Ex Libris G. K. OGDEN THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/churchreformbere CHURCH-REFORM. BY LONDON: SOLD BY JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET; AND BY J. PARKER, OXFORD. MDCCCXXVIII. THEMABtm LIBRARY. BAXTER, PRINTER, OXFORD. 5~/3 1 CONTENTS. CHAP. I. Page I. CHURCH REFORM. Introduction. CHAP. II. Page 21. CHURCH DISCIPLINE. Necessity of discipline in the Church — Defective state of such discipline — Instances — Remedy proposed. CHAP. III. Page 45. CHURCH LAW. Uncertain and unsatisfactory state of the laws of the Church — Endeavours to improve it — Commission in the reign of Edward the Sixth — Reformatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum — Abortive attempt in the reign of Elizabeth — Canons of 1603 — The extent of their obligation on the clergy — Remedies. vi CONTENTS. CHAP. IV. Page 59. CHURCH ENDOWMENTS. Mistaken idea of the wealth of the Church — average of the amount of parochial benefices — Smallness of the income attached to a large proportion of them — Remedy — Annexation of sinecures to laborious parochial cures. CHAP. V. Page 77. CHURCH PLURALITIES. Objections to Pluralities — Mr. Rennell's defence of them — Walter de Cantilupe — State of the law on the subject — The law prac- tically evaded — Purport and provisions of dispensations — Reme- dies. CHAP. VI. Page 99. CHURCH DIGNITIES. Burke's remarks upon high Church dignities — Many of the Bishops insufficiently paid— Bishops' leases and fines — Commen- dams — which description of Commendams most desirable — Archdeacons — Rural Deans. CONTENTS. Vll CHAP. VII. Page 121. CHURCH SERVICE. Excellence of the Liturgy — Alterations suggested — Creed of St. Athanasius— Damnatory clauses — " Most religious King" — Proper Lessons — Length of the service. CHAP. V1IL Page 141. , CHURCH LITURGICAL OFFICES. Excellence of the Occasional Offices— Culpable diversity of practice in administering- them-— Remedies suggested—Alterations in the offices for Baptism — Matrimony — Burial of the dead. CHAP. IX. Page 161. CHURCH EDIFICES. Parish churches — The reparation of them often neglected, or con- ducted in a mistaken manner — Church Building Acts — Parsonage houses — Additions of glebe — Dilapidations. viii CONTENTS. CHAP. X. Page 185. CHURCH PROPERTY. Diminution of Church property — Causes of it — Terriers — Church- Property-Commissioners — Tithes — Commutation of Tithes — for Land— Corn-Rent— Tithe- Commutation Bill of 1828— Fees- Parish Clgrks. \ 7 CHAP. I. CHURCH REFORM. INTRODUCTION. OF all the various branches of the catholic or universal Church, the Church of England is probably that which is the most wisely and the most happily constituted. She has adhered to that form of eccle- siastical government, which is acknowledged to have prevailed, with hardly any excep- tion, throughout the Christian world for fifteen hundred years. Her system of doctrines, founded on the word of God alone, and confirmed and illustrated by the writings of the fathers of the Church of the first and purest ages, keeps equally clear of the inventions of superstition and the dreams of fanaticism ; while on those abstruse and mysterious subjects, the divine B t 2 CHURCH REFORM. foreknowledge and decrees, and the manner in which they are reconciled with the free- agency of man, she observes a prudent forbearance, " pronouncing almost none otherwise than as the Scriptures do as it were lead her by the hand." Her Liturgy, compiled for the most part from the very words of Scripture, but throughout breathing their spirit, and sometimes expressing that spirit in the language of holy men of the early ages of Christianity, is calculated to guide and to animate the devotion of her members, and to assist them in serving God in the beauty of holiness ; while her Occa- sional Offices so bring together and enforce the passages of Scripture relating to some of the most important doctrines of religion, and the most interesting occurrences and relations of human life, as at once to guide the judgment, to promote morality of life, and to excite and invigorate sentiments of piety. Her external rites are equally re- moved from the cold simplicity and po- verty of Puritanism on the one hand, and from the gorgeous ceremonies and compli- INTRODUCTION. 3 cated ritual of the Church of Rome on the other. Indeed 1 feel satisfied, that if the Pro- testants in the north of Germany and in France had all along been blessed with 3, system of ecclesiastical government, and with liturgical offices, similar in all essen- tial points to those of England, Protestantism would have obtained a much wider spread, would have possessed more effectual influ- ence over the hearts and lives of its ad- herents, and would perhaps have been now the prevailing religion in the greatest part of Europe. The attachment to episcopacy and to the Anglican liturgy, which is gain- ing ground in the United States of America, is a circumstance most gratifying in itself ; one which is, I trust, likely to contribute to the maintenance of a kindly feeling between the mother country and her gigantic off- spring — a kindly feeling of the highest and the purest origin. But while it is my heartfelt conviction that the Church of England is thus excellent and lovely, I by no means pretend to say b 2 4 CHURCH REFORM. that it is absolutely free from imperfections. Imperfection of some sort must be the attri- bute of every human institution, of every human system. Even if our ecclesiastical system had been in every thing perfect and complete at the time it was originally con- stituted, it still may be possible that after a lapse of two hundred and seventy years some alterations may be expedient, or even necessary. We have recently been reminded, by two of the master spirits of the age, of the aphorism of Lord Bacon, that time is the greatest innovator, and that if laws and institutions do not keep pace with time, if they are not from time to time reviewed and renovated, they have a tendency to fall into contempt and desuetude. But the Reformation in this country never was completed. We are told so by Bp. Burnet, whose larger History of the Re- formation in England was honoured with the thanks of the two Houses of Parliament, a distinction conferred I believe on no literary production either before or since, and whose abridgment of that history was not long since, INTRODUCTION. 5 by the beneficent institution of parochial libraries, sent forth far and wide through the villages of this land, to teach the body of the people in what manner and by what steps the novelties of Romanism were re- moved and the old religion of the apostles restored, and in what instances the work of reformation is still incomplete. One main branch of the Reformation for instance, the compilation of a body of eccle- siastical laws, for which measures were taken almost on the first dawn of the- light of Pro- testantism, which for a long succession of years was held in view, and at length almost brought to conclusion, was broken off by the death of Edward the Sixth. That the work of the Reformation was left incom- plete is no matter of surprise, when the circumstances of the times are kept in mind. When we reflect upon the many and various difficulties with which Cranmer had to con- tend, we admire him for doing so much, rather than censure him for not doing more. Admirable indeed were the temper, the judg- ment, and the caution, with which he steered 6 CHURCH REFORM. his course among the rocks, and shoals, and quicksands, which every where surrounded him, through the fierce despotism, the fiery passions, and conceited arrogance of intellect, of Henry the Eighth, and the secularity and avarice, the deadly animosities and compli- cated intrigues of those who after his death conducted the government of the country. ( The Reformation, one of the greatest pe- riods of human improvement, was a time of trouble and confusion. The vast structure of superstition and tyranny, which had been for ages in rearing, and which was combined with the interest of the great and the many, which was moulded into the laws, the man- ners, the civil institutions of nations, and blended with the frame and policy of states, could not be brought to the ground without struggle, nor could it fall without a violent concussion of itself and all about itV Upon the accession of Elizabeth, her ob- ject was, as quickly as possible to restore the national religion to the state in which it Burke. INTRODUCTION. 7 was at the death of her brother ; and thus to have as little, discussion on the subject as possible. Apprehensive of the influence both of the Puritans and of the Papists — the latter of whom were continually plotting against her authority and her life — and sensitively jealous of any thing that might appear, however remotely, to trench upon her pre- rogative and ecclesiastical supremacy, her wish was, that the minds of her subjects should be agitated as little as possible by questions connected with religion. Her successor was not less apprehensive of the increasing influence of Puritanism ; and the pious though not always well-judg- ing men, who framed the Millenarian peti- tions, asked so much, that they failed to obtain some things which might perhaps have been advantageously granted to them. The wild and levelling fanaticism which pre- vailed during the great Rebellion inflicted for a time a fatal wound on sound religion. One of its evil consequences was, that it natu- rally brought upon several of the leading men among the Puritans, men of exalted piety, 8 CHURCH REFORM. of singular honesty, and straight-forward uncompromising zeal, a degree of discredit and suspicion which they did not really deserve. At the Savoy conference, almost immediately after the Restoration, the ob- jections to the Liturgy brought forward by the Presbyterians, and the replies of the advocates of the Church, bore, of course, a strong similarity to those which were re- spectively adduced at the conference at Hampton Court. But the excellent and able men who defended the cause of the Church had in many ways smarted too se- verely and too recently, from the tempo- rary triumph of their adversaries, to be well disposed for the work of concession and conciliation. Another attempt to remove some imper- fections in our ecclesiastical institutions, and to supply or complete some things that were wanting, was made immediately after the abdication of James II. and the accession of his daughter and her husband to the throne. On September 13, 1689, a commission was issued by King William to ten bishops and INTRODUCTION. 9 twenty divines, to prepare matters to be considered by the Convocation. One object of this commission was the improvement of ecclesiastical law, and another was the re- formation of the ecclesiastical courts. It says, " Whereas the book of Canons is fit " to be reviewed, and made more suitable ' ' to the state of the Church ; and whereas .." there are defects and abuses in the eccle- " siastical courts and jurisdictions ; and par- " ticularly there is not sufficient provision ' ' made for removing of scandalous minis- " ters, and for the reforming of manners " either in ministers or people," &c. &c. Several of the bishops to whom the com- mission was addressed were able and learned men ; and of the twenty divines, some were among the most distinguished ornaments of the Church of England; for instance, Stilling- fleet, and Patrick, and Sharp, and Beve- ridge, and Burnet, and Tillotson. The heart- burnings occasioned by the great Rebellion however were not yet laid to rest, and the Revolution had just given a fresh impulse to unquiet and hostile party-feelings. Some 10 CHURCH REFORM. of the commissioners named by the king either did not appear, or soon deserted their brethren 15 . The great majority of them however engaged zealously in the work. It must be acknowledged, that the alterations suggested by these commissioners, though dictated by a genuine spirit of conciliation, were greatly too extensive. Much of what they proposed might be adopted with great benefit to the Church. But the spirit of the times was most unfavourable for the work ; and the attempt at improvement was alto- gether abortive. Thus has the Church of England gone on from the commencement of the reformation of religion until the present time, a period of almost three hundred years, acknowledg- ing and lamenting her own incompleteness in some important particulars, but prevented by some extraneous circumstances from ap- plying a remedy. But surely such remedy might be ap- plied now. The circumstances and the b Birch's Life of Tillotson. INTRODUCTION. 11 temper of the present times seem to be sin-< gularly favourable for it. Never did public men seem more intent upon carrying into effect great measures of amelioration and improvement. They appear to be disposed to lay aside party and political feelings and prejudices, and to contribute each what he can to the great work of temperate and prudent reformation. And never perhaps did the bench of bishops contain more men of distinguished talent and learning, united with simplicity and integrity of character, and a deep heartfelt anxiety for the advance- ment of real religion. If the defects and imperfections which appear to me to exist in our ecclesiastical system had been merely theoretical, unat- tended with any important practical conse- quences, I would not have hazarded the imputation of meddling officiousness and pre- sumption to which, I am very sensible, I now expose myself. But the imperfections to which I allude operate, in my opinion, most widely and extensively, in diminishing in many cases the respectability and the 12 CHURCH REFORM. efficiency of the parochial clergy, and in depriving our apostolical Church of much of that heartfelt and principled attachment, to which in all essential matters she is so justly entitled. Or if the spots and blemishes to which I wish to direct the attention of our rulers had been of such a nature as easily to avoid public observation, prudence might perhaps have counselled that they should have con- tinued veiled in obscurity. But they are for the most of a nature which courts and catches public attention. Public attention has been strongly turned to them ; turned to them in such a manner, that they are continually made use of for the purpose of attacking our whole ecclesiastical system. If again the defects and imperfections to which I allude had been susceptible of no remedy at all, or only of such remedies as would be a greater evil than such imperfec- tions themselves, it certainly would be wise quietly and patiently to suffer them to con- tinue. But I apprehend that in every in- stance which I shall bring forward, the INTRODUCTION. 13 means of correction will be found easy and obvious. I would mention no evil, without, at the same time, suggesting a remedy of ready and facile application. And I do conscientiously believe, that the application of such remedies would contribute not a little both to the present efficiency, and to the stability and permanence, of our national Church. That Church, both in earlier and in more recent times, has happily weathered many severe shocks, and has still, I am persuaded, a strong hold upon the affections of a great majority of the people. I believe too, that the wiser and more moderate of the dis- senters — and in that body there are many men of distinguished talent, and of ex- emplary piety — are far from wishing to see its fall. But there is still abroad in this - country much of that evil spirit which overthrew the throne and the altar in France. There are multitudes who are ene- mies to the Church of England, because they are the enemies of all religion. There are multitudes of her pretended adherents 14 CHURCH REFORM. who envy her her influence and her property, (property which they rate infinitely beyond its real value,) who watch her with the quick- sightedness of malice, and eagerly catch at every opportunity of directing the ridicule, or the clamour, or the hatred, of the un- stable and giddy-minded populace against her and her ministers. And among her real friends there are very many who anxi- ously wish for some little correction, and readjustment of some parts of our system, which, from the lapse of time, and the wear and tear of centuries, have been a little diverted from their original intention, and been deprived of their full play and efficacy. Public opinion has at all times had a claim — a claim both of power and of right — to be treated with respect • and in the pre- sent day public opinion is possessed of a weight and influence — a legitimate weight and influence — which it never possessed at any former period. In consequence of the general diffusion of education, and of the despotic power of the press, men who for- merly were contented to take things as they INTRODUCTION. 15 found them, and to leave them so, are now disposed to enquire and to discuss ; to ex- amine into the fitness of existing institutions, and the improvements of which they may be susceptible. I feel confident that public opinion would go with me in all the altera- tions which I shall venture to suggest. In compliance with the feelings and the temper of the times, a spirit of general improve- ment has gone forth and pervaded the whole of our systems of legislation. Surely the Church ought not to be the only body not benefitted by the intellectual progress of the age. ' I would only ask,' says Lord Bacon, ' why the civil state should be purged and restored by good and wholesome laws, made every third or fourth year in Parliament assembled ; devising remedies as fast as time breedeth mischief ; and contrariwise the ecclesiastical state should still continue upon the dregs of time, and receive no alterations now for these five and forty years and more?' ' If it be said to me, that there is a difference between civil causes and 16 CHURCH REFORM. ecclesiastical, they may as well tell me that churches and chapels need no reparations, though castles and houses do < whereas commonly, to speak truth, dilapidations of the inward and spiritual edifications of the Church of God are in all times as great as the outward and material .' Again in an- other place, ' To my Lords the Bishops I say, that it is hard for them to avoid blame (in the opinion of an indifferent person) in standing so precisely upon altering nothing ; leges, novis legibus non recreates, acescunt ; laws not refreshed with new laws, wax sour. Qui mala non permutat, in bonis non per- severat ; without change of ill, a man can- not continue the good. To take away many abuses supplanteth not good orders, but establisheth them. Morosa moris retentio, res turbulenta est &que ac novitas ; a con- tentious retaining of custom is a turbulent thing as well as renovation. A good hus- bandman is ever pruning in his vineyard or his fields ; not unreasonably indeed, not un- c Of the Pacification of the Church. INTRODUCTION. 17 skilfully, but lightly ; he findeth ever some- what to do d .' With all humility and deference there- fore, I do most seriously put it to the rulers and guardians of the Church, ' to consider the wisdom of a timely reform. Early re- formations are amicable arrangements with a friend in power ; late reformations are terms imposed upon a conquered enemy : early reformations are made in cool blood ; late reformations are made under a state of inflammation. In that state of things the people behold in the' establishment ' nothing that is respectable. They see the abuse, and they will see nothing else. They fall into the temper of a furious populace, provoked at the disorders of a house of ill fame ; they never attempt to correct or regulate ; they go to work by the shortest way. They pull down the house e . ' The way to prevent this " pulling down of the house" is by timely reformation. It has long ago and often been remarked, that wise and temperate d Bacon, Of Church Controversies. e Burke. C 18 CHURCH REFORM. reformation is the best mode of avoiding total revolution, and utter subversion. Reformation, indeed, is much too strong and too extensive a word to be applied to the quiet ameliorations which I contemplate. I contemplate no greater alterations in our ec- clesiastical system, than some of those which have already been made by the clergy -law- consolidation Act, and by the Acts for in- creasing the number of churches. Neither do the improvements which I would sug- gest deserve to be called innovations. My object is to correct and counteract the inno- vations of time, and to bring back some few of our ecclesiastical institutions to their primitive intention and object. Even this " I approach with that awe and reverence with which a young physician approaches to the cure of the disorders of his parent f .* 5 Young indeed I have long- ceased to be. I cannot plead youth and inexperience in excuse for my presumption. I cannot plead youth ; for having been born f Burke. INTRODUCTION. 19 more than half a century ago, I am older both in years and academical standing than a considerable proportion of the bench of Bishops ; — I cannot plead inexperience, hav- ing been a minister of the Church of Eng- land more than twenty-five years, and nearly the whole of that time engaged in the active duties of my profession ; — more than twenty years in charge of a populous parish. I am sensible that statesmen who are engaged in directing the politics of Europe, and deciding on the temporal condition of millions, may look upon my details as trifling and contemptible. But I say what I say, because, both from experience and from much consideration and reflection, I am satisfied that the reformation which I re- commend would contribute to the honour, and extension, and stability, of our apo- stolical Church of England ; would increase not a little the efficiency of her clergy ; and consequently would, under the Divine bless- ing, be instrumental in promoting the ever- lasting welfare of the people committed to their charge. c 2 CHAP. II. CHURCH DISCIPLINE. Necessity of discipline in the Church — Defective state of such discipline — Instances — "Remedy proposed. It is not my intention to enter m any degree upon the enquiry how far it might be possible — and if possible, how far it would be desirable and expedient — to at- tempt to restore the discipline, which the Church once exercised over all her members generally. I confine myself to the disci- pline, to the corrective and punitive con- trol, which she ought to possess over her own ministers. That the Church ought to be possessed of such control, and also that the exercise of it should be prompt and unembarassed, cannot admit of a doubt. It is equally certain that her actual exercise of such con- trol is clogged with so many difficulties and 22 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. impediments, as to have become in most instances almost powerless. There is perhaps upon the face of the earth no body of men, among whom are to be found more sound and useful learning, more general correctness of manners, more active benevolence, more piety and zeal, than are to be found among the clergy of the Church of England. As men of the same nature, the same passions, with those who are committed to their charge, they all, of course, have many failings and imper- fections to lament. Some take a higher and stricter view than others of " the sa- credness and separation of the office minis- terial," and of the degree to which those who are invested with that office, may law- fully enter into the ordinary avocations and amusements of the world. Public opinion unites with a sense of professional duty in calling upon them to be circumspect in these things ; and there are few that feel not within themselves the cause, which they have to be on their guard against secularity of spirit. It must be acknowledged also CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 23 that instances of gross immorality some- times occur. In so large a body, consisting it may be of fifteen or sixteen thousand individuals, this is to be expected. It is to be expected too, when such transgressions do unhappily take place, that they will be blazoned far and wide, and made use of by the enemies of the Church, for the pur- pose of fixing disgrace upon the clerical body at large, and of arraying against that body as large a measure of the hatred and contempt of the public as their malevolence can call into action. The large proportion of the clergy meanwhile, who, each in his own- parish, keep the even tenor of their way quietly and unostentatiously engaged in the active discharge of their professional duties, in visiting the sick, consoling the afflicted, and "ministering, according to their ability, — yea, and oftentimes beyond their ability, — to the temporal wants of the poor, are unheard of beyond the limits of their own immediate neighbourhood. The very nature of the duties which they so conscien- tiously fulfil, and the dislike of ostentation 24 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. which is one of the fair features of their character, prevent them from being brought into public notice, and deprive their pro- fession of the advantage of having its many good members brought forward to counter- balance the few — (few comparatively speak- ing) — who are very bad. That there are in the numerous body of the clergy some who are a disgrace to their sacred profession, that there are many who might be better than they are, and who would be better, under a more effective sys- tem of discipline, the warmest friends of the Church— (and I trust that it has few warmer friends than myself) — cannot but acknow- ledge. I am no advocate for a minute enquiry into the lesser improprieties, or rather inaccuracies, of conduct, into which any member of the clerical profession may fall through inadvertence. Still less would I sanction any inquisitorial invasion of the privacy of his own dwelling, or hold up to public censure any of those imperfections or smaller irregularities of character or of de- CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 25 meanour which do not force themselves upon the observation of the public. Undoubtedly a clergyman ought to be exemplary in every relation of life, in every part of his conduct, in the whole turn and temper of his heart and mind.* But I am speaking now not of the extent of his responsibility to God and to his own conscience, but of what ought to come under the cognizance and correction of human laws. Neither again would I have these laws rigorously exact in marking every instance in which a member of this profession may in the freedom of conversation chance to speak unadvisedly with his lips, and say something not perfectly consistent either with correctness of faith or with purity of morals : such things are fit subjects for the judicious and delicate observation of his friends, his clerical friends especially, or for the admonition of his ecclesiastical superiors ; but do not call for, ought not to be the objects of, corrective discipline. But when a clergyman is charged with gross and flagrant immorality, immorality 26 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. of a nature which admits of easy proof ; or with advisedly making light of, or speaking against, or denying, any fundamental article of that religion which he is pledged to teach ; it surely is most desirable that there should be some ready mode of suspending him, or, if his offence requires it, of removing him altogether from the profession to which he is a disgrace. The public ought not to see men who have openly avowed their disbelief in the fundamental doctrines of the Church of England,— their disbelief in Christianity itself ; — or men who by the laws of the land have been convicted of gross offences, of- fences, it may be, which legally deprive them of the common rights and immunities of their fellow- subjects, still, because they have received ordination, designated as clergymen of the Church of England, and at liberty to exercise the functions of clergymen wherever they can find an opportunity for intruding their unhallowed ministrations. The expediency, the absolute necessity, of such corrective discipline is so plain to the common sense of every one, is so en- CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 27 tirely in the nature of things, that the public, I think, generally take it for granted that it does actually exist. Men not ill-informed on the subject of the public institutions of their country, if they hear of any flagrant case of clerical delinquency, are apt to ex- claim, Why does not the Bishop prevent such conduct, or why does he not punish it ? The fact is, that in a multiplicity of cases the discipline of which we have been speaking, hardly can be said to exist at all. Over the conduct of stipendiary curates indeed the Bishops have considerable con- trol ; such control having very properly been given to them by recent enactments, framed with a view to the actual circumstances of the Church, and to the feelings and opinions of the times. But in the case of beneficed clergymen, and of clergymen generally, the power of the Bishops, which can only be exerted through the medium of their courts, is so encumbered with antiquated and te- dious forms, so checked and thwarted by the courts of common law, that it is almost worse than nugatory. 28 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. I have taken no pains to hunt for in- stances, and in the retirement of a country parsonage, at a distance from public records even of the humblest description, I have no facilities for adducing those cases which would make the most for my purpose. A few instances I may be permitted to give, the three first of which were mentioned to me in the freedom of personal intercourse by the Bishops themselves to whom they occurred. The first instance was that of a Prelate, who to distinguished courtesy and amiable- ness of demeanour added a warm anxiety for the interests of religion, and for the effici- ency and respectability of his clergy. Hav- ing felt compelled to proceed against a clerical delinquent on two distinct charges, he informed me, that on one of these charges the accused person had been found guilty ; but that the proceedings on the graver charge were still pending, in consequence of the scandalous delay of the ecclesiastical court. The expression " scandalous delay" was not designed to convey any censure CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 29 against the persons constituting that court ; in their individual capacity they were, I doubt not, and he would have acknowledged them to be, upright and honourable men: the censure was cast upon the system. The result was, that the culprit died before the termination of the proceedings ; and the Bishop, for this painful but necessary exer- cise of his episcopal function, was saddled with costs to the amount of some hundreds of pounds. Another venerable Prelate, distinguished for his princely munificence, his attention, while his health and strength permitted, to the interests of his diocese, and for personal piety, felt called upon to proceed against one of his clergy for open and habitual drunkenness. The clergyman was found guilty, and suspended ; the Bishop however had to pay about a hundred and fifty pounds, This, as he observed, was of no consequence to a diocesan possessed of ja princely re- venue ; but to a Bishop of a limited income such costly exercise of discipline might be a serious inconvenience, 30 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. My third instance does not perhaps bear so strongly on the present argument, as it was a case not wholly of ecclesiastical cogni- zance. A Prelate who on account of his habits of business and his energy and deci- sion of character, in addition to extensive theological learning, was afterwards called to preside over the most important diocese in the kingdom, refused institution upon a simoniacal presentation, and was obliged to defend such refusal in a court of law. The decision was in his favour ; and the Judge who pronounced it added, that the Bishop had only done his duty, and could not have acted otherwise. The proceeding entailed an expence of more than a hundred pounds upon the Bishop, who, in speaking of it, remarked, that with his large family, it was a little hard to be obliged to pay a hundred pounds for doing his duty. The regular revenue of the Bishopric which he then held did not, I believe, at that time exceed a thousand pounds. Another instance which has been men- tioned to me in conversation is that of a CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 31 Prelate who held three important dioceses in succession, and who, by his classical learn- ing, his deep theological erudition, and the excellence of his character, adorned that University in which he long held a distin- guished rank. His conscientious endeavour to exercise episcopal control and correction upon a delinquent clergyman cost him se- veral hundred pounds. Such instances are without number ; and the public papers have very recently repeat- edly brought before us a case of considerable aggravation. They tell us, that a clergyman in the diocese of Lincoln stands charged with various acts of shameful and open pro- fligacy : that again and again proceedings have been instituted against him, which have been rendered abortive by the inter- ference of the courts of common law : that petitions on the subject have been repeatedly presented to the highest tribunal in the king- dom ; and that several Peers have spoken upon it, and indignantly asked, why such things took place, why the Bishop did not do his duty. They go on to report, that the 32 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. late Bishop of Lincoln replied, that he had spent several hundred pounds in ineffective endeavours to punish the delinquency com- plained of ; and that the present Bishop of that diocese — than whom no Prelate ranks higher for depth of learning and soundness of dis- cretion — openly in his place in Parliament, avowed and lamented his inability to act to any useful purpose. All men of the slightest pretension to com- mon sense and proper feeling must, I think, concur in thinking that this state of things ought to be remedied without delay. The remedy appears to be obvious, and of easy application. The remedy which I would suggest is the appointment of courts eccle- siastical, almost exactly similar in their con- stitution and their forms of proceeding to courts martial in the army and navy. The members of the military professions, while in common with their fellow- subjects they owe obedience to the laws of their country in general, have also their own codes of laws for the regulation of their professional conduct, their adherence to, or CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 33 their neglect of, such codes being enquired into by courts formed from among them- selves. An officer is charged with some infraction of such code, or, generally, with conduct inqonsistent with the character of an officer and a gentleman. A court of enquiry is probably, in the first instance, directed to report whether there is any suffi- cient ground for the charge. Upon their reporting that the charge appears to be well founded, the court martial is summoned, consisting of from five to thirteen members, as the case may be, with a president, and a judge-advocate, whose duty it is to state precisely what the laws are which bear upon the case, and to take care that the rules of evidence be strictly complied with. The judge-advocate, and the several members of the court, are sworn not to make known each other's opinion in determining on the sentence. The collective opinion of the court is kept secret, until communicated to the commander-in-chief, to whom is en- trusted the definitive approval or disapproval of the judgment of the court. D 34 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. The effects of this system, notwithstand- ing the censure cast upon it by Blackstone, appear to be excellent. The officers of the army and navy, though they may like their fellow-subjects be too often unmindful of the common duties of morality, are in general distinguished for attention to their pro- fessional duties, and by regard for their pro- fessional character. Why should not a similar system be adopted in the Church ? Nothing can be farther from my intention, than the withdrawing of the clergy from the restraint and correction of the common law of the land. To that law they would be amenable precisely as they are now. What I wish, and what 1 am convinced the public also wish, is, to see a more ready mode of exercising discipline over them in their pro- fessional capacity, and of punishing them as clergymen whenever they are guilty of any gross and glaring offence against their pro- fessional character. This discipline I would administer in most cases through the me- dium of such courts as I have just suggested. CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 35 A clergyman is charged, either by some individual, or by strong and general report — - famd clamosa — with some specific offence, or with general behaviour grossly inconsistent with his professional character. The Bishop will in the first instance constitute a court of enquiry, by commissioning three or four of the most respectable clergymen in the neighbourhood of the accused person to en- quire whether there appears to be any real ground for the accusation. Such commis- sions are often issued now. Upon their reporting that there is ground for it, the next step will be the convening of a certain number of clergymen,-— perhaps five or seven including the president, — for the purpose of constituting a court for the trial of the ac- cused person. It may be doubted whether this court should consist of beneficed clergy- men from his immediate neighbourhood, or of the Chapter of the Cathedral. To the neighbouring clergy it would be a most painful office thus to sit in judgment upon a delinquent brother, and they might have considerable difficulty in sufficiently divest- d 2 36 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. ing themselves of all local feelings, of all local prepossessions. From such feelings and prepossessions the Chapter of the Cathedral would generally speaking be entirely free ; they would form their opinion solely from the evidence before them ; and any of the neighbouring clergy might be called on, if it should be thought expedient, to enquire into the general character of the accused person. Indeed the Chapter of a Cathedral is consi- dered by the law as constituting the council of the Bishop, for the purpose of assisting him in the fulfilment of his office. The devolving upon them so grave and im- portant a function as the trial of delin- quent clergymen would lead the public to form a higher and more favourable estimate of the utility of these ancient and venerable bodies, and would contribute possibly to their permanence. The holding of the court in the Chapter House would add solemnity to the judicial proceedings ; and all the ne- cessary officers and records would be on the spot. The Chancellor of the diocese might beneficially fulfil the duties of judge-advo- CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 37 cate, and be ready to give whatever informa- tion might be requisite respecting the actual state of the law, and the rules of evidence, as they might apply to each particular case. The Registrar of the diocese would act as public prosecutor, for the purpose of bring- ing the charge before the court, and sup- porting it by proper evidence ; in the performance of which office, he would be influenced by none of those feelings of per- sonal resentment which too often actuate prosecutors in the courts of common law, but would exercise toward the accused cler- gyman every indulgence which might be consistent with the fair and impartial ad- ministration of justice, A certain degree of publicity in all judicial proceedings seems to be of the essence of the British constitution. When however the evidence on both sides has been com- pletely gone through, the deliberation of the court should be in private. The practice of courts martial, by which every member of the court is bound by an oath not to divulge the judicial opinion of any of its members, 38 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. should be adopted in these courts ecclesias- tical. The finding of the court should not be made public until it has been submitted to the Bishop of the diocese, by whom, in all cases, sentence should be pronounced. The punishments to be awarded by such court would be fine, — in proportion to the amount of the ecclesiastical income enjoyed by the delinquent, — suspension, and total degradation. A clergyman receives the emo- luments of his profession in consideration of his duties. It is fair that those emoluments should be diminished, or entirely withdrawn, in proportion to his neglect of such duties, or to his unmindfulness of his professional character. An appeal should be allowed only to the Court of Delegates. It appears to be self-evident, that in all cases in which a clergyman is regularly con- victed in a court of common law of felony, or other infamous crime, or of blasphemy, or of gross immorality, it would be desirable that the Judge who has presided should, as a matter of course, certify such conviction to the Bishop in whose diocese the clergy- CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 39 man is beneficed, or, if he is unbeneficed, to the Bishop in whose diocese the conviction takes place, — who, without further trial, shall, with the assistance of his Chancellor, and with his Registrar and Notary to record the proceedings, pronounce sentence of suspen- sion, deprivation, or degradation, according to the nature of the case. It is unnecessary to add, that such pro- ceedings must be rendered quite independent of the courts of common law, which must not be suffered to interfere either by prohi- bition, or in any other manner. If a clergyman is possessed of a freehold, it is at all events a conditional freehold, and his ecclesiastical superior, assisted by a cer- tain number of his peers, — his brother clergy- men the peers,— is the proper authority to say, whether the conditions on which the free- hold is held have or have not been fulfilled. It is hardly necessary to observe, that it would be convenient that the meeting of such courts should be fixed to certain defi- nite periods,— (twice a year would perhaps be sufficiently frequent,) — which might be ar- 40 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. ranged with a view to the usual meetings of the Chapter. No member should be re- quired to attend from any great distance, or at any serious personal inconvenience. Their place might be supplied at the dis- cretion of the Bishop by any of the bene- ficed clergy in or near the Cathedral town. It may fairly be presumed that no dignitary of the Church would be unwilling, in return for his professional rank and emoluments, to give a small portion of his time for the purpose of keeping up the respectability of the clerical profession. All legal proceedings of every description are of necessity attended with expense, and there are but few cases in which the arrange- ment of the mode in which such expense shall be met is entirely satisfactory. The expenses attending the courts which I have ventured to suggest need not be heavy. The members of the court would receive nothing. Like Justices of the Peace, and many other public officers, they would undertake this administration of ecclesias- tical discipline, as one of the burdens — if CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 41 burden it must be called — attendant on the station which they hold in society. They will feel also that they have already devoted themselves, their time, and their talents, to the cause of the Church ; and — if pay must be mentioned — that they are paid in advance by the emoluments annexed to their place and dignity. The Chancellor, (or judge-advocate,) the Registrar, and the Notary, should all be remunerated, and re- munerated liberally, for the time that they are in actual attendance. But nothing should be paid in the shape of fee or gratuity, nothing for unnecessary forms. Witnesses also must be paid for their time, and their reasonable expenses. All such expenses should be brought under the notice of the court, who should have the power of controlling them, and of awarding in what manner such as are allowed shall be paid. When the charge or accusation is esta- blished, the expenses would of course fall on the delinquent. When it is found to be groundless, those who originally brought it forward must be responsible. All fines 42 CHURCH DISCIPLINE. might be paid towards a fund to be established in every diocese, which, under the guarantee and discretion of the Bishop and Chapter, might be made available to many ecclesias- tical purposes. From such fund, when suffi- ciently established, the whole or any part of the expenses might be paid, especially when the proceedings are instituted by the Bishop himself. Many of the subordinate details of the measure which I have ventured to suggest would of course require mature considera- tion. I feel persuaded, however, that the adoption of such a mode of proceeding- would be most beneficial, would contribute to the respectability and the efficiency of the clerical profession, and consequently would be most acceptable to the public. Few will deny that nothing can well be more cumbrous and ineffective than the system of ecclesiastical discipline in actual existence. Will it be said, that the officers of the existing ecclesiastical courts will prevent the adoption of any such measure, by their CHURCH DISCIPLINE. 43 apprehension lest their official emoluments should be curtailed ? by the outcry that their craft is in danger ? I will not deem of them so hardly, so injuriously. Doubtless they are, generally speaking, men of honour- able and disinterested principle, anxious both in their individual and their profes- sional capacity for whatever would contri- bute to the credit and welfare of the Church. I speak from personal knowledge, when I say, what is acknowledged univer- sally, that the highest ecclesiastical court in the kingdom contains men of distin- guished talent, of high literary and legal attainments, of active benevolence, and disinterested zeal for the public good. Simi- lar qualities in their -proportion and degree extend, I make no doubt, to the officers in the inferior courts. Were my sugges- tions in any degree adopted, there would be no cause for anxiety respecting their official emoluments. They would still be paid, and paid liberally ; but would be paid for useful and efficient services, instead of being paid for impeding the exercise of salu- 44 CHURCH DISCIPLINE, tary discipline, by antiquated forms, hard perhaps to be thoroughly understood, and cumbersome and harassing in their opera- tion. CHAP. CHURCH III. LAW. Uncertain and unsatisfactory state of the laws of the Church- Endeavours to improve it — Commission in the reign of Edward the Sixth — Reformatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum — Abortive attempt in the reign of Elizabeth — Canom of 1603 — The extent of their obligation on the clergy — Remedies. AS the clergy constitute what may in se- veral respects be considered as a distinct body in the state, with peculiar duties, and peculiar privileges and immunities, it may naturally be supposed that they are go- verned by a distinct code of laws relating to their particular functions. This is known to be the case with the military professions, which are governed by laws framed for that express purpose, under the title of Articles of War. It is I believe taken for granted by the public, — by those of the public I mean who bestow a single thought upon the sub- ject, — that the clerical profession is governed 46 CHURCH LAW. by a similar professional code. They would probably be surprised at being told of the heterogeneous materials of which the clerical law is composed, and of its vague, indefinite, uncertain operation, upon either the practice or the consciences of members of the pro- fession, whose conduct it is supposed to regulate. They would be surprised at find- ing that the clergy of England of the pre- sent day are governed, pro tanto, by the synodical constitutions of Otho and Othobon, the papal legates in the reign of Henry the Third, and by the provincial constitutions of Boniface, Peccham, and Mepham, and other Archbishops of Canterbury in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. I am far from meaning to insinuate, from the date of these constitutions, or from their having issued under the full domination of papal Rome, that therefore they are inex- pedient. All that I would suggest is the probability that they may require careful revision, in order to their adaptation to the present state of religion and of society. The compilation of a body of ecclesiastical CHURCH LAW. 47 law was, it seems, very early deemed essential to the completion of the reformation of reli- gion in this kingdom. Accordingly, in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of Henry the Eighth, very soon after the supremacy of the Pope had been shaken off, an Act was passed, empowering the King to " nominate " and assign at his pleasure two and thirty " persons of his subjects, whereof sixteen to " be of the clergy, and sixteen to be of the " temporalty of the upper and nether house " of Parliament, to form a compilation from " the canons, constitutions, and ordinances, " provincial and synodal, heretofore made." " Provided, that such constitutions, &c. " which will not be contrariant or repug- " nant to the laws -and customs of this " realm, nor to the damage and hurt of the " King's prerogative royal, shall still be " used and executed till such time as they " be otherwise ordered by the said two and " thirty persons, or the more part of them." This Act was renewed and continued in the twenty-seventh year, and again in the thirty- fifth year, of the same monarch. 48 CHURCH LAW. The design however not being completed in that King's reign, the matter was again set on foot in the reign of his successor. By the Act 3 and 4 Ed. VI. it was enacted, ' ' that the King should have power for three