of Bi∣shop Willi∣ams, p. 173.
• † 1.91

  Hist. Ref. I. Vol. p. 20.
• ‖ 1.92

  Dr. W. p. 106, 107, 14••, 141.
• * 1.93

  MS. Acta Synodi in∣coeptae, Nov. 5. An. 1547.
• † 1.94

  Act. MS. Syn. coeptae, Ian. 21. 1557.
• ‖ 1.95

  Fox. Vol. III. p. 587.
• ∵ 1.96

  Ibid. p. 552.
• * 1.97

  P. 251.
• † 1.98

  P. 221.
• ‖ 1.99

  1.2. P. & M. c. 8.
• * 1.100

  Elsyng. p. 112.
• † 1.101

  Moor. Rep. p. 781.
• ‖ 1.102

  Hist. Ref. II. Vol. p. 252, 3.
• * 1.103

  They de∣termined also, That a Layman could not be of the Convocation: But in That, Practice is against them. For the Chancellor of York, though a Layman, is Now, and has been long, a Member of that Convocation: And whether Lamb and Heath (who are Mentioned as of the Convocation in 1640.) were not Mere Civilians, I leave to be consider'd. Heyl. Life of Laud. p. 438.
• * 1.104

  Thus the Answerer of the Nine Reasons of the House of Com∣mons against Bishops Votes in Par∣liament Argued; alledging, That the Bishops were by the Triennial Act obliged necessarily to attend the Convocation once in Three Years: And the Examination of that Answer (40. 1641.) Print∣ed by Order of a Committee of the House, grants the Allegation. p. 16, 17.