i VMsa Tffj'FjI&Fi 9 & wwt/ 3tfS88 IM m r^i 'si/ 1 V L^ te ^j\^j K/A * * I/-* V f t t i * . t BEING AN ATTEMPT TO ILLUSTRATE, BY A SERIES OF NOTES AND EXTRACTS, 2T!)f jlamr anH RICHAKO WATTS, UROWK COURT, TKMPI.F. BAH TO THE RIGHT REVEREND THE LORD BISHOP OF SALISBURY THIS HUMBLE ATTEMPT TO ILLUSTRATE THE OFFICE IS DEDICATED, AS A TOKEN OF OFFICIAL AND PERSONAL RESPECT, BY HIS LORDSHIP'S OBLIGED AND FAITHFUL SERVANT, . llaoijirrn. CAN. LVII. A.D. CCCLXIV. OY AEI EN TAIZ KCMAIZ KAI EN TAIZ XQPA1Z KA0IITA20AI EIHZKOIIOYZ, AAAA HEPIOAEYTAZ. j'Hmatov. NON OPORTET IN VILLI3 ET VICI8 EI'ISCOPOS ORDINARI, 3ED VlOltiltOrfS, ID E8T, CIHCUMEANT, CONSTITUI. (L'oncil. rtnucn. CAN. xin. A.D. DCCCL. PROPTER ASSIDt AM EROA POPULVM DEI CURAM, S1N6ULIS PLEBIBU8 ttrOB PH^EESSE VOLUMU8; QU1 NON 8OLUM IMPERITI VULOI 8OLICITUDINEM OERANT, VERUM I I 1 \M EORUH PRESBYTERORUU, QUI PER MINORES TITULOS HABITANT, VITAM JUOI CIRCDMSPECTIONE CUSTODIANT, ET QUA UNUSQUISQUE INDUSTRIA DIVI- NVM OPUS EXERCEAT, EPISCOPO 8UO RENUNTIENT. 's (L'oDa 3)uv. tec I r^>. TIT. XLII. CAP. v in. THE CTftorepigcopi HAD THE INSPECTION, UNDER THE BISHOP, OF THE CLERGY IN THE COUNTRY, AND OF THOSE PARTS OF THE DIOCESE WHICH WERE REMOTE FROM THE EPISCOPAL SEE ; TILL, IN THE COUNCIL OF LAODICEA, ANN. 360, IT WAS OR. DAINED, THAT NO BISHOPS SHOULD BE PLACED IN COUNTRY VILLAGES, BUT ONLY nEPiOAEYTAi, Itinerant OR Visiting i)i rsbytrrs. JJrrfarr. NON abs re mihi vifum eft fore, li quaepiam afferrem, ut facilius ad memoriam revocarentur fanctiflima priorum inftituta, quibus obfervatis, noftra CHRISTIANA RESPUBLICA et aucta eft Temper et confervata. JOH. FRANC. PICI, MIRANDVL& DOMINI, De Reformandis Moribus Oraiio. FASCICULUS RERUM, p. 417. HE object of the following pages is fufficiently explained by the title prefixed to them. The cir cum/lances, to which their commencement, pro- grefs, and completion are owing though of little importance may be thus briefly Jiated. Having been requefted by my venerable diocefan t joon after his accejjion to the fee of Sarum (A.D. MDCCCXXV.), to accept the appoint- ment of rural titan then recently revived in the diocefe / was naturally dejirous of obtaining what information I could on the hijlory and conjtitution of the office. v Though latterward fallen into di/ufe and decay in moji diocefes of Great Britain and Ireland, it was evident that the rural fceansfjip had once formed an ejjential and influential part of the machinery of our tountrn clnuclj-policc : while, in the exift ing condition of the inffitution, vejiiges of its elder and better economy appeared, sufficient to excite attention and intereft, and to challenge inquiry into its by-gone days. But how and where curiojity was to be gratified by further invejii- gation, was a queftion more eajily Jlarted than replied to. Ordinary books of reference, gloffaries, and digejh of church-law, rather awakened curiosity than fat isfied it ; and exijiing functiona- ries, fo far from having any knowledge of the pail hijlory of their charge, were (too like the writer} infufficiently acquainted even with its prefent capacities. Where, then, was a &ean rural, in his novi- ciate, to look for further injlruction ? Theoretically and practically ignorant of ruri-lrecanal polity, how was he to fupply the manifold defects of Thomaffin, Van Efpen, Gibfon, Burn, and other canonifts, and, for his own amufement and edification, to re-conftruct the office in the fulnefs of its original type ? There was, apparently, but one courfe open to fet to work on his own account to go to the fountain-heads of intelligence - Integros accedere fontes, Atque haurire to explore the archives of ecclejiaftical antiquity, and fupply the defiderata of epitomijh by more extenfive perfonal refearches. Let it fuffice, that this courfe was determined on, and forthwith commenced; though without any the mojt dijlant thought, at the time, preface. vii of laying the refult before, the public. With a view to my own inftruction alone, and with no ulterior object, I began, in the intervals of more important Jludies and avocations, a diligent exami- nation of the tomes of the Councils, foreign and domejiic, and an extenfive perufal of works devoted to the hiftory, antiquities, and discipline of the Church ; carefully noting down whatever, in the courfe of my reading, appeared to throw any light on the particular object of my investigation the economy of the office o/toan rural 1 . The accidental difcovery, about this time, within the precincts of my own fctanrg, of an autograph jheet on the fame fubject by a former toan, tended not a little to quicken my antiquarian ardour. This (') The General Collection of Councils referred to in the courfe of this work, under the ufual abbreviation of SS. CC., is that edited by Colet with Manfi's Supplement. Wilkins's Concilia Magnee Britannice et Hibernice fo entirely fuperfede Spelman's, that the former, under the title of CC. M. B. et H., are alone quoted. The Concilia Germanic, by Schannat, Hartzheim, Scholl, and Neiflen, I regret, did not find their way to my library till the greater part of the meets had been worked off. Some few novel items of run-foecanal duty, fcattered through that valuable collection, are con- fequently loft to the body of the work. It was impoflible to incorporate them in the then printed pages ; and to have added them as foot-notes at the vacant ends of chapters would have been attended with more trouble and expenfe than the infor- mation they conveyed feemed to juftify. It is fome fatisfaction, however, that the Provincial and Diocefan Collections of many German and Belgian churches (before in my poflemon) had anticipated the moft important branches of Decanal fervice found in the General Collection. Still, that nothing might be wanting in illuftration of continental ufages, which it was in my power to fupply, I have been induced to add to the ^ppentJlx of docu- ments, in the bulk, all fuch canons, articles, and inftructions, from the collection alluded to, as circumftances, over which I had no controul, prevented my incorpo- rating in the claflified functions of earlier pages. viii preface. was an Addrefs to the Clergy of the iBetanatt of Chalk e, by John Priaulx, D.D. on the occajton of his appointment to the charge of titan-rural by Bijhop Seth Ward, AD. MDCLXVII., and profeffed to give a brief account of the nature, ufe and end of the office : wider which title, it was committed to the prefs, with a few explanatory notes, and ajhort memoir of the author, in the year MDCCCXXXII.* At this point, perhaps after having fulfilled the fubordinate duty of an editor it had been wife in me to have arrejled my pen, and taken leave of the public ; fenfible as I had gradually become, in the progrefs of my labours, that undertakings, of the nature of the prefent, cannot be brought to a fat isfactory completion, in the retire- ment of a country parfonage, by a private individual, enjoying neither opportunities of intercourfe with others, more converfant than himfelf, with the objects of his refearch ; nor with books, more pregnant with information, than thofe on his ownj/ielves ; not able, from his paro- cJiial engagements, to vi/it muniment-rooms and regi/ter-offices, and too utterly unknown to the public rightfully to folicit, or reafonably to expect, attention to inquiries by letter: " Cogito, quam fit magnum dare aliquid in manus hominum : nee perfuadere mihi poflum, non et cum multis et faepe tractandum, quod placere et Temper et omnibus cupias." Could I hare forefeen, atjirji, the difficulties and difadvantages (') Dr. Priaulx's little Tract is reprinted in the &ppenfcii Salisbury Documents. The tract and notes being frequently referred to in the courfe of the following work, the editor thought it better to annex them. The notes of faisjecond edition contain much new matter, the refult of farther refearch upon the fubjects treated of in the learned Doctor's text preface. ix 1 Jhould have to contend with in preparing thefe Jheets for the prefs, and which I have been able only imperfectly to overcome by increafed labour and expence, however dejirous of adding to my own knowledge of fcecanal polity, I certainly jhould never have thought of imparting it to others ; had I earlier felt them, I had never pledged myfelf that Dr. Priaulx's little Breviary Jhould be followed, after a time, by a more copious and formal treatife of my own. But I had been guilty of this imprudence at an early period of my labours. I hadfeen the annexed Jlieets gradually increajing in number and matter, far beyond what was required to gratify perfonal curiojity, or to capacitate a tean rural for the fatisfactory fulfilment of the abridged duties of his calling (the original incen- tives to the undertaking) ; and, in an evil hour, I ventured to think, far too haft'ily, that what had given me amufement in the compilation might poffibly impart the fame to other teans rural in the perufal at a time, more efpecially, when the office was being rejlored in many of the diocefes of Great Britain and Ireland. It was then that I thought, fome day or other, of throwing thefe notes and extracts " disjecta membra" into a readable Jhape, and pledged myfelf to their publication. The appearance of the prefent volumes Jhews the effort made to redeem that pledge, with what fuccefs, others muft decide, the author himfelf alone vouching for the arduoufnefs of the tajk. Driven to depend almoft exclufively on my private resources (for, with the exception of three or four valuable communications, I have received no extraneous aid}, I felt it incumbent on me to perfevere with patient refolution, and to fpare neither trouble nor expence in b x preface. amaffing information, and rendering the publication, to which I had committed myfelf, as perfect as circumftances 'would allow. Accordingly, I procured, " vel prece vel pretio 1 ," every printed volume likely to afford the Itajl injlruction on the topics of my inquiry : / examined, culled, digejhd, and arranged, to the bejl of my humble ability, all the notices illujlrative of the ancient and modern economy of the to ccnnnl office of tlje countrg : heterogeneous and widely -fcattered as I found them, in works, for the moft part, of unwieldy bulk and expen/ive rarity, I reduced them into* fome fort (') The only important works bearing on the fubject, which I have not been able, either in England or on the Continent, to purchafe, borrow, or even obtain a fight of, are Zeltner's Tractatus de -^erioDeutig Feteris Ecclefite Reftituendis, and Schmidt's Differtatio de Synodis Archidiaconorum et ftrcfoiprc&bijtcrontm in Ger- inan'ui. The former might probably have thrown fome further light on the origin of Deans rural in the Chriftian church, the latter on their capitular duties. Morifan's Diatriba de ^totopapt? a work of rarity in this country long eluded my refearch ; but it at laft turned up at a fale of Biblical curiolities at Ghent. Zeltner and Schmidt remain, at the prefent hour, among the Opufcula Defiderata of my library ; and I fliall feel greatly obliged to any of my readers, who can put me in the way of procuring them. ( 2 ) The arrangement of the work needs all the qualification here given to it. It is confefledly perplexed and unfatisfactory. But, in deprecation of cenfure, I would plead the neeeflity of compiling it, as it were, piece-meal, and the difficulty of cafting into a readable fhape confufed and multifarious fcraps, fo collected. Faults of com- poiition and clarification, now manifeft in print, were not fo perceptible in manu- fcript, or they would have been corrected. Even, at the prefent time, an effort would be made by tranfpofition and condenfation, to amend manifold blemifhes (for much of the text might be abridged, and much again might defcend into the foot- notes), but that I am afraid, if I were to begin to cancel, I fliould fcarce know where to flop ; and perhaps, in the end, mould change the efiential character of the work which is intended rather as an explanatory index to the writings of others (more particularly to Conciliar Collections) than as an original work on mi-Decanal folttg. x of order and arrangement. Not a few extracts alfo from unpub- lijhed JttSS. / incorporated in the text, and entire documents in the Some of the extracts from books will be found, I am afraid, not ftrictly in keeping with the title. I have digreffed a little (more perhaps than was necejjary}, in order to elucidate the rural economy of the elder Greek church (the mother-church of Chrijiendom) the eajlern rijoreptscopatt (the prototype, as is faid, of our wejiern ardfjt- prrsbgterate) and the incardination of presbyters on country cures. And, while alluding to fuch " irrelevant excurjions" yet farther, I fear, mufl I implore the reader's patience during the many pages devoted to the rural polity of the Britijli and Anglo-Saxon churches, the institution of ecclejiajiical parijhes, and location ofpriefts therein. Lafily,for a long foot-note or two annexed to this department on thejirfl introduction ofChriftianity into our ifland on the evidence of its uninterrupted continuance among us, and of that of its primi- tive apofiolical mini/try, and the independence of the latter of the church and bijhop of Rome / have no j 'unification to allege, but the deep inter eft ofthefubjects to every Proteftant Englijhman. On the facts and references adduced, fuch as they are, the reader may rely with implicit confidence. At haft, I am fur -e, I have not intentionally misled him on any one Jingle point : OVK EKOI/ egapap- ravto, in Plato's words, aAA' d^adta TV? l(j$. If I err, it isfromJJieer ignorance, not from wilful mifreprefentation. Every fact has its voucher in juxt a-pojition ; unlefs, perchance, from mere inad- vertency, a marginal reference has been omitted. And, to atone for fuch ondjjlon (if fuch there be"), it will be found, on other occajions, b2 x that two or more authorities have been cited in proof of one and the fame fact ; that the more curious reader might have greater oppor- tunities of purfuing thefubject, at his leifure, and authenticating the veracity of the author. To guard againft mifconception, as much as pq//ible, I have thought ft, like the Annalijl of the Reformation, " tofet down things in the very words of the records and originals, and of the authors thenifelves, rather than in my own, without framing and dre//ing them into more modern language : whereby the fenfe is fure to remain entire, as the writers meant it. Whereas by ajfecting too curioujly to change and model words and fentences, the fenfe- itfelf is often obferved to be marred and difguifed." I have generally allowed the councils of the different churches to fpeak in their own canonical language Greek, Latin, French and the cited gloj/ariographers and legifts have the fame privilege of communication. It had been an implied infult to a modern toan rural to have fuppofed him inca- pable of holding converfe with ecdeJiajUcs of diftant times and climes in other language than his vernacular. For the fame reafon, the documents of the glpptrrtrix are left in their original tongue, fave thofe of the church of Ruffia alone, which it was thought better to tr an/late for the Englijh reader. IJhould have been glad to have rendered the hijlorical notices of the inftitution of beans rural, prefixed to each diocefe of England, in Part ii. of the 8pperrtrix, more perfect than, for the mojl part, they are ; and, with that view, I circulated, a few years Jince, the queries l ( ' ) The date of the Jirjl inftitution of rural &eang in the different diocefes of Great Britain and Ireland? By preface. xiii of the fubjoined foot-note, foliciting information upon the points there fpecified. But, I regret to fay, with very partial fuccefs. Very few replies were elicited ; and fear ce more than one to the extent required for perfecting the rurt-tecanal hiftory of any Jingle diocefe. I merely mention this, in order to account for defects in a department of the work which no indujiry of mine could fupply. But I am rather inclined to attribute my difappointment to the unimportance of the queri/t (jr\r}v 6A/yo>v TO TiAeov Tjfc eKK\rj(Tias /iepoj, ovtf e' 6v6jj.aros ^a? icrao-fi/) than to a want of inter ej} in the fubject inquired about. Imperfect, however, as thefe volumes are, and no one can be more alive to their defects than the compiler himfelf, they will be found to contain a greater body of information on the fubject of which they profefs to treat, than any work already before the public. Indeed, they profefs to bring under one point of view l all that has been By whom, (bifhop, archdeacon, or clergy, feparately or conjointly) of old, and at prefent, elected and appointed in the fame ? whether by oral declaration, or by formal commission in fcriptis ? if the latter, the form of fuch inftruments ? the duties entrufted to tjeang rural in modern days, and the duration of their tenancy of office ? any peculiar ufages ? ( J ) Nothing appertaining to the office of fccan rural in any hiftorical, canonical, or conciliar collection, within the compiler's knowledge, is omitted in the following pages. Under one or other of the many fections of the work, or its &ppenbix, every item of duty will be found, that has ever been exercifed by a toan rural. Some quotations, perhaps, may be incorrectly placed, and others may be deemed fcarce worthy of the notice taken of them, fo long after the period at which they have ceafed to intereft us, in confequence of the abolition of the duties themfelves by the Reformation. But, while I afk pardon for the former in the reafons already given in an earlier note, the latter muft Hand excufed in the ftrict and peremptory rule under which I placed myfelf, of excluding nothing in the leaft degree bearing on the fubject. xv written on the rural arcin'presbpteral office, and thereby tofave others, who may be ignorant of its hi/lory, and curious to invejtigate it, the labor improbus of fearching for themfelves amongst the original authorities out of which they are compiled. So that, if ever our eccle- fiajHcal rulers Jhould think it advifable to revife this department of church-difcipline to b&flow on their rural Delegates more of a legal exijlence than they at prefent enjoy to ejtablijh &eans rural on a more uniform footing, than at this time obtains, throughout the diocefes of Great Britain and Ireland and to give them increafed efficiency by the legitimate rejtoration of any portion of their anti- quated functions ; (and there never was a time, feemingly, when it was more dejirable to give * the utmoji efficiency to thofe ecclejiajtical authorities which the wifdom of our forefathers in the Chrijtian church hath interpofed between the bijhop and the incumbent) if any fuch general meafure Jhould be attempted by thofe to whom alone it belongs (*) An additional reafon for the eftablifhment of Dean$ rural upon fome general and efficient fyftem at the prefent moment, will be found in the projected abolition of peculiar jurifdictions an event moft fervently to be defired ; but which, if difcipline is to be effectually fuftained in thofe hitherto neglected places, will necef- farily require an increafe of parochial vifitors, fubfidiary ,to the diocefan and arch- deacon. The Report of the Ecclefaftical Commiffion (A.D. MDCCCXXXV.), under the head of Territory, fuggefts, " that it will be highly expedient to place every parifh within a oeanrg, and every fccanrg within an archdeaconry." And further, " that all parishes, not fpecified in the Report, which are locally fituate in one diocefe, but under the jurisdiction of the bifhop of another diocefe, mall become fubject to the jurifdictum of the bifhop of the diocefe within which they are locally fituate." Such places have been hitherto exempt from rurt-tecanal vifitation, and generally in a wretched condi- tion as to difcipline. See ft. B. ft. Vol. i. pp. 200320. preface. xv the hierarchy of the kingdom they may here fee the ufages of the church in refpect of the injiitution, both at home and abroad, cited and expounded, from the earlieft to the lateft period of its hi/lory. In conclu/ion, the reader is refpectfully folicited to bear in mind what the work profeffes to be An attempt (only an attempt) to illuftrate, by a feries of notes and extracts, the name and title, the origin, appointment, and functions, perfonal and capitular, of rural &eans 1 . Such is the aim and object of the work : and it follows, of courfe, that it muji be built up of a lengthened catalogue of autho- rities, derived for the moft part from monuments of church-legisla- tion ; the author, or rather compiler, being a mere reporter of the dicta of others a textuary, if you will, of canoni/fs and councils. Be it fo! I would not wijh to arrogate to my nAPEproN an origi- nality to which I well know it has no claim. To the following moft Rev. and Right Rev. Prelates, and others, I beg leave to tender my refpectful and grateful acknowledgments, for information and documents communicated in furtherance of thefe labours. (*) The duties of the office are circumfcribed by the extracts and authorities quoted. I have, in no cafe, gone beyond the limitation they impofed on me. However defirable it might have been, for the fake of filling up what was wanting in an imperfect portraiture, to have taken a little more licence of defcription, I have preferred making the beft fhow I could with the materials in hand, to any the leaft departure from authenticated facts, into the region of fiction; with the aid of which, perhaps, I might have (ketched a more perfect, and therefore more attractive picture, but its likenefs to the original might have been, in the fame degree, doubtful. xvi preface. To the Archbijhop of Canterbury for a copy of the Commiffion of rural titan, lately ufed in that diocefe, on the occajion of the office being revived ; and for an unfolicited licence to confult any works bearing on the f abject of titans rural in 1 the Lambeth Library ; which, I regret, I have not been able to avail myfelfof, in confequence of iny diftance from the metropolis, and the more important calls of parochial duty. To the Bijhop of London for an inter eft ing communication on the modern ufages of the diocefe of Chejler and for a reference to Mr. Ward (the deputy regiflrar of that fee), as capable of fupplying the more ancient cuftoms : whereby the &ppt ntiix of documents has been augmented with many curious, original inftruments of titcanal institution, patents, c., not before made public ; the fame having been moji courteoujly fupplied by Mr. Ward, immediately on ap- plication. To the fame learned Prelate for fuch information as the regiflry of the diocefe of London affords refpecting the fuppofed primary inftitution, and fubfequent revival of the order of rural titans in that fee ; and for copies of the Commiffion and Inftructions lately made ufeofby his Lordjhip. To the Bijhop of Salisbury, my refpected diocefanfor the loan of two accurate tranfcripts of documents connected with the fee of Sarum (') By the kind afliftance of the Rev. W. Vaux, prebendary of Winchefier, and late chaplain to the Archbishop of Canterbury, I have been enabled to procure, from the Lambeth Library, a copy of the Patent of Dr. Briggs, as (Jean of Southmalling in the county of Suflex. The Inftrumcnt will be found under the fcction of the devoted to the diocefe of Chichester. preface. xvii (beautifully copied from the original jjftss. by Mr. W. T. Alchin of Southampton, under the eye, and at the coji of Bi/hop Biirgefs) the Fetus Sfogistrum sbanctt <&smuntrt, and the Notftfa &>ctf)t ISpiscopt Sbarum ; from both of which, much inftruclion has been received, and much valuable unpublifhed matter, appertaining to the diocefe of Sarum, has been added to the Uocununtarp To the Bi/hop of Lincoln for the modern ufages of the diocefe of Lincoln in one of the archdeaconries of which, the office has been lately revived, after a long fufpenjion. To the Bi/hop of Peterborough for the exiftingjiate of the infti- tution in the diocefe of Peterborough. To the Bi/hop of Worcejierfor documents connected with the restoration of the office in that diocefe. To the Bi/hop of Llandafffor a lift of the rural teanws of the diocefe of Llandqff, their subdivijions , and the number, rejpectively, of their contained parifhes. To the Bi/hop of Bangorfor the Commiffion employed by the late Bi/hop Majendie, and by himfelf, in the fee of Bangor. To the Dean of Norwich for impreffions of fever al rare ruri-fcecanal feals, and a brief hiftory of the ancient office to which they appertained in the diocefe of Norwich communicated by the Jcindnefs of Dr. Sutton. To the Archdeacon of Winchejlerfor the modern Commiffion of the tean rural of the diocefe of Wincheft&r. xviii $rrface. To the Archdeacon oj Barn/1 able for the ufages of the bijhopric of Exeter more particularly of the archdeaconries of Barnftaple, Exeter, and Totnefs. To the Rev. J. Wallis of Bodminfor thofe of the archdeaconry of Cornwall. To the Rev. Dr. Bandinel, Bodleian Librarianfor an engraving ofthefeal of the rural &ean of Ofpringe, in Kent. To the Rev. H. H. Norris, Rector of South Hackney, for docu- ments connected with the diocefe of Gloucejler, and for the loan of feveral rare works on ecclejiajiical polity . To the Rev. C. Fleet, Rector of Durwejlon, in the county of Dorfet for the Inftrument ufed by Bijhop Kaye on the occafion of his reviving &eans rural in the diocefe of Briflol. To the Rev. J. H. Wyndham, Rector of Gorton, in the county of Somerfetfor the Formula of Inflitution employed by Bijhop Law in the diocefe of Bath and Wells. To the Rev. C. Burlton, Fellow of New College, Oxford for the Commiflion of the titans rural of the diocefe of Oxford, under Bijhop Bagot. To C. P. Cooper, Efq., Secretary to the Record Commiflion -for a copy of the Valor Ecclefiafticus Henrici VIII., to which frequent references are made in the courfe of the work ; and from which fome documents have been incorporated in the &ppen&ix. To Jojhua Watfon, Efq., of Park Street, Wejlminfterfor the Firft xx Report from his Majefty's Commiffioners appointed to consider the Hate of the Eftablifhed Church with reference to Ecclefiaftical Duties and Revenues which document has enabled me to annex to each diocefe of the &ppcnfoix (Part n. Englijh Documents) the fuggejled territorial reforms laid before Parliament. Lajily, my fpecial thanks are due to the Rev. R. Blackmore, of Donhead Saint Mary, Wilts, Britijh Chaplain at Cronfladtfor Archbijhop Platan's Inftructions to the 23Iagocf)nnot of the diocefe of Mofcow and Kaluga, and for the Imperial Uftaff refpecting the of the Lutheran Church of Ruffia. postscript. IT is now more than three years Jince I flated, in a Pojifcript to Dr. Priaulx's little Tract on fccans rural, that my object infoliciting information from thofe capable of /applying it, was not a mercenary one that I had no gainful end in view, in the projected publication of my pjoree U9ecamca Hurales that my fole dejign in a literary point of view, a very humble one was to collect into a compendious form, out of bulky and expenjive tomes, which few had inclination, and yet fewer opportunity to explore, the widely -fcattered notices of the ancient and modern duties of titans rural to compare, to clajjify, to explain them ;and, while drawing forth from black-lettered obfcurity the xx obfoletc and antiquated ufages of early church-polity, to point atten- tion to fuch as appeared capable of being revived, to the furtherance of eccle/iajlical difcipline, and the general interejls of the Chrijlian community. Such, at that time, was my object ; and, injlrict conformity with it, the following Jheets have been prepared for the prefs. But there is one qualification, which I would wijh here to fubjoin, as refpects any contingent pecuniary advantage from their publication and for that purpofe I have requoted the above words. 1 did not, at the time i 11 'A lexic.et Hoffman. we may believe glollariographers, and admit, /**.. in vocibua as his appellatives, all that conjecture has cllrfpifcnpll^' collected in their columns. But of thefe, fome do not cw-h, Decanus,' pertain to the &ean at all ; others are of local and partial banu^proto-' application : two only can be called his rightful pro- fS!yl-. -. perty ; viz. &rcf)fpresb|)ter *, with its fynonymes, derived from presbyteral primacy ; and tetanus 2 , from a prefi- dency over ten, either perfons or places. ( l ) " Quemadmodum inter epi/copos epifcoporum primus, Jive anti- Au ?- Barbofa de ... ., f / j M j- r Caiwniciset quiflimus, dici ccepu archiepi/copus, et inter dtaconos primus, Jive catens Dignitati antiquior, dictus ejl archidiaconus, ita primus presbyterorum arc|){- ca P- VI - P- vocatur, quaji presbyterorum primus, five prtefectus." ( s ) " Dcrauos vacant eo quodjint denis pra>pofiti." Auguftin.de Mo- ribtis Ecctejiep, B L.I. c. xxxi. Xame anD Eitle. [PART I. f rmer is tne more ancient title, being that by c. viu. p. 971 w hich ecclefiaftic trans of all kinds, whether Somner * .Inliq. if canterbury, ur b an or rural, have been generally known in the records Part I. p. 175. ' of the church from their firft creation, and are flill defignated in the \vritings of canonifts. Thomffin. Though of Greek extraction, the term arc!)tpresbinn prt 1. 1* ii. is of Latin origination and application; the oriental Morin.*- s. o. church employing the lefs imperious ftyle of IIPQTO- Partm. Excrc. * J J xvi. c.n.p.215. npEZBYTEpoz * npoToiEpEYS, and fubfequently HPOTO- c m. p. 218. * 55.CC.Tom.in. (') So Arfacius, who fucceeded Chryfoftom in the bifhopric of Conftantinople, is ftyled (in Actis Jynodi ad Quercum, A.D. ccccni.) Sacr. Part iv. nPQTOIlPEZBYTEPOZ and Martyrius nfxarobid.KOvos. But, inafmuch as i/r* F ^ Steph 611 is called, in the Greek Menology, proto deacon and arch- c. ix. p. 323* deacon, and the \\erptx; T/S nPQTOnPEZBYTEPOZ rfc iv ' Akel-avlipeia: IHft. EccL exK\ni\os TOV rare APXIPnEZBYTEPON, x.r.X. the famenefs of Annot. ad H. E. the refpective offices is fliewn under the diverfity of title. (See Centur. notV Magdeburg. Cent v. cap. vn. p. 735. de gradibus perfonarum.) And Goar, in his veriion of the Euchologium, invariably translates nPQTO- npEZBYTEpos by archtprtgbster. Valelius, the learned editor of Socrates, however, considers the terms atthpricgt and protoptte^t not convertible: for feveral atthprcsbgter^ occur in particular churches, he fays ; but never more than one proto- pregbBtcr: arthprcabgter* again, in villages and towns, fucceflbrs of the choreptecopi, but protoprcsbijtrrs only in cities ; whence, in the Jacobs Gow. Euchology of Goar, IIPCTOnPEZBYTEPOZ T^S TOAeo^. And yet, let Grtrcor g ' v . 287. me obferve, the nPOTonAllAAEZ of Balfamon ad Can. vm. Antioch Berereg. Synod, have to do with the country ; anfwering to the irpeffftvre'po^ TOI$ lit} I om. i. pp. 400,3. , f Xwp? irptoTfvovert of Ariftenus on the fame canon : and Suicer fays of Thefaur. EccUf. the protopapa, that he clearly is " vel primus presbyter, vd fane archt- ptfgbgtet Latinorum." And, more to the point, it will be hereafter feen, in a paflage cited from the tomes of the councils (Manfi Supplement. adSS. CC. Tom. vi. col. 352.), that the title of protoprc$bntcr is applied to the &ran-vuval in the council of Reuflen of the year MDCCXX. Tit ix. SECT. I.] j&ummarg ITiefo of 1 in harmony with their early nomenclature, which gave to the archdeacon of the eaft the title of diftinctions Hill obferved in the fame King's Greek church in the orders of proto=i)tmg or protopope, and andMs. Add. ' protodeacon. protopresbyter, however, being a title of mere prece- dency, is not fo appropriate to our weftern foean as arc&ipresbgter, which implies governing power and autho- rity in addition to bare rank; though, in the Greek church, the two names are evidently ufed fynonymoufly, the APXIIIPEZBYTEPOS of Sozomen being the npororiPEiBY- sozomen.#.E. TEPOZ of Socrates. See Morifan. de 39rotopapt's Diatriba. p.34i. socrat. H..L.vi.c.ix. cap. in. p. 40, ieqq. P. 323. Applied to the chief fpiritual officer under the bilhop in matrici ecclefia 3 , the Greek terms appear, for the firft time, in the church-hiftory of the fifth century; the Latin title arcfripusbgter (for we have no inftance of proto= presfepter in that language at leaft, none of ancient (*) When the presbyters of the Greek church began to be called Morifan. de ^papte, papades, or papates, the ptotopregbgtcrl became proto-

/- TOKtycria, and not Trpoyevscria, priority of ordination, and not of birth, when found difunited 1 , or at what time fuch a cuftom, feemingly long dominant in the weftern church, (though Boehmer is inclined to doubt its having (*) A very early council of Rheims enacts (A.D. DCXXX.) Can. xix. $S. CC. Tom.vi. " Ut in parochiis nullus la'icorum archiptcgfrgter prcepojiatur : fed col< 1435> qui fenior in ipfis effe debet, clericus ordinetur. From which it would appear that laics had been in the habit of ufurping this title, fome civil power, perhaps, being attached to it : at leaft, the words " Qui fenior in ipfis effe debet," would rather indicate it. " Vox enim ilia fenior jam turn, dominum Jignificabat," fays Thomaffin. Tom. i. p. 224. And fuch feems to be the interpretation put upon this canon by the author of a modern work " de Chriftiance ecclejice primce, mediae, et Alexii Aurelii noviflimee eetatis politid;" who writes " cum fee. vi. ineunte illis (atchtprc^gtettg) demandari ccgpiffet cura turn parceciarum urbis, turn ruralium, paullatim eorum poteftas patere ccepit, eo ut ab ipfis opti- matibus munus illud fummopere optari, ac quandoque ufurpari ccepe- rit, pree/ertim in Galliis." " Presbyters 8 Xame anD EitU. [PART I. ever prevailed, Jur. Eccl. Protejlant. L. i. T. xxiv. . XLIX.) yielded to the higher claims and more jufl pretenfions of pcrfonal merit 1 , which had early obtained the pre- ference and headfhip in the eaft ; it will fuffice for the purpofes of our prefent inquiry, that arcfrpricsts, to what caufe foever owing their primary advancement, were, in the fixth century 2 , of two kinds, catfjttiral or urban, and bican or rural, and have fo continued to the pre- fent day. DfSaouEc- " (5lrbam dicuntur" in the words of Duarenus, " qui rii*,acBtne- in urbe et in majore ecclefid qfficio Juofunguntur. Cum c.v"ii. enim epifcopus propter ab/entiam forte vel occupationes y non pqffit omnia epifcopi munia vel Jblus, vel una cum presbyteris obire, fed curasfuas cum eis partiri ne- cejje habeat ; utiiius vifum ejl ex presbyter is unum cceteris pr(vponere t qui ea quce ad presbyter orum officium perti- nent, partim ipje exequatur, partim aliis Jacienda prce- fcribat ; quam omnibus Jimiil presbyteris id committere, ne contentio aliqua inter ipfos ex communione adminiftra- tionis oriretur ..... r . . glrcbipresbnten btcanf nullam Obfervutiont m " Presbyters were fo called," fays Bifhop Burnet, " not from their Cawwf p's!^' a ? e M the y were men but from the a S e f their Chriftianity." " No- Tlief.Eccl.Tom. men eft non (etatis" (fcil. TtptofivTepo^) in Suicer's words, "fed officii et dignitatis." It is a remark of the learned Selden, in explanation of the titles of ftniorcs, presbyteri, &c., that the fame latitude was extended to Dt Synrd. Vc- thefe terms when ufed in lay-polity ; 4< apud Anglos antiquitus voca- c*xfv*coM l''d bantur eldermm feu aldermen, quafi feniores, non propter fenectutem, To), edit. cum quidam adolefcenles ejfent,ftd propter fapientiam." Annoiai. ad ( ' ) " ^Irthtptc^bBtcr," fays Valefius, " nomen honoris eft, non vetuf- Ivc ix. tatis. Epifcopi enim ex presbyterorum collegia eox qitos vellent arrfti- sec.v. p. 323. prcsbntcrog eligebant, ut docet Liberatus in Breviario, cap. xiv." RirhanL Ana- ( *) " Sexto circiter fteculo, diftiiicta fuere acrljiprc sibntcroium ge- Kf-Tom'iii' 1 nera d "' ^ aliu * abiprbstct urbanu* ffit, turalig alius." p. 36. SECT. II.] &rci)(pre$b2ter. 9 in urbe potejtatem, nullum minifterium habent, Jed in majoribus celebrioribufque pagis conftituuntur. Acjin- gulis, prceter ecclejicc proprice curationem, certarum eccle- Jiarum, certorumque presbyterorum, qui videlicet per minor es titulos habitant, irifpectio, obfervatioque commit- titur" See alfo Morin. de Sacris Ordinationibus Pars in. Exercit. xvi. cap. n. 2, 3. p. 215. Boehmer. Jus Eccle- JiaJL Protejiant. Tom. i. L. i. Tit. xxiv. pp. 582-3. and Morifan. de |irotopapts cap. vn. p. 104. where the two- fold diftinction is extended to the Greek as well as the Latin church : " quemadmodum in occidentali ecclejia Diatnba de arcfnpresbgterorum duo genera eranl, quorum alii quidem, vi l i 0t i OV p p io4. ap ' quos urbanos dicebant, cathedralibus ecclejiis incardinati cr ? v*n.Tcan g . effent; alii verd, quos ruraUs, rusttcos, fortnses, paganos, % r *' med ' bfcanos cognominabant, pagorum presbyteris, pojt fub- latum prcefertim ufum dwepfecoporum, ita mandato epi- fcopi pr&ejjent, utplebis capita, parochique conjiitueren- tur: haud Jeciis in ecclejia Graced, prceter cathedralium protopapas, feu primos poft epifcopum in ecclejia cathe- drali presbyter os, innumeri occurrunt locorum protopapa?, et plebium cun'onts." The diftinction, here made, is the popular one, ge- Parochial Ami- nerally received ; but Bifhop Kennett's is fomewhat p!*339*' different ; though he refers to Duarenus as his autho- rity. Severing altogether the catWral arcftfpregftgttrf from the toans rural of his interefting epifode, the paro- chial antiquary fays of the latter, " Thefe fceans were conftituted over a certain number of churches within a large city, and were then called tocam urbani and bfcant ; or elfe over the like extent of country churches, and were then ftrictly called tocant ruralts." Gibfon, too, cw. /. E. A. applies urbanf in the fame limited fenfe, to the exclufion 10 Name anD fcitle. [PART I. of tat&ttiral titans, but bt'canf he ufes as a fynonyme of rtiralrs '. Upon this view, the reader will perceive that urban and bican beans were merely rural titans 8 , fet over Van Efpen JNT. (*) A farther diftinotion between ratl)eDral or urbirar Dcang, and p C i%L ^n.' &fan*-niral or Decani Chrtettamtatte, is derived from the fuperior rank cap. 11. p. 58. of the former " $rthipre0bteri ruralr? nullam dignitatem, fed merum officium habere cenfentur ; ac in omnibus fuis functionibus ob inftruc- tionibus epifcoporum dependent ; archtpre$bgteratu0 vero railjcDralis vera eft dignita* ; muniaque de jure vel confuetudine annexa, jure digni- lati, id eft, jure ordinario Jicuti archidiaconi habent ; idedque nee pro arbitrio epifcoporum tolli out diminui poffint" In Let Loix Ecclfjiaftiques de France, we find the following particularities of duty fpecitied as belonging to the archtpretreg of the Gallican church. Let Loir Ecclef. " Titre xxiv. De I' office de rartl)ipretrr. Dans lefeptieme et dans par &Lix>aiiiDe ^ neuvieme fiecles, les fonctions de I'nrrliiprcivc De I'egltge catheDrale Hericourt. eloient de veilltrfur tons les cures de la ville, qu'on appelloit a/or* cardi- naux; de leur faire obferver les ordonnances de Cheque; d'ojfrir le faint facrifice en I'abfence de Veveque aux jours folemnels ; d' entendre la confeffion de tons let pretre*, et de leur impoftr des penitences. (II y a encore des archipretreg dans quelques eglises cathedrales, qui font I' office, a certains jours, en Vabfence de I'tveque; mais qui n'ont aucune jurifdiction fur les cures de la ville fpifcopale: on voit encore, dans d"autres diocefes des cures qui ont le litre D'archtpre'trcg De la btlle, aufqutl* cette qualite ne donne que quelquea marques de diftinction, fans aucune jurifdiction fur leurs confreres. IL'avtbiprctvc De la bille etoit foumis a farchidiacre.) " fjes atchipretted De (a campagne, qu'on appelle communtment Doijcns ruraur, doitent veiller non-ftulement fur Its peuples, mais encore Jur la conduite des cures qui font dans Vftendue du Dogenne ; faire obferver exactement la difcipline ecclefiaftique, et rendre un contpte Jidele a I'eveque de tout ce qui fe paffe." . of Can- (*) So Soinncr undiTliands and applies the title: " It re- '' mains that I fpeak fomewhat of the Dean, an ecclefialtical officer fet to 'l.-^Hf *'l over-fee a certain number of parilhes, amonglt which are thofe of our city, and a neceffary member in the ecclefialtical or fpiritual government of the fame. We call him a rutal Dean." SECT. II.] &retpre$>er. 1 1 parochial churches and their incumbents, in urbe or in vico, diftinct from catfje&ral teans, whofe prefidency was only over perfons. But I prefer the popular notion of Bifhop Atterbury (no very high authority in thefe mat- Arcuaiacwai ters) becaufe it is fupported by the Summa Silvejtrina aerj*rfTet- fol. xxxix. (which makes the " auf)tpttSbBttt ctbftatensis" n ^ /i ' 17 the fame as " 8. ml*sta> catfjefcralts, qui alio nomine 4 dicitur tetanus,") and by fuch learned canonifts as Car- dinal Hoftienfis, Panormitan, Lyndwood, Auguftin Bar- bofa, Ferro Manrrique, Galzanetti, Van Efpen, Molanus, and others, as well as the above cited author de Sacris Ecclejice Mini/terns ac Beneficiis. To quote only a few: "Eft autem duplex artfrfpres= AuguMni B- J J bofae de Canmi- btjttr," writes Auguftin Barbofa. " unus urbanus, et alius a* et mgnita- tibus cap. VI. ruraus feu foraneus : urbanus ejt qm in urbe degens dig- p. 64. nitati prczeft cathedrali, vel collegiatd ecclejid ; wall's vero, vel foraneus, qui ruri ecclejlce prceeft parochiali, feu plebanice ..... et hie proprie videtur did tetanus .... non quod neceffarid decem pr&effe debeat, fed quia factd tranjlatione a perfectione denarii numeri trecanusyo/e/ ap- pellari omnis ille, qui alicujm or dinis primus, et pr&cipuus eft." De ^rcStprtsbgtero cap. vi. (Lugduni MDCXXXIV.) funt in duplici differentia" fays Ferro D. M. F. -. i . . T ,, , T- rique de Prcece- Manrnque, "am namque dicuntur ctbttatensts .... alii denta* et Prte- autem ruralcs, feu phbanf ....... arc^tpusbgtjr ruralts CI^MI, ~ feu yltbmus folicitudinem pUbanfae fuce, tarn in rujiicos, P.M.L quam facer dotes in divinis et vita circum/pectione gerant? See Panormitan. Tom. n. p. 73 ; Hoftienlis Tom. i. fol. cxix. ; Galzanettus de Jure publico, L. in. Tit. xxn. ; de ^rcbfprtsbgtErfs et Becanis, pp. 230, 231 ; Van Efpen /. E. U., Part i. Tit. vi. de Becants . DXCV.) incorporated in the canons of the council of Toledo, (A.D. DCXXXIII.) from a decretal of Pope Leo IV. (A.D. occ9L.), and ( ' ) Gratian refers to Ilidore and the council of Toledo as his autho- rities ; but I find no fuch paflage in the letter of the bi/hop of Seville, nor in any council of Toledo. There is no notice whatever of the archprcgbgter in the letter to the bilhop of Corduba, published in the SS. CC. Tom. vii. col. 434, feqq. See Baluzii Notts ad Graiianum, D . 25. c. 1., ^' e " t> IV - names of the places where they were erected, i.e. received titles, which Vol. i. note 9. fixed them to thofe particular cures. ( 3 ) Whether the following canon of the fecond council of Bracara, the ss.CC. Tom. vi. metropolis of Gallicia, (A.D. DLXIII.) refer to urban or bican archprtegtg, ri-52i. or both, I leave to the reader to determine; probably to the former only : " vi. Item placuit, ut de rebus eccle/iafticis tres eequee fiant portiones ; id eft, epifcopi una, alia clericorum, tertia in reparation* vel in luminariis cede/its : de qud parte Jive arcfttpregbgtit:, Jive archidia- conus, 'Mam adminiftrans, epifcopo faciat rationem." 14. Kame anD Eitle. [PART I. the rulers of the former, than thofe of the latter. How- ever, that arc&presbrucrs were diftributed in rural diftricts in the fixth century, is clear from the writings of Gre- gory, bilhop of Tours, who died before its clofe 1 . We jfirac.i>i.c.78. there find the following notices of them. " &rcf)iprcs- DtGbr.omfe/.tyit\ parochia Nemaufenfis, &c." " &rcf)tpresbt>ter qui yu.Pat.c9. tune locum ilium regebat, &c." " Cum arc&tpresbmcr loci Eulalius clericos conviviis invitdffet, Edatius verd alius presbyter viduis ac pauperibus reliqnis edulium prcrpa- raret, &c." " &rc&fptesbBttr Mereenjis vici y &c" All which paflages feem to indicate that arcljpvicsts were localized in country parifties, and invefted with a ge- neral fuperintendence of others adjoining, in addition to their own perfonal cures, or, at leaft, with parochial rule and governance of other presbyters, in the fixth century. (') Gregory, bifliop of Tours, or, as he is often called, Georgius Flo- rentius Gregorius, was born at Auvergne, about the year DXLIV., and died at Rome in the year DXCV. SECT. III.] Secanu*. 15 SECTION III. Utoanug THE IDENTITY OF Bfang l&ural AND &reftpg&j)terg i&ural. HE title of tetanus or =Z9ean (for the pri- mary fignification of which, fee Suicer's oibfon Code* rjM, r -n i r a- > 1-E.A.Tit.xLii. Ihejaurus J^cclejiajticus, in voce Af/cavo?, cap. vm. p. 971. Tom. i. col. 834.), whether applied to fecu- lar or ecclefiaftical office, has its origin in a prefidency over ten, either perfons or places. " AEKANOS a Se/ca$-," Gio/ar. Ar- according to Sir Henry Spelman, " in militia dictus eft, c qui decem pr&fuit militibus; in monafteriis, decem monachis ; in ecclejid mqjori, decem prtebendis ; in epi- Jcopatus divijione, decem clericis Jeu parochiis ; in cen- turicefwe hundredi diftinctione, ttttamKjitceJbdalibus." The tean rural, with whom alone, of the many 1 here defined, we have any concern, was fo called becaufe he ufually had charge over ten country parifhes and their Provincial. L.I. clergy 2 : " dicuntur tecam'," fays Lyndwood, (t ed qudd u ( x ) The reader will be amufed, and perhaps edified, with Ley's defcription of the different forts of Dcan$ (if he chance to po fiefs the book) in " Defenjive Doubts, Hopes and Reafons, for Refufall of the Oath, impofed by the Jixth canon of the late Jynod." London, 1641. pp. 44, feqq. " Firft of toatwg," says the paftor of Great Budworth in Chcfhire " The doubt is, What tocancg are here meant The rea- Jbn, Becaufe in the whole canon law there is no title of the degree of a toeane (faith Azorius) &c. &c." ( a ) But the fame latitude obtained in rural as in urban appointments, in refpect of numbers : for " nothing more common," in Fuller's words, Hiftory of Wal- " than Iltam 4bbey,p.6. 16 Name anD STitU. [PART I. decem clericis (rector ibus ecclejiarum, Spelman. Glojjar. Archceol. in voce) Jive parochiis pr. 17 eorum converfationem diligenler infpicere debent &c." Their famenefs is farther eftablifhed by a paffage in the capitulary ofTouloufe (A.D. DCCCXLIII.), under Charles Karon caivu* i-niii'iAi /. -, ft fuccefforura ca the Bald, which Ipeaks ot the arcfjpwsts as actually pUuia.v. c .iu. conftituted in their toanries cap. in. " Statuant epifcopi loca convenientia per fctcamas, Jicut conftituti funt arcftt- presbgteri &c." by a canon of the fynod of Treves P. Roveni Re<>- (A.D. DCCCCXLVIIL), cited, with the latter to the fame m effect, by Father Rouvi^re, in his Hijiory of Sf. John's Monajlery at Rheims " &rcbtprcsbgteri, qui et fcecani rurales appellantur &c." by the council of Clermont ss. cc. Tom. (A.D. MXCV.), " ut nullus Jit arcf)tpusbgter, quod ah- Sim. cubi dicitur fcecanus &c." by the councils of Tours ss. cc. Tom. XHI. coL 304. (A.D. MCLXIII.), and ot Rome (A.D. MCLXXIX.), " Decani can.vn.coi. V . 7 470.capiti. quidam vel arcfjtprfSbpttn ad agendas vices epifcopo- rum &c." by a refcript of Pope Innocent III. (A.D. MCCXIV.) " ^rcbtpresbgten, qui a pluribus Decant nun- T xxm.c.vn. cupantur &c." by a fecond council of Treves (A.D. T. iv col 245 MCCCX.) "Btcam ruraUs^w fownses arc^tpresbgtert &c." and laftly, by a conftitution of Pope Benedict XII. speiman. c mc u. J J . Vol. ii. p. 504. (A.D. MCCCXXXV.), "Decants ruraubus duntaxat exccptis, ss.cc.Tom. qui in aliquibus regionibus arcftipresbpteri nominanfur." Upon thefe many averments, we may, affuredly, con- clude the identity of the arcbipresbpteral and fcecanal charges : upon which point, indeed, I mould have been lefs full and particular 1 , had not Mr. Johnfon, the learned and laborious tranflator of our Ecclejiafiic (*) As nearly all the evidence to be hereafter adduced refpecting the duties of thefe ecclefiaftics is cited upon a full conviction that their office was the fame under either title, it feemed important to eftablilli the fact of identity upon incontrovertible grounds. C 18 Xame anD fcitlc. [PART I. Laws, controverted it in his notes upon the Saxon Siii/r w8tc inflates. " Very egregious miftakes," fays the vicar of A.D. MLXIV. Cranbrook, " have been committed by a famous anti- quarian in relation to thefe officers called rural fceans. He fuppofes them to have been the fame with the arc&* prcsbntrrs of the feventh and eighth century ; which may be confuted by looking into the Decretal, L. i. Tit. xxiv. ' xxv." But the reader will acknowledge that Bifhop White Kennett, to whofe able work on Parochial Anti- quities Mr. Johnfon alludes, might adduce ftrong evi- dence for his aflertion, in the cafes of continental church-police already referred to ; and, were the ifTue yet dubious, in confequence of foreign examples being inadmiffible, might accumulate on them our infular con- cc-M-B-^H-jiitutions the arc&pwsts of Ireland being therein faid " 4fis 393 ' to ^ e the prefidents of the rural fceanrie s in MCCXVI ; and arcfrpwsts or titans being expreflly mentioned in a Bull of vol. H. p.aso! Pope John XXII. to the clergy of England in MCCCXVII ; and in the Procefs of Grenefeld, archbimop of York, during the years MCCCX and MCCCXI; and yet farther might he fupport his view by the united fanctions of , wore. Somner, Ducange, Dr.Mocket, and Dr. Zouch: " Quern Politia Eccl. . i/i * J-* Agi.c.i P . s. recentiores occanum ruralcm, lays the antiquarian of Can- & c. ix. p. 88. , . , . , terbury, " ct exten arcttprtsbrjtt rum bttanum, antiqmores Angli Occanum Cfjn'sttanttatfs vocarunt" " - - fcecana- tibus prffficiuntur ruralcs Irecanf," Dr. Mocket remarks, " antiquis arcfjtprtsbgterfs non multum diffimiks :" and again lefs qualifiedly, " Decant ruralcs veteris ecclejia cftor- tpiscopts et arcfjipresbmeris regtonariis haud dijimiles :" and Dr. Zouch, " Sub archidiaconis conjtituuntur brcani Dffcript.i.E. ruralrs, qui olim arcfjipresbPtcri ruralts dicebantur" Need . Tb. in. I add the afleveration of Mr. Whitaker, the Hiftorian of SECT. III.] Decanug. 19 Manchefter, that " the rural toan is the fame ecclefiaftical Part i. c. vm. p. 64. officer as the arc&tpresbjDter or arcfjpwst?" or the much earlier opinions of Spelman, Rouvire, Morin, Thomaffin, and others, to the fame point ? Nay, Mr. Johnfon him- felf, in his Ancient and Prefent Church of England, acknowledges that " arcfjpresbgtfrs and rural treans are much the fame" The date of this change of name may be fixed, on the authority of the firft-cited conftitution, about the clofe of Y, aR , E jP e . n J " r - * Eccl. Univ. P. I. the eighth or the commencement of the ninth century ; Tit VI - C *P- ' and the inducement to it, the division of diocefes at that time into ttmnnarfes or itanrfes ; over which arcf)pwsts, previoufly exiftent as fubordinate, vicarious church- governors, were then placed with the new title of faans, see speiman. in accordance with the prevalent civil polity of the time, in*fbemahi8, and inverted with vaftly augmented jurifdiction, in con- p 16C< fequence of the decay and abolition of djorepiscopt. " &rcf)tpusbBtu dicti videntur tretanf," fays Morin, " eo DeSacriso,- quod antiquitus dicecejes erant per Irecantas divifa 1 , qui- Exerdt.' Si. bus praerant arc^presbgtert." (Ex Capit. Caroli Calm c. 3. ' "' (') " Diocefes have been fubdivided into inferiour precincts," fays Hiftorlcal and Nathaniel Bacon, " called Deanarteg or Dccanaric^, the chief of which ^ C & C S P . was wont to be a presbyter of the higheft note, called UccanuS, or arch- xn.' p. 23. prcsbgtcr. The name whereof was taken from that precinct of the lay- power, called fceccmtaricg, having ten presbyters under his vifit, even as the fcmniwr^ under their chief." " Auctd diceceji epifcoporum" fays Boehmer, " hanc in plures foa- Jus Ecclefiaft. natug diftribuerunt et fingulis liccanatibu^ Dccanum feu arthtpve$btcrum n' t ^v'"scc' ' prcefecerunt, quern atchtprc$fogtcrum ruralcm dixere, qui presbyterorum ruralium cur am habebant." See Van Efpen /. E. U. Part i. Tit. vi. cap. i. p. 29 : wherefore, by Pierre Rouviere the fcctanate of Ofcar is called t)cama archtprcgfcgtmUg an atchpttegt being the ecclefiaftical governor of the tJcantg. C 2 20 T\zmt anD fcitle. [PART I. Condi. Gallia? Tom. HI.) And very reafonable, indeed, Primi- it was, that the bifhop (who was, " according to the .' notation of his name, O-KOTTOC, a watchman and fentinel, and therefore obliged err/o-KOTreTv, diligently and care- fully to infpect and obferve, to fuperintend and pro- vide for, thofe that were under his charge,") mould take advantage of new civil divifions of his napoiKta, for the purpofe of meting out to certain deputies, already con- ftituted in the church, well-defined diftricts of supervi- fion. For being unable to infpect perfonally all his widely-fcattered congregations, after the multiplying of ixiruigii country churches ; and arcfn'presbntcrates (" diftrictus Gt<>/ar. in voce. ' arcftiprrsbmtrf ruralis") being, like the elder cfrorrptsco- pates, ecclefiaftical territories of indiflinct limitation, (indeed we know nothing about them beyond this that their extent was fettled, and the capital of each appointed by the abfolute authority of the bifhop ; a particular church in every diftrict being exalted into a pre-eminence over the reft, and the rector of the one made the fuperintendant of the others) he would gladly, for the better ordering 1 of his diocefe, merge the Thomaffin. v. et uncertainty of the fpiritual in the certainty of the fecu- \ r f /) Tnm I pinii.L.i.e.T. lar diftribution, the arcf)iprtsbgttrate 2 in the tocanatr, and Stat. Synod. (') " Utiliter in omnibus epi/copatibu*," fays the bifhop of Ypres in Flanders, " recepta eft, cujufque dicecefis in Decanatug partitio &c." On the fcore of conveniency alone, as far as I can fee, is the divifion of diocefes into l)fantie^ preferved in our ecclefiaftical books, in modern days, where the fcean exifts not. For regulating the attendance of the clergy on the different fynodal vifitations of the bifhop and his arch- deacons, the diftrict is ftill ufeful ; but would be far more fo, if it had its local ordinary. L Oceania M (*) " Veto* fuit harum Uecantarum inftitutio," obferves Pierre Rou- chi^rcibntcrali. viere, " reique eccle/iaftictf in agris ojyportunij/ima. Cum enim ad OJcarenf* be- , . tanu*. presbyteros SECT. III.] Dccanug. 21 the title of arc|)pwst in that of toan=rutal ; and, therefore, Thomaffin ufes the terms arcfnpresbgtn'atus and tocanatus as equally fignifying thefe ecclefiaftical divifions of the diocefe. On this fubiect of the analogy of fecular and eccle- f e Exordia* D Increment is Ite- fiaftic office, here briefly alluded to. in the ninth cen- *' Rcc ' t cap. 31. tury, Walafrid Strabo has written at large, in his Corn- par atio Ecclejiajiicorum Ordinum et Secular ium ; and, more to the point of our inquiry, Bifhop Kennett in his Parochial Antiquities ; as the next divilion of our fub- ject, on the origin of the totanal office of the countrg, will fhew. presbyteros rure degentes extendere fe continuo non pqffet epi/coporum aut archidiaconorum vigilantia, collocati fuere per intervalla, in qui- bufdam qua/I excubiis presbyterorum aliqui Uccant, vel art^tprcgbgtett vocltdti, ut ceeterorum presbyterorum ac plebis moribus, vice epifcopi aut archidiaconi invigilarent" " Tlie craft of the prelates," fays Nathaniel Bacon of our Saxon bifhops, Hiftorical and " was to diftribute their fpiritual offices through the kingdom, fo as to Poli ^ cal lYl f- . Q . courfe &e. influence and direct every part of the temporal government, and to Parti c.xn. actuate the whole for the church's good. Thus every temporal officer p had a fpiritual concomitant." florae Uecamcae PART II. Origin of tfjr Office. SECTION I. THE ORIGIN OF DrAn^ Rural IN GENERAL. 4< UQin of tbf Office. [PART II. deacons had no relation to the diocefe, but only to the epifcopal fee ? (Gihfon C. I. E. A. Tit. XLII.) Were there any epifcopal fubftitutes of earlier days, from whofe delegate capacity our rural arcftpresbpters may be fup- pofed to have derived, in any degree, the type and cha- racter of their vicarage ? Dark as is the hiftory of the tot canal office as to time and place of origin, and fruitless any attempt to eluci- date it, out of the fcanty church-documents bearing on its elder days, we know thus much : arcfjpriests or titans were not the firft officers to whofe vicarious protection under the city-bifliop, the church, in her wifdom, committed the infant regiment of her rural minifters and converts. Before the date of fuch crea- tion, there were " chofen out of the fitteft and. graved perfons," certain epifcopal deputies bf can't cpfscoporum 1 suiwr. T. E. denominated cfjorcptscopi r&v %^p^v or rfc ^w/oaj eW- " whofe bufmefs it was," in the language of Dr. Primith* chrif. Cave, " as J'ubordinate fort of bifhops countrp or (as P. 223.' amongft us they have been called) suffragan bishops, to fuperintend and infpect the churches in the country, that lay more remote from the city where the epifcopal fee was, and which the bifhop could not always infpect and overfee in his own perfon." fcrj om .i. W thefe billan bisftops and vican or rural priefts p. 40. Neoca- /or. CM. 1.VIM xQPEniZKonoi, that is, and irpea-(Bvrcpoi v Ta ~f /cw/na/y KOU ^w/oa/f the ancient Greek councils make mention at the fame time, as if of contempora- p.46I. Cone. Neoctrfar. can xiu. Glo/. (') " Frimitwi injlitutos ab epifcopis cl)0trpi$cop0$ fere conftam eft Jcntentia, ut rJJ'ent eonim btcarii in oicis ac pagii, et epifcopalia in iis munera minoris mann-nti obirent." SECT. I.] Origin of H9cans Mural. (fchorepteeopi. 25 neous eftablifhment, or, at leaft, co-exiftent in country diftricts; the presbyters 1 generally diftributed, one or ( l ) Dr. Maurice is of opinion that the firft fixed presbyters were at Vindication of Alexandria : and, certainly, Sozomen obferves it as a fingularity of that r^^\ Q$ diocefe, that auxiliary, or parochial churches, were in his day appro- Routh'eReKq. priated or committed to fo many certain fixed presbyters. (Hift. Eccl. p^f' ' "' L. i. c. xv.) Indeed, as early as the middle of the third century, Dio- nyfius, bifliop of Alexandria, feems to have congregated at Arfenoeta in Egypt TOI/S Trpsffflvrepovs KOU 5<5cHv. lib. ii. De. Promifs. apud Eufeb. H. E. vn. 24. Later in the same cen- tury there is diltinct notice of a localized parochial prieft in a village of VoLiv. p. 230. Mefopotamia (Acta Di/putationis Archelai Epifcopi et Manetis Herefi- Slater's Original archae circiter A.D. CCLXXVIII) " Manes autem fugiens an( ""^ t ' ^,'j advenit ad quendam vicum longe ab urbe pojitum, qui appellabatur King, c.vm. Diodori. Erat autem presbyter loci illius, nomine et ipfe Diodorus, quietus et mills, &c." cap. xxxix. See Bifhop Wake's Vifotation Charge A. D. MDCCIX. pp. 3, 4. and a paflage cited from Eufeb. Hift. Ecclef. L. ii. c. in. in note (d), p. 4. Epiphanius, in his difcourfe of the Arian DiocefanEpifco- and Miletian herefies, (it is the remark of Dr. Maurice,) fpeaks of fixed g**! ubi , l 'T^i ningnam s &ccl. presbyters as particular and fmgular in the church of Alexandria; while, Antiq. B. ix. in other churches, which had titles as early, the presbyters were moveable & 5. at pleafure. At Rome, particular titles are not annexed to the names of presbyters Brett's Account till towards the end of the fifth century ; when, as we now fign ourfelves / eri ^mt and rectors and vicars of fuch a place, the Roman priefts (then, probably, Governors, fixed in their refpective cures) fubfcribed themfelves, " Ccelius Januarius Presbyter Tituli Veftinee, Martianus Presbyter Tituli Sanctce Ctecilice &c." Whereas before, they merely figned generally, Prieft of Rome &c. It is a curious fact, let me add, and worthy of notice, as bearing upon Routh's Reliq. the antiquity of our vifitational duties, that btetttng prcgfigtcrg firft Sacr ^\^' appear about A.D. ccc, in an epiftle of Peter archbifhop of Alexandria; and again in an epiftle of the Egyptian bifhops about the fame time : pres>cral gupmntenfcantg feeming to fynchronize, in the date of their inftitution, with that of the parochial clergy in Egypt ; over whom they prefided fubordinately to the urban bifliops, and inftead of the dwcpt- 0copt, who are not there found at all. When the example was once fet of afligning " precincts to every Ecclef. Politic. church B.v.SO.p.433. 26 Origin of the ) It is fairly deduced by Mr. Johnfon from the fifteenth, thirty-firlt, lg i9,' and twenty-fecond Apoftolical Canons, that there were, in thofe early times Bevereg. Syno- fa e nona g e o f the Chriftian inltitution in refpect of its outward polity 10. 19. 21. no fuch thing as priefts acting independently of their bifhop at that date, viz. the latter end of the fecond century. The diocefan and his clergy lived together in a body, in conftant communion with each other, in the city or other capital place of the diocefe, then called Ttapomia. (" A lively refemblance whereof remaineth in the toranrg and chapters of cathedrall churches" fays Dr. Downame). Equally certain is it, at a later period, f'afle-Mecum, from the thirteenth canon of the Neocee/arean council, held about the n.pp.79,80. f ame t j me ^ ^ 4 nc y ran (A.D. cccxiv.), that there were then country priefts and churches in places remote from the city one Itep towards the divilion of diocefes into what we now call parifhes. See Bingham's Ecclef. Antiq. B. v. c. vi. 4, 5. on this fubject Spelmanni Gloff. (*) " In metrocomiis, non epifcopi, fed XQPEniZKOnoi et IIEPI- OAEYTAI (W e fi fircuitore*) injlituti dim, ut can. 57. Concil. Laodic. can. 10. Concil. Antioch. can. 6. Concil. Sardic. Hee viconun matres erant SECT. I.] Origin of Ucang &ural. (fiorcptecopi. 27 Such, it is rational to fuppofe, was the diftribution of the rural priefthood, with its appropriate hierarchy, in the Eaft ; where the old Greek fynods recognise three Of TrapOtKlOU - thofe ev aTs eW(r/C07ro/ lystpOTO- See Zonaras & vovvro a fecond clafs denominated ifx&pioi, and a third Can. xvn. CMC. aypotKiKcti. To adapt which, with any degree of confi- Beweg. synod. dence, to the different grades of the priefthood, is JjJ; I- pp ' 134 ' beyond my power. The firft were the urban bifhops' diftricts ; the latter two were rural TrapotKtat ^.iKpat KOI ov iro\vTr\r)deis (Zonar.) ; and the cfjortptscojws, probably, zeigier.de Epi- I Ti. . 1 A l , , j~ vr feopiS, C. XIII. dwelt in the larger 01 them ev /ueo-o/s- aypois KCU KW/XCC/S-, de cijoccmfc. and not iv ea^aria^ (" the outfields" as Dr. Chalmers Rou'th 'opufoui. would fay) (Ariften.), that is, in the J TXW,O>/, and not in JSjf "' the d-ypotKtKoii -though both were fubject to his infpec- tion, and all to the city biftiop or diocefan. See Bifhop Taylor's Epifcopacy AJJerted, feet. XLIII. p. 216, feqq. Works by Heber, Vol. vn. and Slater's Original Draught in anfwer to Lord King, p. 104. The latter of whom very juftly remarks, that thefe villan bifhops, though bifhops in villages, were not confined each to a fingle village : they had territorial, not congregational jurifdiction. erant (the mother churches) ut metropoles civitatum. Unde forsan Cephacaftellum* act. 3. Concil. Chalced. in hdc Jubjcriptione - Noe Epifcopus Cephacaftelli Jubfcripfi. Et nos in Gallid Narbonenji Metro- comias nunc Capcaftles appellamus. Phil. Berterius Pithanon, dia- triba i. c. 6. pag. 71." Thefe metrocomwe were, in after days, the fites of the baptifinales ecclejife, over which the plcbtum arcfitprc^bgtett or J)can0 rural prefided. " His maxime baptifinalibus eccle/iis, quce aliarum velut matres erant," fays Thomaffin, " prceficiebantur archipre^gteri, et hinc curam atque ftrenuitatem fuam in plebes parochofque sui Decanatu0 omnes explica- bant ; " as, in earlier days, the chovcptgcopi fuperintended the churches Ziegler de Epi- of their cborepigcopatc. fcopis,c xm. p. 216. de cl)0i'- 28 rigtn of t&e (Office. [PART II. But the diftinction, as to incumbencies, is not fuffi- ciently marked, in Greek records of the incardination of the clergy below the rank of the urban bifhop, to admit Kiier.ciparara, of more than conjecture, as to where the c&oreptscopus dwelt, and where the ordinary parochial minifter alone. Nor is any light thrown upon the fubject by the Latin 4./.c.Tom.i. verfionifts of the canons; who varioufly and indifcrimi- -App P . xxvi. nately render the fame Greek terms by presbyteri ruris, 4pp.p.LX\. ' A as Dionyfius and Crefconms ; presbyteri forqftici, as N. Aiewuidri Martin of Braga ; presbuteri vicani, as, in much later IHffert. Ecclef. Truu-Qutrfiio days, Gentian Hervet, &c. &c. And the local titles, tie cliOWpiKOpi*. . pp.i6c,feqq. bellowed on the cfjoreptscopi in either language, are not more diftinctive of the character of their rural refidences. Indeed, all we know about their incumbencies, is jufl this after the church began, in Jeremy Taylor's words, " to put a bridle" on the c&oreptscopt by canon, and they were refractory and dilbbedient under the impofed re- ftrictions, it was determined that no more perfons of epifcopal rank mould be ordained in country places Bevercg. Synod, generally - V TOU$ Ktd/ua/f KOU KV Ta?|f VWpa/f - SV KW/XJ7 TlVl Y] Vol. \.Conc.Lao- dicen. c. LVII. (BpayetO. TTO\l, YfTlVl KOt 1$ /X0/Of TTpir(SvTpOS ETTClpKei : - and p. 479. conc.sardic. thence we infer that, before that reflriction, fuch as were called djorcpiscopi were ordinarily tfiere refident, in the mofl central and convenient, at leaft, if not the mod important fites, within their refpective jurifdictions, * t ^ er - Or ^ 1 " " extra urbem" fays Morin, " in pagis, vicis, et oppidu- ML P. in. Ex- > J ' r o ' rr ere. iv. c. i. Right* of the . ere. iv. c. i. Us" and Mr. Nelfon " in the targe/} villages of every O / . diocefe;" though they never figned themfelves as in connexion with any particular place, when fubfcribing the councils at which they were prefent, but merely " Palladius cfcorepfscopus," " Seleucius cliorepfscopus," &c. In the Capitularies of Charlemagne (L. VH. c. 187), they SECT. I.] Origin of Dcaws &ural. fjoreptecopt. 29 are called " btllanf tptscopt'," and by Hincmar (Opufc. 33. cap. 16. p. 437) " Meant." But fee Bilhop Beveridge ad can. xni. Ancyran. in Routh's Reliq. Sacr. Vol. in. p. 486. alfo the councils of Laodicea and Sardica above quoted : Le Jau de Auctoritate Pontificis, Lib. iv. p. 588-9 ; Mo- rifan. de Protopapis, c. vni. n. p. 105, feqq. ; and for the ufage of Great Britain in felecting " noted and populous toivns" for her urban bifhops' fees, vide Gibfon's C.I.E.A. Tit. vin. cap. i., and for the subsftu'arg or suffragan bishops of England, appointed by the 26 Hen. VIII. c. 14. " who had their fees in towns, and not in cities" fee Dr. Burn's Ecckfiaftical "Law, Vol. i. p. 227. The view which the learned Selden takes of this part of the economy of the Greek church, as far as it has any bearing on the origin of endowments, may be learnt from the following brief epifode, devoted to the fubject, in his Hiftory of Tythes : but he is, I mould fay, with Hiftoryof J J , . f. iii Zyfow.chap.vi. all due deference to his profound antiquanan knowledge m. pp. so, si. in general, decidedly in error, when he difallows any broad difference between presbyteri parochiani and cf)oreptscopi. " As metropolitick fees, patriarchats (exarcJiats alfo in the eaftern church) and bijhopricks, thofe greater dignities, were moft ufually at firfk ordained and limited according to the diftinction of feats of government, and inferior cities, that had been afligned to the fubftitutes or vicarii of the Prcefecti-prcetorio or Vice-Royes of the Eaft or Weft empire; fo were parifhes appointed and divided to feveral minifters within the ecclefiaftick rule of thofe dignities, according to the conveniences of country-towns and villages ; one or more or lefs (of fuch c. sardic. as being but fmall territories might not by the canons Origin of tl)e Office. [PART II. be bifhopricks) to a parifti ; the word parcecia or parijh at firft denoting a whole bifhoprick (which is but as a great parifh), and fignifying no otherwile than diocefe, but afterward being confined to what our common lan- guage reftrains it. The curates of thofe parifhes were fuch as the bifhop appointed under him to have care of coc. Neocffjar. fouls in them, and thofe are they which the old Greek rap. LVlll. 'in / ~ / Cone. Antioch. COUnCUS Call 7Tp, n i i . ' i cap. xiu. cmc. within the bifhoprick, neither were the cgoreptscopi much a different from them. Thefe had their parifhes affigned to them; and in the churches where they kept their cure, the offerings of devout Chriftians were received, and difpofed of in maintenance of the clergy and relief of diftreffed Chriftians, by the ceconomi, deacons or other officers thereto appointed under the bifhop &c." But we are going aftray. The reader who may wifh for information on the ufages of the eaftern church the parent of all our inftitutions in Chriftian polity is re- Bishop or Lin- ferred to Archbifhop Wake's Vijitation Charge at Lei- pp.'s'f.-qq^ cefter (MDCCIX), as bifhop of Lincoln. He will there find an excellent fummary of the fubject, as bearing on the ancient rights and privileges of the church. Such minute particulars are unimportant to the main drift of our prefent inquiry ; which would only go to prove, that, in very early days, there were in the coun- see Mo^-un's try what we call parochial presbyters with local cures, EccUf. H.ftory, J T f 'f 1 A' t f cent. i. Part 1 1. fumect to the fupervifion ot epncopal coadjutors ot c. ii. xni. p. 106. J r ' vol. i. Mmc- urban bifhops : the necefiity, realonablenels, and law- fulnefs of which organization of her priefthood by the Chriftian church, my predeceflbr of the deanry of Chalke has advocated in his inftructive refearches into the SECT. I.] Origin of JBeang &ural. horcptecopi. 31 origin of the tocanal office Ihewing the practice of de- legating to truftworthy fuperintendants the care and management of certain parts of eccleliaftical concerns, to be " grounded upon feveral precedents in the word of God." For thefe, and my notes in farther explanation of " this partition of things belonging to the epifcopal function in the eaftern church," together with the ori- gin, regulation, and diffolution of the firft-appointed bifhop's deputies " commanded to be efteemed very honourable" by the Neocaefarean fathers, I muft' refer my readers to the illuftrated reprint of the autograpf) annexed requefting their attention, however, previ- oufly, to fome farther remarks on the c&oupfecopal office at its zenith and decline, and on its gradual tranfition into arc&tpttSbgteracB, in which it finally merged, both in the eaftern and weftern churches. Let me not be mifunderftood, when employing the terms Subordinate and vicarious in reference to thefe rural prelates. I would not have it fuppofed that the cfjoreptscopi were ever, in point of order, other than genuine biftiops, from the period of their firft appear- ance to that of their final abolition: however equi- vocal their character, in the opinion of the fceptical hiftorian of the Decline and Fall, and however unwilling mft. of Rome, De Soto,DeMarca, Morin, Natalis Alexander, Van Efpen, note. '. Edit, and our own Selden, to grant them the full meafure of their holy calling 1 . (') Kuban Maur, Hammond, Cofm, Cave, Beveridge, Bafnage, John- fon, Bingham, Boehmer, Weifman, and, inftar omnium, the very learned Prefident of Magdalen College Oxford, Dr. Routh, editor of the Reliquiae Sacra fy Opufcula Ecclefia/lica, being all arranged on the fide of their 32 riSn of the Office. [PART II. Their very name and origin, and the conftitution of their office, prove their prelatical dignity, as Boehmer Divert.*. . iv. has luminoufly fhewn in his Diflertationes Juris Eccle/iqJ- tid Antiqui ad Plinium Secundum et Tertullianum; and more briefly, in his Obfervationes Selectee, annexed to the end of the 1ft Vol. of the archbifhop of Paris's cap. XIH. ob- learned treatise De Concordat Sacerdotii et Imperil. r!-7q. IX There is no authority, the German aflerts, for sup- pofing that the cfrorepfscopf enjoyed not the full powers of the epifcopate, in a ftate of independency, up to the eri Dif- period of the council of Ancyra. " Eandem dignitatem ^ agris habebat 6 TTjooeorta? quam in civitatibus, eadem utrobique, autore JujHno, munia obibat, et ita omnimoda fee P p 304,feq q . e pjjc p rum tarn ruralium quam civitatenfium erat fotmpla. Neque enim ante fceculum iv. ullum potejl adduci tejii- monhtm, ex quo planum reddi pqflet, vel nomine hos epi- Jcopos in agris conjlitutos ab urbicis diflinctos futffe. Adhucfceculo in. simpliciter vocati funt epifcopi &C." 1 But when the polity of the church began to conform Hq. ' ] ' itfelf to that of the ftate, their condition worfened. Before that, all bishops were on an equal footing the ci)orepfscopi being so many a-vtJu-novp^oi, or comminiftri, or colleagues, of the bishops of cities, and not bfcarif epfsco= porum, correctly speaking, till a later date. There was their plenary epifcopal rank and function (and they are only a tithe of what might be cited), muft afiuredly outweigh the whole crew of dif- fentients ; many of whom, from finifter motives, would degrade the thot- epigtopal order, and amalgamate it with presbyteracy. ( l ) See notes to Priaulx's Brief Account, 10. p. 10. for an example; and fee references there cited, and alfo Mr. Johufon's admirable note to can. x. Antioch. in Code of the Univerfal Church, Vade-Mecum, Vol. 11. p. 93. and Weifmanni Hi/ioria Kcdefiajlica VoL i. p. 43-1. SECT. L] Origin of Beams Mural. horepigeopi. 33 no fuch thing as fubjection of rural to urban prelates, till the Ancyran fathers originated the limitation of the djortptscopal function 1 gradually more and more abridged by other councils ; till, at lail, nearly all their authority being taken away, the ftraitened cSortptscopi could do little or nothing proprto jure, but acted almoft entirely by delegation. And then it was, that the title of epfscopo- Provinc. L.I. T. n. gl. in v. rum btcartt, or bishops' teputfes 2 , was applied to them, the eorum vices. r- A Walon.Meflalin. very title employed by our own Lyndwood to defignate de Er'fi- et J r J . ."L Presbyt.p.3l2. fccans rural," quaji qm iv %joa epijcopi conjtituti et locum ejus tenentes." From this ftate of deteriorated autho- rity of Milan bfs&ops, the tranfition was eafy enough, with a little more curtailment, to bisttatorial arcJnpusbgteracg. (* ) At this and later date, Mr. Lewis fays, their office was, to pre- Lewis's E/ay fide over the country clergy, and inquire into their behaviour, and make report thereof to the city bifhop : and alfo to provide fit perfons for the inferior fervice and miniftry of the church. And, to give them fome autho- rity, they had the following privileges conferred upon them. 1. They Cone. Antioch. were allowed to ordain readers, fubdeacons, and exorcifts, for the ufe of the country churches; but they might not ordain priefts nor deacons without the fpecial leave of the city bifhop, under whofe jurifdiction both they and the country were. 2. They had a power to confirm thofe who were newly baptized in country churches. 3. They had power to C nc - Antioch. grant letters dimiflbry to the country clergy who defired to remove from one diocefe to another. 4. They had liberty to officiate in the city church Cone. Neocpiot^ XQPEniZKonoYZ KO.I Tom. i. PP . 479, r> ' n' *. / t^> v \ 480. & Tom. II. irpeo-pvrepovs Kadicrracrda.! otoptcravro' o os irapuv Kavw nEPi- P . 198. OAEYTAS napa.KeXevETa.i yiv&rQcti Kcit /x>) effurKmrou? Iva. pr) evKara^povrjro^ rj ap-^iepi^^vvr). HEPIOAEYTAI de eimv ol Trpo(Ba\\6iJ.voi napa rwv eir/crKOTrcov ESAPXOI. ovrot yap Trepiodevovcri KOI ETTtrrjpovo-i ra ^rv^iKa o-^xxA/xara, KOI (') " Ut apud nos," feys Morifan, " C^Otept^COptJi tUtaUfS tgtm, Decanique @i)rtettan{tatte, ita et apud Greecos fujfecti funt ptoto- papa plc&tuttl CUttoneg." And in the twelfth century, Ariftenus had written in his glofs on the tenth canon of Antioch and the letter of St. Bafil on the fubject of the d)Orcp{gCOpt XOPEHISKOnOI 8e slfftv, ol ff^ftepov ev rats KcofMts x< x pifr. l Mi',f. Latin church " Utsttatorts ecclejiarum y clerique eorum, A.D. MDtXCVI. . . - . . . . pp.4, 5. qm cum ipjis per nonjua 1 civitatis parochias fatigantur, aliquod laboris fui capiant, te difponente fub/idium." Gregor. L. HI. Ep. 11. ad Maximian. Epifc. Syracuf. And laftly, Petrus de Marca's who wrongly identifies the cfrortpt'scopus and IIEPIOAEYTHZ (for, if the fame, we of furely may afk, with Archdeacon Parker, Why was one ao" 1 " abrogated, and the other fubftituted in his place ? and .!/"' why, let me add, amongft the Syro-Maronites, fhould both ecclefiaftics be, now-a-days, continued ? Why? but that they ever were as quite diftinct in the elder Greek church, as they at prefent are amongft the Chriftians of D concord. Sa- Mount Libanus, where they have totally different allot- cerd. et Imper. /./r r-xi -it T/> u 11. c. XHI. ments 01 omce to pertorm) but rightly qualifies the 4to. E4H. am- ambulatory character of the nEpioAEYTHz with " niji aliter baziff. et Breh- . ,, , ...,,.. mer.ohfrrvat.-a. vifum fuerit epijcopo, qw pfnooeutnm alicui ecclejice m- ejufdemTp 337'. can(K adfcribere potejl, collate et adjuncto munere ccrteras vifitandi. Qua; videtur mens fuijje Synodi Laodicence ; cum ante cfjoreptscopt minijhrium clero civitatis ad- Jcriptum potiiis videretur quam vicuna alicui ecclejice ajfixum." Now, it is in the delegate character of this bfettatorial function, and, more particularly, in the latter conftitution SECT. I.] Origin of Bcang Mural. fjorepigcopt. 39 of it, that the riEpioAEYTHS 1 , uniting the office of a pa- rochial incumbent and that of a bfsttator, approximates moft clofely to the arcSpsbgter=rural of the weft, as found amongft ourfelves : and it is, when not fo fpe- cially connected by local ties to a circumfcribed and particular fupervifion, with incumbency Kad&pav otKsiav fj.rj e^coi/, " nulli Jedi ad/criptus" that the fame officer zonarasodc<. affimilates with the foratuous bfcar or trean rural of the archdiocefe of Milan. Nor is he, indeed, under the latter type, without his counterpart in Spain ; where, Au- guftin Barbofa tells us, are " bfsttatores aut btcaru foratuf, quorum opera epifcopus in tola utitur diceceji" in fact, rural arcfjpresrjjmrs or teans. But whether commiffioned at large, or otherwife, the pcrto&eutae of old were, in Boehmer's words, " quaji procurators et eptscoporum bicarft," and, as fuch, " regiones epifcoporum circumibant et vi/itabant." And fuch, in the modern orthodox Ruf- stppenb^, Ruf- fian Documents. fian church, are the diocefan reprefentatives of the old penoteutae, called, in the Ruffian language, 33lagocfttnitte (fee extracts from Archbifhop Platon's In/auctions in the ^ppenlfix) and fuch, in the Lutheran church there eftablilhed, are the ^robsts, anfwering to the 23!ago- cftennte. (See extracts from the Statutes of the Lutheran church of Ruffia in the ^ppenfoix.) Secondly ; with regard to their geographical diftri- bution. It is not unworthy of repetition, that the firft ( J ) " ITteitator, HEPIOAEYTHS, appellatur t^orcpijicopus in concilia Thomaffin. r. et Laodiceno: eoque nomine pulcherrime fpiritalis hcec jurifdictio decla- p^rfi^j^" 1 ' 1 ' ratur. Cum enim tnravtt lovanct epifcoporum effent, et ii prorsus qui cap.i. x.p.217. poftea dicti funt Decani ruraleg, in vifitando maxime eo traciu, qui eorumjidei et adminiftrationi creditus fuerat, fpiritale fawn imperium, jurifdictio?ie et charitate temperatum, explicabant." 40 Origin of tfre Office. [PART II. fynodical notice of the FIEPIOAEYTHZ is in the provincial council of Laodicea, in the fourth century ; that of the arcfcprrsbmfr-bfcan, in the council of Tours, and in the writings of Gregory, bifhop of that fee, in the fixth cen- Sft Barion-i tury i and that it is the opinion of the learned, that Lectttrtton EC- . _ . I^-IT -i ctt/. Hi/tory, there was an early connexion between the Gallican and Afiatic churches 1 . Irenaeus, bimop of Lyons, the firft founded Chriftian eftablifhment of Gaul, was a difciple of Polycarp, bifhop of Smyrna ; and many of the miffio- naries of the former church are reported to have been Origines Litur- (') The original fameness of the ancient liturgies of the exarchate of pp!*08,9-' Ephefus (the churches, that is, of Afia and Phrygia, including Laodicea), and primitive Gaul, is reafonably entertained by Mr. Palmer in his Origines Liturgicee ; and it is a curious fact, that, whereas the latter efientially differed from the Roman, the Alexandrian, and the Great Oriental, its variation from the laft, viz. that of Baftl and Chryfoftom, is diftinctly pointed out as being in that very part which is fo carefully Cone. Laodic. regulated by the nineteenth canon of Laodicea. Whence the learned < ^^ ' au th r infers the previous exiftence in the Afiatic exarchate of a primi- Tom. i. p. 51. tive liturgy (probably of apoftolical origin) identical with the Gallican, and fubfequently conformed to the Oriental by the interference of the canon in queftion. Let me fubjoin, as interesting to ourfelves There is no trace of more than two primitive liturgies in the weft the Gallican and Roman. The former feems to have prevailed in Gaul and Spain, and probably in Britain : at leaft the BritHh differed from the Roman, as appears from the anfwer of Auguftine to the Britifh bifhops Hift.Rrdef. at the Worceiterlhire conference the " cater a quce agitis moribus Be '' a: ;^ lb J l fl no/iris rontraria," the cuftoms contrary to the Roman cuftoms : whence etli.\'o\.\. p.25. is inferred the fameness of the Gallic and Britifh rites and ceremonies of worfhip. See Spelman. Brit. Cone. Tom. i. p. 167; and Stillingfleet's Roberta W/>- Orig. Brit. c. iv. The Britifh church obferved the rule of the Gallican, P 316.' Di/erta- as to the time of keeping Eafter : and as the church of Lyons followed o7"*T^nc U Rr\t tne doctrines of Irenaeus, who received them from Polycarp, the difciple Church. of St. John, fo the Britifh church referred their doctrines decifively to the fame Apoftle. SECT. I.] Origin of Scans Mural. (l)oreptecopi. 4,} difciples of the difciple of St. John. From Afia, there- fore, the church of Gaul may reafonably be fuppofed to have originally derived her ecclefiaftical rites, cuftoms, and difcipline, founded, in all probability, on the inftruc- tions given by St. John to the feven churches of that Revelation, f C U- U T J- 1 /> chap. i. v. 11. & country (ot which Laodicea was one), and more or lels chap. m. v. u. modified, at a later period, by fuch canons as were enacted by the councils of the parent church for the fubfequent regulation of her own polity. In Afia Minor, cfjoreptscopt originally abounded, and fubfequently perto- fceutae. If, therefore, from Afia came the polity of the Gallican church, it is not unreafonable to fuppofe that from Afia came the inftitution of fubordinate rural bfsftors into the diocefe of Tours ; where they firft appear in Weftern Europe, nearly two hundred years after their creation in the eaft ; but as foon, perhaps, as the economy of the weftern church admitted or required parochial vifitation by other than bifhops. Upon thefe dark points, where fo much is left to conjecture, I venture not to hazard an opinion, but merely fuggefl the probability of the above hypothefis. " I would have none to ymagine that I take upon me usher's MS. peremptorily to determine anie thing in this matter of r ^2S&c. antiquitie, as being not ignorant with what obfcurities SlreSfcK?* queftions of this nature are involved; efpetially where 7-"-p- 61 - helpe of auncient monuments is wanting. My purpofe onely is to pointe unto the ffountaines, and to compare the prefent (late of thinges with the practice of auncient tymes ; thincking I have done well if hereby I maie give occafion of further inquirie unto thofe who have greater judgment and more leifure to boulte out the truth of this bufines." 4-2 rigtn of the CWtce. [PART II. Though the nrcfjiprfsbpteral or protopresbgtrral, pcn'o- fccutal or bisitatortal, office was intended by the ancient councils of the church to fuperfede the tftortpiscopal, and did eventually do fo ; flill it was a long time before this change of polity was finally confummated. For effecting the object, the canons were, for the mod part, an d concerned only particular provinces : fo Government, that we find the church, about this date, fays Arch- deacon Parker, varioufly governed, in fome places by countrn btsfjops, in others by fatstting prcsbpttrs, and in fome diocefes by both. Even in the Greek church, it would appear from Balfamon's commentary on the tenth canon of the fynod of Antioch, cjorrptscopt and protopa= Bevereg. Synod. pdfoCS CO-CXiftcd - KKU\VU.eVOV VTTO TWl/ KCtVOVUV IfTTlV, 7T/ ' aoout ion "Jam vero poteftcu tl)orcpt$topovum" (I quote from Grifcho- Tom. i. p. 199. vius's verfion) " labafcebat, et ad deteriorem Jlatum indinata gradatim imminuebatur, donee tandem feeculo m.Jictis et fabricatis decretalibus et in fcenam productis, hand veri nominis epifcopi effe dicerentur : aJqu* ita per paparum tyrannidem in ecclejiis occidentalibus prorfus abrogarentur." CapUular. Reg. ( *) " Placu.it tie thorept^copi a quibufdam deinctpsjiant, quoniam hac- c.T^r^Toni '| VI * t enuj> & iiefcientibus fanctorum patrum et maxime apoftolorum dccreta, p. 327. fuijque quietibus ac delectationibus infervientibus facti junt. Idcirco et ohm perfrepe, et nojlro, a fanctd apoftolicd ftde funt prohibiti ; ft ne deinceps a quoquam, tarn ordinante, quam ordinari ctipiente, talis prte- fumptio ajfumatur, a cunctis regni noftri epifcopis eft in fynodo cano- niro prohibitum." And the fame was decreed by feveral other councils (fee Ducange in voce thorrpistopu*) : but yet, for all that, they ftruggled SECT. I.] rigtn of IScang i&ural. @hoptgcopi. 45 on the entire fufpenfion of the latter order; (as far at leaft as fuch an object could be effected by canon ; for many bifhops "Juis quietibus ac delectationibus inhce- rentes" ftill continued to depute the labours of the epifcopate to their inhibited reprefentatives of the coun- try,) and apportioned the feveral duties to the city bifhops, arcfcpwsts, and rural treans. " Nomen primum Morin. & s acr . Jiiftulerunt epifcopi, ne amplius fuperbiendi illis occa- Exercu. iv.'c!vi. Jionem daret : deinde qfficia bipertiti funt. Qua epi/co- v ' porum erant propria, ut or dinar e, ecclejias confecrare, confirmare, et ejufmodi cum niillo presbytero ab eo tern- pore amplius communicarunt, Jed Jibi Jblis refervarunt. Ccetera verd quce ad jurifdictionem, et ecclejice regimen pertinent, Htt&fpregbgtirfg, et tocanfe ruraliims potij/imum attribiierunt. Unde etiam antiquitiis paulo poji chor- on for a long time after, and were not totally abrogated, as Peter de M area obferves out of Sigebert, till the end of the eleventh century. See De Soto de Injiitutione Sacerdotum qui Jub epifcopis animarum curam gerunt, p. 340-41 ; DodwelTs Separation of Churches, cap. xxm ; Arch- deacon Parker's Account of Church Government, p. 160 ; and Boehmer Jus Ecclefiaft. Proteftant. Lib. in. Tit. iv. xxxi, xxxn. " Damnatus lamen non ubique chorcptgcopug," fays Matthaeus, " et De Nobilitate utut centies damnatus, epifcoporum ignavid tamen, turn feculi negotiis p C g32* n " ' XI " obfeffi et impediti, dum otio Juo confulunt, paulatlm revixit &c." And fo Natalis Alexander " fiorcptgcopog fovit epifcoporum in facris .DegijotcpifcoptS minifteriis obeundis defidia. Homines fcilicet laid ad epifcopalem dig- Differ tatio, nitatem honoribus et divitiis opimam evecti, onera illi conjuncla ferre dedignabantur, ideoque ilia in chorept$cop00 tramferebant, dum interim ipfi liberius genio fuo indulgerent." A further reafon for the continu- ance of thefe prelates may be found in the opportunity thereby aiforded to kings and rulers of putting off the election of urban bifhops to vacant fees, and receiving into their own pockets, or thofe of their courtiers, during vacancies, the difference between the larger income of the fuperior ecclefiaftics and the limited ftipend of their fubflitutes. 46 rigin of tfce Office. [PART II. epifcoporum extinctionem ardbtpresbgterf a muliis tecam rurnlrs vocabantur, ut notat Innocentius III. Nor does Thomaffin's appropriation of the antiquated duties of the cfjorrpiscopate differ from Morin's; fave that he grants a (hare of them to the ruling deacons vet. et NOV. " Proximo pojl c&ortpiscopos loco erant arcf)ipresbpterf, i!rf D jfom.'i de quo factum eft ut ubi fublatum eft illorum collegium, in '' c ' v ' maximam partem potejtatis et minijhrii eorum adoptati hi fuerinty parte reliqud in archidiaconos refufd:" in which latter remark, he is fupported by Peter de Marca, who grants to the archdeacons " follicitudinem animad- De Concordia J . Sactrd.etimper.vertendi in presbyter os et pagorum vijitandorum, qua Tom. i. p. 294. prater cetera cftortptscopfs competebat;" but takes no notice whatever of the portion of thofe duties which fell to arcfjprtsbnters : whereas Morin looks upon the latter as having enjoyed them prior to their being fhared by De Sacr. Ordi- the archdeacons " PoJ'tea nejcio quo cafu plurimum ereit B iv!c.vi X " immmuta eft arcfttpresbpterorum autoritas, et cum archi- P. 57. in. diaconis contra jus antiquum communicata" Elfewhere, Thomaffin, curforily glancing at the de- cayed office of the e&orcpiscopus during the fixth and feventh centuries, yet farther notices the ftrong affinity which it would have borne to the rural ari&presbgttr's, had the latter enjoyed 1 a greater territorial extent of Thomaffln. F. et parochial jurifdiction : " hoc faltem dicemus, cum arcfjt'- i! n.'?'i P U.'' Psbntcrts ruralfbus magnam c&orepiscopfs qffinitaiem inter- p.2lS. Col t A T ^^ Which more extenfive jurifdiction obtained at a later date in the Can. Arabic. diocefe of Milan, in the cafe of the forancous btcarg of Archbifliop Bor- SS > . C Conc C 'r'om. Tomeo. " ad vicem tborcpUtoporum, quibus jam non opus eft, accedunt ii. col. 317. nunc bt$ttatore$ quos vacant, in Mediolanenji ecclrfid, birnrios. (orancos : hi fu.nl facer dotes probati, quos epi/copus dtligU, et certas regiones dice- cefis fuec attribuit infpiciendas et luftrandas, ut in civitate fud gregem qui SECT. I.] rigtn of Ikang &ural, froreptecopf. 47 cejjijje, Jl horum Jidei plures effent mandate fubject&que parochia" Laftly, Filefac affirms the identity of the Parana, cap. iv. Greek pntotoutae and Latin toans rural in thefe words " Si jus canonicum Latinorum fequi vellemus pertotoutas non altos Jignificare quam arcfn'presbBteros/eM beanos rus= ttcanos diceremus .-" and Natalis Alexander ftates the &**?**> de devolution of cfrornnscopal vifitation and correction to p- 1?8- _ , . Differt. Ecclef. archdeacons and teans rural : " Sollicitudinem luflrandi Trias. rujiicanas parochias, et corrigendi presbyteros, qua c6or= tptscopts competebat, in archidiaconos et tecanos ruraUs trausfuderunt epifcopi." See alfo Morifan. de ^rotopapts, Diatriba de cap. vii. p. 108. to the fame point ; and particularly, p. 115. where he fays expreffly that the protopapae turtonts fucceeded the tjjoupfecopi'. But enough : To multiply authorities on fo clear a point as the origin of the rural arciupresbBtnate or toca= nat (for me may, with Thomaffin, ufe the terms as fignifying the fame jurifdiction) out of the cfjoreptscopate, appears altogether unneceffary ; and therefore I need not accumulate on the many names already adduced in fupport of the opinion, thofe of Goar 1 , Valefius 2 , qui extra civitatem eft, quq/l prcejens intueri et curare poffit: quibus qui primi nomen hoc impq/iierunt, videntur mihi nomen djovcpigropt ab injpiciendis regionibus interpretati." (') " 'O UPSZTOnAHAS qui et nPQTOIEPEYZ : att^tpWiSllgter eft, et Jacob. Goar. antiqui cl)orcpt>copt, _/ non nominis faltem potejiatis fucceffbr : nam et no "t 25.^ P in infulis Venetorum Lectores inftituit, et de rebus ecclejiafticis dijudicat. Ubi plures facer dotes concelebrant, primas ipje tenet, et eKfavrjirsts profert : et tandem, ut loquitur Codinus cap. i. -np&Tos EOT/ rov (ZftfjuxTos, lp(ov rot SevTspeTa. TOV oip-^iepect><; : unde et in vicis, epi/copo ab/ente, reliquis /acerdotibus Jemper praeminet, et in eos jus exercet." ( 2 ) " ^ItC^iptcgbgteri in vicis et oppidis interdum conftituebantur, Valefli dnnota- ' times Socrat. quippe qui Juccefferant in locum ci)oreptgcoporum." mft. EccL L. vi. c. ix. Saic.v. p. 323. 48 Origin of the (SKfice. [PART II. M. A. de Dominis 1 , Stillingfleet, Downame, Colet, Richard, Blondel, Brett, Pegge, Nelfon, and others. The fact fpeaks for itfelf ; and, as Morin has obferved, the words of the thirteenth canon of the Pavian council (^.D.DCCCL.), repeated in that of Rome or Ravenna (A.D. DCCCCIV.), indirectly confirm the correctnefs of our view. The canon referred to is an important one; and there- fore I quote it in full, with fome of its annexed gloffes : I z> ' cr ; r Greff ' v IX> " Propter qlJiduam erga populum DEI curam, Jingulis plebibus arcfttprcsbgttros pr&ejje volumus ; quinonfolum comment, foi. imperiti vulgi folicitudinem gerant, verum etiam eorum fjf'cof'io7o m & P res byterorum, quiper minor es titulos (ecclejias gl. Hoft.) Toe" XI L habitant, vitam jugi circunifpectione cuftodiant, et qua Canonet Cand- unufquifquc induftr'id divinum opus exerceat> epifcopofuo renuntient (quod folus epifcopus eft judex ordinarius in Jua dyocefi de jure communi, gl. Hoft.) Nee obtendat epifcopus non egere plebem arc^tprrsbgttro ; quq/i ipfe earn gubernare valeat ; quia etji valde idoneusjit, decet tamen ut partiatur onera Jua ; et Jicut ipfe matrici ecde/ia (cathedrali, majori titulo, gl. Hoft.) pr&eft, ita arcfjipres- bgtcrt prcE/int plebibus*, ut in nullo titubet ecclejiajlica (') See M. A. de Dominis de Republicd Eccle/iafticd, L. n. c. ix. p. 291. (*) In accordance with which prefidency over the eccleftee baptifmales of the country, here denominated plebcg, the earlieA attel^ation of the country archprie^t, which has come under my notice, gives him the title of atchiptedbsttr De plcbe. It is fubfcribed to a grant of Benedict, Murmtori Antiq. bimop of Adria, A.D. MLIV. " Petrus atchtprcdbjjtec De plebe Sancti The cited Pavian canon being an important document, the reader will col. 413. not deem the remarks of Muratori upon it irrelevant. " Ex his habes" fays this laborious compiler," rurifuiffe matrices five primarias parochias, plebit SECT. I.] CLVI ' (J. D. MCLII.), in the abbey of Mellifont, or, as fome fay, at Kells or Kenanufe in Meath, "inter alias falubres cc.M.B.etu. conftitutiones, time et ibidem factas, ut decedentibus cfior= eptscopis, et exiliorum fedium epifcopis in Hibernid, in eorum locum eligerentur, et fuccederent atc&tpresbptnt a diocefanis conjiituendi, qui cleri et plebis folkitudinem partibus tjecani quidam vd arrinpwsfcgtcri ad agendas vices epifcoporum, feu archidiaconorum, et terminandas caufas ecclejiafticas fub annuo precio ftatuuntur, quod ad facerdotum gravamen, et fubverfionem judi- ciorum non eft dubium redundare, id ulterius fieri prohibemus. Quod fi quis de ctetero fecerit, removeatur a clero : epifcopus autem, qui hoc fuftinuerit, et ecclejiajlicam jurifdictionem fud patitur dtffimulatione perverti, dijirictione canonicd percellatur' Ita refert can. Quoniam. Ne prcelati vices Juas fyc. Defiit, ut opinor, hand diu poftea heec cor- ruptela, fed tccant^ fua nihilominus manfit jurifdiclio, quam defcribit concilium Colonienfe. ' Quofdam accepimus' inquit, ' impedire tier ano? vuralcS quominus poffint officia, et jurifdictionem fuam exercere, fynodos libere celebrare, et exceffus corrigere, qui et ipji intelligant fe excommunicationem a jure, et canonibus latam incurrere.' ' E 2 52 Origin of tfce . It prefents to our view the effigy of Bifliop Swillington in ponlificalibus, (landing in a tabernacle, with a heart in his right hand, and a crofs in his left. The coat under- neath the figure is, a fefle charged with three pellets between three tons, and the infcription runs s . DOINI . TOME . EPISC . PHILADELPHIENCIS. Thomas Swillington, Pegge tells us, was prebendary of Stow in Lind- fey, in the church of Lincoln, and appointed Suffragan to John Long- land, bifhop of that fee, with the title of Philadelphia, July 15, MDXXXIII. "The exercife of his epifcopal function was confined to the two archdea- conries of Lincoln and Leicefter. SECT. II.] Seang Mural in SEnglanD. ^arochial Utgg. 57 SECTION II. THE ORIGIN OF Ucang Uuial IN ENGLAND. INSTITUTION OF PARISHES AND PAROCHIAL CLERGY. BEFORE the divifion of parifhes, the endow- ment of parochial churches, and incardina- tion of presbyters in country cures, it were vain, of courfe, to look for teans rural in England 1 . A few remarks, therefore, on thefe prelimi- nary meafures, will neither be uninterefting, nor irrele- vant. They will aid us in our inveftigation of the fpecific fubject of the prefent fection the origin of the fricanal office in our own ifland. (*) " Vox TT(xpoixifx. parcecia in antiquis ecclefite Jcriptoribus et canoni- Bevereirii Cod bus conciliomm, territorium, fedem, five dilionem ad epifcopum perti- Can. EccL Prim, nentem perpetud Jignificat : quo feiiju hodie vox dicece/is a nobis vulgo u/urpatur, adeo ut unufquifque epi/copus fuam haberet napotxiav, quam epifcopali autoritate gubernabat" But, fubfequently, it came to fignify a parish, as at prefent underftood ; in which fenfe it is ufed by Theo- _, Theodoret. doret, in his epiftle to Leo M. and in the feventeenth canon of the oecu- Epift.m. menic council of Chalcedon. See P. de Marca de. C. S. et I. Lib. 11. ^o/g' c. xin. 3. Bilfon's Perpetuall Gouvernement ofChriftes Church, chap. n. Tom - P- 467. p. 184. Edit. MDxcm,and Slater's Anfwer to Lord Chancellor King's En- quiry, &c. pp.31, feqq. (which, by the way, fo far fatisfied his lordfliip, that he gave the author fome preferment; though the diflenters continue to quote his lordfhip's Primitive Ckriftianity as if it had never been abundantly refuted, even to the conviction of its noble author) alfofee Burton's Ecclef. Lectures, xn. p. 359. 58 Origin of the (JXftce. [PART II. The napotKia was here, at firft, as elfewhere, the Stot- Confecration sermon, p 25. & ^^ (p/fife Suicer. T. E. in v. d/oiWnc. v.) the whole Dffencf, B. 11. v _ ' c.i. p. s epifcopal diftrict in which the bifhop and his clergy Kennett s Caft _ r r ' of imprvpria. lived together at the cathedral 1 or mother-church (fo tioni. Tub initio. v suiiinirfleet'8 called, fays Panormitan, " quia ficiit mater general, ita et fror*f,Yoi'iii. ecclefea baptiftnalis regenerat" Tom. n. p. 73), and per- c.wdrey of Pa- formed in one fpot the public offices of religion to the feqq^' ' congregated worfhippers of a whole diocefe ; or fupplied Burnefi Pafto- J r/ core, c. x. the tew widely-lcattcred chapels, field-churches, or ora- Southej 's Hift. . . , - , . . of the church, tones, in the more remote parts of the country, with pp.79,feqq. fpiritual inftruction and confolation, by the inftrumenta- lity of itinerant priefts ; who themfelves, here and there, erected fuch local houfes of prayer, out of the means fupplied by the liberality of bifhops and contributions of converts ; while the munificence of pious kings and princes, in places of the greateft refort, gave being to cathedrals or diocefan temples. yfjthel^i Churches were, doubtlefs, erected here, foon after the p - 250 - firft preaching of the Gofpel 2 probably in the firft The Defcription ( l ) " Thefe churches are called cathedrall," fays Holinfhed, " bicaufe nj EnglantL,E.\\. t jj e bifhops dwell or lie neere unto the fame, as bound to keepe continuall refidence within their jurisdictions, for the better overfight and gouver- nance of the fame : the word being derived d, cathedra, that is to faie a chaire or feat where he refteth, and for the molt part abideth. At the firft, there was but one church in everie jurisdiction, wherinto no man entred to praie, but with fome oblation or other toward the maintenance of the paftor : for as it was reputed an infamie to pafle by anie without \ ill t ;ition : fo it was a no lefle reproch to appeare emptie before the Lord. And for this occalion, alfo, they were builded verie huge and great, for otherwife they were not capable of fuch multitudes as came dailie unto them, to heare the word, and receive the facraments." Collier's Ecclrf. ( 8 ) To what particular apoftle Britain is more immediately beholden tain, B. i. Cent. f r * ts acquaintance with the truths of C'hriflianity, it is faid to I. pp. 3. 6, leqq. b e SECT. II.] Ueaws &ural in lEnglant. parochial Urgg. 59 century : for, though the earlieft teachers may have congregated their auditors at crofles in the open air ; it is inconceivable, how Chriftianity could be long and ex- tenfively received amongft the people, in fuch a climate as ours, without churches 1 , or, at leaft, fome convenient houfes, or other places in the nature of churches, ap- pointed for the exercife of devotion. And we know, on Tertuiiian. ad- incontrovertible evidence, that, in the fecond century, |?{i2. /lw Britain had generally received the Gofpel the " Bri- tannorum inacceffa Romanis loca" were, in Tertullian's words, " Chrifto fubdita." Nor lefs certain is the infti- Lloyd's church ,. * , . n . ~ , , Government of tution ot bilhops 2 , prielts, and deacons, among us ; Great Britain, c. m. p. 71, feqq. be difficult to determine. But the evidence which proves that a Chrif- SeealfoNelfon's tian church was planted here by fome of the apoftles, and moft probably t m p ai ft ff %p e f by the great apoftle of the Gentiles, is afluredly entitled to grave confi- tivals, chap. xi. deration. The reader, who maybe defirous of purfuing the fubject (too Pj extenfive to be here incidentally difcufied), will find all he can require to eftablifh St. Paul's claim, in Bifhop Stillingfleet's Origines Britannicte, chap. i. pp. 35, feqq. ; Bifhop Burgefs's very learned " Tracts on the Origin and Independence of the Ancient British Church," (2d Edit. London, MDCCCXV) ; " Remarks on the Weftern Travels of St. Paul," (London, MDCCCXX) ; " A Charge to the Clergy ofSarum" (MDCCCXXIX), pp. 11, feqq. ( x ) ProfefTor Burton fays, there is no evidence of Chriftians aflembling Lectures on in what would now be called a church, before the third century. The Lect'*xin ' charge of having neither altars, images, nor temples, was brought againft p- 279. them as late as the beginning of the third century. Still I think they muft have had buildings of fome kind or other for their religious worfhip in Britain before this date. Bede fays the Britifh Chriftians reftored their churches after the Dioclefian perfecution. So that they muft have exifted before that event. See Brett's Account of Church Government &c. p. 169. SdEdit. ( 2 ) The council of Aries in France (A.D. cccxiv.) was attended by Lloyd's Church three Britilh bishops (probably the three metropolitans of York, London, Government, and Caerleon ?), by one presbyter, and one deacon : all of whom Cave's Church / i_r -u j Government, fubicribed, P-T . p . 2 45. (>0 Origin of the Office. [PART II. whereby the form of church-government was complete, and, fpiritually fpeaking, the Britilh church fully efta- blifhed. See Dr. Burton's Thoughts on the Separation of Church and State t pp. 3, feqq. Strong, however, and uninterrupted as is the evidence of a vifible church 1 in thefe realms, through, what is Annott. in Can. fubfcribed, or rather prefixed their names. " Unde Jlmul conflat" fays CoHt.Nictrn. \. _. _ ./. % / . Synod. Tom. n. Biftiop Beveridge, " non eptjcvpos tantum, Jed presbyteros et dtaconos Routh's Rtli ^** diebus h\c conftitutos effi-, ac proinde perfeclam etiam eccle/iam, toto Sacra, VoL iv. ecclefiafticariun perfonarum mimero abfolutam." (Vide plura in loco.) ////h/ry of the '^ le C| w/afe* of Britain, at the time alluded to, were thirty-three ; of Anglo-Saxmt, which thirty were in England and Wales : and Mr. Turner thinks that the VoL i. B. i. c. J vni.pp.83,r'qq. ecclefiaftical concerns of each civitas were regulated by a diocefan bifhop; over whom was a fuperior bifliop in each province, anfwerable to our metropolitans, though not diftinguiflied with the title of archbilhops. See Wharton de Epifcopis Londitienfibus, pp. 4, 5. and Whitaker's Hiftory of Manchester, VoL i. B. i. c. xi. pp. 402, feqq. Matth. Weftmo- () The light of the Gofpel having been introduced into Britain, was nafl ad. aim. A . ,, , ,., , . - . , . . . . 5g6, never afterwards extinguiflied. When driven from the interior provinces by the devaluating fword of the pagan Saxon, the Britilh church withdrew Annotationet with its hierarchy into the faftnefies of Wales and Cornwall ; and was Ntc**. Primi, tnere exifting as an apoltolical, independent church, (" tro*e^aAo?," P- 58 - fays Bimop Beveridge, " nulli extraneo epi/copo, fed Juo Jbli metropo- L. i. cap. xxv. Utano fubjacens,") when Auguftine arrived in the Ifle of Thanet (A.D. L.v cap. xxiv. DXCVI ^ jj a y more preferving its integrity for a century and a half and beyond, after the monk had commenced, with his forty coadjutors, the labours of re-converting the then heathenized inhabitants of the interior of the ifland. See the bifliop of St. Afaph'a admirable annota- tions on the fixth Nicene canon ; Borlafe's State of Chriftianity in Cornwall, HI. p. 340. Antiq. of Cornwall ; Cave's Differtation con- cerning the Government of the Ancient Church, c. v. pp. 248, feqq., and Soames's Bampton Lectures, p. 453. The evidence of each fucceffive age moft clearly proves, as Biftiop Burgefs has long fmce fhewn in his profound and accurate refearches on the fubject, that Chriftianity was at no period extirpated from Bri- tain. (Set Pagitt's Chrijlianographie, P. in. pp. 6, feqq. ; The Conti- nuance SECT. II.] Dcanji &utal in lEnglanfc. ^atocfttal lergg. 61 called, the Britifh period of our ecclefiaftic hiftory, viz. the firft fix hundred years after Chrift there is no trace of a parochial clergy in the modern acceptation of the Bishop of Lin- " J A coln's(Wake)Ft- term : nay more for two centuries, or nearly fo, after fitation charge, J MDCCIX. p. 26. nuance of Chri/iianity in Britaine ; and Roberta's Appendix, N. vi. Hiftory of the Ancient British Church ; and Bifhop Burgefs's Tracts be- fore quoted, pp. 96. 125, feqq. In the firft century we have the preaching of the Gofpel in Britain by the great apoftle of the Gentiles IIi/Ao? xrjpvl; yevojj.evos iv re rfj Cleme " s R- uva.TO\rj x< EN TH AY2EI tiiKouoffvvijv 3 V- p- 245 ' award him the plenary praife of Michael Drayton's mufe, as " That good king, to whom we chiefly owe Drayton's Po- This happinefs we have, Chrift crucified to know." JSaT' ^ 8 ' See Stevenfon's Supplement to Bentham's Ely, Remarks, pp. 145, feqq. Selden's notes, " King Lucius." Hale's Primitive Church of the British I/les, pp. 1 06, p ' feqq., andRoberts's Chronicle of the Kings of Britain, B. in. pp. 90, 91. and notes. In the third and fourth, the Dioclefian perfecution " omnibus fere ? eda5 E.H.G.A. *-i- 1- capp.vi. vi i. anteactis diuturnior atque immanior" in which St. Alban, our proto- Henr. Hunting- martyr, and Aaron and Julius, " legionum urbis cives," and many p .305/ ' I- others, fell. In the fourth, the prefence of a deputation of Britifh bifhops at the Bingham's Ec- councils of Aries {A.D. cccxiv.), Sardica {A.D. CCCXLVII.), and Arimi- c.vi. 2o!&ote num {A.D. CCCLIX.) " the moft avouchable evidence," in Fuller's words, j**- " of Chriftianity flourifliing in this ifland in this age" Cent. iv. B. i. p. 24. " When the primer church her councils pleaPd to call, Drayton's Po- Great Britain's bishops there were not the leaft of all, lyoUnm, Song 8. Againft the Arian feet at Aries having room, At Sardica again and at Ariminum." In Origin of t&e fftee. [PART the landing of Auguftine and his companions in the Ifle of Thanet (A. D. DXCVI.), we are told by a high authority in thefe matters, Archbiihop Wake, " there were no fuch things as either parim-churches, properly fo called, or Bed* E.H.G.A. In the fifth, the fynod of Verulam (againft Pelagianifm ; which, at that cc M ^B^etH ti" 10 ' i* 1 Bede's language, "Jidem Britannorum fcedd pefte commacula- Voi. i. p. i. ac. verat") where were prefent, in addition to the Britifh prelacy, Ger- manus bifhop of Auxerre, and Lupus bifhop of Troyes " Apojlolici patres," " qui ad confirmandam Jidem gratia coeleftis Britannias venenint." See Smith's nota ad Bedam, p. 54 ; Carte's General Hi/lory of England, Vol. i. B. HI. in. pp. 182, feqq., and Dr. Hales's Primitive Church of the British IJles, p. 131. Bed* E.H.G.A. In the fame century a fecond fynod, three years afterwards, againft ^ ame nere fy at which attended Germanns again, and Severus bilhop c. 38. wauns's of Triers, a difciple of Lupus. When, likewife, the inceftuous marriage ? Britm. acJl49. f King Vortigern with his own daughter was condemned by the bifhop of Auxerre and the whole British clergy in council afiembled. Grier's Epitome In the fame century two or more Irilli fynods recorded by Wilkins: f.83, % nCiU> and others again, which the induftry of Sir W. Betham has lately brought to light, held about the year CCCCL. (Irish Antiquarian Refearches.) CC.M.B.etH. In the lixth, the celebrated fynod of Menevia a general convention mc519 P f ^ ^ e bifliops and clergy on account of the Pelagian controverfy, at Llanddewi Brefi, under Archbilliop David ; who removed the metropo- litan church from Caerleon to Mynyw " ab urbe legionum ad fuam Polyolbion, Meneviam" (" fince, holy Da\id's Seat" Drayton) St. David's. See &"selfen ; 8 2 // 3 ' Bale and Wilkins in CC. M. B. et H. Vol. i. p. 8, note; Stillingfleet's luftrationt. Qrigines, c. v. p. 348 ; Rapin's England, Vol. i. B. n. p. 43 ; and Carte's England, B. in. HI. p. 186. Tyrrell's General Hi/lory ofEngland,V6l. i. B. HI. p. 149 ; and Hoare's Giraldus Cambrenfis, VoL n. B. n. c. i. and Annotations by Sir R. C. H. In the fame the f >' nod of V 1010 "^ alfo in w a!es, for the confirmation tain, B. i. Cent of the acts of the preceding fynod of Menevia. (Ex Giraldo Cambrens. : de VUd S. David, lect 9.) ^ n ^ e ^ event ^ tne nieeting of the bifhops or doctors of the Britons L.II. cap. n. with Auguftine at Auguftinaes-ac ; and at a fecond fuller fynod, when Volf r 'p?24 e ' See ^ Britin ' bifhops (feptem Britonum epifcopi, et plures viri doctiffimi note ex Spel- maxime de nobiliffimo eorum monafterio, quod vocatur lingitd Anglorum man. ibid. n Rancor- SECT. II.] 29ean/ exactly known. In the Britim times it doubtlefs com- menced ; though little or no teftimony, as I have faid, is extant to declare the ecclefiaftical ufages of thofe primi- Bedsr Hift.EccL tive times ; and, after a period of pagan darknefs and 1 I i* XXVII V L. iv. c. xxvu. perfecution (which drove the ancient infular clergy into Wales and Cornwall), the fame economy again appears in the days of the Anglo-Saxons ; a community and col- legiate life of the biihop and his clergy being appointed for the model of the latter church by Pope Gregory at its firft eftablimment ; and the fyftem of itinerant preach- wharton 1 * De- ing and difpenfing the word and facraments, by tempo- p 74. rary minifters difpatched from the affociated body, being Alcwin. de Pon- J J tif. et sa*ct generally practifed when venerable Bede " presbyter Ebor. v. 1289. 6 J V f y SECT. II.] Deang Mural in latujlanD. ^arochial lergg. 69 eximius meritis" -finimed his church-hiftory (A.D. DCCXXXl). 1 Nay, it would appear, from his celebrated Epiftle to carte's General Archbilhop Ecgbert on the ftate of religion in North- iM4Voi.i. B. in. xvn. umbria (A.D. DCCXXXIV.), that thofe parts were almoft p P .242,feqq. utterly deftitute of fpiritual affiftance, not only from bifhops, but from miffionary presbyters alfo. The former not only neglected to vifit, in perfon, the villages and hamlets of the inacceffible and mountainous woodlands, but fent no officiating minifters from the epifcopal col- lege, fupported though it was by the general fund of (*) The ufage of the Britifh church and people in refpect of itine- Bedse H.E.G.A. rancy, about the year ccccxc, has been already declared, in a pafiage cited from the J&5b. Hiftory of Llandajf. " If any credit is to be given Wharton's De- to the ancient lives and legends of the British, bifliops and faints, this fa. ce f^ ura - was the practice at that time in the British church : That the bifhops at their cathedrals, and holy abbots and doctors in feveral parts of the dio- cefe, fhould educate and maintain great numbers of priefts in a collegiate life, and prefide over them ; who in their turns (hould travel about and inftruct the lay Chriftians in all the circumjacent territories ; and that being done, return to the college, and give way to others to fucceed them in the fame employment." But, on the other fide of the queftion, fee Mr. Whitaker's remarks in his Hiftory of Manchefter, Vol. n. B. n. c. ix. ii., and alfo Epift. Gildae. Scriptores, xv. pp. 23, feqq. Increpatio in Clerum. In reference to the Englifh Saxons (A.D. DCLXIV.), itiqerancy is point- edly fhewn in the following anecdotes of our great ecclefialtical hifto- rian " .Si quis facerdotum in vicum forte devenerit, mox congregati in unum vicani verbum vitce ah illo expetere curabant. Nam neque alia ipfis facerdotibus aut clericis vicos adeundi, quam prcedicandi, bapti- zandi, infirmos vi/itandi, et (ut breviter dicarri) animas curandi, caufa fuit" And before, in the fame chapter " ubicunque clericus aliquis aut monachus adveniret, gaudejiier ab omnibus tanquam Dei famulus exciperetur. Etiamfi in itinere pergens inveniretur, accurrebant, etflexd cervice vel manu Jignari, vel ore illiusfe benedici gaitdebant. Ferbis quoque 70 rigtn of the (Office. [PART II. the diocefan tithes *, levied on the deferted diftricts Epift.v. Bed " Audivimus enirn etfama ejl" writes the presbyter to !*///. Edit, his metropolitan, " quia multa villa ac viculi no/free gen- 1.25. t] tis in montibus fmt inacceffis etfaltibus dumojis pojiti, ubi nunquam multis tranfeuntibus annis Jit vifus Antijles qui ibidem aliquid minijterii aut gratia ccelejiis exhibuerit, quorum tamen nee unus quidem a tributis Antijliti red- dendis effe pqffit immunis ; nee folum talibus locis dejit Antijles, qui manus impojitione baptizatos confirmet f ve- riim etiam omnis doctor, qui eos vel jidei veritatem, vel difcretionem bonce ac mala actionis edoceat, abfit." The archbiftiop himfelf being unable to attend to all quoque horum exhortatorils diligenter auditum prabebant" &c. And Ub.iv. C.XXVH. again elfewhere " Erat quippe moris eo tempore populis Anglorum, ut veniente in villam clerico vel presbytero, cuncti ad ejus imperium verbum audituri confluerent, libenier ea qua; dicerentur audirenl, liben- tius ea quoB audire et intelligere poterant operandofequerentur." Facilities of local worlhip were then moll rare. Churches were very c "iv" " widely fcattered. In the part of Northumbria, denominated Bernicia, (Northumberland and the South of Scotland between the Tweed and Firth of Forth) we are aflured, on the high authority of Bede (A.D. DC xxxv.), there was no church or altar erected " nullum Jidei Chrif- tianee fignum, nulla ecckfia, nullum altare, &c" fave only the church of St Ofwald. In Deira (Lancafter, York, Weftmoreland, Cumberland, and Durham) no oratories, or baptifteries, fave one bafillca alone in the villa regia of Campodonum. For an account of the ftructure and mate- rials of many Saxon churches, fee Turner's Hi/lory of the Anglo-Saxons, Vol. ii. B. xn. c. v. pp. 415,feqq., and Hart's Medu lla Conciliorum, c. v. pp. 38, feqq. Kennett'sCa/e (') While the neceflities of the country were thus upon occafion fup- w lpr T. r ' P lied ' li did not alter the ftate ^ *k e eccle(iaftic al patrimony ; which ft ill remained invelted in the bilhop for the common ufes of religion, as devoted folely to God and his clergy. Out of the general fund the bimop gave to each officiating minifter the dividend to which he was entitled for the fpiritual duties he performed at the bilhop's mandate. SECT. II.] Iteang &ural in lEnglanD. ^arocftfal letgg. 7 1 the miniftrations of religion in all parts of his vaft dio- cefe, the writer urges the appointment of affiftant itine- rant presbyters and teachers " quia latiora Junt fpatia Ejujd. P . 306. locorum, qu& ad gubernacula tiuz dicecefis pertinent, quam utjblus per omnia difcurrere, et injingulis viculis atque agellis verbum Dei prtedicare, etiam anni totius emenfo curricula, fufficias ; necejfariumfatis eft, utplures tibijacri operis adju tores adfcifcas, presbyteros videlicet ordinando, atque inftituendo doctores, qui in Jingulis viculis prcedicando Dei verbo, et confecrandis myfteriis coelejlibus, ac maxime peragendis facris baptifmatis qffi- ciis, ubi opportunitas ingruerit, injiftant." At this date, then, we may conclude, the fyftem of miffions from the epifcopal college, ill fupported as it was in certain parts of Northumbria, was the only mode of propagating the truths of the Gofpel amongft the unconverted, and fupplying the returning wants of fpi- B ' IX ' c> VI "' 6 ' ritual miniftration amongft the faithful. At leaft, the only material modification of it (if modification it can be called) was in fuch parts of the country, as Chrif- tianity mqfl prevailed, wherein, fays Bifhop Stillingfleet, stunngfleet's ,.,,. , . Pref. to Ecckf. '' encouragement was given tor building churches, at a cb/, works, convenient diftance from the cathedral, and fettling a number of presbyters together there, which were after- wharton's re- wards called collegiate churches : to which the great p?68. q and devout men of that time gave liberal endowments, that they might the better attend the fervice of God there, and in the country about them." Whence other zealous intinerants, again, iffued forth upon the fame footing as from the epifcopal college, to convert and inftruct the circumjacent inhabitants ; and continued fo to do, as long as the miffionary fyftem of evangelizing 7-2 Origin of tfce Office. I^ART II. prevailed till, in fhort, the country was parochialized. And when did this important innovation take place ? The idea of parifties, viewed in the light of " diftricts bounded in regard of the profits from the people therein," church Hift. in Fuller's words, " payable only to a paftor incumbent shriek''/ '' there," is inconfiftent with the community of ecclefi- S^mcLix! aflical profits jointly enjoyed by the biftiop and his clergy during the greater part of the eighth century. But towards its clofe, Chriftianity having rapidly ad- Bishop of ijn- vanced, and " devotion," to ufe Selden's phrafe, " having c)rg',ccix. grown firmer," the eftablilhment of proper parochial Keren's Ca/e cures was generally commenced by the bifhops l and kings 2 , in their refpective manors, and, more efpecially, by the opulent thegns 3 , the great landed proprietors of Bed* E.H.G.A. (') " Birinus epi/copus Dorcincse &c. . . . factis dedicatijque eccle Lib.m.cap.vii. y^, mu ltijque ad Dominum pro ejus labore popidis advocatis, migravit ad Dominum." Uhitaker's (*) " Inter alias qua* fabricavi ecclejias, &c." Carta Ethelberti Re- "^ Senate. S in Monaft. Anglican. Tom. i. p. 24. The earlieft lay foundations of churches noticed by Bede, are thofe before cited of Counts Puch and Addi (circiter A.D. DCC.) but about A.D. DCCC. they appear to have been common, if we may credit the charters of confirmation made by Bertulph, king of Mercia, and others, to the abbey of Crowland, on the authority of Ingulphus. Bumct's Pafto- ( 3 ) To this origin we trace the hiftory of private patronage: the rat ^\ re ner > X - manorial lords, having founded and endowed local churches out of their ma*'* Affi/tant. own private refources, obtained, in return for their liberality, the right of prefenting to each a competent paftor, approved by the bilhop, and amenable to his jurifdiction, for inltitution and induction to the fame. Soames on Pa- And our churches, to all appearance, are ft ill, generally, prefentable to t'wOn Brit. ty the legal representatives of the very parties who built them originally, magazine, formally fettling upon them, refpectively, at the fame time, from land of N. xx. p. 285. . . their own, a dowry of glebe, and the tithes of their own eftates. See Dr. Bruton's Thoughts on the Separation of Church and State, pp. 7, feqq. SECT. II.] 19an0 &ural in ^nglano. ^arochtal Icrgg. 73 the Anglo-Saxons, who were defirous of the benefit of reftdent priefts, for themfelves and vaffals, on their own extenlive domains, and of having the limits of the fame made permanent ecclefiaftical divilions, within which they might partake of the offices of religion, without being compelled to have recourfe to a diftant cathedral, collegiate, or mother church. Thefe foundations had, comer's Ecdej. probably, proceeded more rapidly, had it not been for the tain, B. m. - ill! j e 4.- a if A i PP- 229 ' fe ii- mania 1 then dominant of erecting monaltenes (lo ftrongly animadverted on by Bede), which in many diftricts diverted the bounty of the rich from the more falutary direction of parochial eftablifhments. However, by de- grees, each eftate and commenfurate parifh obtained its appropriate place of worfhip a filial church fubordinate to the maternal temple of the diocefe, with a refident incumbent and diftinct endowment of its own 2 . So much being ' ( reftrained from the common treafury of wharton-s o e - the diocefe," and perpetually annexed, with the bifhop's *STp 9o." r ' fanction, to each new creation, as was fufficient for the 0) King Edgar boafted that he had erected forty-feven monafteries. Turner's Hift.of (*) To the following beautiful cpifode of the Hiftorian of Craven, not ns,Vol. i.p.398. inappofite to the text at this point, the reader, I am fure, will readily grant the meed of approbation : " I would afk," fays Mr. Whitaker, " whether, TheHift. &An- at the foundation of parishes, and for many centuries after, it were pof- DwnerJof Cra- fible to devife a method of fupporting an incumbent equally wife and ven &c - P- 5 - proper with that of a manfe, glebe, and tithes ? The paftor was not to be a vagrant among his flock ; an houfe therefore was to be provided for him ; he wanted the common necefiaries of life (for it was held, at that time, that even fpiritual men muft eat and drink), and money there was none to purchafe them ; a moderate allotment, therefore, of land was alfo required. But the growth of grain, a process which demands much care and attention, would have converted the incumbent, as it has been well and frequently urged of late, into an illiterate farmer. It was proper, therefore, 74 Origin of the i / J _J cArirr.Mix:cix. oi many generations leveral caules and perlons con- fpiring to it as Selden, Wharton, Stillingfleet, Wake, t's Cafe and Kennett, have abundantly proved. And, againft ^T.'reqq. the authority of fuch writers, fo profoundly learned in ecclefiaflical antiquities, few, I mould think, will be mftory of Man- found to fubfcribe to Mr. Whitaker's bold and gratuitous P. 37i/ aflertion, that " all parifties were formed immediately on the Saxon converfion, or even eftablifhed previoufly for \Vhitker'8//i/i. (') This Clovefhoe, where feveral councils were held in the eighth of Manchrfter, an( j n i nt h ce nturies, has been generally, but wildly, fuppofed to be Cliff, at HI.,, in Kent It was certainly in Mercia, as the kings of Mercia were conftantly prefent And it was plainly Glevum, Clevum, or Glou- cefter, being Clou's or Clove's Hoo or caftle, and Gloucefter being alfo part of Mercia at that time. SECT. II.] Seang ttural in IcnglanD. |Javori)ial Urgg. 77 ages among the Britons of the provinces." See Black- ftone's Commentaries, Introduction, iv. Leaving, however, this much-ventilated fubject the obfcurity of which is not a little increafed by the dif- ferent interpretations of the word parochia it will fuf- fice for us that a large number of parochial fettlements were appointed towards the clofe of the eighth century, and, by its completion, the ecclefiaftical divifion of dio- cefes, and " parochial limits of the parifhioners' devo- wbarton-s n e - tions," were grown fufficiently common for the ordinary ties% 8$ ur inftruction of the people to be wholly left to the parijh Tyth^c.s i\ priejis, and itinerancy entirely abolifhed *. How foon, after the organization of the rural clergy upon this new footing, arcfjpresbpters were appointed to overlook them and their flocks, it is difficult to deter- mine. Scope is afforded for the commencement of their infpectional fervices, in aidance of the bimop, at the date referred to : but it does not appear, that they were called into being till more than two centuries after. At leaft, no church-record affords any tidings of them within the writer's knowledge. In France, the firft foundation of parifh churches and ordinary cures was much earlier than in England ; and fo alfo was the (wan arcfjipresbptt ral inftitution of higher (') Presbyters are often recorded in Domesday-book as refident, where there is no mention of churches, and are fuppofed to have given titles to places fo circumftanced as Prieffs-town or Prefton, Prefcot, Preft-wich &c. : in the fame way as kirks, churches, or ecclejiee, when fuch edifices were rare, gave to the favoured towns, or villages around them, the names of Kirkby, Kirkham, Ormeskirk, Eccles, Eccles-ton, Eccles-hall, &c. The etymology of Croft-ton, perhaps, may be traced to fome cruciform object of adoration. 78 Origin of the <9fficc. [PART II. antiquity in the former than in the latter country. In French councils and capitularies, mention is made of rural parifhes 1 and priefts in the fifth century, and of arcfcprrsbmers in the fixth. But, probable as it is, that the whole machinery of the Gallican church-police 2 would fpeedily find its way into Britain, from the conftant intercourfe between the Muratori Antiq. ( ' ) And in Italy, according to Muratori, parochial divisions were as vi.col.359,fe(iq! early as the fourth century. "Adfaculum vulgaris epocha quartum prtpcipue pertinet parceciarum. Jive ut appellare Jblemus, parochiarum divifu), et affignata parocho cuicumque populi portio regenda. Et primo quidem inftituti fuere parochi in urbibus, turn in agris, ut Chrif- tianorum multitudini in dies crefcenti paftorum preefentium ope faci- lius confuleretur. Baptifmales autem ecclefite procedente tempore ejuf- modi ecclefia; appellatee funt, quod baptifterium etjusbaptizandijideles, antea uni urbls cujufque ecclefice refcrvatum, commune factum fuit cum ruralibus quoque parochialibus ecclefiis, ne in incommodum infantium baptisandorum vergeret nimia facri fontis diftantia. Ruralium dixi: nam quod eft ad urbanas parochias, longs ferius iis facta eft venia mi- nijlrandi baptifmatis. Nempe olim erat cuicumque civitati una bap- ttfmalis bq/ilica, plerumque penes cathedralem, ad quam deferre opus erat quoslibet civitatis pueros facrd undd luftrandos Plebes quoque nuncupabantur parochiales ccclejiee, unde ad nos manavit Tta- lica vox Pieve. Plebis quippe nomine olim dejignabatur collectio Jide- lium,Jub uno facer dote pojita : quofenfu etiam dicecefes interdum occur- runt appellatee pltbes" &c. With the firft part of this ftatement on rurales parochite, Thomaflin alfo agrees. See his Fetus et Nova Ecclefite Difciplina, Tom. I. P. i. L. n. c. xxn. x. p. 292. The authority (*) "That there was all along, in thefe days, a very near affinity Prince' %xr between the polity of France, and that of our own country, in its eccle- Synod*,&c. fialiical, as well as in its civil eftablilliment, might from many instances evidently be made appear," fays Archbifhop Wake. See alfo Hales's Hift. of Ancient Primitive Church of the British IJles, p. 68 ; Collectanea Cambrica, N. vi.; and Roberts'* I'ifitation Sermon, MDCCCXII. notes p. 20, and Appendix, N*. vi. p. 316. SECT. II.] Beans Mural (n isnglanD. $awf)tal @Urgg. 79 two countries ; fuch does not appear to have been the cafe as to this particular department of fpiritual office. The fyftem of country arcjitpusfogteratts or tocanatts, with their attached fuperintendants, does not appear amongft us till the eleventh century owing, perhaps, to the magnitude of our firft parochial divifions, and paucity of diftinct congregations and incumbencies, which for a time called not for fuch appointments. Befides fuch as they were, they were vifited, every year, by the highefl ecclefiaftical officer. The bifhops annually " went about stiiiingfleet's , . i Eccl Ca S es > their diocefes in order to an inquiry and correction of voi.i. P . 145. mifcarriages," vifiting parochially every church, and manfe, and paftor, and flock. They vifited, indeed, be- fore the divifion of parifhes at all. The council of Clovelhoe, under Archbifhop Cuthbert, orders diocefans to vifit their paroch'uz (diocefes) once a year, and to teach the people of all conditions and of both fexes " utpote eos qui rard audiunt verbum DEI;" prohibiting cc.M.s.etH. * "* A o y i t> pp 95 all pagan obfervances &c. (can. in.) ; and the fame in- i- 213. junction is repeated in the council of Celcyth (A.D. DCCLXXXV. can. m.). After the divifion of parilhes, an- nual epifcopal vifitations continued to be parochially made, as appears from the conftitutions of Archbifhop Odo (A.D. DCCCCXLIII. can. in.) ; " the biftiops going Johnfon>s - i i -I -I about their dioceles every year, and vigilantly preaching the word of God." While, then, church-difcipline was thus fupported by the diocefan in his own perfon throughout the whole parochia, we have no reafon to expect the introduction of any official deputies ; and none accordingly are found between the bifhop and presbyter with any office or jurisdiction in the diocefe at large. By degrees, however, 80 <&rtSn of the s ,voi. found to modern ears, and fcarce credible after all the P .228. ravages of the Danes in the ninth century 1 ) was a fub- ject of complaint : the new foundations, by the fubtrac- LL. Eccief s. tion of large portions of tithe of the primary dotations, M.s.etH.Voi greatly impoverifhed the old parochial incumbencies " Multis in locis modd Jiint tres vel quatuor ccde/ia, ubi tune temporis una tantum erat, et jic (decimtf Jingulorum Jacerdotum) cceperant minui." (A.D. MLII.) The mainte- johnfonWn nance of officiating priefts was much leflened from this Church o/sZg- additional caufe that the clergy, having been in affluence ffi? ' while their larger pariflies were undivided, did not at JSf' 8 ' that time exact their rights to the full ; and the fame (*) Alfred's interefting allufion to thefe ravages, in his Preface, while Turner's Hi ft. of contrafting the former and then ftate of the kingdom, mews the number ^\o\.i.^\. of well-furnifhed churches in the ninth century to have been confide- c i-p- 296 - rable . ..." I alfo remember," fays the king, " how I faw, before that every thing was ravaged and burnt, that the churches through all the Englifh nation ftood full of veflels and books, and alfo of a great many of the fervants of God &c. ! " The churches, at that time, were, for the moft part, built of wood, and therefore foon deftroyed by fire. G 82 Origin of the (IMite. [PART II. being neglected were, in a great meafure, fubfequently loft : while, at the fame time, the very cantonment of the tithes amongft a greater number of poor clerks ren- dered their payment more neceflary. faSypiwai However, notwith (landing the complaints of the pri- >p.98, 99. mary foundations, the fecondary flructures advanced, gradually and progreffively, to the ftate of perfect bene- fices, and were invefled with diftinct glebe and tithes, apart from the mother-parim-church, as the latter, in its day, had been portioned off from the cathedral endow- ment * . Before, or about, the time of the Confeflbr, this innovation on the elder parochial divifion was com- pleted ; and the ecclefiaftical bounds of parifhes gene- rally fixed, as they have fince obtained throughout Eng- land (fee LL. Eccl. Edgar. R. cc.vi. ix. xv. Canut. R. c. XHI) the diverfity of our prefent parilhes in fize ori- ginating in the endlefs diverfity of the feveral circum- ferences of the founders' pofleffions. To reduce and preferve the multiplied parochial cures within the pale of difcipline, we may fuppofe, that, about this time, a certain number of incumbencies or prestojj- terates were thrown together, and conftituted an arcfti- noeuigii eh/, prestogterate 9 " diftrictus arcfnpresbgtett ruralis" at the Tom. i. in voce. _ _ ___________ ^ _ _____ _ ____________ Gibfon's Codex (') In honour of the cathedral church, and in token of fubjection to "i^VoiV"' ^ ^ tne bifl 10 P >s fee, every parochial minifter, within the diocefe, pays to p. 171. the hilliop an annual penfion, called anciently ratlK&rnirum : which ac- knowledgment is fuppofed to have taken rife from the eftablirtiment of diftinct pari! lies, with certain revenues, and thereby the feparating of thofe diftricts from the immediate relation they had borne to the cathedral church. Mr. Johnfon feems to confider the catforDrnicum the fame as rlnivr l)-srot : fee Ancient and Prefent Church of England, Vol. i. p. 15. (*) Or the atthfpmbgUrate may reprefent Bifhop Stillingfleet's pri- mary parochial divifion, a fection of the diocefe correfponding^ to the modern SECT. II.] ISean* &utal in IcnglanD. parochial Utgg. 83 fole and arbitrary appointment of the bifhop of the dio- &Thomaffin. * V. el N. E. D- cefe; or, as population thickened, within the limits of Tom.i.'r.'n. r c. v. p. 225. v. the fame, and new churches arofe, that a certain number of contiguous cures, in clafles of fen 1 or more (the eccle- fiaftical in this matter copying the civil ftate) were fevered off from the primary jurifdiction, and modelled into fceanrtes 2 ; or, in other words, diocefes were broken into arcinpresbgtuates, and thefe again remodelled into tetanates, and placed by the diocefan under the vicarious tutelage of treans rural : who ftill preferved, in eccle- fiaftical language, the title of artfjpwsts 3 . " &rci)tpresbt|- Monn.de sacru , . . , OrtUaat.V.m. ten dicti videntur Becant," fays Morin, " eo quod antiqui- *-c. xvi. c. u. tus dicecefes erant per Irecantas divifa, quibus pr&erant arcfttpresbgtert ; ut videre eft in capital. Carol, calv. c. HI. T. in. Cone. Gallic" modern ttltal Dcanrj) ; wherein was originally one church the matrix ecclefia with its incumbent minifter ; whofe huge parifh was fubfequently cantoned into minor pgbgte*at*g ; over which the elder prieft prefided, as the plcbnnus of the continent over his minores.tituli ; and continuing to dwell at the principal town or place (the metrocomia, where was the original matrix ecclejia), exercifed, as archpdcgt, ecclefiaftical rule over the whole jurifdiction, churches, presbyters, and people. See the note from Holinfhed, below. ( J ) " Within the diocefe of Worcefter," Bifhop Stillingfleet fays, " in Preface toEccl. two t)cauavtc$ of it, there are to be found in Domesday-book above "'*"' xir ' twenty parifh churches : in the fccanatg of Warwick, ten ; and in the toanarg of Kingftone, fifteen. ( 2 ) Rapin notes, that in the days of Alfred the fecular clergy had Hift.ofEng- taken pofleffion of the monafteries, from whence the monks had been B.IV. p. 112 driven by the Danes ; and lived there in common, under the direction of an avcl)})vic$t. ( 3 ) " As the number of Chriftians increafed," writes Holinfhed in The Defcription of England, " fo firft monafteries, then firiallie parifh churches, were builded in everie jurifdiction : from whence I take our Dc.incrir G 2 churches 84- Origin of the Office. [PART 11. Some fuch ecclefiaftical arrangement as that alluded to, probably, took place in England about the middle of the eleventh century, if not earlier, in imitation of the economy long before eftablimed in the Gallican churches; '/'ft'^v'T'. whence, in iMr. Whitaker's opinion, the whole of our rltfjlfr, > oi. II. IT Jaw 5 "'*'* 1 "' fpi r it ua l police emanated. Whether, however, this no- tion be admitted or not, there were canons enough of influential councils, bearing upon the office in queftion, to make known its utility, and pave the way for its introduction from the continent into England witnefs the fecond of Tours, the Capitulars of Charlemagne, and the Pavian and Lateran councils, cited in earlier pages. In the latter it had been expreffly decreed, (both at ''' ho *7'"- y - et Ticinum and at Rome) " ut fingute plebes arcftfpresbn- N. E. D. Tom. I. J * i>. 1.1,11.0. vi. terum habeant" Where the word " plebes," Thomaf fin remarks, much to our prefent purpofe, " plurium paro- chiarum tractum dejignat, quibus con/hit unus Decanal us. Quo t plebes, to t idem debent efle arcf)ipresbmerf, qui follici- churches to have their original!, now called mother churches, and their incumbents nrrljpvcc&ts ; the rert being added fince the conqueft, either by the lords of everie towne, or zealous men, loth to travell farre, and willing to have fome eafe by building them neere hand. Unto thefe Or aunt c churches alfo the cleargie in old time of the fame Ijeanerte were appointed to repaire at fundrie feafons, there to receive wholefome ordi- nances, and to confult upon the neceflarie affaires of the whole jurifdic- tion ; if neceflitie fo required : and fome image hereof is yet to be feene in the north parts. But as the number of churches increafed, fo the repaire of the faithfull unto the cathedralls did diminilh : whereby they now become efpeciallie in their nether parts rather markets and (hops for merchandize, than folemn places of praier, whereunto they were firll erected." Second Booke, chap. i. of the Ancient and Prefente State of the Church of England, p. 135. See alfo Stavely's Hift. of Churches in England, c. vn. pp. 108, feqq. ; Stillingfleet's EccleJ'. Cafes, p. 650. and the fourfold divifion of churches there Jiated ex LL. Canuti Regis. SECT. II.] Bean* &ural in lEnglanl). ^arocfjfal (019:5. 85 tudinem gerant, non laicorum tantiim Jidelium, Jed paro- chorum. Sicut epijcopus matrici pr&efl ecclejice, ita arcfttpresbgtut prtejint plebibus, &c." By which explana- tion this arc&tpresbgtnal regiment is made to fall in with our then civil Hate as founded by Alfred; the confti- tution of which is faid to have beftowed on the firft reprefentative of the arciipriesfs office, in ante-Norman England, the title of tetanus ; as the final claufe of the fame canon, " cuncta tamen rejerant ad epi/copum," (the bifhop being the author of the appointment) diftinguimed it by the adjunct of " epifcopi" To purfue the fubject of the tean rural's origin no further it is certain, that, in the year MLII., this then important perfonage appears, for the firft time, in the tomes of the councils of Great Britain and Ireland, under the ftyle and title of Hecanus lEpistopt 1 in which LL.-EA^^. i , -P PI i n Conf.cap.31. capacity he takes cogmiance ot the violation ot the speiman. oio/. peace within his tennrg, and, with the earl and king, owon C.I.E.A. receives a fhare of the emendation or fine of .8 awarded upon it the king having one hundred mil- lings, the earl of the county fifty millings " tetanus autem episcopi in cujus tecanatu pax fracta fuerit reliquos decent" which words can be applied only to the office of rural fceans, according to the refpective diftricts which they had in the parts of every diocefe. " There could AndentGmem- * * < men t of England. be no breach of the king's peace," fays Sir H. Speiman, *jjf**" gloffing upon this canon, " but it muft alfo break the peace and unity of the church; therefore, the bifhop's fcean, in whofe fceanrp the peace was broken, had ten millings for his part of the mulct or fine thereof." O Uecanug cptgcopi " idem qui vulgd liccanusl Mutalis out !)rtg- pend.adVaca.ny. tiamtati^." Tom.n.coi.16. 8(i Origin of tfce Office. [PART II. Under the government of the Saxons the &ean rural feems to have had more to do with civil than fpiritual office, and, in that refpect, to have differed from the bfcan arcfrpresbgter of the continent of the fame and earlier date. When the arcfjipresbpterate was converted into the totcanatt, and the arcf)pwst into the titan, the office itfelf feems to have been fomewhat fecularized, and the officer made a fort of country magiftrate. But, in truth, the notices of the bean are fo fcanty, and the authority of the church and flate fo blended together among the Saxons, in fupporting the common interefts of religion and government, that we cannot pretend to explain the nature and extent of the particular duties that devolved on him in their ecclefiaftical polity apart see wukins, from their civil. As far as they go, the laws of King Not.adLL. . . . . .. i i Ercief. s. Ed*. Edward and their additaments are authentic memorials charge to ttu (' believe though Atterbury queftions, in part, their o " ry f genuinenefs) of the ecclefiaftical regime of the eleventh century ; and I would that they were more full on the fubject of our inquiry, inftead of throwing, as is the cafe, little light upon it ! code x I.E. A. The fc*an of thefe laws being called tetanus epfscopi, Vol. n.TitxLil. . - _..._ ._.- ., . rap. viu. P . HI. " without doubt, Bifnop Gibion argues," was appointed by the bifhop, to have the infpection of the clergy and people, within the diftrict in which he was incumbent, under him, and him alone." But fo much is left to conjecture, as to the conftitution of his office, that Dr. origine, Angii- Inett, drawing a different conclufion, is inclined to view r. in', p. 66. him, not as a localized functionary with a fettled diftrict of mpervifion, but rather as a fpiritual emiflary, like the archdeacon of that day, a diocefan officer, with occa- fional delegations of power from the bifhop, as circum- SECT. II.] Bean* &ural in lEnglanD. ^arocjjial letgg. 87 fiances required ; a different perfonage quite from the incumbent tean rural of after-days. And yet, the laws of the Confeffor, be it remembered, fpeak of the " tetanus LL- Edward. . M .1 T Confefs.cap. 31. in cujus oecanatu &c. as it the officer intended were in & scriptores immediate connexion with a particular teanrg, and. not p<307. e ' a remote non-refident delegate, difpatched on emergen- Awi.Legg. cies from the epifcopal fee. That he was a refidentiary c / ' B e "' bi officer, again, is the opinion of Mr. Whitaker ; who views the code of the Confeffor as a document that may be relied on, and draws from it a general inference that the rural &ean was everywhere fettled, and the rural fceanrp everywhere laid out, among our Saxon anceftors an inference by no means warranted. If the officer called " minifter epi/copi" in the tenth canon of the fame code be, as is reafonably entertained, the fame functionary as the " tetanus quscopt" of the thirty-firft canon, we have an extenfion of his powers from matters connected with the king's peace, to that of the management of an ordeal-trial. Mr. Johnfon, how- ever, does not apply the " hi/hop's minijier" to the tean, M but to the archdeacon, " or whatever officer the bifhop thought fit to fend." Who more fit than the local ordi- nary, the tean of the diftrict, in which the ordeal was to be held? Collier interprets the phrafe by the bijhop's Eccief.mftary, official. On the Anglo-Saxon ordeals, fee Wilkins LL. Ince, p. 27 ; Collier's Ecclef. Hift. of Great Britain, B. in. p. 231 ; and Turner's Hiflory of the Anglo- Saxons, \o\. n. chap. VHI. p. 266. 4to. edit. I do not fay pofitively that the firft rural arcfjpresbgter, or ttean, was not a diocefan emiffary of the nature referred to by Dr. Inett ; nor that the type of his office was not founded on the eaftern model of the fee of Laodicea ; 88 Origin of l&e Office. [PART II. where the prriofceuta was fometimes a resident curator, fometimes, and perhaps more frequently, an itinerant coatyutor of the urban bifhop after the abolition of the cf)oreptscopus,who was the city-bifhop's previous helpmate. -There is every reafon to fuppofe the fifty-feventh ca- non of Laodicea known to the Anglican church at the time of the fynod of Celcyth ; in the fourth canon of cc.M.B.etH. which it is decreed. " ut fynodalia edicta univer folium Vohi.p 147. **Y fex conciliorum cum decretis pontificum Romanorum Jcs- piiis kctitentur, obferventur, et juxta eorum exemplar ecclejice flatus corrigatur, ut ne quid nuvi ab aliquibus introduci permittatur, ne Jit fchifma in ecclejia Dei" rai!nxT l ?0fe From whence it may be inferred, that the church of CM iv. England received the whole body of canons and codes contained in the firfl fix general councils, and, of courfe, thofe of the topical councils ratified and confirmed by Pref.ce, cxiii. them (fee the fecond Volume of the Clergyman's Vade- Mecum by Mr. Johnfon), of which collection the Laodi- cean decrees formed a part. The ancient church of our ifland had ever a great regard to the Orientals; as appears from another claufe of the canon jufl cited, whereby it is enacted that the Englifh monks and regulars fhould ufe the habits of the Orientals. So that, it is poffible, our church may have derived the btstttng presbrjter's office direct from the Eaft, inflead of receiving it mediately from France. The evidence, however, fuch as it is, of the firfl tjftan rural of Britain the tutanus episcopi (whether the offi- cer be of Oriental or Gallican derivation) would, afluredly, lead us to fuppofe him a local incumbent inverted with a capacity to vifit and correct defaults within his jurif- diction, rather than a mere diocefan mandatary. SECT. II.] IBeang Hural in lEnglanD. ^arocfcfal OHctgg. 89 In the kingdom of France, where the ecclefiaftical % records have been more carefully preferred, and our B -Jjjj c - IX -* m - ecclefiaftical notices are more numerous and accurate, the toans were, undoubtedly, not diocefan emiflaries, but local incumbents. " We fee them," fays Mr. Whitaker, " eftablifhed in their fctanws, and making vifitations in them, as early as DCCCL ; and, even feveral years earlier, invefted with a confiderable authority, and acting as ecclefiaftical judges immediately below the archdeacon and bimop." For this ftatement Mr. Whitaker cites as his authorities, Hincmar. p. 7 16. Tom. i. Articles qfEn-v-ws. quiry made by the litans ; and Baluzius, c. 860 & 1123. Tom. i. I fuppofe thefe were the moft ancient examples which this very learned antiquary could produce. But, the reader will have feen, my refearches have been more fuccefsful, and have carried back the office in France to dvrai-ios oAAwi/ Homer. iu a d. is ingenious ; but, in my opinion, however ftrong the analogy pointed out between the two, there are obftacles to the admiffion of the hypothecs that the rural toansfjtp of the church originated in an imitation of the jurifdic- tion of the tithing-man of the ftate. Still, the parallel is fo nicely worked out by Kennett, fo interefting in its details, and fo pertinent to this part of our fubject, that I am induced to lay it before the reader in the words of the author ; premifing, that he does not profefs to inveftigate the original inftitution and jurifdiction of rural titans beyond our own church and nation, nor attempt to extend the refemblance to any other coun- tries than thofe having the like civil government. " In the external policy of the Chriftian church," fays Dr. Kennett, " feveral ecclefiaftical offices of dig- nity and power were modelled 2 by the examples of (*) Mr. Collier, in his verlion of the third canon of Edgar's Conftitv,- Ecclef. Hiftory tions, introduces the bifliop himfelf, inftead of his officer, as the tithe- Gt- Srt ff?i n> D. III. p. lOO. arbitrator, in conjunction with the fheriff and the parfon of the parifh. Of Canute's canon he takes no notice. (*) Thus fpake the feventeenth canon of the (Ecumenic Council of Routh Opufcui. wft^we rots TroAir/xo?? not <$tyxocr/o<$ rviroi$ xai T&V xxAtjv fj T/? xoAoi/0emw. (EDITOR.) 91 Origin of the Office. [PART II. places and perfons in the civil government. It was fo in the primitive * ages through the Eaft and Weftern empires, where (as if the church by this compliment courted the favour and protection of the ftate) the titles and pre-eminence of patriarchs, primates, metropolitans, and fome other dignitaries, took the rife and foundation from the temporal powers, that is, from their different exercife of government in cities and countries. The office of rural titans was undoubtedly owing to the fame emulation of following the methods and forms of civil government ; and therefore, as in this northern king- dom, for the better confervation of peace, and the more eafy adminiftration of juftice, every hundred was divided into ten diftricts or tithings ; each tithing made up of ten friborgs, each friborg of ten families ; and in every confeb^'de ^ UC ^ tithing ' Jiatuerunt juftitiarios fuper quofque decem friborgos, quos fcccanos poffumus appellare, Anglic^ vero Tienliejvob, i.e. caput de decent*;' which juftices, or civil brans, were to examine and determine all lefler caufes between villages and neighbours ; to levy the fines or emendations according to legal forfeitures ; to compofe all occafional differences, and prefcribe the meafures of HiUorpii) See Walafrid Strabo's Comparatio ecclefiafticorum ordinum et Eccief. Offidu, feculariunij in his work ' De exordiis et increment rerum ecclefiafti- J!"-'- co1 - carum,' cap. 31: alfo the running glofs of Muratori upon the lower OjjO-O. grades of ecclefiaftic and fecular offices of the fame author, in his Anti- quitates Medii JEvi, Difiertat decima, Tom. i. col. 519. (EDITOR.) (*) Caput de decem ID rt cm bit Spelman. Margin, Annot. Gloffhr. Arc/ueol. p. 248. See alfo Dugdale's Origines Juridic. c. x. Court Ba- ron, p. 25. " Dccnnus, Friboroughed or Headborough" The occafion of the lay-inftitution b given in full by Sir Henry Spelman, from the ori- ginal laws c. xx. he. cit. Gloffhr. Archaol. and tranflated in The An- cient Government of England, p. 51. (EDITOR.) SECT. II.] Ueana &ural in ^nglanfc. ^arocfifal lergs. 95 fatisfaction ; and, for this purpofe, to keep their ftated meetings for complaint and inquiry ; but to refer all J; f Jf* d - 33 greater or more criminal caufes to the fuperior juftices, * hundredis. or thofe who had jurifdiction over the whole hundred 1 . So, in compliance with this fecular method, the fpiritual governors, the bimops, divided each diocefe into fcea ne- ws or tithings, each of which was the diftrict of ten parilhes or churches ; and over every fuch diftrict they appointed a toan, who mould in like manner reconcile the differences of Chriftian neighbours ; and receive complaints, and inquire into grievances, and impofe the leffer cenfures of the church : and for this purpofe to hold their folemn chapters, and prelide in them, and judi- cially determine all matters of lefs concern ; but to refer the cognifance of all greater caufes, and fuffer appeals to the fuperior courts of ) " The lords of the hundred, by the laws of Hen. I. c. 8., were to W. K. mm hold their courts twelve times in the year, i.e. once a month; efpecially n^.asV. 9 ' a full appearance was required twice a year. So the Deatlg had their fynods." " The like fimilitude between the earl and the bifhop ; both their ffiftimations valued alike in the laws of King Ethelftan ; and two fchiremotes every year, as two epifcopal fynods." (*) The like office of teang began very early in the greater monafte- Parochial Anti- ries, obferves Bifhop Kennett, efpecially in thofe of the Benedictine pp. 339, feqq. order ; where the whole convent was divided into decuries, in which the Regul- S. Bened. Dean or tenth perfon prefided over the other nine ; took an account of Mogunt.i. c. 10. all their manual operations ; fuffered none to leave their ftation, or omit B - Ifidor. de their particular duty, without exprefs leave; vifited their cells or dormi- c . 15. tories every night ; attended them at table, to keep order and decorum at their meals ; guided their confcience ; directed their fludies, and ob- ferved their converfation ; and for this purpofe held frequent chapters, wherein they took public cognifance of all irregular practices ; and impofed 96 Ougiu of ihc Offttr. [PART II. " Thefe titans were conftituted over fuch a number of churches within a large city, and were then called toecam urbam and btcam ; or elfe over the like extent of country churches, and were then ftrictly called tecam rurales. And, indeed, the tithing-men in the (late, and the rural titans in the church, had the extent of their jurifdiction and the exercife of it fo much alike, that the one could be no lefs than a tranfcript of the other. And, there- fore, it is farther obfervable, that we meet with no fuch offices as rural tieans in Italy or Spain ; but, I think, only in England, France, and Germany, or thofe northern parts, where the like cuftom in civil policy prevailed. And as hundreds and tithings kept their name, when they bare no longer a ftrict relation to the number of villages or people ; fo likewife the rural titantws conti- Alteferrm Afcet. impofed fome lefler penances ; but fubmitted all their proceedings to the abbot or prelate, to whom they were accountable for their power, and the abufes of it. And in the larger houfes, where the numbers amounted Synod. Aquif- to feveral decuries, the fenior fcean had a fpecial pre-eminence, and had gran. can. 5 . fometimes the care of all the others devolved upon him alone. And therefore the inftitution of rat IK tun I Deans was certainly owing to this practice. When in epifcopal fees the bifhops difperfed the body of their clergy by affixing them to parochial cures, they referved a college of priefts or fecular canons for their counfel and afliftance, and for the con- ftant celebration of divine offices in the mother or cathedral church ; where the tenth perfon had an infpecting and pre tiding power, till the fenior or principal gean fwallowed up the office of all the inferior, and in fubordination to the billiop was head or governor of the whole fociety. His office, as defcribed in the churches of Lichfield and Coventry and St. Paul's, was to have authority over all the canons, presbyters, and Manaft. Angll- vicars; to give pofieffion to them when inftituted by the bilhop; to pp. 241. 386. infpect their difcharge of the cure of fouls; to convene chapters, and prefide in them ; there to hear and determine proper caufes ; and to vifit all churches once in three years within the limits of their jurifdiction. SECT. II.] Scan* &ural in lEnglanfc. $arocj)tal @lgg. 97 nued, when they loft their firft allufion to ten pariflies or churches, and the diftrict of them was contracted or enlarged at the pleafure of the bilhop V " Though fome treanrtts do ftill retain the primitive allotment of ten churches, efpecially in Wales, where the moft ancient ufages continue in the diocefe of St. Afaph, the toanws of Bromfield and Yale, and of Kid- wen ; in Bangor diocefe, the teanws of Llin and of Llivon ; in the diocefe of Landaff, the Ireanrg of Ulk ; in that of St. David's, the teanrg of Emlin, have the pre- cife number of ten parilh churches. And feveral other fceanms, that upon their new divilion were made up of two conjoined, or three contracted into two or one, do now contain the number of fifteen, twenty, or thirty churches, according to the divifion fo made. As for inftance, the prefent toanrg of Burcefter is made up of thirty-one parifh churches : of which the one church of Ambrofden being excepted, as before the Reformation being in the fccanrg of Codefdon, the remaining thirty do expreffly anfwer the three diftinct toanrtes of Curtling- ton, Iflip, and Burcefter, of which the two former were annexed to the latter." Dr. Whitaker, in his Hiftory of Richmond/hire, Vol. n. p. 210, notices that the rural tftanrp of Kendal confifts of ten parifhes, and that of Kirkby " Totum Anglice Regnum," fays Dr. Cofm, " ratione ecclefiafticce Rggni Angliee in eo jurifdictionis, dividitur in duas archiepifcopales provincias Can- .. tuarienfem et Eboracenfem. Utraque provincia in fuas epifcopales cap. iv. dicecefes, Jingulee propemodum dicecefes, prcefertlm quce majores funt, in archidiaconatus, quandoque quartam partem dicecefis continentes ; Decanatug, quibus preeficiuntur rutalc^ tttcant antiquis arcj){prcgbgtttg non multum diffimiles, et complectentes plerumque t)cccm parcecias, quas concilium Chalcedonenfe Region ales vocat ; &c." (EDITOR.) 98 Origin of the Office. [PART II. Lonfdale of the fame number : though of the latter, five are in Lancafhire, four in Yorkfhire, and one in Weft- moreland, p. 276. See alfo Hift. of Manchefter, Vol. 11. B. n. c. ix. p. 381. Plaufible as is this theory of the parochial antiquary, and true to the extent of affording a fatisfactory expla- nation of the nature of the local jurisdiction, and the probable origin of the name of fcean, applied to the tenant of the arcftiprrsbiucral office an application, con- feffedly, fynchronizing in its date with the ftate-polity alluded to, or immediately fucceeding it ' it ftill ap- pears to me to have little or nothing to do with the rife of the fpiritual charge itfelf ; which, as identical with that of the rural arcfjpresbjrtmfrt'p, is traced to a much earlier date than the fecular office of tything-man, and found where the latter never exifted. Lay influence may have modified the form and extent of the ecclefi- aflical jurifdiction, but cannot be faid to have originated an office more ancient than its fancied archetype. charge to the Accordingly, by Atterbury, when archdeacon of Tot- j/i, MDccvm. nefs, the fcheme of Kennett was objected to, as founded in error. " It is untrue," fays he, "that the inftitution of rural beans was peculiar to Germany, Gaul, Great Britain, and the northern parts of Europe ; but alto- gether unknown to Italy, till the time of Cardinal (') The date of the inftitution of civil Deanricjs or Decants is not exact ty known ; on the continent it obtained earlier than among our- i. fdves ; but no where for nearly fix hundred years after Chrift. On the authority of Baluzius, Muratori places it at the clofe of the fixth cen- tury " primus, qui regionem cimtatifubjectam in centenas et Detaniag divififfe creditur, fuit Chlotharius II. Rex Francorum circiter Annum Chrifti DXCV." SECT. II.] Ucang &ural in 3Englant. ^arocfttal Utgg. 99 Borromeo 1 . The ground of that error was a falfe notion entertained by Kennett, that the toan rural in the church anfwered to the tything-man in the ftate, and had the fame extent of jurifdiction ; which led him to imagine that that portion of a biihopric, which we call a rural teanrg, was to be found in no countries but where the like civil diftribution into tythings prevailed. I need oppose nothing to this opinion beyond the autho- rity of Sir H. Spelman, in that part of his gloflary which he himfelf printed ; where he tells us, that the rural fceanrg anfwered (not to the fecular tything, but rather and more nearly) to the county hundred. ' Itecanatus oio/ar. Arch. dicitur de portione epijcopatus, centuries feu hundredo p"i66! cai comitatus refpondenti, et tocano olimfuppojitd!' Equally unfatisfactory is the hypothecs of the bifhop of Peterborough to the accurate and penetrating refearch of Mr. Whitaker, the Hiftorian of Manchefter; who, from his examination of the toanrtes of Lancashire, mews " the folly of the inconfiftent relations, which have been mftory o/Man- 11 i i ,1 / i chefter, Vol. n. equally adopted as true, that oeanws were made in P .393. the church in order to correfpond with the tg things, and (*) Dr. Kennett and Dr. Atterbury rarely agreed upon any fubject. But I believe the latter is here right. The facts of hiftory are certainly againft the hypothefis of the bifhop of Peterborough. We have found many inftances of this facerdotal dignity in Italy and Spain, in the courfe of our inquiry : and, if the cafe were otherwife, the non-occurrence of the office (in Italy at leaft) would be readily accounted for in the reafon alleged by Thomaffin, (for he feems to agree with Kennett, as to there v. et N. E. D. being no fuch officers in Italy) viz. the fmallnefs of Italian bifhoprics, j "' and confequent needlefihefs of fubordinate Decanal jurifdictions. But, p. 794. m in truth, ai'cfipwgtg or DcanS were of early inftitution in Italy, though not exactly on the fame footing as they were fubfequently placed by the reforming archbifhop of Milan. H 2 100 Origin of tfje Office. [PART II. to agree with the hundreds in the ftate. The uniformity of the ecclefiaftical and civil tything is afTerted by Bifhop Kennett. The famenefs of the focanrp and the hundred is affirmed by Dr. Warner. And both accounts are equally adopted by Dr. Burn in his EcclefiajHcal Law. But they are as wrong as they are contradictory." " This ftrange miftake," continues Whitaker, " has fo far influenced Bilhop Kennett, that falfely fuppofing the tythings of the ftate to have been inftituted by Alfred, and obliged not to make the copy more ancient than the original, he therefore dates the ecclefiaftical tything below the age of Alfred, and afferts the latter to have been in no kingdom that had not the former; when the latter was confefledly in Wales, and actually in Ire- land, Hungary, Bohemia, and Poland, where the former never was." What, then, after all this hypothefis, contradiction, and uncertainty, may we affume to have been the true reafons of the firft rife and inftitution of this office in England ? Ecciff. Cafet, There were many things, the Bifhops Stillingfleet and P. 654.' ' Atterbury, with great probability, conjecture, which con- tributed to letting the archdeacons, and arcijpusbpters or rural &eans, into a part of the ecclefiaftical jurisdiction 1 ; (') The caufes that originated the toean'g archetype in the Eaftern church of Afia Minor, as afligned by Boehmer, are worth noticing 1 Jut Ecclejlaft. " (Cwr periodeuto! inftituti.) xxm. Hoc feeculo, variis inteftinis mails Tit'xxx'ix 1 "'"' n t a bMi> qfficium pcvioDcutatum in quibufdam ecclefiis demum invaluit, Tom. in. p. 576. turn quod epifcopi primarii propter quotidiana cum Arianis aliifque certamina, fere a folicitudine debitd vi/ltandi ecclefias avocarentur, et fynodis hitic inde convocatis intereffe, ab e cclefid fud abeffe juberentur ; turn etiam quod quor undo m provincia feu dvecefis jam latins extenfa SECT. II.] IBeang &ural in 3EnglanO. ^arocfiial Icrgg. 101 and thefe were, " the laying aiide the cfjortptscopt in the Lewis's E/ a y on Weftern parts," (of which fo much has been already *%, P. 7. faid), " as taking too much upon them" and the pub- lic fervices to which the bilhops, as the king's barons, were obliged under the Norman government. This preffure of fecular bufinefs, added to attendance at all ecclefiaftical fynods, occalioned 1 temporary delegations of the whole epifcopal jurifdiction to fome officers, and of certain parts of it to others, erected for this purpofe, from whom the bifhops preferved a right of appeal ; there being, in the words of Jeremy Taylor, " no canon, Epifcopacy Af- or perfonal declamatory claufe, againft a bifhop giving work's* voivn. more or lefs of his jurifdiction by way of delegation." P Nay, we may go further; and fay, with Mr. Johnfon, Preface to vade- that in the codes of the primitive and univerfal church, examples occur of every kind of fpiritual authority, exercifed by bifliops principally, being, on occafions, de- legated to presbyters, except that of ordination alone. See Capitul. Regis Carolomanni (^.D.DCccLxxxm.)cap. 7. apud Thomafs. V. et N. E. D. Tom. i. P. n. L. i. c. v. p. 225. n. From the conjectures of the cited bifhops of Wor- eflet, cuijblius epifcopi vifitatio annalis hand fufficiebat. Hdc de causa hanc partem muneris Jui, quod vijitatione frequentiflimd explicandum erat, vicariis quibufdam concrediderunt, qui a nutu epifcoporum depen- debant, omnia ad epifcopum referebant, et auctoritate epifcopi per dioe- cefin circumibant &c." ( J ) "It is probable/' fays Lord Bacon (fomewhat out of temper, Of the Pacifica- feemingly, with tbefe delegations of the hierarchy), " that biihops when church, Works, they gave themfelves too much to the glory of the world, and became Vol> " P- 534 - grandees in kingdoms, and great counsellors to princes, then did they delegate their proper jurifdictions, as things of too inferior a nature for their greatnefs &c." 102 Origin of tfce ffite. [PART II. cefter and Rochefter, again, Dr. Inett in part duTents, ftarting a fupplemental hypothefis of his own, by no o,-ighus Angii- means unreasonable. " The reparation of the eccle- fame, > ol. II. fiaftical and civil courts 1 , and fetting up the confiftory," remarks the author of the Origines, " made it neceflary to change the forms and circumftances of ecclefiaftical proceedings, to introduce fuch new officers as were needful to convene and cite the parties concerned to attend the procefs, and to execute the fentence ; and that, the better to fuit the conduct of church affairs to thofe of the ftate, and make this new eftablifhment to anfwer the ancient divifion of the kingdom into counties and hundreds, the bifhops of England did, about the year MLXXXV, divide their diocefes into archdeaconries and fceanrfes, and, to fit theirs to the branches of the civil authority, took the archdeacons, the urban, and rural Ireans, into a fhare of their jurisdiction, and fitted ( l ) This reparation was made by William I. But before that period, and, it may be, from the firft introduction of Chriftianity, the bifliop, both in England and elfewhere, had a feparate court for matters purely fpiritual, diftinct from the fecular courts. This is fhewn by the tenth CC. M. B. et H. anfwer of The Dialogue of Ecgbert (A.D. DCCXXXIV.), in Wilkins ; by 212 225 P ' 84 ' The Ewkfafa Laws o/Hoel Dda, L. n. c. xxvm. (A.D. DCCCCXLIH.) ; and by the feventh of King Edgar's Canons (A.D. DCCCCLX.). Indeed, from the latter may be inferred the exiftence, in the tenth century, of a fubordinate ecclefiaftical court inverted with a delegate power from the bifhop, the final referee of appeal. " Doctmus etiam" fays Edgar's canon, " ut nitllum negotiant, quod inter facerdotes eft, deferant adjudi- cium feeculare, fed componant ac pactftcent illud proprii illorum focii, vel transferant ad epifcopum, fi opus fuerit : " which may be confi- See Johnfon's dered as preparing the way for the " Jnflitia Epifcopi," the judge de- P uted b y the bi(llo P or ^ birtiop's fpiritual law, the " tJctanus," or " minister epUcopi, cum clcrici* fuis," of Edward the Confeflbr's laws, the fuperintendant of the rural clergy in chapter atfembled. SECT. II.] Scans &ural in langlanD. ^jJatotftfal lergg. 103 their titles to, or rather borrowed them from, the diftrict they affigned them ; and that hence it came to pafs, that the archdeacons, whofe courts were to anfwer thofe of the county, had ufually the county for their diftrict, and their titles from the diftrict in which they acted : and the names of rural &eanws seem to be taken from the hundreds, and were, and generally are, the fame to this day." It is not unlikely, Dr. Inett allows, that the perfonal fervices of the bifhops, as barons, might have fome influ- ence upon this affair in England. " But whatever effects glicante,\o\. II. the laying afide billan bishops may have had in other chap, m. weftern nations, there is no vifible reafon to believe that it had any influence on the Englifh church ; for that church was not founded till the inconvenience of the authority exercifed by the cfjoreptscopi was become vilible, and provided againft by the canons of the Chriftian church ; and that office was never received in England till after the Norman conqueft 1 ; and then the introducing (*) And yet Bifhop Lloyd of St. Afaph obferves, in his notice of Patrick's AnHiftm-ical converfion of the Irifti nation, his ordination of thirty bifhops, and cou ? t J!f * Church Govern- Nennius's tale (fee Scriptores xv. p. 113. cap. LIX.), whereby they are ment &c. c. iv. increafed to three hundred and fixty-five &c., that " perhaps the meaning p ' ' might be, that befide thofe thirty bifhops which Patrick ordained for the bifhops' fees, he alfo ordained as many Suffragang as there were tural Dcanricg, in each of which there were eight or nine parifh-priefts, taking one Dcnnrn with another. If St. Patrick would fo far confult the eafe of the bifhops, or the people's convenience, he might do it without altering the fpecies of the church-government." But on the truth of this" tale of St. Patrick, fee Dr. Maurice's doubts in his Defence of Diocefan Epifco- pacy in anfwer to Clarkfon, pp. 153, feqq. ; alfo Ledwich's Antiquities of Ireland, pp. 82, 83. and Jamiefon's Account of the Ancient Culdees of lona, pp. 335, feqq. And although Holinfhed fays of the office of " the catftedrall 104- tight of the fftte. [PART IF. the authority of rural titans 1 , was (o far from having its beginning from the ceafing of the office of suffragans to diocefan biihops, that, in all probability, the general fettlement of arcftprtsbgitrs, or rural titans, and suffragan bisftops in England, were ufages derived from the fame original and much of the fame date, and had their be- ginning from the feparation of the ecclefiaftical from the The Defcriptio* catijcurall Dcanc," that it was " a calling not knowne in England before . the conqueft;" yet both the chronicler and the author of the Origines are, probably, miftaken. Of the exigence of the cathcbral Dean before the conqueft there can be no doubt. And the following pafiage from Mabillon's Benedictine Annals makes the chorcptStopal inftitution more ancient in our ifland than has been generally fuppofed. " Non longe a loco ubi ftetit Sancti Petri monajlerium extra civitatem Cantuariee, in parte itidem orientali, e.xjlabat vetus Sancti Martini ecclejla, ubi Auguf- tinus fedem fuam primitus fixeraL Iftic epifcopus,verius chorepigcopug, in/titutus fuit, qui vices archiepifcopi abfentis in omnibus gerebat, et monachosfibi ex majori ecclefid, monachus ipje, in obfequium ajfiimebat. Idem Jblemnitates in fede metropolitand celebrare folitus, archidiaconi etiam officium agebat,clericos archiepifcopo Jubjectos corripiens et emen- dans : cum prior feu Dec anu majoris ecckfiee eos, qui in ecclefiis Jibi fubditis degebant, corrigeret." Annales Benedictini, Lib. x. xvi. Tom. i. p. 274. See alfo Acta Benedict, ftecul. vi. Pars n. p. 656. note (a), from Gervafms Dorobernienfis in Acti* Pontificum Cantuar. cap. de Egelnotho, and Battely's Cantuaria Sacra, Pars in. pp. 131, feqq. Ger- vafe fays, that " formerly the archbilhop of Canterbury had a choteptgco- pug, who refided in the church of St. Martin without Canterbury, whofe office upon the coming in of Lanfranc was abolifhed, as we hear it was done in all parts of the earth." Decem Scriptor. col. 1650. As Lan- frauc came into England with William I., it is clear, the choreptdtopal office was of earlier date than the conqueft. Lanfranc refufed to con- fecrate any more bifhops of St. Martin on account of their fcandalous poverty. See Brit. Magaz. Vol. n. p. 345. (') Deans rural exercifed jurifdiction in Normandy before the Duke of Normandy became king of England. See Concilia Rotomagenft* Provinciee, Part i. SECT. II.] Uean ! fubjoin the fact, that, at the firft adoption of the tean rural in Ireland (AD. MCLII.), it is expreflly ftated that he fucceeded the cjjor- eptscopus: the bfllan prdates and fuch as occupied fmaller fees being removed, the churches, which had previoufly been the feats of the prelacies, were made the capitals of teann'es, and arcfcpritsts inftituted in them by the bilhop in lieu of cfjouptscopf. In the twelfth century, the fubfcriptions of rural &eans to documents are by no means uncommon. Among the atteflations of fome ancient charters connected with inft. of craven, the fctanri) of Craven in Yorkfhire, Dr.Whitaker notices, p. 481. Edit 2. . * in the year MCLXXXVI, a tean of Craven who was rector of Arnotoffe ; and, about half a century earlier, the fame rural dignity and title, enjoyed by a rector of Kettlewell. ift. of Norfolk, A rural &ean of Thetford in Norfolk is recorded by Mr. e. Blomfield in the year MCLXXV. But thefe are dates of yelterday, in comparifon with that afligned to the pri- mary ftetanal inftitution of the north of England by the vCnlT" Hiftorian of Manchefter : " Greatly is the learned Bifhop p. SSL' Kennett miftaken," fays the Fellow of Corpus Chrifti College, " in fuppofing the office of the archdeacon to have been lefs ancient than that of the &ean. The one was juft as ancient as the other. As greatly miftaken is he, in his attempt to magnify the antiquity of rural ; when, unfaithful to his own defign, he dates the SECT. II.] Deans Mural in lEnglanl) $arocf>ial Icrgg. 107 commencement of them fome time fubfequent to the reign of Alfred. And his antagonift, Mr. Johnfon, has wandered ftill farther from the truth, in his contrary defign to lower their antiquity, when he reduces it even to the eleventh or twelfth century. The rural &ean was conftituted at the fame time with the parifh prieft: and Lancafhire was partitioned into teaimfes very early in the feventh century." The latter afleverations, be it remembered, Hand proof lefs in the hiftorical references of the antiquarian: Ejujd. p.393. and glad as we mould be to difcover, there or elfewhere, evidence of the facts aflerted, we cannot but doubt, in the abfence of fuch, the exiftence of teans rural in Eng- land at the period alluded to. The archdeacon, in my humble opinion, claims a higher antiquity here, than the ardjpresfcgter rural. The latter appears not till the eleventh, or, at the very earlieft, the tenth century, fuppoling, that is, with Brewfter, the praefectus epfecopf of Edgar to be the toan cc.M.B.etH. rural (fee page 92). Whereas archdeacons had exiftence V LI long before ; though the fort of jurisdiction they exer- cifed be problematical. By the one hundred and feventh canon of the Excerptions of Ecgbert (called A. D. DCCL.), they are charged to fee that prifoners have relaxation on Sundays. But, this being an Orleans canon (AD. DL.), and added to the Excerpta we know not when, may be objected to as evidence. Not fo the great council of Bac- canceld, under Cynewulf, king of Weflex (A.D. DCCXCVIII), Ejvfd. p. 162. where an archdeacon (Wilfredus) is the laft of the fubfcribers. Mr. Somner notices feven archdeacons of Antiq. o/cant. Purl iv c iv. Canterbury in the ninth century : and, from the Laws of cc.M.B.etu. the Northumbrian priejls, it is evident that the office 108 Origin of t&e Office. [PART II. was then (A.D. DCCCCL) one of importance ; during the whole of which period we have no traces of the rural titan's exiftence in our ifland. co\ '^39 Tom ' VI ^ n tne continent, it is true, in the Gallican church, A.D. DLXVII. there are much earlier notices than with us : but no where, I believe, antecedent to archdeacons. See Bing- ham's Ecclef. Antiq. B. 11. c. xxi. ; Atterbury's Rights and Powers &c. pp. 321, 322. ; and Brett's Church Govern- ment and Governours, cap. ix. pp. 180, feqq.; and, on the other fide of the queftion, whereby the antiquity of the archidiaconal jurifdiction is reduced below the conqueft, fee Nicholfon's Preface to the Scottijh Hijlorical Li- brary, pp. xxi, feqq., who doubts the authenticity of the fignature of Wilfrid above referred to, and affirms the Northumbrian canons to be "younger than they feem to be, and borrowed from abroad ; being only dreffed up (d, la mode d'Anglois) with Saxon penalties and mulcts." scotch Hi/to- The learned archdeacon of Carlifle is decidedly oppofed rical Library in , . . . . 7 ._ Preface, p. xxii. to Atterbury s itatements in his Rights and Powers &c., ".' and roundly afferts, "that no archdeacon ever .exercifed any jurifdiction in England till fome time after the con- queft ; that is, till the canon-law was eftablimed here : " in which opinion, he is fupported by Bifhop Stilling- fleet. But the antiquity of this office is not the object of our inquiry. See Bifhop Gibfon's Codex I. E. A. Vol. ii. Tit. XLII. cap. viii. p. 969, of Archdeacons, and Mr. Nelfon's Companion for the Fejlivah and Fajis, p. 387. florae Becantcae &uraiesu PART III. Election anto Institution of Beans l&ural. SECTION I. THE RIGHT OF ELECTION. E proceed to a molt important divilion of our fubject the authority by which rural toans & P . 2?" are conftituted in the church to whom do they owe their primary inftitution ? Upon this queftion their titular diltinctions in ancient councils, capitularies &c., will throw fome light, as far as the ufage of the Weftern church is concerned ; while, in refpect of the Eaft, it has been again and again ftated, that the Beveregii%- inftitution to the primary cfjoupiscopal, and to the fe- Innot. ' condary pufoteutal offices, was exclulively vefted in the diocefan biihop. The cfcorepiscopi, at firil, and the pm'o- ifeutae, afterwards, were appointed by the prelates to whom they were ancillary the latter deputies being the teans rural of the Eaftern church. Nor did the cafe, effentially, differ in the Weft. Sharers, from their firft eftablimment, in the adminiftration of ecclefiaftic jurif- diction and difcipline, their names in the Latin church point out their minifterial relation to the biihop, as the perfon from whom their delegated powers originally emanated. 1 10 Election anb Institution. [PART III. m.ix. On meeting with the defignations tl Epi/coporum coL 695. 826. . . ~ ,. , . . ^ %. v - wiikins LL. minijtern adjiitores (capit. in. Ludov.Pn, ^.D.DCCCXXVIII.) 'cS!p.w'. et "Epi/coporum miniftri" (Concil. Aquifgran. 11. c. iv. cc.M.B.etn. AD. DCCCXXXVI.) " Mmtfler" " Sacerdos" " Bccanus ol. I. p. 50o. * ' Epifcopi" (LL. Edward. A.D. MLII.) " Bream vel arcfjt- prfsbgtcri ad agendas vices epifcoporum" (Concil. Turon. can. vii. AD. MCLXIII.) " Brcanf conftitutifub epifcopis " (Concil. Londin. A.D. MCC.) &c. &c., in reference to rural titans or arcfjpu'tsts, we cannot hefitate to connect their southey's Book appointment and employment with the bifhop. Still it VoLi.c.vi.p.84. appears, from the earlieft records of the office that have come down to us, in the Weft, that thefe functionaries were originally chofen by their own clergy, fubject to the bifhop's approval, and were only indebted to the latter for their confirmation an act which he might execute or not, at his own pleafure* And when their inftitution had been ratified by the diocefan, they could not fubfequently be difplaced by him, according to the feventh canon of the fecond council of Tours (A.D. DLXVII.), without the joint confent of the electors. Such, Dr. Field of the at leaft, is the Dean of Gloucefter's interpretation of the CtoircA,Bookev. L ss.cc. Tom. vi. canon, " Ut eptfcopus nee abbatem, nee artl)tpresbBtnum, Jine omnium fuorum compresbyterorum et abbatum con- Jilio, de loco fuo prcefumat ejicere, neque per prcemia a Hum ordinare, ni/i facto concilio tarn abbatum quam presbyte- rorum fuorum, quern culpa aut ncgligentia ejicit, cum omnium presbyterorum confilio refutetur;" and he ex- tends it to our rural functionaries. See alfo can. xi. (ex Synod, incerti loci A.D. DCXVI.) SS.CC. Tom. vi. col.1395. 1 (' ) TTiia canon alfo inhibits the appointment of archprtcgtg per prtsmia (fimoniucully) lx)th fpirituul and laicul : for fometimes it feems the latter were SECT. I.] &tgf)t of Election. 1 1 1 How long fuch a power of electing and continuing nrcfjpwsts in office remained with vican or rural pres- byters is unknown ; probably, for no long period : though the privilege of recommending to the bifhop, and, in fome places, even of nominating perfons eligible to the duty, has been permanently exercifed by them. Be that, however, as it may, it is quite clear, on the authority of Ifidore, that about the year DCXXXIII of Chrift, the attfjfjpYCgbgteral office of the country was elec- tive; the electors being, by delegation, the archdeacon, clergy, and people : " Si in plebibus artfn'pttsbijtni obi- Decret. P. i. . 7 . , . . r 7 7- Dift. ennt, autpro aliquo reatu exmde, ejecti juerint, archiaia- c.xx. conns (fpeciali auctoritate epifcopt niji hoc habeat de confuetudine prtffcriptd, glolf.) quantd ocius proficifcatur illiiCy et cum clericis, et populis (al. presbyteris, in marg.) ipjius plebis electionem faciat; quatenus dignus pqftor domui DEI conftituatur; etdum ordinatur, ejus providentid ipfa plebs cujtodiatur" And the fame may be inferred were inftituted: " Ut abbates, vel ardjiptegfojjtari, abfque culpd de eccle- SS.CC.Tom.vi. fiaftico minifterio removeri non debeant : nee per prtemia nullus abbas co ' vel archiprcgfogtct ponantur. Quod fi quis facere prtefumpferit, com- munione privetur. Nee fteculares attfyiyi:t$bttKi ponantur. Forfitanft tails fuerit, quern pro merito perfonce infolatium ecclefia pontifex necef- farium effe judicet, ut fine ejus defenfione parceciani illi fe defenfare non pqffint" But laical atd)pre0&j)teriS are forbidden by the nineteenth canon of the council of Rheims before cited (A.D. DCXXX.) " Ut in SS.CC.Tom. vi. parochiis nullus .laicorum atchtptcgllgtcr prceponatur : fed qui fenior in co ' ipfis effe debet, clericus ordinetur." And fee alfo can. xvi. (ne ticcnnatug turalcg pro pretio conferantur) of the Council of Rouen (A.D. MCCXIV.) " Inhibtmus ne becanatug ruraleg ad tempus vel in perpetuum pro Concilia Roto- pecunid vel aliquo pretio conferantur alicui, ficut ftatutum eft in conci- ^f^ His Later anenft et Turonen/i: eos qui contra hoc venerint decernentes, p-113. preeter pcenas in conciliis comprehenfas, juxta prtelatorum arbitrium, gravi pcend puniendos." And can. xxiv. (A.D. MCCXXXI.) P- 136 - 1 12 Election art) Institution. [PART III. from the council of Gifalpine bifhops, held for the fet- tlement of ecclefiaflic difcipline, at Pavia(^.Z). DCCCLV.); which admits the people as co-electors (unlefs " elec- tionis confortium" mean no more than the prefence of the people for fuffrage of public teftimony, and not of formal choice) and, like the council of Tours before cited, difallows the difplacement of arcfjpriests by the bifhop, after inftitution, except for criminality, or ill-ufage of the churches under their adminiftration a curious exemplification of which is afforded in the conclufion ss.cc. Tom. ix. of the following extract ; " Sane removenda quorundam laicorum procacitas, qui hoc folo obtentu, quod ad elec- tionis confortium admittuntur, arcftfprfsbgttus Juis dumi- nari prcefumunt : et quos tanquam patres venerari de- buerunt, velut fubditos contemnunt. Hi igitur intra proprii juris terminos funt redigendi, et Ji extraordina- riam dominationem in eccle/iis exercere prcffumpf&rint, regid funt difciplind coercendi. Ipfi verd qui ad guber- nandas plebes legitimb provecti Junt, nullatenus ci Juis epifcopis repellantur, nlfi aut in aUcvjun criminis reatum inciderint, aut eajdem plebes male tractaverint. Tollenda ejl enim prava omnino conjiieludo, qua in quibiifdam locis oriri ccepit : quia nonnulli arcfjipresbgtEri vel aliorum titu- lorum cujiodes, fruges, vel aliarum ecclejiarum reditus, ad proprias domos abducunt. Quidam vero aliorum pof- fe//iones conducunt, ut in eis quce ab ecclefiis Jiiis malejub traxerunt recondant, &c." Such authority of election, exercifed by thefe parties, was, probably in all cafes, by fpecial permiffion of the bifhop ; as it is, wherefoever prevalent with the clergy of the prefent day ; the diocefan poflefling a clear nega- tive on the election in the privilege of confirming or SECT. I.] tttgin of ^Election. 113 fuperfedmg it. And to the fame conceffion, originally, oafon's codex ^ 3 A l_ 1 L - C xl. /-.^. Vol. II. maybe amgned the elective character ot the urban or TILXLH. cap. catfiefcral toan ; who, at his firfl inftitution, was nomi- v nated out of the college of presbyters by the bifhop alone, as his vicarious fuperintendant in the epifcopal church ; but fubfequently became independent of the bifhop, as far as election went, and only beholden to him for a ratification of the chapter's nomination. By which early grant, the urban arcfjpwst's appointment was loft in perpetuity to the diocefan : not fo, however, the trean rural'S; which, if at any time furrendered to an inferior conftituency, was generally again recovered at the will, and exercifed at the difcretion, of the bifhop, with or without archidiaconal, clerical, and popular interference, at his perfonal choice, he having de jure " thejblejhip of election ; " although, in modern days, we have heard of archdeacons prefcribing againft their bifhop in the exercife of this branch of his authority. Of the parochial laity, as joint electors, we hear nothing after this date ; nor is it probable that fuch a power, feeing, in the fore-cited Pavian council, the abufe to which it was liable, was long entrufted to their hands. But archdeacons, having grown up to a permanent participation of other epifcopal duties, feem to have continued thence forward (viz. from the days of Ifidore) fharers alfo by fufferance, I mould fay, rather than right of office (for how could any archdeacon prefcribe againft his bifhop) in the appointment of rural fceans in many diocefes. For which intervention, more or lefs at all times dependent on cuftom, an early fanction is alleged in the thirteenth canon of Hincmar's Capitula, addrefled to his archdeacons Guntar and Odelhard, Election anD Institution. [PART III. (A.D. DCCCLXXVIII.) ; wherein the archbifhop enjoins the latter officers to proceed to the election of &e ans with due confideration, and to conflitute them conditionally in cafe of his abfence, referring to himfelf the power of conformation or deprivation, as he might deem expedient, oll being made acquainted with their choice. " Si tetanus ss.cc ; TOOI.X. i n minifterio veftro" fays he, " aut negligens, out inu tills et incorrigibilis Juerit, vel atiquis eorum obierit, non inconfiderate tecanum eligite. Et ji ego in propinquo Jum, ad me illam electionem referte. Et Ji ego in lon- ginquofum,ttttm\im ilium qui electus eft interim confti- tuite, donee ad meam notitiam electio ilia re/eratur, tit med conjHtutione aut conjirmetur, aut immutetur" A letter of Arnulph, bifhop of Lifieux, gives the arch- vienfls Epifcopi, . i /. . xxvu. deacon the nght 01 prelenting the nrcoprtrst to the bilhop, who had the power of refuting him inftitution, if he thought him unworthy of the office : but, at the fame time, he could not proceed, againft the will of the arch- deacon, to a fecond inftitution ; " cum ei in archidiaconatu fuo alius quodammodo archidiaconus annajcatur" Nor was the bifhop's refervation of a veto upon the election lefs marked, in cafes where the clergy enjoyed, by cuftom or conftitution, a delegated power of choice. Witnefs in the church of Ferrara : where, though the " conftitutiones" of the " parochi" of that ftate, con- firmed by the bifhop (A.D. MCCLXXVIII.), give to the fubject " capellani" of the " parochia" the privilege of electing their own arc&fpresbjUer, or, as he is denominated j n the glofs of Muratori, " caput coiutreQationfs paroc^orum," Medii &vi, ~ Tom. vi. coi. (provided, that is, they made their choice within fifteen days from the date of a vacancy by death) ; yet the ftatutes referve to the diocefan a veto on prefentation. SECT. I.] &{$t of Election. 1 15 And, fuppofing the parochial incumbents, here called capellanes, not to comply with the inilructions pafled " pro fu& congregationis regimine" in this particular, the elective capacity devolved on the bilhop " quum arc&fprtsbgter viam carnis ingrejjiis fuerit unwerfie, capel- lani infra quindecim dies proximos futures arcf)tpttsfc:Dtw electionem facere teneantur, ipfam electionem confirman- dam aut infirmandam noftro domino Ferrarienji epifcopo pr&fentantes : alioquin prcefata electio ad ipfum dominum epifcopum devolvat." So great, however, was the afcendency and influence which archdeacons had attained in thefe appointments in the twelfth century, and fo fubordinate the fcecanal to the archidiaconal functions, that in a canon of the great Lateran council (A.D. MCLXXIX.) under Alexander III., ss. cc. T m. , xl - co1 - 419 - regulative of the vmtatorial expenfes of rural &eans and can.iv. higher dignitaries, the former are fpecifically denominated, from their fubjection, " ttecam conftituti fub archidia- conis : " which fubjection is repeated and made abfolute by the decretal epiftle of Pope Innocent HI. (A.D. &*** -Gregor. MCCXIV.) " gtrc5tpsl)Bterf, qui a pluribus trecant nuncu- ' pantur, (that is, rural fceans, for treans of catijefcral c^urc^es chtmh G O - vernment, &c. were never Jubject to archdeacons Dr. Brett) archidia- cap.vm.p.is coni l jurifdictionife noverintfubjacere : and, yet farther, (') " Statuimus et prcecipimus quod omnes presbyteri et Decant SS. CC. Tom. tutaltg obediant archidiaconis fuis in omnibus licitis et honeftis, eorum XIV- col> 1134- jura et noftra objervent et faciant obfervari. xiv. r. Statuta fynodalia eccltfice Leodienjis," A.D. MCCLXXXVII. " Ordinatio vicuna de Pyryton cujus eccl'ia appropriatur abbatiee de W. Tewkesbury, MCCCCL. Item dictus vicarius et fucceflbre* Jui invenient ^35 f"" 9 ' V '"' et exhibebunt unum tlccnnum rutalcm ad deferviend. Ordinariis loci in Dccnnalu de Powlett quotient hujujmodi onus ad dictam eccViam juxta confuetudinem d'ctl UccanatwS evenire contigerit." Meg. 2Hdl. I 2 116 Election anD Institution. [PART HI. confirmed by the reply to the queftion, " Utrum fcrcani ruralcs, qui pro tempore Jiatuuntur, ad mandatum tuum Jblum, vel archidiaconi, vel etiam utrivfque, injiitui de- beant vel dejlitui, Ji fuerint amovendi " ? To which the papal anfwer is: "Ad hoc breviter refpondemus, quod cum ab omnibus, quod omnes tangit, approbari debeat; et cum commune eorum (i.e. of the bifhop and arch- deacon) fcrcnnus officium exerceat ; communiter ejl eli- gendus, vel etiam amovendus" ' Though equally an ordinary, equally a prelate, with vol. H. B.II. the archdeacon and bifhop, the fcean rural of England, as r. IX. III. P . 383. we ii ^ the continent, was fubordinate and minifterial to both being early and repeatedly called the fcean of the archdeacon and bifhop. Wherefore the doctrine of the Roman refcript is transferred by the bifhop of St. David's Provinciate, to his Provinc'iale : " Dicit Innocentius," obferves Lynd- wood in his commentary in v. trecant ruralts, " quodfunt perfona habentes qucedam officia communiter fpectantia ad epifcopum et archidiaconum, et ided communiter eorum receptio et amotio pertinet ad utrumque:" in another i fc i.Ttt.ii.ffL place he calls them "fcecam temporaks ad aliquod mini- f. tocance -*_.. _ . . . . raic. Jterium Jub epifcopo vel arcmdiacono (al. archieptfcopo) L. in. T. XXH. exercendum con/1 ituti:" in a third, "qui Cub archidia- g/.v.tceanoeum. . .. . * V. . / " _^v L.i.Tit.n.^t. cono quandoque certum mimjierium habent: in a fourth, " vicar ii epifcoporum et archidiaconorum (al. archiepifco- u ii. T. i. fi. porum):" in a fifth, " minijiri tarn epifcoporum^ quod archidiaconorum s (non tamen aliorum ordinariorum)" And to the fame purpofe fpeaks the gloffary of John de ast.Dom. Athon on the Legatine constitutions of Otho: " 15eca- Othon. devil. Sacram.gi. in v. natus rurales, et per confequens Decant ibi, prcefecti funt ^ccanatuun^ . r /. / j- fuontm, p. 10. ipjorum archidiaconorum; fed certe falvd confuetudme locorum tarn prajici debent tecam tales, quam etiam SECT. I.] #{gt>t of Election. 117 amoveri, per epifcopum et per archidiaconum Jimul de jure:" where, fays Gibfon. the claufe, " lalvd conluetu- code* I.E. A. * ' u Vol.ii.Tit.XLii. dine locorum" explains the glofs ('Jecundum confuetu- cap.vm. P .9?i. dinem loci ') on the word " communiter," in the foregoing conflitution of Innocent III. See Sbumnta gbflbestrtna, P. i. de Archidiacono. 9. fol. xxxviii. and Hoftieniis de Offic. Archidyaconi, Tom. i. fol. cxvi. The latter of which commentators feems to have correctly interpreted the text as of local and not general application "Je- H r ^ e ^.^ er cundum confuetudinem Francis l ..... in aliquibus Tom.i.foi.cxvi. f ^ col. 3. & Panor- ecclejiis conftituuntur tales btttini per epifcopum et archi- mi ^- Tom - dyaconum communiter ad qucedam officia eis communiter exercenda : nee inftituuntur in aliqud ecclejid nee confir- mantur : immd quaji minifteriales et qfficialesfunt utriuf- que, et pro magnd parte non conftituuntur perpetud,fed ad tempus. Ubi ergd tails veljimilis non eft conjuetudo, hoc quod ibi dicitur non vendicatjibi locum" Nor does Atterbury's interpretation of the canon law nfitation in reference to Englifti ufage differ from that of the Cardinal, Lyndwood, Gibfon, and others. Ever fince * the firft-cited letter from the Roman fee, the bifhop of Rochefter affirms, the archdeacon's authority has inter- vened, with that of the bifhop, (as in the diocefe of Exeter,) towards appointing teatts rural ; except where, by grant, compofition, or cuftom immemorial, things have been otherwife ordered ; as the cafe was in the diocefe of Canterbury, where, thirteen years after the C 1 ) " De droit commun," fays Les Loix Ecclefiaftiques de France, Analyfe des De- " les ISogenS Uwrnu.v dependent de V archidlacre et de Veveque, qui doivent xxui^pzrt les elire et les depofer conjointement; (rnais U y a des diocejes ou I'eveque p. 73. nommefeul les 39ogen0 Humti; d'autres ou ilsfont elus par les cures du Doncnnc, qui les preferment a I'eveque)." 1 18 Election and Institution. [PART III. date of this refcript, a fpecial grant was made to the archdeacon of the inftitution and dejlitution of rural titans by Stephen Langton, the archbifhop, in the fol- lowing words previoufly revoking his own official's appointment of them ex confuetudine . ..." Statui- of Can- J terb*ry,r. i. mus ut archtdiacom Cant, am pro tempore fuerint, titcanos Appendix, No. /. i . , LX. p. ee. con/iituant, et amoveant profucE voluntatis arbitrio, prout melius viderint expedire in Dioc. memoratd, et Jibi re- fpondeant Jiciit decet, cum abfurdum Jit, ut alius eos con- jUtuat quam is qui eis debeat prceejje, et cui refpondere tenentur, prtefertim cum ipjis (titcam's) refer entibus, cor- rigere debent (archidiaconi) cceterorum errata." And in a perfonal grant to Archdeacon Hubert by Archbifhop Wetherlhead (furnamed Le Grand), two years afterwards, No.Lix.p.65. the " inftitutiones et deftitutiones tocanorum" are conti- suppiwnt 1 * to nued ; but with the faving claufe, " pr iin- cem 'l'h e dori to the bimop the inllitution and deititution of Ireans- penitential. rural, independent of archidiaconal interference, though chartuiarw' the ruling deacons formally laid claim to it, " qfferentes quod, eis inconfultis, non licet aliquem injlituere in fceta- num :" while the bimop of Melun affirmed, on the other hand, that the appointment and removal of thefe offi- cers, throughout the diocefe of Melun, had ever been granted by the papal fee to his predeceffors. The difpute 120 Election anfc institution. [PART III. SS. CC. Tom. xiv. col. 270. ran. z. Harris's Ware't Work*, Vol. i. p. -290. ExRc- fiftr. Swain. Tom. I. p. 279. SS. CC. Tom. xxi. col 43. Thomaffin. V. el N. E. D. T. ii. P. U. L. ill. c.7G. Conft. et De- cret. Synod. Sa- Utburg, Con. xxv. cap. IV. pp. 121,122. ran high ; and the parties having affembled at the cathedral of Melun, for the fake of fettling it, the pope decreed, with the confent of the bifhop and arch- deacons, " pro bono pads" " quod ruralts fcecanos Mel- denfis epifcopus, archidiaconis inconfultis, pq//it eligere, injlituere, et mutare, falvd tamenjidelitate quam de con- fervando jure archidiaconorum confueverunt pr aft are" Ufage always ruled the point. In the diocefe of Poic- tiers (A.D. MCCLXXX.), Bifhop Walter inhibits the retire- ment of titans rural from office without his permhTion ; and therefore we may infer that he appointed them : " Inhibemus arcfjipresbpttrt's et fcecam's, ne recedant abfque licentid noftrd : et injungimus eifdem, quod antequam re- cedant, fcribant et nobis referant excej/us factos contra jurifdictionem ecclejtajticam." In Ireland, again, (A.D. MCCCCXXX.) during the vacancy of the fee of Deny, Arch- bifhop Swain being guardian of the fame for the time being, conferred on Donat O-Kerulan, one of his fub- guardians, the rural treanrg of Magthya, in the diocefe of Deny, to continue during pleafure. And, at a much later period, in Italy itfelf, (between the two oppofite precedents of Innocent III. quoted from the canon law, refcript again ft refcript,) Borromeo, the celebrated arch- bifhop of Milan, appropriated to himfelf the right of elec- tion, on the occafion of eftablifhing among his parochial clergy the fpiritual fupervifors termed bt'caru foranet ; whom he made amenable to himfelf alone, and amotive at his will and pleafure : " Hi bfcarif voluntate epifcopi ab ojfficio amoveri femper poj/mt ; acji male id adminijtra- verint, pcenas dent ejufdem epifcopi judicio" Such was their conftitution, too, in the archdiocefe of Salisburg (A.D. MDLXIX.) " Huraks tjttnniafuis cpifcopis SECT. I.] &tgf)t of Election. conj'ecuti cum authoritate officium et dignitatem, tales fe reddant, ut concepts de ipjis expectationi, et fuo muneri, ac Juorum epifcoporum fatisfaciant voluntati &c." And in our own country, about the fame date, the arch- deacon was entirely deprived of all participation in the appointment, unlefs perchance he happened to be the ordinary (which alone the bilhop was de jure), when he was capacitated to appoint. It was not to be fuppofed that our Reformers would have much refpect for papal edicts upon this'or any other branch of polity; and accordingly, we find, that it was decreed by the com- pilers of the projected Reformatio Legum Ecclejiajii- carum to this effect: " 3Betanatus quilibet arcf)tprtsbp- tnum rusttcanum habeat, vel ab epifcopo vel ecclejia ordi- nario prceficiendum" But in the following chapter "De p.95. cap ' v Archidiaconis," thefe fuperior officers are enjoined to fee that the arc&pusbpters duly performed their functions (cap. VT. p. 96). In the provincial council of Cologne, under Arch- bilhop Herman (A.D. MDXXXVI.), pro reformatione ckrico- rum et cteremoniarum ecclejite, the twentieth canon gives to the archdeacons the fole power of election and ad- miffion : <( Archidiaconis noftris incumbit, ne ullos inido- ss.cc.Tom. . _ xix. col. 1293. neos officiates aut oecanos ruraus dehgant aut admittant, fed ad has functiones viros tantum qffumant, cum doctrind prceftantes, turn vitcs innocentis inculpat&que, qui nullius criminis labe notabiles, officium Jiium irreprehenjibiliter exequantur" While, on the other hand, in direct vari- ance therewith, the council of Malines (AD. MDLXX.) enacts, cap. in. (ZteUBf tarns ftristfam'tum) : "^rc^fpus- ss.cc.Tom. , \ ' r T T ^7 XXI. col. 595. bgtert ruraUs in Jingulis dicecejibus pro difcrettone epifco- synod. p rov . porum a/Jumantur, qui pqffint pajloribus vita, conjtlio, et 122 Election anO institution. [PART III. exemplo prodefle ; et non pluribus prceficiantur ecclejiis, quam pojjint commode regere ; ac fmt arbitrio epifcopo- rum amovibiles." But the caufe of this exclusive jurif- diction being vefted in the bifhop may be, as fuggefted by Van Efpen, that the entire archidiaconal power had in Belgium merged in the epifcopal. To the latter learned canonift we are indebted for the farther ufages of the Belgian churches in reference to the appointment and conftitution of this trull : IV * M r *bus Belgii pqfsim obtinuit, ut non tantum epi- i foli pro fuo arbitrio tocanos ruraUs conftituant,fed infuper libertas eis Jit, qutmcunque & presbyteris, quern huic officio maxime judicant convenire, eligere; nee Jblet officium arcStprrsbBteratus ulli determinate parochice ant dignitati, vel beneficio effe annexum" *' Similiter in poteftate epifcopi eft, dtftrictum tecanorum vel extendere, vel limitare ; imd et unam Irecanfam Jive dijlrictum arc^tpresbpteratus in plures dividere ; aut plures in unum conflare" " v. Functioned quoque et potejtas bf canorum a commif- Jionejeu inftructione, quam ab epifcopis accipiunt, unice dependent: unde in litteris, quibus arcbtprfsbpttr rurah's conftituitur, inferi confuevit hffc claujula : arcfttpresbgte- rum dij/rictus N. te nominamus et deputamus cum facul- tatibus hujufmodi arcbiptfsbpten's concedi Jblitis ac con- fuetisjuxta injiructiones datas" , g u t to return to our own country : In the year c. xxvn. P . 479. MDLXII, among the ecclefiaftical regulations then in- tended, one was, " That in every Ijeanrg in the country, there may be conftituted by the bifhop, one grave and difcreet prieft, to be arcfciprrsbster or fcecanus rurah's." Which act of conftituting, by the canons of MDLXXI. SECT. L] &tght of Election. 123 (Liber canonum &c. de archidiaconis) , fuppofes the pre- vious recommendation of the archdeacon 1 ; " peractd sparrow' vifitatione, archidiaconus Jignificabit epifcopo, quos inve- nerit in quoque fcecanatu, ed doctrind etjudicio prceditos, ut digni Jint, qui 2 pro condone doceant populum, (' for preachers in thofe days were rare ' Gibfon,) et prtz/int aliis. Ex illis epifcopus pot eft delectum facere, quos velit efje trecanos ruralts." To the bifhop the fame power of nomination is con- tinued by the fifth canon of His Majefty's Declaration cc - M - B - ' # ' J J y Vol. iv. p. 562. concerning Ecckjiaftical Affairs (A.D. MDCLX.) : " l&ural (*) May I notice, at this point, a formula of the Romifh Church in England, of the time of Charles the Firft, by which, Richard Smith, bilhop of Chalcedon, appoints his archdeacon, and gives him the power of electing his own beatlg rural ? The original document is ftated to be in St. Gregory's feminary at Paris, by the author of The Church Hiftory of England (Dodd, I believe), whence Itranfcribe the following extract: " Quo vero clerus, et populus tud follicitudine, curd, ac diligen- tid, in vid virtutis incedat, et bonorum operum fructus ubique proje- mines, volumus ut totum diftrictum tuum femel faltem infingulis cmnis in proprid perfond vifites ; et duos vel plures presbyteros, viros idoneos, atque integree et probates vitce, in pr&dicto diftrictu tuo, eligas, qui mu- nus ticcanorum ruraltum obeant in locis infra diftrictum tuum a te pree- ftituendis, prceftoque Jint rationem tibi continuo redder -e de moribus pres- byterorum, et pr&dictarum perjbnarum la'icarum intra terminos tui dt/irictus degentium, Jeu commorantium. Quorum virorum, ita a te electonim, nomina ad nos deftinabis, ut, literarum nojlrarum vigore approbationem, et confirmationem conjequantur &c." Part vi. char. i. Book in. art. iv. Records of the Clergy, p. 152. (*) In the diocefe of Winchefter, the Dean rural, annually elected AtteirburyWr- upon the old foundation, preaches two vifitation fermons during his charge, year of office ; and the fame cuftom obtained in the days of Atterbury MDCCVHI. (archdeacon of Totnefs MDCCVIII.), and ftill obtains, in the diocefe of Exeter: probably, in both cafes, founded on this canon, which was interpreted as referriilg to Vijltation fermons. Election anD Institution. [PART III. beans, as heretofore, to be nominated by the bifhop of the diocefe." While in the diocefe of Kilmore, during Lift of the epifcopate of the primitive Bifhop Bedell, the old cuftom, of the clergy electing their own fteans, returned : cc. M. B. et H. " Ut fecundum priftinani et antiquam hujus diaece/eos Vol. iv. p. 538. _, .. - /}.. * -L Kilmorenjis con/iitutionem, in tnous ejus regtombus tres f, ab ipjis ntiniftris ejufdem fcrcanntiis eligendi, qui vitam et mores cleri jugi circumfpectione cuftodiant, et ad epifcopum referant, ejufque mandata accipiant, et, quoties opus erit, per apparitor em fctcanatus ad compresbyteros fuos tranfmittant" B ess" * n The Proceedings in Convocation about 3fcural Btans (A.D. MDCCX.), the Upper Houfe feems to have been unwilling to admit the doctrine of Innocent's refcript, fo often alluded to, but rather inclined to reftore to the diftrict clergy the priftine capacity of electing their own fcrans, fubject to epifcopal fanction alone. " That the clergy of every fceanrg, or the greater part of them, mail chufe a perfon qualified" (i.e. "beneficed within the toanrg, as rector, vicar, or perpetual curate, refident upon his benefice or cure, of the elder and graver fort of the clergy, and a graduate in one of the two univerfities within this province" . . . .) . . . . " who mail be pre- fented by the archdeacon or other ordinary to the bifhop for his approbation ; and when approved, fhall be ap- pointed by the bifhop under his hand to execute the faid office for the term of three years, unlefs caufe fhould appear to the bifhop for altering the faid term." The latter part of this projected canon was pertina- cioufly refifled by the Lower Houfe, in their eagernefs to advance the privileges of their own members, by invefling archdeacons with the joint-power of difmiffing, SECT. I.] &tg|)t of ^Election. 125 as well as appointing, toans rural, according to the papal decree, and the gloffes of John de Athon and Lyndwood on the legatine and provincial constitutions : or, at leaft, they would have carried, as an indifpenfable amendment, that the archdeacon's confent fhould be firft obtained, before the bifhop proceeded to the authoritative act of difplacement. On the continent, ten years after this convocational war about the rurt=tocanal conftitution in England, the council of Reuffen iffued the decree following, without noticing in whom the right of electing rural protopres- bgters lay ; but appointing them paftors of the paftors of their teanws, and correctors of facerdotal faults and fail- ings, perfonally or by delation to the biihop, as the head of their jurifdiction. " Quoniam protopresbgterorum (treca- cone-Mum RU- norum ruraltum) officium gravius eft, quam exiftimatur : UDCC"X!) (A monet Jancta fy nodus, ut ii tantum ajjumantur, qui zelo, ^^c^m vf pietate, doctrind, et eruditione cater is prceluceant, exftecu- coissa. laribus Ji idonei inter eos fuerint ; Jin minus ex regula- ribus. Ipji verofecum cogitent,fe effe conftitutos pajiorum Jui dijirictus pajtores, edque de causa, niji ipforum defectus corrigant, vel ad epifcopum defer ant, fuoque qfficio accurate fungantur, cteterorum animas de ipforum etiam manibus requirendas ej/e." As to tocanal appointments in modern days, the fame confuetudo locoritm, as we have above referred to, has much influence over them. There is no general rule of election and inftitution. Every diocefe adheres to its own cuftoms. In fome places, the mandate of election somnerWn<.o/ proceeds, by the bifhop's grant, from the archdeacon Cant ' loc - ctl alone, as (to quote from our infular ufages) in the diocefe of Canterbury, and, at one time, feemingly, in I ->ii Election an& Institution. [PART III. that of Lincoln (Jee, in the gtypcnbuc, " admonitio epifco- palis archidiacono facia de fumptibus fcecano ruralf allo- candis :" in others, from the bifhop and archdeacon Atterbury-8 - jointly, that is, from the bifhop through the archdeacon, fitativn Charge, J A > ., ,- /> f T? 11, MDccvni. as now-a-days in the diocele ot Exeter 1 , where the clergy v. U-RII. are the actual electors : in others, again, from the 98 ' bifhop alone, as in the diocefes of London, Bath and Wells, Norwich, Oxford, Winchefter, Gloucefler, St. David's, and Salisbury, in the latter of which the office is, at prefent, on the authority of our venerated diocefan himfelf, entirely dependent on the perfonal jurifdiction of the bifhop ; the archdeacon having nothing to do with the appointment, except fo far as the bifhop may defire him to mention the names of clergymen eligible to the duty ; which has been occafionally done by the rural presbyters themfelves ; but in neither cafe with any power of nomination, as an official right. Such likewife was the conftitution of the office in the days of Bifhop Ward, and alfo in thofe of Bifhop Fifher, in the diocefe of Sarum. And yet, to fhew how much the ufages of the church have varied, at different periods, in relation to the economy of this office, even in the fame diocefe, we find traces of an oppofite cuflom to that now pre- valent, in the early conftitutions of the fee of Sarum. 0) " Volumus etiam ut Decanalug Plympton Jitui ab antiquo Jblet et autentico fcripto bonte memories I. Exon. ep'i plenius et mdius teftatur eccl'itK de Plympton remaneat, Uafcilicet ut clericus per te et fuccejffbres tuos et canonicot archd'o Tottonue qui pro tfmpore fuerit prejentetur, et curam Dccanatus per eum fufcipiat quod ep'us et ejus officiates repellendi illos qui per vos fuerint prefentaii nullam prorsus habeant poteftatem." Inter privilegia monaflerii de Plimton. Temp. IvelU prioris. eg. ^Umton f&^>. Not. i# j&. SDU. Kennett's Par. Ant. V. ii. p. 353. SECT. I.] &tgfit of Election. 127 In the Conftitutiones fact& in pleno caplo eccVice Sarum in s^s- Owmnfc. P A*tr r> T7- A i_- 1 /> E'pi Sarum 3K8. jejto A[/umpt. B. Virgmis, anno MCCXXII., this claule occurs : apud w. K. " Uecam etiam ruralts de communi confenfu cTni e'pi et archid'orum inftituantur et dejiituantur ." And in the canon " de &ecams inftituendis" of the Alia Conftitutiones cc. M. B. et H. &gidii Saresberienfis Epifcopi (A.D. MCCLVI.), is the fol- lowing injunction : " Statuimus, ut cum Decant rurales ido- s ee i. nei ab archidiaconis fuerint injtituti, nobis et fucceffbribus v e .w.de nojtris pratfententur ad facramentum corporate pr&ftan- S( dum:" clearly (hewing, that, in the days of Bifhops Poore 1 and Bridport, the inftitution of iyeans rural was partially, at leaft, a matter of archidiaconal concernment in our diocefe. Nor, indeed, in that of Winchefter 2 , has the act of appointing been always with the bifhop, to the ( J ) Bifhop Poore drew up a body of conftitutions at a diocefan fynod, Collier's Eccl. fubfequent to the year MCCXXII, for the regulation of his fee. They are -Britain B^v. divided into eighty-feven canons ; of which the penultimate commands p- 440. the archdeacons to take care that the laws are duly obferved; to give copies of them to the tural tjcang, who are to tranfcribe them, and furnifli the rectors and vicars within their precincts. (*) In the diocefe of Winchefter, there are, at prefent, two foundations of rural fteang, the old and new the latter inftituted a few years fmce by Bifhop Sumner, and appointed folely and exclufively by his authority (fee ^IppcnDtl, Winchefter Documents) the former of ancient ftanding and peculiar conftitution ; whereby the clergy are empowered to elect a perfon, at the archidiaconal vifitation, to fill the nominal office of fcean rural, and to preach at the two fubfequent vifitations of the archdeacon and bifhop's commiffary (in Surrey). But the office is in fact, Archdeacon Hoare informs me, a mere nullity, except for preaching ; for which pur- pofe the election is annual, and the Dean changed. This ancient foun- dation, though thus limited by ufage, it is expreffly provided by the bifhop, is not to be affected by his new appointment. The latter is general throughout Hants and Surrey : the older inftitution, on the authority of Archdeacon Bayley, obtains not in Hants. 128 Election anD institution. [PART III. exclufion of the archdeacon ; though in the prefent age the latter is no party to it: for in the fy nodal conjlitu- cc. M. n.ftn. tions of Bifhop Woodloke (A.D. MCCCVIII.) it is ftipulated Vol. ii. p. 299. . f " qudd de cfPtero, tarn toecam, quam apparitores eorum, per nos, aut officialem nojlrum, arckidiaconum, vel officialem eorum, communiter eligantur, et amoveantur Jimiliter com- muniter per eofdem" Indeed, fo good a cafe of feeming right to a participation in the appointment of treans rural generally, in England, interpreter in do the archdeacons put forward, that Dr. Cowell in his R. c.~ f ft. AU- Cornwall, where I am informed " the office has never (?) vSde Bod- ' been discontinued," the ancient cuftom of adminiftering m an oath, at the time of inftitution, yet furvives, with other primitive peculiarities connected therewith. The office is there, as it was in Lyndwood's days generally in England (fee the next fection) annual. The bifhop's & ! TO , Exeter forms, mandate panes from the vicar-general and commmary of NO. i. the diocefe, under his official feal, to the archdeacon " charging and commanding him to monifh, or caufe to be monimed, all the clergy of his archdeaconry before where, in the lift of fees taken in the exchequer and prerogative courts, appears " Commiffion for a rural Dean, 5*. 4rf. (Judge) 3*. (Regiftrar)" But in parts of that province the Decanal office is one of confiderable emolument, and held by patent for life (viz. in the archdeaconries of Chefter and Richmond), fo that the functionary may well pay for his commiffion. See Table of Fees &c. N. i. beginning 1 " For bufinefs cer- tified by rural Deans : " Deans rural in general have " no comings-in" and therefore had need have no goings-out, beyond what they unavoid- ably incur in the fulfilment of their ordinary duties of parochial vifita- tion, and attendance on the citations of their diocefan. "Ulrrtton ant) Institution. [PART III. him aflembled on any competent and convenient day and place, then and there to elect, and nominate, one fit and convenient clerk of each fceanrg, to be the titan rural of each fceanrp, within the archdeaconry for the year enfuing : and giving him free power and lawful autho- rity to adminifler in due form of law to each and every of the tieans rural, who mall be elected in purfuance of the mandate, the ufual and accuftomed oath for the faithful execution of their refpective offices" to this effect : SmJnu&c. u " " ^ ou s & fl N s fo* ar we ll an d tru ty to execute the office rura * w i tmn your fceaturg, for the year enfuing; NO. ii vou fl^u diligently, in the year, vifit all churches and chapels within your toaiurg, as alfo all parfonages and vicarage houfes ; you mail make true prefentments of fuch defects as you (hall find therein, and alfo the defects of books, ornaments, and other utenfils and fur- niture, belonging to each church or chapel ; you mall either, by yourfelf or deputy, faithfully execute, or caufe to be executed, all fuch proceffes and mandates as mall be fent to you from your ordinary, and make true re- turns of the fame. So help you GOD." Till within thefe few laft years, the oath was ufually adminiflered, immediately after dinner, at the table where the clergy dined, on the occafion of the arch- deacon vifiting the refpective tommies of his jurifdiction holding, that is, his fynodal vifitations in each (the time felected for the appointment, under the epifcopal mandate, as moft convenient for the aflembled clergy to elect their fceans rural) ; but the prefent archdeacon of SECT. II.] ^Hetf)ot of Institution. 14-1 Cornwall (the Rev. John Sheepfhanks) thinking it more decorous to hold the election and adminifter the oath, when the clergy are called over, at the altar, after divine fervice, that courfe is now conltantly purfued. Inftruc- see stypmMr, - ,. / i Exeter Forms,. tions are afterwards delivered to the foe an for the execu- NO. m. tion of his office, with a Book of Forms for making his prefentments ; copies of which are delivered to the churchwardens, who are called upon, in the fubfequent year, to anfwer inquiries as to their conduct in dif- charging fuch prefentments : and this is done, before the archdeacon, in the prefence of the teans rural. In the glppentfix of documents will be found numerous tables of inftructions for teans rural from the ninth cen- tury downwards to the prefent time. They are culled from authentic fources in print and manufcript, and may be relied on for their authenticity. But before I conclude this fection on the fubject of ^ 8 -* b . bc . n * a ;. Parochial Anti- the inveftiture of teans rural, I muft again cite the """ VoL " p. o5o. . letter of White Kennett to the bimop of Lincoln, pregnant as it is with much pertinent and fenlible fug- geftion to the point. " If your lordihip doe not think it fufficient to ordain rural fceans by oral declaration at your times of vifitation," writes the vicar of Ambrofden to Bifhop Gardiner, " but to give them particular commif- Jions to authorize them (which indeed will look more folemn and authentic), your lordfhip may life a fhort and general form ; fuch as one of the foregoing, (fee pp. 131 133) ; or fuch as is now commonly ufed in creating an official or furrogate ; or fuch, mutatis mu- tandis, as now constitutes a dean of arches. Or elfe your lordihip may have a new form drawn up, which mall decently mention the good old cuftom, and the 142 Election an* Institution. [PART III. benefits of reftoring it, and fo delegate the perfon to exercife the office of tean of (Efmsttanttp within fuch a known teanerp, without fpecifying the acts or bounds of his authority ; becaufe thefe muft be limited or enlarged, as the prudence of governors fhall direct, or indeed as the iniquity of times will bear. For at firft, my lord, the archdeacons and officials, &c. will be jealous of them, and will create difturbance, if there be any feeming trefpafs upon their accuftomed rights,'' &c. SECT. III.] IBuratfon of Office. 143 SECTION III. Duration of Office of Deans iiural. whomfoever &eans rural may have been, at different periods of their hiftory, conftituted and appointed, and in whatfoever way, the office itfelf has generally been, and ftill continues, in moft diocefes (as we have already hinted), of a temporary nature, the powers with which it is inverted by delegation being revocable at the will of the delegator. " Muralfs arcfjiprestmtn non diznitas eft" Anaiyfi* cc. . ' Gen. el Part. fays Richard, "fed Jimplex ad epifcopi voluntatem revo- T m. m. P . 36. cabile officium" This precarioufnefs of title is implied in the paffages, already cited from foreign canoniils, on the removal of fceans rural, when occalion required it ; and it is expreffly affirmed by our own Lyndwood " eorum oifi- Prn.c/.L.n. i * / va> ' ^ , T - 1- g'- Decani cium ejt temporale et non perpetuum, dinenng in that refpect from the tocanal dignity in cathedral, collegiate, and fuch like churches, " quibus perpetud intitulantur." p. * Tit - & 1 - " Sunt hi frtcant temporales ad aliquid minifterium fub epifcopo vel archidiacono (al. archiepifcopo] eocercendum con- Jiituti ; nee habent inftitutionem canonicam tanquam in benejicio" And again, " quolibet anno mutantur Decant, i* . Tit i. i. etjiunt novi." To the fame purport writes John de Atho, in his earlier gloffary on the Legatine Conftitutions of Cardinal Otho, in the canon " ne caufe matrimoniales umm anno. 144 Election auti Institution. [PART III. judicibus imperitis committantur ; " " non ejl perpetuus gj.inw)cbani. (fcil. tetanus ruralts) etjic confuetudinem prtefcribere non po/fet,fed tjl amotivus ab officio ad nutum fuperioris, cujus ejl minijler" And once more the Bifhop of St. David's, on the fame point of prefcription " cum tales provimdai.L.11. fcecam turaUs ' non Jint perpetui, et quicquid faciunt, non pratftmant. fuo fed ali&no nomine faciunt , etiam ratione confuetudinis prcefcribere non poflunt" Similar was the intended regulation of the office in the Reformatio Legum Ecclejiajlicarum " Munus autem TU.XCH.C.V. e j us (arctfpresbmeri rusticant) erit annuum" But in the P. - * Proceedings in Convocation about Ulural Dtans, in the reign of Queen Anne, the period of irecanal tenancy, recommended by the Upper Houfe, was three years ; cc.M.B.etH. "unlefs caufe mould appear to the bifhop for altering the faid term ;" or, as the latter claufe was amended by the Lower Houfe, " unlefs great caufe mould ap- pear to the bimops and archdeacons having jurifdiction, or to the bifhop where there is no archdeacon having jurifdiction, for difplacing them fooner." pt i. p. 176. True, therefore, it is, as remarked by the Hiftorian of the Antiquities of Canterbury, that rural fceans were " ge- nerally amotive, and removeable adnutumconjlituentis" but there have been exceptions to the rule. In fome places, by virtue of cuftom and the grants of bimops, they enjoy a perpetual jurifdiction, fubordinate only to the bifhop and archbilhop ; they are " vicar ii Gibfon'dCod /. (') Which was the reafon, Gibfon obferves, why the feals the Dean* . -f. \ol.^u. rural had for the due return of citations, and the difpatch of fuch buii- viu. p. 972. ne f 8 a s they were employed in, had only the name of the office (and not, as other feals of jurifdiction, the name of the perfon alfo) engraven on them. SBCT. HI.] duration of Office. epifcopi et archiepifcopi" and have power of acting by themfelves or deputies. Of this nature are the toans of Shoreham, Croydon, and other the archbifhop's pecu- " l p tt 53. cbap ' liars ; who have archidiaconal jurifdiction under the archbilhop, and are fubject to him alone. The official principal, vicar-general, or commuTary of the archbimop, have no concurrency of jurifdiction in thefe toanws ; but appeals lie from the tean to the official principal, and they are fubject to the archbifhop's vifitation by himfelf or his vicar-general. Under the title of tecam rurales, modern writers alfo, Bum fometimes, place the Ireans 1 of Battle, Backing, Middle- p. us. ham, St. Burian, Guernfey, and Jerfey, all of whom are perpetual, and in our days are more correctly called &eans of peculiars ; though feveral, or perhaps all, may ( J ) Battle or Battell De Bella is an ancient Dcanrij of Sufiex, a peculiar jurifdiction without a chapter. See Dugdale's Monqfticon An- glicanum, Part xix. p. 239. New Edit. Booking is the head of the archbifliop's peculiars in Eflex and Suffolk ; four of which are fituated in Eflex, and three in Suffolk ; and all fubject to the Dean of Bocking, as archiepifcopal commiflary. See Morant's Effe*. Middleham is a collegiate church in the gift of the crown, with jurif-.T.D.Wbitaker's diction, privileges, and exemptions, unimpeacbed and undiminimed to v ^j J* 339^' the prefent day. The l)can has the probate of wills, and fome other rights of ecclefiaftical jurifdiction within his parifh, together with a court, an official, and a feal of office. " The paroch chirche hath beene, as fum wene," fays Leland, " a collegiate chirche. The parfon is yet caulled the Dean of Midleham. Richard the 3d lay at itt, and colle- giated the chirche there, but Henry the 7th toke the new college land awaye." St. Burian enjoys its Decanal dignity immediately under the crown ; See Borlafe's the Dean exercifing an independent jurifdiction in all ecclefiaftical Corn matters within the parifh and its dependencies. He is rector, and entitled ner, p. 67. L to 146 Election anD Institution. [PART III. have fprung originally from titans rural. Indeed, Sir Henry Spelman so thinks with regard to some of them : cioff. Arekmoi " Sutit etiam in rure," fays he, " ticcam pauculi, nulli collegia prtefecti, Jed jurifdictione qudpiam gaudentes, ut titcanus Croidenice in comitatu Surrite, titcanus de Bcllo, i. jLJattd, in comitatu Cantii, #c. Videntur ex rural turn titcanorum genere Jui//e : quod hinc ab epifcopo, illinc ab archidiacono, vel exhauftum omnind ejl, vel priftino Jplen- dore denu datum." /fi^TitxLii. But to come to less equivocal titans: In the diocefe c. MM. p. 972. O f Norwich, the continuance of titans rural in office feems to have been perpetual, and their admiffion more folemn than elfewhere. For, in the time of Archbifhop Witlefey, while that fee was vacant, collations to feveral rural titanrfts occur (whereas in other places they are called admil/ions only) ; and, in an ancient metropolitical vifi- tation of the fame diocefe, the firft in every titanrp is fuch Whiuker's Ca- to all the tithes of St. Burian : where alfo a vilitation court is held in waJZ, c. L p. 81, his name, churchwardens fworn, and wills proved, &c. The appeal from * c - his court is directly to the king in council. Three prebends were attached Lyfon g Com- J trail, p. 49, feq. to this royal peculiar from the Conquelt downwards ; but before the Reformation, Dean and prebendaries had deferted St. Beriana and her mrine. " Ther longeth to S. Bury ens a I) cane and a few prebendary s," fays Leland, " that almoft be nether ther." Leland's Jtin. VH. 127. This ancient fanctuary, with its titular Dean, has not much, afluredly, in com- mon with the conftitution of an ordinary rural Decanate. The Deanrtcg of Guernjey and Jerfey prefent more points of refem- blance ; and, on that account, I have felected from their canons and con- ftitutians ecclefiaftical of the reign of James I. fome few regulations of the Decanal office, its character and functions, as then appointed in thofe remote parts of the diocefe of Winchefter. Thefe extracts are dillributed, either as text or foot-notes, under the various heads to which they apply. See Falle's and Morant's Jerfty, and Berry's Guemfey. SECT. III.] duration of Office. 147 an one, perpetuus tecanus 1 . To which may be added, fays the bifhop of London, what we find before, in the regifter of Archbifhop Peckham ; who commands the bilhop to fequefter " prevent us omnium fcecanatuum, in (>) On the collation of Henry Goldwell to the Deanrg of Cranwich in && 3ntit. Norfolk, this injunction is entered : " Et epifcopus virtute obedientiee, Jirmiier injunxit om?iibus etfingulis abbatibus, prior, rector, vicar, cu- ratis, Sfc. tarn clericis quam laicis per diet. Decanal, quod Henrico Gold- wello Decano perpetuo eorum, obediant pariter et intendant in omnibus licitis, canonici/que mandatis." The Dean of Rockland-Toft in Norfolk exercifed jurifdiction over Biomefieid's thirty rectors and vicars befides the three parifhes within the bounds of y^ ' 473 his own incumbency : he was, as well as the other Dcang, Mr. Blomefield Vol. " PP- 52. 228 271 492 tells us, collated by the bifhop. All the Deanrieg had peculiar feals ap- pfopriated to them. They were not temporary, or durante epifcopi bene placito, but perpetual offices ; and were often refigned and exchanged for other preferments in the church. Mr. Blomefield gives a lift of the Vol. iv. p. 63. Deans of Rockland from A.D. MCCCXV. to A.D. MCCCCXCVIII. ; of thofe of 359 V ' Thetford from A.D. MCLXXV. to A.D. MCCCCXX. ; of Cranwich from A.D. MCCCXV. to A.D. MDIX. ; of Breccles from A.D. MCCCX. to A.D. MCCCCLXVI. ; of Hingham from A.D. MCCCVII. to A.D. MCCCCLXVII. ; of Norwich city from A.D. MCCXVI. to A.D. MDXIX. ; of Humiliart or Hum- Vol. vn. pp. 39. oil 363 ble-yard from A.D. MCCLVI. to A.D. MCCCCXLVII. ; of DefTwade from VoLvm. pp.181. A.D. MCCXVI. to A.D. MCCCCXCVIII. ; of Redenhall from A.D. MCCCXXVI. 5 r 3 ?- Vol. ix. pp. 400. to A.D. MDXXXIV. ; of Burnham from A.D. MCCXVIII. to A.D. MCCCCXCIV. ; 471. of Blofield from A.D. MCCLVI. to A.D. MCCCXLVII. ; of Fincham from J jj t x ' pp- 107 ' A.D. MCCL. to A.D. MDXVIII. ; of Repps from A.D. MCCCIV. to A.D. Vol. xi. p. 145. MCCCXXXIX. ; of Lynn from A.D. MCCCXV. to A.D. MDXLIII. ; of Holt from A.D. MCCCXVHI. to A.D. MCCCCXXXIX. ; of Brifley from A.D. MCCC. to A.D. MCCCCLII. ; of Broke from A.D. MCCLVI. to A.D. MCCCCXXXVI. ; of Hitcham from A.D. MCCCXIV. to A.D. MCCCXLIX. ; of Flegg from A.D. MCCLVI. to A.D. MCCCCXLV. About A.D. MDXL. the rural Deanrieg came all into the bifhop's hands, and their jurifdictions into the archdeacons. Being valuable preferments they were taxed for their annual profits to their refpective Deang in the Norwich taxation. L 2 148 Election anD Institution. [PART III. quibus titcanf, et in facer dotio conjhtuti, non faciunt per- Jbnalem refidentiam l ." T. n whiuker-s Again, If the anomalous perfonage, so fully and fey, B. ii c.i. amufingly defcribed by Dr. Whitaker, under the title of titan of Whalley, can be confidered a rural titan, we have an example of the office being hereditary. But, clofe as this ftrange perfonage approximates to the torban of Ireland (in being compounded of patron, incumbent, ordinary, and lord of the manor), and aware, as I am, that Sir Henry Spelman views the corban as the coun- terpart of the titan rural of England, I cannot fubfcribe to the accuracy of the opinion which would confound thefe ecclefiaflics under the fame general character. A lefs doubtful exception to the office's limitation, the paftor of Great Budworth affords, in the notice nrfenfm; beftowed upon it in his Defenflve Doubts, hopes, and Q. l J J reqfons, for refufall of the Oath, impofed by the fixth canon of the late fynod " In this diocefle (Chefter), the titants for many yeares paft have had a great part of epifcopall jurifdiction fhared among* them," fays John Ley \ " and this, by patent for lives or yeares. from Chefter Palentt. J ' ' the bifhops, allowing fometimes larger, fometimes lefTe authority, unto them." Which ftatement I find con- firmed by a manufcript Uttigtr in the pofTeffion of Mr. (') Hi I hop Kennett's &$. additions to his own copy of his Parochial Antiquities cite the following extract from the regifter of John Drokens- ford, bifhop of Bath and Wells (A.D. MCCCIX. MCCCXXIX.) " wcccxxv. 13. kal. Octob. Joh. de Roulefham ad officium nrri)tprc&- bntcvatus in eccl'ia de Pokyngton fecundum formam ordinationis dicti arcliiprcsbntc vatu5 qui penes d'num remanet ad prefent. d'nte Aliciae do Knovil dict. o. cuftom, diftinct from the ordinary jurifdiction of the diocefe ; and entitled to independent actuaries, regi- ftrars, &c. of its own. The engraving of the name with the office on the feal wwtaker's m- J ftory of Man- of the rural toeans of Manchefter, Mr. Whitaker remarks, Defter, vol. H. of itfelf proves the appointment to have been there for life : indeed the fame perpetuity belonged to it, as to the other fcecanates of the old archdeaconry of Chefter, of which it formed a part a perpetuity, which, the cited (') See the evil of this fyftem of patents for lives, as practifed in the diocefe of Chefler, in the eftate of that diocefe in the time of Bifhop Bridgeman, printed from the J&g. 2lc&ger-3$oofe. &ppenlux of docu- ments of thisyee, N. vi. 150 Election anO Institution. [PART III. cap. v. Fiiefeci Faroe- da, p. 49. hiftorian affirms with his wonted pofitivenefs, univerfally attached to the office at its firft inftitution *. 1 ^e archdiocefe of Salzburg, it feems, fceans rural were won t to hold on beyond the bifhop's pleafure, " ita ut ftbi perfuadeant, fe eo qfficio^ etjurifdictione, ob quam- cunque caufam non poffe deftitui:" to counteract which uncanonical notion, the fynod of MDLXIX decrees, that all elected tans mall appear before the ordinary for infti- tution, and afterwards perform the duties of their office to his entire fatisfaction, as the condition of their con- tinuing to hold the fame ; " Qua in re? concludes the conftitution, " neque alicui Jit injuria, cum hujufcemodi munera, mera Jint epifcoporum officia, quibus Juts pro- videre ac confulere debent ovibus, ftbi a fpiritu Jancto commil/is" In fome places, where our rural functionary enjoyed a perpetuity of tenure, (and fuch, we are told, was the conftitution of his charge not unfrequent on the conti- nent, and at firft, perhaps, in many diocefes of Great Britain,) it is said, that he was diftinguifhed by the lefs common title of pi eb an us 2 " a regimine plebis" a title, Strype's Mem. ( l ) What was the duration of office of the ancient rfjorepfecopi, I do not remember to have any where feen. But it is at leaft queftionable, whether it was not for life. Not fo that of the bifhops in partibus infi- delium of England. Their commiffion, at and after the Reformation, was revocable. Dutift Sf Rightt (*) Upon the nature of this title, Bifhop Stillingfleet affords light, as il obtained in England foon after the firft inftitution of a parochial clergy: and from him it would appear, that the plcbamig of thofe days was not the fame, eflentially, as our Dan tural of after-days, however identified in the columns of gloflariographers. " There were fome cures," fays he, " which had chapels of eafe belonging to them ; and they who officiated in them, were called capellani, and had their fub- fiftence p. 651. SECT. III.] duration of Office. 151 which, Filefac thinks, originated in the days of Pope Lu- cius III. (circa annum MCLXXXI.), as fynonymous with parcecus : but very many perpetual teans rural were not plebani, and very many plebam were not titans rural. The term plebanus is of very rare occurrence in our Englilh councils, (irtdeed I remember to have met with it only once or twice); but in Tufcany, the Sbumma bil- bestrtna notes that the " arcbipresbptn ruralts communiter Parsi. iu the f llowm g terms " That each divi- v p.507. f lon o f the people of God in their feverall limits have See Monn. Dt ^ their arc&presbpter, who may not only take care of the n utxvi. rude an d ignorant multitude, but may alfo with conti- cp.n.p.2i7.x. nuall circumfpection obferve and looke unto the life and Thnmaflin. V.et N.E.D. P.I. converfation of the presbyters, which dwell in the lejjer pj. 226, feqq. titks, and (hew unto the bifhop with what diligence each Duaren. De S.E. - , / ^ i -VT i M.acB. L.I. oi them penormeth the worke of God. Neither let the bifhoppe contend and fay, that the people committed to his charge need no arcfrpresbpter, as if he himfelfe were able fufficiently to governe the fame; becaufe, though he be exceeding worthy, yet it is fit he mould divide his burthens, that as he is over the mother church, fo the arcftpresbpttrs may be over the people abroad, that the ecclefiafticall care ftagger not, or be not too weake in any thing. Yet, notwithstanding, let them referre all things to the bifhop, neither let them prefume to order any thing againft his liking and decree." Rfformatio LL. The Uke defcription of the office is alfo found in the Ecclef. Tit de EcciefiaetMi- Reformatio Legum, of which I quote Bifhop Kennett's niftris ejuf. c. v. . verfion forefeeing that I mall have occafion to cite many claufes of the Latin text in the fequel : " That ' every toanerp fhould have a rural arcftpresbgter appointed by the bifhop, or by the ordinary of the church, whofe office mould be annual ; who, as a watchman, mould continually fupervife the presbyters, deacons, church- wardens, and fextons, that all of them difcharge their refpective duty. Who mould inquire of all idolaters, heretics, fimoniacs, bawds, whores, adulterers, forni- cators, perfons who had two wives or two husbands, forcerers, witches, calumniators, blafphemers, fodomites, drunkards, forgers, and perjured witnefles in teflamentary SECT. I.] Jrntrotmctorg jfeumjuarg. 159 caufes, and all violators of the eccleliaftic laws, and the injunctions of the bifhop. And fhould have authority to cite before them and to examine all perfons fufpected of fuch crimes ; and then within ten days Ihould return in writing to the bifhop or ordinary of the place the whole matter of the accufation, whether by public fame, or attefled by the depofition of witneffes, or juflly fu- fpected. And if any perfon refufe to come to him when duly cited by the apparitor, he (hall be cenfured as con- tumacious, &c. And within every fix months the faid rural bean fhould inform the bifhop or ordinary of the place, how many fermons had been preached in his fceanerg within that fpace of time." " And where, in the plan that was under confideration V^T/TU'^LH ann. MDLXII," continues Gibfon, "the fame duty is laid p.vm.p.972. out, it is expreffly added, But the faid bean not to deter- mine any thing in thofe matters." " This report to be made to the bifhop concerning the manners of the clergy, and people, rendered them neceffary attendants on the epifcopal fynod or general vifitation, which was held for the fame end of infpecting in order to reformation : and they might on account of the informations given by them be fometimes called Teftes Synodaks ; but not, I conceive, exclufive of the Tejles Synodales properly fo called, or that thefe fuc- ceeded the rural beans in the office of detecting (however thofe things have been affirmed); fince they have no fuch title given them, in any canon or conftitution, that I have met with ; and it is alfo certain, that the calling- out the Teftes Synodales at fynods, was in practice, long before the declining ft ate of the rural beans." (See Sec- tion in. EDITOR.) 160 tfqponal function*. [PART IV. " But however, at firft, the office of rural titans was merely infpection ; by degrees they became poifefled of a power to judge and determine in fmaller matters; and therefore, upon the forementioned rule of the canon law, (quoted entire, with its glofs, in earlier pages, from DT. Greg, ix. the council of Pavia A.D. DCCCL.), at the words cuncta Lib. I. Tit xxiv. " C.IT. EDITOR, famen refer ant ad epifcopum, the glofs defcribes the im- provement of their power by cuftom, preeter minora, qua ipji arrijiprtsbgUrf determinare poffunt, cum habeant or dinar iamjurifdictionem : which is, in effect, the fame J^T. Edwvd. conftitution that we find in the laws of Edward the Confers, c. 32. EDITOR. Confeflbr, concerning the Decemvir, or the Head-man of every tything, in the ftate : IJti inter villas et vicinos caufas tractabant, et fecundum forisfacturas emendationes capiebant, et concordationes faciebant, videlicet, de pafcuis, pratis, meflibus, et de litigationibus inter vicinos, et innu- meralibus hujufmodi decertationibus, qutf humanam fragi- litatem infejlant, et earn inceffanter oppugnant. Cum au- tcm caufis major es erumpebant, referebantur ad fuperiores eorumjuftitiarios, &c." " This then was the Banding office of rural tieans, To infpect the manners of the people and clergy, to determine leffer matters themfelves, and to report the reft to their ecclefiaftical fuperior 1 . But, as to other branches of power (fuch as inductions, inquifitions, de K 1 e . n " c j t ' s . p r- Jure Patronatus, cuftody of vacant benefices, trial of dual A nltqut- J tut, VOL ii. caufes by delegation, and the like) which have been vn Efpen ( ' ) " Recogitare debent atct)ipteb8teti, fe effe conftUutos pq/lorum rfi^'in ''so ei ecclefiaftic&rum fui dtftrictus pa/tores; ipfarumque parochiarum EDITOR. ' vice-epifcopo direction intendere ; ut vel ipji defectu* corriganl, vel ad minus epifcopum de omnibus plene inftruant." EDITOR. SECT. I.] Xntrolmctorg j&ummarg. 1 Q \ placed to their account, as branches of the office; in thefe they feem only to have been occajionally employed by their ecclefiaftical fuperiors, to whom they fwore obe- dience at their admiffion. And therefore the faying that they were fometimes employed in fuch matters, would have been lefs apt to mi/lead the reader, than the repre- fenting fuch duties, wherein they were but occa/ionally employed, as powers of right belonging to the office." " It hath been alfo affirmed, that parochial vijitations are part of the office : and it is true, that where the Lateran council determines the retinues of vijitors, and allows to archdeacons five or feven horfes ; it is added, liecant conftituti fub epifcopis (al. ipjis, in marg.) duobus equis contenti exiftant: but I may venture to fay, that, though the faid Lateran. canon is transferred by the bulk into the canons of the council of London, ann. MCC. ; yet in all the Provincial and Legatine Conftitutions, or the gloffes upon them, there is not the leaft intimation of their being parochial vifitors, or their having any con- cern therein ; which work, by the whole tenor of them, is fuppofed to belong wholly to archdeacons, as the legal adminiftrators of that branch of the epifcopal jurif- diction." Hitherto Bifhop Gibfon and his authorities. But, perhaps, it will not be going too far in the humble col- lector of thefe notes on the tecanal office of t&e counttp, to fay, that the learned canonift, in the foregoing ftate- ment, is at iffue with other antiquaries, and poffibly miftaken. It is difficult to fay what were permanent powers of right, and what of temporary delegation. Strictly fpeak- ing, the former were very few ; and, fuch as they were, M 162 tfewonal ^function*. [PART IV. perhaps, more extenfively annexed to the office on the continent than in England, and in fome places here than in others ; and fo feeming contradictions may be recon- J*r UJt/. ciled. " Circa hac aliaquejura et ojficia aitljipirsbntcvovum yniv. Part i. notandum y illaplurimum ex confuetudine, et injlructionibus, P. 3i. feufacultatibus, qua arc&iprcsbpte us injingulis dicecefibw dari confueverunt, dependere et variari; adeo ut ex con- Juetudine aut decreto unius dicecejis quoad Jimilia ad alias dicecefes or dinar ie non liceat inferre" Antiquities of Mr. Somner acknowledges the undefined nature of the Canterbury, Pan i. pp. 175, office of beans rural. ' Their jurifdiction," fays he, " for ought that I can find, is not fo certain, nor particularly laid down any where, as it can be faid to be, of this or that form, or to be thus or thus bounded out. And therefore as they are generally amotive, and removeable ad nutum conftituentis, fo is it arbitrary to the fuperior that ordains them, I fuppofe, with decency and order, what charge or bufinefs they ftiall undergo." Be their powers what they may we judge of them alone by their exercife ; and however fubordinate our rural ordinary may at all times, and in all places, have been, the great machine of ecclefiaftical difcipline having been principally conducted and applied by his agency in country diftricts, he muft be viewed as an important perfonage in the by-gone days of his plenary jurifdiction fuch as the following pages will mew him to have once poffefTed at leajl by epifcopal commiffion. An officer to whofe perfonal vigilance, fubordinate to, or a part from, the archdeacon, as the cafe might be, the bifhop con- figned the vicarious vifitation of the rural cantonments of his diocefe the fupervifion of the clergy therein as to manners and function the detection of vice the SECT. I.] XntroDuctotg jfeummarg. 163 fupport of churches and ecclefiaftical manfions and the care of all things which concerned the public worlhip of Almighty God cannot have been other than a moft influential member of our rural church-police, while capacitated to fulfil and actually difcharging fuch grave and vital duties ; and, in the ratio of his then importance, an interefting fubject of antiquarian inveftigation to mo- dern ecclefiaftics. M 2 104- $er*onal function*. [PART IV. SECTION II. PAROCHIAL VISITATION. jjO begin with an effential branch (as the writer believes) of the fccan rural 's perfonal functions the cardinal duty on which nearly all the reft depend parochial vifitation: Never at anv P er iod, according to the compiler of our Codex of voi.ii/nt.xLii. Church Law. did the rural arcfajusbriter attain to the c. vin. p. 972. right of parochial vi/itation ; though a parochial vi/itor, by epifcopal delegation, he has ever been, in every Chrif- tian country, from his Jirft eftabliftiment to the prefent time. j* r . Ecciff. &rcfttprtsbt)tris five to cams ruraltbus incumbere curam Univ. Part I. J . . Tit vi. cap. v. parochiarum fuorum refpectivd dijinctuum extra dubium eft? Van Efpen obferves, " adedque jus eft arc&ipresbgttrfs vifitandi dictas parockias, quoties id neceffarium aut utilc videbitur, ut debitam parochice notitiam habere queant" (g the church Touching the power and authority of thefe arc topics bpters," fays Dr. Field, " . . . . they were twife in the yeare to vi/ite all the churches within the limits fubject to them, to fee what was there amiffe, defective, or weake, that fo they might either reforme, fupplie, or ftrengthen the fame." AntiqnUitt of " By cujlom warranted by law? Mr. Somner writes, Pan i. P . ire. " many of them had a kind of jurifdiction 1 to vifit their Repertor.Ctuun. (') Dr. Godolphin enumerates the feveral officers, to whom, under the (12) p. 7*. (25.) bifhop, the due execution of ecclefiaftical laws is entrufted, and who " are to SECT. II.] -^arocftial Visitation. teanrp, and to inquire of crimes and defamations hap- pening in the fame, efpecially by the clergy, and to take cognifance thereof; correcting, for the fmaller offences, by themfelves ; and for the reft, referring them to the fuperior, the bifhop, namely, or archdeacon, at the next fynod, chapter, or vifitation, reporting unto them what they found, like as did the Irenarchte and Apparitores of old, their notoria to the magiftrate." " They had power to vifit and hear caufes," fays Mr. Ancient and Johnfon, " and a fort of authority, latterward, to correct of England^, i. delinquent clergymen, but not to proceed to cenfure, &c." Such an opinion, again, in modern days, the learned gj. ^ dn , civilian Dr. Andrews expreffes : " They had by law the f^^' right of vifitation both of the laity and inferior clergy. p>73> In fmaller matters they had a right of judging ; but in thofe of a higher nature, they were to refer to the bifhop, and to follow his directions. They had an ordinary jurifdiction within their toanws : their attendants at the time of vifitation were reftrained, and their demands of procurations regulated by the canon law." This early capacity, by Bifhop Kennett alfo denomi- p ar0 chM Anti- nated a right of vifitation, and ftated to have been long p^eo!' ' " retained, and exercifed ex confuetudine over all the churches, as well as clergy, of their teanws twice a-year (for all vifitations were at firft parochial), Gibfon, as I to make infpection into the manners of each particular diocefe the chancellor, commiflaries, archdeacons, officials, and t)eang rural." And then (25) he fays " for the government of the church, and correc.ion of offences by the aforefaid officers, vifitations of parishes and diocefes were allowed, that fo all poffible care might be taken to have good order kept in all places of the diocefe/' See alfo Molanus de Canonicis, L. ii. c. vin. pp. 158-9. 1(56 personal function*. [PART IV. have faid, altogether denies to fceans rural in England. code* I.E. A. "In all the Provincial and Legatine Conjlitutions, and p. ! 97 X 2 LI1 ' ' the gloffes upon them," writes the canonift, " there is not the leaft intimation of their being parochial vifitors 1 , or having any concern therein." 2$?&u7.~ Here > however, Mr. Whitaker aflerts the bilhop of PP. 384. 394. London to have made " a great miflake ; " for that the rural bean, as the ordinary and prelate of his taiurp, like the archdeacon and bifhop, perfonally vijtted every bene- ficed clergyman and church ; and, like them, had a right to a procuration from each, or one day's entertainment for himfelf and his attendants. And afluredly, unlefs invefted by the bifhop with a visitatorial capacity, in fome fenfe or other of the term, rural treans could not have performed their duties of infpection in aidance of their fupreme head, the urban diocefan : acting in whofe name, the primary objects of their office was to examine the demeanour of the clergy and the conduct of the laity, and to promote the important interefls of religion in both : and the fecondary, to infpect the ftate of the ftructure, and the condition of the furniture, in the rural churches ; and to keep the ecclefiaftical houfes in good repair. CC.M.B.etH. (!) Archbifhop Peckham feems to acknowledge them as parochial vi/itors in his letter to Anian bilhop of St. Afaph (A.D. MCCLXXXIV.), hereafter quoted. He orders them to be procured for by the rectors and vicars of the diocefe. Provincial. Lib. In Lyndwood's fflofs upon the words alii ordinarii in Archbifliop in. Tit xxu p. 224. Stratford's vijliation conftitution (A.D. MCCCLXII.), rural Oeang are not excluded, though, it muft be confefled, they are not named. The glof- fographer writes " archidiaconis eequales, et inferiores eis" which explanation will afluredly admit Decanal ordinaries. See the Meath Con- ftitutions, iv. v. vi. beyond. SECT. II.] ^atoc&tal Imitation. 167 " Cum arcfttprtsbpttri omnibus paftoribus et ecclefiafticis Jur.Eccieflaft. fui dift r ictus fuperintendere, et invigilare debeant" fays TitvT cap. m. Van Efpen ; " attendere quoque, num nihil in parochiis P Jibi fubjectis, ad earum debitum regimen et cur am anima- rum fpectans negligatur ; nihil evidentius, quam inter primas arcSiprtsfcsterorum obligationes, effe parochiarum Jibi fubjectarum exactam, et frequentem vifitationem, qua mediante in notitiam parochiarum venire, et corrigenda corrigere, aut ad epifcopum corrigenda referre queant" I am inclined to believe that they were parochial vi- Jitors of very early days eftablilhed, in all likelihood, at the abolition of the cfrortptscopt to this department of office : nay, as perfotreutae, with whom, in earlier pages, SSpJJ we have endeavoured to affimilate them, they were L - " Tit - * XXXI. efTentially vi/itors " epifcoporum vicarii, qui r&sdones ., J J . f j . *7 G . \ ... epi/coporum arcumtbant et vmtabant, auctontate quadam vol. H. P . 969. epifcopali, qua etiam defectus emendd//e, et alia qu( mjlta- tionum necejjitas pojtulabat, peregijfe videntur." Filia- tion was an attribute of their office even before it was delegated to the principal deacons ; who, under the title of archdeacons, at their original inftitution, had no rela- tion to the rural diocefe at large, but only to the epi- fcopal fee. But that rural teans or ardbpusfogtm, or even p*rfo= toutae, ever parochially vijited their fubject churches otherwife than by exprefs or implied permiffion and authority of their diocefan, I am far from affirming : indeed, there is not a tittle of evidence, that they ever exercifed this, or any other branch of duty, except as epifcopal delegates " in fubflitution and vicarage." So true is it, as afferted by Richard, that rural arcfjpasbpters, to ans rural, and f oratuous bfcars, act not, " nib per com- Tom. m. p. 36. 168 #er*onal function*. [PART IV. miffionem, qu(f ad epifcopi nut urn revocari poteji ;" like their archetypes the IIEPIOAEYTAI of the eaft, of whom Boehmer fays, "Hi vicarii & nutu epifcoporum dependebant, omnia ad epifcopum referebant, et auctoritate epifcopi per dicecejin circumibant" (loc. citat.) In this delegate capacity, presbyters acted as btst'ta- tous at a very ancient date, in the Weftern church, as they did under the title of perfofoeutee in the Eaft. See Routh's Reliq. Sacrte, Vol. in. pp. 348. 382 ; and notes to Priaulx's treatise, N. xxxm. 1 The bifhop had power ss. cc. Tom. TI. granted to him by the fourth council of Toledo (A.D. DCXIII.), of invefting presbyters or deacons, vicarioufly, with the exercife of parochial vifitation : every diocefan being, by himfelf or deputy, obliged to vifit annually all the churches and parifhes of his diocefe. " Quod Ji ipfe aut languore detentus, aut aliis occupationibus implicatus, id explere nequierit, presbyteros probabiles (probabilis vitce. Burchard. L. i. c. LXXXVII.) aut diaconos mittat, qui Of the Church O According to the decree and direction of the Toledo Council, B. v. p. 509. " we fhall find," fays Dr. Field, " that bifhops hindered by other em- ployments, ficknefle, weaknefie, or age, fo that they could not go in perfon to vifit their churches, fent fome of their chiefe presbyters or deacons, but efpecially the chiefe deacons, to performe the worke of vifitation for them, becaufe they being the chiefe among the deacons, which are but church-fcrvants, were more attendant about them for difpatch of all publick bufmefies, than presbyters. Thefe chiefe dea- cons, or archdeacons, at firft they fent onely to vifit, and to make report, but not to fententiate any man's caufe, or to meddle with the correcting or reforming of any thing ; but afterwards in procefie of time they were authorized to heare and determine the fmalled matters, and to reforme the lighter and lefTer offences : and therefore in the councell of Laterane under Alexander the Third, it is ordered that the archdeacon fhall not give fcntcnce againft any one. But in the councell of Rhoane it is appointed, SECT. II.] ^arocftial Uigttatton. 169 et reditus bafilicarum, et reparationes, et miniftrantium vitam inquirant : " Can. xxxvi. " which is the original," fays Bifhop Stillingfleet, " of the archdeacon's vifitation; " ECCUJ. c a /es, and, I would add, of the toan rural's, in the Latin church. The council of Chalon in France protects the paro- chial clergy from the intrufion of civilians in the cha- racter of vifitors (at variance alike, fays the canon, with -SS.CC.TOIU.VH. col 398 eftablilhed cuftom, and canonical regulation) unlefs fpe- cially invited by the arcfrpres&Bter of the diftrict ; which would indicate that the local clergy were, there and at that time, fubject to the latter's peculiar and exclulive infpection under the diocefan bimop : Can. xi. In the DeDifdpiin. fame office of perfonal vijitation Rheginon affociates the NO! wn. arcflprtest with the bifhop and archdeacon at a later date. Agreeing, then, with the bifhop of London in his unqualified negation of all power in rural Ireans to vi/it de Jure (if fuch be the author's meaning in the above- cited paffage) independent of the diocefan, at leaft in England (for to the canons and cuftoms of his own appointed, that the archdeacon and archpregbgtif fhall be fore-runners to the bifhop, and ftiall reforme the lighter and fmaller things they finde to be amifie." " Hence in time it came, that archdeacons much ufed by bifhops, as moft attendant on them in the vifitation of their churches, and reforming fome fmaller diforders, at length by prefcription claymed the correction of greater things, as having of long time put themfelves into the exer- cife of fuch authority. And thus the deacons, or at leaft the chiefe of them, the archdeacons (which at firft might not fit in the prefence of a presbyter, but being willed by him fo to doe) in the end became, by rea- fon of this their employment by the bifhop, to be greater, not onely than the ordinary presbyters, but than the arehprcgfcgterg themfelves." &c. See Bifliop Marsh's Charge to the Clergy of Peterborough, MDCCCXXIII. pp. 16, feqq. 170 #er*onal function*. [PART IV. country alone Gibfon alludes) ; we will proceed to adduce, in chronological order, fuch memoranda of vifitational meafures conducted by trtans rural, as the councils of Great Britain and the continent prefent ; in order to mew the important fact, that they did vifit " by fubftitution and delegation" under the fanction of the church 1 beginning with a curious manual of inftruc- iiincmri Oper. tions to tieans (" Capitula quibus de rebus masiftri et Tom. I. Capitula ^ etcarmatimu*. tietam per Jingulos ecclejias inquirer e t etepifcopo renuntiare coi. 5, feqq. debeatit ") from Hincmar, archbifhop of Rheims, bearing date A.D. DCCCLII. the earh'efl, I believe, on record for regulating rurt-tiecanal inquiries by vifitation. From this document, which the reader will find in the &pptntitx, it is evident that rural titans, eftabliftied in their tieanrfes, made annual parochial vijttations in France, in the middle of the ninth century : and, from the obligation impofed on them to deliver yearly in July their vifitational returns to the archbimop, may be inferred the vicarious cha- racter of their infpectional journeys. Out of this Rhemiih formula of the middle of the J Ecclefiaft. Pro- . . teftant. Lib. in. ninth century, probably, Iprung the more copious m- * \v. ftructions of Rheginon towards its clofe " Injlructio de his, qua in vifitationibus ecclejiarum epifcopum vel ejus miniftros per vicos, pagos, et parochias Jua dicecefeos in- (') The power of the diocefan bifhop to delegate to rural his vijitatorian right of parochial inflection, as often as may be expedient for the due confervation of the churches and manfes of his diocefe, cannot be doubted when he can do it to any presbyter-rural ; liffiopro and the fame is capable of fuch a commiflion of vifitation. The ^orhiain 1 *' bilhop f Chichefter authorifed two clergymen (A.D. MDCLXXXVI.) to Gibfnn Cod. vi/it every church, parfonage-houfe &c., within an archdeaconry of his l>. 1550. vvu" diocefe, and to make their return to him, or his vicar-general. SECT. II.] ^atocfcial Citation. 171 quirere olim oportuit." The latter table is fuppofed by Baluzius ad Reginon. p. 533. to have been in general ufe in Weftern Europe ; though the abbot of Prumia com- piled his Difciplina Ecclejiqftica, more especially, for the German churches. The celebrated council of Rome under Alexander III. ss. cc.Tom. . . m , . . ~ xiu. col. 419. C A.D. MCLXXIX.) writing expreuly on the fumect of vm- can. iv. Annai. ' J . . , J ./ R. de Hoveden tation, and confirmed by our own provincial council ol script. poft.Be- London (A.D. MCC.), under Archbifhop Hubert, and by the Legatine Conflitutions of Cardinal Othobon (AD. MCCLXVIII.), fets a limitation to the vifitatorial retinue of rural titans, as well as that of fuperior church-dignitaries ; " Quocircajtatuimus qudd archiepifcopi parochias viji- tantes, pro diverjitate provinciarum et facultatibus eccle- Jlarum, quadraginta vel quinquaginta evectionis numerum non excedant: cardinales verd viginti quinque non exce- dant (thefe are omitted at London) ; archidiaconi quin- que aut Jeptem ; tocani, conftitutijub ipjis, duobus equis exlftant contenti" And why mould the canon be thus reftrictive upon the latter functionaries if they never vifited parochially ? " His omnibus" fubjoins Thomaffin, v. e t N. E. D. " jus erat vifitationis et procurationis ; " and to all alike L!H! c.'xxim. is forbidden, in their retinue, the l accompaniment of C 1 ) Three years after this council of Lateran, the following curious Collier's Ecclef. indulgence to the Berkshire clergy was iflued by Pope Alexander : ^jj' A PP endlx - " ALEXANDER PAPA CLERICIS, Hen. 11.29. PER ARCHIDIACONATUM BERKESIRE CONSTITUTIS, INDULGET NE CANES, VEL AcCIPITRES ARCHIDIACONO EXHIBEANT. " ALEXANDER EPISCOPUS, fervus fervorum Dei, dllectis Filiis Clericis, per Archidiaconatum Berkeftre coriftitutis, Salntem et Apofto- licam Benedictionem. " Cum 172 personal function*. [P ART iv. hounds and hawks, frequent appendages of dignity in thofe days, both in lay and clerical life : " nee cum cani- bus venatoriis et avibus proficifcantur,fed ita procedant, ut non qncefuntfua, fed qua Jefu Chrifti quarere vide- antur: nee fumptuofas epulas queer ant, fed cum gratia- rum actione recipiant, quod honejle et competenter fuerit Hits minijlratum" And to archdeacons and rural &cans, in particular, exactions on the clergy are ftrictly inhi- bited in the fequel of the fame council " Archidiaconi verd, Jive decant nullas exactiones, vel tallias 1 in presby- ter os, Jive clericos exercere prafumant" See Boehmer " de cenjibus, exactionibus et procurationibus" in Jus EccleftaJlicumProtejlantium^om. in. Lib. in. Tit. xxxix. ci. p. 633. All thefe vtfitors, as above ftated, were allowed their " Cum nobis fit, quamquam immeritis, omnium Ecclefiarum euro, commiffa; Jicut qfficii nojlri debito, cogimur providere ne Jubditi fupe- rioribut debitam reverentiam fubtrahant ethonorem,ita quoque volumus preccavere, ne a majoribus fubditi valiant indebite preegravari; ea proptfr, quieti veftree paterna folicitudine providentes, auctoritate vobls Apoftolica indulgemus, ne Canes vel Accipitres ARCHIDIACONO veftro cogamini exhibere, nee eum pluries, quam femel in anno recipere, tune ei per diem unum et noctem neceffaria minijlraturi, cumjeptem tantum equitaturis, et perfonis totidem, et tribus fervientibus peditibus. " Nulli ergo hominum liceat lianc paginam nofiree conceffionis infrin- gere, vel ei auju temerario contraire. " Si quit autem hoc attemptare prepjiimpjerit, indignationem Omnipo- tentis DEI, et beatorum Petri et Pauli, Apojlolorum ejus, fe noverit incurfurum. " Dot. Lateran. vm. KL. Martii. " Filitfericu colons flavi." (') Tallia " Cenjus vel tributum quod viritim e xigitur." Spelman. (rlof*. Arch, in voce. " Exactio, impofitio" Ducang. (floft. M. et I. L. SECT. II.] ^arochtal TOtatton. 1 73 cuftomary procurations, originally in provifions, but fub- fequently in pecuniary competition 1 ; the churches to be vijited having the privilege of withholding payment unlefs the duty of mjitation was duly performed ; " cum procuratio aliud nonjit" fays Peter Quivil in the Exeter ySi 5 ' fynod ( A.D. MCCLXXXVII.), " nijijuftentatio vi/itantis." To the like purport a continental fynod of the fame year (Statuta Synodalia Ecclejice Meldenfis (A.D. MCCLXXXVII.), in its twenty-fifth canon, writes " Prohibemus ne archi- . r i dot Tonl - ' diacom vel tocam turales ahquas exigant procurationes, coi.897. nijl legitimd vifitaverint. Prohibemus Jub pcend fufpenfionis fubditis eorurn, ne folvant procurationes/ vel aliquid loco (*) Vifitational procuration became gradually fo fixed and certain, Whitaker's Hift. , . f iiiii- i of Manchester, tnat it was frequently redeemed, or changed into a pecuniary payment, V ol. n. p. 385. obferves Mr. Whitaker, as early as the year MCC. ; and has long fettled * e . al j J ,J n - fon s Eccl.Laws, into a pofitive fum. It was very wifely appointed at firft, as a provifion v. n. A.D. for the maintenance of the ordinary and his attendants during the time of vifitation, and to preclude that natural fear of expence which might abridge the frequency, and contract the particularity, of this ufeful exer- tion of difcipline. But this end is now anfwered no longer. The firft departure from the defignation reduced it into a pecuniary payment. Cuftom foon afcertained the particular fum. And the lowered value of money has rendered the latter infigniticant. It is no longer fuffictent for the purpofes, for which it was originally impofed. And the very ufeful, the parochial, vifitation has therefore contracted itfelf into little more than a formal and hafty one by iJeancrfcg. Vifitations are now, for the moft part, fyuodal, and not parochial in confequence of the vifitor availing himfelf of the indulgence which the law grants in fpecial cafes, where every church cannot be conveniently repaired to : " et ji commode vel abfque difficultate accedere ad unamquamque non poterit; ' xx " c ' " de pluiibus locis ad unum congruum clericos et laicos fludeat convocare, ne in illis vifitatio pojtponalur." From this indulgence, and the great Gibfon's Codex c A- r ' j TJ- ' v : 11 /.fi.^. Tit XLH. extent or dioceles and jurildictions beyond what they originally were, C ap. in. p. 958. grew the cuftom of citing the clergy and people to attend vifitations at particular places. See Gibfon's note ad can. LX. (A.D. MDCIII.) 174 $)er*onal Jf unctions. [PART IV. col. 906. Statmla Synoda- lia EccUf.Ce- Tkef. Script. Peter. Tom. v n col. 1401. SS. CC. Tom. xiv col. 138. ran. vui. SS. CC. Tom. Xiv. col. 399. can. fill. procurationis, niji legitimd vifitantibus. Ita cum requi/iti fuerint fuper hoc,Jt opus fuerit, fidem faciantfacramento, ne prcedicti archidiaconi vel tirrani numerum in Latera- nenji concilia conjlitutum excedant. Et moderatas faciant expenfas, ne longi temporis victum brevis hora confumat." And another fynod at the fame place, in its ninety-fourth canon, de procuratione tj tea no rum " prcecipimus presby- teris omnibus ne recipiant fctcanos ad procurationes, nifi cum duobus equis ; quodji contrarium factum fuerit, contra presbyterum et fcecanum graviter procedemus." Reftrictions are indifcriminately paffed on archidia- conal and tif canal vifttations by the councils of the day ; that they be not onerous to the clergy in point of expence ; while, at the fame time, it is enacted, that, at all events, they be performed. So, that of Le Mans (A.D. MCCXLVII.), in its canon de offido toecanorum, orders, " ut to team quamlibet fibi fubjectam ecclejiam vifitent annu- atlm perfonaliter et prioratus : et Ji procurationes volu- erint omittere, nullatenus tamen vifitationem omittant" That of Saumur (A.D. MCCLIII.) not only confirms the canons of earlier fynods, pertinent to thefe matters, obliging the functionaries in queftion to an obfervance of them, but particularly, and by name, forbids to rural arcrjprirsts the fubftitution of officials in parochial viftta- tion, perfonal miniftration being their bounden duty. The canon de qfficio arcftipresbgterorum of the fynod of Clermont (AD. MCCLXVIII.), fo corroborative of the vifi- tatorial power, and declaratory of the points of inquiry, to which the attention of the titans was to be directed, claims our fpecial notice : " Statuimus, ut arcfjfpwsbntru quamlibet Jibi fubjectam ecclejiam vifitent annuatim perfo- naliter. Et ft procurationem omittere voluerint, nulla- SECT. II.] $arorf)tal Imitation. 175 tenus tamen vifitationem omittant. Item inquirantfummarie de omnibus notoriis : etji quid eft quod fcandalum generet ibidem in populo, Jive clero, et quod per fe non poterunt corrigere, nobis vel offidali nojtro referant infra menfem : ut fecundum relationem ad plenam inquijitionem defcenda- mus, et corrigamuSfJicut nobis videbitur expedire. " Item queer ant, utrum ecdejiis vel prior atibus impojitce fuerint novcs impenjiones ab abbate, vel ab alio aliquo, abfque confenfu nojlro. Etji invenerint, nobis renuncient fidelitbr abfque mord. " Item pr&dpimus, quod arcfjtpresbptert, quandd procu- rationes recipiunt, duorum equorum numerwn non excedant, prout in Lateranenji et in provinciali concilio eft ftatutum. Etji exceJjTerint, procuratio denegetur." The canon then proceeds to prohibit them meddling with judicial caufes without fpecial mandate, on pain of excommunication ; or uttering interdict or excommunication, except by the authority of their fuperiors, &c. The fynod of Saintes (A.D. MCCLXXXII.) forbids all pecuniary compofition, (which had, indeed, been pre- vioufly reftricted till after vijitation performed, for fear of abufe), and enjoins archdeacons and arc&priests to be fatisfied with twofercula by way of provifion, to fojourn with the vijited only one night, and to abftain from ex- tortion of every kind. That of Liege (A.D. MCCLXXXVII.) stat. Synod. J .. . i -, Ecclef.Leodi- orders, that no allowance whatever be made to the fame A can.vi. perfonages " ratione vifitatiohis, niji ad ecclejias fpedaliter vifitationis causa venerint vel accejj'erint" " et ss. cc. Tom. cum archidiaconi vel tecam rurales vilitaverint," fays xiv! m. see another canon of the fame church, condemns the avarice of arcfcpreiS>erg and other epifcopal fervants in its fourth canon: ..." Comperimus quorumdam epi/coporum mi- niftros, id eft cftoreptgcopog, arcfitpregbgtarog, et archidiaconos,nonfolum in presbyteris, fed etiam inplebibus parochiee fufB avaritiam potius exer- cere, quam utilitati ecclejiq/iicte dignitatis infervire, populique faluti confulere. Quam negligentiam, immo eorum execrabile ac damnabile cupiditatis vitium omnes in commune deinceps vitandum ftatuimus &c." N 2 180 $er*onal function*. [PART IV. wrangle : but at laft hee knowing that if the bifhop be againft him hee muft forgo his gaine, hee yieldeth him a part : and fo, faith that preacher, are Herod and Pilate reconciled againft Chrift." But let us have the original circuit obedientiam fibi creditam ; et ut ad Cltr. in Cone. . , / nhem.inOper. mipleat faccum Juum, tradit Jangmnem jujtum. Vendit S. Bernard, col. .... i t / / 736. Tom. n. nettipe homicidia, adultena, incejtus, formcationes, Jacn- legia, perjuria ; et u/que adjummum implet manticamfuam. Famd igitur volant e innotefcit epifcopo talis qu&Jlus; et accerjito arcfjipresbLHero : 'Da mihi,' inquit, * partem meam.' At tile: 'Nihil dabo tibi.' 'E contra epifcopus: 'Si non dederis mihi,' inquit, 'partem meam, auferam tibi omnia.' Fitque altercatio maxima, et propter avaritiam jit di/'cordia. Foftea vero arcfripresbpter revolvens fecum, qudd auctoritate epifcopi fungatur potejlate ifld, et quod Jine, gratia ipjius nihil pql/it ; perverse converfus : ' Pcenitet,' inquit, ' me, accipe partem tuam, et infuper de med quod beneplacitum fuerit; ' et reconciliantur. Heu! Jicut Herodes et Pilatus reconciliatifunt, et Chriftus crucifixus ejt ; Jic nihilominus ijli reconciliantur, et pauperes Chriftifpoliatifunt." This was, indeed, in the language of the paftor of Great Budworth, "laming out beyond their line;" and P . . *' if there were any chance of a recurrence of fuch abufes, " either by the connivence, or by the corruption of the bifhops in later times," it is well " that the arc&presbgters have had lefle to doe, and fo done leffe evil 1 ." Strrpc'o Annalt (' ) To check the like abufes in the vifitational circuits of commiflaries fi^-tofii" 1 "'- and officials ' Bi(hop Freak fuggeib the propriety of inftituting Iean0 P. n. p. 696. tucal or 0uperintenOant0 within the diocefe of Norwich (A.D. MDLXXX). Of the vifitations of the former he fays " What felling of the people's fins, without any regard or confi deration of duty at all; what unnling of SECT. II.] $arochtal ITtettation. 181 Return we now from thefe corrupt practices of our predeceffors in office, (and, criminal as they were, they ftill mew the refponfible vifitatorial character of the perfon exercifing the functions of arcfjpwst, and are fo far to the point,) to the period at which we fufpended our inveftigation of the perfonal duties of toans rural, for the fake of reviewing the Meath canons. In the ecclefiaftical councils of the fifteenth century (to proceed chronologically), the fame inhibitory claufes, as we have before cited from earlier councils, continue to be applied to archdeacons and rural treans, relative to procurations. The council of Tours (A.D. MCCCCXLVIII.) enacts that there be no payment without due previous visitation. " Archidiaconi, arc&ipresbpten, tocam, et alitf ss. cc. Tom. . r xix. col. 76. per/once ecclejiajtictf de jure aut confuetudme ecdejias can.ix. vifltantes Ji non debitd vifitaverint, nihil percipiant &c." And the provincial council of Angers of the fame year again places the greedinefs of teans and others in procu- rational matters under reftraint : " Prohibemus ne de ss - cc - Tom - xvi. col. 1121. ccEtero difpenfatione legitimd fuper hoc ceffante, archidia- coni, arcStprcsbpterf, ttecanf, ultra unam procurationem recipere una die, Jive unum locum vifitatum, Jive plum etiam loca vifitare fufficeret, ad procurationem integrant perfolvendam, quoque modo prcefumant ; nee etiam fi non debite vifltabunt, quidquam percipiant." See alfo Appendix Condi. Conftantienfis, L. v. c. n. (A.D. MCCCCXVI.) The "conftitutio" of Cardinal Campegius "ad remo- J rum, p. 425. of verdicts for money ; what manifold corruptions and briberies are ufed by abufe of regifters ; all the whole country, with deteftation, feeth. And thereupon moft men, by the abufe, do utterly contemne all ecclefiaftical government." 18-2 [PART IV. CC. Rotomag. Proo. P. ii. p. 437. Synodi Sagieti/et. SS. CC. Tom. xix. col. 1301. vendos abufus" (A.D. MDXXIV.) ratifies to rural brans an authoritative infpection of the property of the church in the following claufe : " Domos quoque,fundofque dotales benejiciorum collapfos in/Laurent poffeffbres, quantum ne- cejjdas pojhdaverit, reparataque in debitd Jtructurd con- fervent, et per archidiaconos et toecanos rurales, ac alios, ad quos de jure vel confuetudine fpectat, ubi negligentes fuerint, per fubtractionem proventuum, authoritate nojlrd, arctius compel lantur." The fame infpectional duties are impofed on rural beans in the Liber Synodalis of the bifhop of Seez (A.D. MDXXIV.) " Qudd Jingulis menfibus irecant rurales habeant vifitare fuos tjecanattts, cafus, cri- mina, et excej/us fubditorum inquirendo. Quddque eccle- fiarum rector 'es defuorum parochianorum delictis et excef- Jibus publids et fcandalofis ipfos becanos informare jlu- deant,fub pcend 50 folidorum Turonenjium. Qui trecnnt nos et ecclejiam nojtram epifcopalem Sagienfem terminis Jibi prfE/ixis informare tenebuntur" " Item volumus eofdem becanos (ut melius crtmtno, cafus, et excejfus fubditorum cognofci valeanf] in qudlibet vifita- tione ad minus interrogent decem perfonas fide dignas, notabiles et omni exceptione major es, de ftaiu et regimine nojlrorum fubditorum in eodem loco manentium: atque de prtedictarum conftitutionum, et aliarum per nos aut pra- decefjbres nojtros conjtitutarum obfervatione." The fynod of Augsburg (A. D. MDXLVIII.), in its feventh canon, orders arcfjpresbpters to vijit parochially twice a year; and whatfoever corruptions, fpiritual or temporal, they cannot perfonally correct, to prefent officially to the bifhop at the epifcopal fee, if urgent, or at the next following diocefan fynod, if there be no danger from procraftination : and this they are to do in obedience SECT. II.] ^arocfctal Ufettatton. 183 to their oath. Moreover, they are fpecially charged, in their vifitational progrefles, to fee that no images or pictures be erected in their diftrict churches, without the previous permiffion of the bifhop ; and to collect all heretical works, and uncanonical liturgies and ordina- tions, and to fend them to the bifhop without delay. Plenary power of vifitation is granted to rural treans Reformation^ in the German churches by the Formula Reformations p- 28. of the fame year, under the head de Vijitatione: " 3ie- MDXLVIH. cant ruralts, territorii,feu regiuncultf face ecclefias Jingulis quibufque annis vifitare debent. Ad hoc enim negotium in partem follicitudinis epifcopalis vocati funt." Indeed, they are tied down to the fame form of vi/itational inquiry in their feveral fubdivifions of the diocefe, as the bimop in the whole : " A<* hanc formam vifitent quoque, et inquirant, ac pcenitentiam injungant archidia- coni et toecani rurales in Jiiis regiunculis; graviora verd, et qua per feipfos emendari nequeunt, referant ad epi- Jcopum, et fynodum epifcopalem, publico judicio fubmit- tenda, eorum enim vifitationes parvte quadam et particu- lares funt fynodi, Ji/nodo majori fubjectce, et fecundum ejusjudicium dirigendce" See alfo Sy no dales Conjiitut. Arboricenfis Dicecejis (A.D. MDL.) Statut. xxxix. CC. Ro- tom. Prov. P. n. p. 289 ; and the Statutes of the diocefe of Lifieux, in the fame collection, p. 481. As vijitorS) again, they are acknowledged, in the pro- cc.M.B.etH. vincial Scotch council held in Edinburgh (A.D. MDXLIX.), whofe duty it is to fee that the drefs of the clergy be in all refpects canonical "fuper quibus per Jingulos treca- nos in eorum vifitationibus, et Ji quis fuerit, fiat diligens inqui/itio, &c." (can. iv. de vejlibus clericoruni). And again (can. xin. de vifitationibus) it is decreed, 184 #er*onal function*. [PART IV. " Quid nonnunquam publici excejjus, tarn majores quam minores, per fcccanos et altos vifitatores occultari et diffi- mulari dicuntur, ed qudd pecuniarios qutfftus a concu- binariis et adulteris accipere non erubejcant , faciendo eos in tali faeditate Jbrdefcere, quod fcecanf ante fufceptionem fui qfficii jurent de Jiddi ejus adminijlratione in omnibus, et cum excejjus majores eorundem commiffariis defer unt, non prius recipiantur ab eis, quam illi denud jurati fuerint, quod omnes etjtngulos exceffus majores, tarn pub- licos quam privatos, Jibi per q//ifas et inquifitiones utro- bique delatos, abfque gratia et favore, prece vel pretio, nullis penitus omi//is, commiffariis tradant, qui Ji reperti fuerint in prcemiljis culpabiles, perjurii, ami//ionis officii, et aliis arbitrariis poems per ordinarium infligendisfubja- ceant ; et fuper hoc Jblicite inquirant commijjarii, prout domino or dinar io funt rejponfuri:" and laftly, in a coun- cil of the fame province (A.D. MDLI. confirmed A.D. MDLIX.) CC.M s.ftii. it is ordered (can. xiv. de clandeftinis matrimoniis, et ban- 72. nis, et regiftris curator um) that the &eans rural of the province " in fuis vifitationibus diligentem indaginem faciant, et dejlcientes ad commiffarios referant," &c. ; and they are farther noticed in the eighth and ninth canons in the fame capacity. What vi/itatorial jurifdiction the rural fceans of the diocefe of Chefter enjoyed during the exiftence of the unlimited ordinary powers of the archdeacons of Rich- mond and Chefter, and while they were within the diocefe of Lichfield and Coventry, it is now impoffible to afcertain : but fince the foundation of the new bifhoprick, &fPnMjr, many of the ruri-fcccanal patents granted by the bilhop, T and confirmed by the fcean and chapter of the cathedral, appear in their books, and fome few of the patents themfelves. SECT. II.] ^atocfjtal TOtation. 185 From thefe it would appear, that much of the furren- dered jurifdiction of the old archdeacons was delegated to the tKeans rural (all having merged in the bilhop by the charter of foundation) ; and the archidiaconal right of vi/itation continued to furvive in the vljitational powers of the teans rural ; who, whatever they may have done in earlier days, certainly, after the change of the ecclefi- aflical regime, being armed with an epifcopal jurifdic- tion by virtue of their patents and the ufage of the archdeaconries, as vicarii epifcopi, vifited their teanws twice a year, convened before them the churchwardens, received their prefentments, and corrected upon them all offences eccleliaftical (inceft, adultery, and fome others excepted), and proved the wills and granted adminiftrations of all perfons whofe effects amounted not to 40/. (knights, efquires, and clergymen, excepted) ; and, in cafe any perfons whatever fubject to their vifita- tions refufed attendance at them, the deans proceeded againft them by ecclefiaftical cenfures, in the fame manner as the bifhop or his vicar-general does upon an epifcopal vilitation. They were alfo entitled to the ufual places of judicature for holding their vifitations ; and if they were obstructed therein by any perfon fub- ject to their jurifdiction, they might admonifh, and, upon non-compliance, excommunicate. For the oath of cano- nical obedience is not perfonal to the bilhop, but to his jurifdiction, and extends to an obedience to the rural toans who act by his authority. It is probable that the toans poffeffed thefe powers ab aws-scbfln-. _ . KookexRegiftr. antiquo ; tor, in a patent granted to a chancellor of the &"*/ Ce f tr - diocefe only twenty years from the firft foundation of P1 the fee, after a general grant without exceptions, there 186 #er*onal ^function*. [PART IV. is an additional one made to him of the place of rural titan of three rural titanrtts, to do all things which ab antique belonged to that office," fpecifying in detail thefe vi/itational duties. And again, in the document drawn up at the convention of the bilhop and titans rural in the Sfe vp.MDCix.) stat.synod. prolongs to titans rural the vijitatorial powers they en- ntxwff*^ joyed by the earlier fynod of MDLXXVII : and a fubfequent c ' council (A.D. MDCXXX.) makes them downright inqui/itors into the manners and habits of the rural clergy, the employment of their time at home and abroad, their ftudies, hours of confeffion, &c. &c. ; all which they are to pry into, by the moft fearching perfonal vijitation. The fynod of Antwerp (A.D. MDCX.) confers on them the stat. s yno d. fulleft vijitational authority ; and bids them lay their acta p. 323-29" " vijitationis before the bilhop ..." Vifitantibus verd TU. xxiv. cap . tiecants ruralfbus, tanquam a nobis miffis, omnem debitam " 192 #er*onal function*. [PART IV. reverentiam et q//ijientiam ad exequendam commijjiomm a nobis injunctam exhibeant," fays Miraeus, " et ji aliqua ad reformat ion em aut bonum ecclejice f orient ia fciant, bene- volefuggerant." See alib Ordinationes Joannis Malderi Epifc. Antwerp. (A.D. MDCXXX.) statuia Synodi A chapter of the fynod of Bois-le-duc (A.D. MPCXII.) is Tu.xY.cmp.iv. expreflly dedicated to arc&tprtsbpteral vifitation: " &rcf)i- presbgtt ii,feu bream parochias Jibi commij/ds cum Xenodo- chiis, capellis, et confraternitatibu-s, qflumptofecum notario, vel faltem aliquo presbytero, quotannis fecundum inftruc- tionem illis dandam t authoritate nojird vifitent, ac de vita, Jide, et moribus parochorum,facellanorum, cujlodum, ludi- magiftrorum, tedittwrum, ac gubernatorum menfce Sancti Spiritus, reliquorumque incolarumfefe diligenter informent, ac advert ant, an piisfundationibus, eleemojynis, et oneribus beneftciorum et officiorum ecclejiajiicorum laudabiliter fati/- jiat, itemque utrum ecclejice reparatione egeant, et ccemeteria bend occlufa Jint : nee Jacramentalium et ornamentorum ecclejitf, atqtte fcholarum vifitationem prtftermittant &c." A canon de vi/itatione of the council of Bourdeaux (A.D. MDCXXIV.) affociates our rural arc&presbgtm with other ecclefiaftic teftes for the more effectual conduct of ss. cc. Tom. parochial inquifition. Cap. xxi. in. " ^rcfttpresbgtert feu &f cam in Jingulis dicecefibus conftituti, jugi circum- fpectione mores clericorum,J}atum et ordinem parochiarum, ac etiam laicorum, follicite obferoent et profpiciant, deque iis omnibus Jingulo quoque menfe epifcopum certiorem fa- ciant. Et ne propter arciripresbgteratus diftantiam minus officiofuofatisfacerepojmt : incuju/libet arcttpresbgteratus tractu, duo rector es aut plures pii ecclefiaftici tefies fynodo durcefand ab ordinario nominati et electi, arcfttpusbBtrris feu Secant's adjungantur, qui zelo regiminis ecdefiaftici SECT. II.] flJarocfrial Imitation. 193 inflammati, feduld invigilent, et ordinarium Jiatis tempo- ribus, dejiatu, conditione, et exceffibus hujufmodi arcfitpres- bjjteratus certiorem faciant : pojjintque ordinarii arcftfpres- bgterts, Decants, et t&ftibus Jynodalibus inquijitionum feu informationum conficiendarum, fine alio fpeciali mandate, facultatem, quo citius qutfcumque vitia purgentur, et cuncti in ordine contineantur, concedere : quas inqui/itiones et alias probationes ab iifdem perfectas, teneantur officiates recipere, et ex iifdem ad alia juris remedia procedere" The fynod of Saint Omer (A.D. MDCXL.) writes stat.s y nod. _.. ,. ,.! f f i i Dioec. Audoni. ( iiecant in viiitatiombus juis jcholas non prcetermittant, Tit. xvm. c . ix. fedjingulisfemejlribus vilitent, et accurate inquirant, &c." That of Namur (AD. MDCLIX.) admonifhes all arcftprts- vanEfpen bgtns, " Ut annales vifitationes obeuntes, et alias dili- Tit Vi. cap. m! gentir inquirant, quibus rebus pajiores Je impendant, ut P Ji quos otio deditos repererint, ne nihil agenda male agere difcant, eos actionibus ecclejiajlico homine dignis incum- bere, et per bona opera certam fuam vocationem facer e procurent &c." The fame duties are impofed by the fynod of Bruges " Seduld inquirant ard&t'prtsbptttf in fuis vifitationibus de vita, doctrind, et moribus curatorum et aliorum presbyter or um ; ac prceceptorum feu magiftro- rum; et cujus Jint qualitatis,fidei, et nominis ac famtf." And the fynod of Ypres legiflates with the fame degree Tit.vn.cap.ti. of latitude and particularity. The lateft inftructions to toans rural of the diocefe of Malines enforce vifitation " Ut potiffimam qfficiifuipar- tem, vifitationem curent arc!)iprtsbi>tri, feduld, accurate, et cum timore DEI perficere, et prcecipud invigilare, ut altaria et facramentalia, ipfaque templa nitida ferventur, pajiorefque ipji, quoad obligationes et functiones fuas pafto- rales exactijint et diligentes, an quo Jhidio, quove exercitio o 194 ^functions. [PART IV. En/d.P.n. 'Hi. xxxiv. c. vin. p. 674. ex Synodo Mechlin, otium pellant. Quare non plures uno die vifitabunt eccle- Jias, quam commodd pqffunt." And farther that timely and feafonable repairs of ecclefiaftical houfes be attended to, and their fabric not allowed by gradual decay to fall into utter ruin and wafte, the fynod decrees " &rcf)f- prtsbgtert, ubi ipjis id juris ex confuetudme competit, domos pajlorum et beneficiatorum ftngulis annisferid vifitent ; et qiiando eas reparations indigere advertent, earn mox fieri mandent et non obedientes denuncientur epifcopo, vel ejus vicario generally ut ad debitas reparationes faciendas, prout juris et rationis fuerit, compellantur , et pro prate- ritd negligentid etiam puniantur '." (Tit. xxii. c. VH.) " UES Bourns lie la Jjmt'nxtt tt ruraux," fays the fynod of Bayeux (A.D. MDCLXII.), " auront Join de faire une fois Van les vifites de presbyteres, de drejfer leurs proces verbam de I'etat auquel Us les trouveront, et les mettront aux greffes de nos qfficialitez, &c." Again, the Synodal Decrees of the archbifhop of Co- logne (A.D. MDCLXII.) order " Ut de paftorum, vice-pa flo- CoUmieru.Til.il. * . . - ,. c*p. x. n. p. is. rum diligentid, et tftatis tenenoris profectu nobis con- cef.Gandav.Tit.Jj are pojjit, titcnnt rurales quoties vifitant, convocatd juven- A.D. MDCL. tute breve examen catecheticum inftituant : quidquid verd memorabile contigiffe notaverint, in Acta fuarum vifita- tionum nobis fyc. . . . exhibenda refer ant ;" andfubfe- quently the fame inftitutes detail the points of inquiry to be particularly attended to by the tieans vijiting their parochial clergy. See Part n. Tit. v. c. vi. n. CC. Eatomag. Prov. P. II. p. 252. Deer, synodal. Altera Epiftola (') In the paftoral letter of the Belgian primate (A.D. MDCC.) the P Uumb l GiM^. atf i)P'^^ t * are charged " Ut diligentiores magtfque exacta* per diftrictus Arch. Mechlin, fuos inftituant vifitationes juxta earundem vilitationum interrogatoria typis edit a &c." p. 68. SECT. II.] ^arotftial Extortion. 195 Our next examples are adduced from the Anglo-Gallic AHwnbk P- r . pofalfor Paro- ifles of Jerfey and Guernfey which were anciently, we J J * . - are told by an anonymous author, two rural utanws of p. 35. the bifhopric of Conftantia, in the dukedom of Nor- mandy, and their fole vifitors in church affairs, their refpective teans, each poffeffing the fame power as our chancellors and archdeacons at prefent enjoy. Nor is their eccleliaftic conftitution otherwife altered in modern days, than that they are members of the diocefe of Win- chefter; having been annexed thereto foon after the Reformation 1 . Their jurifdiction was then fettled, fees Heyim-s Life were appointed to the teans, and a revenue eftablifhed ; MDCXXXVU. but the functionaries themfelves were then, and ftill remain, accountable to their diocefan bifhop for the due performance of their Dictatorial charge, like the corre- fponding officers in England. The duties of thefe teans rural, in refpect of vi/itation, cafarea by are thus exprefTed in the twenty-third rule of the canons Appendix^. x and conjiitutions ecclejiajlical granted to the ifles, in the P reign of James the Firft : " Le Bogen accompagne' de deux ou trots mini/Ires vifitera une fois en deux am chaque paroiffe en fa perfonne, et donnera ordre qu'il y ait prefche le jour de la vifitation, ou par foy meme, ou par quelqu'un par luy appointe ; etfefera la dite vifitation (') King John had it in contemplation to place the iflands under the Eerry'aHift. of diocefe of Exeter ; and Henry VII. actually procured the Pope's Bull for placing them within the jurifdiction of Salisbury ; which he cancelled, and obtained another for Winchester. But this laft, though even entered in the then bifhop's regifter (Langton), never took effect; and Queen Elizabeth at last fixed them in that fee. The Bull of Pope Alexander VI., for transferring them from Conftance to Winton, may be feen in Falle's Appendix, N. IX. p. 195. O 2 190 $et*onal function*. [PART IV. pour ordonner que toutes chofes appartenantes a Veglife, aufervice de DIEU, et adminiji ration desfacremens,foyent pourveues par les furveillans, et le temple, cimitiere, et maifon presbyteriale foyent entretenues et reparees: et auffy recevra information des dits furveillans (ou faute a iceux afaire leur devoir) du miniftre, de toutes offences et abus qui feront fc reformer en aucun, foit minijlre, qfficiers de Veglife, ou autres de la paroiffe ; et recevra le dit bopen pour la dite vijitation 40 fols de la rente du of ThrijoT h chaque fois" Equally extenfive are the P. 263. powers beflowed on the bean of Guernfey in the com- miffion of Bimop Brownlow North to Dean Durand, " in his ftead, authority, and name, according to law, to viftt the churches and other ecclefiaftical places, and the clergy and people fubject to his jurifdiction &c. &c." Diccy-s uift. o/ Indeed Dicey fays, " The teans of both the iflands pre- Ouemfey. p. 51. . tend that their office carries with it all delegated jurif- diction, without any need of permiflion or commiffion from the bifhop ;" and if fo, they are vifitors de jure nay, I have been told, that they can prefcribe againft the biftiop ? Towar ds the clofe of the feventeenth century, Bifhop f,,i 33$. see Seth Ward of Sarum invefted his beans rural with con- r, Salif- y Document,, fiderable vi/itational powers ; as the following formula of injlructions indicates. They were authorifed " 1. To view infra ttecanatum churches, chancels, parfonage and vicarage-houfes, hofpitals, almshoufes, church-houfes, and free &\}oo\es,femel in 6 menjibus,faltem in anno, and to prefent decays to the Bp or chancellor." " 2. To obferve parfons, vicars, curats as to conver- fation, performance of duty, conformity to laws, diligence in reading fervice, adminiflering facraments, preaching, SECT. If.] ^arocfrial Uteitation. 197 catechifing, preparing for confirmation, marryeing &c." " churchwardens, as to performance of duty fchole- mafters, as to teaching and catechifing fcholars, bringing to church on Sundays and holydays ; and to acquaint the Bp, if amifs." " 3. To examine differences, and compofe or delate to Bp, reports of fcandalous offences contra Leges Ecclef. " " 4<. To execute or caufe to be executed mandate's, orders fent immediate ab epi/copo, mediante archidia- cono." " 5. To acquaint Bp if any conventicles, diforders &c." " Md. hofpitals terriars regifters of chriftenings, marriages, burials." In the convocational proceedings about rural fceans in cc. M. B.etn Vol. iv. p. 642. England (A.D. MDCCX.), the fecond refolution of the Upper Houje fuggefts the propriety of a canon declara- tory of the vifitatorial capacity of teans rural : " To enquire into the manners of the clergy and people, to vifit and examine the ftate of parochial churches and chapels, with the chancels of the fame, together with the ornaments and utenfils thereunto belonging, as alfo the manfers of rectors and vicars, and all ecclefiaftical en- dowments &c. &c." To which refolution the Lower Hotife defires an amendment to the effect that rural fccans fhould be firfl " duly commiffioned by the bifhop or archdeacon, or other ordinary," fo to vifit : indicating thereby that rural fteans have no fuch power by virtue of their office ; and anticipating, perhaps, that the exercife of it, as a matter of right, independent of fpecial com- miflion, would interfere with the privileges of arch- deacons. While, at the fame time, the Lower Houfe acknowledges the obligation of rural to ans to execute the 198 personal function*. [PART IV. commiffion of viftting parochially, whenever enjoined fo to do by fuperlor authority. So the matter at prefent refts. No conftitution has ever been drawn up to ratify any part of thefe Proceed- ings of Convocation ; which, of courfe, leaves the rurt- fcccnnnl capacities juft as they were before the royal mandate iflued. Two documents alone, on the topic of te canal vi/itation, remain unnoticed the one domeftic the other foreign. The firft is a claule of Bifl 10 ? Gibfon's publifhed Infiruc- to 3& ura l 39* ans of tiw Diocefe of London: " The n DOC*. fof an rura j i s likewife, as occafion mail require, to infpect In Kppcn- the churches, chancells, and chapels, and the houfes belonging to the parfons and vicars within his diftrict, and to give information of their decays and dilapidations to the ordinary." With the foreign canon, we clofe our long catalogue of authorities ; and worthy of particular notice it is, as reviving the eaftern title of protoprtsfiBttr in application to the &can rural. It is the ninth canon de protopres- bgttrts, Jive tfecanis ruralfbus, of the council of Reuflen suppi. ad (A.D.) MDCCXX.) " Pr(Eter ea, qua a fancto fynodo ad coi'. 352. officium protopresbgUrf Jpectare con/iitutum eft , ut fcilicet diligenter referant ad ordinaries, Ji quos decretorumfyno- dalium violator es,Ji quos officii parochialis negligent lores, fi quos popinarum frequentatores, percuffbres, aut alias fcandalofos, Jive presbyteros, Jive laicos, fub fud jurifdic- tione compererint ; illud omnino addendum cenfuit debere eos epi/copo, vel alteri vijitatori affijlere, per fuum trftana- tum, ut ipjum de Jlatu ecclejiarum, et moribus minijirorum inftruere pqffint" " Infuper teneantur vifitare proprium Irtcanatum anno SECT. II.] tfaroc&ial Citation. 199 fubfequenti vijitationem generalem, non Jblum, ut de Us, quce modo diximus, ac de c&teris, qufe continentur in inftructione generali diligenter inquirant ; verum etiam ut decreta, et reformationes ejufdem generalis vijitationis exequutioni mandari cur&nt. In obeundd hdc vifitatione, caveant, ne quid prorsus accipiant, aut extorqueant, prteter victualia pro fud, alteriufqm domeftici perfond, ac duobus equis; alioquin prater pcenas, quasjlatuit fancta fy nodus titulofexto gravijjime ab epifcopo puniantur" That we have adduced evidence enough, in the many pages devoted to the fubject, of "a fort of vifttatorian capacity" in rural teans of ancient and modern days, the reader will readily acknowledge. The capacity can be no longer doubted. The church, in her conciliar decrees, has acted upon it for more than a thoufand years nay from the firft inftitution of the office in the eaft and weft, with little or no interruption, to the prefent hour. Tedious though the enumeration of au- thorities be in proof of the fact, I could not otherwife have eftablifhed a controverted duty of the laft impor- tance. While endeavouring to do fo, I have cited many items of Uecanal fervice connected with and performed during vifitational progrefs, and thereby have added fome- what to the reader's knowledge of the perfonal functions of the rural arc&prfest&oofc. But, whatever may have been the priftine character of that power, when thefe now humble functionaries were linked with archbifhops and cardinals, and their retinues made the fubject of canonical limitation throughout Weftern Europe, as we fee they were if it ever attained to the dignity of an ordinary jurifdiction (which on the continent it feems extenfively to have done), it was only 200 $eraonal function*. [PART IV. locally and partially fo in England, and, for the moft part, of (hort-lived exercife. Not fo the archidiaconal power of vifttation ; this, like the fcecanal, originally a delegate jurifdiction emanating from the bifhop, became by continual grants an ordinary one, and eventually almoft (in many places, quite) extinguimed the other 1 . See Van Efpen Jur. Ecckf. P. i. Tit. xn. c. i. vi.; and Boehmer Jus Eccl. Proteflant. L. i. Tit. xxm. de Offi- cio Archidiacani, Tom. i. p. 5 15, feqq., and L. HI. Tit. xxxix. Tom. HI. p. 578. But here it muft be obferved, that the vicar of Am- brofden, who confiders the antiquity of titans rural greater than that of archdeacons, looks upon the former as the earlieft rightful parochial vifitors under the diocefan bifhop, and fuppofes them to have loft, their privilege of vi/ttotion in the way following. " When archdeacons J J qwtiet. Vol. u. p. 360. (') Deang rural in no cafes, I believe, viftt peculiars. Even bimop's peculiar 9 are not vifited by them. In the diocefe of Exeter there are P- 85. thirty-fix epifcopal peculiars, which are vifiicd by no totting rural, and arc indeed fo far exempt from the jurifdiction of the bilhop himfelf, that he never rijils them, even in his triennial vifitation. Parochial churches within peculiars are generally in moft wretched condition. Such jurifdictions mould be abolimed : difcipline can never be fuftained effectually, while they cxift. In the deanrjj over which the writer pre- lides, there are three of thefe eccleliaftical anomalies. To one of which there is, probably, no counterpart in all England ; it is a parifli wherein a Roman-catholic peer is both lay-rector and lay-bifliop, and appoints, or not, as he choofes a ftipendiary chaplain over many hundred Protef- t.uit fouls. The church is ruinoudy dilapidated : and its doors have been clofed againft the church-going population for nearly two years (Sept. MDCCCXXXIV.) See Billiop Burnet's account of the origin of thefe blemifhes of our Eccleftaftical Conftitution, in the Hiftory of the Refor- mation, Vol. i. Book HI. p. 522; Vol. v. Book vi. p. 631. Oxford Edit. tiucccxxix. SECT. II.] $aroe&tal Imitation. 201 grew up to be vicars-general of the bifhop and ordinaries in the diocefe, then they affumed to themfelves fo much of the vifitatorian power, that the rural treans could no longer vifit, but in fubordination to thefe new matters ; and as a mark of inferiority and fubjection, they were allowed to go their circuit with two horfes only, when the archdeacons might have five or feven. This depen- dency and limitation of power reilrained the rural teans from the defire of being vijitors ; and therefore, to eafe themfelves of the trouble, and their clergy of the ex- pence, they let fall this jurifdiction by confent, and left this neceflary care of all the churches folely to the arch- deacons next under the bimop : " whofe right and duty it now is, according to the coniiitution of the church of England, to infpect the churches and chancels, with the ecclefiaftical houfes and pofleffions, in the feveral pariihes within their jurifdiction. To which Gibfon adds, as a charge to the farther illuftration, that it is thefe parochial vijitations y rey'^p*- and not fuch vijitations as are now held by archdeacons p. 10. ' (which feem to be only the remains of the ancient fynods) that our ecclefiaftical laws ordinarily mean, when they fpeak of archidiaconal mjitatwn ; and that it is on account of the fame parochial vijitations, and not of thefe, that the archdeacons claim and enjoy their procurations. Such vijitations as are now held by archdeacons, are more like general chapters of the clergy, anciently held by the rural fceans, in their refpective toanws ; at which the conftitution of Otho required the archdeacons to be often prefent ; and they being fuperior to the rural titans, in point of jurifdiction, grew by degrees to prefide over them, and from thence to have the fole authority in them ; that authority paffing, by a kind of devolution, 202 $et#onal ^function*. [PART IV. from the rural trcans to the archdeacons. See alfo Codex I.E. A. Tom. ii. p. 969. Tit. XLII. cap. vm. When, however, their own power of parochial vifita- tion was thus, in Kennett's phrafe, interfered with, it appears, from an epifile of Robert Grofletefte 1 , bifhop of Lincoln, to his archdeacon, that the fceans of Hje countrp were ftill employed to convocate the rural clergy to &- epifcopal vi/itations ; " Vobis mandamus trecanos archidia- rum in Append. x "A "ii%'& conatus veftri prtemoneatis, ut promptijint ad convocandum p. ii. P . 347. cor am nobis prtfdictos rector es, vicar ios, etjacer dotes locis et temporibus quibus eis mandabimv.s, ne in prtfdicando out aim exequendis qua ad nojlrumfpectant officium, invenia- mus impedimentum" This duty they had fhared with archdeacons, probably, from their firft inftitution : for in the feventh century the nrcbprirst or the archdeacon are charged, by the fixteenth canon of the council of Rouen (AD. DCL.), to be personally active in the per- formance of fuch preliminary meafures, and to prepare AmaL Monaft. Brton, v . 317. anil" MCCLII* ( l ) In the early Articles of Enquiry at Vifttation (the earlieft, indeed, . Q ^ counc ii s o f Great Britain, fave thofe of Hugh de Welles, A.D. MCCXXX, to his archdeacons, CC. M. B. et H. Vol. i. p. 627), addrefied by this learned prelate to his church-officers (feemingly, from the leading article, of laical character), the firft is " De vita archidiac&ni etfute familite." The fecond "Be Decani* " (nital Dean?) " qualiter fe ha- beant in qfficiis fuis." And in the general Inqui/itiones de clericii et laicis of the year MCCLIII, recorded in the fame annals (p. 325), there is one item of examination " De vitd et haneftate archidiaconorum, tjrtnnonim, et clericvrum qui tninijlrant in ecdefiis, et de miniftris et famuli* per- Jbnarum et aliorum : " and another, " An Dctanus et alii confpirationem fuerint ante adventum epifcopi." p. 326. SECT. II.] ^aroc&ial Imitation. 203 the clergy and people for the arrival of their diocefan paftor in vifitation. " Cum epifcopus fuam dicecejim circuit, ss. cc. Tom. archidiaconus vel arc&tpresbgter, eum prceire debet uno aut s ee Reginon. de duobus diebus per parochias quas vifitaturus eft, et plebe ulxTi. ,/i , 7 . n . Burchard. Lib. I. convocata annunciare debet propru pajtons adventum, et cap.xc. p.n. ut omnes, exceptis infirmis, ad ejus fynodum die denomi- natd impratermifsd occurrant. Et omnimodis ex autori- tate ss. canonum prcecipere, et minaciter denunciare debet, quod Ji quis abfque gravi necejjitate defuerit, proculdubio a communione Chriftiand Jit pellendus. Deinde accitis fecum presbyteris, qui in illo loco fervitium debent exhibere epifcopo, quidquid de minoribus et levioribus caujis corri- gere poteji, emendare fatagat ; ut pontifex veniens nequa- quam in facilioribus negotiis fatigetur, aut JiH immorari amplius necejje Jit ibi quam expenfa Jufficiat. Ait enim Dominus ad Moifen de hujufcemodi cooper atoribus, ' ut tecum* (inquif) 'fujientent onus populi, et non tufolus gra- veris ;' et beatus Joannes Baptifta adventum Domini pr&- currit prcsdicando dicens : * Pcenitentiam agite,' &c. Et iterum, ( Parate mam Domini,' &c." Laftly, the diocefan fynod of Antwerp under Miraeus ( A.D. MDCX.) decrees " Becanus ruralfs pr&monitus a T it xxw. cap . nobis,fuos pajiores moneat ut epifcopo viiitaturo, omnia " p - 385 - qutf ad vifitationem fpectant, prgparent ; eifque in earn rem mittat inflructionem a nobis pr&fcriptam" In the ninth century, rural arcfjp rusts had the honour of entertaining the biihop on occalion of his vifiting for parochial confirmation : when, it will be feen, the council of Pavia (A.D. DCCCLV.) catered moft liberally for 204 $cr*onal function*. [PART IV. fx!'coLiT&' ^6 episcopal guefts and retinue : " Statuimns, ne epi- Jcopi t quandd pro confirmando populum, parochias circum- eunt, arc&fpresbBteros fuos gravent, ut hujufmodi difpenfd contenti Jint : Panes centum, friftringas * quatuor, vim fextaria quinquaginta t pullos feptem, ova quinquaginta f agnum unum, porcellum unum, annonam ad caballos mo- dios fex, fcenum corr. 2 ires (fceni corbes), mel, oleum, cera, quod fujficit " 3 a fair allowance of entertainment, it (') Fr$ringas written alfo frijkingas and frefcengias (fee Sirmondi note ad capitula KaroU Calvi et Jucceffbrum, p. 8.) they were young pigs, not fucking-pigs, but of larger fize, as Sirmond and others explain " porceUis majores, nondum tamen jujii incrementi." They are men- tioned by Hmcmar, in his Capitula to his archdeacons, and by many others. " Vadianus (et alii) fcrofam adultam exponunt" glolfes Spel- man ; " nam et noftri (inquit Vadianus) venatores porcum ftlveftrem anniculum out adultum f rife/ding vacant" Glqffar. p. 250, in voce Frijcinga. (*) " Corr. corbisor corbus men/uree frumentariee Jpecies apud Bo- nanienfes Italos &c." See Ducange Glojfar. Tom. u. col. 580-81, in vocibus corbis corbus. ( " ) In his annotations on the tTompotug of Bolton (a folio of a thou- fand pages, beginning in MCCXC, and ending in MCCCXXV.) Dr. Whitaker has noticed (Hi/lory of Craven, p. 399 2d Edit.) the enormous ex- pence of parochial vifitation as then conducted. The fum charged, as expended on the archbimop's reception at Bolton, would have been fufficient, the hittorian fays, for two hundred men and horfes. Nor will that be thought extravagant, when it is underftood that in A.D. MCCXVI, an archdeacon of Richmond, on his vijitaliott, came to the priory of Bridlington, with a train of ninety-feven horfes, twenty-one dogs, and three hawks. Dugdale's Mono/2. VoL u. p. 65. See Hiftory of Whal- ley, p. 171 ; and Hoffman's Lexicon, in voce Procuratio. Another article, relating to the archiepifcopal vijitation at Bolton, is extremely curious " In prebendd et furfure equorum et canum D'ni A'ep'i xv. qr. aven." Dr. Whitaker thinks this prelate hunted with a pack of hounds, in his progrefs from parifh to paridi ! See an extract from an indulgence of Pope SECT. II.] ^arocfiial UteUation. 205 muft be acknowledged, for man and horfe confidering that the ecclefiaftical legiflators, then in fynod aflembled, had the relief of the ardjt'prcsbntnnl hofts in view, when paffing this canon of limitation. Pope Alexander to the clergy of Berkfhire, before quoted under vifita- tional duties from Collier's Appendix. The writer pofiefles a curious little compend of vifitational duties, entitled {Tractatus DC >7i$ttattomt>u$ lpisropalif>u$, per R. P. Anthonium (Dopping), Epifcopum Miden/em, A.D. MDCXCVI. Dublinii MDCXCVI. which throws fome light on vifi- tational duties, as exercifed by ticans rural and other ecclefiaftical officers. $rr*onal ^function*. [PART IV. SECTION III. SYNODICAL DUTIES. Tcstcg Antiquitiet of Canterbury, p. 176. Parochial Anti- quitiet, Vol. II. p. 364. Charge at Tot- neft, A.D. MDCCVIII. C. I.E. A. Vol. ii. p. 972. Tit XLII. c. ix. CC.M.B.etH. Vol. I. p. 637. SS. CC. Tom. xiii. coL1108. can. uv. N confequence of the report, which beans rural had to make at epifcopal fynods, of the ftate of religion, and the conduct of the clergy and laity of their fcranrfes, they were neceffary attendants at thefe general vifitations of each diocefe 1 , appointed at ftated intervals for the whole- fome purpofe "of infpecting in order to reformation." And thence, in the opinion of Somner, Kennett, Atter- bury, and others, they were defignated Teftes Synodales from the information communicated by them to the fynod, as witnefles : but not, Gibfon fuggefts, to the exclufion of the Jy nodal witnefles properly fo called ; of whom Archbiftiop Edmund's twenty-firft conftitution (A.D. MCCXXXVI.) thus fpeaks : " Sint in quolibet fceca- natu duo vel tres viri, DEUM habentes prce oculis, qui exceffus publicos prtelatorum, et aliorum clericorum, ad mandatum archiepifcopi vel ejus officialis, ipjis denun- cient :" and who had been, nine years before, inftituted by the council of Narbonne in thefe words : " Diftricte mandamus, ut ab epifcopis teftes fynodales in Jingulis injluuantur parochiis, qui de liter eji et de aliis criminibus The Country ' XI (' ) Herbert fays of the country parfon, that " he obferves vijttations, an( * ^^S ^ ere ' makes due ufe of them, as of clergy council*, for the benefit of the diocefe." SECT. III.] jfegnofcical HButfesi. 207 manifejiis diligenter inquirant, pqftmodum epifcopis quod invenerint relaturi." Thefe were the true jurat ores fynodi or teftes ft/nodales Hiftary of /!./, / 1 /~> A 1_ Churches in (from whence, lays Staveley, " our Queft-men. who are England, chap. xvi. p. 286 to be aiding and affifting to the churchwardens, are called stuiingfleet's Side-men, i.e. quaft Synod-men") not fucceffors of the vol. i* p.Y*' rural fceans in the office of detecting, after the latter had begun to decline in authority, as affirmed by Kennett ; but, on the contrary, employed long before (" tejtibus Anaiyfa cc. fynodalibus arrfjtpresbBttri aut trecaru ruralts fuffecti funt" Tom.iv.p.m fays Richard) in the duty of laying informations before the bimop in private at the epifcopal fee, or publicly at fynod. On which latter occafion, it was cuftomary at an elder date than the Narbonne and Canterbury canons as early, indeed, as the days of Hincmar for the s ee mncmari bifhop aflembled with his clergy and laity in council, P P 7i6. r " poji congruam allocutionem," to appoint certain " matu- Decret. p. H. . T n- '>.' Caus. xxxv. nores, honejtiores, atque veraciores viros, to give intor- c. vn. A.D. L\ 1 -Ll- f Xl, DCCCCVI. mation upon oath 1 concerning the manners ot the ( J ) Can. xvi. "Jurabunt teftes fynodales, vel faltemfidem loco jura- ss.CC.Tom. menti piabunt in hdcformd. Primo, quod per totum annum ufque ad XVIL col> 54 ' Jynodum proximam diligenter inquirent, Jimpliciter tamen de piano et abfque ulld jurifdictione, qua correctionis et reformationis tarn in clero quam inpopulojlnt neceffhria: et quod ilia Jideliier referent in concilia provinciali et Jynodo epifcopali proxime celebrandis, poftquam fuerint requi/iti: iifurarios, adulteros, concubinarios notorios,feu manifeftos, et quofcunque manifeftJe et publice delinquentes, tarn in clero quam in populo, quos debitd ad hcec adhibit d diligentid, perquifiverint, deferre et denuntiare, quandojuper hoc requijiti fuerint, denuntiare non omittent." See Concil. Salisburgenje, ann. MCCCCXX, cap. n. ; alfo the title de Tefti- bus Synodalibus in the fourth council of Milan (A.D. MDLXXVI.), cap. vi. SS.CC. Tom. xxi. col. 296 ; and the fame title in the council of Avignon (A.D. MDXCIV.), cap. iv. S CC. Tom. xxi. col. 1331; and of Rome (A.D. MDCCXXV.), SS. CC. Tom. xxi. col. 1898. Such 208 ^er*onal function*. [PART IV. people within the diftrict of fupervifion '. ss. ca Tom. About the title of thefe primitive fecular witneffes, then, xvn. col. 54. _i _ . there can be no doubt. 1 hey are exprelily denominated, by the council of Salzburg and others, teftes publici Jive In Rheginon's Articles of Enquiry, they bear the title of fcecanf : " Si in unaqudque parochid tlttanijint per villas conftituti viri veraces et DEUM timentes, qui cateros admoneant, ut ad ecdejiam pergant ad matutinas, mij/am et vefperas : et nihil operis in diebus fejlis faciant. Et Ji horum quifpiam tranfgreffus fuerit, presbytero an- nuntient ; Jimiliter et de luxurid, et omni opere pravo : " ss. cc. Tom. and the fame in an early council of Rouen (A.D. DCL.), can. xv., the words of which have been already adduced, in a note at the beginning of the $Dor. . Cameracenf. ad MDLXV.), are the names and titles of eighteen rural tjeang " arcpipreg- fi nem , fogtert feu Decani hrijSttanitatig dicecefa Cameracenfis, tarn fuis quam curatorumjuorum fcecanatuum re/pective nominibus : " and others, again, cc. Rotom. appear in the mufter-roll of names, " tarn de jure qud,m de conjuetu- ^w^slmod. dine," prefent at fynod in the diocefe of Lifieux. Lexovienjis. [PART IV. Dfcreta Anli- qua Syttodi Ca- meracfuj. p. 72. Slut. Synod. Diaec. Yprenf. Tit. I. cap. v. See alfo SS. Ro tom.Proo. P. II. SS. CC. Tom. xxi. col. 636. CC. Rotomag. Prov. P. I. p 215.cmn.xxxi rol. 713. fcecanal retinue on the occafion: " Quilibet tetanus pro fe, et duobus facerdotibus fui fcecanatus, quinque equis, et qudlibet die, pro quolibet equo,fecundum dtjlantiam locorum, octo grqliis turonenjibus regalibus Jit contentus, veniendo adfynodum, et remanens ibidem, quoufque computus fceca- norum Jint finiti, et per unam diem ultrh: niji de mandato Domini &c. diutius remanere debeant." In the diocefe of Ypres in Flanders, it had been cuf- tomary to hold two annual conventions of the dignified and inferior clergy in the .cathedral church ; but, in confequence of divers inconveniences experienced by the parochial clergy in attending a fecond time, it was decreed, under the fanction of the fynod of MDLXXVII, that the titans alone fhould be obliged to a fecond at- tendance, at the joint expence of all the clergy, in the bifhop's palace : " De rebus religionis, et dejlatu eccle- Jiarum,fuis et pajlorum fuorum nominibus cum epifcopo communicaturi : necnon declarator i, Ji qua difficultates poft novij/imam fynodum fubortce fuerunt, qua commode ufque ad alter am fynodum differri nonpoffunt : atque etiam audituri, ouce ipjis ex officio proponi continget," &c. A privilege of confolidating the two meetings, again, into one, on the united authorities of the Tridentine, Lateran, and Bafil decrees, was ceded to the difcretion of the bifhop by the council of Rouen (A.D. MDLXXXI.), in expectation of a proportionate increafe of care and attention to the duties of the fingle feffion ; which were provided for by exprefs canon : " In ipjis archidiaconi et fcccani rttralcs de curatis tarn prcefentibus, quam abfentibus, epifcopo debent reddere rationem, et omnia in vijitatlone et calendis audita et comperta referri, examinari, acjudicari, et Jialuenda publican" And the fame precept appears SECT. III.] jfegnoDtcal DutwjJ. 215 in the canons of the council of Rheims (A.D. MDLXXXIII.) and of Saint Omer of the fame year : the latter of Decret.Synod. , . , -, __. . . T ,, Audomar. Tit which lynods enacts, " lyfcam, qmoujcum ante et pojt xxn.cap.w. Jynodum de toto dicecejisjiatu et bono, agendum nobis eft, maturius adjint, et uno atque alter o die fy nodi diemprceve- niant, et quid iis faciendum Jit ^ a nobis pqft Jynodum man- data accipicmt." But of the frequency of holding epifcopal conventions we have faid enough ; a few extracts explanatory of the ttecanal duties in connexion with them, and we have done referring the reader, who may be defirous of more detailed information, to Van Efpen de Synod. Dicecef. &c. Part i. Tit. xvm. cap. i. p. 105. and the Director ium Sy- nodale of the diocefe of Cologne publifhed by Arch- bifhop Maximilian, A.D. MDCLXII. In council aflembled, the teans delivered to the pre- fiding bifhop their acta bfsftationfs, attefting the fame by oath ; and otherwife informed him, orally or by letter, of the temporal and fpiritual circumftances of their re- fpective tecanates particularly delivering to him formal preferments, infcriptis, of all that was amifs in the rural diltricts under their charge ; and availing themfelves of the opportunity of paying the feveral taxes due on ac- count of the parochial clergy to the diocefan ; of which impofts, as we mall hereafter Ihew, they were the official collectors. Such was the ufual routine, " in obedience to the oft-repeated injunction that bade them to be dili- gent in their delegate, refponfible overfeermip, and to report every thing to the bifhop." But when the matter of their prefentments was urgent, and required imme- diate epifcopal interference, they waited not for the flow formality of the periodical fynod, but went at once with 2 If> tfcr*onal function*. [PART IV. their complaint to the bifhop in private, and received his inftructions thereon \ Even monthly* reference to the bifhop (under the title of " the ordinarie") is ordered in the Gloucefter Injunc- cc.M.B.etii. tions of Cardinal Pole (A.D. MDLVI.) " Touchinse the Vol. iv. p. 146. clergie" can. xiv. All prefentments are commanded to be thus often laid before him, or his chancellor, by the iiean rural, the churchwarden fupplying them to the latter : " That every teane do fende all the prefent- ments, that mail come to his hands, to the ordinarie, or his chauncelor, monthelie uppon pain of contempt."- which prefentments are, by the fame Injunctions, "Touch- Inge the laitie" can. xvii., ordered to be delivered by the churchwardens into " the handes of the bean of the &r anw, as they will avoyde the daunger of perjurie, and forfeting of theire recognizances." But to go back to epifcopal fynods of earlier times, of the economy of which, as well as the concern of brans rural therein, the fee of Augsburg offers an ancient and very interefting example. T?Ti^ n ' v ' et In that diocefe, St. Udalric, a canonized faint of the fn.ti.D. Tom. n. p. ii. L. in. tenth century, was wont to felect, in conjunction with t*. LXXIV. p. /yo. Tbonwfljn. v. ei ( ' ) This uniformity of reference on the part of Dean* rural to the veficiit, Tom.?, bifliop, at his fee, or at vifitation, or fynod, is invariably obferved by p. 229. continental councils of the fixteenth and feventeenth centuries : witnefs CC. Rotomag. Proo. P. n. thofeof Augsburg(y4.D. MDXxxvi.andMDXLvm.); ofCambray(^.D.MDL. and MDLXV.); of M alines (A. D. MDLXX.); of Melun (A.D. MDLXXIX.); of Rheims (A.D. MDLXXXIII.) ; of Acqui (A.D. MDLXXXV.); of Rouen (A.D. MDCXXVIII.); and innumerable others. Cp. v. p. 95. (*) The Dean rural is ordered by the Reformatio LL. Ecclef. to lay his prefentment before the bifliop or ordinary " infra decent, dies m Jcripti*." SECT. III.] j&gnoDtcal Dutit*. 217 his arc&prcsbgtm, fuch places for his fynods as were Boehmeri /, leaft liable to civil interruption ; and there, in fecluded teft. Lib. in. conference, to make ftrict inquiry of the attendant arc!)- xxxvm.Tom. priests and &eans, into the flate and condition of their exMabiiion.i fubject churches, the morals, and religious obfervances p. 432. n.a'o.' of the inhabitants, &c. " Congregates ante fe clericis, areJjqmsbpttros et fcecanos, et optimos quos inter eos inve- nire potuit, caute interrogavit, quatenus quotidianum DEI fervitium ab eis impleretur, et qualiter illis populus fubactus ex eis regeretur in Jludio prtsdicandi docendique, quan- tdque cauteld infantes baptizarentur, infirmi vijitarentur et ungerentur, defunctorum etiam corpora quanta compajjione fepulturis trader entur, viduis et orphanis in univerjis necef- fitatibus fubvenirent, quantoque Jtudio in hofpitibus et advenis Chrifto mmiftrarent, Jl Jitbintroductas mulieres fecum habuitfent, et inde crimen fufpicionis inderent; Jl cum canibus et accipitribus venationes fequerentur, tabernas caufd edendi vel bibendi ingr eder entur, Ji turpes jocos in ufu haberentfji ebrietates et commeJJ'ationes fupra modum amarent,Ji rixis et contentionibus et amulationibus defer- virent; Ji nuptiis fecularibus inter ejjent; Ji aliqui eorum mini/ieria indecentia in confuetudine haberent : Ji per kalendas more antecejjbrumjuorum ad locajiatuta conve- nirent, ibique folitas orationes explerent, fuqfque ecclejias ad tempus reviferent: Ji obedientiam eorum magi/iris pr&- buijfent, et in toto fuo minijterio devoti et apti manere Jtuduiffent. Refponjione autem de interrogatis factd et ratione veritatis perceptdjtantibus in rectitudine dulcijfimtf confolationis gratia gratificavit et ut deinceps a normuld juftitice ne devidrent, fuavi colloquio admonuit, erroneos autem per devia incedentes fratres dignis terruit correp- tionibus, et, ut pojtea confueta vitia omitterent, prtfcepit." 218 $er*onal function*. [PART IV. Such were the interrogatories put to the aflembled clergy by the fainted prelate of Augsburg. The next century affords a very copious defcription of the formula of holding a diocefan fynod, in the year I.E.U. Part i. MXXII. at Salineeflat in Germany. It has been copied Tit. xvni. c. ii. * Hi/lory o/ the by Van Efpen, and tranflated by Dr. Field. But the cAurcA, B. interrogatories of St. Udalric will fufficiently explain the concern of &f ans rural therein ; and to his long cata- logue of inquiries may be added another of prefentments of a later date ; which the bifhop of Padua has left us, xfv C coi Tom ' (bearing date A.D. MCCLXXXIV, in fynodo apud S. Hippo- lytum) charging the clergy, generally, to make known to their &eans in fcriptis, within a month, all perfons obnoxious to the defects and crimes enumerated therein as meet for accufation ; and the tftans, on their part, to lay the fame before the bilhop at fynod, on pain of grave punifhment. The catalogue, below given, contains many curious items of impeachment l . (') " Accufandi funt circa infra fcripta." SS. CC'.Tom. " Hi font defectus et culpce, crimina et articuli, de quibusfunt clerici quilibet accufandl ; contra quos poterunt comprobari : abfentes a capi- tulo tarn pltbani, quam vicarii ; item abfentes a fuis beneficiis ; item vocaii ad ordines et non venientes ; item ardinati ab aliis epifcopis ; item cohabitantet manifefte ; item concubinas in aliis domibtu habentes pub- lice ; item tabernaru, lufores, et olios diffblutee vitee. Item clerici ta- bernas in fuis domibus habentes. Item plebani, qui vicarios fuos Jujli- nent cohabitare. Item clerici ufurarii, anticipatores, et antiquam monetam pro nova mutuantes. Item alc/umiftce, et qui utuntur falfd monetd et argento. Item qui peregrinos, et ignotos recipiunt in focios. Item qui facramenta eccle/i but alfo of every man of account ; which may either be profitable or dangerous to the ftate, in their feveral parifhes. And exhibit their names, according to every feveral fceanrg, in a fair long parchment fcroll, to the bifhop, or his chancellor; to remain with them, or either of them : giving advertisement from time to time, of their amendment, or waxing worfe and worfe. Whereby the bifhop fhall be able to cut off any mifchief, as it firfl fpringeth forth ; and be a moft notable inflru- ment of advertifing and preferring the eftate. Befides, by the authority refident, and as it were overwatching the behaviour of the neighbours round about, all fmaller, ufual offences, as fwearing, drunkennefs, lewd, lafcivious talk, and fuch other enormities, which are as it were entrances into the more grievous and enormous fins, may be reflrained and punifhed. Which now are jefling matters, of fmall account." (See more in loco where Freak propofes that the treans mould fit judicially on delinquents, as afliftants to the bifhop or chancellor in fynod aflembled.) SECT. III.] j&gnoDual IButiejs. The council of Bourdeaux ( A. D. MDLXXXIII.) impofes ss. cc. Tom. on titans rural the fynodical duty of making known to the diocefan all vacant benefices, the names of non-reji- dent clergymen, and thofe who, being poflefled of bene- fices, are not ordained priefts, within their refpective jurifdictions : and the like canons paifed the council of -#/<* co1 - iso?. Narbonne, cap. xxvm. (A.D. MDCIX.) The fynod of Lifieux enacts (de tittams) " Ut per s yn od. L exm> . cedulas fuas in Jingulis fynodis Jideliter nobis referant, P. p^' aut vicariis noftris, qui jlnt curati non rejidentes, ubi P morentur, et de caufdfua non rejidenci(E y ac de eorumdem curatorum vicariis, Ji et quandd fuerint a nobis appro- bail &c." The fifth council of Milan, under Cardinal Charles cmjt. Part m. Borromeo, records the ordinary duties of rural titans c ss.'cc. Tom. (there termed " bicaru foranet "), and thofe which more particularly fell to their lot at the epifcopal fee, on occafion of a congrefs of the biihop and his clergy " Cum jynodalis dies propd adeft, btcartf forantf pridie ill'ms diet adjini Jummo mane in ad'ibus epifcopalibus ; eoque ipfo die quamprimum epifcopo nomina, et cogno- mina tradant, eaque ordine defcripta,Jacerdotum, et cleri- corum jingulorum, qui adfynodum conveniunt, ac rursus abfentium caajis Jigillatlm item defcriptis, quamobrem fy- nodo non adjint. Idque pr&ter officium legitimce excu- fationis, quam, qui abfunt, epifcopo afferre et probare debent" In the following century to Borromeo, Maximilian TT i -n /> y-M nodale M.Henr. Henry, archbimop 01 Cologne (AD. MDCLXII.), com- Arch. cim. 4. manded his titans rural to perform the like duties four days antecedent to the aflembling of the diocefan fynod ; at which each rural titan is ordered to deliver in a 22*2 ^personal function*. [PART IV. formal document to this effect : " Ego N.N. pallor in ralibu*. N. tetanus Cfmsttam'tatts N. fub archidiaconatu N. con- Jlitutce, habeo fub meo decanatu parochias numtro N. N. inter quas aliquce funt Jiliales, videlicet N. dependens a matrice N. item N. dependens a matrice N. cape lias N. parochia N.Jicut ex antiquis documentis conjlat,folvere confuevit ad taxationem . ... ad decimationem ..... et ad cathedraticum ....... " Laftly, the council of Reuffen (AD. MDCCXX.) fummons Mmnfl sunk- annually a diocefan fynod upon the ufual footing, " in Tomivi.coi.350. qua, collates epi/coporum cumjuo clero con/iliis" fays the fynod, "Jiatuantur ea, quce pro communiori totius dicece/is bono ftatuenda videbuntur, et caveatur, n& y qu< bene Jia- tuta funt, temerentur;" and then it proceeds to the duties, more efpecially, of protopwsbgtm or rural beans in connexion with this convention : " Ad fynodorum diocefanarumfructum uberius aj/equendum protopusbpterf, Jive becant, quibus id potijjimd incumbit, ac etiam parochi infud, vel vicind parochia difpiciant, an ii, qui cur am ani- marum gerunt, re/ideant, et Jbllicitd fidelium faluti invigi- lent : an infacramentis fanctd minijirandis, in rudium, ac puerorum ad doctrinam Chriftianam inftitutione, cceterifque officiis curcf parochiulis diligenterfe prtfjlent ; an eccleficE fancies tecttf Jint, obferventur, ac ornamentis,etjacrdfup- pellectili congrud inftructa; an ea, qua in Jj/nodo provin- cial! decretajunt, obferventur, tarn quoad internum, quam quoad externum ecclejiarumjtatum. Inquirant, an populus colat dies feftos, et frequens conveniat ad divina officia ; anjejunia obfervetjtatutis temporibus ; an aliqui Jint facri- legi, blafphemi, excommunicati, fchifmatici, ac de magid, et fuperftitione fufpecti, eaque omnia ad ordinarium Jcripto deferant antejynodum dioecefanam, ut its opportune mails SECT. III.] jfegnottcal Butieg. 223 medeatur." See Van Efpen Jur. Ecclejiaft. Univ. Part i. Tit. xvm. pp. 1067. on the Milanefe and other dio- cefan fynods. On the above and all other occafions of clerical cmjt.s yn od. Epifcop. Attre- gathering, it behoved the arcfjpwsts or toans rural f to bat. A.D. MCCCCLV. wear their proper canonical veftments. as the aloe, and Thomacr. r. e t , ^r / *. . i N - E O.Tom. ii. Jtoh or fcarf "decant fwsttamtatts fanctamjj/nodum p.n.L.m.cap. intrent albis et Jiolis," fays the council of Arras (A.D. MCCCCLV.) and the parochi (according to the Cologne 2 canons of A.D. MCCLXXX.) were to wear their fuperpelli- cium or furplice alone ; which garb the fuperior func- tionaries were to fee duly obferved by their inferiors. Indeed, it was, in general terms, enacted by the fy nodal Ant.statuta ftatutes of the fee of Autun, that the arcfjpwsts Ihould JL/. n^/. Anecd. T. iv be attentive to the habiliments of their fubject priefthood 0.474.' that they were fuitable to the occafion " Caveant arc&tpresfogtnt ut eorum fubditi veniant ad fynodwn in (*) The drefs of rural fceang at their own chapter-meetings is elfe where Provinc. L. in. noticed. It was alfo the fubject of ecclefiaftical regulation on ordinary occafions " Omnes Decani ruralcg decenter incedant in habitu clerically et cappis clavjis utantur:" where Lyndwood tells us decenter may glinv. decent^. refer " ad formam, longitudinem, brevitatem,ftrictitudinem, vel ampli- tudinem veftium" As to colour, red and green were forbidden, -alfo ftripes and parti-colours. But we have not information enough in the glofs upon habitu clericali, to attire our functionaries ex rtav TTO&WI/ et gl- in v. habitu rtjv Ke personal dfwnttion*. [PART IV. every diocefe, inflead of one by Handing place for every tieanerp." Anaiyjucc. In France, however, on the authority of Richard's t*n"'Dai- Analyjis of the Councils, rural arc&prfests were honoured not long fince (during the eighteenth century), in the archiepifcopal fynod of Paris, with a dignified ftation on the left of the archbilhop, where they were aflbciated with the tat&etiral arc&pwsts. And in the diocefan fynods of Salzburg, annually held throughout the pro- c. LXIV. yince, they alfo appeared in neceffary connexion with bifhops, or their reprefentative commiffaries, conftituting local church-conventions. Nor were they overlooked, jur.EceL Univ. according to Van Efpen, about the fame time, in the P. i. T. xvin. r . c. in. p. IDS. epifcopal fynods ol Belgium. In fome few of our Englifh diocefes, wherein the office of tiean rural has been revived, and is fuftained with praifeworthy alacrity and zeal the diocefans co-operat- ing with their rural delegates in rendering the difcharge of the titcanal duties as efficient as poflible to church- difcipline a faint imitation of the epifcopal fynod of elder times has been introduced with the beft fuccefs. The prelates of the fees alluded to, annually, or oftener if occafion require it, invite the titans of the different tieanews to a friendly conference at their refpective pa- laces ; and, while there entertaining them as welcome guefts at their hofpitable boards, difcufs with them the general condition of the ecclefiaflical cantonments of their diocefes receiving from the hands of the titans their acta vijitationis (or articles of vijitational inquiry duly filled up), prefentments, &c., and advifing with them ss.cc. Tom. thereon " Ut qua ex ipforum iudicio reformat ione opus xix. col. K92. HT / J SECT. III.] ^gnrtrical liutwji. 227 habere comperientur, communi con/ilio emendentur." Such is the ufage, I am happy to fay, of the diocefe of Sarum, commenced and zealoufly fupported by the venerable and learned Bifhop Burgefs ; and the like, I believe, obtains in the diocefe of Winchefter examples of pri- mitive practice well worthy of univerfal imitation *. ( J ) The Reformatio LL. Ecclef. would have reftored the ancient epi- fcopal fynods in each diocefe : See the fection " De ecclefid, et miniftris ejus, illorumque qffidis." " Cap. xix. De fynodo cujuslibet epifcopi in fud dioceji." This and the four following chapters contain many ufeful and practicable fuggeftions, in cafe of their revival, at any time, by the church of England. The time of the annual convention was to have been notified by the bifhop to the rural clergy by the inftrumentality of the rural fceang " per tccanog ruri fparjbs" elfewhere called " arcfei- rugticatti," and " Decani rurakg." See cap. v. Q2 228 $er*onal ^function*. [PART IV. SECTION IV. SUPERVISION OF THE LAITY. CHAPTER I. PREFATORY ARRANGEMENT. SUPERVISAL OF LAICAL OFFENCES. JN the numerous, I fear, wearifome extracts, which have been adduced in corroboration of the controverted vijitational duties of &eans rural, and thofe undifputed ones, which, both in Great Britain and on the Continent, they performed at epifcopal conventions, many items of their perfonal functions have been incidentally, but briefly, touched upon. The object there in view was not to anticipate, or fuperfede, a formal claffification of individual duties in fubfequent pages, but merely to illuftrate the vijitatorial and fy nodical capacities of the officer, not to particu- larize and explain every item of perfonal fer vice, but fuch only as were neceffarily performed at vifitation and fy nod. A large number have reference neither to the one nor to the other occafion ; and thefe remain entirely unnoticed. The canons and observations, therefore, now and hereafter to follow, propofe to fpeak of the latter, that is, of the whole range of perfonal duties in detail (faving vijitational andjynodical attendance, &c.) whether per- taining to the maintenance of church-difcipline in the S. IV. C. I.] Sbuperbtjjton of t&e Hafts. Offence*. 229 perfons of the laity or the clergy, or to the general fup- port of external decency and order in the ecclefiaftical concerns of the country. The fubjects alluded to will, collectively, occupy the remaining fections of the prefent divifion Part iv. ; and will be diftributed in the following order : In the Jirft fection we lhall place the obligation impofed on our rural censors of fupervifing the parochial laity of inquiring into, and fuppreffing, all laical profanenefs and immorality and of performing certain purgational, exorciftical, catechijiical, funereal, and tejlamentary duties towards lay -members of the church. To thefecond head (though, in point of number and importance, paramount) we mall affign the fervices of fceans rural towards the parochial Parochial Anti- clergy ; whose manners and miniftrations they were p!s55.*' more efpecially bound " to infpect and cenfure." Lajily, we lhall confider, under as many feparate fections and chapters as the great variety of the fubject-matter may require, the reiidue of the perfonal functions of &eans rural thofe, namely, of a mixed minifterial character, bearing both on the clergy and their flocks which were performed by fceans rural, as public functionaries, under the authority of the hierarchy, for the general fupport of church-difcipline and good order, in the rural diftricts of each diocefe. To begin, then, with the parochial laity whom the canonifls in general confign to the fupervifing care of teans rural " Becam rurales," fays Van Efpen, "laicorum Jur.Ecctef. fuorum diftrictuum mores diligenter obfer vent " Not only, c. u. P .30. obferves Molanus, in his gloffarial remarks on the fynodal Moian. ** c a - conftitution " utjingidce plebes, &c.", does the law exact, c.vm. PP .i58-9. " Ut arcfttpusbgttn' vi/ztent pajlores et parochiales ecclejtas, 230 personal function*. [PART IV. fed etiam ut quales oves pajlores habeant, cognofcant et ad Parochial Ami- epifcoDum referant" Over all the inhabitants l of every fvUiM,VoLli. rj r j p.s54. village, within their junfdictions, wntes Dr. Kennett, &eans rural exercifed a general infpection and fuperinten- dance ; and, if any Chriftians lived in any open and fcandalous fin, the beans were bound to reprove their offence, and admonifh them to repent, as they would anfwer it to God and the church. This power was entrufted to them in their perfonal capacity, independent altogether of their chapters ; and very important it was in preferving the peace, and afTerting the difcipline of the church 2 . S SUA, The church, by her canons, interfered, at an early date, Bookev.p.507. m f U pp Or t o f arci)ipttsbpteral government over the laity the imperitum vulgus of the oft-cited decretal of Pope Gregory enacting in the forty-fourth canon of the ( ' ) The commiflion of the pertoDetite and c jarchi of the Eaft extended to the laity as well as clergy. They equally fupervifed the fpiritual and moral condition of all ; and by conception, admonition, and encourage- ment, as need was, helped forward the falvation of all. See Balfamon's, Znnaras's, and Ariftenus's glofles on the fifty-feventh canon of the coun- cil of Laodicea, in Bifhop Beveridge's Pandects, Vol. i. pp. 479-80 ; and Priaulx's Brief Account of the Office ofSt&n ftural. Life of (*) The following anecdote from Pegge's Biography of Bifhop Great- trftep. 88 head fhews the fact of their interference even with the civil authorities, where the latter violated the difcipline of the church, its rights, and pri- vileges. " Roger de Lexinton, itinerant juftice, and his aflbciates, held pleas of blood on a Sunday at Lincoln (.1.1). MCCXLVI.), and H. the rural Dean Dccanu* Chrtetiamtattg told them ' it was a thing that ought not to be done : ' upon which they gave him opprobrious language, fhut up the door of his houfe, and feized on his effects, with fome lands which he held in trult for his nieces, and fome goods of his relations, for the king's ufe. The biftiop of the diocefe, when he heard it, wrote to Lexinton, obferving to him, how ftrange it was, that men of their refpectable S.I V.C.I.] Jfeuperbteion of tfce itaitg. dWfence*. 231 council of Auxerre (A.D. DLCCVIII.). " Si quis ex facula- ss.cc.Tom. J vi. col. 646. ribus inftituiionem aut commonitionem arrfjfpttSbptert Jui, contumacid faciente, audire diftulerit, tamdiu a liminibus fancttf ecclefia habeatur extraneus, quamdiu tarn falubrem inftitutionem adimplere nonjiuduerit. Infuper et mulctam, quam gloriqfij/imus dominus Rex prcecepto Juo inftituit, fuftineat" And, yet farther to enforce the jurisdiction of arcfjprfests rural, Ihe invefted them with a coercive autho- rity over the perfons of lay -offenders " Videat arcfjtpres- ThoWmn. v. e t fcgter," fays a capitulary of the year DCCCV, " ut diligen- P. n. L.I.C.V. ' tiffimd examinatione conftringantur ; fed tali moderatione fiat diftrictio, ne vitam perdant." On the abolition of the cfjouptscopt of the diocefe of cc.M.B.etn. Meath, and the tranfmutation of the poorer epifcopal fees into the heads of rural arrirtpresbptnates, it was ordered by Cardinal Paparo (AD. MCLII.), and repeated refpectable characters fhould punifh a man for informing them of what was juft and right ; and it certainly was but juft and right, that pleas of blood ought not to be held on a Sunday ; fince the canons directed that the day fhould be kept holy, and forbad that markets mould be held, or pleas profecuted, or any perfon be adjudged either to death or punifh- ment, upon it. The iKan, he faid, ought therefore to have been com- mended by them, and rewarded, for cautioning them againft (inning, rather than punifhed ; and would have been culpable himfelf, if he had not apprized them of their fault. His lordfhip, in the conclufion, be- feeches and intreats them to have regard to the Sabbath of the Lord, if they were defirous of being true and obedient fons of Chrift the legiflator, and his fpoufe the church; and, if the matters reported to him were true, that they would redrefs them ; remembering, that, fuppofmg the l)can had given them offence, it was not their bufmefs to punilh him, fince, according to the law of God and the canons, the perfonal faults of clergymen are not to be animadverted on or punifhed by fecular judges; nor would the church ever fuffer ecclefiaflical liberty to be fo injured and infulted." 232 JJnsoiul J? unction*. [PART TV. by Bifhop Rochfort (A.D. MCCXVI.) " Ut arctipresbgtert de futuro injtituendi non folum perpetuam et perfonalem rejidentiam faciant, verum etiam cleri et populi infra limites J'uorum \snanzi\Jiumfolicitudinem gerant" A few years later, in the diocefe of Clermont, the arcijpresbjmrs were charged to inquire in their perfonal vifitations fjiv^'i'si?' "fummarie de omnibus not or Us ; etji quid ejl quod fcan- dalum generet ibidem in populo, Jive clero &c." To aid titans rural in obtaining information of offences committed by the laity within their precincts, the clergy themfelves are commanded by the fynod of Saintes (A.D. MCCLXXX.) to lay all grave faults before the tiran of their diftrict ; that he, again, may certify the archdeacon, or ss. cc. Tom. bilhop of the fame " Peccata notoria de quibus fcanda- xiv. col. 714. . . J cn- xv. lum in populo generatur, Jignificent facerdotes tiecano, et tetanus archidiacono, vel epi/copo : niji forte per eos Jint fopita : timentes ne pcenam incurrant, ji per alios fcan- dalum deferatur :" if the bifhop became acquainted with offences from any other than the appointed legitimate fource, the negligent parties were to be fubjected to canonical punifhment. On no account were the tieans, in their infpectional and correctional capacity, to accept any pecuniary com- pofition for crimes amenable to their jurifdiction ; either* for the concealment and fuppreffion of them, or for inflicting lefs feverity of punifhment on the criminals than their tranfgreffions merited, and this on penalty of grave punifhment and removal from office. Such was the decree of Walter de Cantilupe, bifhop of Worcefter cc.M.s.etH. (A.D. MCCXL.) : " Nee bccani pecuniam rccipiant pro cri- Vol. i.p.671. . ., , ' * r ' J- / //% minibus celandis, et omnino Jupprimendis t vel remij/iiLS puniendis. Quod (i ticcanf fecerint, ab ojficiis amoti, gra- S. IV. C. I.] j&uperbteion O f flje HaUs- ffcnce*. vius puniantur." Nor were their apparitors, if guilty, allowed to go unpunifhed : " Apparitores etiam tecano- rum, Ji crimina celaverint, per qfficialem epifcopi graviter puniantur." Again, in the Ratisbon conftitution of Cardinal Cam- Brown's Fafd- culus Rerun, pegio for the reformation of ecclejiaflical abufes (A.D. p. 428. MDXXIV.), the foeans are charged not to connive at crimes that ought to be denounced, not to wink at violations of the ordinances of the cardinal, " ob pecuniam ultro oblatam, aut alter ius rei gratia, fed potius ad pcenas de jure vel confuetudine debitas contra delinquent es, pro de- licti qualitate et qfficiifui debite procedant, &c." But what were the offences againft religion and mora- lity, on the part of the laity, which conciliar law placed under the furveillance of our rural ecclefiaftics, and commanded them thus honeftly and refolutely to de- nounce? All tranfgreffions without exception were J. De Athon, /> T T i . n -,. .., Lyndwood, Bar- lubject, according to the canomlts, to their cogmtional *<>{*, aiuque. jur if diction, though not to their correctional cenfure : fee apttular ^functions, Part v. n. chap. iv. To the queftion What offences were fo fubject ? no better reply can be made, than that they were the fame, for the moft part, as the crimes and nerfons to be parti- Gibfon>s c rJ " I.E. A. Tit. XLII. cularly prefented by the ceditui or ceconomi of modern ca P- VI - can - CIX - days, at epifcopal and archidiaconal vifitation-courts. Thefe, according to the Canons and Conftilutions of the church of England (A.D. MDCIU.), are, adultery, whore- dom, inceft, drunkennefs, fwearing, ribbaldry, ufury, and other uncleannefs and wickednefs of life ; which are enumerated as vices which churchwardens, quejimen, or fynod-men (vulgarly called Jidefmeri) are faithfully to prefent to their ordinaries. And in the preceding 234- personal function*. [PART IV. canons f A - D - MDLXXI, we have " adulteros,fornicarios, sparrow's Coi- incejlos, ebriofos,juratores, lenones, ufurarios, &c." pointed out as perfons ripe for the church's cenfure. Of fuch offences and offenders, and many more than are named in either of the quoted tables, trans rural heretofore took cognifance, as the extracts already ad- duced under the heads of vijitational and Jy nodical duties, and the after-cited canons of foreign and domeftic coun- cils abundantly demonftrate. Like the churchwardens, too, the tons were concerned in fupporting the outward fanctity and reft of the Lord's-day ; and yet farther in granting difpenfations from the ftrict letter of the law, when circumftances rendered it neceflary to depart from its rigid observance a power never entrufted to the lay-guardians of the church. The Canons and Conftitutions, by which our church is now regulated, were framed from elder codes, in the year MDCIII. ; at which time the rtm-tocanal office (for all ufeful purpofes of fpiritual government) was virtually non-exiftent in England. So that the lay-wardens of the church the fucceffors of the older tejlesfynodales and the parochial clergy, were the only local helpmates of the hierarchy in fuftaining the good manners and reli- ' gious obfervances of the people the only remaining props of expiring difcipline. To thefe wardens, there- fore, and their fpiritual head, the incumbent paftor of each village, was configned by the bifhop and arch- deacon, under the fanction of the canons referred to 1 , (') But with this difference the wardens and paftor could only pre- fent to the bifhop or archdeacon. They had no power of correcting by thfmfelves ; whereas the fccans were capacitated to correct under cer- tain limitations. S. IV. C. I.] Jbuperbtefon of tfce ILaUg, ./ Provinc. P. I. (circiter A.D. DCCCC.), it is enacted, "Ul incejtuoji, nee- p. 37. ndn et adulteri, qui feparantur a presbyter is, ipjis locis et major et tetanus illorum habeant providentiam, ne iterum, inftigante diabolo, conjungi poj/int." By the canon " de Sacramento Matrim,onii," of the a*/*, synod. J Epifc. Attrebat. fynodal conftitutions of the fee of Arras {AD. MCCCLXXV.), 4to. the teans are ordered to tranfmit the names of all adul- terers to the bifhop's court, within a month " a die noti- ti(E." And in the fame diocefe {A.D. MCCCCLV.), the fol- lowing conftitution appears againft laical laxities : . . . . " Utecams et eorum loca tenentibus fub paend ex- Eju/dem, De . vita et honeftate commumcatioms prcecipimus et mandamus, quod moneant ciencorum, I- v r /\ A.D.MCCCCLV. etiam laicos parrochianos publice in eccLejia auctontate noftrd, quod nullus etiam laicus teneat in domo fud boul- lam l feu ludum taxillorum; nee recipiat in domo fud ribal- dos nee meretrices, cum, ex talibus plura fcandala fepe necndn piacula folent evenire. Alioqum trimd monitione Jic publice factd, dictos laicos talem domum tenentes, et prtfmiffas viles perfonas frequenter recipientes, diebus do- minicis etfejtivis excommunicatos denuncient." During the preceding century, Bifhop Grofletefte of Brown's FO/H- Lincoln complains, in a letter to his archdeacon, of the VoLn.p. m (*) Boula aleatorium, tabularum Indus, ut opinor. Carpentier in Append. Tom. i. col. 613. Taxilli luforiee tefferce, Gall. Dez. Car- pentier in Append. Tom. n. col. 966. 238 tfcrtfonal function*. [PART IV. laity celebrating drinking-bouts, termed fcotales " Fa- ciunt, ut audivimus, laici fcotales ; " which ought not to be, and could not be, the good prelate adds, if the teans rural and bedels were duly watchful to prevent fuch an immoralities. Wherefore, he charges the archdeacon, Gloff". Arch.in * i i> i i> i /vsi v. Scotaia.p.506. by the mftrumentality of the tore-mentioned almtants, to put an end to all fuch alejhots, forbidden Jports, " et cohabit ationem Chrijlianorum cum Jud&is quantum poffibile eft, impedire" stat. svnod. The ftatutes of the diocefan fynod of Ypres (A.D. TU.TH.C.MI. MDLXXVII.) are copioufly furnimed with inftructions for trcanal fupervifion of the people at large : " Non tan- turn presbyteris et clericis tJecanog prtfjici intelligimus,fed et univerfo populo, fyc" "De exceffibus publicis, et quo- rumcunque incolarumfuorum tjecanatuum^/cawda/o/a vita ; de blafphemiis in DEUM et fanctos ; de Jufpicione h&rejis, necnon de pugnis in loco facro commijis, et aliis quibuf- cunque fcandalojis factis ; utpote de publicis adulteriis et fortilegiis, been n i fe per teftes ad hoc evocandos, out alias fufficienter informari curent: atque informatione habitd, ut corrigantur, nos ulterius informent. Sint etiam folliciti, ut illorum, qui ex Ulegitimo concubitu nafcuntur, parentes innotefcant: ne ignoranter pojimodum per aliquos in gradu prohibito matrimonium contrahatur ; et etiam ne hujufmodi delicta impunita maneant, et impunitas ipjis continuandi in peccato occajionem prtfbeat : mulieres tamen fornicarias pojl part um, fact a de his inquijitione, et expleto tempore, ad purificationem abfque alid contradictione admitt ant, feu perfuos paflores admitti curent" B&rmattoLe- The projected Reformatio LL. Ecclef. of Great Bri- c.v. P . 95. tain, of the reign of Henry VIII. and Edward VI., impofes on the arcfn'presbpter rusticnnus extenfive perfonal S. IV. C. I.] jbuperbigion O f tije Hattg. Offence. 239 duties among the laity of his diftrict, in fupport of reli- gion and morals : " De idolatris et hcEreticis, de Jimo- niacis, de lenonibus et meretricibus, de adulteris et forni- catoribus, de Us qui duas uxoresjimul habent, atque maritos duos, de magis et veneficis, de calumniatoribus et blafphemis, de fodomiticis et ebriojis, de ultimarum vo- luntatum corruptelis et perjuriis, de injunctionum aut nojtrarum aut epifcopi violatoribus, inquirat. Et vocandi ad fe, examinandi horum fcelerum fufpectos authoritatem habeat. Omnem accufationis ortum,Jive per famam pub- licam,Jive defer entium tejtimonio probatum, vel Jufpectum, epifcopo aut ejus loci or dinar io infra decem dies infcriptis prodet. Qui autem venire ad eum recufaverit, per appa- ritorem vocatus, tanquam contumax cenfebitur" &c. &c. In the diocefe of Chefter, fays the doubtful paflor of Ley's Doubt*, Great Budworth before quoted, " The itants for many yeares pall have had a great part of epifcopall jurifdic- tion fhared among them ; and this by patent for lives . or yeares from the bifhops, allowing fometimes larger, fometimes lefle authority unto them : fome have had power to cenfure all offenders, and offences of the laity ; the crimes of inceft and adultery alone excepted. And fome have beene limited to the correction of fome few faultes fpecified in their patents crimina et exceffus quo- rumcunque laicorum, criminibus adulterii et incejius tan- tummodd exceptis." To check the loofe habits of young perfons, male and female, in frequenting taverns and houfes of evil fame, synod.MeciMn. on Sundays and holy days, the Belgian fynods of the p.4iL l "'V 2 M) tfewonal function*. [PART IV. feventeenth century pafTed many inhibitory canons, ftrongly and pointedly reprobating fuch grofs immora- lities, and inciting the rural nrchpritsts to increafed vigi- lance and activity, in order to put an end to them. Little benefit, however, having been derived, as it appears, from mere canonical prohibition and condem- nation, though backed by a paftoral letter of the arch- bifhop of Malines, and enforced by a royal edict ; nay rather, licentious revelries of all kinds, with their con- comitants of drunkennefs and proflitution, having in- creafed, the metropolitan, at length, addrefled circulars to all his rural teans, and through them to the parochial clergy of the province, to this effect : " . . . . Ut dittos publicos inobedientes habeant tanquam peccatores publicos f et ad facramenta non admittant, al/ijtentiamque fuam its denegent turn in Jponfalibus, turn in matrimoniis, donee publicum Jcandalum repardrint:" and particularly ad- dreffing himfelf to the nrcbprrsbwcrs rural, he defires, in the conclufion of his epiftle, " Ut 1&.V. injuis vifita- tionibus circa excejjus ijtos et vefperarum ac catechifmi omi//iones diligenter inquirant:" and then, referring to Mre/c. XVII. * ** ~ r \ MDCXXIX.), all midwives who had not taken the canonical oath, appointed for perfons of their order or faculty, are to be diligently fought for by the local Ireans, and prefented at the bifhop's court. S. IV. C. II.] jfcupcrbteion of the Saitg. purgation. 24-5 CHAPTER II. PURQATIONAL DUTIES. F any laymen flood accufed of incontinence, Parochial Anti- J y ' quities, Vol. n. or other grievous crime, in any fpmtual p- 355. court, the &eans, " for their wifdom and fide- caSbu'y, lity/' and "for the eafe and benefit of the i'ubject," were entrufted to take their purgation l , (" a thing warranted," in Somner's words, " if not required by the provincial conftitution Item licet &c., ' Depurga- tione canonicd ') ;" that is, explains Kennett, " to let the T.xiV.p.m fufpected perfons clear themfelves, either by their own oath, or the oaths of credible compur gators V (who fwore that they believed what the accufed fwore was true,) and " fo to vindicate their innocence, and Hop the profecution :" which purgation, doubtless, in laical as Provincial loc citato. (*) The learned author of Parochial Antiquities introduces this branch of Decanal duty at the place we here allot to it, after the fupervifion of the conduct of the laity. But we might, perhaps, in our more fyftematic arrangement of official functions, have transferred it to the chapter on ecclefiaftical cenjures, under the head of capitular tutted. (*) Nathaniel Bacon, fpeaking of the practice of compurgation amongft Historical and the Saxons in their judicatory, after having noticed Torture and Ordeale, ^fe^L^ adds : " Where fame was yet more flight, and fpringing rather from chap, xxxvn. want of charity and mifapprehenfion, than promifing circumftances, men were wont to be contented with a voier dire, or the oath of the party fufpected, and the concurrent teftimony of other men : the firft attefting his own innocency, the other contefting their confciences of the truth of the former teftimony ; and therefore were, and (till are, called compur- gators. 246 ^eraonal function*. [PART IV. well as clerical cafes (in which latter it was fo ordered ' by canon), took place in the toeanrg where the offender lived. The way in which fcccnnal inftrumentality was concerned in England, in effecting the conviction and amendment of the guilty, from the mild admonition of familiarity to the judicial impeachment before the church, is both curioufly and instructively fet forth in the canons of the cc.M.B.etH. council which Hubert Walter, archbifhop of Canterbury, held at York in hisLegatine capacity (A.D. MCXCV.) : the eighteenth ordinance of which enacts, that, when a per- fon lay under the fufpicion of any crime upon common fame, or ftrong prefumption of guilt, he mould be fami- liarly admonifhed by the titan rural ("per tecanum loci") three feveral times to reform himfelf ; and, no amend- ment enfuing, that he mould then be reproved by him, in the prefence of two or three witneffes, of his lofs of character evidence of the fame. After which, the canon proceeds : " Si necjic videatur corrigi, dicatur ecckji. J6s. appear on our ecclefiaftical records of vifitation, Bifhop Gibfon tells us, without number. And it is probable, that, while the Uctanal authority was in full vigour in the kingdom, it had much to do, in rural diftricts, with Antiquititt o/ this branch of church-difcipline. Indeed, Mr. Somner Canterbury, l Parti. p. 176. alleges, that, in the diocefe of Canterbury, the rural tieans " had many times purgations committed by the commiflary to their difpatch in their feveral toeamirs. for S. IV. C. II.] Supervision O f ify Eaitg purgation. 249 the eafe and benefit of the fubject," (as I have already dated) " and their wifdom and fidelity was intruded for taking them." Upon the difcipline itfelf, as of old practifed, the Code* I.E. A. J r Tit. XLII. c. vn. bifhop of London has the folio wing fenfible remark : p.96s. &'iu XLVI. C. I. " This difcipline was certainly fair and reafonable ; inaf- P. 1042. much as that perfon muft be owned to be ripe for the cenfures of the church, who, in a whole parifh, cannot find fo fmall a number, to declare their belief of his inno- cence ; nor, which is yet worfe, to declare (after he has taken an oath in the moft folemn manner) that they believe that what he has fworn is true." 250 personal function*. [PART IV. CHAPTER III. EXORCISTICAL AND CATECHISTICAL DUTIES. HAT treans rural were ever conjurers, in the common acceptation of the term, muft not be inferred from the title of this chapter; though Minfhew would have an exorcift to be a conjurer, and exorcifm to be conjuration. Ecclefi- aftical exorcifts they appear to have been in the diocefes see Beverepi of Ypres and Cologne. The office of exorcifm was not P. i9i. 'jmoti at firfl confined to a particular order : it was exercifed by bifhops and presbyters for the three firft centuries ; nor was it till the middle of the fourth, that a peculiar order of ecclefiaftics was fet apart for it. Beans rural did not exercife the office, as themfelves, of the minor order of the Romim church, fo denominated, but as fpecially capacitated to perform exorcifm by epifcopal or fynodal licence. The fynod of Ypres (A.D. MDCXXIX.) revokes all pre- vious licences of exorcifing, whether granted by the then 4 ' bifhop or his predeceffors, and enacts Can. iv. " Ne tamen indigentes hoc exorcifmorum remedio, per hanc no/tram revocationem careant necejjario auxilio; concedi- mus per prafentes facultatem exorcizandi omnibus fcecanfs, infuis refpective diftrictibus, et etiam tills paftoribus quo- rum nomina dictis Irecanfs tradidimus, publicanda in prox- imd ciyufque congregatione." The f y nod of Cologne (A.D. MDCLXII.) invefts teans S. IV. C. III.] 5buperi>teion of tfie tfcaitg. lExotciimg fc atecJming. 251 rural with the fame fpecial faculty " Ituraltbus noflris tiecanfe, ut in omnibus dift r ictus fui locis exorcifmos ad- hibere queant pr r- "'f ube ff e - j. t . ... Ducatig. Gloff. though the nr cqprcsbgtcr or Dean was major ordtne, yet the archdeacon i n v. Archidia- was major dignitate." conus. 256 #er*onal function*. [PART IV. see statuta Not only was it given in charge to the &ean ' to watch Dicecff. Yprenf. J c p-27 over, fcrutinife, and, if neceflary, cenfure, the conduct of parochial priefls ; but he was to inftruct them in their duty, and to aid them with his countenance and advice, whenever circumftances of difficulty needed his affif- tance, or prudential reafons dictated to the presbyter the propriety of applying to the arcfjpresbpter for the fanction of his authority ; the co-operation of both, for the advancement of fpiritual interefts in the rural diftricts of their joint miniftration, being the earned defire of the church, and the object of much of her fynodal legiflation. B.vnEf,>en Thus the fynods of Belgium, efteeming the vigilant Jur. EccUfiaft. J ' . & tfniwr/.parti. oblervance 01 country pajtors and their nocks by toans P . so. rural, and the general fupport of ecclefiaftical difcipline in rural parts, to be the proper bufinefs of thefe officers, legiflate to that effect ; enforcing particularly all care and attention to the morals and miniftrations of the infpected. " Decani rurales" fays a fynod of Cambray, " parochorum adeoque omnium, et iam facer dotum et cleri- corum, quin et laicorum fuorum diflrictuum mores dili- genter obfervent, potiffimum autem ut paftorcs in pr&dica- tione verbi Dei,facramentorumque adminifiratione, ac in Van Efpen Jur. (') " Uno verbo, atcl)tptc$bgtcrt ita fuorum jurium curam agant, ut ccle S' ~. Hiv ' tamen nunquhm excidat, quod cum Jint parochorum et facerdotum fui cap. v. p. 32. diflrictus paftores, ante omnia Jbticiti Jint de eorum falute et profectu ^ef. Antwerp* fpirituoU, et Jtngularem habeant infpectionem et curam de ipforum vita (A.D. MDCX.) e t moribus, ac diligentid zeloque circa functiones pajforales ; Jeque re- Jpectu pajlorum gerant non ut dominantes in clero,fed tanquam patres et formd gregitfacti ex animo. Pajtoribus zelofis, et in qfficio pajlorali obeundo intrepidu et ferventibus confuio, auxilio, et (blatio. contra ob- murmuratores et refractariotfud authoritate ajflftant el opitulentur." S. V. C. L] j&uperbteton of tf)e IctgB. Summatg Uiefo. 257 is omnibus Juo munerifatisfaciant." (Tit. xix. c. xn. Part, n.) The fynod of Antwerp (A.D. MDCX.) expreffes, in clear Demt. Synod. terms, the fame obligation : " &rc|)ipresbgteri feu tecam A'JD.'UW^' ruraUs, cumjint parochorum aut facer datum fui diftrictus p pa/lores, foliciti Jint de eorum falute et profectufpirituali, et Jingularem habeant infpectionem et curam de ipforum doctrind, vita et moribus. Et vicifsim mandamus parochis et facer dot thus, ut tecanos uti fuperiores fuos agnofcant, revereantur et ament" That of Saint Omer yet more abundantly declares the Tit. xvm. c . i. r , . . ' , __ Synod. Audo- are&t-pastoral duties incumbent on trtans rural " Beta- mar. A.D. /*/.. ^ A ./ r / MDLXXXIII. norum ejje mfm oecanatus partwus Jive parochus curare, ut facerdotes et clerici omnes, et Jingulariter ut paftores vitam agant fud vocatione dignam, ac talem ut nemo de ^^ ipjis queri poj/it, nihilque in ipjis, niji grave, mode/turn, p ' 27 ' imitationeque dignum confpici ; deinde in hoc advigilare, ut pajtores in prcedicatione cerbi Dei, Jacramentorum ad- miniftratione, et omnind in functione paftoralis officii fui recte, diligenteY, et quemadmodum oportet, verfentur : ad- h col> 787 - ptiegt0, and archdeacons : " Uccante quoque, arcfiipregbBtet{0, et archi- diaconibus, ne vejles rubri colons, vel virides habere prcejumant : et fpecialiter archidiaconibus et prapojitis qui habent cur am animarum, ne cappas foratas habeant manicatas" 268 personal function*. [PART IV. Oxford under Stephen Langton (A.D. MCCXXII.), with this penal confequence that all violators of the law were liable to the correction of their fuperiors. But a prior provincial council at York under Hubert Walter (A.D. MCXCV.), having enjoined both crown and tonfure cc.M.B.etiL on the clergy generally, adds, that, if any unbeneficed priefts contemptuoufly refufed the diftinction, (for the beneficed were brought to fubmit by deprivation ',) they were to be clipped, againfl their wills, by the archdea- con or titans. (Can. ix.) " Clerlci . . . qui beneficia non habent, per archidiaconum, vet fcecanos tondeantur inviti" Departure from the true canonical vefture, crown, and tonfure, in the lean's own cafe, (unlefs he made imme- cc.M.B.etu. diate fatisfaction on admonition) was ipfo facto fufpenfion from office and emolument, by the fifth Legatine Con- Jlitution of the Cardinal Deacon Othobon (A.D. MCCLXVIII.) ; who feems to have taken great pains, by various and peremptory injunctions about drefs, to check its licen- tioufnefs ; though all his efforts were of little avail. The clerical beau continued, defpite canonical inhibition. In the days of Archbifhop Peckham (A.D. MCCLXXXI.) complaint was (till made of the unclerical coflume of perfons in holy orders ; and, it was faid, that the ineffi- cacy of paft legiflation was occafioned by this " Quod minores pralati " (doubtlefs rural teans, and perhaps arch- deacons) " hiyufmodi clericos monftruofos monere non SHotitiae &tt)i (') In the fiilleft Article* of Inquiry at Vifitation which I have ever feen . - thofe of Bifhop Seth Ward (contained in his $***. VTotCti* of the diocefe of Sarum) under the head of MiTufters, is a query, Whether they have " haire long ; " but the good prelate does not impofe on his Deans rural the duty of clipping the S. V. C. IV.] j&upcrbtsJton O f ity lergg. &ppal. 269 audent; " wherefore the council enacts (the object of the church being defeated by the pufillanimity of her officers), that the penalties inflicted by the law of Othobon mall take effect without previous monition ; and that fpecial inquilition mall be made in every teanrg after offenders of whatfoever grade and confequence, and procefs commenced againft them " in forma canonicd." See Turner's Hifl. of England, Vol. v. 4to. p. 30, note 48; Gibfon's Codex I.E. A. Vol. i. Tit. vn. on the Converfation and Apparel of Mini/I er s ; and Archdeacon Bay ley's excellent Charge to the Clergy of Stow (AD. MDCCCXXVIT.), p. 44, note (g), p. 9. If a clerkus, duly Jhaven and Jhorn, were * made pri- foner by the civil power, the ten rural was to intercede for his abfolute and immediate liberation ; or, at leaft, for his furrender to the cuftody of the church: "Si cc.M.B.etn. r Vol. I. p. 571. clencus habens coronam vel tonjuram competentem, captus fuerit,Jivefuerit notusjive ignotus, et liter atus, moneantur captores, et detentores per tecanum Ion', ut eum liberejine difficultate recedere dimittarft; niji fortS fufpectus fuerit in manifejto delicto ; et tune exigat eum tetanus loci, ut ei cujiodiendus dimittatur auctoritate domini epifcopi : quod Ji negatum fuerit, admonitione pr&mifla, eodem die nomi- natim excommunicentur, &c. &c." Ex Conftit. W. de Bleys, ' Wigorn. Epifc. (AD. MCCXIX). But when thus liberated by virtue of his clerical privileges, and the power en- trufted to the tean by the bilhop for that purpofe, if the C 1 ) The council of Rouen (A.D. MCCXXXI.) can. xvm. commands ss. CC. Tom. the civil power forthwith to declare the capture and imprifonment of XIII- co1 ' 1255 " clerks to the " fcccamtS loci fine moree difpendio." 270 personal function*. [PART IV. faid dericus were found to be infufficiently " tonforatus vel coronatus," he was to fuffer condign punifhment at the hands of the bifhop "pro incompetenti tonforatione vel coronatione." See the Conftitutions and Canons Ecde- Jiajlical, A.D. MDCIII. can. LXXIV. Decency in Apparel en- joined to Minifters. S. V. C. V.] 5upcriri$ston of the lerga. Etfe anD J&annm. 27 1 CHAPTER V. SUPERVISION OF CLERICAL CONVERSATION, AS TO LIFE AND MANNERS. |T has been briefly noticed at the commence- ment of our remarks on the infpectionary duties of teans rural in relation of the prieft- hood (feet. v. c. i.), that they were to forbid the appearance of the clergy at any indecent fports and plays. Upon this point, the Conftitutions of Walter de Can- tilupe, bifhop of Worcefter (A.D. MCCXL.), have an ex- prefs canon one among many declaratory of thofe duties and obfervances which concerned propriety of conduct in the clerical order, and were ceded to the more efpecial fcrutiny and correption of the archdeacons and teans of the diocefe. The canon alluded to bears the title " Ne clerici interfint ludis inhonejtis ;" and cc.M.B.etH. prohibits in detail, " Ne clerici interfint ludis inhonejtis, vel chords, vel ludant l ad aleas, vel taxillos ; nee fufti- neant ludos* fieri de rege et regind, nee arietes levari 3 , (*) " Lmdere ad aleas vel taxillos" Angl. to play at dice. See Strutt's Sports and Pa/times, B. iv. c. n. p. 230. ( 2 ) " Lnidos fieri de rege et regind" Angl. to play at cards, as Du- Gkffar.fom. iv. cange thinks, who cites the words of the canon, with this remark co1 ' 154- " Videtur innui Indus quern vulgo Chartarum dicimus, Jiquidem ed atate notus fuerit." See Strutt's Sports and Paftimes, B. iv. c. n. pp. 240, feqq., and the Canons and Conftitutions of MDCIII. can. LXXV. Sparrow's Co/- where the clergy are forbidden to fpend their time " in aled, chartis pictis, tefferis, alnfoe ludis illicitis, &c." ( s ) " Arietes levari." In Kennett's opinion, " arietum levatio" was the 272 HPer*mal function*. [PART IV. nee palccjlras publicas Jieri, nee gildas inhonejias; et prtecipud tnercatorum et peregrinorum, quas omnind fieri prohibemus, per qua multa novimus pericula pro- veniffe" Again in the diocefe of Lincoln, about the fame time, we find the illuftrious prelate who then prefided over Brown's Pafd- that fee, Robert Grofletefte, urging upon the fame func- culiu Ktrum, m .382. tionanes, by letter, continual vigilancy, in order to put a ftop to thefe and fuch-like laxities : " Faciunt etiam, ut audivimus, clerici ludos quos vacant miracula 1 ; et alias the fame as running at the quintan or quintal ; for which fee his Glqffary at the end of the Paroch. Antiq. Vol. n. ; alfo Ducange in m. Tom. i. coL 389. with a (ketch of this fportive exercife; and fee Strutt's Sports and Pajlimes, B. in. pp. 89, feqq. PI. ix. x. xi. xil. Kennett's Glof- This cuftomary Englifh fport, practifed ufually at weddings, was either fo ludicrous or fo dangerous, that it was often forbidden by ecclefiaftical authority : as in the diocefe of Lincoln (A.D. MCCXXXII.) ; of Worcefter, in the text ; of Durham (A.D. MCCLV.) ; befides a conftitution of that Church Hiftory, great preferver of difcipline, Bimop Grofletefte fo called, as the face- in, p. 65. tious Fuller tells us, " from the greatnefs of his head, having large ftowage Richard de to receive, and Jlore of brains to fill it" " Roberti titulus, nomine B * rdne ^ r - Grande Caput." ( J ) " Miracula" miracle-plays, or miracles, as they were commonly called fpectacles reprefenting the lives of faints and the moft eminent yit.Abbat.ad fcriptural (lories "Miracula vulgariter appdlamus" fays Matthew Calc.Hift.p.56. Paris: and we learn from Chaucer, that, in his time, plays of miracles were the common refort of idle goffips in Lent See Warton's Hijl. of Pcgge's Groffe- Ensfyh Poetry, Vol. ii. pp. 69, feqq. 8vo. Edit. Clerks were not only fc/k, p. 118. often concerned in them, but they were acted in churches and church- note (r). Wmrton's //. of yards, down to the time of the Reformation, and were revived by Mary I. ^ an ^P 611 ^ 8 ^ 6 ^ tne papiftic worftiip. See alfo Strutt's Sports and Paftimes t B. in. c. n. pp. 116, feqq. Mr.Warton affigns the probable rife of them to a very early period. See Hijl. of Engli/h Poetry, Vol. in. xxxiv. pp. 193, feqq. S. V. C. V.] jfcuperbteion of t&c letgg. Eife anfc JWanner*. 273 vacant induct ionem Mail 1 , feftum Autumni 2 ; et laid fcotales 3 ; quod nullo modo vos later e pql/itji vejira prudentia fuper his diligenter inquireret" With fuch keennefs of fcrutiny was the inquifition of KennetfsPr.ro- the lives and manners of the nobility and commonalty, e*,voi?i.p!336. as well as clergy all ranks and grades, from the higheft to the lowed carried on by the archdeacons and titans rural of this moft excellent and energetic difciplinarian, Brady 'n at the mitigation of the two orders of predicant friars of P his diocefe, that it was deemed a fit fubject of complaint ( !l ) " Inductionem Mail" May-day games Carpentier in voce Glo/ar.T.vm. Maium, " ufus erigendi arborem, primo die menfis Mail in compitis, vel 1126 ' ad tedes puellarum, &c." It was cuftomary for the prieft and people to go to fome wood on May-day morning, and return, in a fort of triumph, with a May-pole, boughs, flowers, garlands, and fuch-like tokens of the Spring. See Mali Inductio in Cowel's Law Dictionary. ( a ) " Feftum Autumni" anfwering, probably, to the modern harveft- home feftival. Bifhop Grofletefte enjoined his chapter of Lincoln not Epift.y. 331. to permit, on New-year's day, the " feftum ftultorum" the feaft of fools, to be played, as it was a vain and filthy thing. ( 3 ) " Scotales " Johnfon fays thefe " feem to have been public com- EccLLaws^.u. potations, at the charge of fome, for the benefit of others." Archbimop M ' JCXXXVI - Edmund (A.D. MCCXXXVI.), in his conftitutions, forbids the clergy to publiih fcotales. And, if any prieft or clerk were guilty of fuch publi- CC. M. B.et H. cation (" bannum fcotallorum") or were prefent at fcotales, he was to ol - I -P- 636 - be canonically punillied. Can. vi. Spelman glofles " Scotala, fcotalla, Gloff. Archaol. fcotallum, fcotal, et fcotales Juxta quofdam eft compotatio emungendte p< QG ' tnvoce - pecuniee gratid, vicinis advenifque a quolibet exhibita. Quaji dictum a jJCOt, i. pecunia, et ale, i. cervijia : quod inverjb vocabulo alii an ale- ^ftot nuncupant." See Blount's Ancient Tenures by Beckwith, p. 509. It is ever defirable to point out any evidences of connexion between the Beveregii Sy- Anglican and Afiatic or elder Greek church: thefe very compotations are forbidden in the fifty-fifth canon of the council of Laodicea on ov ? /epT/xov? ft xhrjpixovf ex * letgg. ILife anO Banner*. 277 a Juts curatis ; vel ab eis munera exigant ut eos Jinijire vivere permittant" Laflly, the fynod of Bois-le-duc (A.D. MDCXII.) charges the teans of iw'stiamtp and others, " Ut public os concu- stat.s yn0 d. binarioSy ufurarios,Jimoniacos, aliofque notorie criminofos 2jfn p.'s"' presbyter os ab altar is minijierio arceant" upon pain of grave punilhment. But of all clerical tranfgrejfions, there was none to which the watchfulnefs of rural titans was more fedu- loufly directed than incontimncy ; none, againft which the councils of the church iffued more frequent cen- fures ; none, where negligence and connivance, on the part of teans and archdeacons, were more feverely reprobated and punimed. And, of courfe, in fpiritual watchmen, expected and commanded to be keenly alive to the carnal faults of the inferior clergy, perfonal chaftity was effentially required. Accordingly, as early as the year DLXVII, we find the Mcc.Tom.vi. fecond council of Tours decreeing, in its nineteenth c< canon, an effectual mode of enfuring the continence of btcan arcfjprftsts, and of attesting the fame to the church : " &rcf)tpresb|3tn{ bt'cam, et diaconi, et fubdiaconi, non qui- dem omnes,fed plures in hdc fufpicione tenentur a populo, quod cum conjugibus fuis maneant. Pro qua re hoc pla- cuit obfervare, ut quotiejcunque arcf)tprei5bgtfr,y6w in vico manferit,feu ad villamjuam ambulaverit, unus lector cano- nicorumfuorum, aut certus aliquis de numero clericorum cum illo ambulet, et in celld ubl illejacet, lectum habeat pro tejiimonio. Septem autem inter fubdiaconos et lectores, vel laicos habeat conceffbs, qui vicifslm feptimanas cum illo 278 personal ^function*. [PAHT IV. facere omnino procurent : et qui dijiulerit,fuftigetur"- If the arcftpmsts neglected the correction of the clergy ( tf junior es fttos ") in this crime of conjugal inter courfe l , continues the fame canon, " ab epifcopo fuo in civitate retrudantur in cellam, ibique menfe integro pattern cum aqud manducent, et pcenitentiam agant pro jibi credito clero, quid, nulli clericorum,juxtafententiam canonum, cum conjugefua manere permit titur" Kj u jd , ,1.644. Again, the council of Auxerre (A.D. DLXXVIII.) enacts, in its twentieth canon "Si presbyter (quod nefas eft dicere) aut diaconus, aut fubdiaconus, pojl acceptam bene- dictionem, infantes procreaverit y aut adulterium commiferit, et arcfjiprtsbgtcr hoc epifcopo aut archidiacono non intima- verit, integro anno non communicet ; illi verd, qui hoc commiferint, deponantur." A&CC.T.XH. Laftly, the council of Rouen (A.D. MLXXII.) can. xv. COHC. Rotontag. under the fame head, " De clericis uxoratis" and " Quales 5 ejje debeant Decani," enjoins " Ut tales tJJtant eligantur, quijciant fubditos redarguere et emendare, quorum vita non fit inj amis , fed merito prefer aturfubditis ; " implying therein that exemplary abjlinence was expected in the perfons of the titans themfelves. To enforce clerical celibacy 2 in England, Archbifhop (') In the firlt three centuries, we hear of no injunction to celibacy; nor, indeed, till the pontificate of Gregory the Great (near the clofe of the lixth century), was this abfurd law univerfally received. ( s ) Among the many proofs of the eaftern origin of the Britifh church, it is here pertinent to remark, that the early clergy of thefe ifles all the Anglican, and many of the elder Anglo-Saxon clergy copied thofe Johnfon Pre- f tne Greek church, in retaining their wives. In the latter, even biihops fare to f. M. we re permitted to keep their icives till the council of Trullo {A.D. DCXCII.). Vol. ii. p. cxiii. . ... .-,. & p. 6. note, according to Balfamon ; and here in England, till the reign ot Edgar, can. in. and S. V. C. V.] &upeibteton of tf) letgg. ILife ant) JWamwrg. 279 Anfelm, who regarded the marriage of the clergy as the wiikin s ' S LL. moft intolerable of all abufes, held a council at London Ecci. <$ cwu. (A.D. MCVII.), expreffly directed adverfus incontinentes cle- ricos. Earlier attempts had been made by this prelate (A.D. MCII.), and by Lanfranc 1 his predeceffor (A.D. MLXXVI.), by the penitential canons (A.D. DCCCCLXIII.), by Elfric (A.D. DCCCCLVII.), (the fin being equalized with murder, in its punifhment, by the penitential canons') to impofe Jingle life on the Englilh clergy. But, on the authority of Henry of Huntingdon, it had not been prohibited to them generally to marry till the tenth century. Afterwards "when, by the attempts, and Works b H iie- preffures, and tyranny, and arts of a hundred and thirty p. m years' continuance, the clergy were driven from their chajte marriages" in the words of Jeremy Taylor, and the primacy of Dunftan, Mr. Johnfon's fays, " It is certain, that even thofe of the clergy who lived in monasteries had their wives coha- biting with them. And the chronicle of Winton informs us, how, after a long ftruggle, they were at lafl ejected by the miraculous voice of a crucifix, which yet washeard by none but the king and the archbifliop." (Spelman. Condi. Vol. i. p. 492.) Again, " When they, the clergy, were Burnet's Hijt. of put out from their feats," in Bifliop Burnet's words, " becaufe they would the Reformation, not quit their wives, they were not deprived of facred orders." . ..." In Vol. n. p. 187. the Weftern church, married clergymen are noticed in many Spanifh and Gallican fynods ; wherein bifhops' and priefts' wives are called epifcoptB and presbyter a." The reader, who may wifh to fee the fub- ject of clerical celibacy difcufled in a mafterly way, is referred to Suicer Thef. Ecclef. in v. Ta^uo?, coll. 725, feqq. ad 734. He will alfo find much valuable hiftorical matter collected by the Rev. E. Pagitt, in his Chriftianographie, Part m. 4. Marriage of Priefts, pp. 56, feqq. (*) Lanfranc did not impofe celibate on the clergy in the villages, Burnet's Hift. of but only on thofe that lived in towns, and on prebendaries. But Anfelm JaJJftjJJ*" 1 carried it farther, and fimply impofed it on all the clergy: yet himfelf B.I. pp. 187-88. laments, that fodomy was become then very common, and even public. 280 $rt*onal function*. [PART IV. during the protracted ftruggle that thereupon enfued between men's natural rights and the arbitrary injunc- tions of the papacy and its emiffaries, the interference of titans rural on the fide of inhibition was again and again called for. Nor, indeed, when the Pope had apparently eftablifhed his anti-matrimonial decree, and got the clergy partially to yield unwilling fubmiflion to it (which they did, as a mere law of the church, founded on no law of the Gofpel), could the papal veto be fubfequently upheld without the continued vigilancy of our rural officers, themfelves advocates by compulfion of the canons of celibacy, and inverted by the church with power to inflict punifhment for every violation of it in the perfons of their fubject clergy. Accordingly, the tomes of the councils at large con- tain fome few mandates, and thofe of our own iflands more particularly abound with inftructions to fceans, archdeacons, and other ordinaries, not only on this head of profcribed conjugal union, but alfo on the vices con- ife of fequent upon compulfatory celibacy. For " the church Gro/etefte, . . , , t r ' * P. 41. was overrun with a deluge ot incontinence, fornication, ch*rch m/tory, adulterv, and yet worfe." Since " thofe," in Fuller's p. 19. xii. cent. & ' J 111 * emphatic language, "who endeavour to make the way to heaven narrower than God hath made it, by prohi- biting what he permits, do in event make the way to hell wider, occafioning the committing of fuch fins, which God hath forbidden." wiikins'gLz, But to return to Archbifhop Anfelm. From a letter /IS. I'lipri. of Pope Pafchal II. to the metropolitan, it is clear that 1 ( ' ) In the diocefe of Sarum, in the commencement of the thirteenth century, married priefts occur, fathers and fons, holding benefices in fucceflion, S V. C. V.] &tip*ibteion of $ lerga- Sift ant J&anner*. 281 the clergy, in contempt of papal penalties, continued to marry " In Anglorum regno,pen major et melior cleri- ^{^' B '^ H ' corumpars" are declared not only to be married, but, Thomaffin. y. et what is a much more extenfive affertion, to be actually P.'H.'L. i. ' the fans of pr lefts. And the fame was the cafe in France p'.25i.vi.feqq. where, as well as in England, extenfive powers of dif- penfation were granted to the Pope's reprefentatives, to make exceptions in favour of the clergy fo circumftanced : while, at the fame time, the laws of celibacy were to be more vigoroufly enforced for the future. Anfelm took up the matter in good earnefl, and under his primacy the toans rural, as fupervifors of clerical chajlity, are bade, in the council already referred to (the firft in which they appear in fuch a capacity in England, for celibacy was not enforced in rural diftricts before), to fwear, "Quod pecuniam non accipient pro tolerandd tranfgreffionejlatuti ut clerici cajie vivant;" and non-compliance with the oath is made puniihable, with the lofs of their tecanates. Again, under the title of " minijiri, quibus cum archidia- ^{^ B '^ H ' conis hoc incumbit" (unlefs the reader would rather underftand church-reeves than toans rural), they are commanded by the feventh canon of Archbifhop Cor- boyl's Weftminfter council (A.D. MCXXVII.), " omnijiudio et folicitudine ab ecclejid DEI hanc perniciem (fcil.) contu- bernia mulierum illicitarum omnind eradicare." Sufpenfion Ejufd. p. 502. is threatened by the York canons of Hubert Walter (A.D. MCXCV.), if the Utans, by connivance, notify not to fucceffion, without any notice of papal difpenfation being granted to them, to capacitate them fo to do. See UetujS Registrant jeanrti gmimlu penes Epifc. Sarum. The paflage is more particularly referred to here- after, under the head of " Illegitimates." JJi-rson.il function*. [PART IV. their prelates the carnal excej/es of the clergy ; while the divine benediction is invoked on thofe who from zeal declare them. Can. xvn. k*ke vigilance is inculcated by the conftitutions of jen 7 ' tii Sarum (A.D. MCCXVII.), according to Dr. Brady (but I do not find any fuch fact in any Sarum document of this date) ; of Durham* (A.D. MCCXX.) ; of Edmund arch- bifhop of Canterbury (A.D. MCCXXXVI). Indeed, in all the canons (each pregnant with more fevere reftrictions than its forerunner) which patted the church at this period to promote the darling object of the papacy, the celibacy * of the clergy, rural &eans and archdeacons were the conflituted local watchmen of clerical contimncy. Nor, indeed, enlightened as was Bifhop Grofletefte of Lincoln, and inclined on other points to conteft the tyrannical interference of the papal court, did he on this particular fubject (hew more illumination than his con- temporaries ; it being the reigning opinion of the day, that even the conjugal duty was not confident with per- fect facerdotal purity. Having enforced the ftanding order of celibacy in his diocefe, Grofletefte had to contend with the abufes and immoralities confequent upon it : and accordingly, in one of his many letters to his archdeacons, preferred by ctmrch lliftory, (') Fuller tells us the clergy of the diocefe of Norwich were particu- larly adverfe to the project of priefts' divorces, and in the fame degree, we may fuppofe, troublefome to the Decanal fupervifors of morals. " In- deed Norfolk men are charactred in jure municipali verfatiffimi" fays the witty hiftorian, " and are not eafily ejected out of that whereof they have had long prefcription, and prefent pofieffion : no wonder therefore if they 1 tickled for their wives, and would not let go a moytie of themfelves." S. V. C. V.] j&upetbteton of tf)e lergg. Effe ant) J&annerji. 283 Mr. Brown in his valuable Fafciculus, we find him ani- rum in Append. madverting on thefe officers for allowing the clergy to p.382.E P iiuo7. have intercourfe with focarite 1 : "Habent facer dotes plu- rimi fuas focarias, quod etfi nos et noftros lateat cum inquijitionem fuper hiyufmodi fieri f admits, his per quos fiunt inquijitiones, perjuria non timentibus, non tftbtt tamen vos Jic later e qui prcejentialiter fuper eos tarn per vos quamper tocanos et bedellos vejtros continue vigilare tenemini" In the diocefe of Conftance (AD. MCCCCLXXXI.) fen- Synodi Con- - - - Jiantienfes. ( l ) "Focariae ita dicta funt, ut placet Somnero in gloff. & curandis Grown, not. ,,./.,.. . marg. in loco focis : hie autem, ut videtur, ad almjmodi ignes extinguendos alebantur ctttSo. a facerdotibus iftius cevi (et cujus quidam non, ubi tarn nefarie prohi- bitum eis fuit fanctum matrimonium?") See Ducange and Spelman in voce and Bifliop Gibfon's Codex (Lawful Marriage of Priefts in Codex I. E. A. our Reformed Church) " Not to mention," fays he, " the abominations cap.xiv. p.438. detected by the commiffioners for vifiting of religious houfes temp. notf Hen. 8., I will produce one more impartial evidence, viz. the acts of the metropolitical vifitation of Archbifhop Wareham ; in which we find, that in the two diocefes of Bangor and St. David's, above eighty priefts were actually prefented for incontinence." But what is this to the boajl of a certain prelate recorded by Henricus Cornelius Agrippa "Z)e quo l)e Incertitudine legimus gloriatum in convivio, habere fe undecim millia facerdotum e sdentiarian concubinariorum, qui in fingulos annos illi aurum pendent ? " The c - LXIV - reafon why the ruling powers encouraged concubinage, rather than marriage, was this, he tells us " Quid ex concubinis proventus illis eft amplior." The incontinent clergy might fairly afcribe fome part of their vicious habits to their ruling fuperiors, if in the decretals of Gratian (which, though nearly all furreptitious, are upheld in credit by the papacy) it be actually laid down, as is reported, on an alleged authority of a council at Toledo, " Qui non habet uxorem, loco illiua concubinam debet ha- bere." D. 34. Ed. Paris, MDXIX. My edition, however, I muft confefs, reads, " Ut unius mulieris, aut uxoris, aid concubinae jit conjunctione cantentws." 284< $er*onal ^function*. [PART IV. tence of excommunication ipfo facto patted the fynod " contra presbyteros notorie* concubinarios et tenentes penes fe foe arias ;" and a ftrong injunction was laid on the freans of the countrp to denounce all fuch to the con- ftituted ecclefiaftic authorities, on pain of excommuni- cation. But the continental titans do not appear to have had their attention very frequently or forcibly directed to the fupport of celibate-canons. Either the clergy abroad were lefs uxorious than our infular eccle- fiaftics, or, being more in awe of papal edicts and ana- themas, more effectually fubdued their natural defires, in compliance with his holinefs's will and pleafure. Cer- tain it is, they gave very little trouble to the local orfct- naws (as far at lea ft as we can judge from the almoft entire abfence of canons directed to the point in the councils of Europe) on the fcore of incontinency. But in England the cafe was altogether different. The cuftoms of the Greek church (originally introduced here by St. Paul or other apoftolical miffionary), in refpect of clerical marriage, were never fo completely eradicated as to admit, generally and without refiftance, the oppo- fite, unfcriptural ufages of the Latin church : and thence the neceflity of the frequent repetition of canons en- forcing celibacy, and the oft-recited admonitions to &eans rural to apply them with the utmoft rigour. See Suicer in voce ra/uo?, and Beveridge ad can. v. Apojtol. in Pandect. Canon. Vol. n. p. 18, on the lawfulnefs of marriage in the Greek clergy. The earlieft penalties inflicted on the clergy of Eng- land for incontinency may be feen in the Penitential Canons (fuppofed to have been compiled by Dunftan) Sf p B 233 H " publifhed by Wilkins, under the title of Canones editi S. V. C. V.] 5upnbte{teton O f tfic levga. Htfe anfc Banner*. 287 and priefts, into liberty, and holinefs, and refor- mation." it of the king's treafury by the payment of the eftablifhed wife-compofi- tion. Upon fome terms or other, it is certain, the priefts were at this Chrifiiano- time in a ftate of marriage, and " fo continued," Mr.Pagitt affirms, ^ph " in the time of Archbifhop Theobald, of Thomas Becket, Richard Baldwin, Stephen Langton, Richard, Edmond, Boniface, Peccham, and others, during well neare 200 yeares after Anfelm's death." 288 function*. [PART IV. CHAPTER VI. SUPERVISION op THE SPIRITUAL MINISTRATIONS OF THE CLERGY. Dr. Field of the Church, B. v. p. 507. Ibidem. Bingham's Ec- clrf. Antiq. B. xui. c. \. N " the continuall circumfpection of arc&pres- bgters rural," in the dean of Gloucefter's language, " in looking to the life and conver- fation of the presbyters, dwelling in the lefler titles," we have faid fufficient. Our next extracts have to do with them as infpectors of thefpiritual minijirations of their fubject clergy : the obfervance of the canonical hours of public worlhip compliance with the rubric of the day, in preaching and prayer in the performance of the fpecial fervices and ordinances of the church in procefjional rogation, and fuch-like rural ceremonies. By attention to all which particulars of facerdotal duty, the local prelates were enabled " to mew unto their diocefan with what diligence each of the presbyters performed the work of God" a principal object of their delegate overfeerlhip. The rural titans were to imprefs upon the parochial clergy the obfervance of canonical hours '; which, befides (*) See Cone. Clovejhov. can. xv. (A.D. DCCXLVII.) ; CC. M. B. et H. VoL i. p. 97 ; Excerpt. D. Ecgbert. xxvni. (A.D. MCCL.) p. 103 ; Cann. Aelfrici, c. xix. (A.D. DCCCCLXX.) p. 252 ; Macri ffierotex. in v. p. 312 ; Van Efpen's Diflertatio Canonico-hiftorica de Horis Canonicu; Bing- ham's E. A. loco citato ; and particularly Palmer's Antiquities of the Engli/fi Ritual, Vol. i. pp. 202, feqq., a work which Ihould be in the hands of every clergyman. The S. V. C. VI.] j&uperbteion of the ktgg. Spiritual 4$ttntettation<5. 289 the morning and evening prayer, (otherwife called matins and vefpers], were thejirji, the third, ihejixth, and ninth hours, with the completorium or bed-time : or, as the times are divided by Mr. Whitaker according to mo- mfiory of M an - dern acceptation, the horce canonicce were three andyfo f. e {[ e Vc>1 " in the morning, nine, twelve, and three, the evening, and midnight. Amongft the irregular practices of the clergy of his Brown's Appen- &J dixadFafcicvl. day, the non-obfervance of thefe canonical hours, in their p- 382. church fervices, is noticed by Bifhop GrofTetefte, in a dam R. Groire- letter to the archdeacon of Lincoln (Epifl. 107 before m. F ' referred to) as deferving correction by his tif canal and apparitorial minifters " Plurimi facerdotes" he writes, " DEUM non timentes, nee homines reverentes, horas cano- nicas aut non dicunt, out corrupte dicunt, et id quod dicunt, jine omni devotione aut devotionisjigno, immd magis cum evidenti ojienjione animi indevoti dicunt ; nee horam obfer- vant in dicendo, qui- Edward the Sixth, only prefcribed public worflrip in the morning and the C 1 ". 6 * Lltu l&f evening; and in making this regulation fhe was perfectly juftified: for though it is the duty of Chriftians to pray continually, yet the precife times and feafons of prayer, termed canonical hours, do not reft on any divine command ; nor have they ever been pronounced binding on all churches by any general council : neither has there been any uniformity in the practice of the Chriftian church in this refpect. U 290 personal ^function*. [PART IV. domini for liter pra'liantes, et inordiiiata prctdicta etjimilia ad ordinem reducentes l , &c." Browns Fafn- fhe fame inattention to the appointed hours of divine culus Rtrum, * P . 427. worfhip Cardinal Campegio accumulates on the catalogue of ecclefiaftical abufes, which he purpofed to reform in his Ratisbon Conftitution (A.D. MDXXIV.), arming ordinaries with power to punifh fuch violations of difcipline, accord- ing to the degree of guilt, either by diverting the received profits of the benefice from the delinquent's own ufe to that of the church or poor ; or, in cafe of his obflinate perfeverance in the fame fault, of altogether depriving him of it. And this they were to effect by the inflru- mentality of their archdeacons and fceans rural. " Cum beneficia propter officia juxta patrumjanctiones dari con- fueverunt,Jierique vix poffit, ut in tantd prtfbendatorum catervd non reperiatur, qui qfficii oblitus horas negligat canonicas : hinc Jlatuentes volumus et ordinamus, ut loco- rum ordinarii per archidiaconos et tecanos de hujufmodi facerdotibus negligentibus,fefe diligenter edoceant, etfecun- dum uniufcujufque negligentiam atque dejidiam fructus perceptos, vel in utilitatem ecdeJi omnium legitimum teflimonium .... If tea no rural f exhi- beat alioqum fructus non faciat Juos" To the non-obfervance of hora canonica we may fub- join, from the fore-cited letter of " Seynt Roberd" of Lincoln, and other authorities of recenter times, a few uncanonical practices deviations, it may be, from the various rubrics of the day in refpect of preaching and confej/ion, pointed out to the correction of toans rural: . 1447. n. Pentecolt, in token of fubjection, with crofies, banners, oblations, &c. To this ancient ufage of repairing to the matrix ecclefta of the fccannj of Pageham at Whitfuntide, the archiepifcopal monition in the 3))pcnt)t.v, addrefied to the Dean, rectors, vicars, capellanes, and inhabitants at large of the fccnnrp of Pageham in Sufiex, relates. See Chichefter Documents. llijiurif <>f Not- Dr- Thoroton notices, that it was a cuftom fanctioned by Pope Alexan- inthamihire, der jjj for ^ c i er gy anc i j^y o f the county of Nottingham to come, at the feaft of Pentecoft, to the church of Southwell, with folemn pro- cejjion: that a fynod was there held; and that the chrifma brought by the Deans of the country from the church of York, was thence dillributed through the other churches. ulla In the Inquifitiom of the archdeacon of Lincoln A.D. MCCXXII. it is p 3g inquired " 30. An alicubi leventur arietes, vel Jiant fcottali, vel dtcer- letur in prteeundo cum vexillo matricis ecclefoe ?" S. V. C. VI.] j&upctbteion O f the Ict^. <$pmtual J&mtettatiowi. 297 the diocefe of Cologne above cited, though they occurred in an aggravated form in the Rogation-days of Arch- conc.cioveshov. bifhop Cuthbert, as early as A.D. DCCXLVII, and probably voi'.i.p.oz. continued, more or lefs, in our infular rural procejjions of a later date, are recorded as meet for tocanal or archidiaconal correction in the councils of Great Britain. The abufes 1 noticed by Bifhop Gibfon were the ujual ceremonies and abfurdities of the day. See Van Efpen De Circumgejiatione et Expojitione, EucharifticE, I. E. U. Part. n. Tit. iv. cap. v. C 1 ) " Thefe perambulations (though of great ufe, in order to preferve Gibfon's Codex the bounds of parifhes) were, in the times of popery," fays Gibfon, in VoM " accompanied with two great abufes ; viz. with feaftings, and with p- 213. fuperftition; being performed, in the nature of proceffions, with ban- ners, hand-bells, lights, ftaying at crones, &c. And therefore, when pro- ceffions were forbidden, the ufeful and innocent part of perambulations was retained." See Sparrow's Collection, p. 68. 298 tferwmal function*. [PART.IV. CHAPTER VII. THE AUTHORITY OF 33cnn$ l&ural IN SUPPORTING CHURCH-DISCIPLINE, AND SUPERVISING THE EXTERNALS OF RELIGION GENERALLY. JHE converfation and numeration of the clergy finiflied, proceed we next to illuftrate with a few felections from fynodal inftitutes, at home and abroad, the authority and jurifdiction of our local ordinaries in fupporting the externals of religion generally ; viz. in enforcing the rejidence of the paro- chial clergy on their cures, in the regi/tration of bene- fices and beneficiaries, of curates and curacies, in the rejection of unlicenfed minifters, the Jons of clergymen and illegitimates (unlefs fpecially protected by papal dif- penfation) from all office and benefice, in the guardian- Jhip of the church's temporalities during vacancy and fequejiration, in the fomentation of the fabric of the church, the manfe, and all other ecclejiajlical buildings , in the due keeping of church-yards, and the reconciliation of the fame when defecrated and prophaned, in the blejf- ing and baptizing of bells, in the care of furniture and ornaments dedicated to divine worjhip, in the dijlribution of chrifm and oil, and the general fuperintendence of all matters and things connected viithfacraments andfacra- mentals, and particularly with confeffion and penance. S. V. C. VII. 1.] jbtiptrtision of tiw @|BJ RniUmtt. 299 1- RESIDENCE OF THE PAROCHIAL CLERGY ON THEIR CURES. Himfelf perfonally relident within his arcfjtpresbnteratt, c c*< - , /~\ /^Tk \ tt / \ Dicec. Atidamar. fynod of Saint Omer (AD. MDLXXXIII. MDCXL.), " nifi a TU.XVHI.C.IH. nobis probatus et admiffus. Is etiam literas admi/Jionis a P ' nobisfact(E Iretano di/tr ictus illius exhibeat, qui eas vidiff'e fe, et examinaffe fcripto tejlabitur : nee niji ejii/modi ttcanf fcripto vifo, et profej/ione fidei emiffa, prafumant pajiores eum recipere" x 306 et*onal dfunttion*. [PART IV. Again " Summo Jtudio odvigilent toccani ruraUs ne Tit.v.c. quis facerdos <^c. in beneficium aliquod parochiale, feu curatum, vel exercitium curce. animarum .... fefe intru- dat, abfque pr&vio examine, et legitimd approbations : " and if any fuch unexamined and unapproved prieft dared to intrude himfelf by force, he was to be made over to the fecular power. statut. Synodi If the clerffy allowed any of the religious, within the Brugenfit, p. 18. Ol7 J A.D. MDLXXI. diocefe of Bruges, to preachy or hear confeffion, without firft exhibiting their letters of licence before the local Ireans of Ctw'stfamtp, they incurred a fine of xn libra for every fuch offence. cbap.xui.p.73. " All vain and wandering priefls," writes the namelefs author of A Humble, Propofal for Parochial Reformation by Rural Deans and Chapters, " whofe fins made them inca- pable of flaying long in any place, through their great ss cc. Tom. expences and little deferts," (" utpot e apoftatce, difcur- fores, et vagi de aliis provinciis" &c.) " were to be taken and examined by the trean, if they came within his trcanrp, both concerning their orders, and the reafon of their vagrancy, that they might be returned to the places of their charge, or depofed according to the canons." see aifo Decret. Such interference took place on the authority of the Tu!^.cap.7i. council of Cologne (A.D. MCCC.) ; which farther adds, that -) thefe clerical wanderers might be admitted to the per- formance of minifterial functions, on the toan's being fatisfied of the authenticity of their letters of orders, and their general fitnefs " tune demum admittantur tales, cum in his inventi fuerint idonei &c." (Can. in.) But if they were found, on examination, to be without tefti- monials, from their own bifhop, of being canonically S. V. C. VII. 3.] j&upetbteion of forgg. 2HtoUecn<$rt> Jftinisstcr*. 307 ordained and lawfully difmifred l from their paft cures, they were inadmiffible to any church, or duty of the prieflhood. Whoever ventured to employ any fuch perfon, merely " dicentemfe presbyterum" as a curate or chaplain, incurred the penalty of excommunication ; unlefs he again difcharged him within fix days after notice duly ferved upon him by the fcean. The fynod cc.Rotomag. of Conftance (A.D. MCCCCLXXXI.), in a canon expreffly PP. 570/571. ,. , , r / . . - ir Synod. Conftant. directed " contra presbyterosjejacientes promoven abfque Utter is dimifloriis," goes yet farther, and fanctions, by its authority, the actual imprifonment of fuch daring offenders againft church-difcipline. At a later date, the council of Augsburg (A.D. MDXLVIII.) ss. cc. Tom. P . ' xix. col. 1302. authonfes creans rural to cite before them all fuch fufpected characters at their rural chapters, to demand the formal exhibition in court of their letters of orders, and their title to the ecclefiaftical benefice to which they laid claim ; and then to report thereon to the diocefan. The collected Statutes of the diocefe of Avranches ss.Rotomag. (A.D. MDL.), charge the titans " Ut presbyteros pere- p. 290. '' gr'mos ad celebrandum nullatenus admitti Jinant, niji poji lapfum octo dierum doceant de fuis litteris : minus verd ad confejfiones audiendas recipiant. Ufum confejjionalium niji ab qfficiariis nojlris probatorum minimi admittant, et utentes denuncient. Si quern fciverint injufto titulo ali- cujus beneficii fructibus gander e t confejllm rcvelent, &c." ( x ) See a form of " Literee DimifforvE conceffee clerico cupientife ab und dioeceji in aliam transfcrre" in Gibfon's Appendix, Cod. I. E. A. Tom. ii. in. p. 1443. xiv. x2 308 tfewonal ^function*. [PART IV. Decreta Antiq. r fo the like Durpole fpeaks the fynod of Cambruy of Synod. Camerac. . r * * pp.no, in. the fame year, in the canon " De non Jiabentibus curam animarwn V 4. PROHIBITION OP ILLEGITIMATES UNPROTECTED BY PAPAL DISPENSATION. It being contrary to the canon law that the/on* of clergymen, or illegitimates, fhould fucceed to ecclefi- aftical benefices without the fpecial permiffion of the fee of Rome, or to whom the Pope granted the power of van Efpen difpenfmg with " irregularitas ex defectu natalitiitm," as j.x. c.'ni'."' it was denominated by the canonifts we find the fol- lowing precept to treans rural of the diocefe of Liege in the Synodal Statutes of that fee (A.D. MCCLXXXVII.) Martene, The/. " Pnecipimus ttccaiifs ruralfbus. quod in fuis trecanatfbus Tom. iv. c. 858. . J , , inquirant utrum aliqw jilii facerdotum vel illegitime nati fUowing mandates appear in the Rouen Provincial Synods ; p. 130. and are here admitted, as bearing upon this part of Decanal duties: II. " Mandata miffionum pro temporibus adventus et quadragejima: diyunctim dabuntur ; et avrhipvcgbijtcrt feu Decani ruraleg necnon rec- tores eccle/iarum parochialium prohibentur admittere quemlibet concio- natorem temporibus quadragefimee, nifi ad hunc ejfectum fecum ferat mandatum particulare, quo conftet rationem villicationis Jute pro ad- ventu ftdi archiepifcopali reddidiffe." (Mandata Arch. Rotomag. &c. MDCXXXVI1I.) iv. " SltcijiptesbBteri feu Decani rurale^ providebunt ne quit concio- nator quadragefimte temporibus recipiatur, qui non promiferit fefe ibi- dem per octavos facrofancti facramenti, et ajffumptionis beatiffim,(e Mariee Virginia, in honorem voti regii et confecrationis regni, verbum DEI preedicaturum. Laid autem votis noftris per opera car Hut is obje- cundare non recufent." S. V. C. VII. 4.] Superbteion O f t&* Utgs. Illegitimate*. 309 obtinent aliqua beneficia ecclejiajiica Jine difpenfationejedis apojiolictf : quosji invenerint, nuncient patronis benejicio- rum, quod^ipfa beneficia conferant perfonis idoneis, et nomina talium fuperiori fuo fub poend excommunicationis remittant" Can. xn. This law applied to " illegitimZ nati" both laical and clerical: and, the learned ThomafTin thinks, no diffe- rence was made in reference to the latter, whether born in or out of wedlock, as long as they were " in facer dotio geniti." Extra. deJUiispresbyt.c.xiv. Loop-holes, how- ever, there were, by which to efcape this irregularity 1 " ex defectu natalitium: "fee a form of difpenfation "pro illegitime nato, ut pojjit obtinere dignitatem aut benefaium" in Gibfon's Appendix, Tom. n. p. 1340. in. Art. iv. In a canon of inftructions to archdeacons and titans can. *vi. (*) This natal or natalitious defect does not appear to have been an infurmountable bar to promotion in our own fee, though the inflances of fuch irregularity were numerous. There was no limit to the papal Epifcop. sarum. power of difpenfation in adjufting thefe difqualifications and putting matters to rights ; as the following anecdote proves, refpecting the elec- tion of Richard Bingham to the vacant fee of Sarum. Forty-one canons and prebendaries were prefent at the preliminary meeting, by themfelves or proctors ; being authorifed to proceed to the election of one of their body to fill the vacant epifcopal throne. But of this number, there were fome, fays the regifter, " qui non poterant eligi, ed quod non effent de legitimo matrimonio, utpote Dccanus ejufdem ecclf-fiee, et quidam alii. Aliqui tamen eorum dicebantfe ejffe munitos fuper hoc per indulgentiam apoftolicam, veluti mag. W. de Merlon, archdiaconus Berkjlr. mag. de Chabbeham, Jubdecanus Sarum, quorum uterque protulit indulgentiam apoftolicam, cum tali tamen adjectione: ' Ita tamen quod fi ad epifco- patum vocatus fueris, ilium fine licentia noltra Jpeciali nullo modo re- cipias/ Alii verd confitebanlur defectum natalium fuorum, nullarn penitus habentes fuper hoc indulgentiam." Thefe indulgences, it is noticed, were all of the pontificate of Gregory IX. 310 personal function*. [PART IV. rural of the fore-mentioned diocefe of Liege, the atten- tion of thefe officers is particularly directed to a fecond irregularity, which incapacitated a clergyman'lbr holding a benefice ; namely, where he was the fon of the imme- diately preceding incumbent : " Nullus Jilius facerdotis obtineat benefaium" fays the canon referred to, " in quo stiiiingfleets pater fuus immediate defer civil." Such a clerk was illesi- Ecclff. Cafes, . . .. . J . . T _ r n _ voi.i. p. 358. timatized by the canon law of Weltern Europe; but not t in England. Though the rule was entered in our pro- 5p.f fS: vincial conflitutions (fee CO. M. B. et H. Vol. i. p. 474. x - p - 107 AD. MCLXXIIL), ftill it is generally held, the bifhop of Worcefter fays, that it was never received here ; and therefore we find no inftructions to fceans rural on the fubject, in the councils of Great Britain and Ireland '. Bajlardy, however, without difpenfation, was always a juft objection to a prefented clerk. See Thomaffin F. et N. E. D. Tom. n. P. n. L. i. c. LXXXIV. p. 251. vi. feqq. ( J ) There were two reafons for the law " Nejiliusfuccedat patri;" one was, to difcourage the marriage of priefts (fee Con/2. Dom. Othon. innotuit) ; the other, that benefices fhould not become hereditary. (See Conft. Peckham. A. B. Prov. L. i. Tit. vin.) " They are certainly mif- taken," fays Mr. Johnfon, " who fuppofe that all the children of clergy- men, in times of popery, were illegitimate, and would have this to be the reafon of the canon. A prieft might have children before he entered into any orders ; that is, while he was oftiary, acolyth, or exorcift." See Mr. Whitaker's Hiftory of Manchejler, Vol. n. B. n. c. xn. n. p. 460. 2>ctu fKcfli*- In the Inquifitio de terrd de IVokingham per Adam de Ivelceftre, O*mun? Ct (A.D.vccxv. MCCXXV.), Decanum Sarum, there are feveral examples of priefts and deacons, fathers and fons, being married and holding . Benefices fucceflively within the diocefe of Salisbury. S. V. C. VII. 5.] jfeuperbteton of tfje Utgg. jfceqtwgtration, fcc. 311 5. GUARDIANSHIP OF THE TEMPORALITIES OF THE CHURCH DURING VACANCY AND SEQUESTRATION. As the legitimate guardians of the church's tempora- see Part m. lilies in country diftricts, it has been incidentally mewn, in a former part of thefe notes, that &eans rural (there called arc&pusbgtm) were canonically commiffioned, as early as the ninth century, to the conservation of the property of the vacant tituli of their arcf)tpst)8trates. True indeed it is, that, in the canon referred to, their honefty in the office of collecting ecclefiaftical fruits is more than queftionable ; they are charged with the appropriation of the produce and revenue of other churches to their own ufe ; an iniquitous breach of truft condemned by the Pavian council (A.D. DCCCLV.) " Tollenda eft prava omnind confuetudo, qu& in nonnullis Thomamn. r. e t , . ... . . ,, 7 ,. N.E.D.Tom.i. locis orin ccepit : qma nonnulli arcptpresfcBten, vel aliorum P. i. L. n. c.v. titulorum cujtodes,fruges, vel aliarum ecclejiarum reditus, ad proprias domos abducunt &c." inlinuating, with too much feeming truth, that fuch abduction looked more like robbery, than protection of church property. But whatever lack of honeft ftewardfhip our Pavian officers may have fhewn in the cafes reprobated by the cited council, it was ufual, there and elfewhere, upon the vacancy of any church, for the treans to have the cuftody of it ; that is, fays Mr. Somner in fpecial relation to our infular church-ufages, " to collect the fruits, and get the Antiquities of cure fupplied, in the name and Head of the archdeacon, during the church's widowhood : and to that end the fctan had the church-door key delivered to him ; which, upon his induction of the new incumbent, to put him 312 $cr*onal function*. [PART IV. in poireifion of the church, he uled to deliver again to him, according to the manner of giving corporal pof- feflion, in thofe elder times obferved." Ami. Not only did they gather the fruits of the vacant J a> 3cT.' benefice in truft for the future incumbent, but they alfo , took care that the glebe lands were feafonably tilled, and f Qwn to tne bed advantage ; (duties now performed by jc. M. B.^H. churchwardens) looking for recompence to him in whofe behalf they acted as trujlees and guardians of the benefice, viz. the future incumbent : " Terra ecclejia- rum vacantium inculttf non jaeeant,fed per fccanum loci excolantur, ab eo, qui fructus receperit, fumptibus refun- dendis, vel pro parte fructuum tradantur aliis excolendtf. "Decani, qui circa hoc negligentes extiterint, puniantur"- To which Worcefter conltitution " De terris defunctorum incultis" (A.D. MCCXL.) the fifty-firft of the fynod of vol. ii P . 158- Exeter (A.D. MCCLXXXVII.) adds, If the titan and fu- ture incumbent cannot agree on the point of remune- ration, any difpute thereupon (hall be fettled by the ordinary. In the province of Rouen, it was cuftomary for the fcean of the diftrict to accompany the farmer of the vacant benefice, and conjointly with him infpect its condition at the commencement of the term of his lay- tenancy ; fo that the farmer might be obliged to give it up in the fame condition at the expiration of his term : cc.Rotomag. " Cum vacabit aUqua eccle/ia," the fynod of Conftance Pror.P.ll.p.565. * synod.c on - (A.D. MCCCLXXV.) enacts, " accedant ad locum oecani cum Jirmario, et videant in quo Jiatu ecclejiam fufcipiet firma- riits, ut ita ceque bono Jtatu in fine, termini Jui earn dimit- tere teneatur: " a very judicious law in cafe of litigated right of prefentation, or where a benefice is neceffarily, S. V. C. VII. 5.] &up*rbteion of t&* lergg. &*qu**trati produce of vacant benefices that is, the fortieth part of G^T*"? the income of each; the whole of the refidue being COL 772. in v. o deportus. paid to the bifhop, as his deportus l . If they detained more than their lawful fhare, even though the fee were vacant, they were to refund it within a month : and the fame protection of epifcopal rights extended to the (') " Si contigerit deportus noftrosfeu rectores vel curatos, ecclefias cc.Rotomag. adfirmam laicis tradere ; nullo modo permittant Decant dictos laicosfe Pr ^g' 5 P ' "' intromittere de iis qua pertinent altar i, autjlare juxta illud pro obla- Synod. Cmiftan- tionibus recipiendis,fed omnia fpiritualia, queecumque fmt, per presby- teros idoneos, a nobis approbates, difponentur honefte." 314 personal function*. [PART IV. goods of inteflate beneficiaries : " Monemus archidia- conos et arcinpresbnteros, ut quidquid de proventibus eccle- Jiarum et aliorum benefidorum vacantium, curam haben- tium animarum annexam, ultra quarentenas Jitas, fede vacante, perceperint, et alios qui de prcedictis aliquid habue- rint : necndn omnes ittos, qui de bonis facerdotum et cleri- corum benefidatontm intejlatorum aliquid habuerint, fede vacante, nobis vel mandato noftro rejiituant infra menfem" In their capacity of church-guardians, it was committed to the beans by the Liege ftatutes (A.D. MCCLXXXVII.), to c/o/ar.Tom.ii. make inquifition " de ecclejiis defalcatis" that is, ac- cording to Ducange, of churches, the revenues of which had been feized on plea of debt. The titans were to P r f ecu t e their inquiries, and report to the bifhop, " Qudd ecclejitf funt defalcate, et per quos et in quibus: et nos omnes defalcationes eccle/iarum minus legit imefactas revo- camus, et prcecipimus fub poend excommunicationis omnibus qui bona ecclejiarum habent per defalcationem minus legi- timefactam, quod ea ecclejiis a quibus funt defalcata refti- tuant &c. &c." ^ ne P er f ns an ^ goods of clergymen being exempt f rO m feizure " oer kucolcm juftitiam" within the diocefe A.D. MCCCCLV. / i/ of Arras, the tieans were authorifed, by a conftitution of that fee (A.D. MCCCCLV.), to interfere for their immediate liberation and reftitution, on pain of excommunication. Nay more if the freedom of an arrefted clerk, whether for debt or other civil offence, was not immediately ceded to the toan rural on application, the council of Compeigne enacted (A.D. MCCI.), that divine fervice ihould be fufpended in the parim of his capture, or prefent detention, and continue fo fufpended, until fuch time as he was reflored to full liberty, at the place where S. V. C. VII. 5.] &upcrfateion of tfjc Urgg. j&equegtration, ^ c . 315 he was firft illegally arrefted. Again by the council of De Senlis (AD. MCCCXVII.) it was decreed, that if any temporal lords, or their fervants, violated the church's property by fpoliation, or unjuft occupation, their man- fions mould be excluded from the church's protection, and the occupiers deprived of all fpiritual miniftrations, till full atonement was made: to which things, the toans, as defenders of ecclefiaftical privileges and pro- perty, within their jurifdictions, were bound to attend by the general refponfibility attached to their office and ftation. In England, the benefices of the clergy being liable to fequejt ration, on other occafions than vacancy, one of the moft frequent caufes of this procedure being en- forced againft a beneficiary was, and is, infolvency. It was not uncommon, of old, for the mandate iffued from the epifcopal court, upon the king's writ to fatisfy the debts of an incumbent, to be configned for execu- tion to the trean rural ; there being, till the middle of the fourteenth century, no lay-guardians, or church- wardens, eftablilhed among us, to fulfil that duty. Thus, White Kennett relates, that the rector of Am- Parochial Anti- brofden (A.D. MCCCXVII.) being indebted to Peter Cofin, JsSl'jBtm merchant, in the fum of fifty-feven pounds, and, upon Digi>V, 154. profecution at law, being found to have no temporals to fatisfy the faid debt, a precept was directed to the bifhop of Lincoln to feque/ier his benefice on default of pay- ment. The bilhop directed his orders to the official of the archdeacon of Oxford, and the official to the rural fcean of Burcefter, to execute the faid precept. Indeed, it appears, that the whole of the minifterial 316 personal ^function*. [PART IV. department offcqueftration l , whether, during the vaca- tion of a benefice, for the fupply of the cure, the ma- nagement of the profits, and fuftentation of the church buildings, or, during incumbency, for enforcing necef- fary repairs, (in cafe of non-compliance, on the part of the beneficiary, after due admonition to amend defects) or, pendente lite, in inftances of difputed title, or for neglect offerving the cure after inftitution and induction, or for debts, or any other caufe, was configned of old to treans rural in England. Nor does it appear that the Belgian ecclefiaftics of the fame name and title were lefs concerned with the fequejiration of benefices at a later period. Swfi^W. ^ ne fy 110 ^ f Ypres (A.D. MDLXXVII.), touching upon rit. vii. cap. ix. f ome of the fpecified reafons of fequeftration, decrees : " Si defunctorum (zdifida non inveniantur in debitd repa- ratione confervata, aut defuncti decej/erint multo cere alieno gravati, curare debent fctcam, ut mobilia relicta Jlatlm fequejlrentur ; inhibendo per edictum publicum efuggejtu, et, Ji neceffe fuerit, cum afliftentid brachii fcecularis, ne qui debitores quidquarn folvant htfredibus defunctorum abfque caufie cognitione et noftro confenfu ; ut hdc via turn (zdifida rejlaurentur, turn etiam creditoribus defunc- torum abfque difficultate pq//it fatisfieri." statuta Sunodi Again " Si benejicia pojjident es fuorum beneficiorum pp.56, 57.' onera perfolvere neglexerint" fays the fynod of Tournay (A.D. MDLXXIV.), " fructus omnes beneficiorum hujufmodi . Wbcnba, (') " SccanuS in fuo de cctero l)ccanatuyt< fine quarts injufld fevitid t\. fequelirator,#c." Ex tegijltt. W.Wickwane Ebor. S. V. C. VII. 5.] j&upwbteton of fy* ^lergg. jc.MCCCLXXV.) admonifhes all beneficiaries to have their houfes and dwellings repaired, on pain of fequeftration and the beans to vifit and report to the fynod : " Omnes eccle- ciorum,fed rationem etiam ab eis repetet, et de templorum ac tedificiorum ruini*, et de thefauri pauperum di/lributione, et de bonorum eccle/tte vd acceffione vel deceflione. Quod autemjive in his rebus, fire in illis qua; ad ardjtprcslnjtcrt explorationem reftruntur peccatum erit, per ct?ifuras ecclefafiica* corrigetur." S. V. C. VII. 6.] ^uperbigum of @togg. 1EccU*tajsttcal IsDtfittss, &c. 323 /iafticce perfbnce beneficia obtinentes. domos et habitationes ss. Roton,a g . J J , x. . - Prov.P.n. iuorum benencwrum fecundum eorum facilitates faciant p-565. r I * r G i' C I * ' Synodi Conflant. reparari, Juo poena Jequejtratioms Juorum benejicwrum. ^.D.MCCCLXXV. Et qudd fcecam quilibet in fuo tecanatu dictas domos vifi- tent, et nobis referant infra fynodum" Our cardinal-bifliop of Sarum (Campegio) fpecially Fafdcuius Re- directs the attention of beans rural to the fame points of " reltoring and fuftaining church-houfes, fubject to the fame penalties, on the part of the beneficiaries, for non-com- pliance. The injunction appears in his " Conjiitutio ad removendos abufus," (A.D. MDXXIV.) Nor are the fynods Va "% n v ' \ ' J I E.U.P.u. of Malines, about the fame date, backward in inculcating TU. xxxiv. ' cap. vni. p. 674. the like infpectionary duties, with even ftronger threats on paft and future neglect. The fynod of Cambray (A.D. MDL.) charges the &eans Decreia An- J J ^ ' tiqua Synodi to fee to the due reparation and fuftentation of all cameracen/u,, p. 109. See alfo church edifices ; and enacts, that, if it mould happen, statuta synod. _ rr . Brugenfis(A.D. that "Propter neghgentiam Irtcanorum ortsttanttalts, qui MDLXXI.),PP. eas tenentur vifitare, domos curatorum et capellanorum pejorari, Iretanf, ob quorum defectum hoc accidet, et eorum beneficia teneantur dictas domos relevare, vel reparari fa- cere, fuis propriisfumptibus et expenfis." " Ubl domus paftoralis ejt" fays the fynod of Saint Omer (A.D. MDLXXXIIT.), " non liceat paftori fine exprefjb Ti V J . cap. xvni. con fen fu no fir o, aliam inhabitare: earn autem domum debite p- 82 - ( A - D - / tf V * vimYVVIII MDLXXXIII. ab ipfo reparari et fartam tectam confervari prtfcipimus, niji reparationes illius ab aliis fieri debere certd conjtet. Atque in hoc advigilabunt feduld foecatu aliique vi/itatores, ne, quod contigiffe alicubl deprehendimus, paulatim per incuriam pajtorum domus illce deter iorentur, immd cor- ruant, cum magtw interdum fuccej/brum prcejudicio. Si J i ^ I XXXI g' 74 quos negligentes deprehenderint, nobis denuntiabunt, ut Y 2 $*r*onal function*. [PART IV. nos ipji eorum fumptibus earn reparationem Jieri curemus, et pro prater itd negligent id puniamus." necretaSyno* The fvnod of Tournav (A.D. MDLXXiv.), " Be &tcniu's Tornacetiju, * J ^ P . 56. Cimsttam'tatts et eorum ojficio," cap. XH. orders, " domos, aliaque ad ecclejias fpectantia cedificia, rectores collabi ptrmiferint, per &f canos de bonis arrejlatis hujuf- modi cedificia reparentur t alioquln ob commij/am negligen- tiam propriis eorum expen/is id ipfumjiat:" and further inftructs * the titans of (Efwstt'anftp in the proper method of railing funds for refloring the churches of their bean- ries, in cafe the fame have actually become dilapidated the tithe-holder being bound to rebuild the choir at his own coft, and the parifliioners at large (by a collection capitatlm) the nave. Cap. xin. The council of Milan (A.D. MDLXXIX.) capacitates fora- ss. cc. Tom. neous bt'carg, or tie ans, to inquire *' Qui fingularum eccle- XXI. col. 462. ?. a Jiarum, prtejertim parochialium Jtatus, an Ji qua injtau- rationem dejiderant ; an debito cultufraudantur, &c." Dtenta et sta- The fynod of Malines (A.D. MDCVII.) authorifes the tuta Synod. . . ' . . MecMn.p.\69. tieans to order immediate repairs, at their annual vi/ita- tions ; and bids them denounce difobedient beneficiaries to the diocefan, or his vicar-general. ^ e fy n d f Ypres (A.D. MDCIX.) enacts, " Pajtores de TU.ZX.C.XXVIH. reparandis et reficiendis fuis domibus pajloralibus tnaxime jint folliciti : referantque ad nos tifcanf in fuis vijitationi- bus, qui ed in re negligentes out inobedientesfuerint." CC.Rotomag. (') In cafe of new chapels being erected in their Dcanricg, the atch- prcibntcrs rural were under an obligation, in the diocefe of Rouen (A.D. MDCXXXVIII.), to exhibit the contracts of endowment and founda- tion, in order that copies might be deposited in the office of the arch- billiop's fecretary, and the original* preferved among the archives of the diocefe. S. V. C. VII. 6.] 5uperb(<$ion O f let gg- 1Ugiatual isDtfic**, &c. 325 That of Bois-le-duc (A.D. MDCXII.) bids the arcfjpwsts stat synod. of the diocefe inquire, at their vijitations, " Utrum eccle- cap. iv. P . ss. Jice reparatione egeant, et coemeteria bend occlufajint" Religion being deeply interefted in the preservation and decent condition of ecclejiaftical edifices fuch eflential aids to its outward manifeftation in the world fuch allectives to divine worfhip, and fo indifpenfable to paro- chial incumbency no wonder, the mojl recent inftruc- tions to treans rural in England and Ireland, as well as see ty>mbijr of the mojl ancient, invariably include all church-buildings bem Documents. as objects of annual, or ocean 1 onal, vifitation and exami- nation equally thofe confecrated to the fervice of God, and thofe dedicated to the inhabitancy of his minifter. Nor are the cemeteries of the dead overlooked, either in our infular documents, or in thofe of continental churches. The teans are to take care that the churchyards are well and fuflSciently maintained with walls, pales, or hedges, and that they are kept in a decent and befitting manner, neither defecrated by cattle, nor violated by other profane intrufion. The fame ftrict injunctions apply, in a higher degree, to churches. By the fynod of Arras (A.D. MCCCCLV.) the toans are conft. s yno dai. J , . 7 i i Epifcopatus bade to allow no tavern- keeping nor wine-felling in church- , - f -,. j e *. - houfes, on pain ot excommunication, and a line or ten pounds : " Ne in domibus ecclejiarum tabernas vel vinum venale teneant; fub pcend excommunicationis, et decem librarum Pari/ienfium : " and by an inhibition of Bifhop oughton-s FOT- J ^ * mular. Vol. II. Dalberby of Lincoln (A.D. MCCCIX. MCCCXIV.), they are p. 293. charged to forbid all judicial proceedings, fair-holding, marketing, &c. within -the churches of that diocefe. Specially, alfo, does Oliver Sutton enjoin the fcean of Hoyland, by name, (A.D. MCCXCII.) to forbid the laity 320 $rr*onal ^function*. [PART IV. collecting their rents in fuch holy places. See Lincoln Documents, &ppenfctx, N. v. and vi. - But to return to churchyards. ouRhton's For- The titans rural of the latter extenfive diocefe had mular. Vol. II. . . i their attention particularly directed to the profanation of churchyards in the latter end of the thirteenth and beginning of the fourteenth centuries, by the fame bifhops Sutton and Dalberby. Several mandates to that effect, from Oughton's Formulary, are tranfcribed into my glppen&tx of Instruments. Of which, one is vptntir,un- addreflbd to the fore-named tjean of Hoyland (A.D. NO"I. ' MCCXCI.), ftating, that many abufes, requiring immediate reformation, had come to Bifhop Oliver's ears during his laft vifitation of that teanrg : among which, in particular, the violation of parochial cemeteries by the rectors', vicars', or other cattle, is noticed " Ccemeteria ecclejiarum paro- chialium, per pecora rectorum &c. turpiter maculari; Jive per defectum claufurce, Jive per quorundam negligentiam, &c. &c." And the mandate, in conclufion, bids the titan inflict condign canonical punifhment for all fuch tref- paifes and infringements of the immunity of facred places. p. 292. Afecond mandate, addreffed to the titan of i /. are made conservators of thefe important mftruments : it is ordered " Que dans chaque paroiffe ilfoit tenu regiftre des baptemes, manages, et inhumations, fuivant Vordon- nance : et lors qu'un cure viendra a deceder, ilsjefaijiront defdits regijires, et autres tttres et ecritures concernans la cure, et les droits du cure." ........ " Pour les mettre " (adds a fynod of Lifieux) " enfuite aux mains du nouveau cure, qui en prendra poffeffion" ^ ne fy no ^ ^ Malines ( A.D. MDLXX.) extends their care to all original documents, muniments, &c., relating to benefices ; which they are to fee duly depofited in places of fafe cuftody. But touching, more particularly, the connexion of beans rural with facraments undfacramentals; with which Provinc.P.li. P. 253. Ejufd.p.515. p- 71 - S. V. C. VII. 6.] j&upcrbteion of tfje letgg. jeacramentg, &c. 333 they were early concerned in the churches of Nor- mandy ; the third canon of the council of Rouen (A.D. MLXXTI.) gives them the diftribution of chrifm (a mixture of oil and balfam for baptifm &c.) and oil (for extreme unction) : " Chrijmatis et old diflributio a Kttmizfummd ss.cc.Tmo. diligentid et honejiate fiat : ita ut interim dum diftribue- cone. Rotomag. rint, albisjint induti : et talibus vafculis diftribuatur , ut nihil inde aliqud negligentid pereat." And the fame is continued to them by a fubfequent fynod of Liege (A.D. stat.synod. MCCLXXXVII.) Can. XVII. S S. CC. Tom. With the like facramental truft the teans rural were, XIV - coL137 - heretofore, concerned in Great Britain, while chrifm and oil continued to be fupplied from the mother to the daughter churches probably till the time of the Refor- mation. The rule was invariable, I believe, in the country, for the villages of each fceanrg to be fupplied from the towns or metrocomicE, or, at leaft, the minor places from the major ; and the latter, again, from the epifcopal city. Many notices of this ufage occur in the ancient regifter of Saint Ofmund of Sarum, before and after the $8ctu jKcmstr. removal of the fee from Old to New Sarum. The fceans, v* in all likelihood, as foon as they were inftituted in this diocefe, received chrifm and oil at the diocefan church or cathedral of Sarum, and re-diftributed them in the matrices ecclejice of their refpective tocanatts ; though, at the early date alluded to, they are not mentioned as exercifing that truft amongft ourfelves. In the county of Nottingham, it is well known, the teans of t&e countrg received chrifm and oil for the ufe of the clergy of their teanries at the mother church of Southwell ; to which place the facramental articles were previoufly brought from the minfter at York. 334 $gonal function*. [PART IV. By the council of Saumur (A. I). MCCLIII.), the beans fhared with the archdeacons and arcfrprftsts the entire care of facramental implements. The fame having been much neglected in certain parts of the archdiocefe of Tours, the fecond and third canons of this fynod commit to the recited functionaries and &f ans rural (" ad quorum qfficiwn dignofcitur per liner e ") " Ut procurent fanctua- rium,fonles, oleum, el fanctum chrifma, clavibus adhibilis cuftodiri, et per loca populofa, el maxime civitates, venera- b'diter deferri." They were to fee that every thing con- nected with the altar was kept with, becoming propriety, the eucharift itfelf, and the KaXv^anov or corporate, on which it was depofited ; that the latter was of pure white linen, and warned only by a deacon or prieft attired in his furplice, all the ablutions, or at lead the firft, being poured into the pifcma; and laftly, that the coverings, the facerdotal vejts, and all other things confecrated to the altar, were cleanfed, apart from the contamination of unhallowed clothes, by fome pure and pious virgin, or matron of unimpeachable character. Cone. Roumig. The decent keeping of the facramental articles was P r 565. ' juftly deemed by the fynod of Conftance (^.D.MCCCLXXV.) * of grave importance. It was enjoined on the fceans rural to enforce it at their fcalenfcee : " In fealentJt's prcccipiant omnibus presbyteris et curatis quod corporalia, et omnia alia ad mijjam pertinentia,fuper altare munde teneant et cmc. Rotom. honejie." See Decreta Synodi Proviticialis Aquenjis {AD. p ' 2 253*405 n ' MDLXXXV 0> de Xftcaufs jporanefs, p. 123. ; alfo the council of Rouen (A.D. MDLXXXI.), de Sacramento Miffce ; of Bayeux (A.D. MDCLXII.), can. xiv ; and of Evreux (A.D. MDCXLIV.), chap. xn. can. xn. The plebant are ordered by the council of Ravenna S. V. C. VII. 6.] &uperbteton of tije lergg. jfcacranwntg, &c. ' 335 (A.D. MDLXVIII.), and of Amalphi (A.D. MDXCVII.), to Manast^. ad * ' SS. CC. Tom. v. receive the "facra olea" from the bifhop of the mother con. so?. 1296. or cathedral church, and to diftribute them to the fubject churches of their pUbanates ; and the like diftribution is charged upon the arcf)pttsb|)tns rural of the diocefe of Antwerp by Mirseus (A.D. MDCX). Before which latter Dea-et. s yno d. L * * Dtosc. Antverp. date, the church of Malines entrufted to her toans rural p. 235. the partition of chrifm and other facramentals " in templo ss. cc. Tom. aut locofaltem decenti et hone/to;" in fulfilling which duty, they were to take care that the diftribution was made "in mundis ac diftinctis capfulis" the bearers being eccle- Decr.etstat. n rr> -i i i Synod. Prov. liaftics : and if any expence was neceiianly incurred by Mechi. P . 45. the teans, it was to be repaid to them, at the difcretion of the bifhop, at his next vilitation or convention. " Non modd arc^tprtsbBten' Jingulis annis" fays a fta- van Efpen, tute of the provincial fynod of Malines (A.D. MDCVIL), D* Sacramento " ab ordinario fuo, vel, fede vacante, a vicario-generali, facrum chrifma et facra olea tempeftive petant, et per facer- dotem, diaconum, vel faltem fubdiaconum, in mundis et honejtis vafculis (fcilicetjtanneis aut argenteis,nullo modo statuta Dicece/. . /, .. . , 7 rj .. r Gandavenfis. vero cupreis, tejiaceis, aut vitreis) ad locum rejzdentite Juce Titn.cap.v. ferri curent: fed pafiores etiam Jinguli quotannls ab artfjf- presbgtero fuo, vel ex ed ecclejid und confueverunt, perfe aut alium facer dotem, non autem illo inferior em, injimili- bus vafculis facrum chrifma, fanctaque olea f err e non omit- tant ; iifque receptis, veteribus non utantur : fed quidquid ex illis fuperfuerit, Ji liquidum, lampadi quce lucet ante venerabile facramentum infundatur ; Jin autem bombyci, vel gojjipio immixtum fuerit,fuper pifcinam comburatur." For inattention to this branch of their perfonal duty Decret. synod. the Ireans rural of the diocefe of Cologne were feverely coiori P! n. rebuked by Archbilhop Henry, in the fynod of MDCLXII : Tlfc1 ' c>v>p ' 55 ' 33G ^function*. [PART IV. Charge to the Clergy of the Archdeaconry of Totneft, MDCCVIIl. Can/I. Dam. Othonit, K,,it. Oxon. p. 52. " Intdligirmis quofdam tocanos rurales," fays he, " domi fu& hterentes per pedettos fuos homines laicos, imd etiam (quod maximd abfurdum eft) per fubmiffas fcendnas, htcc fancta vel petere, vel adfe per multa itinerumfpatia curare deferri. Ut huic abufui et facrilegii periculo occurramus, omnibus ac Jingulis to cam's ruraltbus et aliis, quibus id incumbit, fevere prtfcipimus, ut ipjimet, vel eorundem ca- merarii, vel alii idonei fubjiituti facerdotes . . . tempejlive' compareant . . . et excipiant t &c." See alfo capp. feqq. It was, heretofore, the bufmefs of toans rural in England, Dr. Atterbury tells us, " to inftruct the younger clergy in the way of adminijlering and ordering facraments andjacramentals, according to the canons and cuftoms of the church." It probably was fo ; but, in the courfe of my refearches, I have met with no authority for the archdeacon's ftatement none, that is, enjoining on toans rural by name the duty in queftion ; though it was performed in the rural chapters of their toanries. But the archdeacons were the inftructors on thofe occa- fions, according to Otho's canon ; by which it was ordered that thofe fuperior officers fhould be frequently in attendance at the rural chapters, for the purpofe. The words are : " Frequenter interejje capftults * per Jingidos tocanatus, in quibus diligenter in/truant inter alia facer- dotes, ut bene vivant, ut fciant et fan$ intelligant verba canonis et baptifmatis, quafunt dejubftantid facramenti." Before the intrufion of archdeacons into the capitular chair, beans rural probably officiated in the capacity of teachers of facramental duties; and at a later date, (') " liurnlibus qua hodie tenentur," glofles John de Atho, "per qfficidlea archidiaconorum, et quandoque per Drranog S. V. C. VII. 6.] j&upertrijiton of rije Jergo- j&aeram/<*. P . 548. minus confeffbres" &c. of the Durham council (^LU.MCCxx.) the " prudentes viri etjldeles" of Otho, and the Scotch vol. n. P . 170. council, and the " rector aut vicarius, literaturd fuffi- vol. i. P . 577. cienter illujiratus" &c. of the Lambeth fynod ; but dif- tinct altogether from rural treans or ardjpnests: though, I believe, one gloffator, Cardinal Hoftienfis, applies the Ly latter canon of Peckham to arcfjpwsts of the cftg and j. T. ' countrg in the character of penitentiaries of the priefthood by delegation of the bifhop. The " penitent iarii communes" of Peckham's conftitu- . . . communes pceni- tion were lo called " qma deputati Junt commumter tarn pro Idicis quarn pro clericis:" whereas the others were " P.fpeciales quoad perfonas clericorum, quorum potejias extendi non debet ad laicos, niji hoc in eorum potejiate in Jpecie vel in genere contineatur." The Meath canons of A.D. MCCXVI., fo full in general vel ratione jurifdiclionis quam forte exercent, immediate fubfiint epifcopo in foro ammae. Aliter autem Ji tails Dccanug fit parochianus alicujus curati inferioris epifcopo, fibi debet confiteri." So fays the Pcenitentiale Joannis De Deo, " de confefflone arci)tprc?i- Excerpta ex fegtctorum, cap. xi." " ^Irc^iprcsligtert ruraleg, qui Decant a quibufdam i^Ame^d^ ' vocantur, et quandoque plcbant, et qnandoque abbates, licet improprie, Theodor. Pa-nit. debent epifcopo confiteri, et alteri de licentid epifcopi." 346 personal function*. [PART IV. on the duties of arctpresbpters rural, as the appointed immediate fucceflbrs of the tftorepfscopt of Ireland, are filent on the fubject of their penitentiary functions ; fave that they order them to take care that the canonical penances of the church be duly performed in their dif- tricts, and that they themfelves be prefent at them as cc.M.B.eiH. witneffes : " vi. Curent infuper paenitentias canonicas a nobis vel ojficialibus noftris impojitas delinquentibus debitd, et ed, qua decet fohnnitate, peragi, et perimpleri in eccle- Jiis infra fuos Unities, quibus ipji cum presbyteris parochia- libus interjint, tanquam tejies, ut qua humilitate et devo- tione pcenitentia laboribus defuncfi funt, tejiificare po//int." being fupervifors of impofed penitential performances exactly upon the fame footing as the Rhemifh beans of Archbifhop Hincmar before quoted. However, that beans rural were the confej/brs of the Gallican clergy of their refpective fceanries in the year MCCLXXXIV, is expreflly affirmed in a canon of the fynod of Saint Hippolyte, already quoted from the volumes of the councils : and the fynods of Arras (A.D. MCCCCLV.), vanEfpen and of Saint Omer (A.D. MDLXXXIII.), continue them, as / E. U. P. ii. .. ... TIL n. cap. v. the proprii facer dotes of their fubject prielts, in the capa- city of receiving confej/ion. All perfons are bound, by the latter fynod, " cotifiteri proprto facerdoti" " Proprium autem facerdotem ilium intelligi declaramus, cujus curce quifque proprie fubjectus e/L Sic parochus proprius facer dos eft parochianorum fuorum &c Sic arcfjipresbpterum feu trtcanum (Kfirtstfanftatfs cujufque loci proprium facerdotem ejje et agnofci volumus paftorum fui Ijecanatus. Sic arc&ipresbpterum cibttatensem, proprium facerdotem, ut pajlorum fui ijecanatus, ita et cteterorum arcbtpresbnterorum Jive Irecanorum Clwstt'amtatt's," &c. S. V. C. VII. 7.] &uperbteion of tf)e lorgg ^nifcntiarg m\itit*. 347 The fynod of Arras prefcribes (De facramento confef- conft. s yno d. Jionis}, " Qudd curati parochiales, presbyteri, capellani in A.'D. MCCCCLV.' eorum parochiis moram facientes, et in eifdem capellas ha- bentes, confiteantur fuis tocanig et non aliis, niji de nojird proceJTerit, vel dictorum fcecanorum licentidfpeciali;" .... " tftcanf nobis aut in nojird abfentid nojtro vicario generali" Granting that rural teans were primitively invefted with the capacity of hearing clerical confeflion, of inflict- ing penance, and giving or withholding abfolution, and enjoyed a priority of inftitution in thefe duties, how came it to pafs that they were virtually fuperfeded, latter- ward, on almoft all occafions, by other priefts of inferior rank and ftation ? Whence happened it that the pres- byter fuperfeded the arcftpresbpter ? The negligence, it may be, of the clergy, and contempt of the titans in fupporting the laudable practice of confefTion, the bifhop of Peterborough fuggefts, operated to the introduction of fecondary penitentiaries. But the principal reafon of the decay of tecanal confeffors is to be fought in the union of penitentiary and judge in the fame functionary. The foeans, having by delegation from the bilhop a judicial power over the inferior clergy, might poffibly betray the private confeffions of the latter in fuch caufes as might afterwards come before them in their ordinary courts of Cfwstt'anitB ; and thus, through a religious exercife for the relief of confcience, the confej/ing clergy might be inftrumental to their own judicial crimination. This explains why the rectors, vicars, capellanes, and others, were my of approaching our predeceffors in the exercife of their confeffbrial functions ; and upon this contrariety of office, John de Athon, ever at war with the titan and his privileges, grounds their unfitnefs for pent- 348 #er*onal function*. [PART IV. duties. Gloffmg upon " erubejcunt " in Otho's conflitution, he fuggefts, that, as the fame perfon could not with decency act in a double capacity, in a peniten- tial and judicial court, the titan ought not to be appointed a confe//br at all, " non debet tails confejjor injlitui" And yet he immediately weakens the force of this alleged reafon, by fubjoining, in his glofs upon " veren- tur," that there is no caufe for alarm on the part of the confeffing clergy, " cum in foro pcenitentiali confe/Jionem audit facer dos vice DEI (! !) nee prodere poteft peccatorem impune." Difclofure of the fecrets of conjeffion was forbidden under fevere penalties by the church of Rome. But befides thefe coadjutors of the fceans in this depart- ment of their office, (and being canonically appointed by the bifhops in council to the confefforial duties, no ufferii de chrif- one could gainfay their right of interference,) others, c&et staiv who were mere interlopers and ufurpers of the power, feqq.'wc^Si'pa-' appeared in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries : thefe 6i2 P 693,694. ' were the monks, tiiefratres prcedicatores and minor es who, in England, during the reign of King John and Henry III., wrefted out of the hands of fceans rural, and penitentiary priefts as well, the entire authority and privilege of hearing confel/ion, and adjufting penance; whence, in the words of Matthew Paris, the dignity and condition of the ordinary clergy "non mediocriter viluit." To fuch a pitch of arrogance had thefe men arrived, when Peckham fucceeded to the archiepifcopal chair of Canterbury, in the reign of Edward I., that they alleged a grant of fome general privileges in their favour from the apoftolical fee, whereby they pretended themfelves to be conftituted confeflors, totally independent of the bilhops of the country ; and, under a falfe plea of S. V. C. VII. 7.] &uperbteum of t&e lecgg tfnutentUwg duties. 349 foreign inveftiture, meddled with the fpiritual function of binding and looting, (at no period allowed to be exer- cifed dejure by mere monks out of their own convents) to the lamentable fubverfion of the difcipline of the church. For this unauthorifed ulurpation they were cc.M.B.etu. feverely reproved by Peckham, in his fixth Lambeth conflitution, and again by Archbiihop Reynolds in the reign of Edward II. 1 In the fynod held at Chichefter (A.D. MCCLXXXIX.), it cc.M.B.etu. was ordered that no one mould be fent before the pcenitentiarii on account of any crime which he had neither confejjed nor been convicted of; all enormous fins, at the fame time, being referved to the bifhop's tribunal, or that of his deputy fpecially appointed. And when difpatched to the penitentiary, the penitent was to be the bearer of letters to him from the tean or arch- deacon, gratuitoufly bellowed at the fuit of the finner ; who was alfo to bring back from the confeffbr a reply, Hating the nature of the penance, and for what crime, in particular, it was enjoined. Can. xu. The councils of the church enumerate the different grades of fins, and violations of difcipline, and the con- feffbrs to whom the claffified tranfgreffors might cano- nically apply for abfolution 2 . Thus, for example, in the (*) SeeMatth. Paris, locis citatis ; Fuller's Hiftory of Abbeys, Book vi. p. 275 ; Van Efpen Jur. Ecclef. Univ. P. n. T. vi. ; de Sacramento Pce- nitentiae, c. v. de ordinario pcenitenticB miniftro, pp.315, feqq. ; and Sharon Turner's Hiftory of England, Part iv. c. in. pp. 402, feqq. note, p. 4 13. ( 2 ) &rcf)tpu?!f>Bter cibttatengig licet omnes de epifcopatu poffit abfol- Barthoi. Fumi vere, non tamen a re/ervatis fine fpeciali licentid epifcopi, fecundum Jo. ^ urea Armitta ; an. in. c. ft epifcopus, de pee. et sc. 1. vi. 7*0/1 autem fie arcfripreg>er P 38 Ald> ruralte function*. [PART IV. CC. Rotomag. Provinc. P. II. p. 456. P. 514. Decreta An- tiifua Synodi Cameracenfu, p. 134. Conft. et Decret. Synod. Salif- burg. p. 245. council of Rheims (A.D. MCCCCVIII.), we have a lift- of " cafus pcenitentiariis per becanatus commi/ji" " cafus presbyterorwn parochialium " " cafus nobis et pcenitenti- ariis noftris refervati, &c." which, if the reader be curious about fuch adfurdities, he may refer to in Manfi's Supplement to Colet's edition of the Councils, Tom. vi. col. 566, feqq. and fparsim in the collection. Some bifhops granted to their beans rural the privilege of abfolving in cafes referred to the epifcopal chair, as the bifhop of Seez {A.D. MDCLXXXV.) " Nous donnions a nos boijens ruraux," fays Bifhop Savary, " le pouvoir d'etbfoudre des cas a nous refervez : " and the like power of abfolu- tion was conferred on beans rural in the diocefe of Lifieux. Whenever the beans gave letters of abfulution, they were ordered by the fynod of Cambray (A.D. MDL.), to Hate the nature of the fentence from which they ab- folved, and at whofe inftance it had been inflicted : otherwife the presbyters were not to execute the liters abfolutoricE of the beans. The fum of money received by the latter, on thefe occafions, was alfo to be men- tioned in the letters of abfolution. No longer perfonally concerned as public confejfbrs, beans rural, in the province of the archbifhop of Salz- burg, are commanded by the forty-fifth conftitution of the fynod of MDLXIX., cap. vi., to prefent all perfons, who had been obftinately difobedient to this important branch ruralid potejl abfolvere omnes de epi/copaiu, quia folum preceft plcbt ; et quantum ad majora nihil debet facere f\ne relatione ad epifcopum, in. d. c. fi. Poteft tamen omnes pertinentes ad eccle/ias, exiftentes fub fuo pUbanatu abfolvere, quod patet per. d. c. fi. S. V. C.VII. 7.] jfeuperbteton of tije lergs. ^enttentiarg JiutU*. 351 of the church's difcipline, to their diocefan bifhop "Ita tamen qudd antequam denuncientur , prius per paftores fuos de faciendd Chrijiiand confeflione paterne admonean- tur : Qui, Ji proterve in impietate fud perrexerint, tune demum ad fuperiores deferantur, ut coram ipforum inobe- dientium fuperioribus pro obediently debits prceftatione follicitari, vel ex officio pajiorali, canonico modo contra tales procedat, valeat." The fynod of Ypres ( A.D. MDCXXIX.), interpreting the siat. s yno d. earlier ftatutes of that fee on the duties of teans rural, ?^. c ^ pren ^' decrees " Becanos ^ftrfsttanttatts poffe excipere confejjiones fubditorumfui diftr ictus, adfe ex caufd recur rent ium, etiam tempore pafchali : " and the fynod of the year following, c ap . v . p. 339. remarking on the incommodioufnefs and indecency of having the confejjional in an angle of the church, clofe to the altar (whereby communicants at the latter were often obftructed, .and penitents themfelves impeded in the ceremony of confeffion), impofes on the titans at vifitation the duty of feeing that the Jedes confejjionalis be removed to a more honourable, decent, and confpi- cuous fituation. 35-2 ^function*. [PART IV. SECTION VI. SUPERVISION OK SCHOOLS. Gibfon's Codex XLVIII. C. II. p. 109S. Dlft. xxxvu. c. xn. p. 51. Spelman, ('('. Vol. I. p. 595. HE authority of bilhops over fchools and fchoolmajlers appears clearly, Bifhop Gibfon fays, from the original inftitution of femi- naries of education, and from the ancient as well as modern laws of the church concerning them. The canon law is plain and exprefs upon the point. On the continent of Europe, from the time of Pope Eugene's Refcript (A.D. ccccxxvi.), fchools are diftinctly fpoken of " in univerfis epi/copiis,fubjectifqueplebibus, &c." as under the direction of the fpiritual power ; and in our own country, as far back as the time of the Anglo-Saxons, they are as pointedly noticed " per villas et vicos &c." as fubject to epifcopal regiment. Thefe decrees and orders of councils, however, on the abftract right of bifhops to interfere in fcholajlic matters, admitted ; it muft be, at the fame time, acknow- ledged, that the higheft functionaries of the church could not personally fuperintend and regulate every place of public education within their fpiritual jurifdic- tions, and efpecially in remote rural diilricts. How then was this difficulty got over ? How did the bifhops perform thofe vifitatorial duties over fchools and fchool- majlers, for which they were equally refponfible, in fuch places ? In Belgium, and apparently elfewhere, by SECT. VI.] jfcuperbteton of jfedjool*. 353 delegation. They not only delegated the continual governance, but alfo the actual erection of feminaries of inftruction to their rural deputies. It is a canon of the fynod of Malines, " Ut curent synod.Mechiin. . . . . p - i- ca p- epifcopi, ut quamprimum in oppidis et pagis fuarum dice- apudVmEfpen ce/ium parochiales fcholce, Ji collapfa Jint, reflituantur; Jl T.xi.c.v. P .38i. confervattf, colantur et augeantur &c." indicating that the church was defirous of advancing the machinery of parochial education by the influence of the hierarchy. But under the circumilances of the diocefan being unable perfonally to comply with the fy nodal decree, the actual fuperintendence of the feminaries of the country there devolved on his rural deputy, the arc&presbpter or toan of (JCDristiamtg. Whence a fecond fynod of Malines, after regretting the want of edifices for carrying forward parochial education upon an extenfive fcale, fuggeils that they be immediately erected, wherever required, and that the &eans rural enter into negociation with the local magiftracy for erecting them, and raifing the neceflary ftipends for the mailers : " Agant arciJipresbBtm'," fays s y nod.Mechiin. the canon, te cum magiftratibus et prtefectis locorum, ut cap . i. eee mox erigantur, Jimulque rationem ineant, ipjls ludi- magijlris de annuls ft ipendiis providendi." The Belgian arcfjpriests, generally, examined the stat. synodt mailers and miilreffes of thefchools as to the foundnefs xiSap. C v.p.98. of their religious creed, before they admitted them to d< their refpective charges ; and the profeffion of the parties, then delivered and atteiled, was kept in the hands of the examiners ; in compliance with the com- mand of Philip II., as exprefled in a particular edict to the fynod of Cambray. But, on another occafion, a civil A A personal ^function*. [PART IV. officer was added to the arcfjprtest for the performance of this duty, and the licence of both required. statut. synod. The fynod of Antwerp (A.D. MDLXXVI.), under Son- P . 246. nius, decrees, " Nullum recipi in ludimagiftrum Jine ex- prejjo confenfu Decant ruralt'g, qui fuper illo admittendo mature cum parocho deliberabit " (de Scholis Parochia- libus). That, again, under Miraeus (A.D. MDCX.), enacts : 5S" 1 ' "Ludimagifter conjiituatur a pqftore, magi/iratu et ' * p ' "' P rimanl5 parochue incolis (qui curabunt de nece//ario ffipendio ei provider!) cum confenfu fctcanf ruralts, in cujus manibus faciet profeffionem Jidei, jur oblique fe non doc- turum aut permiffiirum ab hypodidafcalo vel difcipulis in fcholdfua haberi libros hcercticos, aut de Juereji fufpectos, aut qudcunque ratione in honejiatem peccantes, aliq/ve odi prokibitos, &c." And that of Ypres under Georgius s ifc. (A.D. MDCXXX.) makes profeflion of faith before the fcean rural, and regiflration of admiffion by the fame func- tionary, indifpenfable to a legal inftitution. The vi/itation of parochial fchools has been elfewhere noticed as entrufted to &eans rural : the fynods of Malines {A.D. MDCVII.) and Cambray enforce it every Synod. Meehim. fix months " Scholfe fcholo/ticis capitulorum fubjectte, ab c . iv.' iifdem fcholafticis, c&tera omnes ab arefjiprtsbgterfe, vel . atiis b ordinario deputatis, Jingulis faltem femejlribus ferid vifitentur" c m ft.etDecret. The fynod of Salzburg (AD. MDLXIX.) places the re- gulation of fcholajiic ftudies in the feminaries of the country entirely under the vifitatorial fuperintendence of titans rural (Conft. LIX. cap. vi. de authoribus juventuti pra'legendis). The fcope and aim of this branch of the trecanal office SECT. VI.] j&uperbtgion of j&c&oolg. 355 was, in the words of Van Efpen, " Utfciatur anjuven- van Efpen de ./5 . ~ . ' A i* A Scholis Pttero- tus rite mjiituatur, quis Jit puerorum in litter or lajcientia rum,i.E u. et fcriptionis peritid prefect us ; an magiftri magijtrave c.v. p.382.' inftruendtf, erudiendtfque juventuti feduld fe impendant ; modum convenientem, prudentiamque in regendd juventute teneant ; quos libros pueris prtslegant, aut legendos tra- dant, aut legere permittant ; an nulli prcelegantur , qui turpe aut obfccenum quid contineant, aut bonis moribus, veljidei catholics adverfum ; curentque ut libri legantur, qui pueris pietatem et morum honeftatem inftillent." My refearches have met with no inftance, in the Councils of Great Britain, of teans rural being delegated to vifit, or otherwife interfere with, fchools and fchool- maft&rs, fave in the abortive fuggeftions refpecting the eftablifhment of thefe officers in the reign of Queen cc.MB.etn. Anne ; where it is recommended by the Upper Houfe of Convocation, that rural toans mould be authorised " particularly to inquire into the condition of fchools, hofpitals, parochial libraries, and the feveral gifts and legacies bequeathed to pious and charitable ufes." The following canon, " De vifit atione f choice? of the Reformatio Legum Ecclefiaflicarum, does not feem to appertain to our rural functionaries : " Bis unoquoque De anno loci ortrinarius puerorum progreffus in Jludiis explo- * rabitj ataue tune ingenia quce videbuntur ad literas nimis i?iepta, excludet, libros par urn idoneos doceri nonjinet,fed utiliores prtefcribet; preceptor em verd ignavice aut nimice cejfationis fufpectum coram trecano, vel, eo abfente, biw- ifecano, et duobus prcebendariis arguet. Quod Ji bis fruflra fecerit, tertio delinquentem loco moyebit." The whole chapter, I believe, has reference to fchools in cathedral cities only not to rural parochial scljoolg. The AA 2 356 Jprnonal function*. [PART IV. latter, however, have been, in modern days, fubjected, by many Englifh diocefans, to the mjitation and furveil- lance of &tans rural : fee Documents in the &pptnfcfx. Dr. White Kennett, in his judicious letter to the Paroch. Antiq. .._ / i / ij i /i -T vol. n. p. 358. bilhop ot Lincoln (dated Ambrolden, Nov. 7, MDCXCIX.), ftrongly urges him, in the propofed renovation of the rurt-fctcanal office within the diocefe of Lincoln, "to licenfe no curate or fcholemajler within his diocefe without a certificate from the rural titan, of the perfon, the place, the falary, the duties, &c." And, in the ttotitiac Sew diocefe of Salisbury, about the year MDCLXX., Bilhop SBiic. Stirum, mfoi.339. Seth Ward bids the rural titans (whom he had recently appointed throughout the counties of Wilts and Berks, ride (SHffct'um Btcanorum Huralium in the glpptntoix, Sarum Documents') " to obferve whether fchoolmajlers performed their duty of teaching and catechizing fcho- lars, and bringing them to church on Sundays and holydays." See the duties of rural c&apttrs in connexion with parochial education in the province of Rouen Part v. Sect. n. Chap. xi. SECT. VIL] j&upcrbfssion of ?i?o$pttate &c. 357 SECTION VII. SUPERVISION OF HOSPITALS AND CHARITABLE FOUNDATIONS. CCORDING to the ancient rule of the canon Extra, L.IH. law, " de xenodochiis, et aliis Jimilibus locis, per follicitudinem epifcoporum, in quorum dioe- ceji exiftunt, ad eafdem utilitates, quibus con- ftituti funt, ordinentur" it would appear that hofpitals were under the infpection of the biihop dejure communi. Could he delegate the vifitation of them to his country reprefentative the trean rural ? There is evidence that Gibfon' code* I E A Tit. he could, and did, both in Great Britain and on the XLVIH.' c. m. continent as far, at leaft, as the epifcopal right of inter- p ' ference went ; which was fubject to fome limitation. But to the full extent of his own power the biihop could commiffion his tean rural, as his vicarious vifitor. In England, on the authority of Lord Coke, a diftinc- tion obtains between Jpiritual and lay hofpitals; in the former of which, the bifhop vifits ; in the latter, the patron. And in Belgium, according to Van Efpen, va^Efpen there are hofpitals and other charitable endowments fimi- T.X'XXVII'/C.'H. larly fituated ; the adminiftration and regiment of which p ' 704 ' are exclufively laical, and the foundations themfelves laical. From thefe the tean rural tetanus foraneus vel Cfjristtanttatis is, by name, excluded. He is allowed no concern with their eleemofynary economy ; the bifhop 358 ^personal function*. [PART IV. himfelf being put afide, except where malverfation and negligence are apparent on the part of the laical govern- ment ; on which occafions he is allowed, by the fynod of Liege, to interfere. May we not, then, infer from this ftatement, that tofpiritual hofpitals the trean rural was admitted in the capacity of a delegate vifitor ? See Beckman's Hiftory of Inventions, Vol. iv. p. 475. cc.M.B.etH. But we are not left to mere inferences. The evidence Vol. iv. p. 71. is exprefs and pofitive to the point of tearcs rural being fupervifors of hofpitals and other life foundations. The provincial Scotch council, held at Edinburgh (A.D. MDLI.), expreffly orders, in its ninth canon, De vifitatione hofpitalium, " Ut Secant in fuis vifitationibus de ftatu omnium hofpitalium refer ant, et debito tempore officialibus, feu commiffariis generalibus ad effectum, ut ipji defectus hujufmodi corrigant, et opportuna remedia defuper profpi- Antei p.56. ciant" And the earlier council of the year MDXLTX, can. XL. de Fun- * dot. Ho/pita- probably, includes fcc ans rural in the like duties under Hum, &c. * ' the generic title of or&maru. COM. Amongft the vifitatorial duties of tJeans rural of the Prov. Camerac. Tit. xix. c. xiii. diocefe of Cambray, we find in the provincial council (A.D. MDLXXXVI.), under the nineteenth title, the fol- lowing canon : " Decani ecclejias parochiales et capellas ac hofpitalia, aliaque pia loca eorundem dijlrictuum quo- tannls ut minimum JemSl vifitent, et de eorum ftatu, ac See *ifo Decreta quam rectd divinum officium in eis perasatur; utrumne et Slat. Synod. *.- .. *" ^ C ' Mechiin. p.iss. mi//is, et ttlits pus jundationwus et oneribusjatisjiat, et de cateris hue pertinentibus accurate inqitirant" c. xiv. " Exceffus verd et defectus (fi quos repererint) quibus ipji mederi nequeant, epifcopis locorumve or dinar Us, feu eorum vicariis, quamprimum fignifcent" The fame charge is SECT. VII.] j&upnbtetott of ?ojspttate &c. 359 given by the bifhop of Tournay (A.D. MDLXXIV.) to the Dureta s y nodi titans rural of that diocefe to fee that divine worfhip be P .29. IVIIL duly fupported " in xenodochiis, hofpitalibus, aliifque piis locis" and that the revenues be adminiftered according to the pious and charitable intention of the founders, and to the praife and glory of God. In the diocefe of Ghent, the arcfjpresbgtm rural have Decreta et o r - the like office to perform. The ftatutes of the year G MDCL. enact Cap. xx. Tit. xx. " &rtf)tpttsbgtert p non tantum fabricarum et menfarum pauperum,fed etiam hofpitalium, domorum orphanorum, et quorumcunque piorum locorum computus femper audiant, ubi dejure et confuetu- dine id hactenus fecerunt; et examinatis precedent ibus computibus videant num eorum conclujiones debitd pur- gatte, feu reliqua eorum plen foluta Jint, utque omnia debite adminiftrentur, atque ut computus femper in bond et convenient^ forma defcribantur et audiantur, diligenter advigilent" " Solent arc^tpresbgterf," fays Van Efpen, " loco epifcopi ., * ~ Part i. Tit. vi. mtervemre computibus non tantum jabncce, aid menfcB cap. v. p. si. S. Spiritus in parochiisjui diftr ictus, fed etiam hofpitalium, begginagiorum, et monajieriorum ordinario fubjectorum." See Stat. Synod. Dicecef. Yprenf. Tit. xx. cap. xxiv. (A.D. MDCIX.), p. 274. and Decreta et Statuta Synodi Mechlin. (A.D. MDCVIL), Tit. xxu. cap. x. In the Inflructions or Articles of Enquiry for trcans rural of modern days, charitable foundations are gene- rally omitted. But there are exceptions. Bifhop Seth Ward's " Officium Becanorum Buralfum ad quod jura- moKti et&i mento ajtringendifunt," annexes hofpitals to the items of nfm, foi'.339. inquiry within the diocefe of Sarum ; as if the good 3fiO #er*onal function*. [PART IV. prelate thought fuch eftablifhments fit objects of tocana! viiitation. Hofpitals and charitable foundations are alfo noticed in the Convocational Proceedings under Queen Anne relative to treans rural (fee the laft fection) ; and charitable endowments are noted in the commiffion of Kppenbir. win- the liean rural of the diocefe of Winchefter by Bifhop Somner; and in the articles of inquiry for the &tan rural of the diocefe of Worcefter by Bifhop Carr. I do not remember them in any other modern document. S.VIII. C. I.] ruination, Institution, anfc Induction. ruination. 361 SECTION VIII. ORDINATION, INSTITUTION, AND INDUCTION. CHAPTER I. ORDINATION. connexion of teans rural with the branches of perfonal fervice ^which Hand at the head of the prefent lection, has long fince ceafed in Great Britain; I mean the ferious and folemn duties, with which they were entrufted, as local or&marfes of the bifhop, of examining into and teftifying the fitnefs of candidates for holy orders within their feveral jurifdictions ofprefenting fuch as were approved at the altar, for the epifcopal act of ordination and, fubfequently, either perfonally inftituting them, as in fome few places of the continent it feems to have been their privilege, ex confuetudine, to do ; or, which was more ufual, of introducing them to the bifhop for that purpofe and, laftly, putting them into the corporal pof- Jeffion of their benefices. " That none might enter the church by ordination" fays the author of A Humble Propojal for Parochial Re- CM. e.xm formation, " but fuch whofe habitual inclinations led to P a religious life, the church placed much confidence in the office of the rural tean ; who was to publim the name of any one that was to be ordained of his teanrg, 362 personal function*. [PART IV. in the parifh where he was born, or had moft lived and converfed, and that for three Sundays before his ordi- nation, to learn the efteem ' people had of him, which the titan was to certify the bifhop of." Many, however, and curious as are the items of trtcanal duty, which this namelefs "Presbyter of the Church of England" (as he calls himfelf on his title-page) has thrown together in his Humble Propofal to rejiore Rural Deans and Chapters according to the ancient way of the Church, he is not always to be relied on for his facts and references. In proof of which, he has here allotted to the titan what the church impofed upon the parochus ; who was no trtan at all, according to modern accepta- tion, but a mere parochial incumbent. Again, he fays, the council of Trent could find no furer way for profe- De Reformat, cuting inquiries into the characters of candidates for hohj Sefs. vn. c. XIH. orders, than by the inftrumentahty of rural titans ; but Difcourfe of (' ) Zach. Cawdrey (rector of Barthomly in Chefliire, A.D. MDCLXXV.), cbapv?fp. 41. ln hi s Dtfcourfe of Patronage, fuggefts that " every patron may by law be obliged, within one month after the vacancy of a benefice, to nomi- nate three probationers for the living, to the rural bean, and the other minifters of that Dcanrn, wherein the vacant living is ; and that thofe clergymen of the Dcanvii be obliged, diligently and faithfully to inquire into the abilities and due qualifications of the perfons nominated; and if no juft exception can be made and proved againft them, that then the clergy of the Dcannj mould, within one month more, commend them to the parifluoners, that they alfo may inquire into the merites of the candi- dates : and, after one month more referved to the people for fuch inquiry, that they rtiould reprefent back to the patron, by their humble petition and teftimonials, two of the perfons named to them, declaring their rea- dinefs to fit down under the miniftry of either of them ; leaving it to the patron to prefent to the bifhop of the diocefie which of thofe two he pleafeth." S. VIII. C. I.] t&inatiott, Jnjstitutton, anfc InDuetiom ruination. 363 the latter are not mentioned in the Sejjion referred to, otherwife than as or dinar ii, under ^which title they may be included of courfe ; but it feems fcarce allowable to fmgle them out as diftinctly referred to. Whether there alluded to or not, however, they cer- tainly had much to do with the preliminaries of ordina- tion, in their ard&fpresbgteral character, at a very early date ; and fo had their prototypes, the Milan bishops of the fourth century, of whom fo much has been faid in Part n. i. pp. 22, feqq. The attention paid to the qualifications of perfons about to be ordained to the priefthood, in the letter of Saint Bafil, addreffed to the Bafii. opera, cijoreptscopt of his large diocefe (who had departed from C Lxxxi! P .i93. the exact difcipline of their fathers in this refpect), the reader will fee in my notes to Dr. Priaulx's ^ract ; and in the verfion of the original- Greek in that excellent periodical, the Britifh Magazine, N. xxvi. (February MDCCCXXXIV.), p. 158. At that time, it feems, the bfllan &eN.Aiexan- btsfcops performed the duties of examination into the ^loifStto, characters of candidates for orders receiving the tefti- ,/*. Ecci. monies of the neighbouring clergy irpeo-fivTepot KOI Sta- Kovot ol crwoiKovvres avrois to the point of their general fitnefs. And, it is probable, when the frillan arc&presbpttrs fucceeded the cfjorepiscopi in their other minifterial duties, they were alfo capacitated by the diocefan to fulfil the fame fcrutiny of morals and acquirements of candidates. On the authority of the council of Nantes (AD. DCCCXC.) can. XL, it was the office of the arcfjprtests to accompany the candidates in queftion to the epifcopal city, in order to prefent them to the bifhop for ordination: " Quandd epifcopus ordinationes facere difponit, omnes ss. cc. Tom. 'AC * J ' 7 *f 'A . xi. col. 660. qm ad Jacrum mwijienum accedere volunt,jeria quarta 304- tfmonal function*. [PART IV, i. Pars, ante ipfam ordinationem evocandi funt ad civitatem, una Difthict. xxiv. . . ' , , _. P. 34. cum arctMpresbpterts, qui eos reprejentare debent. Jut tune c.l^p. 35. * '' epifcopus $ latere fuo eligere debet facer dotes et alias prudentes viros gnaros divines legis, et exercitatos in ecclejiajiicis Janctionibus, qui ordinandorum vitam, genus, patriam, cetatem, injiitutionem, locum ubl educati funt,Ji fint bene literati, Ji injlructi in lege Domini, diligenter inveftigent; ante omnia, Ji Jidem catholicam Jirmiter teneant, et verbis Jimplicibus qfferere queant. Ipfi autem, quibus hoc committitur, cavere debent, ne aut favoris gratia, aut cujufcunque muneris cupiditate ilkcti, a vero devient, ut indignum, et minus idoneum adfacros gradus Jiifciplendos, epifcopi manibus applicent. Quod Ji fecerint, et ille, qui indigne accejjit, ab altari removebitur ; et illi qui donum Sancti Spiritus vendere conatifunt, coram DEO jam condemnati ecclejiafticd dignitate carebunt. Igitur per tres continuos dies diligenter examinentur ; et Jic Sabbato, qui probati inventifunt, epifcopo reprefententur" The reafon why teans rural were appointed to this Thomamn. r. e< honourable truft, Thomaffin iuftly alleges to be. their JV..Z).Tom.i. . . , , J . 6 P.I. L.n.c. vi. intimate acquaintance with the parties concerned: " Qudd arcf)ipresbgter regiuncula fu& laicos clericofque Jingulos de proximo nofcat, morefque eorum habeat explo- ratiores, compertiora quoquejtudia litter arum" Where- synoi conftant. fore ' the province of Rouen continues them in this important charge : " Inqu&jlas de ordinandis dericis "11 p. 565. CC.Rotomag. (') (A.D. MDCXXXI.) " Ut ordinum Candida ti ad examen cantus peri- tiores accedant" the Rouen councils alfo decree, " preecipitur Jingulis Df cante, ut intra terminos fui Dctanatu$ unam feu duas iifdem candi- date fcholas ajffignent: in quibus ab aliquo perito facerdote in cantu piano et qfficiis ecclefiajlicis rife obeundis, inftituantur : alioquin fciant fe ab examine rejiciendos." (A.D. S. VIII. C. I.] ruination, Institution, anD InDuction. tDination. 365 faciant diligenter Decant," fays the fynod of Conftance (A.D. MCCCLXXV.), " non per eos quos adducunt ordinandi, fed per ecft quos crediderint melius fcire veritatem, tarn de valore patrimoniorum, quam de vita et converfatione ipforum. Non concordent tejies, fed fingulorum tejiium depojitiones fcribant " In the collection of Statutes of the diocefe of Avranches cc.Ro/omag. (A.D. MDL.), the thirty-ninth inftitute relates to the duties of fcf ans rural ; of which, one bears on the preliminaries e of ordination the life, converfation, quality, age, and general fitnefs of candidates for orders, and the value of the patrimony, or title, they will be feverally poffeffed of as ordained clerks. The &eans are charged " Pro ordinandis clericis inquceftas et informationes per fide dignos teftes faciant de ordinandorum vita, converfatione, qualitate, (State, et habilitate, necndn patrimonii aut tltuli valore, tejiiumque depofitiones Jidditer fcribant, et ad nos aut officiarios noftros afferant, aut per Jidelem nuncium tranfmittant. Similiter cum ad eos mandatum ad banna pro vacante beneficio mittitur, quisjit patronus, qualifque Jit prcefentatus, inquirant : et quicquid invenerint 1 , verif- Jime refcribant" And, again, in the fortieth ftatute, p. 291. there is a canon "pro recipiendis ordinibus" in which the beans are much concerned ...... " Ne in ipfojlatlm (A.D. MDCXL.) " Ut tJccanorum ftudio per opportuniora civitatis et Ejufd.p.l31. dicecejis loca fchola; cantus et ceeremoniarum ecclefiajticarum inftitu- can> v * antur, ad quas clerici certis diebus e vicinid difcendi caufd conveniant." ( x ) So the biftiop of Peterborough recommends the bifliop of Lincoln gjj (in his fuggeftions for a new regulation of the economy of the rurt- ^ Decanal office within the diocefe of Lincoln) " to inftitute no clerk without a certificate from the Dean, of the vacancie, the true patron, the reputation of the prefentee, &c." 366 $er*onal function*. [PART IV. limine offendatur, providendum de litterd teftimoniali ordinandi, tarn fuper titulo fufficienti, quam fuper vitd et converfatione ejus quijacris initiari dejiderat. Ea euro, breams incumbit Jingulis infuo tjccannut, utjcilicet quandd ad eos Jcribitur fuper informatione faciendd de promo- vendis ad ordines, diligentiam vehementem adhibeant fuper converfatione honejld promovendorum, tituli veritate, omni fraude femotd : indicentes eis periculum fujpenjionis in cafu fraudis, tftate, et Hteraturd. Ita tamen quod de duodecim tejlibus requifitis ex more antiquo,fex eligantur per Irecanum, et fex per promovendum. Et fuper his provideantfub pcena emendce," &c. Ada tt Decreta The fynod of Cambray (AD. MDL.), makes the " telii- SynodiCamtrac. . . , MDL. p. 39. monium legitimum decani Ctrt'stfanitatts " mdifpenfable to c%tTco*cii. e admiflion into, or advancement in, holy orders. And p-iT^v!*' the provincial council of the fame fee (AD. MDLXV.), enacts, that no perfons be admitted to the order of fub-deacon, " nifi Irecant ruralts, vel officialis, vel utriiifque teftimonio per liter as exprefjb comprobentur" &c. : to. Dfcreta Omen, which a fubfeoucnt council adds, that the " teftimonia Prov. Camerae. . ... Titx.c.i.p.35. vita et probitatis morum quce adfern debent a Jingulis ordinandis, omnino fignata Jint a trecants rurah'bus, ac deinceps ab eifdem Occam's claufa et obfignata mittantur, fub pcend rejectionis eorundem, et non admi//iotiis ipforum ordinandorum. Si quis autemfine illis litteris venerit, is non admittatur, immo ne quidem examinetur" See De- creta Synodi Tornacenjis (^./XMDLXXIV.), p. 22. "de Sacra- mento Ordinis" Statuts et Ordonnances faites A.D. MDC. par Fran9ois Pericard, E veque d'Avranches p. 304. can. Synod.Sagu/et. LV H. ; and thofe of the blftlOp of SeeZ (AD. MDCLIII.), can. xxi. p. 442. impofing on Ireans rural the verification of the baptifmal regifter of age in each cafe, the legiti- S. VIII. C. I.] tUination, Institution, ant> Jntmction. tfcination. 367 macy of birth, amount of patrimony by inheritance or otherwife, the publication of the name of the candidate, or, at lead, a certification of the fame having been publifhed, &c. &c. In cafe of advancement "ad major es ordines," the Acta et Decreta archdeacon is charged in the provincial fynod of Utrecht Provincial m- (AD. MDCCLXIII.), to fend the names of the candidates to P .208.c.i.' all the arcfcprcsbgters of the diocefe, and the arc&presbgtm, again, to their diftrict paftors, that prayers may be offered up for them in all the churches. Dr. Kennett propofes to the bifhop of Lincoln, " to a. mttnta, r r Paroch.Antiq. call in fome or the graveft and neareft rural foeans to VOI.H.P. ass. examine and affift at ordinations ; and to require candi- dates for holy orders, if they have lately refided within the diocefe, to bring a certificate from the rural fcean, and his neighbouring brethren." And the Convocational Pro- ceedings under Queen Anne fuggeft, " that in all teftimo- CC.M. B. etu. .. , . Vol. iv. p. 641. nials required by the bifhop or other ordinary, relating to the abilities and manners of candidates for holy orders, curates, fchoolmafters, or others within their diftricts, a more particular regard fhall be paid to the teftimony of rural teans." See Appointment of S&ural Bean in the diocefe of Winchefter. ments. 368 #er*onal function*. [PART IV. CHAPTER II. INSTITUTION AND INDUCTION. ss. cc. Tom. I /ritr\ 1HE charge of prefentmg ordained clerks to xiu. coi. 1262. l/e\C V\R , i i -n i i / />.._ can. in. ssgl | the Dilhop, or his vicar-general, tor injlitution to vacant benefices, the fcean fhared with the p> 227> Sgulife archdeacon in the diocefe of Tours, by a provincial council of Chateau Gontier (A.D. MCCXXXI.) the lay and clerical patrons being commanded to employ one or other of thefe officers for that purpofe. In fome diocefes, flrange as it may appear, arch- deacons and arc&priests enjoyed de confuetudine 1 the right of injlitution itfelf. In that of Liege, the former . inflituted to the larger churches (" in eccle/iis et earum Mart, et Durand. D . v J Tom. iv. c. 856. ctppenditiis "), the latter to chapels (" in capellis "), ac- cording to the Synodal Satutes of the year MCCLXXXVII : but, in both inflances, they were liable to fufpenfion by their fuperior, the bifhop, if they deviated from the VanEfpen (') Upon which plea of cuftom, Innocent III. fupported the arch- Tit xxvi* c\ Beacon of Richmond " in jure inftituendi ; eo quod archidiaconus hie p. 547. probdjffet, fe et preedeceffbres fuos in continud poffeffione inftituendi fuiffe ; quamvis de jure communi archidi acono fola itiftitutio corporalis competat." The archdeacon had that power, obferves Mr. Nelfon, origi- Rightt of the nally from the bifhop, becaufe the jurifdiction of the whole diocefe was Cler gyi P- 64 - in him before there was an archdeacon ; but, the grant which he had being loft, and it being cuftomary for him to inftitute, by virtue (as it muft be fuppofed) of fuch original grant, he may therefore prefcribe to do it Such was, probably, the origin of the nvthprcsbntcr rural'* jurif- diction in inftituting clerks, wherever it obtained. S. VIII. C. II.] rDtnatton, Institution, & Induction. Institution, &c. 369 canon of injiitution, and collated any clerk to a benefice who had not attained the age of twenty-five years. Again, in the Summa Silvejirina it is afked, at fol. xxxix. De arcfjipmbrittro " Utrum arcftfpusbnter ruralts habeat sammasuee/- . K trinee, Pirt I. autoritatem inflituendi feu confirmandi prcefentatos a pa- fo>- XXXIX - fronts in ecdejiis quce funt fub fuo plebanatu ?" and anfwered, " Qudd de communi jure non potefi :fecus ex confuetudine prafcriptd, Jicut accidit in archiepifcopatu Florentino : qua uterque archiepifcopus et arcfifpresbgtft ruralts feu plebanus pot&ft coriftrmare prcefentatum Jibi : et ad quern primd recurrit ille expedit." Inftitution, however, was, generally, the act of the bifhop ; and the fubfequent one of induction alone that of the fcean, or arcfjpresbpttr rural, who received the man- . date of the ordinary, and gave the new clerk corporal poffejjion under it, accepting no fee for the duty per- formed " Utecani pro mijjionibus clericorum in pojfeffionem cc. M. B etu. i r / / . -f ,5 . , ' . ... | Vol. i. p. 671. ecclejzarum, in quwus juennt per. epi/copum injiituti, mhil omnind recipere, vel extorquere pr in the Belgian churches, corporal in/^itution or Ejufd. T\\. \n induction was not the rural Irean's dejure communi, nor even the archdeacon's, but the bifhop's alone ; who c ' ufually committed it to the tean of the diftrict, as the latter's refidence in the country enabled him more B B 370 personal function*. [PART I V. conveniently to perform the ceremony, adminifter the siat. s v *od. oath ', &c. " Becanorum officium eft" fays the fynod of DiaK. Yprenf. -mr f A w\ \ -. \ /* Titvii. c.vi. Ypres (A.D. MDLXXVII.J .... " noviter provifos de paro- chiali ecclejid, aut alto benejicio ecclejiajiico (vijis litteris collationis non vitiatis, non cancellatis, neque aliqud parte fui fufpectis) in veram, realem, et corporalem beneficiorum collatorum pqfleffionem per pulfum campawe, traditionem clavium, mi//dlis 9 calicis, aut ornament or um, et ofculum altaris, atque fub aliis folemnitatibus, pro confuetudine debitis et requijitis, inducere, et conjtituere, mediante cap viu. fummarid renovatione juramenti &c." And farther ; becaufe falfe letters of induction were fometimes fub- ftituted, it was decreed by the fame fynod, that no Van Efpcn ( ' ) The oath taken by the perfon inducted was to this effect : " Ego Jur. Ecci 1 ^ juro et promitto obedieniiam, reverentiam et konorem fummo pon- c. ii. pp. 550-51. tifici Romano, ac R. domino epifcopo N. eorundemque fucceffbribus. Item juro et promitto ecclefia mete parochiali de N. Jideliter de/ervire fecundum oneris illi annexi exigetitiam, et in eo perjbnaliter rcfidere. Bona pafloratus vel ecclefue meee non alienabo; et indebite alienata, quantum in me erit, Jideliter recuperare ftudebo. Specificationem om- nium fructuum paftoratus met, cum dtbitd dejignatione hypofhecarum, limitum et terminorum, intra annum afefto nativitatis et Joannis Bap- ti/la proxime venturo, arcf)tprf$bgtfto tradam ; fructus anni, in quo me mori aut meam ecclefiam dimittere continget,fubjicio et obligo ad lau- dabilem defervituram ujque adfeflum N. Sti Joannis Bapti/lte, mortem vel dimiffionem meam proxime fub/ecuturum. Sic me DEUS, &x:." This oath was renewed by the fynod of Malines (A.D. WDCIX.), and ordered to be taken before the rural Dean and two other wttnefles ; and, together with the profefiion of the inducted** faith (according to the form of Pope Pius IV.), was to be entered in the regiftry of the beanrg, with date, wit- nefies, &c. Nearly the like oath was taken, before the Dean, on inducting the fame, or any other perfon, into a benefice without cure of fouls mutatis mutandU. See alfo CC. Rotomag. Prov. P. n. p. 446. Synodi Sagienfes, and Dtcreta et Ordinata Dicecefis Gandavenfis, A.D. MDCL. pp. 121, feqq., for the forms of thefe juraments as taken by paftors, capellanes, S. VIII. C. II.] rtinatton, Institution, fc Induction, Institution, fee. 371 presbyters fhould interfere in any cafe of induction (even though the letters ihould be addrefled generally to all presbyters) without the fanction and confent of the trean. But to return to our infular ufages, for examples of the employment of our Milan officers in giving corporal poffeffion of benefices: On Saint Lucy's day(^.D.Mccxx), K ennett' 8 p- Richard, rural tean of Wodefdon, inducted the prior and canons of Saint Frideswide, Oxford, into the appropriated tithes of Oakle, and certified it by fpecial inftrument, concluding thus " Ego et plures alii viri fide digni de capttulo de Wittefdon in hujus rei tejtimonium huicfcripto sigtlla nojtra appofuimus" And again, on the eighth of April (A.D. MCCCXXVII.), by mandate from Henry bifhop of Lincoln, the rural sub-toan of Wodefdon, who was vicar of Wynchendon, inducted the aforefaid prior and capellanes, &c. "And why," alks Van Efpen, " was this fpecification Ejufd. Part n. of ecclefiaftical property to be exhibited to the archprcgfcgtcr, as the p 1 g 8 ^ XXVI< c '' bifliop's vicar ? why but that he might, in place of the bifhop, fee to its due confervation, and that no part of it was loft or deteriorated, while in the keeping of the beneficiary ! " In compliance with this oath, all facellanes, paftors, and beneficed perfons, were commanded by the fynod of Ghent (A.D. MDCL.) to deliver, after induction, an exact Decreta Dicec. inventory of all their goods, and rights accruing out of their refpective xit"xvT"^vin benefices, to the archpmgtg or toang of hrigtianttg ; and alfo a fall ftatement of all taxes paid by each benefice, that the fame might be kept Tit. xx. c.m. in the archives of the diocefe. Moreover, by the ftatutes of the fame fynod, authority was given to the arcftprkiStS to demand the original Decreta Dicec. documents, or authentic copies, of all ecclefiaftical endowments, to be 'Ht. xx. c. 'iv. exhibited to them by the patrons of the benefices within their archtprcg- P- co> literate*. (See alfo Stat. Dicec. Synod. Yprenf. T. xx.) And by the fynod of Antwerp (A.D. MDCX.) they were authorifed, at the time of vifiting the parochial clergy, to examine the titles of collation, injtitution, and pqffejfion of benefices, under which each incumbent held ; and the clergy were charged to exhibit the inftruments, on demand. BB 2 $er Vo1 ' '' cuftom, the archdeacon never inducting any one in the bifhop's manors. ^function*. [PART IV. rural titans (A.D. MDCCX.), it is propofed by the Upper Houfe as worthy of confideration, " how far it may be practicable, that mandates of induction be directed to the rural titan to be executed by him, or any other neigh- bouring minifter." Mod refpectfully, but earneftly, would I folicit the attention of the right reverend the bifhops to the fug- geftions thrown out by Dr. Kennett in reply to the bifhop of Lincoln, and by the Convocation in obedience to the mandate of Queen Anne, refpecting the reftora- tion of titans rural to the antiquated duties, which are the fubject of the prefent and preceding chapters, and which cannot be too foon, nor too generally revived, in my opinion, under fuch high fanction, in furtherance of that important department of church-difcipline to which they appertain the ordination, mftituiion, and induction of clerks. The fuggeftions are the more valuable, becaufe they are perfectly practicable, and need only to be tried in order to be approved. SECT. IX.] Citation anD Certification. 375 SECTION IX. ClTATORY AND CERtlFICATORY DUTIES. S minifterial officers of fuperior prelates Lynd. p r0 vinc. . Edit.O.roH.p.91. " Minijiri tarn epijcoporum, quam archidia- gi. m v. conorum" toans rural were concerned in the citation of delinquents into ! the fpiritual courts, and making certificatory returns " Decani ruralis p. ~ , . r i r n- - * * * * r 'tr bffflni nmm - ojficium eji, in caujis ecdejiajlicis citationes et tranjrm//as exequi; cujus Jigillum in talibus ejl authenticum," fays the bilhop of Saint David's. " They were to receive Dr. Field of warrants from the bifhop or his fubftitute," writes the B.V. P . 507'. dean of Gloucefter, " and by vertue thereof to cite all fuch to make their appearance before the chiefe paftour or bifhop, as were upon any occafion to be convented before him : and this their citation of fuch parties to be convented, under the feale of their office they were to certifa the bifhop of." Their interference in thefe proceedings, Mr. Somner Antiquities *f n f f -i i i i /> Canterbury, confines " to caules ot moment, and when the clergy ot Part i. p. 176. their refpective teanries were the fubjects of citation; on C 1 ) Perfons cited before courtS-@iw$ttan, whether by fceanji rural or Conft. Synodal. other officers, were exempt from arreft. All violators of this privilege of ^ttrebatenfis, the church were to be admoniflied by the fteang to grant to the aggrieved ^.D. MCCCCLV. immediate liberation, and recompence for injury fuftained. Non-com- pliance on the part of offenders was fubject to peremptory and uncondi- tional excommunication. Vide Can. " Qualiter venientes ad curiam de- bent plend libertate gaudere." 376 tyer*onal function*. [PART IV. which occafions, at lealt, the warrant was often directed, committed, and entrufted to the execution of the fceans : and they, as a part of their office, either executed the fame themfelves, or elfe caufed it to be executed by their apparitors, fervants, beadles, or meffengers" "per c/rf.voi. i. torem niji Juerit ille clericus, ad minus ordinatus in p ' acolitum." Notwithstanding the particularity of the cited limita- tions, and the feverity of the penalties on difobedience, it feems, the apparitors contrived to evade them : whence the neceSTity of the fubfequent Extravagant of Johnfon's EccL ///. in anno. 384 #er*onal function*. [PART IV. vSif'^Too 1 '' Archbifhop Stratford (AD. MCCCXLII.), reftricting the /Vow*cia/.uin. number to one foot-bedel in each ticannj (" tarn fab archi- T. \\i\.gl. inT. .. _ . . , cLuicono q ita m OCCtino, lays Lyndwood), without any horfeman ; the latter being granted to the bifhop alone. This walking apparitor is allowed, by the provincial conflitution of the archbifhop, to remain only one night and day at the fame rectory or vicarage, in each quarter of the year, unlefs fpecially invited to flay longer. He is forbidden to levy contributions of money, wool, lambs, or other perquifites, and is thankfully to receive what- ever is freely prefented to him. Any excefs in retinue of apparitors is, ipfo facto, fufpenfion of the fcean from office, until he again reduce them to the canonical limit. And, on the apparitor's fide, any deviation from the ftrict letter of the law, either in being himfelf of the number fo augmented, or in the mode of adminiftering the perfonal duties of his office, is immediate depofition, ipfo facto, and perpetual incapacity to refume the appa- ritor ial functions l . Brown 1 * Fa/ci- (*) Great as were the faults and numerous the tranfgreflions of the officers of the rural toeang of England, they are quite eclipfed by thofe of foreign official underlings. The character of the officials of archyrte$t0 is thus given in the "Gravamina centum Germanicce Nationis :" "LV. 8lrchtpregbgterorum quoque officiates, ut plurimumfunt indocti, inhabiles, infuper et Jcurrilibus moribus, rtihil ptnfi habentes, nihil aventes quam peoimiam. Et quam notorie in publicix degant peccatis acfaci- noribu*, quotidiano difcitur ufit, per quod laid, quos ob admifla, debito modo corripere, ac in pietate Chriftiand eruditiores et meliores reddere debtbant, nedum ad meliorem frugem ?ion perducuntur, fed offendiculis oneraniur potius. Ad fuec per leves ac viles has qflicialium perjbnas, in quorum confcietitiis, nulla Chrijtiana; pietatii viget ratio, fed tantum feeler atus habendi amor, laid miff re ad vivum ufque in bonis fuis fpoli- antur, ac deprxdantur," &c. "The SECT. X.] Becanal &pparttor$. 385 Subject to thefe regulations, the tean rural continued to employ this fervant 1 till the period of the Reforma- tion ; when the latter entirely difappeared, and the former preferved little more than a nominal exiftence " the cipher of a function." The Canons of MDLXXI. sparrow's coi- continue the &ean rural, but fay nothing of his apparitor. MMUS. PP Nor, in the Conftitutions Ecclefiqftical of MDXCVII., or thofe of MDCIIL, does the latter any more appear ; unlefs, onion's codex perchance, he be included among the fummoners of "in- xLiii.cap.vn. ferior ordinaries " there mentioned. But the abortive Reformat io Legum Ecclejiajiicarum of Henry VIII. and Edward VI., when reftoring arcfjpresbgters, or fceans rural, fl8*w$ipwwtf. to their full powers and ufefulnefs, would alfo have cap.v. P .95. granted to each the fervices of an apparitor. And fuch, cc.M.B.etH. in the next century, was the intention of Biftiop Bedell of Kilmore ; indeed, he expreffly orders his reftored &eans rural to employ the fervices of their apparitors (one in each of the three toanws of the diocefe) for diftri- buting epifcopal mandates to their compresbyters. In the iflands of Jerfey and Guernfey, the Conftitutions " The Civilians have fo low an opinion of a beadle or an apparitor, Ayliffe's Parer- that they call him animal tanthm rationale; by which it may be in- S "-?- 69 ferred, that he is of a meaner capacity than a fheriff's officer : and there- fore, fince he is fuch an incomprehenjible, it is fit the court fliould not be troubled with many of them, &c." (*) " Whereas the lewdnefs of apparitors, fcouring of the countries; Freak's Paper. following their matter's trade and exercife; fome have been detected of StrypeWnnak forty marks bribery in half a quarter of a year, in half a fceantg ; the tfon,Vol. nJp!Vi. Dean rural or SupmntenDant (hall caufe fome honeft, religious, quick PP- . iii / England^ p. 27. Lewis, " they would lometimes ufe both their own Jeal and fome other feal that was better known ; which, in this cafe too, was commonly the feal of fome public office, as of a rural toararg, officially, &c., with an attefta- tion of the officer that it was \iisfeal of office." It was not unufual, moreover, for thejigil of a trecanat* to be applied authoritatively and alone, as a voucher of the truth of any important matter of fact, fuch as the lofs of a private feal. The publication of John de Grefley of Drakelow, in the county of Derby, of the lofs of his Jignet, is fo fupported : " Notumjit omnibus Chriftianis, nucang. cio/. quod ego J. de G. non habui potejiatem figilli mei per unum eoLtci. ia Voo'e annum integrum ultimo pr(Eteritum,jam notifao, in bond f/ThjaSS?* '' memorid et fand mente, quddfcripta figillo meo contradico f " et denego in omnibus a tempore prtedicto ufque in diem rejlaurationis figilli prcedicti. In cujus rei tejiimonium figillum trecanatus de Repingdon appofui." 394 $er*onal function*. [PART IV. But, whatever the powers of the tiecanal^ea/, however ufed or abufed in application, at the end of one fhort year, (unlefs the holder of the Jigil enjoyed perpetuity of office) all were to be furrendered, with the authentic inflrument itfelf, to the charge of a new tiean, or of the nominee of the bifhop, or archdeacon, appointed to receive the fame. Such was the command of the Car- dinal Legate, from whofe ConjUtutions we have already fo largely quoted ; but whether an innovation upon antiquity, or not, does not appear. By the titans them- felves it was probably deemed fo, inafmuch as they per- fevered, fpite of Otho and his canonical inhibitions, in retaining their feals and ftations ; and for their obftinate attachment to office are roughly handled by John de conft. Doro Athon, with his wonted bitternefs of comment. " Hoc Oihonii dc Si- tamen" (fays he, in reference to the annual refignation roee, et fine ^ J ' p. 69. offeals) " male obfervant quidam officiates et titcanf rurales, qui impinguati et crajjali extorfionibus, immd et de fan- guinibus pauperum hujujmodi qfficia nimium zelantes, ea contrh voluntates et prceceptafuorumfaperiorum occupare contendunt, intendentes ver derivationem &c." And yet, how were the faid mercenary titans to get thus fat under the fulleft enjoyment of their Jigils, fo pertinacioufly retained, as is gloffed, from felfilh motives ? They affixed them, be it remembered, in England, at all times, without fee or reward. The canon writes " De facili prabeatur : " and the gloffographer explains, " Abf- que morofd retardatione, et abfque gravi examinatione, vel exactions pecunitf pro figillationeycw infinuatione, qu< gratis dejure communijieri debet" So that they could demand no fee. Whereas the archdeacons and their officials, to whom the rights and powers of the tircanal SECT. XL] Authentic &eal 395 feal afterwards devolved, with almoft all its pertinent jurifdiction, (the fcecanal, as it were, merging in the archidiaconal Jignet) pretended that " moderata exactio pro hujufmodi modernis temporibus non prohibetur V The conftitution of the office, as far as the employ- ment of the feal is concerned, admitted not of difhoneil exaction on the part of titans rural ; nor does it appear that in England thefe officers merited in general the character beftowed on them by Otho's commentator. On the continent, however, we cannot exonerate them from the guilt of rapacity. The councils of Poictiers (AD. MCCLXXX.), and Saumur (A.D. MCCXCIV.), charge them with a love of filthy lucre, and greater regard to their own advantages than to the interefts of their fubject churches. The allegations of the firft fynod againft them ilate the improper ufe of the fcecanal feal from motives of felf-intereft : and thofe of the latter are yet more criminatory ; charging them with inflicting pecuniary, inftead of canonical punimments, for the graveil fins, "pro adulterio,fornicatione, inc&ftu, et aliis ss.cc. T.XIV. excejfibus, in quibus difpenfare non pojjunt, a clericis et la'icis pcenam pecuniariam contra canonum prohibitionem exigunt et extorquent; " and farther, with fending their fcouts about the country to affix their feals to (*) And certainly, if we may believe Giraldus de Barri, touching archi- Girald. Cam- diaconal rapacity in thofe days (for, atprefent, archdeacons are the worft- *Ecckf G Dift u remunerated functionaries of our whole ecclefiaftical regime), the public cap. xxxm. were not likely to have their burdens lightened by the devolution : nett in Paroch. " Adeo enim" fays he, " hoc officium pree cceteris in ecclefid rapacitati Antit l- Vo1 - " datum eft, ut archidiaconi nomen tanquam archidiaboli cum horrors quodam auribus infonet audientium. Sicut enim ille raptor anima- rum,Jic ifte raptor pecuniarum" 396 personal function*. [PART IV. unexamined documents ; fuch, that is, as had never come under the cognifance of the principals. That the tean's private neceffities might not render stat synod. him thus extortionate and unjuft, the bimop of Cambray EccL Camerac. i i i / i i i / i Thef.scnpt.ret. granted him a moderate reward for the labours of the Tom.vn.c.l340. , . Jignet ; but it was not to be exceeded : ' Inhwemus tecam's nojlris (ZD&rtstfanftatf* ne pro figillo fui fcecanatus quibufque literis apponendo, ultra fex denarios Turonenfes fortis monetce recipiant." From the fame prelate the &ean alfo received three Turonefe millings for publiming banns, and granting letters tejlimonial under his feal-^ (Titulo de Matrimonio.) Within the diocefe of Arras alfo a fmall payment was allowed by the fynod of MCCCCLV. st 'ii CC. Rotomag. ders, "Quod qualwet parocnialis eccle/ia iierulum habeat Prov.p.u. p. 565. 398 #er*onal function*. [PART IV. pro exequendis literis judicuni, &c. et figilliferis Conftan- tienji et Valonenji infra Ires menfes afferant ipfa et cum hoc bccant rurales /wa figilla." It now only remains for me to direct the reader's attention to fuch particular authentic Jigils of Ireans rural as have been defcribed by antiquaries; and to exhibit accurate delineations of fuch fpecimens as my refearches have brought to light. * n ^ e drchtfologia, Vol. v. xxxvi. p. 346, there is a paper by Dr. Pegge, entitled, " The quejiion difcuffed con- cerning the appearance of the matrices offo many conven- tual feals;" in which he notices, incidentally, the feals of rural toanries, officialises &c., ftating them to have been " ambulatory things, paffing from one perfon to another, and therefore not numerous." But, at page 353, he fays, " Several rural leans' feals are extant;" and, doubtlefs, then they were, or fo faithful an antiquary had not fo reported. But what has fince become of them, we know not : the ftores of the Britifh Mufeum, the Antiquarian Society, and the Bodleian, have been in vain fearched for a fingle matrix, or even an impreflion. Few are defcribed by authors, and yet fewer engraven. " The feals of office of ecclefiaftical perfons or offices, %$ o f bifhops, rural &rans, chancellors, officials, &c.," fays Mr. Lewis, " were ufually oblong or oval ; but their privy feals were round." Whether this diftinction held good with regard to trecanal Jignets, or whether rural arc&pres- bgtm even ufed contre or privy feals at all, is, I think, fomewhat problematical. The only feals of thefe officers known to me are oval ; which I proceed to notice. SECT. XI.] jfecal. 399 "The feal of the toan of nrta, a letter of White Kennett's, dated Edmund Hall, July 7, qui^ vol. ii. MDCXCIV., and addrefled to the Rev. Mr. Blackwell, rector of Brampton in Northamptonfhire, to have been his in- tention to have had it engraven. For he writes : " The figure of the church of Burcefter, and the feal of that fceanerg, muft be infcribed to you, becaufe of your late relation to that place, though I am very tender of putting you to any expence in thefe hard times." The qualms here alluded to, I fear, deterred the parochial antiquary from eventually calling on his friend for the needful out- lay. The church appears without the feal. And I have in vain endeavoured to recover either the matrix, or the impreffion attached to the jftls. hiftory referred to. They are not to be met with in London or Oxford. Poffibly, Dr. Bandinel informs me, the Jtts. hiftory, with the double impreffion of the feal, may be at Peterborough ; as Kennett, in MDCCXII. (then titan of Peterborough), gave to that cathedral a large collection of Jttss., in which it may have been included. I have attempted in vain to afcertain the fact. Mft. of Norfolk, All the rural fceanries of the diocefe of Norfolk, Mr. \ol.i.p.473. vol. H. p. 52. Blomefield tells us, had peculiar feals appropriated to them. Several of them he had feen ; but had never met with that of the large and important tieanrg of Rockland- Toft, nor with that of Thetford. It is much to be regretted, that, of the many he had feen, he has defcribed only two, viz. thofe of Fincham and Norwich, and has engraved only the latter. " I have SECT. XI.] &ut&cnttc &eal 403 now by me," fays the hiftorian, " the probate of the will of Thomas Wefthowe of Boketon, at Downham in Nor^ P .227. folk, dated the lixteenth of Dec. MCCCCXIII., proved by Hugh Birdham, titan of Fincham ; to which is affixed an oblong feal of red wax ; the imprefs, a bird, probably a finch, on a tree, and a ftar in chief; and this legend, &evoi.vu. SbtgtUum fcecanatus &e Jpgnc^am, exprefling both his own, p ' 3 and his teatmg's name, in that device." Mr. Blomefield has given a lift of the teans of Fincham from the year MCCL. to the year MDXVIII., but no impreffion of their figil. In the third volume of the fame work, on a plate vol. m. P i. P . i. facing p. I. fig. 163. is an engraving of the feal of the vol. iv. p. 572. rural tean of the city of Norwich, with this inscription, s'. DQQANI . NORWIQI . AD . QAVSAs. This teanrg, which was inftituted AD. MCCXVL, (earlier, Dr. Sutton thinks, than any other in Norfolk, but herein he is miftaken) was perpetually united, A.D. MCCCXXIX., to the contiguous toanrg of Taverham. The laft collation to it appears to have been A.D. MDXIX. A lift of the ttt&m is given by Blomefield, from the year MCCXVI. to the year MDXIX. The treanrg of Hingham in Norfolk, like the other rural fceanrtts alluded to, had its peculiar feal; which, by the kindnefs of Dr. Sutton, (at the felicitation of the Hon. and very Rev. the Dean of Norwich,) I am enabled DD 2 404 JJcvson.il [PART IV. to lay before my readers. Its imprefs is curious pro- bably intended to reprefent Saint Andrew's crofs the faint to whom the church of Hengham was dedicated ? The legend, SbfgHu . fceconatus : &e . f^engfwm . Mr. Blomefield gives a lift of the toans of Hingham or Taxatio Eccief. Hengham. as it is called in the Taxation of Pope P.Nicholi,p.85. ^ Nicholas, irom the year MCCCVII. to the year MCCCCLXVII. The laft run-tocanal feal of the diocefe of Norwich I have to defcribe, is that of the fceanrg of Breccles ; the collations to which commence in the year MCCCXX., and clofe in the year MCCCCLXVI. Blomefield has not noticed tins feal, or the preceding. Its appearance here is owing to the friendly exertions of Dr. Pellew, in illuftration of my refearches. The effigy upon the feal is the head of Saint John the SECT. XL] &ut&enttc eal. 4-05 Baptift ; to whom, in all likelihood, the church of Breccles is dedicated. The infcription is, Sbfgfllum tecanat tit In the Taxatio Ecclefiaftica of Pope Nicholas, Taxatio ECCUJ. 9 P.Nicholai,p.83 the teanrg bears the title of Becanatus to Of the ancient rurt-fcecanal feeds of the archdeaconries of Chefter and Richmond I have not been able to re- cover a lingle impreflion. But Mr. Ormerod has given us, in his Hiftory of Che/hire, an engraving of the feal of the general rural trean of the archdeaconry of Chefter, at prefent in ufe ; which, he fays, appears to be copied from that ufed by the rural toan of Macclesfield, pre- vious to the confolidation of the rural Ireanws of the diocefe. This feal, in the abfence of earlier and more interefting fpecimens of the feparate rural teanrtes, I purpofed to have configned to the hands of the en- graver. But, yielding to the better tafte and judgment of Mr. James Bohn, the Sofius of King William Street, I have, on fecond thoughts, confented to withdraw it. The imprefs is really no more than a itiff and ugly repre- fentation of Macclesfield church, within an oval, or rather ovoid, flowered border, bearing the date of MDCCLVII. To what diocefe the annexed feal of the rural treanrg of Newcaftle is to be appropriated whether to that of Durham or that of Lichfield and Coventry, I am at a lofs to determine. The Taxatio Ecclefiaftica of Pope Taxatio Eccief. Nicholas notices a fceanrg of Newcaftle, under the title of PP . 243, SIB. Buanatus Nobi Castrt, in the archdeaconry of Stafford, and a fecond under the fame title in the archdeaconry of Northumberland. The feal is from the valuable col- lection of Mr. Doubleday of Little Ruffel Street, London ; who hazards no opinion as to which of the fcecanates of Newcaftle it appertains to whether to that which [PART IV. derives its name from Newcaftle-upon-Tyne, or New- caftle-under-Line. The legend reads, &. Becanatus Kobi vfastr. The effigy is fuppofed to be that of an ecclefiaftic, under a canopied throne, holding a crofier in his right hand, and in his left hand the head of Saint John the Baptifl. At the bafe is reprefented the head of the Baptift, in a falver. An interefting fed of a foreign rural teanrp (from the collection of Dr. Sutton of Norwich) follows. It exhi- bits the Agnus Dei the lamb, crofs, and banner the appropriate emblem of the triumph of Chriflianity over Paganifm. From the infcription, Jbigfllu Becanatus &e Hoffman. Lcxi- <&astrolfof. it would appear to be the feal of the rural cm. Unto. Vol. i. ' PP. 759, 766. &t nnrp of Chateau du Loire (Caftrum ad Ladum, Cajlrum SECT. XL] Authentic jfccal. 407 Lidi, or Caftrum Lidium), in the province of Le Mans in France. I know nothing of its hiftory. I wilh it were in my power to add to this beautiful fpecimen a few more examples of foreign type ; but none have fallen in my way, with any claim, or rather pretence, to admiffion here 1 . In bringing to a clofe thefe few notices of rurt-trf canal feals, and of the powers entrufted to them as legal inflruments of ratification, it is worthy of observation, ( * ) A feal, of no great antiquity, of an arcfiprtcgt of Leodium, is figured in The Gentleman's Magazine for October MDCCCIX. Vol. LXXIX. Part ii. p. 913. PI. 2. The correfpondent of Mr. Nichols ftates it to be of brafs or mixed metal, with evident marks of the hammer having been ufed in making the impreflions. It came into his hands in MDCCLXVIII. ; having been, fome time before, found at Golfpie, in the county of Sutherland. The imprefs exhibits a mitred ecclefiaftic in canonical attire, the Virgin and Child, and an intervening crozier. The form is oval. The epigraph, SIGILLUM * ARCHYPRESBITERI * LEODIENSIS. The letters quite modern. Although pointed out to me by an eminent antiquary as the The Rev. Thos. feal of a Dean rural, I cannot fubfcribe to the opinion, without firft Jj|Rft| FJLA< learning the general type of fuch feals, their legends &c., on the conti- nent. It has no refemblance to the feal of the Gallican Dcanrj) juft 408 personal Jfutution*. [PART IV. cc. M. B. et H. that Archbifhop Stratford, in his Statuta et Ordinationes Vol. II. p.694. . . . . \U-1U regimine curice de Arcubus (AD. MCCCXLII.), while he L Ae difallows the authority of the feal, to the extent of interfering with the privileges of the Court of Arches, for judicial matters, that is, matters not legally belonging to the rural Scan's jurifdiction, (to ratify which the feal, perhaps, had been fometimes improperly applied) Hill, in all fuch cafes, as were under Otho's contemplation at the time of patting his ftatute, the archbimop admits the validity of the rural feal, and orders it to be refpected in his court : " In certificatoriis citationum, executionum, et aliorum mandatorum, a fuperioribus fuis ordinariis vel delegatis commifforum, eijdem literis ipforum fcccanorum figillo officii fcecanatus hujufmodi con/igtiatis,juxta mentem Jiatuti predict ijidem, volumus adhiberi." n ^ e R e f orma ti Legum Ecclejiaft tear urn, the authentic feals of all church functionaries, then propofed to be received as fuch in England, are enumerated, and the cuflody of them regulated. But, whether thofe of fceans rural are included, I muft leave to the reader to deter- mine, after perufing the final claufe de Regulis Juris : " Autentica Jtgilla declaramus nqflra, archiejrifcoporum, now defcribed that of Chateau-du- Loire ; none whatever to our infu- lar feah of rural Dcang, who nevtr bear the title of a vd) priest on their fignets. Confequently, there is no reafonable foundation for the fuppo- fition that the feal belonged to the rural t)fan of Leeds in Yorkfliire. Far more probable the notion, that would appropriate it to the arth- prcgbgtct of Liege, the urban bean of the cathedral city of the province of the fame name in the Netherlands. Or, pombly, it may be the feal of one of the Roman-Catholic avdjprtc&ts who ruled the papifts of England before they had a titular epifcopal hierarchy. That the reader may be enabled to form his own judgment upon it, I have caufed an accurate copy to be taken from the valuable repertory of Mr. Nichols. SECT. XL] Authentic jfeeal. 409 epifcoporum, tecanorum, ecclejiarum cathedral, et earundem ecclejiarum, capitulorum, archidiaconorum, et eorum qfficia- lium. Qu< penes ipfos aut ipforum legitimos deputatos, et nullo modo apud fuos Regijtrarios, feu Actorum fcribas cuftodiri volumus." The decifion, I fear, muft be againft us; that though the ecclefiaftical-law reformers in- urttU&u,c.v. tended to have made us moft efficient fpiritual watch- men in our refpective diftricts of fupervifion, as the extracts adduced in earlier pages abundantly demon- ftrate, they never contemplated the reftoration of our teal of office, and the branches of jurifdiction formerly connected with it *. ( l ) To the period of tills church-law reformation belongs the curious feal of the ttttal tcantg of Sunning in Berkfhire, a peculiar of the catfie- Dtal or urban Dean of Salisbury, defcribed by Sir W. Blackllone in the third volume of the &tc|)olog(a, p. 414. The infcription is, SIGILLV : REGIAE : MAIESTATIS : AD : CAVSAS : ECCLESIASTICAS PRO ! DECANATV : DE : SONNYNG. The learned judge fuppofes it to be of the reign of Edward VI. It 4-10 personal function*. [PART IV. it has been elfewhere ftated (fee Part in. Sect. n. Parochial Anti- V piMM.voi.ii. p. 131.) that rural fceans were for a long while appointed by the diocefan without any formal commiffion infcriptis, but were invefted in the office by the delivery of the common feal (fuch as we have been defcribing) ; which, at the death of each titan, was returned to the bifhop, or committed into cuftody by his order, to be given to a fucceffor, at the bimop's nomination. To this fimple method of inveftiture, recommended as it is by its antiquity, I can fee no reafonable objec- tion, if the bilhops mould think fit to revive it. But, as other methods of inftitution or admiffion are equally good and valid, it might not be worth while to reftore the ruri-tocanal feal for that purpofe alone. Deans rural however, whether inftituted by fuch an inftrument or not, are undoubtedly entitled to the ufe of a feal after c navm g raifed an immenfe fum of money through P . 378. i^g diocefe, and fubfequently determined, upon honoura- (') . . . . " In cujus rei fyc. figillum officti Decant de B. prafentibus ejl appenjum Sfc" Jur.Erclef. () " ffic notandum" fays Van Efpen, " aniiquiorem non reperiri Ti. xxxv. C.HI, decimte hujus,id ejl, qiue a clero regijblvitur, et Gallico idiomate voca- tur decimes, injlitutionem. Unde et hanc effe primam decimam clero impofitam, quee vocatur decima Saladini, communiter notant autores de hdcjpcrie decimee tractantes." SECT. XIL] Collecting am. ble and prudential motives, to refund it as an unne- ceffary or illegal exaction, caufed it again to be diftri- buted, by the rural Ireans, among the perfons from whom it had been unjuftly extorted; the fame officers, in all probability, having been the agents of the original levy. The latter date, or about AD. MCLXX., affords the earlieft notice of teans in the capacity of public tax- collectors, civil or ecclefiaftical, in the councils of Great Britain and Ireland. But in the fynodal collections of France they appear many centuries earlier. In the Capitula of Charles the Bald, edited by Sirmond (Pan- Karon c a im a /iis, MDCXXIII.), we find the following canon, paffed at the capituia. v. fynod of Touloufe (AD. DCCCXLIII.), cap. in. " Ut pref- ' byteri qui prope! civitatem quinque miliaria commanent, per famulos fuos prtfdictam difpenfam reddi in civitate cui jufferit civitatis epifcopus,faciant. Qui autem longius ab urbe commanent, ftatuant epifcopi loca convenientia per ttttnnfa%,Jicut conflituti funt arcfu'presbgteu, quo Jimiliter et eddem propinquitate cateri presbyteri per famulos fuos debitam difpenfam ard&tpreslmtens aut epifcoporum mini- Jlris convehant, &c." But to return home again : In the thirteenth cen- Paroch. Antiq. Vol. i. pp. 440, tury, the Saladinides again appear, and teans rural as 445,440,447. official gatherers of them in England. When Pope Innocent IV. (AD. MCCLIII.) granted three years' tenths to Henry III. of all the fpiritualities of our ifland, and deputed Walter de Suthfield, bifhop of Norwich, to take Angi. Sacr. p. i. the valuation, the impoft was levied (A.D. MCCLIV.), in /cop. N each toanrg, by the rural tean, affifted by three rectors 3il!' Burton. or vicars, members of his cfiaptu ; who, upon oath, cer- tified the juftnefs of the eflimate of every church- personal function*. [PART IV. revenue within their knowledge, and returned the fame, infcriptis, to the bifhop '. ^ e ^ ame rura l functionaries were valuators under the fubfequent taxation of Pope Nicholas IV., and col- lected the decimal impojls on 2 the eflimation of eccle- fiaflical benefices, commenced in the year MCCLXXXVIII. ' an( * com pl ete d in MCCXCII. by John de Pontoys, or Pon- tiferra, bifhop of Winchefter, and Oliver Sutton, bifhop of Lincoln, the principal executors under the Pope's Bull for granting fix years' tenths to Edward I., towards defraying the expence of an expedition to the Holy Land. ^e taxa ti n f the years MCCLIII. MCCLIV. is fome- by times called Pope Innocent's Valor, fometimes the Fetus Valor, and fometimes the Norwich Taxation: that of MCCLXXXVIII. has been fometimes defcribed under the name of Verus Valor. IBeans rural do not appear to have been generally concerned in the ecclefiajlical valua- Pegge's Groffe- ( ' ) " The value of benefices," fays Dr. Pegge, " would be often Mttfc No vi n" a ^ering, from various caufes ; which made it necefiary for valors to be renewed from time to time : but we are not to fuppofe that a new one was always made when a new fubjidy was granted either to the king or pope ; for, on many occafions, the collectors, no doubt, proceeded by the laft valor, as the authentic ftandard ; though, in other cafes, we find the former taxations fuperfeded and rejected, and a new one expreflly directed to be made. This, however, may be concluded ; that all fub- ftdies granted by the clergy after the year MCCXXIX. (or after the year MCCXLV., if a new ftandard was then made), and before the year MCCLIV., were regulated by the eftimate of the year MCCXX. ; and all after MCCLIV. went upon the valuation then made, till MCCXCI." (*) This valuation regulated royal and papal taxes till the twenty- fixth of Henry VIII. See Blomefield's Norfolk, Vol. i. p. 19. note 9. 2d Edit. SECT. XII.] olUcting Eaxeg. 417 tion of Henry VIII. 1 , though the names of perfons holding the office are recorded at the head of each toanru, in which the office obtained at that time. Still, as 2 the royal commiffion authorifed " the comyffioners" to " fende y a iorEccief. for fuche and fo many of the bufhoppys and archidea- cons fcribes and minifters within the lymyttys of ther X comiffion as they mould think moofte convenyent for knowlaige to be hadd of the nombre and namys of all tonrpes rurall within the lymytt of ther comiffion and in whoys dioces or jurifdiccon the faid tonnes ben" it is probable that the rural titans were turned to ufeful account by " the comyffioners:" and in one particular voivi.\.From * L the Augmenta- inftance. (that of the to an of Hecham in the diocefe of ttm office, see . ~ . StypenCtjr, Nor- Norwich,) it appears that " the comyffioners" did avail web Documents. ( ' ) This Valor is the Report of an Ecclefiaftical furvey, made in pur- fuance of an Act of Parliament 26 Henr. VIII. ; and returned into his Majefty's Court of Firft Fruits and Tenths, for afcertaining the yearly values of all the pofleflions, manors, lands, tenements, and hereditaments, appertaining to any monaitery, priory, church, parfonage, vicarage, free- chapel, &c. within this realm, Wales, Calais, Berwick, and the Marches. (*) Extracted from the Inftructions as they appear in the Valor Eccle- fiafticus, Henr. VIII. " Item to gmhc and knowe the nombre and namys of e7y archidiaconry and Detlttg rurall within the lymj tts of ther comiffion afwell in placis exempt as not exempt and in whos dyoces or jurifdiccon they lieu and the hole and entire yerly value of ev"y of them as well in spualities as in temporalltes if any be and the nombre namys and ctentie of the temporalities yf any be and where they lien and their diftinct and fevall yerly values and the names nombre and nature of the -\j spualities and ther fevall yerly values coibs annis and what annuell and ppetuall rents penfions and fees for receyvours bailyflys audito's and ftewards only and none other officers ben yerly accuftumed to be refolute and paid oute of any of the said archidiaconries or ticnrtcs rurall and the namys of the pfons to whome suche rentts penfions and fees ben yerly paid." E E 118 personal ^function*. [PART IV. themfelves of the knowledge and influence of " John Rufte, titan of the toeanrie of Hecham," to obtain the i>|jcn&ir, Nor- required information See I9rcanatus de Hecham. Com. wich Docume nit. Norf. ; where the precept to the laid trean from the faid commiffioners is given. But fuch employments of &eans rural are foreign to the fection of their office we are at prefent engaged upon ; which is the collecting eccleji- aflical taxes, not the appreciation of ecclefiaftical bene- Jices. The latter branch of fcrcanal duty will come to be difcufled under capitular functions, and therefore we fhall fay no more about it here. Whether it was a general cuftom for titans rural to cioff.^ich. collect 1 the Rome-fcot or Rome-penny (" cenfus annuiis in vore y. -1DO. J f 3 \ Dr.Bradj '//{/*. (<) The Hearth-penny, as it was called, was firft impofed by Ina, pp. I'lfs. and king of Wefiex (A.D. DCCXXI.), as alms to an Englifh fchool at Rome. notes there. j t was continued by Offa, king of Mercia, (A,D. DCCLXXVII.), and by vSfpf.'isf' Ethel wolf -.was eftabliftied by the laws of Canute (cap. 9.); of Edgar 243, 302. (^p. 54.); of Edward the Confeflbr (cap. 10.); William the Conqueror (cap. 18.) ; Henry I. (cap. 11.); and perpetuated, with a temporary fuf- penlion only during the reign of Edward III., till Henry VIII., who abrogated it (aim. 25. c. 25). It was revived ami. 1 & 2 Philip and Mary, and finally put an end to ami. 1 Eli/ah, (cap. 1.) CC. M. B. et H. The Collectors in the middle of the tenth century, as appears from the Vol. i. p. 221. ,_ ,, ., , r , , LL. presbyttrorum Nortnumbrenjium, were two trufty thegns and a presbyter in each wapentake of the kingdom of Northumbria " Duo fidelvs thani et unus presbyter in quolibet wapenfachio nominentur, nt eum colligant, ac delude tradant prouti audeantjurare." One half only of the annual penfion was appropriated to the purpofe of Ina's bequeft ; the other went to the perfoual ufe of the Pope ; and iniiead of a voluntary donation, the Rome-fcot became a Handing tax. See Uflerii de Chrijlian. Ecclef. fiiccfffi et ftatu, cap. vi. p. 220; Ful- ler's Church Hijl. Cent. xvi. B. v. p. 197; Nath. Bacon's Hift. 8f Polit. Di/iotirfe, Part i. p. 20 ; and particularly Muratori Antiq. Med. JEvi, Tom. v. col. 827. ctu66anctt neous collection of records entitled