BX 
 1492 
 S484a 
 1853 
 
 ^r «n iCCODNT OF ' 
 rGHAPTEKr 
 
 ||HEGmD BY WILLIA M 
 
 'mHN SERGEANT i
 
 Xr^x iTT ;!^ 
 
 f . 
 
 '>i>' 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 
 ^ri^tyi-^^
 
 'fL;^'^„^^^A'^^ ^2^^/. (^%..^^ K^^^^'o^ 
 
 ^^^^^^:U.^e^.,4j^ yZ/^uU^ ,6^^ 
 
 - / ^ -^ "^ •^- ^ 
 
 "5^^ <:^ <z,-> I"- .r;^^^ ^: f^ V ^- ' /7 <^ / ' -^^ , 
 
 %9 
 
 ) 

 
 ACCOUNT 
 
 OF thf; 
 
 ENGLISH CHAPTER.
 
 AN ACCOUNT 
 
 OF 
 
 THE CHAPTER 
 
 ERECTED BY WILLIAM, 
 
 TITULAR BISHOP OF CHALCEDON, AND ORDINARY OF 
 ENGLAND AND SCOTLAND. 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN SERGEANT, 
 
 CAXON AND SECRETARY OF THE CHAPTER. 
 
 Wiitf) preface antr ^oM, 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM TURNBULL, ESQ., F.S.A., Scot. 
 
 LONDON : 
 JAMES DARLING, 21, LITTLE QUEEN STREET, 
 
 LINCOLN'S-INN FIELDS. .^ 
 1853.
 
 Q IMPRESSION, 350 Copies.] 
 
 1- 
 
 \0.N., 
 
 i 
 
 'xxui (h.y 
 
 Class 
 
 ittnp-^^^ 
 
 ' CK. 
 
 
 C'i 
 
 
 CO'-y 
 
 
 ADD. 
 
 lst:^- 

 
 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 Having, some time since, accidentally acquired 
 the very rare work comprised in the ensuing pages, 
 I felt that the present position of the Church, and 
 the recent erection of chapters in the respective 
 dioceses, might justify a reprint of what cannot be 
 considered other than a valuable contribution to 
 the ecclesiastical history of England. On carefully 
 perusing it for that purpose, I perceived that, in 
 order to a proper understanding of the subject in all 
 its bearings, it would be necessary for me to add 
 some annotations to the text of the author. After 
 commencing these, 1 found that a greater amount of 
 investigation was required than I had anticipated ; 
 and this, aggravated by a temporary absence both 
 from public libraries, wherein I might have access 
 to the suitable authorities, and from my own private 
 collections, has unavoidably delayed the appearance 
 of a volume which, nnder other circumstances, would 
 have been published at an earlier ])eriod. This 
 delay, however, I do not regret, since it has 
 
 ^ ^ f^t^-i F— <~% r—
 
 vi TNTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 enabled me to procure the use of some important 
 materials, not otherwise available. 
 
 Unhappily, as in civil matters so in those wherein 
 religion is concerned, polemics will too frequently 
 intrude ; and in the latter case they assume what 
 has been appropriately designated the odium tlieo- 
 logicum. This is somewhat painfully exhibited in 
 the text ; but being, as a layman, fortunately ex- 
 empted from such clerical irritations, and being 
 indifferently affected to regulars and seculars, — re- 
 specting each alike, — I have endeavoured, in the 
 notes which I have appended, to steer clear of any ex- 
 pressions that might f-eem to wear the hue of favour 
 to either side. History demands truth for its basis ; 
 and unless the materials employed are facts, the 
 structure is rotten and self-ruinous. I have care- 
 fully sought to sift the evidence in this capitular 
 narrative ; and where what seems adverse to plain- 
 dealing appears, as we lawyers say, on the record, I 
 have distinctly laid it bare, to the best of my com- 
 prehension, yet entirely without bias, and, I trust, 
 without severity. Should my deductions or refer- 
 ences prove erroneous, the parties who feel them- 
 selves compromised thereby have the remedy in 
 their own power, and are quite able to defend 
 themselves. With this deprecation of intended 
 offence, or desiderated controversy, 1 may termi-
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. Vll 
 
 nate these brief introductory lines with the wish of 
 the most elegant of modern epigrammatists ; a 
 sentiment equally applicable to all clerical feuds, 
 whether relating to doctrine or discipline. 
 
 Theiologi certant, et adhuc sub judice lis est : 
 
 O utinara lis sub judice tota foret ! 
 Theiologi certant, et adhuc de judice lis est : 
 
 O utinam lis de judice sola foret ! 
 Tanta vel in nobis utinam lis esset amoris, 
 
 Quantus, in hoc lacero tempore, litis amor ! 
 
 *^* It is my intention, at some future day, when 
 I have more leisure than at present, to reprint, with 
 suitable notes, " The History of Doway College," 
 and similar scarce tractates ; all which are neces- 
 sary to a thorough elucidation of English Cliurch 
 History. 
 
 W. T. 
 
 3, Stone Buildings, Lincoln's Inn, 
 \2th March, 1S.>:3,
 
 NOTICE OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 John Sergeant (otherwise called Smith, and 
 sometimes Holland) was born at Barrow, in Lincoln- 
 shire, in 1621. At the age of sixteen, he was 
 admitted a student of St. John's College, Cam- 
 bridge, where he took the degree of B.A., and upon 
 the recommendation of Dr. William Best, then 
 master, with approbation of all the seniors, became 
 secretary to Thomas Morton, bishop of Durham, in 
 which capacity he remained about a year. During 
 this employment he had occasion to search into the 
 writings of the early fathers, and the result was his 
 beinof received into the Catholic Church. There- 
 after, in 1642, he went to the English College at 
 Lisbon, and applying himself to the study of divi- 
 nity, was ordained priest, appointed prefect of the 
 studies there, and finally, in 1652, was sent upon 
 the English mission. Shortly after his arrival, he 
 was elected canon and secretary of the chapter, and 
 devoted the rest of his life to supporting the 
 Catholic cause, which he did with great success for 
 above forty years. Besides engaging in controversy 
 with Hammond, Bramhall, Stillingfleet, and other 
 able theologians of the Church by law established, 
 he was involved in literary contests with some
 
 X NOTICE OF THE AUTHOR. 
 
 members of his own communion on philosophical 
 and other matters. But the main feature of his 
 j)olemical existence was a collision between him and 
 Peter Talbot, the Catholic archbishop of Dublin, 
 who endeavoured to represent as heterodox some of 
 Sergeant's doctrines in regard to the rule of faith ; 
 and not only brought his charges against him before 
 the University of Paris, but — finding himself baffled 
 there — carried them to the Sacred Congregation at 
 Rome. Sergeant, however, successfully vindicated 
 himself and his orthodoxy, notwithstanding the pre- 
 late's indefatigable, and by no means scrupulous 
 l)ersecution : an instance, not at all solitary, of the 
 annoyances which worthy clergymen have often 
 sustained at the hands of pragmatical and overbear- 
 ing prelates. An account of Sergeant and his 
 writings, with a summary of the proceedings at the 
 instance of Archbishop Talbot, will be found in 
 Dodd (Ch. Hist. iii. 472, orig. edn.), whence the 
 above particulars are derived. 
 
 The original edition is in 16mo., and consists of 
 Address, pp. 8 ; text, pp. 96.
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 PREFIXED TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 To OUR Brethren of the Chapter, — 
 
 Our judicious brother, and late secretary, Mr. 
 John Ward, whose memory ought to be precious to 
 us all, for his care in seeing the rules of our chapter 
 exactly observed, and keeping up order while he 
 lived, did, out of his dutiful regard to his office, with 
 indefatigable industry, compile a large history of all 
 the affairs of our body ever since the alteration of 
 religion, which was transcribed fair, at the cost of 
 the public, to be preserved in our archives. This 
 elaborate work being too prolix to be communicated , 
 
 to many, the most concernmg j)assages m it were / f- 
 reduced to an abstract, or compendium, by an intel- Ccf^^^^ 
 ligent and hearty capitular, whose disinterested love 
 of the chapter, zeal for the public, and more than 
 common abilities to do both honour and service to 
 our clergy, do give us an early and hopeful promise 
 of his future performances. This information of our 
 brethren being thus far advaiiced and done to my 
 hand, I reviewed it in the year 1703, and resolved 
 to print some few copies of it, for my dear brethren's 
 satisfaction, being induced to it partly because there
 
 Xll ADDRESS PREFIXED TO 
 
 had been a straiioe ncolect of rearlinof the acts of 
 our former assembly, at the beginning of the general 
 chapter held in 1703 (though the rules enjoin it), 
 which would have given our brethren some light 
 concerning our present condition ; but much more 
 because of the applications made to me by divers of 
 my worthy brethren, complaining how they were 
 kept in ignorance of such matters as it highly con- 
 cerned them to know. The reason why I was so 
 slow in publishing this to our brethren, as I had 
 resolved, was, because our venerable dean was 
 afraid it would displease our present bishops, which 
 I was very loath to do. This made me suspend it 
 hitherto. The motives why I do it now were two. 
 First, I had observed of late a strange carelessness, 
 in some, of preserving the rules and customs of our 
 chapter, and of the decrees of our general assem- 
 blies, which I had good reason to fear did proceed 
 from a slight regard of the chapter's authority, far- 
 ther than out of a vain ambition of getting to be 
 chief officers of it, to gain themselves honour and 
 rejuitatiou. Next, because I have been, of late, 
 solicited afresh by the repeated instances of divers 
 brethren, who wanted this justly due information. 
 I reflected how uncomfortable and uncouth it was 
 to walk in the dark ; how it exposed men to err, 
 stumble, or perhaps fall into i)recipices ; and there- 
 fore, that to leave them ignorant of what they ought 
 to know, seemed most unbrotherly, and, in a man- 
 ner, barbarous. This put me upon examining more 
 strictlv what reason there could be for Mr. Dean's
 
 THE FIRST EDITION. Xlll 
 
 timorousness ; and it occurred to mo that it would 
 be so far from disgusting the bishops, that, on tlio 
 contrary, it would lay a scandal upon their goodness 
 and prudence, to imagine they would be against it, 
 and might tend to create a jealousy between our 
 brethren of the chapter and their lordships, that, 
 whereas they could not but know we had all taken 
 an oath to preserve the rights of the chapter, they 
 would, notwithstanding, be offended our brethren 
 should be informed what those rights are, — nature 
 teaching every one that those guides who will needs 
 keep one hoodwinked and blindfold, have, in all like- 
 lihood, a design to lead me out of the way ; and that 
 those who are displeased I should know the right I 
 have to mv estate, have a mind to rob me of it. 
 Which misconceit, so disagreeable to the known 
 love and affection they bear for our body, should it 
 take root and sink into the minds of our brethren, 
 would hazard to damp and destroy all the friendly 
 and dutiful correspondence between them and us, 
 and to make them looked upon as men who aim to 
 extirpate utterly all the liberty we have left, and to 
 tyrannize over us. From which unworthy appre- 
 hension their kind, sweet, and rather brotherly than 
 fatherly carriage has hitherto secured us. 
 
 But that which convinced me absolutely that our 
 standing to our just rights could not possibly be 
 either ungrateful or unwelcome to their lordships 
 is, that it is perfectly agreeable to the sentiments of 
 our common superiors. For, since the supreme 
 court, after their decree (" ces.sahit juriftdictio capifu-
 
 XIV ADDRESS PREFIXED TO 
 
 lorum, tam secularium quCim rcciularinm, quamd'm 
 vicarii apostolici faerintin AngluV), did immediately 
 subjoin " et non alids,^' it plainly signifies that our 
 right of jurisdiction still remains, though the exer- 
 cise of it be suspended, till such a time ; and it is 
 only this right, as to what is unsuspended, which 
 we here maintain, — to do which that decree leaves 
 us at full liberty. Besides, should we neglect to 
 show we have still this true, though at present dor- 
 mant right, we should consent to destroy all the 
 merit of our submission, for, to give up what we 
 have no right to, does not argue any deference to 
 them at all ; M'hereas, to divest ourselves of the 
 exercise of a true ordinary or episcopal jurisdiction, 
 which we had so long enjoyed, is so high a strain of 
 meritorious submission, as perhaps is without any 
 parallel since the first foundation of the Christian 
 Church. Nor would it be generous to expect we 
 should ungratefully forget, or disregard what we 
 owe to the care of our two first excellent bishops, 
 William and Richard, and the pains they took to 
 rescue our clergy from the tyranny of our encroach- 
 ing adversaries, by erecting and confirming our 
 chapter ; which highest benefit we should slight and 
 contemn, if we should neglect to preserve that de- 
 positimi which they, in their wisdoms, judged the 
 most secure asylum and palladium of our clergy 
 against the old attempts of our enemies, which for- 
 merly had brought us to the brink of ruin, and 
 threatened to overwhelm us. For that which is 
 dormant, and has lost its power of working, is dead ;
 
 THE FIRST EDITION. XV 
 
 and, in case we should not keej) tlie knowledge of 
 our right awake in the memories of our brethren, it 
 would expose our chapter (though it does not die a 
 sudden death, yet) to dwindle, decay, and at length, 
 by a desuetude of acting, expire, and be buried in 
 oblivion. 
 
 Wherefore, let us all reverence, love, and (as far as 
 we have conceded, which is all they require) submit 
 to our present R. R. bishops, and bless God that, 
 since it is our mishap (not through their fault) to 
 have the exercise of our jurisdiction suspended, yet 
 it lights into the hands of those who are hearty and 
 affectionate to our body. Let us perfectly confide 
 in their fatherly care and goodness, that they will, 
 at our request, exert their utmost that we never be 
 oppressed more, nor reduced under the slavish yoke 
 our enemies had prepared for us. Lastly, let us 
 (salvo jure CAPiTULi) Submit peaceably to their 
 superintendency, till it shall please our Supreme 
 Pastor, when he sees the season proper, to better 
 the condition of our poor Church, by exalting their 
 temporary power into that perpetual one, of true 
 
 CANONICAL ORDINARIES. 
 
 Your affectionate brother. 
 
 And servant in Christ, 
 
 J. S. 
 April 18, 1706.
 
 TRANSACTIONS 
 
 RELATING TO THE 
 
 ENGLISH SECULAR CLERGY. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 Of the miseries our Clergy sustained till we got a Bishop. 
 
 It may not seem altogether imi:)ertinent to the 
 ensuing abstract, if we prefix an historical relation 
 of some fatal attempts and innovations, of most 
 pernicious consequences, carried on by a prevalent 
 party, and supported by all the methods and devices, 
 which either interest, faction, calumny, or misrepre- 
 sentation could suggest, against the ancient disci- 
 pline and hierarchy of the secular priests here in 
 England. And, indeed, so powerful were the engines 
 that were set at work to demolish this fabric of 
 Christian government, so unwearied the attempts, 
 indefatigable the pains, and secret the artifice and 
 contrivance, that it appears to me nothing less than 
 the hand of God which could extricate a harmless, 
 unsuspecting people out of these labyrinths, so sub- 
 tilely contrived, or infatuate the designs of such deep 
 and undermining Achitophels. But here, indeed, 
 was evidently seen, that innocence is the best armour 
 of protection, and the securest defence in time of 
 necessity : for though this secret policy had reduced 
 
 B
 
 2 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 the clergy to the last crisis and expiring breath, so 
 that their state seemed somewhat more than despe- 
 rate, yet Providence still protected them under the 
 shadow of its wings, and made even those dry bones 
 to live and flourish, and once more to become a 
 glorious army for the Lord of Hosts. 
 
 But, not to be too tedious in the preliminary, 
 when necessity obliges me to be very concise in the 
 narrative itself, the reader may please to reflect, that, 
 after the advancement of Queen Elizabeth to the 
 Crown, though she departed from the ancient esta- 
 blished religion of the kingdom, and showed an extra- 
 ordinary warmth and zeal for the propagation of the 
 new doctrine, yet, for several years, there was a peace- 
 able, though private enjoyment of our religion : and 
 though I dare not say that liberty of conscience was 
 either allowed or connived at, yet there were no 
 sanguinary laws, or Draconic sanctions, to fright men 
 from their consciences into churches, or compel them 
 to hazard an eternal rest, at the easy expense of a 
 temporal compliance.* But, about the year 1580, 
 Dr. Watson, bishop of Lincoln, with four more 
 doctors and priests, were committed prisoners to 
 Wisbeach Castle ; and, in some little time after, this 
 number increased and multiplied so fast, that two- 
 and-thirty made up the college of prisoners — wherein 
 they lived in such perfect unity and fraternal kind- 
 ness, that they became objects of admiration, as well 
 as compassion, to their keepers. They were constant 
 in their meditations, private in their recollections, 
 
 * The first execution for religion under Elizabeth, was that of 
 Cuthbert Maine, in 1577. — Lingard, vi. 331, fifth edition.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 3 
 
 had one common stock to share of, and one public 
 refectory to refresh themselves in ; and were so truly 
 of one heart and mind, that, in their daily exercises 
 of disputations, resolutions of cases of conscience, 
 preachings, and exhortations, there was no disturb- 
 ance, no feuds or animosities, but all calm and 
 serene, all messengers and angels of peace. 
 
 But these halcyon days were too soon blown over, 
 and nothing but clouds and darkness surrounded 
 them on a sudden, before they could well discern 
 from what point such hurricanes arose, or how to 
 provide against them ; till, foul weather still in- 
 creasing, they felt the vessel that carried them split 
 asunder on a rock of dissension, by the perfidious 
 treachery of one of their own new inmates. For, 
 in the year 1587, the same good cause of religion 
 made one Father Weston, provincial of the Jesuits, 
 a prisoner in the same castle ; — whose restless spirit 
 inspired him with ambitious thoughts, even in a 
 prison, and made him begin to cast about, the first 
 week he came in, how he might domineer over his 
 fellow-sufferers. The means he took were as artifi- 
 cial as clandestine, — by cajoling the younger and 
 simple missioners (and some of them his own peni- 
 tents) into a good opinion of another sort of disci- 
 pline among them, and [persuading them] that, if 
 they imagined anything in him worthy the reckoning 
 of, he would employ it totally for their service, and 
 at their command. The true reason of this desired 
 alteration proceeded from his ungovernable temper 
 and haughtiness of mind, which could not brook or 
 dispense with so great an undervaluing, as that any 
 secular priests, though doctors in divinity, and supe- 
 
 B 2
 
 4 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 rior to him both in age and sufferings, should have 
 the precedency, and uppermost room at the table. 
 This galled the very vital part, and was most sensible 
 and afflictive to him, which, by consequence, put his 
 ■wits to the rack, how to be acquitted of the pain ; — 
 which proved so effectual, that, in a few days, he 
 found the malignity abate, and himself, to his heart's 
 content, chosen, by that factious party he had clan- 
 destinely brought over, their superior, though much, 
 as he pretended, against his will ; and had the rules 
 digested and prescribed by Father Garnet's impar- 
 tial hand.* 
 
 * Weston, who is here mentioned, was at this time thirty- 
 seven years of age. He had entered the society in 1575, and 
 had been in England about five years. More, who recites the 
 principal incidents of his life (Ilist. Soc. Jesu, 141 — 145, 153 — 
 155), speaks of him in terms of the highest praise ; but he con- 
 tirms Sergeant's account of the piety and unanimity of the 
 prisoners at Wisbeach previous to the Jesuit's arrival amongst 
 them, and thereby establishes a presumption in favour of the 
 view by Sergeant. " Erat frequens precatio, lectio diligens, 
 divinarum literarum in certas horas distributa interpretatio ; nihil 
 nisi sanctum in suorum aut heterodoxorum aures oculosve incur- 
 rebat," — More, ibid. 143. The following extract from a memo- 
 rial, presented by a body of the English Catholics, clergy and 
 laity, to Pope Clement VIII., in 1597, is not without interest. 
 The document is entitled " Brevis declaratio miserrimi status 
 Catholicorum in Anglia jam degentium," and contains no less 
 than eleven articles seriously inculpating the fathers of the 
 society. The seventh runs thus : — 
 
 " Porro monarchiam spiritualem totius Anglisc sibi assumunt, 
 quod patet ex contentione quiidam in carcero Wisbicensi, in quo, 
 propter fideni, detinebantur, et adhuc detinentur, sacerdotes 
 xxxii., mortem quotidie expectantes. Hi, longo tempore, pie 
 et sancte viventes, comederunt omnes simul, studuerunt omnes 
 siraul, assiduis concionibus, disputatiouibus assiduis, casibusque
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 5 
 
 This new surreptitious advance added insolence 
 and schism to his ambition ; for all those ancient 
 and reverend doctors and missioners, who protested 
 against these innovations, he treated most uncivilly ; 
 then, with his new tribe, broke off their union into 
 separate places of retirement and refreshment ; then 
 falsely and maliciously detracted from their reputa- 
 tion by unjust aspersions ; and, lastly, laid the guilt 
 of felony to their charge, not scrupling, in the 
 least, to divulge it to his correspondents abroad, 
 who carried it upon the wings of the wind over all 
 the kingdom.* This fatal misunderstanding amazed 
 
 conscientias assidue, assiduaeque Scripturarum exposition! se 
 dabant, nuUis non studiis, quibus in gymnasiis uti solent, exer- 
 cebantur, omnes unanimes, Concordes omnes, omnes invicem 
 fraterne erant, unus alteri compatiebatur, ipsa civitas Wisbi- 
 censis eos diligebat, tota patria laudabat, haeretici admirabantur, 
 et ipsi carceris custodes eos maximo prosequebantur amore, ita 
 ut major majorque indies daretur libertas, providebatur illis 
 undique, inio a niinistris hfereticis unde viverent ssepissime daba- 
 tur. t*er multos annos in hac pia sanctitate et sancta devotione 
 religiose vixerunt, donee Jesuita quidam, nomine Edmundus 
 (Weston,) quo afflatus spiritu nescimus, dabat quibusdam de 
 eleemosynarum insumptione dubitandi occasionem, hocque posito 
 principio, se multorum cordibus ita blanditiis et fabulis insi- 
 nuaus, sacerdotes in duas divisit partes, quarum unani sibi 
 [^faventem], aliam contrariam habuit." 
 
 The memorial is partly printed in Bagshaw's " True Relation 
 of the Faction begun at Wisbeach," jj. 68. 
 
 * Sufficient evidence still remains to show that this statement 
 is not exaggerated. The memorial already cited thus concludes 
 its charges against the fathers : — " Non enim directe quajrunt ut 
 deprehendantur sacerdotes, sed indirecte, hoc est, post dispersos 
 rumores, et bonam ereptam famam, ita ut, propter hseresis, aut 
 alicujus sceleris suspicionem, tales a nullo Catholico possint 
 excipi, et, per consequens, ad paupertatem reducti, e manibus
 
 6 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 and confounded all the Catholics in general, and 
 each party believed and censured, according as their 
 first impressions or affections lay ; and in this con- 
 fusion the whole kingdom was, till, several dele- 
 gates being commissioned to investigate the matter,* 
 the cause of division was found and declared to 
 proceed from Father Weston, and the calumnies 
 [to be] notoriously forged. The major and sounder 
 part stood up for the good old way they were in 
 before, and he [was] commanded to lay down his 
 pretended authority; for most of his own party 
 at last crying out they would have peace with their 
 brethren, he broke out into this exclamation : — 
 "Ah, my masters, and will you forsake me thus? 
 I would never have left you ; but, since it is so, I 
 am content to give it over ; " et sic corruit inter 
 
 hoereticorum non possint evadere : et licet carceribus et vinculis 
 detineantur, et variis cruciatibus torqueantur, si non martyrii 
 coronentur gloria, nunquam ab ilia purgabuutur suspicione, sed 
 magis magisque indies pro hsereticis reputabuntur." Dr. William 
 Gifford, too, then dean of Lisle, and afterwards archbishop of 
 Rheims, writing to two of the English clergy who had opposed 
 themselves to the proceedings of Father Holt, says : " Sparse- 
 runt nuper (Jesuit*) Bruxellis, et quidam rediens Duacum pub- 
 lice dixit, vos esse reos htereseos, fornicationum, et nefandi 
 sceleris, et fuisse a sua sauctitate semel conclusura ut damna- 
 remini ad transtra, sed, ob honorem gentis, vobis pepercisse : et 
 licet plurimi horreant tantam calumniam, tamen apud nonnullos 
 fidem obtinet." — True Relation, 8, 18, 28, 41, 42. To the 
 " calumnies " of Standish, reference will be made presently. 
 
 * First, Dr. Bavant and INIr. Dolman, who failed in their 
 endeavours to reconcile the parties ; and afterwards, Mr. Dudley 
 and Mr. Mush, who were more successful. — True Relation, 21 — 
 27, 36—45.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. / 
 
 manus discipulorum, as though he had been in a 
 swoon.* 
 
 This storm, though with no little trouble and 
 damage, appeased, our venerable brethren began to 
 think of some means to secure them and their pos- 
 terity from the like or a worse misfortune, by pro- 
 viding themselves with some lawful pastor, who 
 might protect them, and curb any future inso- 
 lencies ; for it seemed an unheard and unparalleled 
 attempt, that those very auxiliaries, which but very 
 lately had been invited in, and were the last work- 
 men of all that were called into the vineyard, 
 should convert their forces against their benefactors, 
 and, instead of endeavouring to re-establish the 
 primitive doctrine in its ancient purity, should affect 
 a domineering power, not only over the flock, but 
 the very pastors of Christ, m^io had hitherto borne the 
 heat and burthen of the day. That haughty answer 
 which Father Garnet gave to some of the seculars 
 who consulted and advised with him concerning 
 this riovel design, cleared all difficulties, and let them 
 see what it was that they aimed at, viz., that he saw 
 no reason why the Jesuits might not govern, and have 
 the 'pre-eminence over, all the secular priests in Eng- 
 land, as well as they had at Rome over the English 
 seminary; and, comparing this with what Father 
 Weston and his adherents had formerly, in public 
 letters, demanded against those who refused to 
 submit to his new government, — viz., that no Catholic 
 
 * For a more detailed account of AVeston's proceediugs in 
 Wisbeacb Castle, see " True Relation," 1 — 45.
 
 8 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 should send them any reliefs or countenance them^ that 
 thereby, through want, they might he compelled to yield 
 to the regiment imposed upon them by Father Garnet, 
 — they could not but see themselves in dangerous 
 circumstances, and therefore all imaginable endea- 
 vours were to be used to shatter this threatening 
 tempest from falling on them.* Wherefore they 
 all unanimously agreed to draw up a humble sup- 
 
 * See " True Relation," 39, 40, and Berington's Memoirs of 
 Panzani, 41. Doclcl alludes to a report, which corresponds 
 exactly with our author's account, that Garnet was acting in 
 concert with Weston for the purpose of " bringing the clergy 
 into subjection to the Jesuits," and of obtaining " the manage- 
 ment of the collections that were made, all over England, for the 
 support of the prisoners. Thus far," he concludes, " it had its 
 eSect, that Father AVeston, having had several sums of money 
 paid into his hands, took care that only such should partake of 
 the distributions as conformed to the new discipline." — Hist, 
 vol. iii. p. 41, ed. Tierney. This is confirmed by what is known 
 to have existed even after the appointment of the archpriest : — 
 " Jesuitse tandem et archipresbyter (Blackwell) eleemosynas, 
 quae per universum gregem, in incarceratorum sustentationem et 
 alios pios usus, a fidelibus erogantur, in sicas prius manus depor- 
 tandas curant quam in egenos distribuautur : eae autem ad car- 
 ceres mittuntur cum mandato, lit illi sacerdotes, qui ah iis non 
 stant, earum non Jiant participes." — Relatio compendiosa tur- 
 barum quas Jesuita> Angli concivere, &c. p. 99. The memorial 
 above referred to thus describes the objects and conduct of the 
 fathers: — "Cupientcs qui in Anglia sunt Jesuitfe ant clerum eccle- 
 sia? Anglicanse sibi subjugare, aut omninb deprimere, hoc miro 
 molimine tentare sunt ausi. Primo, volunt, ut nulla sit Catholi- 
 corum domus (ecclesiarum enim hujusmodi loco sunt domicilia) 
 in qua non sint vel ipsi tanquam pastores, vel alii ab his depu- 
 tati, qui suas vices gerant : et si qui forte vel facultates denega- 
 rint ab eis delegatas, vel parochiam ab eis dependentem non 
 agnoverint, vel ca qu.'e mandarint ad nutum non exequantur, hi 
 aut apostatcC, aut hteretici, aut saltem aliqua hacresis labe infecti
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 9 
 
 plication to his holiness, and oft'er their reasons 
 for having a bishop granted to them, as he had 
 yielded heretofore to their brethren in Ireland. In 
 these consultations none was more active or zealous 
 than one Mr. Standish, a priest, till he had discovered 
 that there were several more able persons in all 
 respects than himself pitched upon for so great an 
 employment, and so weighty a trust and prefer- 
 ment ; whereupon he shifted his sails, and, going- 
 over to the Jesuits, acquainted them with the whole 
 procedure of his brethren's intentions. It was not 
 long before this notice was despatched to Father 
 Persons, in Spain ; and he, with the same expedi- 
 tion, hastens to Rome, in order to obviate and 
 obstruct any such advantageous assistance which 
 thereby might accrue to the clergy.* 
 
 censebuntur Non sufficit clerum pie et sancte vivere, nisi 
 
 etiam Jesuitas slbi superiores agnoscant," &c. &c. 
 
 * " True Relation," 50, 51. It has been asserted, that Persons 
 was anxious for the establishment of episcopal autliority ; and a 
 letter written by hiui to Father Alphousus Aggazarius on the 
 subject, as well as a memorial presented by him to the pope, has 
 often been referred to in suj^port of the assertion. — More, 146 ; 
 Plowden's Remarks on Panzani, 122, note. Now, admitting the 
 correctness of the inference thus deduced from these documents, 
 it will still be certain, at least, that he subsequently altered his 
 opinion, and that, if he at one time zealously advocated, he 
 afterwards as violently opposed, the appointment in question. 
 One motive for this change is shown by Dr. Lingard to have 
 been a hope, which he entertained, of rendering the government 
 of an archpriest instrumental in introducing a Catholic sovereign 
 on the death of Elizabeth (vi. 640, 5th edition) ; but this could 
 scarcely have been the sole inducement to an alteration of his 
 sentiments. He had originally, so it is said, proposed the insti- 
 tution of ttco bishops ; and though it might now have become
 
 10 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 But, in the interim, it was thought most proper 
 to approve of and applaud such a design, and to 
 keep the clergy amused with their own conceits, so 
 
 expedient to the political views of the Jesuits to " subject all the 
 secular priests to the government of a single superior, attached to 
 their party (ibid.), yet it will be difficult to show why that 
 single superior might not have been invested with the episcopal 
 character, unless we allow the existence of those ulterior designs 
 on the independence of the clergy, so constantly asserted in the 
 writings and publications of the time. " Jesuitje sibi ipsis com- 
 parare superioritatem per suffragia diffidentes, et episcopalem 
 dignitatem, ut suae conceptse existimationis ac splendoris obfusca- 
 tiouem, aversautes, ad dominium comparandum alienee persona) 
 larva utendum putant. Quamobrem aliquis ex nostris sacerdo- 
 tibus, per omnia Jesuitis obsequentissimus, sediild patris Per- 
 sonii opera, ad gradum infimse alicujus prajlaturae erat promo- 
 vendus : per hunc enim et se avertere a jugo episcoporum, et 
 facile dominari in toto clero posse sperabant." — Declaratio 
 Motuum, p. 30 ; a work written under the immediate inspection 
 of Dr. Bishop, and addressed, in the name of the clergy, to Pope 
 Clement VIII. 
 
 The fact, however, is, that Persons never contemplated the 
 establishment of a regular episcopal jurisdiction. He wished to 
 introduce the power, but not the authority, of a bishop. He was 
 anxious to secure the advantages to be derived from episcopal 
 ministration, without subjecting himself or his brethren to epi- 
 scopal control ; and thus, at the very moment when he was 
 describing the necessities of religion, and urging the appoint- 
 ment of two superiors qualified to discharge the peculiar func- 
 tions of bishops, he was devising means to fetter the authority of 
 those superiors, and render them, save only in name and charac- 
 ter, the model of that very archpriest whom he afterwards 
 inflicted on the English church. A copy of the memorial pre- 
 sented by him to the Pope, and containing what have been 
 called his " nine reasons " for the establishment of bishops in 
 England, will be found in the Appendix to tliis work. Unless 
 the reader has already become acquainted with the publication of 
 this document in Mr. Tierney's valuable edition of Dodd's History
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 11 
 
 that they might not suspect any underhand proceed- 
 ing against them, and in the mean while to endea- 
 vour to gain over to their party some of the seculars, 
 who might write to the court of Rome, and assure 
 it that there had never been any dissension between 
 the secular priests and the Jesuits, [and] that the 
 reports made against those good fathers concerning 
 their ambition were so far from truth, that the 
 Jesuits were in all places most notable examples to 
 the secular priests of singular humility, gentleness, 
 patience, piety, charity, &c. ; and they despatched 
 this testimonial by another clergyman to meet 
 Father Persons at Rome.* This contrivance failed 
 
 (vol. iii. p. cxvii.), he will perhaps be surprised to discover that, of 
 the two prelates who were to be charged with the government of 
 the Catholics, one was to reside in Belgium, the other in Eng- 
 land ; that they were to exercise a concurrent, and perhaps 
 co-ordinate, jurisdiction over the whole country ; and that, like 
 the a/rchpriest, they were each to be provided with a certain 
 number of clerical assistants, chosen partly hy themselves and 
 partly by the Roman court, and commissioned, not only to 
 direct the bishops, by their counsel, in the execution of their 
 various duties, but also to exercise a portion of the episcopal 
 jurisdiction in the provincial districts of the kingdom ! 
 
 * For the means by which signatures were obtained to this 
 testimonial, see "True Relation," 53, 54. The proceedings adopted 
 on another occasion will further illustrate this subject. In 
 November, 1596, a similar document, in behalf of Father Holt 
 and the English members of the society, was drawn up and cir- 
 culated among the exiles in Belgium ; and Dr. Worthington, 
 who, to use his own words, had " bound himself by express vow 
 to be directed, commanded, and governed " by Persons (Letter to 
 Persons, Jan. 10, 1597, Dodd, vol. v. App. p. iv. ed. Tierney), 
 was employed " to travel up and down, from place to place, to 
 get evei'y man's hand, who would not be counted a miso-Jesuit, 
 to subscribe to it. We all here," continues Dr. Youger, him-
 
 12 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 not of its desired end. Mr. Blackwell was the man 
 that penned that perfidious letter, and Mr. Standish 
 the bearer that carried it to Father Persons at 
 Rome, in the year 1597 ;* and by these two false 
 
 self one of the subscribing parties, " gladly would have shunned 
 to intermeddle in this matter, wherein we know nothing what 
 just accusation may be laid against Father Holt and others in 
 England, whose dealings are altogether unknown to the most 
 here ; yet we are importuned, yea, and violently persuaded, by 
 one who will not easily relent from his own preconceived opinion. 
 
 TVe must all, forsooth, needs subscribe to a letter drawn 
 
 in testimony of the fathers' innocency, against whom, in truth, 
 we know nothing, and thus much we would willingly testify ; 
 but this is not reckoned sufficient ; we must also say, that we 
 disallow, and disprove, and count slanderous all that the other 
 parties object against the Jesuits. To this we oppose that, in 
 conscience, we cannot, seeing we know not the causes by which 
 the others are moved to write to the pope. We offer to write to 
 the president (Dr. Barrett) a blank, wherein he may testify, in 
 all our names, that which in conscience he thinketh may be said. 
 This is not yet enough ; but we must write to Father Alphonso, 
 in case the president be absent, and Father Alphonso must bave 
 our names, to use when necessity shall require. If this be 
 refused, then general speeches are used, that we are ' Scottilini 
 generis,' unde sequitur nos non favere Jesuitis, ergo nee causae 
 Catholicse," &c. To the same effect, Dr. W. Gifford, after men- 
 tioning the refusal which Worthington's application had received 
 from himself and several of the clergy, says, that many were at 
 length induced to lend their signatures to the instrument by the 
 arts employed to circumvent them : " Quosdam enim promissis 
 inescarunt, alios minis terruerunt, nonnullos deceperunt." 
 Amongst the signatures, 118 in number, the name of Guy 
 Fawkes occurs. 
 
 * Besides this public document, Blackwell was busily employed 
 in writing and despatching a succession of private letters to Rome, 
 all of a similar nature. In one, dated September 1 4, 1 5 97, and signed 
 by himself, Thomas Braniston, and four others, after entreating
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 13 
 
 brethren the whole clergy was reduced to its last 
 extremity, and groaned under insupportable evils ; 
 for Father Persons, having gained that interest as 
 
 Cardinal Cajetan, to whom it is addressed, to adopt some means 
 for securing the future submission and obedience of all persons 
 destined to the English mission, he says : " Hoc si fiet, et omnia 
 dissidia, uti speramus, perpetub cessabunt, et nostri, uhicumque 
 fuerint, optimis illis patrihus qui pTcesunt illis, qiiiqiie de illis 
 et omnibus Anglis optime tneriti sunt, dlligentiiis in posterum 
 ohtemperahunt." In another, addressed to the same person, on 
 the 10th of the following December, and signed by himself only, 
 he says : " Vidimus raaximo cum dolore uostro maximum men- 
 daciorum et calumniarum curaulum congestum esse in huniillimos, 
 qui apud nos vivuut, et integerrimos, et pacatissimos patres 
 Societatis Jesu ;" and he concludes a lengthened panegyric by 
 imploring the cardinal, for his sake, to continue to think well of 
 the society : " Hoc igitur humillime petimus ob amplitudine 
 vestra, ut, quia haeret in animo vestro de nostris commodis 
 assidua cogitatio, hoc unum prteter ca3tera pra^cipue cui-etis, ne 
 quod in sua existimatione damnum faciant reverendi patrea 
 societatis." 
 
 Of Standish's conduct on this occasion, it may be sufficient to 
 observe that, with a view to exalt the fathers of the society at 
 the expense of the secular clergy, he employed himself, whilst at 
 Rome, in charging the latter, upon oath, with practices equally 
 obscene and improbable. Take, as a specimen, one of the least 
 objectionable passages, premising only that similar and even 
 worse charges are made, amongst others, against Charnock 
 (whose name, as the deputy of the clergy, will presently be 
 mentioned in conjunction with that of Dr. Bishop), and the 
 venerable and venerated confessor John Colleton, aftcrAvards one 
 of the assistants to the archpriest, and ultimately dean of the 
 English chapter : " De ]\Iutio (John ]\Iush, one of the agents 
 for the clergy at Rome, and subsequently assistant to the arch- 
 priest) mihi retulit nobilis quajdara foemina Catholica, et cogna- 
 tione mihi conjuncta, vehemeuterque questa est, se vidisse hunc 
 Mutium in amplexibus et osculis cum filia sua super lectum, unde 
 valde timebat mater filiro ,su;p periculum ; cumque non hal)oret ad
 
 14 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 to be promoted to the rectorship of the English 
 college there, obtained an audience of his holiness 
 for this Standish, Dr. Haddock, and Martin Array, 
 two other runagate priests, as the deputies of the 
 secular priests in England, most humbly entreating 
 his holiness that he would be pleased to appoint a 
 superior over the Church of England, because there 
 was so great a dissension between the secular priests 
 and the laity, that great inconveniences would neces- 
 sarily follow, unless one was placed over them, who, 
 by his authority, might reform and reconcile them. 
 His holiness, startled at this, demanded of them, in 
 express terms, if what they had said to him pro- 
 ceeded from the desire and consent of his loving 
 priests in England ? otherwise he would in no sort 
 give ear to their relation. Whereunto Mr. Standish 
 (unheard-of perfidiousness !), instructed before by 
 Father Persons, replied, that what he had presumed 
 to deliver to his holiness was done by the most 
 assured and unanimous consent of his brethren. 
 His holiness, thus otossIv abused, committed the 
 matter to Cardinal Cajetan, protector of the English 
 seminary, and Cardinal Borghesius, with whom 
 Father Persons had so particular a familiarity, that 
 he was commissioned to contrive it as he thought 
 most convenient. He easily determined that one 
 must govern all the priests in England ; yet, not 
 daring to nominate a Jesuit for that purpose (for 
 this would have appeared too palpable a design, and 
 absurdity), who must be the man but Mr. Blackwell? 
 
 qucni confugoret remedii causa, conquesta est apud patres in 
 castro Wishicensi detentos^ qui tamen, pro auctoritate, aut ex 
 imperio, nihil facere poterant."
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 15 
 
 who thereupon is named arch priest of England. 
 Assistants are appointed to wait upon him ; a letter, 
 with the cardinaFs consent, is composed by Father 
 Persons ; rules are made, and one, in effect, that 
 the arclipriest and Ms assistants shall determine no- 
 thing, in any matter of importance, without the Jesuits'* 
 consent. All things thus despatched, Mr. Standish 
 is remitted with this stuff into England, and Mr. 
 Blackwell receives and publish eth the same, requir- 
 ing all priests to subscribe to it.* 
 
 This strange, unexpected surprise caused most of 
 the ancient missioners to examine more strictly into 
 the depth of the mystery ; and, finding that the 
 cardinal's directions were not warranted by any brief 
 from the pope ; that Mr. Blackwell had been taken 
 in a manifest forgery, of jDretending some of his own 
 to be the cardinal's constitutions, which he openly 
 confessed ; that Mr. Standish, being examined how 
 he durst presume to abuse his holiness with so im- 
 pudent and intolerable an untruth, replied, that, 
 when he said he -had the consent of the secular 
 priests in England to make that motion, his answer 
 therein was made by him caiite, that is, subtilely, or bi/ 
 equivocation, meaning, to himself, " as he supposed, or 
 presumed,^' which words he kept in his mind, and 
 uttered not ;-|- — these considerations convinced them 
 
 * Tins account is taken from Bagsliaw, 55 — 58 ; its confir- 
 mation Avill be found in Dodd, iii. 41, App. exx. cxiix. ed. 
 Tierney ; and ii. 380, orig. ed. The number of Blackwell'a 
 assistants was to be twelve, whereof six were named in Cardinal 
 Cajetan's letter, and the remainder were to be selected by Black- 
 well himself. — Dodd, iii cxxi. ed. Tierney. . %c csi^n^ ^^ (^ 
 
 t " Dominus Standishus, ad hoc negotium promovendum
 
 16 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 tliat the whole was only a contrivance of Father 
 Persons, and that the cardinal, as well as the pope, 
 had been imposed upon by false suggestions : and 
 therefore [they] desired that they might not be 
 urged to subscribe to the said authority, till [either] 
 they had seen the pope's bull to ratify it, or more 
 time [had been] allowed, to know his holiness's 
 pleasure therein : for they could never be induced 
 to believe that either the pope or the cardinal would 
 impose such hard conditions on the clergy, as [to 
 require them] to submit themselves to the dominion 
 of the new order of the Jesuits. Mr. Blackwell and 
 Father Garnet, perceiving their intent, despatched 
 their emissaries over all the kingdom, to gather the 
 subscrii3tions of our poor ignorant brethren, who 
 had never heard of this matter before ; and, partly 
 by threats, partly by fair promises, compelled them 
 to put their hands to a letter of thanks to the pope 
 and cardinal, for that excellent form of government 
 they had appointed over them.* This despatch was 
 
 subornatus, coram sanctissirao domino affirmavit omnium 
 
 se consensum habuisse sacerdotum, quem sane nee habuit, nee 
 
 postulavit ; et interrogatus postea qmi fronte illud faceret, 
 
 respondit se ex prjESumptioue illud fecisse." — Relatio Conipen- 
 diosa, p. 23; see also True Relation, 56. 
 
 * See Memoirs of Panzani, 55 ; True Relation, 59; and Relatio 
 Compendiosa, 26. The last says, " Breve apostolicum in autbori- 
 tate coufirmatura, est per suhtili et fraudulcntd subscriptionum 
 collectione." — Ibid. Plowden, however, in his remarks on Panzani 
 (p. 126), denies the accuracy of this statement; and to prove, first, 
 that Blackwell and Garnet were not concerned in procuring the 
 letter of thanks; secondly, that it was signed, not by " tbe young 
 and ignorant," but by " the great bulk of the clergy," refers to two 
 letters which he has printed in his Appendix, No. 3. But it is to
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 17 
 
 accelerated with all imaginable diligence, and fresh 
 directions [were] given to the messengers, to assure 
 the court of Rome that the opposition which was 
 made against the [new] subordination in England, 
 did proceed only from a few factious spirits, and that 
 it would be very dishonourable to his holiness's former 
 proceedings if they should find any favour or counte- 
 nance there.* These Machiavellian practices gaining 
 on the good opinion of that court, we may well ima- 
 gine that the clergy's agents (two learned and pious 
 priests), Mr. Bishop and Mr. Cbarnock, had but 
 
 be observed, that of these letters the first is Garnet's oivn, written, 
 probably, to Persons, and enclosing a copy of a congratulatory 
 address, said to have been presented by certain clergymen to Black- 
 well on his appointment. In it the writer says that the address 
 is signed by " almost all the priests at Wisbeach " (a quibusdam, 
 imb fere omnibus presbyter! s Wisbicensibus), and declares that 
 " the society is intimately connected with the archpriest" (societas 
 nostra uni versa illi intime conjuncta est). The second letter is 
 the copy enclosed in the preceding. It is dated September 30, 
 1598, and is signed by nineteen persons, amongst whom are 
 Weston and Pond, two Jesuits ; Dryland, superior of the 
 prisoners at Wisbeach under Weston, and afterwards a member 
 of the society (Dodd, ii. 141, orig. edit.) ; Southworth and 
 Bramston, who, with Blackwell, are joint subscribers of the 
 letter referred to in note, p. 12; and Green, who, after a warm 
 eulogium in favour of the Jesuits, once not only demanded the 
 excommunication of all who opposed them, but solicited the pope 
 for powers to pronounce and execute the sentence himself : — " Si 
 autem ita visum fuerit tuaa prudentias, et expedire videtur ut hoc 
 modo et ordine contra istos rebelles procedatur, ad me transmit- 
 tatur mandatiim apostolicum," &c. Of the others scarce any- 
 thing is known. 
 
 * This statement is taken fi'om Bagshaw, " True Relation," 
 59 : its truth is proved by Cardinal Cajetau's letter to Blackwell, 
 inserted in Dodd, iii. 125, ed. Tierney. 
 
 C
 
 18 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 small success in supplicating the pope for a better 
 information ;* — meeting [in fact] with no better 
 entertainment than a browbeating denial of audience, 
 a close confinement in prison, very hard usage therein, 
 [and] no release thence, but upon the sacred promise 
 of an oath to depart separately thence, without leave 
 or valediction one of another, — one through Lorraine, 
 the other through Holland, — and by no means to set 
 foot in England again, till they had leave from Rome. 
 Neither was the persecution less vehement on the 
 whole body in the realm than on their representa- 
 tives abroad : for all that would not subscribe were 
 treated as rebels and apostates, as men fallen from 
 the Church, and the spouse of Christ, &c. ; [they 
 were represented] to have incurred the sentence of 
 excommunication, to be as publicans and sinners, and 
 
 * That is, in requesting the pope to inquire further and obtain 
 Letter information. For an account of tbe mission and treat- 
 ment of Bishop and Charnock, see Dodd, iii. 49, exxvii. ed. 
 Tierney ; Declaratio Motuum, 41—44 ; Relatio Compend. 75 ; 
 Memoirs of Panzani, 55 — 57 ; and Butler's Memoirs of Eng. 
 Cath. ii. 257 — 260. The last writer, after stating that on their 
 liberation from confinement they were forbidden, under pain of 
 suspension, to return to England, Ireland, or Scotland, endeavours 
 to account for their subsequent appearance in England, by sug- 
 gesting the probability of an interference in their behalf on the 
 part of Cardinal du Perron, the French ambassador, then resident 
 at the Roman court. The fact, however, is, that the prohibition 
 in question was issued by the cardinals Cajetan and Borghese ; 
 that, on his arrival in Lorraine, Charnock addressed an appeal 
 to Pope Clement against the sentence of the cardinals ; and that, 
 having by this appeal removed the cause out of the jurisdiction 
 of the latter, he and his colleague returned to England, and the 
 subject, most probably, was not afterwards revived. See Dr. 
 Ely's " Certain Brief Notes" on Persons' Apology, 157, 158.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 19 
 
 nothing better than soothsayers and idolaters ; and, 
 proportionably {conformably) hereunto, the new 
 patriarch fulminates out his indignation in these 
 words, — "■ Propterea, in Dei fiomine, Amen. Nos, 
 Geor gilts Blackwellus^ archipresbyter AnglicE, et pro- 
 tonotarius apostolicus^ ejo autJioritate nobis stifficienter 
 et legitime commissd^ prcecipimus stricte, in virtute 
 obedientifs, et sub pcend suspensionis d divinis, et amis- 
 sionis omnium facultatum ipso facto incur rendarum, 
 omnibus ecclesiasticis personis {omnibus autem laicis 
 Catholicis sub pwnd inter dicti, similiter ipso facto i7i- 
 cwrendi), uty' &c. — which extravagant sentence was 
 designed against all those that should, either directly 
 or indirectly, maintain or defend the censure of the 
 faculty of Sorbonne, in behalf of our clergy.* For, 
 finding themselves accused as schismatics, in not 
 subscribing the cardinal's constitutions, without the 
 warrant of the pope's brief for the tenor of its con- 
 firmation, and introducing a new kind of government, 
 never heard of before in God's church, viz., that an 
 archpriest should have charge over a whole kingdom, 
 and jurisdiction over every priest in the realm, who 
 yet were willing to submit to his holiness's will in all 
 things, they proposed their case to the Sorbonne 
 thus : — f 
 
 " The archpriest, and those who are on his side, 
 
 * A copy of Blackwell's decree, partly in English and partly 
 in Latin, is printed in the True Relation, 81 — 83 ; the substance 
 of it, without either the preamble or the coucl tiding paragraph, 
 may be found in Dodd, iii. 131, ed. Tierney. Dorrel's masterly 
 reply to it is worth perusing. It is in the True Relation, 83 et seq. 
 
 t The meaning of the writer is, that finding themselves, 
 though willing to submit implicitly to the commands of his 
 
 C 2
 
 20 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 accuse other priests of schism, in tliat they deferred 
 to obey the cardinal's letters, Avhich, moreover, he 
 said, were written according to his holiness's mind 
 and pleasure. The question, then, is, whether these 
 priests be schismatics? — and if not, whether they 
 did commit, at the least, some grievous sin? 
 
 " Resolved, first. That those priests who, upon the 
 above-named causes, deferred to obey, were no schis- 
 matics ; secondly. That they committed no sin at all, 
 in that fact, in itself considered. 
 
 " By commandment of our dean and masters, de- 
 puted and selected by the whole faculty of divinity 
 
 in Paris. 
 
 (Signed) *' Delacourt. 
 
 " May 3, Anno Dom. 1600." 
 
 At last, indeed, the pope's brief was obtained and 
 promulgated ; and the clergy, with all submission 
 and willingness, obeyed it, as dutiful sons of their 
 supreme pastor, how dear soever it cost them.* 
 
 holiness, yet accused as schismatics, because they denied the 
 validity of the cardinal's letter, unsupported as it was by any 
 brief from the pope, and introducing as it did a new form of 
 ecclesiastical government, in the person of an archpriest having 
 jurisdiction over the clergy and laity of a whole kingdom, they 
 proposed their case, &c. The case, with the sentence pro- 
 nounced on it by the Sorbonne, is in Dodd, iii. 130, ed. Tierney ; 
 a translation of it is in the True Relation, 79 — 81. 
 
 * The brief is in Dodd, iii. cxxviii. ed. Tierney, and is dated 
 April 6, 1599. Hence it appears that the opinion of the Paris 
 divines was subsequent to the publication of the brief, and that 
 Blackwell, who suspended or interdicted all who defended the 
 sentence pronou^ed by that learned body, continued to brand 
 his former opponents as schismatics, even after they had submitted 
 to his anomalous government. This, in fact, is acknowledged 
 by Pope Clement himself in another brief, dated August 17,
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 21 
 
 It is hard to conceive the indignities which, on 
 one side, the clergy patiently endured, and the inso- 
 lencies which, without number or measure, were 
 offered from the other party, during this anarchical 
 government of Mr. Blackwell and his twelve asso- 
 ciates, who, if not all Jesuits, yet were absolute 
 dependants and favourites of them, acting and de- 
 termining nothing but with and by their authority 
 and approbation, to the great diminution of the 
 
 1601, wherein, referring to the former instrument, be says, 
 "Quce nostra) literaa simul atque promulgatae ad vestram, filii 
 presbyteri, devenerunt notitiam, omnem illicd sedatam fuisse 
 discordiain, et summam pacem (reconciliatd inter vos gratia^ 
 depositisque odiis et simidtatihus) initam fuisse, magno nostro 
 cum gaudio cognovimus. At vero, quia nunnullorum animis 
 adbuc adbajrebat offeusio qujedam, quod illi, qui primb tibi, fill 
 arcbipresbyter, obtemperare recusaveraut, a quibusdam schisma- 
 
 tici censerentur , tu, iisdem causis adductus, constitutes 
 
 authoritatis dstractores videri tibi schismaticos fuisse respon- 
 disti {quod dolentes referimus) ; et ideb consilium judiciumque 
 tuum fuisse, ut ipsi priiis satisfactioneui facerent, quam absolu- 
 tionia beneficium acciperent." In a subsequent part of the same 
 letter he thus confirms the opinion of the Paris divines : " Ut 
 
 verb totius discordiso fomes e medio toUatur , nomen 
 
 schismatis, hdc de causa, inter vos penitus extlnguimus et ahole- 
 mus ; et ne ullam amplius illius mentionem facialis, vohis, sub 
 iisdem poenis (excouimunicationis) interdicimus et prohibemus." 
 — Dodd, iii. cl. cli. ed. Tierney. It is to this decision that 
 Lord Henry Howard, afterwards earl of Northampton, in a 
 letter addressed to Bruce, one of the agents of King James, thus 
 refers : " Sentence is given at Rome, on the side of the semina- 
 ries (seminary priests), that they were neither schismalici nor 
 inobedientes, in forbearing to submit till they saw warrant by 
 pontifical authority ; and all their acts, till the coming out of the 
 brief, have been justified, as they term it, ore apostolico, which 
 hath put all our Jesuits and their friends into a fever." — Secret 
 Correspondence, 72.
 
 22 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 portion of Christ, and the absolute establishment of 
 their own interest : insomuch that his holiness, at 
 length, understanding what indirect measures were 
 taken here, in the jurisdiction over the clergy, 
 gave his positive commands that no Jesuit should 
 know, or be consulted in, what peculiarly belonged 
 to the clergy's affairs.* And, that you may be the 
 better informed what irreparable damages they did 
 then to the whole concern and interest of the secular 
 priests, and on what a sure foundation they established 
 themselves and their party, for a perpetuity, I shall 
 abstract some few articles, exhibited against them 
 and their proceedings, by some English gentlemen, 
 to Pope Clement VIII. [in] 1597. 
 
 " First. That, in every Catholic house (which are 
 instead of the church), either they themselves be the 
 pastors, or others deputed by them in their room ; 
 and if any deny to submit to this, then they are 
 censured, either as apostates or heretics, or tainted 
 with the infection of some heresy. 
 
 " Secondly. That no dispensation is available but 
 what is granted by them ; and, which is worse, they 
 have persuaded most people that the mass is not 
 rightly said, or orderly celebrated, by any but a 
 Jesuit. 
 
 " Thirdly. When any clergyman granteth a dis- 
 pensation in any case, there is a doubt made, first 
 of his power and authority, next of his life and 
 con versation. 
 
 " Fourthly. That unless a secular priest will ac- 
 
 * See Dodd, iii. cxxxi. cxxviii. ed. Tierney ; Memoirs of 
 Panzani, 00 — 64 ; and Butler's Mem. of Eug. Cath. ii. 261 — 
 265.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 23 
 
 knowledge the Jesuits for his superiors, he shall 
 either be tormented, disgraced, or persecuted. 
 
 " Fifthly. They give out that they have power 
 from his holiness to grant to all and every one, all 
 and singular their faculties, insomuch that it shall 
 not be lawful and safe for any one to make use of 
 his privileges, though granted to him many years 
 before from his holiness, but with the leave and 
 consent of these fathers of the society; and the 
 faculties bestowed by them are not conferred upon 
 learned and deserving men, but upon illiterate, irre- 
 gular, and seditious persons, such as follow their 
 humour, stoop at their beck, and stand obliged ever 
 after to them. 
 
 " Sixthly. That the collection of alms, heretofore 
 made by the secular priests, and the contributions 
 in cases of dispensations, whereby colleges were 
 supplied, banished Catholics relieved, and prisoners 
 succoured, are now taken into their hands ; but none 
 of the pious works [to which it was heretofore dedi- 
 cated, are now] performed by that great mass of 
 money collected, nor can any one tell what is 
 become of it."* 
 
 * In the first of these articles the reader will recognise an 
 abridged translation of a passage cited in note, page 8. 
 The charges, in fact, here enumerated, are all selected from the 
 memorial already frequently referred to, and are abundantly 
 confirmed by the evidence of other contemporary documents. 
 To show that the memorialists were not disposed to exaggerate 
 their grievances, the ninth clause is subjoined : " Ita deinde 
 delectantur tequivoco sermone, ut, ad aliorum scandalum, pub- 
 licis Uteris |^eum] defendere non vereantur. Judicibus legeban- 
 tur literae cujusdam Jesuita), Sudevelli (Southwell) nomine, 
 omnibus in foro audientibus, in quihus defendehantur ccquivoca- 
 tiones absurdissimce, quae risum hsereticis, at Catholicis scan-
 
 24 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 Under this insupportable yoke did the clergy 
 groan [during] most of this arclipriest's usurpation 
 and tyranny, till Providence found out the means to 
 ease them of him first, and shortly after of the 
 burthen too, which was brought to pass after this 
 manner : — Mr. Blackwell allowed of, and permitted 
 the taking, the oath of allegiance, contrary to the 
 sentiments of the Jesuits ; whereupon they repre- 
 sented him, after the usual manner, at Rome, as 
 they had formerly done to others,* and thereupon 
 
 dala, pra^bebaiit. Ita illis corcli est rumores spargere, et novi- 
 tatea nescio quas auribus Catholicorum suggerere, imo quotidie 
 fingere, ut vulgo nunc a plurimis mendacissimi habeantur : eo 
 etiara deventum est, ut jurautibus illis fides non adhibeatur." 
 Now, thougli Father Persons at the time denied the truth of the 
 charge here levelled against Southwell, yet More, the historian 
 and the panegyrist of the society, offers his approving testimony 
 to the fact, that Southwell not only defended a simple equivoca- 
 tion, as stated above, but, in his defence uijon his trial, asserted 
 the lawfulness of confirming a falsehood by an oath, if the object 
 were to frustrate the pursuit of an enemy or a persecutor. (Hist. 
 Soc. Jesu, 19f), 197.) This was a doctrine not unworthy of that 
 man who, having been convicted of swearing to an untruth, first 
 contended that his falsehood was a " lawful equivocation," and 
 thou declared that it might "be, without perjury, confirmed by 
 
 oath though it were by receiving the sacrament." — See 
 
 Lingard, vii. 81. On the charge of alienating the funds of the 
 clergy, mentioned in the sixth clause, see the complaint of Cardi- 
 nal Allen, recorded in the memorial presented by the archpriest 
 Harrison and his assistants to Pope Paul V., in 1619 (Dodd, v. 
 ccxxvi. ed. Tiernoy) ; the " information " of Archdeacon Colle- 
 ton and the other assistants {ibid. iii. 146, orig. edn.) ; and the 
 brief of Pope Clement VIIL, in which he feels it necessary to 
 admonish Blackwell to be faithful in the distribution of the col- 
 lections : "■ Monemus ut eleemosynas .Jideliter distribuas." 
 
 — Ibid. iii. clxxxii. ed. Tierney. 
 
 * That is, as they had formerly represented others.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 25 
 
 he was removed from his arch})resbytery, and an- 
 other was substituted in his room, who, not so 
 exactly fitting their humour as was expected, he 
 was cashiered, too, of his authority ; and so a 
 third;* till the pope, awakened by such audacious 
 proceedings, and justly suspecting some sinister and 
 fraudulent designs, admitted thereupon the agents 
 of the clergy to an audience ; with tears of com- 
 passion pitied their circumstances ; and, out of a 
 paternal care, gave them a true father for their 
 superior, — that is, a bishop with ordinary jurisdic- 
 tion, — and accepted of that very person nominated 
 by them for this prelatic authority, who had suffered 
 so much cruelty before in prison and banishment, 
 viz. Mr. Bishop, whom he raised up as it were 
 from the dunghill of affliction, to seat him amongst 
 the princes of his people, to be the ordinary of 
 England, and titular of Chalcedon. And thus we 
 are arrived at the catastro])he of this dismal tra- 
 
 * If the author means here that Blrket and Harrison, the two 
 successors of Blackwell, were deposed, he is in error ; for they 
 are both known to have died in possession of their dignity, — the 
 former in 1614, and the latter in 1G21. — Dodd, ii. o77, orig. 
 edn. ; Mem. Panz. 91. It is however true that, though the 
 " audacious proceedings " of the fathers did not succeed in 
 actually " cashiering " these dignitaries, the}'^ were not ineffec- 
 tual in impairing and impeding their " authority." They were 
 the constant subject of Birket's private expostulations with Per- 
 sons ; they were the theme of the spirited remonstrance which 
 Harrison and his assistants transmitted to Rome, in 1G19; and 
 there can be little doubt that they were, at length, the means of 
 awakening the papal court to the necessities of the English 
 church, and introducing that form of episcopal government 
 which was soon after established. — See Dodd, ii. 377, orig. edn.; 
 V. Ixxxix. ccxxvii. ed. Tierney.
 
 26 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 gedy, wishing that we may from this example learii 
 to be wise, and secure ourselves from falling into 
 the like misfortunes. Neither, indeed, can we hope 
 for or deserve the compassion of any, if we should 
 be so far neglectful of our duty as not to be zealous 
 to defend that authority which was granted for our 
 preservation, and must be our sole defence.
 
 PAET II. 
 
 That the Power ^ Authority^ and Jurisdiction of our two 
 Bishops was truly ordinary. 
 
 The next thing, that follows of course, is to prove 
 that this authority in our first bishop, William, and 
 Richard who succeeded him, was truly ordinary, and 
 that they (the bishops) were validly and authentically 
 constituted such ; which I shall here demonstrate 
 from no less testimony than public records, conces- 
 sions, acknowledgments, and prescription. 
 
 In the year, therefore, 1621, Mr. John Bennet, 
 one of the archpriest's assistants, was despatched 
 with letters patent to Rome (as before him an- 
 other had been sent on the same errand), to sup- 
 plicate for a bishop with ordinary jurisdiction. 
 In his first audience with Pope Gregory XV., in a 
 very elegant speech, which is yet preserved amongst 
 the records of the chapter, he endeavoured to per- 
 suade his holiness to a favourable condescension ; 
 and afterwards presented a memorial to him, and to 
 the cardinals, with these most solid arguments and 
 weighty considerations : — First, from the institu- 
 tion of Christ ; secondly, from the practice of the 
 apostles and the perpetual custom of the Church ; 
 thirdly, from the authority and decrees of councils and 
 popes ; fourthly, from the nature of episcopal func- 
 tions ; fifthly, from the absolute necessity of restoring
 
 28 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 and preserving the ecclesiastical hierarchy and dis- 
 cipline in England ; and sixthly, from the modern 
 examples of our neighbouring nations ; concluding, 
 in a nervous peroration to the cardinals of the holy 
 office, for an episcopal ordinary jurisdiction, instead 
 of the late new and unheard-of extraordinary juris- 
 diction of archpriests. After this, he presented 
 divers other memorials to his holiness and the afore- 
 said cardinals, to the same effect ; and, October 24, 
 [1022,] he writes to the clergy in England, that, 
 although the decree for granting a bishop to them 
 be the same which is granted to all other nations 
 where there is any number of Catholics, yet, unwill- 
 ing to give his majesty any cause of offence, his holi- 
 ness intends to give them only one bishop to supply 
 the place of the archpriest ; that his title shall be 
 taken out of Greece or Asia, and not out of Eng- 
 land, so as by no means to provoke the incumbents 
 there, or prejudice any right his majesty hath to the 
 nomination of English bishops ; that his jurisdiction 
 shall be the usual which is received, known, and 
 approved in all provinces, and that which every pri- 
 vate bishop exerciseth in his diocese, &c.* 
 
 * On the subject of Bennet's mission, and tlie arguments em- 
 ployed to deter Gregory from complying with the desires of the 
 clergy, see Lingard, vii. note f, p. 552, 5th edit. The number of 
 bishops originally intended for the English Catholics was four ; 
 but Toby Matthews," a concealed Jesuit, was enaployed to alarm 
 
 * Owen was pleased to play thus on his name : — 
 
 " Tobias Matd^us. 
 Ex veteri primum sortire, novoque secundum, 
 
 Ex Testamento nomen utroque trahis. 
 Hoc mirum est : nomen Gentile Canonicon esse, 
 
 Hoc in fonte Fides quod dedit, Apocryjihum."
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHArXER. 29 
 
 But, after all, finding some demurs concerning 
 the principal part of our sui)plication for episcopal 
 ordinary jurisdiction, in the November following he 
 presented the cardinals with a more sensible and 
 close memorial, in this tenor : — 
 
 " Illustrissimi et Reverendissimi Domini, — Post 
 diuturnam tredecim mensium deliberationem, pla- 
 cuit SSmo. D. N. clero Anglicano episcopum pra^fi- 
 ciendum esse decernere ; cumque res omnis ad 
 exitum perducta videretur, in novam revocatur con- 
 sultationem, num tali episcopo ordinaria jurisdictio 
 fuerit tribuenda. Sane, totius nostra3 petitionis ea 
 erat summa, ut delegata archipresbyteri potestas in 
 ordinariam et episcopalem mutaretur, quod ex 
 rationibus a nobis exhibitis fit manifestum. Ex 
 duobus nam que capitibus, episcopos nobis petentibus 
 jure divino deberi, probatum censemus, — primum 
 ex muniis qune sunt ordinis, sacramentis nimirum 
 episcopalibus, &c., secundum ab ordinance jurisdic- 
 
 the jealousies of the government. James, through the agency of 
 the Spanish ambassador, announced his determined hostility to 
 the proposed arrangement, and Gregory, to extricate himself 
 from the difficulty, endeavoured to compromise the matter by the 
 appointment of only one episcopal superior. Toby Matthews's 
 object, which was not unperceived by the king, is well described 
 by the lord-keeper Williams, in a postscript to one of his letters 
 to the duke of Buckingham : — " The Spanish ambassador," says 
 he, " took the alarum very speedily of the titulary Romish bishop, 
 and before my dei)arture from his house at Isliugton, whither I 
 went privately to him, did write both to Rome and Spain, to 
 prevent it. But I am afraid that Tobie will prove but an 
 apocryphal, and no canonical, intelligencer ; acquainting the state 
 with this project, for the Jesuites', rather than for Jesus sake." 
 The letter is dated August 23, 1G22.— Cabala, 201, 292 ; Dodd, 
 Hist., vol. V. p. 00, ed. Tiernoy.
 
 30 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 tionis necessitate, &c. Fuse etiam calamitosis 
 documentis ostendimus, non solum arehipresbyteri 
 delegatam apud nos potestatem, sed quamvis aliam 
 novam et non receptam jurisdictiotiem, non inutilem 
 nobis solum, sed, his pra^sertim temporibus, exiti- 
 alem, &c. Verijm, modo objicitur, hac jurisdictione 
 Jesuitas peti, unde turba? et tumultus sint orituri : 
 Respondeo [primo], nemini obscurum est Jesuitas 
 vires et artes suas clam et palam ad hoc negotium 
 oppugnandum contulisse, idque non alia ratione, 
 nisi quod ordinariam jurisdictionem, omnis disci- 
 plina) normam, aversantur, &c. : secundo, humil- 
 lime supplicamus ut perpendatur, gequumne sit ut 
 episcoj^i ex ecclesise provinciis tollantur, ex eo quod 
 Jesuitae contra eos ubique, vel alicubi, tumultuentur, 
 &c. : tertio, consideretur num, ad morem gerendum 
 pauculis Jesuitis ordinariam jurisdictionem in epis- 
 copis contra omne jus et fas, adeoque Christi insti- 
 tutum, aversantibus, a^quum sit immenso clero, et 
 infinito populo, ac demum duobus amplissimis 
 regnis, omnem ordinariam potestatem, licet divino 
 jure alias debitam, ut horum libidini obsequatur, 
 denegare. Objicitur secundo, ordinariam jurisdic- 
 tionem episcopis extra dioecesium suarum limites 
 committi non posse, sed eam, qua;cumque fuerit, 
 fore delegatam. Respondeo, hoc penitijs esse fal- 
 sum : primo, quia antiquior est ordiuaria jurisdictio 
 quam dioecesium divisio et limites, &c. : secundo, 
 ex institutione Pauli quinti, illustrissimus nuncius 
 apostolicus in Gallia factus est ordinarius Anglia) et 
 Scotioc," &c. 
 
 In the same month, autlientical informations 
 were delivered in to the said cardinals in behalf of
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CI1APTP:R. 31 
 
 Dr. Kellison, Dr. Bishop, and Dr. Smith, nominated 
 by the clercjy for bishops ; and the February follow- 
 ing [1623], Dr. William Bishop was declared elect 
 bishop of Chalcedon, though not destined by any 
 brief for England, nor determined as yet what 
 power he should have or exercise there ; but on the 
 15th of March following, the bull for his creation 
 was despatched, and that, too, as ample and as full 
 as is now usually given to any bishop in Christendom, 
 excepting what is peculiar to titular bishops, in 
 dispensing with their residence. The substance of 
 which was this : — 
 
 * "Hoc etiam tibi, ut addictam ecclesiam, quamdiu 
 ab ipsis infidelibus detinebitur, adire, et apud illam 
 personaliter residere, minime tenearis, authoritate 
 apostolica pra^dicta, earundem tenore praesentium, de 
 speciali gratia indulgemus," &c. : in which, first, he 
 granted a dispensation for his residence at Chalcedon ; 
 secondly, he conferred upon him an indulgence of 
 being consecrated by any Catholic bishop, the right 
 of which, jure communis belonged to the patriarch 
 of Constantinople, as metropolitan; and thirdly, [he 
 allowed him] the privilege of a secret despatch, 
 without the accustomed solemnities. 
 
 After this, upon the twenty-third of March, was 
 despatched the brief for his destination and commis- 
 sion for England, for the exercise of that ordinary 
 and episcopal jurisdiction there, which otherwise he 
 was to have exercised at Chalcedon, as is manifestly 
 imported in the brief, by the tenor of the terms it 
 is expressed in, directly answering to the supplication 
 
 * The bull is printed at length in Dodd, iv. cclxx. ct seq. ed. 
 Tieruey.
 
 82 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 made by our agent, in his la>.t memorial to the pope. 
 The substantial form is this : — 
 
 * " Tibi ut, postquam munus consecrationis susce- 
 peris, et ad eadem regna te contuleris, ad solatium 
 aniniarum, et spirituale bonum Christi fidelium 
 Catholicorum in regnis Angliae et Scotia? praedictis 
 existentium, sive quos pro tempore ibi existere con- 
 tigerit, ad nostrum et sedis apostolical beneplacitum, 
 omnibus et singulis facultatibus, olim archipresby- 
 teris, Anglian a sede apostolica deputatis, per felicis 
 recordationis Clementem octavum, et Paulum quin- 
 tum, pontifices Romanes, praedecessores nostros, 
 concessis, necnon quibus ordinarii in suis civitatibus 
 et dioecesibus utuntur, fruuntur, et gaudent, ac uti, 
 frui, et gaudere possunt, similiter uti, frui, et gaudere 
 libere et licite possis et valeas, apostolica authoritate, 
 tenore praisentium, licentiam et facultatem imper- 
 
 . timur ;^teque ad pra^sentia omnia et singula, autho- 
 '.J-! * ritate et tenore prsedictis, delegamus."* 
 
 * If Dodd be correct, tlie words " teque ad prsesentia," or, as 
 he prints them, '■'■ jyrcemissa, omnia," &c., with the whole of the 
 clause contained in the following paragraph, are taken, not from 
 the brief addressed to Dr. Bishop, but from that issued on the 
 appointment of his successor, Dr. Smith. The mistake, however, 
 — if it be one, — which might easily occur, is of no consequence 
 to the argument. In every other respect the two instruments 
 are precisely the same : the words here inserted add nothing to 
 the previous grant of "all and singular tiiose faculties which 
 ordinaries possess;" and the nature of Dr. Bishop's jurisdiction, 
 therefore, is no more affected by the introduction, than that of 
 his successor would have been by the omission of the clause. At 
 the same time it should be observed, that the fact of our author's 
 being in error depends entirely on the presumed accuracy of 
 Dodd's copy of the brief to Dr. Bishop ; that Dodd himself, in 
 the first instance, confounds it with another document, and that
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 33 
 
 And that this ordinary and episcopal jurisdiction 
 was real, and every way complete, the exception, 
 immediately after subjoined, gives us an ample con- 
 firmation, viz. — " Causarum tamen in secunda in- 
 stantia cognitionem, et terminationem, omnemque a 
 quocumque gravamine recursum, nostro apud charis- 
 simum filium Lndovicum, Francorum regem Chris- 
 tianissimum, nunc et pro tempore existenti, nuncio 
 reservamus, et reservata esse volumus." 
 
 There was also a pajial decree, directed to the said 
 William, elect bishop of Chalcedon, after this tenor : 
 — " N., &c. Dilecto nobis in Christo, N., electo 
 Anglorum episcopo, salutem et apostolicam benedic- 
 
 tionem, &c Atque, ut omnium, 
 
 tam ecclesiasticorum quam laicorum, in Anglia de- 
 gentium tranquillitati, regimini, et saluti, atque etiam 
 e])iscopi prasdicti levamini, meliiis consulatur, con- 
 cedimus et declaramus per pmesentes, quod liceat 
 episcopo prsedicto virum aliquem discretum, et ad 
 hujusmodi munus obeundum habilem et idoneum, 
 eligere, et per literas snas patentes nominare, et 
 constitnere, qui authoritate et jurisdictione vicarii 
 episcopi generalis fulciatur, quique personas omnes, 
 tam ecclesiasticas quam laicas, infra Angliam de- 
 gentes, secundum canones et ecclesiasticas Angliae 
 consuetudines olim ibidem receptas et approbatas, 
 
 regat et gubernat, &c Nolumus, 
 
 tamen, per hoc, pra^dicto episcopo in juribus, privi- 
 
 he afterwards prints it, contrary to his usual practice, without 
 referring to the source whence he has obtained it. It remains, 
 therefore, to inquire whether he used the original, or a copy ; 
 — and, if the latter, what proof remains of its accuracy ? — See 
 Dodd, iv. cclxxi. cclxxii. ed. Tierney ; and iii. 6, 7, orig. edit. 
 
 D
 
 84 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 legiis, aut prcTrog-ativis suis episcopalibus in aliqiio 
 quomodolibet clerogari, quin possit prsedictus epis- 
 copus quos et quotquot voluerit archidiaconos, sive 
 etiam arcliipresby teres, per di versa infra Angliam 
 loca, prout ipsi videbitur melius expedire, nominare, 
 et constituere," &c.* 
 
 I have been somewhat large in the transcription 
 of these decrees and briefs, as well as [of] the 
 memorials presented by our agents, that the impar- 
 tial reader might, from the very tenor of our 
 supplications, and the form of the instruments 
 themselves, be more amply convinced of the nature 
 of that authority and jurisdiction we petitioned for, 
 and in the granting of which his holiness was 
 pleased to condescend to our so just requests. Yet 
 since there are, at present, and ever have been, some 
 
 * Tills is the document which Dodd confounds with the brief 
 mentioned in the preceding note, and of which another passage 
 is inserted in page 39, post. It has been said that no such 
 decree was ever issued ; but upon what authority this assertion 
 has been hazarded it were perhaps difficult to determine. Cer- 
 tainly, Dodd's acknowledgment that the powers conferred by 
 the decree are not mentioned in the brief, can never show that 
 the former had no existence ; while the fact of his having 
 printed, as a continuous portion of the instrument, passages 
 which, in the present work, occur as detached citations, demon- 
 stratively proves, when coupled with his acknowledged honesty, 
 that he, as well as our author, had seen the disputed document. 
 See his Hist., ibid. With regard to the other circumstances 
 connected with the decree, it would appear from the terms in 
 which both the bishop and his jurisdiction arc mentioned, to have 
 been issued after the brief. It was probably intended to serve 
 as a commentary on some parts of the latter, and in particular, 
 perhaps, to explain the nature and extent of the " heneplacitum." 
 See our author, page 37, post.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 35 
 
 turbulent spirits, that love to despise and speak ill 
 of government, are of so subtile and speculative sort 
 of temper as nodum in scirpo qucerere, have been very 
 active and busy in undervaluing and diminishing the 
 authority here mentioned, and would fain have it 
 looked upon, not as truly episcopal and ordinary, but 
 merely extraordinary and vicarious, T shall therefore 
 insert a few observations, to confound such an auda- 
 cious calumny. 
 
 And, first, from the very form of w^ords his com- 
 mission is conceived in, viz., " Episcopo, et electo 
 Anglorum episcopo," and not so -much as one single 
 word wdiich has the least resemblance of the name 
 or nature of " vicarius apostolicus." * Wherefore, 
 if words are to be accepted and interpreted according 
 to their natural and primary signification, the word 
 " bishop," by the unanimous acceptation, signifying 
 only one endowed with an ordinary jurisdiction, must 
 have the same meaning here, — there being nothing 
 to restrain it to any other sense, and, on the other 
 side, several reasons for the preserving it in its usual 
 and natural accejitation ; viz., the public memorials 
 for an ordinary, and protestations against an extra- 
 ordinary or vicarious jurisdiction. Therefore, he 
 must of necessity have been an ordinary. 
 
 Secondly, from those words in the decree, viz., 
 that he was " omnes personas infra Angliam degentes 
 regere et gubernare, secundum canones et ecclesias- 
 
 * Here the author seems to err. Each of the instruments 
 published by Dodd — and they are the only ones that contain the 
 commission of the two prelates — is addressed, not "Episcopo 
 Anglorum," but " Electo Chalcedonensi." — iv. cclxxi. cclxxiii, 
 ed. Tierney. 
 
 D 2
 
 3G HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 ticas Angliic consuetiulines olini ibidem recei)tas." 
 Now an extraordinary or vicarious authority, as 
 such, is not only non secundum canones, but, indeed, 
 prcptcr omnes canones. Next, the ecclesiastical laws 
 and canons of our nation were conformable to the 
 municipal laws of the realm, the bishops having a 
 peculiar prerogative in the enacting of them ; and 
 therefore, since the ancient Catholic laws absolutely 
 forbid any such extraordinary authority, under the 
 severest penalties, an ordinary jurisdiction only can 
 be supposed to be according to the ancient customs 
 of England ; and therefore, by the positive words of 
 the papal decree, only an ordinary jurisdiction was 
 commissioned for England. 
 
 Thirdly, Pope Paul V. decreed, " quod R. D. D. 
 Nuncius apostolicus, pro tempore in Gallia, Parisiis, 
 degens, sit ordinarius Anglorum et Scotorum, cum 
 omni potestate quam habent ordinarii in eorum dioe- 
 cesibus," &c. : and the bull of consecration reserving 
 only to that nuncio " cognitionem causarum in se- 
 cunda instantia," all the exercise and title of ordi- 
 nary jurisdiction from that very moment ceased in 
 the nuncio,* and was transferred to our bishop, who, 
 in the decree, is an express ordinary. 
 
 Fourthly. In the brief are inserted these words : 
 " Omnibus et singulis facultatibus quibus ordinarii 
 in suis civitatibus, &c., similiter uti, et frui, et 
 gaudere possis libere et licite." Now, one of these 
 is, that ordinaries are supposed essentially to enjoy 
 
 * If, therefore, it was revocable in him, it may have been 
 equally so in his successor. In other words, a prelate may 
 have been styled an ordinary, and invested with ordinary 
 jurisdiction, without being irrevocable or independent.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 37 
 
 an ordinary jurisdiction ; and therefore [our bishop] 
 must have the same allowed him, although this his 
 power was conferred upon him by way of delega- 
 tion ; for there is an immense difference between 
 the modus, and the potestas delegata. The first was 
 necessarily to be submitted to, for fear of exciting 
 the government and laws against us ; and therefore 
 prudence and discretion so prevailed, that the man- 
 ner of introduction should be from the nomination 
 to another see, not to give any umbrage to the then 
 incumbents, or distaste to the government, by de- 
 signing any Catholic bishop to their titles or sees ; 
 but, for the potestas ipsa, it was ordinary, and truly 
 episcopal, according to the memorials exhibited for 
 such, and no other. 
 
 But to this is objected this clause, — " ad nostrum 
 et sedis apostolicse beneplacitum," — and therefore, 
 [it is said,] by consequence, [the power] could not 
 be ordinary, which is irrevocable, but extraordinary, 
 which is ad libitum. 
 
 AnsM'cr : I doubt not but some, not without some 
 ground, would reply, that the reader is not supposed 
 to be altogether unacquainted with the method of 
 the court of Rome, especially when any favours are 
 to be expected from it. How careful it is to make 
 use of some expression or other, whereby to make 
 all things depend upon her authority, which, al- 
 though it may not be very useful at the present, yet 
 afterwards may turn to some account to her ; and 
 though, indeed, I am absolutely convinced that that 
 expression does not in the least derogate from the 
 authority of that bishop's ordinary jurisdiction, yet, 
 possibly, it may be intended as a leading card to
 
 38 HISTORY AND TRAXSACTIONS 
 
 future pretensions, to curb tlie bishops, if tliey should 
 behave themselves undutifully. Yet I do not here 
 need any such weak plea. But to answer more directly, 
 .we are to suppose that the brief of his consecration 
 does not contain a sense implicatory and destructive 
 to itself, for this would quite deprive him even of 
 any authority or consecration at all ; it would be 
 ipso facto null, and therefore it must be explicated 
 in a sense that is compatible with the nature and 
 essence of the thing there designed, which, I will 
 be positive, can never be, if taken in the sense some 
 are pleased to take those words. For, since it was 
 expressly said in the brief and decree that he was 
 to have " commissum sibi gregem," and that over 
 all persons in general and particular, [and] that he 
 was to enjoy the same privileges and prerogatives as 
 any other ordinary did,* this is to suppose and con- 
 stitute him essentially an ordinary and immoveable; 
 and, consequently, to think that he was nevertheless 
 ad beneplacitum, or moveable, as some would fain 
 undei-stand it, is to make the form contradictory to 
 itself, and ipso facto null, and [to say] that he was 
 made nothing at all by it. Therefore, to reconcile 
 it to itself, we must look for the natural meaning of 
 the phrase inserted in that place, only observing, 
 first, that there are no such words as " ad benepla- 
 citum revocandum^^ or '■^ cassandum i" and herein 
 natural reason supplies us with these obvious expli- 
 cations following. [Before we pi-oceed, however, it 
 
 * This is not correct. He was invested with all the powers — 
 " omnibus et singulis facultatibus, quibus ordinarii," &c. ; but 
 it docs not therefore follow that he was to enjoy all the privi- 
 leges of an ordinary.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 39 
 
 is necessary to] note, that the authority of the 
 supreme pastor being of such a large extent, and 
 intended by our Saviour to be of a perpetual dura- 
 tion, the sovereign wisdom of the Roman court does, 
 in penning her decrees, so cautiously scan the words 
 as to provide against all future emergencies, how 
 remote soever ; though those, whose narrow thoughts 
 reach no farther, not being aware of it, are hence 
 apt to restrain and apply them to the present circum- 
 stances, and conceit they have no other nor farther 
 prospect than what is, htc et nunc, under hand. This 
 premised, I answer — 
 
 Secondly, that that phrase was inserted to evince 
 that his residence at Chalcedon was no longer dis- 
 pensed with, than that see should remain in the 
 power of infidels, it being his holiness's " benepla- 
 citum" to dispense with it, so long and no longer; 
 — and this the words in the bull of his consecration, 
 before cited, give a strong presumption to be the 
 intention of it. But — 
 
 Thirdly, if we would place this citation with 
 other parts of the said brief in a parallel line, one 
 to the other, we could not but see how one does 
 naturally explicate the other; and therefore, since 
 the papal decree is the best expositor of his holiness's 
 bull, I shall transcribe some clauses in the first, 
 which, without any ambiguity, will decide this con- 
 troverted point in the last. Let us prefix, then, the 
 objection, "ad nostrum et sedis apostolicae bene- 
 placitum," [and] let us subjoin to it this passage in 
 the papal decree : — " Quod si, per Dei gratiam ac 
 infinitam misericordiam, aliquando fides Catholica 
 in Anglia revixerit, adeo ut in sedibus omnibus
 
 J/ 
 
 40 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 episcopalibus et arcliiepiscopalibiis, qiice ibidem oliiii 
 erectse, confirmata% et stabilita? sunt, viri Catholici 
 et iclonei ordinari et constitui potuerint, volumus et 
 declaramus, quod potestas omnis et jurisdictio, proc- 
 dicto episcopo concessa, ex tunc cesset omnino, et 
 Hat irrita, iiullamque habeat prgedictus episcopus in 
 Angliam, sive personas aliquas ibidem degentes, 
 autlioritatem aut jurisdictionem, donee ad sedem 
 aliquam episcopalem, sive archiepiscopalem, ibidem 
 canonice fuerit electus et translatus," &c. Where- 
 fore, beyond all dispute or possibility of a rational 
 reply, the whole meaning is this, — that his ample 
 and universal ordinary jurisdiction, extending over 
 all the kingdom, should be no longer valid, or such, 
 after it should have pleased Almighty God to restore 
 that kingdom to the unity of the Church and eccle- 
 siastical discipline ; and [that] therefore, for that 
 very end, the pope, or see apostolic, should declare 
 that this aforesaid power should be annulled and 
 revoked at their own pleasure. And that this must 
 be the sense, I have these two material consider- 
 ations to confirm me in the opinion. 
 
 The first is, that, in conformity to this. Bishop 
 Smith, in his letters patent for the confirmation 
 of the chapter erected by his predecessor, saith, 
 " Quod praidictum cai)itulum, cum decano, durare 
 volumus, donee, pluribus in Anglia episcopis Catho- 
 licis constitutis, plura capitula in eodem regno 
 erigantur, et non amplius," — which adds so much 
 vigour and strength to the former explication, as no 
 impartial man can require more. 
 
 The second is, that both the bishops absolutely 
 denied themselves to be " vicarii ai)ostolici," — that
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 41 
 
 is, extraordinary, — but on all occasions styled them- 
 selves, in their public and private instruments and 
 patents, " ordinarii Anglise et Scotise."* Now, 1 
 would appeal to any unprejudiced mind, what can 
 seem more natural or rational than this? or what 
 can be more arbitrary, exorbitant, or shocking to 
 Christian ears, than to suppose that those two or 
 three words, crowded into the brief, must necessarily 
 have so great an influence as to invalidate the insti- 
 tution of Christ concerning bishops, and transfer 
 their perpetual and unalterable spiritual marriage 
 to the spouse of Christ to a voluntary dependence 
 and abrogation at pleasure ? If " from the begin- 
 ning it was not so," certainly no new dispensation 
 can authorize a valid bill of divorce between them ; 
 and as they were joined together jure divino, by an 
 unalterable decree of heaven, so I can never be 
 induced to believe that any human power or policy 
 can ever pretend, by their " beneplacitum," either 
 to infringe or annul the contract ; and therefore it 
 ought to be concluded that both this bishop and his 
 successor were truly and essentially ordinaries. Be- 
 sides what has been already said, I have these 
 supernumerary and unquestionable authorities, viz., 
 the acknowledgments of all sorts of people, — nay, 
 of Rome itself, — to confound this contrary pretence, 
 and put it to an eternal silence. 
 
 * He forgets, however, that the nuncio at Paris officially 
 admonished Dr. Smith to drop this title, and that a solemn 
 decree of tlie Propaganda declared that the Holy See had never 
 intended to create him ordinary of England. — Dodd, iv. cclxxxv. 
 ed. Tierney ; iii. 18, orig. ed. The argument which follows in 
 the text is, to say nothing of its inaccuracies, too metaphorical 
 and too forced to be of much service to the author.
 
 42 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 And for the more clear eviction of this, as well as 
 to make it more evident and perspicuous to the 
 reader, I shall carry on the citations by an historical 
 series, according to the times at which they hap- 
 pened ; which method, as it is most easy and savours 
 of plain dealing, so it brings along with it the force 
 of an unanswerable argument, and will make any 
 unbiassed considerer cry out, " Magna est Veritas, et 
 praevalet nimis." 
 
 And first. Cardinal Bandinus, March 23, 1623, 
 while nuncio at Paris,* writes to Bishop WilHara 
 a congratulatory letter, the superscription whereof 
 was, " Reverendissimo Gulielmo, electo episcopo 
 Clialcedonensi, AnglicB et Scotics ordinario ;" and in 
 the letter itself he tells him that he was "sui 
 officii, pontificio etiam nomine, commonefacere 
 ilium;" that " grex erat sibi commissus, et Catho- 
 licus populus suae cura3 traditus," &c.'|" All these 
 titles, I presume, from a cardinal and nuncio, — and 
 
 * There is a double mistake here. The letter in question was 
 written by Cardinal Bandinus, not from Paris, but from Rome, 
 and is dated Ajrril 5, 1023. It is transcribed at length in 
 Ward's defence of the chapter, from which the present work is 
 abridged. 
 
 + Dodd (iii. 12, orig. cdn.) refers to this same letter, but 
 omits the superscrijjtion. The argument, howev^er, founded on 
 this and the following letters amounts to nothing. The title was 
 one of courtesy, or it might even have been attributed under a 
 supposition that he who possessed the power, had been invested 
 also with the style and title of ordinary. But tliis will show no 
 more than the private opinions or feelings of the individual 
 writers, or of the persons in whose behalf they drew up the 
 addresses. The letters of Father Rudisend and the others will 
 be found in Dodd, iv. cclxxv. — cclxxvii. cd. Ticrney.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 43 
 
 that, too, with express orders from his holiness to 
 write to him, — are evident convictions of his ordi- 
 nary jurisdiction ; and the same is no less confirmed 
 by the instructions sent him, with this title : " In- 
 structiones et monita, ad quorum normam Keve- 
 rendissimus Episcopus Chalcedonensis, AnglicB et 
 ScoticB ordinarius, commissum sibi regimen SSmi. 
 Domini expresso mandato componere priccipitur." 
 
 Secondly. The superiors of the regulars allowed 
 and used the same title to him. Father Rudisend, 
 president of the English congregation of Bene- 
 dictines, the 15th June, 1623 (the day of the 
 bishop's consecration), writes thus :=?^' Reverendis- ^^^^A^ 
 sime in Christo pater et domine, quandoquidem^^* 
 priepotenti Deo jam placuit reverendissima^ domina- • 
 tionis vestraj personam eligere, ut gentis nostras 
 ordmariics sit episcopus," &c. Father Leander, prior 
 of the English Benedictines, 1623, thus superscribes 
 a congratulatory letter to him : — " Reverendissimo 
 in Christo patri. Domino Gulielmo, episcopo Chalce- 
 donensi, ordinario Anglio', &c., domino ac patrono 
 meo Optimo," &c. Father Joseph de Sancto Mar- 
 tino, provincial of the province of Canterbury, in 
 his own name, and in the name of Father Bede, 
 provincial of the province of York, writes to the 
 bishop thus : — " Reverendissimo in Christo patri ac 
 domino, Gulielmo, episcopo Chalcedonensi, ordinario 
 AnglicE, Octobris 26, 1623." About that time, cer-"* 
 tain articles of agreement and concord were drawn 
 up between the bishop, as ordinary, and the supe- 
 riors of the Benedictines, and signed thus : — "Guliel- 
 mus, episcopus Chalcedonensis, ordinarius Anglire ; 
 Pater Leander a Sancto Marti no, prior monasterii
 
 44 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 Duacenorum nomine ; Pater Rudisendus Barlow, 
 praeses generalis." 
 
 Let us subjoin to these testimonial acknowledg- 
 ments the argument of a very learned man tlien 
 ^,t/^V Jiving, to prove it so in reality :^' Quod episcopus 
 ?. Chalcedonensis sit verus Catholicorum in Anjilia, 
 
 ordinarius probatur, tum quia est axioma juriscon- 
 sultorum, desumptum ex jure canonico et civili, 
 quod delegatus a principe ad universitatem eausarum 
 est ordinarius ; at episcopus Chalcedonensis est 
 hujusmodi, ut patet ex brevi [^ teqiie ad 'prcsmissa 
 omnia et singula delcgamus''), et alibi (quod daret illi 
 tantuin episcopalis authoritatis ' quantum cum Domino 
 potest') ; deinde tribuit illi omnes et singulas facul- 
 tates, quas ordinarii possunt habere in suis dioece- 
 sibus ; ac demuni constituit eum judicem in prim4 
 instantia, quod ordinariorum est, ut patet ex Cone. 
 Trid. sess. 24, cap. 20 ; sed Iutcc omnia includunt 
 universal itatem eausarum ; ergo, ordinarius est epis- 
 copus Chalcedonensis. Deinde, nequit esse dele- 
 gatus, quia talis nil habet proprii, sed ejus qui 
 mandavit jurisdictione utitur : in toto autem brevi, 
 nullum est indicium quod pontifex ei mandat usum 
 sua; jurisdictionis ; nam licet dicat, quod delegat 
 episco])um (scilicet ad universalitatem eausarum 
 ordinariorum, quod est constituere eum ordinarium), 
 non tamen dicit quod delegat ei suam authoritatem, 
 quod est eum constituere delegatum. Aliud enim 
 est esse mere delegatum, aliud est esse delegatum a 
 principe ad universalitatem eausarum, quod ordi- 
 nariorum est ; quia, licet tribuat episcopo Chalce- 
 donensi jurisdictionem multo inferiorem sua, ]>arem 
 tanien jurisdictioni aliorum ordinariorum. Quatuor
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 45 
 
 faciunt ordinariuni, — j)rinceps, qui est lex animata, 
 canon, consuetude, at universalitas approbata. Prre- 
 terea, episcopalis pastor animarum liabet authori- 
 tatem immediate a jure ; ejusmodi est episcopus 
 Clialcedonensis, ut dicit Pontifex Urbanus VIII., in 
 brevi ad Ricardum Chalcedonensem ; ergo, ex liac 
 ipsa ratione hujus officii pastoralis, quod ei tributum 
 est a pontifice, habet autlioritatem immediate etiam 
 a jure. 
 
 If canon law, supported by the authority of a 
 general council, and authorized by the commission 
 of popes in their briefs, could make an ordinary, 
 this bishop, of whom we are now speaking, must of 
 necessity be granted to be one. For this reason it 
 was that our agent at Rome, upon the reading of 
 these briefs for his constitution and jurisdiction, in 
 a rapture of joy broke out into these expressions, 
 " Rem habemus, verba non moramur."* 
 
 * From this argument the reader will be able, not only to 
 gather the views and principles adopted by the advocates of the 
 two bishops, but also to infer the nature of the opposition which 
 the enemies of episcopal authority have constantly raised on the 
 other side. It would appear that both parties are in extremes ; 
 as both, certainly, reason on erroneous principles. The latter, 
 confining its attention to the clause which nuikes Dr. Bishop an.1 
 his successor dependent on the pleasure of the Roman court, 
 unhesitatingly impugns the nature of the authority with which 
 they were invested ; the former, looking solely at the faculties 
 expressly conferred on them by the pope, boldly assert their 
 independence, and deny the validity of the reservation that 
 would render them revocable at the will of their superior. Each 
 confounds privilege with power, the mode of holding or exer- 
 cising jurisdiction with the jurisdiction itself; and thus each 
 argues as if authoiity and title were the same thing, or, in other 
 words, as if the peculiar functions of an ordinary could only be 
 
 4-
 
 46 HISTORY AND TRANSACIIONS 
 
 performed by the ordinary himself in person. This is unques- 
 tionably an error. That Dr. Bishop and Dr. Smith were each 
 commissioned to discharge the duties and exercise the powers of 
 an ordinary, is expressly declared in the papal briefs ; that they 
 held their commission by way of delegation, and that the trust 
 was either revocable at any moment, or at least terminable on 
 the return of the nation to Catholicity, is not less certain : and it 
 is clear, therefore, that although they possessed all the faculties, 
 they were, nevertheless, deprived of that distinctive privilege 
 which alone could entitle them to the appellation of ordinaries. 
 " Rem habemus," — we have the substance, the authority, for 
 which we have been contending ; " verba non moramur," — we 
 will not dispute about the name, or the title, of its minister. 
 
 This severance of the independence of ordinaries from the 
 jurisdiction conferred on the two prelates, is shown by Dr. Lin- 
 gard to have originated in one of those motives of petty jealousy 
 which too often mar the counsels even of the most liberal govern- 
 ments. When the project of restoring the English hierarchy was 
 first seriously entertained by Gregory XY., Cardinal IMellini, 
 the organ of the Jesuits, undertook to counteract the design ; 
 and, among other representations calculated to influence the mind 
 of the pontiff, referred to " the connection already existing 
 between the French and English clergy," as an argument to 
 show that " the latter, if placed under a bishop, would, in all 
 probability, make common cause, and demand the same privi- 
 leges with the former." Gregory, though sincerely desirous to 
 provide for the necessities of the English church, was not proof 
 against such an aj)peal. The resistance of the British monarch 
 was soon after announced ; the pope, as we have seen, deemed it 
 prudent to appoint but one bishop ; and, " as it was doubtful 
 how far the king might yield, or the bishop himself might form 
 connections with the French prelates, he made him revocable at 
 pleasure." — Hist. Eng. vii. note F, p. 552, 5th edn. This is an 
 additional proof, if such were wanting, that the ordinary powers 
 of the two bishops in question were held by them only as the 
 vicars, or delegates, of the Roman court. 
 
 But, though these circumstances distinctly negative the asser- 
 tion that Dr. Bishop and his successor were ordinaries, in the 
 canonical sense of the word, that is, that they held their office by
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 47 
 
 original right, and administered its functions of their own autho- 
 rity, yet they must not be supposed to militate, in any manner, 
 against the conclusions which it is the principal object of the 
 author to establish. To demonstrate the ordinary canonical 
 jurisdiction of the chajjter, of which he is the advocate, it was 
 requisite to show that it originally emanated from sufficient ordi- 
 nary power ; but it was not necessary to discuss the tenure by 
 which that power was held, or to prove that the parties, legiti- 
 mately exercising it, were themselves independent* of all supe- 
 rior authority. Of the power itself, even when stripped of every 
 accident, enough remains to answer all the purposes of the pre- 
 sent work. — See, as to the above, Dodd, vol. v. ed. Tieruey.
 
 PAET III. 
 
 Of the Institution of our Chapter, and of its unquestionable 
 
 Validity/. 
 
 This pious and learned pastor, reflecting on the 
 extent of his authority, and considering the strange 
 confusion under the anarchy of the archpriest, tliat 
 he might secure his clergy and flock from relapsing 
 into such miseries again, having consulted the learn- 
 edest bishops, and such as had been ministers and 
 officers of popes in the court of Rome, and the most 
 eminent doctors he could find in the canon law,* 
 
 * This consultation, which was hehl, amongst other divines, 
 with Herman Ottenburg, bishop of Arras, and formerly auditor 
 of the Rota, at Rome, has been the source of much mistaken 
 triumph to the enemies of the chapter. If Dr. Bishop, they 
 have said, deemed it necessary to ask advice, where was the 
 commission authorizing him to establish a chapter ? if he had 
 misgivings as to the competency of his own power, why may not 
 we be allowed to question and deny it ? The answer to each of 
 these inquiries is, perhaps, more simple than its authors imagine. 
 In the first place. Dr. Bishop needed no specific commission for 
 the erection of a chapter. He was invested with " all and singu- 
 lar the faculties which ordinaries possess in their own dioceses ;" 
 and it is well known that, of these, one of the most essential is 
 the right of forming the establishment in question. In the next 
 place. Dr. Bishop's doubts regarded, not the abstract question of 
 his competency to erect a chapter, but the more practical one of 
 his power to institute it, under the peculiar circumstances of the 
 country at that moment ; in other words, he paused to consider, 
 not his own authority to create, but the fitness of the country to
 
 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS, ETC. 49 
 
 resolved on the erection of a chapter, as a standing- 
 senate and council for his own assistance, and, sede 
 vacante, to exercise episcopal ordinary jurisdiction : 
 
 receive, this important branch of the hierarchy which he was 
 endeavouring to restore. This fact, which it is of the highest 
 consequence to remark, is expressly stated by himself, in the very 
 instrument whereby he calls the chapter into existence. He found 
 himself, he says, without those external accessories which time 
 and custom appeared to have rendered almost essential to his 
 object. There was no material church wherein to fix his see ; 
 there were no revenues for the support of the canons whom he 
 was about to create ; but there was a body of the faithful to be 
 governed ; there were the duties of religion to be discharged ; 
 and he deemed it right, therefore, to inquire whether, according 
 to the example of the earliest ages of Christianity, the temporal 
 appendages might not be dispensed with, while the spiritual 
 advantages were secured. The following are his words, which 
 distinctly point to this, as the only subject of the consultation 
 mentioned in the text: — "Quod si Ecclesiam materialem, in qua 
 sedem nostram figamus, necdum, per temporum conditionem, 
 habeamus, uti nee reditus ecclesiasticos, unde capitulum et sin- 
 gula ejus membra de more honeste sustententur, id instituto 
 nostro nequaquam obstare debet, cum etiam antiquissimis Chris- 
 tianis, apud quos tamen ecclesiastica? disciplinaj forma sanctis- 
 sime constituta inviolabiiiter, etiam in mediis persecutionibus, 
 semper viguit, ejusmodi subsidia ac proventus defuerint. Id 
 nobis satis superque est, quod spiritualis Ecclesia non desit, id 
 est, ccetus fidelium, &c. Quapropter, post maturam Mc de re 
 habitam deliberationem, non tautum cum prudentissiinis gentis 
 nostrjE hominibus, veriim etiam cum exteris prajlatis sapientis- 
 simis, qui ad episcopum spectare, in que illius potestate situm esse 
 censuerunt, decanum et capitulum in suci dioecesi constituerc, 
 illudque, ad conservandam episcopalem atque ordinariam juris- 
 dictionem, omnino expedire, in earn deveniraus sententiam, ut, 
 praedictis de causis, decanum et capitulum Catholicum, a multis 
 jam annis coUapsum, instauraremus, et, quantum in nobis est, ad 
 suam originem revocaremus : servata tamen in hoc, ut et in 
 csBteris omnibus, debita ergo sedem apostolicam reverentia atque 
 
 E
 
 50 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 and this he did in as plenary and ample a manner 
 as any bishop in the world could express [it]. His 
 episcopal instrument begins thus : — " Gidielmiis, Dei 
 et apostolica; sedis gi'cdid Ejnscopiis Chalcedonensis^ 
 Ordinarius Anglice et Scotics, universis prcssentes 
 liter as visuris sahdem, Sfc. — Anno 1623, decimo De- 
 ccmbris" And, not long after, Urban VIII. suc- 
 ceeding to the pontificate, he commissioned Mr. 
 Rant agent for him and his clergy at Rome, styling 
 himself, in his patents, " Ordinarius AnglicB et 
 ScoticB,'' — which met with not the least contradic- 
 tion at that see, though the chief design was thereby 
 to give his holiness notice of his erecting a dean and 
 chapter. And, as for England, both seculars and 
 regulars acknowledged both our bishop and chapter; 
 which made a learned eyewitness testify the unani- 
 mous approbation of it, in these words : — " Haec 
 erectio usu confirmata est, reliquo ipsius vitse spatio ; 
 et non solum a clero seculari, sed etiam a regularibus, 
 agnita." But God was pleased, in the first year of 
 his episcopal charge, to take him to a better place ;* 
 
 observ^antia ; cui propterea supplicandum duximus, ut quicquid 
 potestati nostra? in bac parte merito deesse poterit, id summi 
 pastoris suffragio ex potestatis sujb plonitudine, suppleatnr." — 
 Dodd, iv. cclxxxi. ed. Ticrney. It may bero be added, tbat 
 tbis concluding reference to tbe papal see, wbicb bas so often 
 been supposed to ai'gue a doubt, on tbe part of Dr. Bisbop, as to 
 tbe fulness of bis episcopal autbority, evidently amounts to 
 notbing more tban a request tbat, looking at tbe peculiarity of 
 tbe circumstances attending tbe erection of bis cbaptor, tbe mate- 
 rial or temporal appurtenances of sucb a body migbt, if otber- 
 wise necessary, be dispensed witb. 
 
 * Dr. Bisbop, wbo, to all tbe virtues tbat dignify tbe Cbris- 
 tian and tbe prelate, added mucb of tbe learning tbat adorns the 
 scbolar, died at Bisbop's Court, tbe seat of Sir Basil Brooke, in
 
 f, ^^Z'^'*'^^ OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 51 
 
 and, upon the vacancy of the see, the chapter entered 
 upon the jurisdiction, and ordered Mr. Rant, their 
 agent then at Rome, to supplicate for a successor. 
 In February, 1625, [their prayer] was granted, and 
 [the dignity was] conferred upon Dr. Richard Smith, 
 by a brief of Urban VIII., [addressed to him] in 
 the same tenor as [that to] his predecessor. He 
 used no other style than " Ordinariiis Anglice et 
 Scoticer* 
 
 In execution of his episcopal jurisdiction, the 
 same year he divided the provinces of England and 
 Wales into a certain number of vicariats and arch- 
 deaconries ; constituted seven vicars-general, and 
 twenty-three archdeaconries (allotting to each vicar- 
 general and archdeacon his proper district, and 
 constituting also rural deans under the said arch- 
 
 the neiglibourliood of London, Ajji-il 16, 1624. — Dodd, ii. 58, 
 orig. edn. There is a short notice of his life in Wood's Athenaj 
 Oxon. i. 488 ; and a more detailed account of him in Dodd, ii. 
 361—364, and 465—472, orig. edn. 
 
 * Dr. Richard Smith was born in Lincolnshire, about the year 
 1566 ; studied at Oxford, at Rome, and at Valladolid, and, 
 having been advanced to the priesthood, returned, to enter on the 
 duties of the English mission, in January, 1603. Four years 
 later he was despatched to Rome, as the agent of his clerical 
 brethren ; and in that character continued, during a lengthened 
 residence, to support the interests of the English church, in 
 opposition to the efforts of Persons, and his friend Fitzherbert. 
 When, at length, a bishop was about to be appointed for the 
 superintendence of the British Catholics, the gratitude of the 
 clergy prompted them, as the reader will recollect, to place Dr. 
 Smith, together with Dr. Bishop, in nomination for the intended 
 dignity. A similar feeling now successfully renewed the postu- ' 
 lation in his favour : he was consecrated at Paris, by Spada, the 
 papal nuncio, and in May, 1625, arrived in London. For a 
 
 E 2
 
 52 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 deacons);* and, in 1627, confirmed, by his letters 
 patent, the chapter, in a more ample manner ; set- 
 tling first an agent at Rome, to treat of the affairs 
 of him and his clergy, and to acquaint that see with 
 his proceedings, none of which were in the least 
 either opposed or disapproved of by that court. And 
 now we are come to the beginning of our troubles ; 
 for, whilst our vigilant pastor was labouring for the 
 good of his flock, and solicitous how he might best 
 render an account to God of the souls committed to 
 his charge, for the clearing of his conscience, he 
 thought it proper to have an inspection of the pastors; 
 and therefore proposed to the superiors of the regu- 
 lars, whether it was not expedient that their subjects 
 should have his approbation for hearing and receiving 
 the confessions of the laity, as his ordinary episcopal 
 jurisdiction required. f Some unwillingly submitted 
 
 more detailed history of his life, see Dodd, iii. 4 — 17, and 76 — 
 79, orig. edn. 
 
 * The several forms, prescribed by Dr. Smith, to be adopted 
 in the creation of vicars-general, archdeacons, rural deans, and 
 canons, may be seen in Dodd, iii. 150 — 153, orig. edn. 
 
 t By a decree of the Council of Trent, it was ordained, 
 *' Nullum jiresbyterum, etiam regularem, posse confessiones 
 eajcularium, etiam sacerdotum, audire, nee ad id idoneum re- 
 putari, nisi aut parochiale beneficium, aut ab episcopis per examen, 
 si illis videbitur esse necessarium, aut alias idoneus judicetur, et 
 approbationem, quge gratis detur, ohtineat." — Sess. 23, cap. 15. 
 In 1571 the rule here laid down was adopted by Pope Pius V., 
 in the bull '•'• Romani Pontijlcisj" and, fifty years later, was 
 explained and enlarged by Gregory XV., in a similar document, 
 entitled " InscrufahUi." After reciting the words of the decree 
 itself, the latter adds, — " Veriim quia experientiacompertura est, 
 ecclesiastici regiminis rationes postulare ut decretis ejusmodi 
 aliquid adjungatur, matura deliberatione nostra, et ex certa
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 53 
 
 thereto ; but the Benedictines and Jesuits first gave 
 shifting answers, and, at last, absolutely refused to 
 comply. Hitic dolor, liinc lacryma; ! Had he not 
 
 scientia, ac de apostolicse potestatis plenitudine, bac generali ac 
 perpetuo valitura constitutione decernimus, statuimus, et decla- 
 ramus, ut deinceps tam regulares, quam seculares, quomodolibet 
 exempti, sive animarum curam j'ersonarura secularium monas- 
 teriis, seu domibus regularibus, aut quibusvis aliis ecclesils vel 
 beneiiciis, sive regularibus sive secularibus, incumbentem exer- 
 ceant, sive alias ecclesiastica sacramenta, aut unum ex illis, 
 niinistrent, prcevia episcojn Ucentia et ajyprohatione^ sive quoquo 
 modo in dictas curae exercitio, aut in eorundem sacramentoruin, 
 vel alicujus ex illis, administratione de facto, absque uUa autlio- 
 ritate, se ingerant, in his, quas ejusmodi curam seu administra- 
 tionera concernunt, omnimodge jurisdictioni, yisitationi, et cor- 
 rectioni diopcesani episcopi, tanquam sedts apostoliccg delcgati^ 
 plene in omnibus suhjicxantur ." (Cabasutius, b5.^ This bull, 
 vs^hich is addressed to the universal church, is dated February 5, 
 1622, only five years before the commencement of the dispute 
 mentioned in the text : and the real matter of surprise, there- 
 fore, is, not that Dr. Smith now called on the regulars to ac- 
 knowledge his jurisdiction, but that both his predecessor and 
 himself omitted to assert their authority, from the first moment 
 of their entrance on the duties of their station. That whatever 
 faculties the several bodies of religious might have possessed 
 under the archpriests were annulled by the appointment of an 
 episcopal superior, is evident from all the documents to which I 
 have referred. If their members neglected to obtain the appro- 
 bation of that superior, they were clearly incompetent to act in 
 the tribunal of penance : in the language of the schools, they 
 were exercising the power of order without the power of juris- 
 diction ; and it consequently became the duty of Dr. Smith to 
 supply the omission of his predecessor, and arrest the progress of 
 the evil resulting from this irregular proceeding. Yet, even in 
 the very act of vindicating his authority, the same pacific and 
 conciliating disposition which, probably, during the first two 
 years of his episcopacy, induced him to be silent, was beautifully 
 displayed. He addressed himself to the superiors of the several
 
 54 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 meddled with them, he had still been an ordinary, 
 and his chapter canonical : but, presuming once to 
 exercise his jurisdiction on them, they debase and 
 vilify both, alleging that he went beyond his limits 
 (as if all regulars were not absolutely, by the canons, 
 under their ordinary), and affected a patriarchate, or 
 popedom. They began then to cry out aloud, that 
 the chapter was null, and that he pretended to erect 
 external tribunals, which would render all Catholics 
 obnoxious to the penal laws.* Nay, some of them 
 (of whom Father Rudisend was the incendiary), 
 hindering the rest of that (the Benedictine) order 
 from submitting, published a libel against the bishop, 
 and craftily invited the king to proscribe him, alleging 
 that this " novum tribunal, et ecclesiasticajurisdictio, 
 
 religious orders : lie suggested the propriety of their communi- 
 cating his wishes to their subjects : he offered, in order to satisfy 
 their objections, to refer the decision of his claim to the papal 
 see : and he actually published a provisional document (Dodd, 
 iii. 138, orig. edn.), permitting all regulars then "lawfully on 
 the mission," to continue in the enjoyment of the contested facul- 
 ties, until the judgment of the Roman court should be obtained. 
 But this did not suit the views of those who had vowed obedience 
 to an authority selected by themselves, in opposition to that 
 established by the founder of the Church, The proposal was 
 rejected : the power of the bishop was defied ; and the painful 
 proceedings, alluded to in the text, immediately ensued. 
 
 * " Et si qui sunt (ut paucissinios esse arbitror) qui episco- 
 pali potestati introducenda? adversantur, ii plerumque, ut putatur, 
 ex falsa informatione id faciunt, putantes quod episcopus in animo 
 habuerit, in laicorum Catholicorum prcejudicium novum tribunal 
 erigere^ testainenta probare, decimas colligere^ sacerdotes in eorum 
 cedibus, ipsis invitis, collocare, et similia." — Attestation of Cuth- 
 bert Trollop, vicar-general, dated Sept. 24, 1631. Dodd, iii. 149, 
 orig. edn.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 55 
 
 " est valde ingrata sua? majestati, et omnibus Protes- 
 " tantibus hujus regni," and moving " ut sua majestas 
 " per publicum edictum praeciperet omnibus subditis 
 " suis, sub poena mortis, no in domos reciperent, aut 
 " aliquo modo sublevarent, episcopum Chalcedonen- 
 " sem, aut quemquam ex suis officialibus ; atque ut 
 " extemplo detegerent ac denunciarent eos magis- 
 " tratui, ut homines perieulosos, turbulentos, et ad- 
 " versarios sibi ijjsi, suoque temporali regimini," &c.* 
 This unchristian calumny had its desired effect ; 
 for, by this, our pious and chief pastor was forced 
 into banishment, and died in it.f To this calum- 
 
 * This publication, the production of Father Ruclisend Barlow, 
 was entitled " Maudatuni reverendi admodum patris, pra3sidentis 
 generalis, et definitorum regiiuinis totius congregatiouis Auglige 
 S. Benedicti." There was prefixed to it a forged approbation, 
 purporting to have been obtained from the faculty at Paris, and 
 signed by five persons, falsely representing themselves as doctors 
 of the Sorbonne. As soon as the book arrived in Rome, it was 
 condemned as " scandalous and erroneous;" the printed copies 
 of it Avere ordered to be burned, wherever they might be found ; 
 and Dr. Smith himself was specially charged with the execution 
 of this decree in England. — Dodd, iii. 157, 158, orig. edu. 
 The following passage from a letter written on the occasion, by 
 desire of the nuncio at Paris, to the bishop of Chalcedon, deserves 
 to be inserted ; — " As for the case itself, all the divines that have 
 heard it here are of oj^inion that the regulars be bound to ask 
 your approbation, and do wonder that the regulars do make no 
 distinction betwixt ' terrx infiddvum and ' terrw hcereticorum^' 
 as though the privileges granted to them in ' terra injideliu'm^ 
 were to any purpose in England. Divers of the doctors here, 
 long since, when that controversy did first arise, offered to give 
 their subscriptions in your behalf: but then, for quietness' sake, 
 you refused it." — Dodd, iii. 157, orig. edn. 
 
 t See the details of this transaction, in Dodd, iii. 78, orig. 
 edn., and Butler's Mem. of Eng. Cath. ii. 305. The two pro-
 
 56 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 niatiiig libel, so defamatory and false, Avbich caused 
 great confusions amongst the Catholic party, our 
 pious prelate publishes a modest declaration of his 
 episcopal authority, to wipe off the aspersions cast 
 upon him, the substance whereof was, that the 
 Church hath power to bind and loose, tdm in foro 
 interiori quam eMeriori ; that, as the external court 
 can bind notorious and scandalous sinners, by cen- 
 sures, deprivations, and suspensions, which is a pure 
 spiritual authority, so likewise, in Catholic countries, 
 it decides divers litigious causes, and inflicts tem- 
 ])oral, as well as spiritual, mulcts and punishments, 
 and is vulgarly called the bishop's court; that he 
 pretended not in the least to this last, but that the 
 former was his essential due, as bishop ; and that, 
 consequently, he had power more than in the mere 
 internal court of conscience, as each simple priest 
 hath. This evangelical and calm reply could not in 
 the least appease their boisterous temper ; for they 
 spread their aspersions, both at home and abroad, 
 even in the courts of princes; and sent up their 
 plea against him to the court of Rome ; and surrep- 
 titiously obtained a bull from Urban VIII., in 1631, 
 not in the least derogatory to the episcopal ordinary 
 jurisdiction* (as the said regulars divulged abroad), 
 
 clamations for his apprehension, the first dated Dec. 11, 1628, 
 the second March 24, in the following year, and both issued in 
 consequence of the " unchristian" clamours of the regulars, may 
 be seen in Dodd, iii. 143 — 145, orig. edn. 
 
 * This expression may be understood to mean, either that the 
 bull '■'Britannia" — so it was called — was in no degree deroga- 
 tory to the ordinary power of Dr. Smith, as distinguished 
 from that of other bishops, or that it denied not the reality of his 
 ordinary jurisdiction, though it declared that the regulars had
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 57 
 
 but, in many passages, confirming and strengthening 
 it, yet allowing some favour to the regulars, in the 
 main point, concerning the bishop's approbation of 
 their faculties. The clergy, in the interim, were not 
 wanting to themselves, and, upon examination, found 
 that these unquiet spirits had not rightly informed 
 his holiness of the circumstances and state of affairs ; 
 wherefore they obtained leave of Bishop Richard to 
 send a supplication to the pope, that, till his holiness 
 was rightly informed, the publication of the bull 
 might be deferred. In the same supplication, by 
 
 been, and still were, exempted from its control. The latter of 
 these interpretations is agreeable to the sense in which the author 
 elsewhere employs the word derogatory (p. 62, post) : but both 
 are in strict accordance with the terms of the bull. Dr. Smith, 
 relying on the authority with which he had been invested, had 
 claimed the right of examining and approving such of the regu- 
 lars as wished to hear the confessions of the laity : the regulars, 
 on the other hand, determined to assert their independence, had 
 first impugned the authority, and then denied the right, of the 
 bishop ; and the pope, if we are to believe this document, called 
 on to decide between the contending parties, declared, not that 
 Dr. Smith's claim to ordinary jurisdiction was unfounded, nor 
 that the religious were placed sjiecially beyond his superintend- 
 ence, but that the approbation of mri/ bishop was unnecessary to 
 such regulars as were commissioned immediately by the Holy See. 
 " We declare," he says, " that the confessions, which have 
 hitherto been heard by regular priests, were valid, and so shall 
 be hereafter. For, since they did hear them hitherto, and so 
 shall do hereafter, by apostolical authority, ordinary leave or 
 approbation neither was, nor is hereafter, needful unto them." 
 — Dodd, iii. 160, orig. edn. If these words be intended to 
 apply to the case of Dr. Smith, it is evident, first, that the 
 passage contains a distinct acknowledgment of his ordinary 
 jurisdiction, and, secondly, that the decision only aflected his 
 power, in common with that of every bishop in Christendom. 
 
 '^
 
 58 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 eleven reasons, it was demonstrated that his holiness 
 had not been truly informed of the question in 
 debate, and that this new bull seemed to invalidate 
 the decree and edict granted to the bishop in 
 January, 1627.* [In addition] to this, they ob- 
 tained a letter from the queen in their behalf, to 
 some eminent persons, in which she assured them, 
 that certain persons had banded themselves against 
 the bishop of Chalcedon, not only to deprive him of 
 
 * Of these documents I have been unable to discover a copy. 
 From the author's words, however, it would appear that the 
 object of " the decree and edict" was to place the regulars under 
 that control, from which the present bull was intended to relieve 
 them. That this bull was founded on the false and interested 
 informations of Dr. Smith's enemies, and that the " supplica- 
 tion" was correct in asserting that the pope had been deceived 
 as to the real merits of the case, is fully established by a letter 
 from La Fontaine, the French ambassador in London, wherein 
 the writer, speaking of the instrument in question, says : — 
 " Nostre saint pere, pen Jidellement infornie de I'estat de la 
 religion de ce jm^/s, pour s'en estre rapporte, ou aux religieux, 
 qui sont parties, ou a une certification qu'a faite Don Carlos 
 Colonna, qui est encore plus partie qu'eux, .... a 
 envoye un bref en leur favour, se relachant de ce qu'on avoit 
 toujours fait esperer k I'evesque (que personne ne pourroit icy 
 exercer les sacraments paroissiaux sans son approbation), et 
 donnant aux reguliers toute la libortc qu'ils desiroient. 
 Mais les reguliers ayaut soigneusement poursuivis leur affaire, ils 
 ont obtcnu le bref, dont il est aujourd'huy question ; lequel 
 estant grandement prejudiciable a I'evesque, et donne sur un 
 fondement qui nest 2><is veritable, je vous supplie tres humble- 
 men t, Monsieur — (he is writing to the French ambassador in Rome) 
 — devouloir faire entendre au pape,ct aux cardinaux de la congre- 
 gation, comme la chose s'est passee," &c. — The whole of this letter, 
 which exposes the conduct adopted by the regulars, to deceive 
 the Holy See, is in Dodd, iii. 143, orig. edn. On the same 
 subject, see also the same volume, pp. 149, 150.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 59 
 
 his jurisdiction, but also to rob him of his good 
 name; that it was necessary episcopal power and 
 authority should be maintained in the country, in 
 its perfection, without being any ways weakened or 
 diminished ; and so requested them to assist his 
 agent, with favour and credit with the pope.* This 
 was done in 1631. 
 
 In fine, this supplication and remonstrance pre- 
 vailed so with the apostolic see, that the bull was 
 never promulgated,! and consequently [was] of no 
 
 * This letter, whicli is dated August 10, 1631, is in Dodd, 
 iii. 141, orig. edn. In the same place, there is also another 
 letter from the queen, written on the 23rd of the following 
 November, and inclosing a memorial, to be presented to 
 the pope "an nom du clerge, et de la plus grande et meilleure 
 partie des Catholiques laics de ce royaume." The memorial 
 itself succeeds, in the next page, and, without even noticing the 
 supposed hull of the preceding May^ earnestly implores the pope 
 that, " turn ad factiones sedandas, turn ad tollendos abusus, 
 authoritatem episcopalem ordinariam reverendissimi 
 episcopi Chalcedonensis novo aliquo diplomate declarare, seu 
 confirmare, eundemque, Integra ac plena potestate instructum, 
 pro bono ac solatio animarum, in Angliam quamprimum trans- 
 mi ttere, dignetur." 
 
 t The total silence of the memorial, mentioned in the pre- 
 ceding note, coupled with the previous remonstrances of the same 
 parties, would of itself afford a strong presumption, not only 
 that, in November, 1631 — more than six months after the date 
 of the bull in question — that document had not been promulgated, 
 but that the intention of publishing it had, in reality, been aban- 
 doned. The fact, indeed, appears to be, that, though drawn up 
 and prepared for execution, the instrument was arrested, in its 
 last stage, by the measures recorded in the text. Mr. Butler 
 could never discover it in any bullarium ; and it is well known, 
 that, as Dodd informs us, its validity was never acknowledged, 
 in practice, by the friends of episcopal authority (iii. 13 vel 
 17). It may be added, that, on the 12th of July, 1633,
 
 ^(- 
 
 60 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 force here; and so the episcopal ordinary jurisdic- 
 tion remained as inviolate as from the beginning. 
 Yet the regulars made so great oppositions against 
 it, and persecuted this good prelate so violently 
 with their calumnies, that, like another Jonas, or 
 Gregory Nazianzen, " cupiens sacrificari pro grege 
 sibi commisso, et projici in mare, ut sedaretur teni- 
 pestas orta suse persona? invidia, nocere publicae saluti 
 existimans, petiit onus sibi impositum in gratiores 
 humeros transferri." To which petition he received 
 this answer : — " Procedi eodem ecclesiasticse admi- 
 nistrationis ordine posse, donee sanctissimus sese 
 declararet ;" and the same [reply] was returned by 
 Mr. Fitton, the agent, viz., that the jurisdiction was 
 always to remain valid in him till the court should 
 finally determine that affair; wherefore, no deter- 
 mination being made, and no other bishop sent, the 
 former bishop continued in his full authority and 
 episcopal jurisdiction. Insomuch that, in 1635, the 
 superiors of all the orders, except the Jesuits, con- 
 sidering the ill effects of so long a discord, resolved 
 
 Urban himself issued the bull " Plantata" for the purpose of 
 confirming the ancient rights and privileges of the English con- 
 gregation of Benedictines ; and that, in that document, the only 
 passage of the pretended bull " Britannia" which trenched on 
 the authority of Dr. Smith, was expressly contradicted. After 
 speaking of other immunities, the pontiff continues — " Necnon 
 eandera congregationem, ejusquc monachos, ab omui quorum- 
 cumque ordinariorum, aut aliorum quorumlibet, visitatioue, au- 
 thoritate, Sec. (non tamen in casibiis, in quibus, per decreta 
 concilii Tridentini, ordiyiariis locorum trihuitur jurisdiction 
 etiam in exemptos), perpetub eximimus," &c. — Dodd, iii. 163, 
 orig. edn. AVith what effect these persons could, after this, 
 administer the sacrament of penance, remains for their defenders 
 to show.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 61 
 
 upon an amicable agreement with the bishop 
 (then in France) and the clergy, by the mediation 
 of Signer Gregorio Panzani, sent from his holiness 
 into England, who, among other things, was com- 
 missioned to treat of a union between the Right 
 Reverend Bishop Richard of Chalcedon and all the 
 regulars ; which was concluded on, and by the 
 doing of which, the regulars owned the exercise of 
 episcopal jurisdiction to be still in the bishop, 
 though this happened four full years after he had 
 solicited Pope Urban VIII. to dispense with his 
 resignation. Yet, for all this, the Jesuits showed 
 no such spirit of peace. They shuffled, put off, 
 pleaded excuses, and I know not what frivolous pre- 
 tences, in their letters to Gregorio Panzani ; but as 
 for actual treating about the concord with the rest, 
 they never performed it.* 
 
 The good bishop, seeing so powerful a party 
 standing off, perceived little security of peace 
 amidst such subtile and potent enemies, and there- 
 fore patiently continued in his exile, as many popes 
 and other holy bishops had been compelled to do. 
 
 * The " instrumentum concordia?," drawn up on this occasion, 
 is in Dodd, iii. 132, orig. edn. : a translation of it, or rather of 
 a part of it, is printed in the Memoirs of Panzani, p. 217, and, 
 more completely, in Butler's Memoirs of English Catholics, ii. 
 354, and 360, note. More also has jjrinted it in his History of 
 the Society of Jesus, 469, 473. It is dated November 17, 1635, 
 and is signed by George Fisher, John Southcot, and Thomas 
 White, on the part of the clergy, and by three Benedictines, two 
 Dominicans, two Franciscans, and two Carmelites, on the part of 
 their respective orders. See a full account of this transaction in 
 Dodd, iii. 132 — 138, 153 — 155, orig. edn., and in Berington's 
 Memoirs of Panzani, 217—232.
 
 62 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 Yet the Benedictines came to more special articles 
 of concord with the clergy ; and, which is greatly 
 to be observed in all this controversy, nothing in the 
 least was questioned concerning the validity of the 
 chapter till, in the year 1640, a design of Count 
 Rossetti's to abrogate the dean and chapter was dis- 
 covered. But immediately a letter was despatched 
 to Cardinal Barberini, our protector, subscribed, 
 " Antonius Champneus, capituli cleri secularis in 
 Anglia decanus," with seven archdeacons, the sum 
 whereof was, to protest against the said design ; and 
 so no more was heard about it. Nevertheless, our 
 vigilant pastor, fearing what pretences might be 
 made use of after his death towards the abolishing 
 of that standing ordinary jurisdiction, in the year 
 1645 made a more ample confirmation of the dean 
 and chapter than that which he had made in 1627, 
 in this tenor : — " Ricardus, Dei et apostolical sedis 
 gratia, Episcopus Chalcedonensis, ordinarius Angliae 
 et ScotiiT," &c. ; which instrument was composed 
 and framed by the advice and judgment of the most 
 eminent and learned in the canon law at Paris, the 
 fame of which could not but reach the apostolic see, 
 which yet neither said nor did anything contradic- 
 tory or derogatory to it.* So that the chapter was 
 
 * This instrument, which is printed partly in Dodd (iii. 140, 
 orig, edn.), and partly in the " Encyclical Epistle" of the dean 
 and chapter, published in 1 G 60 (p. 24), is dated at Paris, January 8, 
 1645. Having expressed his anxiety for the welfare of religion, 
 and the improvement of the flock intrusted to his spiritual charge, 
 the bishop refers to the erection of the chapter by his predecessor ; 
 recites the advantages of such an institution, particularly in pre- 
 serving the ordinary jurisdiction of the see, in the intervals of its 
 appointments ; and then proceeds to declare, that, as he had for-
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. G3 
 
 firmly established by the authority of two bishops, 
 sciente et tacente sede apostolicd. 
 
 About this time, God was pleased to call our holy 
 
 merly approved, so he now again, in the fullest, most unequivocal, 
 and most emphatical manner, " approves, ratifies, and confirms 
 the said chapter," establishing all and each of its members in the 
 enjoyment of their present dignity and privileges, granting them 
 the right of voting on all subjects brought before them in chapter, 
 and investing them with the power of hearing and determining 
 all causes in the spiritual court, which shall be regularly referred 
 to their decision. He provides that the number of canons, in- .yC 
 eluding the dean, shall not exceed thirty ; that, in the event of ' 
 vacancies, all elections shall be subject to the approval of the 
 bishop for the time being, unless the see shall happen to be void 
 for any lengthened period ; that, in addition to the nomination 
 and election of each succeedlnrj bishop, the body shall possess 
 whatever other power and authority are, of common right, and 
 by the universal custom of the Church, acknowledged to belong 
 to a dean and chapter ; but that it shall continue to exist, and to 
 exercise these privileges, only until such time as other bishops 
 shall be appointed to English sees, and other chapters shall be 
 erected within the kingdom. 
 
 Such is the instrument whereby Richard, bishop of Chalcedon, 
 gave form and durability to the chapter of the English church. 
 By some persons, indeed, whose objection is drawn, not from the 
 document itself, but from a loose expression of Dodd's (iv 
 286, ed. Tierney), it has been supposed to operate in the 
 double capacity of an abrogation of the original erection by Dr. 
 Bishop, and of a bar to the existence of the present capitular 
 body. But to such reasoning it may, perhaps, be sufficient to 
 reply, first, that to "confirm" is not to annul, and to "ratify" is 
 not to destroy ; secondly, that the deeds of " inspeximus " issued 
 by our kings, and the numerous confirmation charters granted by 
 each successive patron to our ancient religious establishments, 
 were never understood to invalidate the original titles, or alter 
 the nature of the several foundations ; and lastly, that the same 
 power which could dissolve, could also create, a chapter, that 
 neither the terms nor the intention of the instrument in question
 
 64 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 prelate ad coronam justiticp. He departed at Paris, and 
 lies interred in the church of the English canonesses 
 
 can be said to have been merely destructive, and that, conse- 
 quently, even if one of its effects were to abolish the former 
 institution, another unquestionably was to call a fresh one into 
 existence. The fact, however, is, that there was no dissolution 
 of the original, and, therefore, no creation of a more recent body. 
 Dr. Bishop had erected the chapter, as to all its essential proper- 
 ties, but its integrity was not yet complete. He had neither 
 fixed the number of canons, nor prescribed the mode of election, 
 nor determined any of the laws by which its members were to be 
 governed. On each of these subjects hia charter of foundation 
 was wholly silent ; and Dr. Smith, therefore, as his successor, 
 invested with the same authority, undertook to supply these defi- 
 ciencies, not, of course, by abrogating what had already been 
 established, but by adding what was still required to render the 
 institution perfect. That this, and even more than this, was 
 strictly within his province, is evident from the decree of the 
 Council of Trent, which expressly provides that all bishops shall 
 have power to " visit, correct, and amend " the chapters of their 
 respective churches. — Sess. 6, cap. 4, de Reform. 
 
 Before concluding this note, it should be added that Dodd's 
 copy of Dr. Smith's patent of confirmation, taken from a tran- 
 script formerly in Doway College, omits the w^hole passage rela- 
 tive to the power of the chapter to nominate and elect the bishops ; 
 but that the omission is fortunately supplied from the original, in 
 the encyclical epistle of the dean and chapter, referred to above. 
 As the passage is of much importance, it is here subjoined. After 
 the words "dummodo numerus canonicorum, cum deeano, triginta 
 non excedat," as in Dodd, the instrument thus proceeds : — " Juris- 
 dictionem episcopalem, ad regimen ecclesiasticum et disciplinam 
 ) procurandam necessariam, sede vacante, exerceant; etiam cen- 
 
 suras ecclesiasticas, ubi opus fuerit, infligendo, et pronunciando, 
 in casibus tamen a jure permissis. Episcopi, in nostrum aut suc- 
 cessorum nostrorum defunctorum locum subrogandi, nominationi 
 et electioni adsint et faciant, atque ita a se nominatum et electum 
 summo pontifici, pro tempore cxistenti, condigna humilitate ac 
 revcrcntia prfBsentent, apostolico calculo approbanduni," — and 
 
 ^
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 6^^ 
 
 regular of St. Austin, with this inscription on his 
 tomb : — 
 
 " Illustrissimo ac Reverendissimo Domino, Do- 
 mino Ricardo Smitha^o, Episcojio Chalcedonensi, 
 totius Angliae et Scotia; Ordinario, a falsis fratribus 
 vendito, pro fide proscripto, fide vitaque integer- 
 rimo, fidei pugili strenuissimo, pro fide Catholica 
 Apostolica Romana muro, ha^reticorum malleo, 
 famoso, annoso, probato, justo, recto, diem ultimum 
 claudenti, anno Domini 1G55, 18 Martii, a^tatis sua3 
 88, hoc mortalitatis memoriale filia; flebiles flen- 
 tesque, pro fide et ipsa? exules, mundo mortua;, pio 
 patre et benefactore optimo orbata^, posuere Sionis 
 filiaj Anglia;. Requiescat in pace. Amen." 
 
 Upon the decease of this bishop, the see being- 
 vacant, the exercise of episcopal and ordinary juris- 
 diction devolved, Jure covwrnni, ct universali Ecdesice 
 consuetudine^ on the chapter, of whose nature and 
 validity we are obliged now to speak, and to show 
 how just and canonical it is. We are to observe, 
 then, that that which is now called capitidum, in the 
 primitive times was styled collegium cleri, id est, 
 freshyterorum et diaconorum, which, when it was 
 convocated on ecclesiastical concerns, was termed 
 preshyterium ; as St. Paul hath it, " Cum impositione 
 manuum presbyterii " (1 Tim. iv. 14). St. Jerome 
 (Epist. ad Rufinum) calls it senatum ; and from him 
 the Council of Trent (Sess. 24, cap. 12), seiiattmi 
 episcopi. For this reason it is that we find so fre- 
 quent mention of the seniores, or presbyteri, in the 
 
 then continues — "coeteraque agant," <^c., as in the Doway copy. 
 — Encyc. Epist. p. 24. 
 
 F
 
 QQ HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 New Testament, even in the apostles' times, espe- 
 cially when there was any determination or decision 
 of any matter of moment ; as [when it was debated] 
 whether circumcision and the ]\losaical laws were to 
 be observed by the converted Gentiles, the apostles 
 and the ancients, or prcshyteri, were assembled to 
 consider of this word (Acts xv. 5, 6), and the deci- 
 sion of it was sent to Antioch, in an epistle of the 
 apostles and presbyters {ibid. 23). For this cause 
 it was that St. Paul, admonished by the Holy Ghost 
 that he should be removed from those parts, and so 
 [become] incapable of having a personal inspection 
 over that flock, called the presbyters of the church 
 of Ephesus, [and] earnestly recommended to them 
 the charge of the flock, over whom the Holy Ghost 
 had placed them overseers in his absence, or quasi 
 sede vacante (Acts xx. 17, 28). For we are to take 
 notice of one remarkable observation, that neither 
 St. Paul nor any of the apostles at first did conse- 
 crate or ordain any bishops, as immediate pastors 
 over the churches they had established, but only 
 erected these presbyteries, reserving the jurisdiction 
 and government of them to themselves ; and there- 
 fore, for this purpose he taketh a journey with Bar- 
 nabas, returning to " visit the brethren in all the 
 cities wherein they had preached the word of the 
 Lord, to see how they do" (Acts x v. 36); and 
 chargeth himself with the oversight of those 
 churches wherein he had planted the colleges of 
 presbyters aforesaid, — " besides those things that are 
 without, that which cometli upon me daily, the care 
 of all the churches" (2 Cor. xi. 28). Hence he ex- 
 ercised his discipline on the incestuous Corinthian,
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 67 
 
 which the rulers of the church had neglected to do, 
 and, which is most remarkable, he ordered them to 
 see this his sentence of excommunication ratified 
 and executed, when they were " gathered together, 
 and his spirit," which ruled there in chief, for the 
 time (1 Cor. v. 4). So St. Paul and Barnabas 
 "ordained them presbyters in every church" (Acts 
 xiv. 22) ; and, upon an extraordinary emergent oc- 
 casion, made Titus,, indeed, bishop of Crete, but, 
 withal, ordered him to " set in order the things 
 that were wanting, and constitute elders (presbyters) 
 in every city, as he (St. Paul) had appointed" (Titus 
 i. 5). And, not to be too tedious in a matter never 
 yet called in question, and concerning which St. 
 Peter gave such endearing and pathetic instructions 
 and admonitions, the unanimous testimonies of the 
 fathers confirm us in the same explication. Ter- 
 tullian saith (Apolog. No. 39), " Prsesident probati 
 quique seniores," id est, presbyteri. St. Ignatius 
 (Epist. ad Trallianos, No. 8 et 7) asks, " Quid est 
 presbyterium, nisi sanctum concilium, consiliarii, 
 
 assessoresque episcopi ? Episcopus, vice Christi, 
 
 presbyteri, loco consessus apostolici, pr?esident." 
 St. Jerome, in his Commentary on St. Paul's Epistle 
 to Titus, says, " Episcopi meminerint in communi 
 cum presbyteris Ecclesiam regere," &c. St. Cyprian 
 (Epist. 49, et alibi) makes frequent mention of the 
 'preshyterium ; and Pope Cornelius, his contempo- 
 rary (Epist. 46, inter Epist. S. Cypriani), tells him, 
 " Omni igitur actu ad me perlato, placuit contrahi 
 presbyterium ut firmato consilio quid circa per- 
 sonam eorum observari deberet, consensu omnium 
 statueretur." The same says Pope Siricius (Epist. 2). 
 
 F 2
 
 68 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 Alexander III. decreed tlie same ; and the Council 
 of Trent obliges the same (Sess. 5, cap. 1 ; Sess. 23, 
 c. 18 ; Sess. 24, c. 12 et 15; Sess. 25, c. 6, 8, 10, 
 de Reform.). 
 
 As the antiquity of chapters is coeval with epis- 
 copacy, so are their jurisdiction and government, 
 sede vacante^ the natural right of them, derived from 
 the institution of Christ, and authorized by the 
 practice of the apostles, and the primitive discipline 
 of the Church. The many epistles between the 
 Roman clergy and the Carthaginian see offer us 
 most ample testimony of convocating a council, scde 
 vacante^ concerning the case of the hqisi, [and for] 
 determining how they were to be treated ; and, in 
 the third epistle (inter Epist. S. Cypriani), they thus 
 express themselves : — " Cum incumbat nobis, qui 
 videmur pmcpositi esse et vice pastoris, custodire 
 gregem," &c. To this regular clergy St. Cyprian 
 writ, as in whom the power and authority of the 
 see apostolic (as at this time they remain in the 
 college of the cardinals, the pope's chapter) resided, 
 sede vacante ; and to them (I mean in each diocesan 
 church), for a long time, did properly and pecu- 
 liarly belong the election of the new bishop, till the 
 suffrages or postulations of the laity, in some mea- 
 sure allowed of, brought many irregularities and 
 disorders along with them, and then it was re- 
 strained to the metropolitan and comprovincial 
 bishops ; till, at length, this freedom of election 
 was encroached on by temporal sovereigns, or near 
 extinguished by the pretence of a court, which 
 would foin nominate all, and be all in all.* 
 
 * As the reasoning contained in the two preceding paragraphs
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 69 
 
 This being premised, an easy and obvious return 
 might be made to all interrogatories and questions 
 
 affects not the real merits of the question at issue, it will be 
 unnecessary to detain the reader further than to remark, first, 
 that the author confounds the '•'• presbyterium,^' or entire college 
 of the clergy, with the " caintulum" which was a select body ; 
 secondly, that his interpretation of Scripture is at variance with 
 that of the most approved commentators ; thirdly, that although 
 he cites the example of one patiiarchal church, whereof the 
 clergy assumed the government on the demise of the bishop, he 
 conceals or overlooks the fact, that in France, at the very same 
 period, and as late as the middle of the twelfth century, the 
 administration of all suffragan sees, under the same circum- 
 stances, devolved on the metropolitan (Bergier, Diet. Theol. 
 art. Cliap'itre) ; and lastly, that, as the necessary consequence 
 of this, his assertion as to the divine origin of capitular jurisdic- 
 tion, and the primitive or natural rights of e[)iscopal chapters, 
 is in direct opposition to historical truth. In addition, he is 
 equally incorrect in suj)posing the postulations of the laity, in 
 the election of bishops, to have been an encroachment on the 
 ancient and exclusive privileges of the chapters of the several 
 sees. Those postulations are mentioned at the earliest periods. 
 St. Cyprian, in the middle of the third century, declares that he 
 was raised to the episcopal charge " by the suffrages of the whole 
 people" (Epist. ^5^ No. 7, and 68, No. 6) ; and Peter, the suc- 
 cessor of St. Athanasius in the church of Alexandria, describiufi: 
 the election of the Arian intruder Lucius, mentions the absence 
 of these suffrages, as one of its irregularities, — ovk kinaKowwv 
 6pQoZ6i,ii)v avvohf, OX) i/^»'/0w KXripiKMV aXrfdivvJv, ovk alrrjaei \awi\ 
 wg 01 Tije eKKXrjfriag liayoptvovtTL dEdfioi (Theodoret, lib. iv. cap. 22). 
 On the other hand, the earliest instance, discovered by Floury, 
 even of an attempt on the part of the cathedral chapters, at least 
 on the continent, to confine the elections to their own bodies, is 
 alluded to in a decree of the second council of Lateran, held in 
 1139, whereby the canons are strictly forbidden to exclude the 
 religious from a share in the choice of their cjjiscopal superiors. 
 — Concil. Lat. can. 28 ; and Floury, Hist. Ecclcs. liv. 68, n. 54. 
 See also the same History, liv. 16, n. 47.
 
 70 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 concerning the ordinary jurisdiction of the chapter, 
 sede vacante. For it is an unquestionable axiom in 
 natural and political institutions, quod qui dat esse 
 dat conseqiientia ad esse; [and] our bishops, being 
 truly ordinaries, designed the chapter for the con- 
 tinuation of ordinary episcopal jurisdiction among 
 us, as has already been demonstrated, by their erect- 
 ing this chapter in the most ample and plenary 
 manner that could be expressed, and signifying this 
 act of theirs, in their own or their officials' name, in 
 no less than twenty-seven formal instruments, drawn 
 \x\) and presented to the pope himself, the cardinals, 
 and court of Rome, without the least reprehension 
 or contradiction. It being, then, the indubitable 
 right of all bishops, by the canons of the Church, to 
 erect chapters, with an equal authority to them- 
 selves, sede vacaiite, in what respects or relates to the 
 government of the church, [it is evident] that there- 
 fore this chapter, erected by them, must be allowed 
 to have the same unquestionable authority as they 
 had, and, by consequence, jurisdiction too. But, for 
 a more clear solution of all doubts, let us examine 
 now what objections (for what so solid, what so 
 sacred, against which objections have not [been], 
 and might not be, made?) have been offered against 
 it, and what force they have. 
 
 First, then, they object from that rule of the 
 canon law, — " nidlum capitidum sine sede." 
 
 I answer, first, by retorting the argument upon 
 themselves, — '■^ neque cpiscopus sine sede" by the 
 same law. If, therefore, our particular circum- 
 stances did necessarily require a dispensation, in that 
 singular case, to have a bishop in and for England,
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 71 
 
 without a see, why not, for the same reasons, a 
 chapter too ? The first was absolutely granted by 
 the express terms of the brief, and the second must 
 as necessarily and naturally spring from it. 
 
 But, secondly, as our bishops were not directed 
 to any particular cathedral see, but [were esta- 
 blished] for the right and use of all the missionaries, 
 which cannot be restrained to any particular place 
 or residence, just so does our chapter succeed to 
 their jurisdiction ; and so, it is not capitulum cathe- 
 drale, sed jure et causa missionariorum erectum, as 
 the canonists then defined it. 
 
 Thirdly, that canon manifestly speaks of chapters 
 erected in Catholic countries, where the religion is 
 established by law, and exercised in peace and tran- 
 quillity ; but cannot be understood of a country 
 under persecution, or infected either with heresy or 
 infidelity, where the external exercise is impossible 
 and impracticable. Let the objectors find out where 
 any of the apostles, or the bishops of Rome, for so 
 many ages under persecution, had ever their cathe- 
 dral or metropolitical sees, or chapters with public 
 endowments of extrinsical and accidental ornaments, 
 as a material church, choir, revenues, &c. ; and yet 
 I dare swear the apostles and bishops of Rome had 
 ordinary jurisdiction, and chapters of the same 
 authority. These gentlemen, then, may please to 
 reflect that bishops and chaj)ters were before the 
 canons, and enacted them, as conveniences and 
 emergencies gave them opportunity ; and, there- 
 fore, those canons must not be supposed to be able 
 to abrogate their natural and essential rights, nuich 
 less in cases of extraordinary concern. Wherefore,
 
 72 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 to satisfy such nice speculators, I will solve the dif- 
 ficulty by this one distinction, — nullum capHulum 
 sine sede, materialiter consideratd, nego ; fonnaliter, 
 concedo : that is, there can be no bishop or chapter 
 without material stones, edifices, established riches, 
 choirs, and revenues, ncgo ; there cannot be a bishop 
 or chapter without subjects to govern and preside 
 over, a flock to feed, &c., which are the spiritualia 
 et viva corporis Christi membra, or ecclesia Christi, 
 concedo ; — the first of which, indeed, we neither had 
 nor have as yet ; the second we enjoy to our com- 
 fort, and hope, in God's own time, to obtain the rest. 
 And now, by the bye, the reader may be satisfied 
 here that the title " Chalcedotiensis" was only pro 
 forma, but the 7'es ipsa was Anglorum Episcopus (as 
 we read in that learned book, entitled Geographia 
 Sacra,* of an " Episcopus Brita?ini(F," in ancient 
 times, here in England) ; because a bishop and his 
 flock are correlates, and must refer one to another : 
 and yet, in Chalcedon there was neither a material 
 nor formal see, neither external church nor Christian 
 flock over which to jn-eside ; and therefore, to retort 
 the argument ofnullus episcopus sine sede, and answer 
 ad liominem. Bishop William, or Richard, could not 
 be their, but our, ordinary.f 
 
 * It was written by Sainuel Bocliart, a learned French Pro- 
 testant, wlio was barn at Rouen in 1599, and died suddenly, at 
 Caen, in 1667- Of his works, more than one have been lost. 
 Those which still survive, including the Geographia Sacra, were 
 collected and published at Leyden, in 1692 — 1707, and again in 
 1712, in three volumes, folio. His life has been written by 
 Eticnnc Morin, who, I believe, succeeded him as minister to the 
 Protestant congregation at Caen. 
 
 + In addition to what the author has said iu reply to this first
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 73 
 
 A second objection is, that the bishops were dele- 
 gati et ad beneplacitum : but to this frivolous scruple 
 we have already given an ample and satisfactory 
 reply ; and, to avoid an unnecessary repetition, we 
 refer you to it.* 
 
 objection, it sliould be retnarkeJ that much uncertainty, or rather 
 misapprehension, exists as to the meaning of the word " sedes." 
 Because bishops generally take their titles from cities, or other 
 principal towns, in the districts over which they preside, there 
 are persons who imagine that such places are the necessary epis- 
 copal "sedes;" that the distinctive appellations derived from 
 them are essential to the existence of ordinary jurisdiction ; and 
 that, to extend the ^'^ sedes" to a whole country, — or, in other 
 words, to appoint a person bishop of a whole people, — were an 
 anomaly in the laws and practice of the Christian Church. To 
 say nothing, however, of the " Episcojnis Anglorum" men- 
 tioned in the text, or of the fact that St. Augustin was conse- 
 crated " archbishop of the English nation" (Bede, lib. i. cap. 27), 
 these persons must surely have forgotten that St. Paul created 
 Titus bishop of Crete, with all its hundred cities ; and that, for 
 many ages, the immense tracts of Scythia acknowledged the 
 superintendence but of one episcojial superior : a/xeXei ^kvOcu 
 TToXXal TToXtie oi/Ttg Eva TTuvTEQ iirlaKoirov 'i-^ovaw. — Sozomen, lib. 
 vii. cap. 19. 
 
 * If the reader will turn to page 45, note, awfe, he will find 
 that the reply to which the author here refers is so far inaccurate, 
 as that it claims the title^ as well as the jurisdiction, of ordinary 
 for Dr. Bishop and his successor. To the validity of the present 
 argument, however, as is there observed, this is of no conse- 
 quence. It is in virtue of his authority, not of his title, — of his 
 power, not of the tenure of that power, — that each bishop is 
 enabled to erect a chapter in his own diocese. The mode in 
 which the authority is communicated, or the term for which it 
 may happen to be held, can never deprive it of its efficacy, or 
 alter its essential properties. Ordinary jurisdiction, as such, 
 must be still the same, whether in the hands of the delegate or of 
 the principal ; and if, therefore, Di*. Bishop and Dr. Smith were
 
 74 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 A third objection is taken out of the words of 
 Bishop William's letters patent for the erection of 
 the chapter, viz. : — " Servata tamen in hoc uti in 
 ceteris omnibus, debita erga sedem apostolicam re- 
 verentia, atque observantia, cui propterea supplican- 
 dum duximus, ut qiddquid potcstati nostrce in hcic 
 parte deesse poterit, id summi pontificis suffragio^ ex 
 potestatis suce plenitudine, siippleatur :" — but this 
 supply never came, therefore the chapter is 
 invalid. 
 
 Answer : — It is evident from that very patent that 
 these words, " servatd debitd reverentid," were solely 
 and purely meant, as their usual and natural signifi- 
 cation and acceptation testify, to demonstrate his 
 respect and regard to that see ; and not that he en- 
 treated any authority to be superadded, as though 
 his own was not sufficiently valid. Nay, the contrary 
 is most certain : because he immediately proceeds, 
 notwithstanding those expressions, to the institution 
 and confirmation of the chapter, by his own sole 
 power, with an " Itaque ad Dei omnipotentis glo- 
 riam," &c., which expressions and form he would 
 not have presumed to make use of had he doubted 
 of his own sufiEiciency. 
 
 The latter part of the objection is only conditional, 
 eti nisi piirificatd condiiione, nihil secpdtur. But if 
 any advantage may be reaped thence, it must accrue 
 and redound to the chapter : for, since that sentence, 
 only conditionally, and j(?er impossibile, as it were, 
 
 really invested " with all and each of the faculties which ordi- 
 naries enjoy in their own dioceses," it is clear that they possessed 
 that same right of creating a chapter, which every bishop in 
 Christendom claims, as the necessary appurtenance of his office.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 75 
 
 supposes that, if any requisite was truly deficient in 
 that erection, then his holiness would supply it ; and 
 [since] the erection of the chapter was so frequently 
 made known to the pope and that court, and yet no 
 alteration or supply came thence, it is an invincible 
 argument that it was the opinion of that court, and 
 of his holiness too, that it required neither one nor 
 the other, but was canonical and valid of itself; — 
 unless we can suppose that that court would willingly 
 and knowingly let such an intolerable abuse (such as 
 it must needs be, to erect a chapter with ordinary 
 jurisdiction, without sufficient authority for it) go on 
 uncorrected, and proceed in the exercise of this 
 power for so many years as uncanonical and invalid, 
 without the least admonition to recall them from so 
 dangerous and damnable a state. Such wild suppo- 
 sitions as these, indeed, if they might be granted, 
 would cast a great blemish on the vigilance of that 
 supreme pastor, and bring Christianity itself into a 
 doubt. Add to this, that Mr. Rant, the chapter's 
 agent, presented his holiness, in 1624, with a sup- 
 plication, in the name of the chapter (subscribed 
 thus, — " Joannes Colletonus, decaniis constitutus, no- 
 mine totius capituli, &c. : — Pauliis Cluertoniis, secre- ^ ^^^ 
 tarius decani et capituli, &c.), for a bishop ; and the _^ fV^ 
 pope, upon audience, assured him that he had thought J^-^ 
 on it already, and that he would advise with ihe"^^'^ 
 cardinals of the Holy Office about it — inquiring 
 whether the clergy had agreed upon any one in par- 
 ticular for that office ? The answer was, that they 
 had nominated nine (showing him their names), and 
 left the choice to his holiness. Can there be required 
 a more ample proof of a chapter's validity, or the
 
 76 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 pope's acceptation and acknowledgment, than this ? 
 — But more of these authorities by-and-by.* 
 
 Objection the fourth : — The Benedictine monks 
 obtained a decree from the cardinals to this effect — 
 " 91071 cofifi7'7netur cajntulum.'" 
 
 Answer: — Hence we prove our chapter to be 
 canonical and valid : for that very decree supposes 
 and styles it a chapter, without any diminutive or 
 lessening terms, as jwcetensum, or falsh supjwsitujn. 
 [In the] next [place], that court did, in this, most 
 wisely, in wording that decree so, knowing very well 
 that, by all the canons of God's Church, neither 
 erectio nor conjirniatio caintulorum does belong to 
 that see, and that ordinary jurisdictions, as chapters 
 are, being established jure dimno, ex institutione 
 Christi, need not any confirmation jm^e liumano et 
 positivo : and therefore it acted very prudently in 
 not assuming that authority of confirming it any 
 more than invalidating it, but leaving it as it was : 
 for it is the constant opinion of all canonists, that 
 " quilibet episcopus potest erigere capitulum, eo 
 ipso quod est episcopus," and that "capitulum nun- 
 quam moritur." 
 
 The last objection is, that though the chapter 
 might either subsist whilst there was only one bishop, 
 or, sede vacante, be valid, yet it cannot be so now, 
 here being four bishops, with their respective dis- 
 tricts. - . 
 
 * In this reply, the author has contented himself with destroy- 
 ing the argument of his adv^ersaries on their own ground. The 
 objection, however, is founded, in effect, on a misinterpretation 
 of Dr. Bishoji's charter, and the real answer to it has already 
 been supjjjicd in a preceding note. — See page 45, ajite.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 77 
 
 Answer : — The instruments which erected it, 
 under Bishop William, and confirmed it, under 
 Bishop Richard, ordered its continuance, " donee, 
 pluribus in Anglia episcopis Catholicis constitutis, 
 plura capitula in eodem regno erigantur:"* till, 
 therefore, those bishops do erect their respective 
 chapters, it must remain valid, and in its full force 
 and power : [but] when [these are] once erected, 
 it will, ipso facto, be annulled. f And therefore, 
 these bishops being legati apostolici, and so revocable, 
 the preservation of our church obligetli us to keep 
 up tliis ordinary jurisdiction, lest, at their deatli or 
 revocation, we should have no longer continuation of 
 them, and then all ordinary jurisdiction would be 
 lost. 
 
 Having answered the objections, I must proceed 
 to show the uncontrollable validity and strength of 
 the chapter, from these three considerations — first, 
 public legations, and instruments exhibited to the 
 court of Rome and accepted of by it ; secondly, ap- 
 probations and testimonies of its authority ; thirdly, 
 intrinsical exercise, in moments of great concern, 
 of episcopal ordinary jurisdiction, sciente et tacente 
 Romand curia : :}: and this I will prosecute, by way 
 
 * This is not quite correct. The limitation hero cited occurs 
 in Dr. Smith's confirmation patent, but not in the original instru- 
 ment of foundation, under Dr. Bishop. 
 
 t That ie, supposing the present vicars to have the power of 
 erecting such chapters, — a subject which will be mentioned here- 
 after. 
 
 X It has now been distinctly shown, that Dr. Bishop and his 
 successor were commissioned to exercise the full authority of 
 ordinaries ; that, acting on that commission, the former erected, 
 the latter confirmed, the chapter ; and that whatever objections
 
 78 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 of historical matters of fact, from its first erection to 
 these our times, whicli will highly strengthen the 
 prescription of that it lays so just a claim to, and be 
 a more facile and intellio-ent method to let the reader 
 into a more perfect insight of the true state of affairs, 
 as well as to clear all manner of surmises or contrary 
 suggestions which, possibly, prejudice might have 
 caused in him against the equity of our pretensions. 
 To begin, then, upon the vacancy of the see by the 
 death of Bishop William. 
 
 In the year 1624, the dean and chapter ordered 
 their agent, in their name, to solicit for a successor, 
 and in the interim, sede vacante^ exercised ordinary 
 jurisdiction.* 
 
 In the year 1635, Mr. Edward Bennet was elected 
 dean, in the room of Mr. Colleton, deceased : and 
 in 1637 Dr. Champney was promoted to the same 
 dignity, vacant by the death of his predecessor. 
 Each of these writ to the pope and cardinals, sub- 
 scribing [himself] "-Decanus Capihdi Atiglicani''' and 
 did, sede non vacantc, as well as vacante^ vindicate their 
 just right and claim. f 
 
 havo been raised against the jurisdiction, thus created, were 
 founded in error, and are, consequently, incapable of support. 
 In the sequel of the author's argument, it will be seen, first, that 
 the chapter, as a body, was recognised by the Roman court ; 
 secondly, that the validity of its powers was acknowledged and 
 approved by the sovereign pontiff; and thirdly, that it continued, 
 under the eye of Rome, and during a space of thirty years, in 
 the constant exercise of its ordinary jurisdiction, without once 
 receiving an intimation from its superiors that it was acting im- 
 properly. 
 
 * The agent was Rant, see p. 50, ante. 
 
 t The date of Champney's death is not known ; but, from his
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 79 
 
 About the year lG55^ishop Richard deceased, 
 and the same episcopal jurisdiction again devolved 
 on the chapter, Innocent X. being then alive ; to 
 whom Mr. Fitton, t_he chapter's agent, having given „«, 
 
 an account of the bishop's decease, and desired to P^ 
 know his pleasure concerning the state and govern- 
 ment of the Catholic Church in England, his holiness 
 replied, " I will not disapprove of your chapter, but 
 will let you alone with your government." * 
 
 In the same year the chapter despatched Mr. 
 Plantin, a new agent, for Rome, to Alexander VII., 
 who succeeded Innocent, to supplicate for a successor 
 to Bishop Richard. He promised us a bishop within 
 seven months, and [said] that in the interim we 
 should govern by our chapter. His words are these : 
 — " Numquid non habetis capitulum, decanum, vel 
 subdecanum, ad regendam ecclesiam?"-!" 
 
 age — he was in his seventy-fifth year in 1643 (Dodd, iii. 82, -^^ 'S^^- 
 orig. edn.) — it is prohable that he died before Dr. Smith. In'^'?^^'^ 
 that case, the see could not have been vacant during the dean-©e«^->— .-^ 
 ship either of Bennet or of Cbampney ; and the author's mean- tJ^A^ 
 ing, therefore, must be, that they asserted the rights of the ^^*" "^ 
 chapter, sed& non vacante^ in the same manner as they would 
 have done sede vacante. 
 
 * This passage is thus cited in the Encyclical Epistle of tlio 
 dean and chapter already referred to : — " We show him (Dr. 
 Leyburne), under Mr. Fitton's own hand, that it was the sense 
 of Pope Innocentius, returned to him by Cardinal Capponi, our 
 comprotector, that we shotild govern hy a dean and chapter till 
 we had a bishop^ that he tcould leave us to govern ourselves, that 
 he would not disapprove tchat he did, hut let us alone, to agree 
 upon what we ourselves thought Jit." — (24, 25.) Fitton's letter 
 is, probably, still in the archives of the chapter. 
 
 t On these words, as well as on those recited in the preceding 
 note, it need only be remarked, that they contain a distinct 
 acknowledgment of the chapter's jurisdiction; and that, what-
 
 80 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 A letter also, the ensuing year (1G56), was writ to 
 tlie congregation de Propaganda Fide, in the chapter's 
 name, to consult what must be done with those 
 regulars who remained here against the command of 
 their superiors, or entered in with illegitimate facul- 
 ties ; as also a letter of thanks to his holiness, for his 
 paternal care in promising to supply us with an ordi- 
 nary successor : and the same year Cardinal Capponi 
 sent a letter, directed to the " suhdean of the diopter 
 of the English clergy.'" A patent was granted by the 
 chapter then, for Dr. Godden to be president of 
 Lisbon College ; and a dispensation for two persons 
 of quality to be married in the second degree. Read 
 also a letter of Dr. Leyburne's (the professed enemy 
 of the chapter), found amongst his papers, containing 
 these words : — " That my lord (Bishop Smith) de- 
 clared that the chapter was not to exercise episcopal 
 jurisdiction whilst he lived, which is according to the 
 common practice of the Church, whose sacred canons 
 do confer the bishop's jurisdiction upon the chapter 
 only after his death," — that the said chapter of 
 England " is to be looked on as his heir apparent, 
 and lawful successor, where authority is to reside 
 after his death." — Again, " seeing our government 
 is to reside in the chapter after our master's 
 decease."* 
 
 ever cavils might hitherto have been raised on the want of the 
 pope's formal approbation, must henceforth and for ever be aban- 
 doned. Nor is this all. In thus acknowledging the chapter, 
 both Innocent and Alexander acknowledged it as it stood., 
 invested with all the privileges conferred on it by the founders, 
 — whereof the nomination and election of the bishops was not 
 the least important. 
 
 * See also Encyclical Epist. iit nip. 27.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 81 
 
 The succeeding year, 1657, the nuncio at Paris 
 had commission to be our ordinary m secundd in- 
 stantla, which necessarily supposes the chapter's 
 ordinary jurisdiction m primd instantici ;* and the 
 chapter, in a general assembly, nominated six per- 
 sons for a bishop, and constituted Mr. Pendrick 
 their agent at Rome. 
 
 [It was] ordered, in a succeeding consult, 1658, 
 that Mr. Pendrick forthwith wait upon his holiness, 
 and supplicate him, in their names, to make good 
 his promise. (Letters likewise were sent to the 
 Cardinals Barberini and Baign6, to the same effect. 
 A dispensation was granted then, in a case of matri- 
 mony ; and recommendatory letters [were drawn up] 
 for Mr. Michael Tichbourn to the bishops of the 
 Canaries.) The instructions sent to Mr. Pendrick 
 were these : — First, to desire a bishop cum potestate 
 ordinarii ; secondly, that we dare not accept of any 
 authority but what is conformable to the ancient 
 laws in Catholic times, and which would be no 
 offence to the government ; thirdly, that he be one 
 of the six the chapter hath named ; fourthly, if any 
 other person or authority, contrary or inconsistent 
 with this, be endeavoured to be imposed, that he 
 resolutely oppose it, and disclaim against it, in the 
 chapter's name : 1°, because the ancient laws of 
 England admit of no extraordinary power of the 
 pope ; 2°, because there is a severe penalty, called a 
 prcemimire, against those that shall receive any such ; 
 8°, that in King Henry VIII. 's time, the clergy, by 
 reason of this, were compelled to quit the pope's 
 authority ; 4°, that all the laity will fall under the 
 
 * Concil. Trid. sess. 24, cap. 20. 
 G
 
 82 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 same prcpmunire also; 5°, that the chapter think 
 themselves bound, in conscience, to acquaint the 
 laity of the danger they are in by accepting of such 
 an authority ; * 6°, that the state is already too 
 jealous of any intrenchment from the arbitrary 
 power of the court of Rome : and therefore they 
 dare not accept of any superior but an ordinary 
 bishop.'f' 
 
 A dispensation was granted in a simple vow of 
 chastity ; faculties were allowed to one Mr. Trafford ; 
 and letters were sent to his holiness, the nuncio, and 
 several other cardinals, which, because they were on 
 the behalf of the whole clergy, were ordered for the 
 future to be subscribed after this form : — " Ex man- 
 date Decani et Capituli Ecclesia^ Anglicanas, N. N. 
 Secretarius." — Note, that this form of subscription 
 was ordered in the year 1658-9 ; and nineteen in- 
 structions, much to the same purpose above men- 
 
 * This they did, ia October, 1660, by means of the Ency- 
 clical Epistle already mentioned. See, in particular, pp. 35 
 et seq. 
 
 + The immediate occasion of transmitting these instructions 
 to Pendrick seems to have been a letter written by Dr. Ley- 
 burne to Rome, wherein he had said, that " the greater part of 
 the clergy in England were well satisfied, and would think them - 
 selves happy, in having a viearius apostolicus," and that " only 
 some few of the chapter opposed it." — Encycl. Epist. 35. From 
 a letter published in Mr. Tierney's History of Arundel 
 (ii. 524), it appears that the same Dr. Leyburne also represented 
 himself to the pope as the agent of the English Catholics, when, 
 in reality, he had received neither commission nor communica- 
 tion from them. After this, his assertions that the chapter had 
 formed "a design to deprive Dr. Smith of his episcopal autho- 
 rity," and compel him to quit the country, may be readily esti- 
 mated. — Encyclical Answer, 42 ; Epist. Declarat. 23.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 83 
 
 tioned, [were] sent up by [the hands of] our agent, 
 Dr. Gag-e ; as likewise a letter to the nuncio at Paris, 
 to assure him that only episcopal authority is safe, 
 grateful, and necessary for us, and all extraordinary 
 [authority] dangerous to the welfare of all the laity ; 
 so that we shall be obliged to inform them of it if 
 any such jurisdiction is imposed upon us. 
 
 Ordered, in the year 1658-9, that Dr. Gage de- 
 clare against all extraordinary authority, as incon- 
 sistent with our safety, if offered to be imposed ; 
 and that he absolutely move for an ordinary autho- 
 rity, as was^^promjse^d us. ^.^Zl^ 
 
 In the year 1660,* Dr. Ellis, alias Waring, having /X^C' , 
 
 * This, ia the old edition, is 1664, which, though carelessly l , 
 
 copied by Dodd, is evidently a misi^riut. Of the dates ininie- ^"^"^ ^ 
 diately preceding and following it, in the text, the reader will "'.'■ 
 see that the former is 1659, the latter 1661, — a sufficient pi'oof,"^^ ^^£^^ 
 even of itself, that our author, who invariably adheres to the CJ^^^v^t^ 
 chronological order of events, must have written 1 660. But this iJ^^ctio 
 is not all. Dodd, referring to this passage for his authority, ^^^W oci 
 and at the same time perverting it, says, not that Ellis was ^ 
 
 sworn, but that he was " chosen dean of the chaper, October 14, 
 1664" — (iii. 295, orig. edn.) Now it is certain that Ellis's elec- 
 tion took place at the general assembly, held in November, 
 1657; that he was informed of the event by a letter from the 
 chapter, addressed to him in the country, where he was living ; 
 and that, in his reply, he stipulated, as the condition on which 
 he would consent to receive the proffered dignity, that he should 
 be allowed sufficient time to arrange certain matters of import- 
 ance before he removed his residence to London. — Encycl. Epist. 
 13, 15, 16 ; Letter from Iloburgh to Card. Barberini, in Plow- 
 den's Remarks on Panzani, Append, x. p. 374. This condition 
 was granted. His affairs appear to have occupied him rather 
 more than two years ; and thus, although in the mean time he 
 acted in the capacity, and was acknowledged in the character, of 
 dean (see a letter from the nuncio, dated Sept 28, 1660, and 
 
 G 2
 
 84 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 settled liis affairs in the country, came up to London 
 to reside, and preside over liis brethren ; and on 
 October the 14th, to the universal joy of his brethren, 
 was sworn dean of the chapter. 
 
 In the year 1G60-1, June the 26th,* Mr. Richard 
 • Russell (afterwards bishop of Portalegre, in Portugal) 
 was made canon of the chapter, whose brief, from 
 Clement X., for his creation [as bishop], authen- 
 tically owns the present chapter ; for it styles that 
 bishop elect " capituli Catholici in civitate Lon- 
 dinensi canoniciim,''' and afterwards declares, " per 
 provisionem et profectionem hujusmodi, canonicatum 
 et yrcehendam^ qiias ohtincs, vacare decernimus," — 
 which is nothing less than an acknowledgment of 
 our chapter by the see apostolic. This brief was 
 dated July 1, 1671, which was a complete year after 
 the congregation was held, for its (the chapter's) 
 confirmation or non-confirmation, and is a convincing 
 argument that the apostolic see did that then which 
 before the congregation had demurred to do.f 
 
 About this time, our agent. Dr. Gage, gave us an 
 account how that his holiness Alexander VII. was 
 
 cited by the author, p. 87, post), yet it was not until the 14th 
 of October, 1660, that he took the oath attached to his new 
 ofRco. Six days later, we have his signature as dean, together 
 with those of the author and seven other canons, or their depu- 
 ties, affixed to the Encyclical Ejtistle referred to in the present 
 and some preceding notes. Ellis, whose real name was Waring, 
 succeeded Dr. Daniel, who died in September, 1657. — Iloburgh's 
 Letter, ut sup. pp. 369, 374. 
 
 * There seems to be an error in this date ; either the year 
 should be 16G1, or the mouth should be January; probably the 
 latter. 
 iL\^\ t See page 97, post.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 85 
 
 very much inclined to favour us, and give us a bishop ; 
 but [til at] the main difficulty was to bring the car- 
 dinals over to our side, who, influenced by one man, 
 stomached at the authority of the chapter ; for at 
 that time Cardinal Albechi was chief of that congre- 
 gation, appointed to inspect our affairs, a great 
 favourer and admirer of the Jesuitical party, and the 
 only person in all Rome that ever was known to 
 speak or act anything in the least against our 
 chapter. 
 
 There passed several letters and relations to us, 
 the sum of all which amounted to no more than that 
 he acknowledged himself to be deluded and imposed 
 upon by them. For, while the archbishop of Rouen 
 promised to give us bishops, as the Council of Sar- 
 dica directed him, if the first see refused it, the 
 court of Rome, fearing the example of such an 
 encroachment on their sole (as they imagined) pre- 
 rogative, caressed and cajoled the agent, with fair 
 promises, and dilatory kind expressions, lest we 
 should desist our solicitation there, and supplicate 
 that archbishop : but, in the mean time, having pro- 
 vided against that unexpected storm by the means 
 of potent friends, and engaged that prelate to desist 
 from such an enterprise, they then pulled off the 
 vizard, and treated him with the same coldness as 
 before ; which strange alteration gave the doctor an 
 occasion of changing his sentiment as to the manner 
 of managing that court. 
 
 For whereas before this he was very positive that 
 the only way to obtain any favour thence was by 
 submissive fawnings, humble addresses, acknowledg- 
 ments of great favours, and no pretensions of right
 
 86 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 or equity, yet now he tells us his opinion is, that 
 " they would, if they could, abolish all authority but 
 what depended immediately upon them ; and this 
 they will do when there is not a power able to dis- 
 ])ute their right with them." — It is not to be denied 
 but that this agent, in several particulars, went 
 beyond his commission ; and was once almost pre- 
 vailed on to accept of a vicar apostolic, by means 
 and persuasions of his great friend, Mr. J. L., there 
 resident.* But this design was defeated by the in- 
 dustry and vigilance of Mr. J. Holland, the then 
 secretary, in having him recalled home : yet, before 
 his return, he gave us this certificate, viz. — " In the 
 interim^ make no doubt of the chapter's authority ; for 
 it is most apparent that this court allows of it." — 
 Orders [were] sent also to him that the bishop have 
 the title of archbishop, if it can be, and that he be 
 sure to be entitled " Ordinarius Anglice" and his 
 mission significantly addressed to England ; that, if 
 the nuncio has any orders to impose any extraordi- 
 nary authority upon us, he declare against it, as 
 inconsistent with our safety. Ordered, likewise, to 
 disclaim the memorial without date, pretended to 
 have been presented by Dr. Gage, our agent ; that, 
 if he presented any such, it was expressly against 
 his orders and knowledge, since, being a capitular, 
 he could not be ignorant that the chapter exercised 
 ordinary episcopal jurisdiction, and was obeyed as 
 [possessed of J such.-j- 
 
 * Probably Dr. John Leyburne, afterwards vicar apostolic. 
 
 t Iloburgh, without even attempting to assign a reason for 
 the charge, roundly declares that the opposition of the canons, on 
 this occasion, to tlie appointment of a vicar apostolic, was a mere
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 87 
 
 Much about this time, the dean and chapter re- 
 ceived several letters from the nuncio at Paris and 
 internuncio at Brussels, in which they promise to 
 supplicate his holiness for a bishop for them. The 
 first was from the nuncio, April 12, 1659 ; and the 
 second, the May following, from him also, super- 
 scribed — " Adji/odum Reverendis Dominis^ Decano et 
 Canonicis capitidi cleri Anglicani." A third was sent 
 from the said nuncio, September 28, 1660, directed 
 — " Domino Omiphrio Elliceo, Decano capituli Angli- 
 cani ;" * and [another] December 18, — " Capitulo 
 et Clero An<jlicano" One also [was written] from 
 the internuncio, November 26, 1660, in which he 
 apologizeth for not using that style : — " Singular! 
 animi voluptate perlegi literas a dominationibus ves- 
 tris quinto procteriti datas, signanterque quod in ipso 
 limine significant, se, scilicet, non vcgr^ tulisse omis- 
 sionem titulorum decani et capituli in prsece- 
 dentibus meis, quam supponent nulla sinistra 
 intentione admissam ; in quo revera minime erra- 
 
 pretence ; that they asked for a bisliop, only because they hoped 
 for a refusal ; and that their real object was to prolong the exist- 
 ence of their own power over the clergy. — Letter to Cardinal 
 Barberini, apud Plowden, Append, x. pp. 375, 376. For those 
 who recollect the unceasing applications and importunate entrea- 
 ties of the chapter for an episcopal superior, this will need no 
 refutation. At the same time, it will be well to compare this 
 letter of Hoburgh's with the Encyclical Epistle of the dean and 
 chapter already cited. Hoburgh is said to have been employed 
 on the English mission ; but, beyond this, nothing appears to be 
 known of him. 
 
 * Amongst other expressions contained in the body of this 
 letter, it should be remarked that the nuncio uses these emphatic 
 words : " Supremus enim ac universalis pastor capitidmn istud, 
 tanquam Jilios charissimos, diU<jit." — Encycl. Epist. 27-
 
 88 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 runt, uti Domino Quintino, confratri vestro, ore 
 teuus exposni. Absit ut aliquod dominationibus 
 vestris decus detraliere cnpiani, qui potius nova 
 accumulare averem." And, coniformably, December 
 24, 1600, he directed one thus : — " Admodum Reve- 
 rendo Domino, Domino Joanni Hollando, Secretario 
 capituli Londinensis ;" and in the letter itself ex- 
 pressed himself in these signal terms : — " Vos autho- 
 ritatem episcopalem, et onus pastorale sustinetis in 
 
 Al • A <1 
 nglia. 
 
 In the year 1661 a general assembly was held ; 
 and, for fear the government should take notice of 
 their meeting, my Lord Aubigni was entreated by 
 Mr. Holland, the secretary, to acquaint his majesty of 
 it ; and [to assure him] that their intention was only 
 to settle some concerns belonging to their private 
 affairs, and their obtaining a bishop for their govern- 
 ment ; and that they would choose none but such a 
 man as should be well-principled, and his loyal and 
 faithful subject.* His majesty was pleased to con- 
 sent to their meeting, sending this gracious answer, 
 that he " commanded them not to meddle with, or 
 accept of, any extraordinary authority from Rome. 
 As for the late laws, made since the Reformation 
 against them, he would protect them from tJiem ; 
 but could not do it in respect of the ancient laws, 
 provided in Catholic times against such an autho- 
 
 * Yet Iloburgh assures Cardinal Barberini, that the object of 
 this meeting, thus liublicly notified even to the government, was 
 studiously kept secret : — " Quid porro nuperrimc oapitulares 
 egerint in conventu suo, hoc anno, duobus abhinc mcnsibus, Lon- 
 dini habito, cauium ah ipsis esse aiunt, ne palamjiat." — Apud 
 Plowden, 378.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 89 
 
 rity." Whereupon, a decree passed in this general 
 assembly, 7iever to accept of any such authority. — 
 September 30, common letters were sent to the 
 pope and Cardinal Barberini, which conclude thus : 
 " Nihil de episcopo imprajsentiarum movemus; sed 
 prudentissimam sanctitatis sua? bonitatem, atque 
 optimi regis favorem humiliter expectamus ; cui 
 interim quam gratuni sit capituli nostri regimen, 
 vel ab eminentissimo Cardinale Azzolini, vel amplius 
 ab illustrissimo domino de Aubigni, cui regis nostri 
 intentiones unice perspectie sunt, intelligi poterit." 
 
 April 22, 1662, the Lord Aubigni desired facul- 
 ties, by the authority of the dean and chapter, as 
 ample as could be granted, concerning marrying 
 Catholics with heterodox [persons], in order to the 
 joining in matrimony of his majesty King Charles II. 
 with Catharine, infanta of Portugal — which were 
 granted in this form : — " Has suprascriptas facul- 
 tates, in Anglia, Scotia, Mona, et aliis insulis ad 
 Magnam Britanniam pertinentibus, exercendas, illus- 
 trissimo domino. Domino Ludovico Stuarto d' Au- 
 bigni, capituli Anglicani nomine, more quo possum 
 amplissimo, concedo. In cujus rei testimonium, 
 nomen meum subscripsi, pra^sentemque concessionem 
 capituli sigillo muniri feci, 23° die Aprilis, anno 
 salutis 1662. — Onuphrius EUiceus, capituli Anglicani 
 dccanusT 
 
 I would fain see now that person who durst deny 
 the validity either of the chapter or of these facul- 
 ties granted. Let him, if he please, for confirmation 
 of his opinion, take a voyage to Lisbon, and tell the 
 queen-dowager there that she was never married to 
 any in facie Ecclesice. What entertainment he may
 
 90 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 meet witli there I must leave to the reader's conjec- 
 ture ; and, in the interim, can assure him, that had 
 God blessed that marriage with royal issue, such an 
 audacious and calumniating attempt as this had been 
 no less than high treason against the crown, and, for 
 its expiation, would have seen [its author] drawn 
 upon a hurdle, and his writings committed to the 
 flames by the hands of the common hangman, as a 
 just, though insufficient, atonement for so high an 
 affront and injurious aspersion, offered to the memory 
 and honour of their sacred majesties. 
 
 The Lord Aubigni likewise had desired, at his first 
 coming, leave of the dean to say mass, which was 
 granted : and he married the king and queen at 
 Portsmoutli. The instruments or testimonials of 
 their marriage were drawn up, and five copies of 
 them v»rit by our secretary, then present, [and] in 
 each of them [it] was expressed, that this was per- 
 formed by virtue of faculties derived from our 
 chapter. These testimonials, I say, were then and 
 there signed and sealed by all personages interested ; 
 and his grace the archbishop of Canterbury only 
 declared afterwards, as they were set at diimer, that 
 they were lawfully and duly married, the queen's 
 conscience not allowing him any further intermed- 
 dling in that business.* 
 
 * Though not connected with the immediate object of the 
 present work, it may, perhaps, be worth while to remark, tliat 
 this account completely establishes the correctness of Burnet's 
 narrative, which has sometimes been disputed. As an additional 
 confirmation, take the following passage, in the words of the 
 duke of York, afterwards James II., who was present on the 
 occasion : — " After she (the queen) had reposed f(n- some little 
 time, their majesties were married by my Lord Aubigny, almoner
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 91 
 
 In this year (1665), the consult ordered [a letter] 
 to [be] writ to his holiness, [stating] that the chapter 
 could not accept of an apostolic vicar, and suppli- 
 cating him not to impose it ; first, because the 
 example of the archpriest startled them ; secondly, 
 because they are under a settled authority, and 
 unanimously agreed in it ; thirdly, because there 
 have been multitudes of contracts between the 
 chapter and its officers over all England, which, 
 should they not stand to the chapter, would fall to 
 the ground, to the great scandal and injury of 
 Catholics ; fourthly, because the state hath ordered 
 them not to accept of a vicar apostolic ; fifthly, 
 because the chapter has continued forty years, &c. 
 — July the 5th, the same year, a letter from the 
 nuncio at Paris, came directed, " Decano et Capitulo 
 EcclesicB A ncjlicancBr 
 
 After this, one Mr. Gildon was suspended by the 
 chapter, and orders [were] given to the vicars-general 
 and archdeacons of those districts to publish the 
 suspension : and [at the same time] the oath to be 
 taken by all the capitulars [was] received, which, 
 till then, had been the same framed in Bishop 
 Richard Smith's time. The form [was] — " Ego, 
 A. B., presbyter, in capitulum ecclesire Anglicana) 
 assumendus, juro ac promitto, quod ab hac hora 
 
 to the queen ; but so privately (not to ofiend the Protestants) 
 that none were present, but some few Portugaises, as witnesses. 
 Soon after this, the king and queen coming fortli into the great 
 room, where all the company was, and being seated in two 
 chaires, Dr. Sheldon, then bishop of London (but afterwards 
 archbishop of Canterbury), performed the outward ceremony in 
 publick, of declaring them to be man and wife." — Life of 
 James IL, from his own MS. Memoirs, i, 394.
 
 92 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 fidelis et obediens ero venerabili decano et capitulo 
 dicto, ejusque autboritatem," &c., as it is found in 
 tbe cbapter oatb.* But tbe oatb, to be adminis- 
 tered to all priests tliat come into England, [was 
 ordered] to be amended after tbis tenor : — " Ego, 
 A. B., presbyter, spondee ac jure veram ac canoni- 
 cam obedientiam ac fidelitatem venerabili decano ac 
 capitulo ecclesia3 Anglicance, sede vacante : itemque 
 profiteor me esse sincerum membrum cleri siccularis 
 Anglicani, niliilque in ejus pnrjudicium, directe vel 
 indirecte, machinaturum : prtcterea me nulli reli- 
 giose ordini, aut societati, adscriptum esse, aut etiam 
 adscribi velle, nisi prius banc meam voluntatem 
 venerabili decano significavero : sic me Deus ad- 
 juvet," &c.f 
 
 Ordered, to move for an absolute ordinary, and 
 
 * The following is a somewhat larger fragment of this im- 
 portant oath as it stands, I am informed, at present : — " Ego, 
 A. B., presbyter, in capitulura ecclesije Anglicanaj assuraendus, 
 juro ac promitto veram et canonicam obedientiam A^enerabili 
 
 decano et capitulo dicto ejusque auctoritati parere; 
 
 jura et privilegia tueri ; statuta et decreta pro virili custodire ; 
 bonum illius, tam temporale quam spirituale^ fideliter procurare; 
 necy aliquid unquam^ directe vel indirecte^ in ejus pnejudicium 
 machinari." 
 
 f Iloburgli tells us that this oath was first drawn up in the 
 genei-al assembly held in 1648; that its adoption was opposed 
 by Dr. Leyburne ; and that it was finally rejected by a majority 
 of votes. Yet, in the next sentence but one, he rej)resents 
 Dr. Smith as threatening to suspend the members of the chapter 
 if they coyitinued to administer this very oath, which, according 
 to him, they had just refused to sanction ; and, with equal pro- 
 bability, goes on to declare, in imitation of Dr. Leyburne, that 
 the object of the canons was to overthrow the jurisdiction of the 
 bishop, and establish their own authority on its ruins.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 93 
 
 that one of the five nominated be the person 
 sent, viz., the dean Dr. Ellis, IMr. John Leybnrne, 
 Dr. Godden, Dr. Gage, [or] Mr. Robert Manly: 
 and that common letters be writ to the pope, his 
 nephew, several other cardinals, the assessors of the 
 Holy Office, and the cardinal prefect of the Propa- 
 ganda. The instructions to the agent were, as 
 formerly, for an ordinary, and that he should reso- 
 lutely oppose all other titles or authorities, as directly 
 forbidden by the state, and against the constant sense 
 of his brethren ; and [should declare] that the laity 
 reclaimed against it, protesting that they durst not 
 accept of any such authority, " et quod acceptatio 
 extraordinariai authoritatis sit ruina cleri." 
 
 Received, the same year, 1666, a letter from 
 Signore Baldeschi, secretary of the Propafjanda. 
 
 In the year 1669 we received several letters from 
 the internuncio, as formerly ; and new orders [were] 
 sent to move again for a bishop ; [adding that] in 
 case my lord almoner (afterwards Cardinal Howard) 
 should be offered us, his lordship should be ac- 
 cepted. 
 
 Ordered, in 1669, that a brief relation of our 
 chapter's institution and confirmation, as it was 
 drawn up by the secretary, and approved by the 
 consult, be given to the lord almoner, to be sent to 
 the internuncio ; and that a letter of thanks be writ 
 to the nuncio at Paris, for the good esteem he hath 
 for the chapter, &c. Another [was] sent, August 
 19th, to the internuncio at Brussels, subscribed — 
 " Onwphrius EUiceus, decanus, meo et cnintuli no- 
 mine;' as also another, September 20, with the 
 same subscription.
 
 94 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 January 26, 1G69-70 ;*— Ordered, [that] a con- 
 gratulatory letter be writ to the pope and several 
 cardinals ; as also directions to Mr. Holt, the agent, 
 to move for a bishop, and accept of such a one as 
 the last of Chalcedon was. 
 
 Ordered also, for the preservation of our just 
 right of nomination, [that] the agent, Mr. Holt, be 
 desired to nominate the honourable Philip Howard 
 for bishop. — Faculties [were] given to an Irish 
 priest for three months ; and letters [were] sent to 
 the internuncio at Brussels, in vindication of the 
 chapter's validity, to which an answer from the in- 
 ternuncio came directed to the dean, expressing 
 much satisfaction in them to him, [and] promising 
 all services. 
 
 Resolved, that under no pretence or palliation 
 whatever the words " vicarius apostolicus" be ad- 
 mitted, as directly contrary to the kmg's command, 
 offensive to the state, provided against by the laws 
 of the realm, and extremely dangerous to Catholics ; 
 that, supposing my Lord Howard should be the 
 bishop, he must have ordinary jurisdiction ; that it 
 is the right of the old English chapters to choose 
 their bishop and chapter-men ; and that it is resolved 
 not to yield either of these to the pretence of the 
 court of Rome. — Mr. Holt acquainted the assembly 
 that, having had audience of the pope, his holiness 
 
 * There appears to be a mistake in this date, for Pope Alex- 
 ander IX. died on the 9th of December, 1669, and his successor, 
 of the same name, was not elected until the 29th of the fol- 
 lowing April. The letter was probably written in June, not 
 " Jan." as printed in the old edition ; and was intended to con- 
 gratulate the new pontiff on his accession.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 95 
 
 assured him that " he had great consolation in our 
 clergy ;" that his nephew, the cardinal, told him 
 that his holiness was " infinitely satisfied with our 
 English clergy ;" [but] that Mr. Baldeschi acquainted 
 him, that " the Jesuits reported that we desired not 
 a bishop," &c. Yet, [he added that] a congrega- 
 tion was held, which [had] consented to give us a 
 bishop ; [that] my lord almoner was judged a fit 
 person ; but what his authority should be was not 
 determined. 
 
 By these many informations, given in to the 
 Roman court, concerning the state and authority of 
 the capitular government, by its agents, Mr. Fitton, 
 Mr. Plantin, Dr. Gage, Mr. Pendrick, and Mr. 
 Holt, as well as by the private suggestions of its 
 adversaries, who left nothing unanswered * which 
 could redound to its prejudice, it must be granted 
 as undeniable, that that court stood not in need of 
 a farther account of our state, but retained a good 
 will to assist us. Nay, Mr. Baldeschi, an archbishop, 
 and secretary to the Propaganda and the English 
 congregation, having discussed the business at large 
 of all the chapter's proceedings, with Mr. Holt, 
 advised him to petition the said congregation for a 
 confirmation of it : to which the agent made this 
 reply, — that, should he put in such a memorial, yet 
 it should be worded in these terms : — " ad majus 
 robur, et ad tollendum infirmorum scrupulos;" for 
 the chapter doubted not of its jurisdiction ; — to 
 which his eminency rejoined, that he might express 
 himself in what terms he pleased. And the said 
 cardinal opened to the said congregation, in two 
 
 * Perhaps unsaid.
 
 9G HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 public meetings, before the pope, the power which 
 the chapter made use of, name! v, all the jurisdiction 
 and authority which other chapters do exercise, sede 
 vacante, viz. : 1°, the giving of faculties for adminis- 
 tration of parochial sacraments ; 2°, dispensations 
 for marriages, [and] dimissories for the ordination 
 of priests ; 3°, all public orders, letters, and com- 
 missions are subscribed by them, &c. As also [he 
 said that] public letters [were] sent in their name 
 to the pope, to the congregation, and the officers 
 of the Holy See : moreover, that the capitulars 
 judged the confirmation of it not necessary, and, 
 in case it were necessary, yet they looked upon 
 themselves to have already obtained it, if not 
 expressly totidem verbis, yet, at least, virtually. — 
 Nay, which is more, the internuncio, being in 
 London, and conferring in person with the capi- 
 tulars, in the presence of the lord almoner, said, the 
 chapter might be confirmed upon certain conditions, 
 viz., that the court of Rome might have the nomi- 
 nation of some of the chapter officers ; to which it 
 was replied, that a condition of this nature might 
 make them want such officers as long as they had 
 wanted a bishop, and so [they should] have their 
 government fail. Moreover, it was contrary to the 
 institution of the chapter, and destructive to it, and 
 that, by reason of the great distance from Rome, 
 where, if true informations could not be had, per- 
 sons perhaps might be imposed upon them who 
 would prejudice both them and their government. 
 
 After this, October 28, 1670, a letter was directed 
 to the internuncio, with those reasons of the chapter 
 desired by him ; and more at large than what was
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 97 
 
 discussed y«c/e rto?/«am. The title was, '■^ Ration es 
 cleri contra quasdam innotationes intentatas, trans- 
 missfB ad internimcium Bruxellensem^'' — demonstrat- 
 ing their inherent right, from the canons and 
 constitutions of the realm, to choose their own 
 pastor ; [stating] that since all regulars, though 
 more dependent on the court of Rome than secu- 
 lars possibly can be, have that privilege allowed 
 them, to choose their own superior, it seemed par- 
 tiality beyond example, and savouring of cruel 
 unkindness, to deny the same to the clergy, who 
 daily hazarded their lives for the propagation of 
 [the] faith ; and, lastly, demonstrating, by most 
 cogent and irrefragable mediums, that such an 
 election of their pastor was the chapter's due. 
 Many other reasons were offered and inserted 
 liome^ which my concise brevity compels me to 
 pass by : — this was signed, " Omiphrius Elliceus, 
 capitidi decaniis, meo et capitidi nomine." 'f 
 
 November 8 : — Faculties were allowed to an 
 Irish priest to officiate in the Venetian chapel, and 
 letters dimissory granted to two several persons ; 
 as also faculties granted to one Mr. White, for six 
 months, and D. Jaspar Maria Crollanza, an Italian ; 
 but denied to two other Irish priests. 
 
 In a general assembly, it was resolved unani- 
 mously, first, that the name of vicar apostolic be not 
 admitted, as endangering the whole government ; 
 secondly, that no new bishop has power to dissolve 
 the chapter. About that time, 1674, several dimis- 
 
 * Perhaps " herein." 
 
 t This letter, of which a copy must, of course, remain in the 
 archives of the chapter, ought to be published. 
 
 H
 
 98 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 series and faculties were granted, and others conti- 
 nued on ; and a dispensation for a marriage in 
 secundo gradu affifiitatis ; — and tlie next year fol- 
 lowing a letter of thanks was sent to his holiness 
 Clement X., for the promotion of Cardinal Howard, 
 subscribed, " Oniiphrius EUiceus, decafitis capitidi 
 ecclesice Anglicance, sede tacanteT 
 
 September 18, 1676, the venerable dean being 
 deceased on August the 9th, Dr. John Perrot was 
 elected and declared dean, to succeed in his place, 
 to which [declaration] all subscribe their names.* 
 — In the year 1681-2 a dispensation for marriage 
 was granted between two cousins-german : and in 
 1684, in a general assembly, it was resolved, that 
 the northern Catholics, on the other side of the 
 Trent, may take the same liberty of eating eggs on 
 Fridays as is exercised in other parts of England ; 
 which dispensation is to be extended to those on the 
 other side of [the] Ribble. — Several letters were 
 sent to Cardinal Howard, to obtain for us an ordi- 
 nary ; and the names of the persons were, by the 
 chapter, sent up to him : and [it was] resolved that 
 it is unlawful for Catholics, first married by a priest, 
 to be remarried by a parson, or to take a certificate 
 from him that they were married by him. 
 
 A dispensation was granted to marry a cousin- 
 german in the year 1684. The next ensuing year the 
 consult was informed that Mr. John Leyburne was 
 coming from Rome, with the authority of vicar 
 apostolic, and that this imposition was laid upon us 
 inscio et hwito toto elero, and contrary to all canons. 
 
 * Perrot's real name was Barnesley. See an account of him 
 in the Catholic Magazine for March, 1835, p. 103.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 99 
 
 Therefore it was ordered that a memorial should be 
 presented to the king-, to show him the convenience 
 of an ordinary, and the inconveniency of any other 
 authority ; which was accordingly done by Dr. 
 John Perrot, the dean, who also represented to his 
 majesty how suitable the government of an ordinary 
 was to the kingdom and its circumstances, and how 
 unsuitable that of a vicar apostolic ; — which memo- 
 rial and petition his majesty received most graciously, 
 and affirmed that he would admit of no other [than an 
 ordinary] ; but withal desired yet a further explana- 
 tion of the great diiference between an ordinary and 
 a vicar apostolic ; though it afterwards happened 
 that some other, more potent, favourites gained 
 upon him to alter those resolutions, so advantageous 
 to himself and the government. [The following is]* 
 an abstract of the copy of the memorial which was 
 presented by the venerable dean and chapter to his 
 majesty King James II., July 23, 1685, — showing 
 the difference between an ordinary and one that is 
 a vicar, in obedience to his majesty's commands. 
 
 " By a bishop who is an ordinary is meant one who 
 " hath power of his own, or in himself, to govern 
 " the flock over which he is set ; and whilst he acts 
 "accordingly, he is not responsible to any, or re- 
 " vocable at pleasure. 
 
 "On the contrary, a vicar is one who hath no 
 " power of his own, or in himself, but only the 
 " use or exercise of the power of the person who 
 
 * In the old edition, the memorial is inserted, without any 
 connection, in a subsequent part of the work. I have thought it 
 right to remove it to its present situation, for which it must cer- 
 tainly have been intended. 
 
 H 2
 
 100 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 " substitutes him ; so that what he doth he doth 
 " not by his own power, but by the power of the 
 " person whom he represents ; to whom, therefore, 
 " at all times he is accountable, as using purely his 
 " power, by whom that power and himself too are 
 " revocable at pleasure. Whence it follows that a 
 " vicar need not be a bishop at all, but in certain 
 " cases ; and although he be consecrated, and so 
 " have the title and character of a bishop, yet, 
 " acting only in and by the power of another, 
 " according to the order and instructions given by 
 " him, he is not properly a bishop of the flock to 
 *' w^hich he is sent, but officer or delegate of the 
 " person who sends him." 
 
 This difference being stated, they humbly craved 
 leave to represent to his princely consideration : 
 
 " 1°. That if an apostolic vicar be admitted, then 
 " his majesty's Catholic subjects will be governed, 
 " in ecclesiastical matters, after a different manner 
 " from all other Catholics in most parts of Christ- 
 " endom, even in Italy itself ; which will be apt to 
 " breed in them jealousies of being involved in the 
 *' same inconveniences as they were by the power 
 " given to the archpriest. 
 
 " 2°. That this power, not being the vicar's own, 
 " but his in whose name he acts, may be taken from 
 " him at pleasure, etiam sine caiisd, and the Catholics 
 " left without any superior, either ordinary or extra- 
 " ordinary, to govern them. 
 
 " 3°. That the vicar being obliged to act, not by 
 *' the known laws and rules of the Church, but by 
 " special orders and injunctions from his delegant, 
 " the government will be arbitrary and uncertain, —
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 101 
 
 " which must be of a pernicious consequence, as well 
 " in ecclesiastical as in civil affairs. 
 
 "4". That divers laws enacted by his Catholic 
 " ancestors, in providing against the inconveniences 
 " of foreign pretences of the court of Rome, viz., 
 " Ed. I., Ed. II., Ed. III., Rich. II., stand still in 
 " force ; and an ordinary bishop will be obliged to 
 " espouse his majesty's and kingdom's interest, in 
 " the due execution of the said laws, which a vicar 
 " cannot be expected to do, but, if enjoined, [must] 
 " act contrary to them.* 
 
 * TLia coincides exactly with Dr. Doyle's opinion, expressed 
 in his evidence before the committee of the House of Commons, 
 in 1825. Having explained the difference between a vicar apos- 
 tolic and an ordinary bishop, he is asked whether there is " any 
 distinction between the power of a vicar apostolic and a Roman 
 Catholic bishop, as iothe poicer of withholding the j^M^cation of 
 any bull or rescrijH from the see of Borne ? " and his answer 
 immediately is, " I should think there is a material difference, 
 because the vicar apostolic depends, as to the existence of his 
 office, upon the will of the see of Rome. He can be removed 
 from it at the good pleasure of the pope ; the faculties which he 
 exercises can be restricted, or limited, or modified, just as the 
 see of Rome may please. It is not so with us bishops. We 
 cannot be removed : we have a title to our place : our rights are 
 defined from the Gospel, and from the canon law, — defined as 
 well as those of the pope himself. We cannot he ohliged to do 
 anything ly the mere goodicill or pleasure of the pope." (Evi- 
 dence on the State of Ireland, p. 381, Murray's edit.) In fact, 
 the loyalty of the vicar might, and no doubt would, refuse to 
 comply with any political injunctions emanating from the Roman 
 see ; but the loss of his appointment would, in all probability, be 
 the consequence of his virtuous resolution. The insane and 
 io-norant bigotry, so offensively displayed on the late establish- 
 ment of the hierarchy in this kingdom, may here learn to blush, 
 that, contrary to well-known history and common sense, it dared 
 to charge the Catholics with disloyalty, or imagined the sove-
 
 102 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 " 5°. That one of the said orders (as appears by 
 " the extraordinary faculties given to the archpriest 
 " and some of the regulars) is, to keep up the title 
 " and claim to the church lands, by declaring to 
 " such as desire to be reconciled that they are truly 
 " the goods of the Church ; and not to absolve them 
 " without a promise of standing to what the Church 
 " shall determine concerning their restitution, than 
 " which nothing can more alienate the minds of 
 " them from being reconciled ; — and yet a vicar must 
 " be obliged, as well as the archpriest or regulars, to 
 " put this in practice, notwithstanding the dispensation 
 " given by Cardinal Pole for the retaining of them.* 
 
 rei^n and the laws in danerer from a measure of -whicli tlie ten- 
 dency was to corroborate, rather than to detract from constitutional 
 security. 
 
 * This has often been charged against the author, or rather 
 against the chapter, as an unjust and unwarrantable imputation 
 on the designs of the Roman court. That private instructions, 
 however, in addition to his public faculties, were given to Black - 
 well, is known from the letter of Cardinal Cajetan himself 
 (Dodd, iii. 11 9, ed. Tierney) ; and until those instructions are 
 produced in contradiction, we have a right to believe the positive 
 assertion of the chapter, as to their specific import. I subjoin a 
 passage from the bull Plantata, published in 1634, which cer- 
 tainly seems to indicate something very similar to the design 
 alluded to in the text : — " Denique concedimus et confirmamus 
 pra)dictre congregation! Anglicanse (S. Benedicti) jura omnia 
 et singula^ omnemque titulum, quos vel quem antiqua congre- 
 gatio Anglicana, vel monachi Angli ordinis S. Benedicti, olim 
 habuerunt ad monastcria Petrohurfjcnse, Glocesfrense, et Ces- 
 
 trense Et prreterea concedimus et confirmamus hujus- 
 
 modi congregationi AnglicanaB omnia et singula jura, omnemque 
 titulum adversiim monastcria antiqua; congregationis Angli- 
 canas, sive ordinis S. Benedicti in Anglia, quce vel antique 
 congregatio, vel ordo S. Benedicti in Anglid antiquities hahebat.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 103 
 
 « ao 
 
 6°. That the very name of a vicm^ apostolic will 
 " raise in his majesty's Protestant subjects an appre- 
 *' hension of the kingdom's being subjected to the 
 " immediate jurisdiction of a foreign court, against 
 " whose pretensions, either ecclesiastical or civil, all 
 " his Catholic ancestors thought themselves obliged 
 *' to stand upon their guard." 
 
 To avoid these inconveniences, it was " humbly 
 " offered to his princely consideration, to provide 
 " that the bishop to be sent for be declared true and 
 " proper ordinary of the Catholics in England, with 
 " command to govern them as other ordinaries do." 
 
 [In reply], his majesty was pleased to assure the 
 venerable dean. Dr. Godden, and Dr. Gilford, who 
 exhibited him the aforesaid reasons, that the said 
 Mr. Leyburne should not be received in the character 
 of vicar apostolic, — declaring further, that he knew 
 nothing of it. Mr. Leyburne was then at Paris, and 
 his majesty writ a letter to be informed of the truth 
 of it, and to stop his arrival with that title ; but a 
 certain party prevailed with the king to receive him 
 as such, and so we were compelled, by obedience to 
 his majesty, to a non-opposition : for wdiat could be 
 done or proposed, with reason, as likely to have any 
 probable success against the determination of the 
 pope and the king ? — so that a tacit silent acquies- 
 cence was our only refuge. Yet, June 24, a dis- 
 pensation for marriage was granted, in the second 
 degree of affinity. 
 
 cum omnibus Jiliationihus et dependentlis suis ; decementes 
 eadem, monasteria non vacare, nee, uti vacantia, in titulum et 
 commendani obtineri, vel impotrari, posse aut debere." — Dodd, 
 ill. 165, orig. edn.
 
 1U4 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 John Leyburne, now entitled lord bisliop of Ad- 
 rumet, being arrived, certain capitulars were com- 
 missioned by the chapter to wait on him,* with an 
 address, to declare to us the name and nature of his 
 jurisdiction as to the secular clergy, as also how he 
 would carry himself in order to the chapter. His 
 lordship's answer was, to the first query, that his 
 title was vicar apostolic, and his power eMraordi- 
 nary ; to the second, that he had no commission 
 either to allow or deny the chapter, but that he 
 would carry himself abstractedly/ towards it. As to 
 his proceedings towards the clergy, he would use 
 common authority, except in extraordinary occa- 
 sions.! 
 
 * Nov. 25, 1685. 
 
 + On the 6th of September, 1685, Leyburne took an oath at 
 Rome, by which he declares tluit lie does not, and never will, 
 recognise the chapter as a legitimate body ; that he will never 
 acknowledge any spiritual power to reside in it ; that he will 
 never approve of any act which can either directly or indirectly 
 tend to the allowance of its pretended spiritual jurisdiction; and 
 that, in fine, he does and will condemn any exercise of such juris- 
 diction as null, void, and of no effect. On the following day, he 
 received a letter of instructions from the Propaganda, in which, 
 after mentioning the above oath, the cardinals tell him that, on 
 going to England, it will be necessary for him " dare un' esatta 
 informatione del esistenza di detto capitolo, delle qualita e genie di 
 capitolari, per esaminare so convenya {coneeffiia) di confermarlo, o 
 di dichiarlo nullo, or pure se sia espediente d' erigere nuovo 
 capitolo con quelle limitationi, che alia santita sua paresanno 
 opportune, et comporre questi di tutti o parte di soggetti che 
 costituescono hoggi questo corpo che indebitamente s' intitola capi- 
 tolo," &c. And yet Rome had suffered the English church to 
 remain without any other government than this chapter for thirty 
 years. If the acts of this liody were null, what were all the 
 faculties granted by it during that long period?
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 105 
 
 Thus, from the year 1655 till the end of 1G85 we 
 have deduced a short series of the chapter's actual 
 jurisdiction, sede vacante, that is, for full thirty years, 
 uninterruptedly exercising, all that space of time, all 
 episcopal jurisdiction over all England, by virtue of 
 being a chapter erected by Bishop William, and 
 confirmed by Bishop Richard ; besides what it exer- 
 cised in the vacancy of the see between the two said 
 bishops, and this without the least control or excep- 
 tion from the apostolic see, authentically acquainted 
 with all its proceedings. This is a strong prescrip- 
 tion, sufficiently validating its authority, even upon 
 supposition that there had been any flaw in its erec- 
 tion. Nay, Innocent XI., who sent over Bishop 
 Leyburne, gave it, even then, this large and ample 
 testimony of his liking and approving it, viz., that 
 " the chapter was of an ancient mstitutioti, and he 
 ivould not have the power of it diminished" Bishop 
 Leyburne, also, and the rest of the bishoj^s, declared 
 that they would leave it as they found it, — which 
 was the meaning of Bishop Leyburne's saying, at 
 first, that he would carry himself abstractedly towards 
 it ; — and to this corresponds that decree which, with 
 a great deal of art and subtilty, was obtained from 
 the Roman court by them, viz., "ut jurisdictio omnium 
 capitulorum, tam secularium, quam regularium, in 
 Anglia cessaret, quamdiii vicarii apostolici ibi mane- 
 rent, et non alias."* By which last words we have an 
 
 * The decree, together with the letters on which it professes 
 to be founded, is in Dodd, iii. 528, 529, orig. edn. If these 
 letters were the only communications that passed upon the sub- 
 ject, it is certain that the charge of " art and subtilty," on the 
 part of the vicars, must fall. They petitioned for the removal of
 
 lOG HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 ample concession, that the capitular jurisdiction was 
 valid before, that it is so at present, though our 
 circumstances oblige us to suspend the exercise of 
 it, and that it may even, according to them, re- 
 assume its authority when those vicars are recalled, 
 — which supposes it remains still. 
 
 I [have] thought fit to subjoin here the judgment 
 of a most learned person, who, for his great know- 
 ledge, experience, and practice in the canon law, 
 was esteemed the oracle of his age, and, as such, 
 relied upon by the assembly of bishops in France, 
 viz., Monsieur de Sainte Beuve, an ancient Sorbonne 
 doctor,* who, being consulted about this point, was 
 
 iin acknowledged abuse, — the pretended capitular jurisdiction of 
 the Benedictine clergy ; and Rome replied, by suspending the 
 authority both of the secular and regular chapters. From the 
 conduct of the former, however, as the reader will have occasion 
 to observe, there are strong grounds for believing that other 
 letters were despatched, or other representations made, to the 
 Roman court, and that its suspension was only the mitigated 
 result of a design, long known and strenuously combated by the 
 clergy, to effect its total dissolution. 
 
 James de Ste. Beuve, one of the most celebrated divines of 
 his age. Having refused to subscribe the censure pronounced 
 by the Sorbonne against the propositions of Arnauld, he was, in 
 1656, removed from his divinity chair in that institute, and for- 
 bidden to preach. In 1670, however, the assembly of the clergy 
 testified its respect for his virtues and his learning by voting him 
 an annual pension of one thousand livres ; and, in the dignified 
 retreat to which he soon after withdrew, he continued, during 
 the remainder of his life, to be consulted by bishops, chapters, 
 princes, and magistrates, on almost every subject of difficulty and 
 importance. His " Decisions^' forming three quarto volumes, 
 were, after his death, collected and published by his surviving 
 brother. They appeared in 1677.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 107 
 
 very positive and clear in liis resolutions upon it, — 
 which, therefore, I v^'ill set down distinctly. 
 
 " Quseritur 1°. An quilibet episcopus potest erigere 
 " capitulum ? 
 
 " Respondetur. Potest. 
 
 " Qu. 2°. Unde constat, vel quo jure ? 
 
 " R. Quia est episcopus. Est siquidem capitulum 
 " episcopi consilium : omnis autem in potestate con- 
 " stitutus potest sibi eligere consilium suum. 
 
 " Qu. 3°. An restringitur hac ex parte episcopus, 
 " ex eo quod fuerit delegatus ? 
 
 " R. Oportet inspicere literas delegatorias : " — 
 which being read, he subsumed thence, after this 
 manner : — " Sed omnis episcopus in sua civitate, vel 
 " dioecesi, potest erigere capitulum. Quare, cum 
 " literse istae tribuant episcopo Chalcedonensi potes- 
 " tatem faciendi id quod alii episcopi facere possunt, 
 " in suis civitatibus, vel dioecesibus, sequitur evi- 
 " denter, quod, licet, per impossibile, ex vi propria^ 
 " potestatis hoc facere non potuisset, tamen ex 
 " istarum literarum vi id facere potuit. 
 
 " Qu. 4°. An capitulum ita erectum est canoni- 
 cum? 
 
 " R. Capitula sunt antiquiora canonibus. Et 
 " tamen, aliquo modo capitulum vestrum est etiam 
 " canonicum. Aiunt siquidem canones episcopum 
 " posse facere omnia non reservata summo pontifici : 
 "sed nusquam reservatur summo pontifici erectio 
 " capitulorum : est itaque capitulum vestrum hoc 
 " modo canonicum. 
 
 " Qu. 5*^. An capitulum sic erectum potest un- 
 " quam interire ? 
 
 " R. Minime Gentium ! Nam nihil sanctius apud
 
 108 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 "canones, quam quod " Capitulum nunquam mo- 
 " ritur. 
 
 " Qii. 6°. An expedit petere confirmationem capi- 
 " tuli nostri a curia Romana ? 
 
 " R. Caute ! Nam si curia Romana semel existi- 
 " met vos dubitare an capitulum vestrum sit satis 
 " validum absque conlirmatione, capiet forsan inde 
 " licentiam illud infirraandi, ac, pro libitu, invali- 
 " dandi." 
 
 Other authors of great note I could allege, were 
 not this full and comprehensive resolution of this 
 most learned man instar omnium ; for which reason, 
 as also for brevity's sake, I omit them. 
 
 I shall now subjoin to this some few observations 
 on the truly apostolical and primitive spirit of the 
 venerable dean and chapter, in these deplorable 
 circumstances, wherein they saw all their former 
 industry and hopes prove abortive, and themselves 
 surrounded with those disasters they [hitherto] only 
 feared, and against which they had made so many 
 vigorous and laudable attempts. Yet, for all this, 
 they lost not their wonted zeal for Christ's institu- 
 tion, nor were dismayed under those fatal inconve- 
 niences which themselves and it lay under ; — though 
 to oppose or protest against [what had been done], 
 when encouraged by so irresistible an authority, 
 was the height of imprudence ; since it would bring 
 upon them the menaces and frowns of the temporal 
 and spiritual sovereigns, and possibly endanger a 
 schism or scandal, and, after all, be ineffectual, and 
 meet with no redress. And, therefore, the safest 
 and most commendable method was, to restrain and 
 curb in that active zeal for the present, with the
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 100 
 
 unerring guards of caution and prudence ; and, till 
 a more favourable juncture might afford some fairer, 
 promises of success, be content to preserve the 
 chapter in its intrinsic authority, ^vhilst the new 
 intromitted jurisdiction took place and governed. 
 This pious and prudent resolution was put in execu- 
 tion by frequent meetings and general capitular 
 assemblies (viz. in 1687 and 1694), with the know- 
 ledge of the bishops, in which they chose their 
 respective members, yea, and even archdeacons ; not 
 [so] as to exercise any actual jurisdiction, as from 
 the chapter, but to preserve their titles, and keep 
 up its integrity, and their prerogative (as having 
 been always ex gremio ecclesics), and its ancient 
 form ; and this, too, with and by the consent of the 
 bishops, when they were fully satisfied of, and 
 understood their reasons for doing it.* They 
 produced likewise their reasons why the chapter 
 ought still to be preserved, or others erected in the 
 respective districts of the present bishops, which, by 
 way of address, were delivered in to their lordships ; 
 — the first whereof was [presented] November 16th, 
 1693. The substance of it is to this purpose : — 
 
 " That the dean and capitulars, having seriously 
 " reflected on the past attempts of their adversaries, 
 
 * On the 2nd of December, 1685, shortly after the arrival of 
 the new vicar, the chapter passed a resolution, declaring " that 
 the jurisdiction of the chapter shall be deemed to cease during 
 the exercise of Bishop Leyburne's authority, unless we per- 
 ceive such an opposition raised against our authority as shall 
 manifestly tend to its destruction." (MS. minutes of the Gen. 
 Assembly, July 9, 1694, cited by Berington, Mem. of Panzani, 
 375.) The suspicion conveyed in the latter part of this sentence 
 is sufficiently evident.
 
 110 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 " and on the great interests formerly made against 
 " them ; and now foreseeing that, whenever Provi- 
 " dence shall take their present superiors away, most 
 "probably they should have those set over them 
 " whom their adversaries should recommend as 
 " having the power of both courts to favour them, 
 " whereby a gate would be opened for all that 
 " mischief to enter in, which has been designed for 
 " many years ; whence, by submitting, they must 
 " consent to their own ruin, or else, by standing on 
 " the defensive, run the hazard of great disorders, if 
 " not of schism : — Wherefore, they beseech their 
 " lordships to take these things into their most 
 " serious consideration, and make some provision 
 " to prevent the evil ; and therefore, since the 
 '* chapter was erected and confirmed by two 
 " learned and pious bishops, with the advice 
 " of divers prelates and learned doctors, and 
 " with this express clause, that it should endure 
 donee ylurihus in Anglid episeopis Catholicis 
 constitutis, plura hi regno crigantur capitula,^ 
 " they would either please to erect, in each 
 " respective district, chapters to succeed with 
 "ordinary jurisdiction, or else conclude on some 
 " means whereby may be secured to the present 
 " chapter its rights and privileges of ordinary 
 "jurisdiction, nomination of successive bishops, &c., 
 " sede vacante, as bequeathed to it : for thus it was 
 " left, as absolutely necessary for the well-being and 
 " preservation of the body ; nor can they lay it 
 " down without forfeiting that trust reposed in 
 " them, being false to their body, and to the oath 
 " they have taken for its support, and also injurious 
 
 a <
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. Ill 
 
 " to the memory and tlie whole proceedings of those 
 " venerable prelates." — This was subscribed by Dr. 
 Perrot, the dean, and nine capitulars.* 
 
 To this address their three lordships gave this 
 following answer : — " That, as to the first point, the 
 " erecting of chapters, they should be willing to 
 " comply were the thing possible to be done : but, 
 "according to the present discipline, chapters will 
 " not be allowed, without leave and a confirmation 
 " from Rome ; for, though they did not disown a 
 '■'' fower of doing it in themselves^ as having ordinary 
 ''^jurisdiction, upon which the former bishops 
 "grounded themselves, yet, as the practice is, they 
 " cannot do it ;f and that, whenever done, it will 
 
 * Among the signatures was that of the venerable John 
 Gother. The address and its answer arc printed from ]\Ir. Be- 
 rington's copy, which was taken from the original minutes. It 
 is evidently more correct than that given in the former edition 
 of this work. 
 
 t Sergeant himself, in one of his MS. papers, after remarking 
 strongly on this declaration, and showing that the vicars, what- 
 ever might be their authority, could not possess any portion of 
 that ordinary jurisdiction which had been held by Dr. Bishop 
 and Dr. Smith, thus proceeds : — " As certain as it is that bishops 
 can erect chapters in their own cities and dioceses (which all the 
 world knows is most certain), so certain it is, if the words of the 
 vicars were really meant, that they have power to do the same ; 
 and yet they must not, or dare not, do it, for fear of disgusting 
 those very persons that gave them this power. This is strangely 
 mysterious. They have power given them under their hands to 
 do this, and all power is essentially ordained for action ; and yet 
 this power is not to act, and therefore, in effect, is no power, but 
 is disabled from acting, — which it could not be but by a superior 
 power. And what power can that be but its opposite power, the 
 extraordinary power? Wherefore the extraordinary, or A Mm««-, 
 is the commanding and overpowering power ; and the ordinary,
 
 112 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 " not otherwise be effected than by the interposi- 
 " tion of the king (James), wliieh at any time 
 " would be ungrateful to the apostolic see, and now 
 " peculiarly unseasonable for his majesty to propose. 
 " — As to the second point, the present chapter, they 
 *' ^Y0uld, according to the authority of all bishops, 
 " leave, at their decease, a vicar-general with facul- 
 " ties for extraordinaries for a limited time, during 
 " which, if a new bishop were not appointed, then 
 " they would not by any act prejudice the chapter, 
 " w4iich might proceed as it thought proper. — 
 " Finally, that the nomination of bishops was in the 
 " king (James), of whose goodness they had no 
 " reason to doubt, and to whom they might with all 
 " freedom make their applications ; and that they 
 "most assuredly w'ould not prejudice his right."* 
 
 which is of divine institution, is the poor, weak, subservient 
 power, and must not disobey it ; — that is, the divine power has 
 no power at all, but what the human will allow it : for the world 
 agrees that the ordinary power is divine, and the extraordinary 
 human." — Apud Beriugton's Panzani, 382, 383. 
 
 * This last sentence is omitted in the old edition. Of James's 
 alleged right to the nomination of bishops, as opposed to that vested 
 in the chapter by the charter of confirmation, it may be sufficient 
 to observe that, in the opinion of Dr. Doyle, "after the Stuarts 
 ceased to be the sovereigns of these countries, if their recoinmen- 
 dations were attended to, it was a matter of courtesy, rather than 
 of obligation, on the part of the pope; for the right which he 
 recognised in the Stuarts, to present to the sees in Ireland and 
 England, whilst they were Catholics, he must have recognised 
 in them because they were the sovereigns of these countries. 
 Now," continues the bishop, " when they ceased to be sove- 
 reigns, and to have jurisdiction in this country, I think, if he 
 still continued to pay attention to their recommendations, it was 
 not in consequence of a right which he recognised to exist in
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 11 
 
 <> 
 
 The second [addres^s] was drawn up during the 
 general assembly in 1694, and delivered to each 
 bishop, according to this tenor : — " That whereas, 
 " in their answer to the address of the last year, tlie 
 " vicars had declared that, notwithstanding their 
 " ordinary power of erecting chapters, they will not 
 " be allowed, without leave and confirmation from 
 " the see apostolic, and that, therefore, according to 
 " the present discipline and practice, they could not 
 " do it, the assembly, without a deep sense of grief, 
 " cannot but represent to them the ill effects that 
 " must necessarily follow in the respective vacancies 
 " (and how long they may continue no one knows) 
 " they must leave at their deaths. The evils are, 
 " that, without a standing ordinary jurisdiction, this 
 " cannot properly be called a church ; that it will 
 " be destitute of all the advantages which such 
 "jurisdiction brings with it; that it will be without 
 " order, exposed to the encroachments of adversa- 
 " ries, and the flowing in of foreigners ; that the 
 " laity will be deprived of the sacrament of con- 
 " firmation, which, in the vacancy of sees, cannot 
 " be administered without faculties from the stand- 
 " ing ordinary jurisdiction, &c. For the prevention 
 " of these and other evils, their predecessors insti- 
 " tuted a chapter for the continuance of ordinary 
 " episcopal jurisdiction, sede vacante, to endure 
 " ' donee, pluribus in Anglia episcopis Catholicis 
 " constitutis, plura in regno erigantur capitula ; ' and 
 " therefore, unless this present chapter be supported, 
 " or others erected, those dangerous mischiefs must 
 
 them, but through a deference to their high, though fallen, state." 
 — Evidence on the State of Ireland, 403. 
 
 I
 
 114 HISTORY AND TllANSACTIONS 
 
 " fall on the clergy and laity- It is well known," 
 they added, " that we were, divers times, forbidden 
 " by King Charles II. and his chief ministers ever 
 " to accept of a vicar apostolic, as a title and 
 " authority understood to be contrary to the ancient 
 " laws of this nation, and exposing English subjects 
 " to the danger of a prcemunirey and exclusion from 
 " the king's protection. Moreover, it is well known 
 " to you what frequent remonstrances we made to 
 " King James II. for preventing the admission of 
 " such a title and authority, and what good inten- 
 " tions he expressed for the obtaining an absolute 
 " ordinary for us. And finally, it ought also, as we 
 " humbly conceive, to be considered, in what danger 
 " we still lie from the said laws, having a prince 
 " upon the throne not of our religion, and who, we 
 " may justly fear, may be easily persuaded to the 
 " execution of them. 
 
 " This being the state of things, therefore the 
 *' dean and chapter of the English Catholic clergy, 
 " now assembled, do, with all due respect, supplicate 
 " the vicars apostolic eftectually to solicit the Roman 
 " see for the establishment of such a succession of 
 " ordinary episcopal jurisdiction, so necessary to this 
 " country above all others. Or, if you shall think 
 " fit," they conclude, " to accei)t of our concurrence 
 " also therein, we shall depute such members to 
 " attend you from time to time as may be proper 
 " for the carrying on and accomplishing so good a 
 " work." — Signed, " John Perrot, dean, in nomine 
 '■'■ meo, et totius capituli ccdesice Anglicance simnl 
 " congregati. July 13th, 1694."* 
 
 * This address is priuted from Mr. Berington's copy, taken,
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 115 
 
 In answer to which, their lordshi])s replied that 
 the request was most reasonable, and that such a 
 supplication could not be offensive to the see of 
 Rome, and that they would promote it M'lien it 
 should be judged a convenient time. 
 
 Reasons were [again ?] humbly offered to their 
 lordshijis, showing the necessity of a standing ordi- 
 nary jurisdiction in our nation : — The first is, because 
 a dean and chapter, governing, and exercising ordi- 
 nary episcopal jurisdiction, sede vacante, was the 
 ancient ecclesiastical government, in Catholic times, 
 of this our country, established by the sanctions of 
 the Church and the laws of the realm, and out of 
 which they were cast by the Protestant Church, &c. : 
 and therefore, since this English Catholic Church 
 had the honour to be styled " primoc/enita ecclesioi" 
 it is to be hoped that his holiness will let it proceed 
 in that ancient and established way of government. 
 
 2°. Because the government by dean and chapter, 
 by long custom is become natural to the kingdom, 
 easy, and suitable to its genius ; which is evident 
 from hence, that the Protestant Church, established 
 by law, embraces the same hierarchical way of 
 government, by bishops, deans, and chapters. Inso- 
 much, that no other sort of church government, 
 amongst Catholics here, can promise itself any 
 favourable reception, as being contrary to the sanc- 
 tions and laws of the realm, and intrinsically apt to 
 create fears and jealousies in the Protestant subjects; 
 
 like tlie preceding one, from the original minutes. It was pre- 
 sented to Dr. Leyburue and Dr. Gifi'ord by a deputation, con- 
 sisting of the dean, Mr. "Ward the secretary, and Mr. John 
 Gotlier. 
 
 I 2
 
 IIG HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 as tliough his holiness had some new designs upon 
 England, by abolishing the ancient, and introducing 
 a novel, sort of government : — and what mischiefs 
 might arise from Protestants' fears and jealousies, 
 fomented by our adversaries, [it] is not hard to 
 comprehend ; but [it] must prove grievous both to 
 clergy and laity to be exposed to them. 
 
 8°. Because this sort of government appears most 
 necessary for the dignity and support of the English 
 secular clergy, without which it will prove the most 
 despicable and contemptible of all ecclesiastical 
 bodies in England : since all regulars here not only 
 pretend, as missioners, to be of the clergy, and have 
 pastoral jurisdiction, but have also their bodies cor- 
 porate confirmed by the see apostolic, for their 
 greater strength, encouragement, and emolument ; 
 whilst the secular clergy, without a capitular govern- 
 ment, could not properly be called a body, but a 
 contemptible number midtorum capiticm sine capite, 
 or capitulo. 
 
 4°. Because the body of the Catholic secular 
 clergy in England, as to its qualifications and num- 
 ber (absit jactantia), is far more considerable than 
 any body, or perhaps bodies, of English regulars in 
 the said kingdom ; and what hath experimentally 
 raised and maintained its dio:nitv and credit hath 
 been, the government of the dean and chapter, in 
 above seventy years' possession, from the first 
 institution until the arrival of my lord bishop of 
 Adrumet.* What an affront, then, would it be to 
 the dignity of the clergy, to leave them now 
 
 * The chapter, no doubt, spoke of the period which elapsed 
 from its foundation, in 1 623, to the date of its present address,
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 117 
 
 acephali, without capitular jurisdiction to support 
 their right and order ? 
 
 5°. Because, if the present general chapter should 
 cease before the erection of other particular chap- 
 ters, then all contracts, donations, and funds, &c. 
 made and ratified by authentic deeds, under the 
 seal of the present chapter, for the education of 
 students, provisions for pastors, relief for super- 
 annuated or other necessitated priests, and other 
 good uses, would run great hazard, in small time, 
 of being lost, there being no corporate body or 
 bodies to look after them. Nay, which is far worse, 
 no more charitable donations can be expected from 
 the piety of any persons whatever, let them be 
 never so devoutly or piously inclined, since no pru- 
 dent person can be thought willing to make any 
 donation or establishment, where there is no autho- 
 rized ecclesiastical body able to give security for 
 future performance of incumbent duties. 
 
 6". Because, although the government of apostolic 
 vicars perhaps might [otherwise] do as well in 
 England as in other countries, yet there is this 
 disparity, that such countries either have no laws, 
 rendering the acceptation of any extraordinary 
 jurisdiction highly criminal, or else they never had 
 chapters, or [at least] not of so long continuance, 
 or so universally received, as in these parts ; or, at 
 least, the clergy's dignity and rights are there other- 
 wise so well fenced, as [that] there is no fear of their 
 being prejudiced, or church government [being] em- 
 broiled ; — of which [in England] there has been so 
 
 not to " the arrival of my lord bishop of Adruinet." The latter 
 was barely sixty-two years.
 
 118 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 costly and scandalous experience, that it is of the 
 highest importance, for peace and unity, that a 
 capitular government should be here upheld. 
 
 7°. Because, in supposition of no capitular govern- 
 ment, scde vacante, these inundations of evils will 
 follow, — who shall then inflict necessary censures? 
 — who shall provide pastors with flocks, and flocks 
 with pastors ? — who shall govern the clergy and 
 laity in a canonical way ? — who shall give faculties 
 to foreign priests, if they are found fit, or deny 
 them, if they are not ? — who shall examine extraor- 
 dinary faculties, of which there are here frequent 
 abuses? — who shall approve preachers and confes- 
 sors, or give leave to foreign bishops, when required, 
 to administer the sacrament of confirmation ? — and, 
 in a word, who shall supply all those spiritual com- 
 forts and advantages which ordinary episcopal juris- 
 diction brings along with it, and [which] have 
 hitherto been laudably performed* by the chapter? 
 
 They farther humbly entreated their lordships, 
 that they would lay before his holiness the manifold 
 favours and graces which his predecessors, of happy 
 memory, had, viva voce, shown to the chapter. His 
 holiness Pope Innocent X., expressed to Mr. Fit- 
 ton, then agent at Rome, that " he would not dis- 
 approve of the chapter, but let them alone with 
 their government." Alexander VII., having pro- 
 mised a bishop, expressly ordered Mr. Plantin, the 
 agent, that they " should govern, in the mean time, 
 by the dean and chapter." Innocent XI., being- 
 moved by Mr. John Caryll (the king's envoy to the 
 see apostolic for obtaining a bishop) in something 
 
 * Administered.
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 119 
 
 relating to the present chapter, declared that " the 
 chapter was of ancient institution, and he would not 
 have the power of it lessened."* 
 
 After this, in the year 1697, the chapter proceeded 
 to the choice of several vacant capitular archdeacons, 
 as it had always done.f 
 
 Let [then], I say, every true brother or friend of 
 the clergy give his impartial judgment concerning 
 the impregnable foundations on which this chapter 
 was at first erected, afterwards confirmed and esta- 
 blished, by its first architects and institutors, now 
 eighty years ago, to this present 1703 ; [let him 
 consider] how laudably it was governed by the two 
 bishops, its founders ; how worthily it presided over 
 and directed this Church, and exercised ordinary 
 episcopal jurisdiction, in the two vacancies of the 
 said bishops, between thirty and forty years ; how it 
 ever maintained itself, and the rights of the whole 
 secular clergy, both at home and abroad, against all 
 the attacks of its adversaries ; how many wholesome 
 provisions have been made by it for the prosperous 
 government of the Church ; how many honourable 
 actions it hath done for the advance of the clergy in 
 piety and learning ; and, which is a far greater con- 
 cern, should the validity of this chapter bo called in 
 question, how many sacrilegious and invalid adminis- 
 
 * In these " reasons," as well as in both the preceding ad- 
 dresses, the reader will not fail to discover sufficient evidence of 
 the design, alluded to in a former note (page 105, ante), of eftcct- 
 ing the dissolution of the chapter. That it was only suspended, 
 was, perhaps, the effect of these remonstrances. 
 
 t Here, in the original edition, follows the memorial, removed 
 to page 99, ante.
 
 120 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS 
 
 trations of sacraments, dispensations, probations of 
 faculties, [actions], in a word, [involving] the whole 
 system of ecclesiastical functions, would be by that 
 wild concession admitted necessarily to follow. 
 What Christian ears can with patience hear such 
 fatal paradoxes ? What piety admit of such conse- 
 quences? or, without horror and amazement, reflect 
 on them? If, then, sluj falsi fratres, out of a design 
 to disparage or undervalue [it], or others more 
 infirm, for want of a due knowledge and considera- 
 tion of its present state, should speak slightly or 
 disrespectfully of it, either in respect of its first 
 foundation, or the little necessity of its continua- 
 tion, let every true brother, opponere se murum pro 
 domo Dei, be zealous for its honour and preservation, 
 justify its lawful jiretences and claims, and convince 
 all gainsayers, from the very nature of the remon- 
 strances of the clergy to the see apostolic for 
 ordinaries, from the diplomas and breves which 
 constituted them, from their patents, which erected, 
 established, and confirmed it with plenary jurisdic- 
 tion and most ample privileges, from the congratu- 
 latory letters of nuncios and cardinals, [from] the 
 tacit approbation and consent of the Propaganda 
 and court of Rome, from the frequent remonstrances 
 exhibited by it to that see, [from] the reception and 
 audience of all its agents, from the public super- 
 scriptions of all its acts and instruments to all persons 
 (twenty-three whereof, besides the patent by which 
 it was erected, are, at this time, in the archives of 
 Rome), from the oral acknowledgment of so many 
 popes, from the confession and acknowledgments 
 even of the regulars themselves, and lastly, by the
 
 OF THE ENGLISH CHAPTER. 121 
 
 long prescription it has enjoyed, which alone is able 
 to validate and confirm it. These manifold, preg- 
 nant, and convincing considerations may, I doubt 
 not, both fully satisfy our true brethren, who are 
 intelligent, inform those who were formerly ignorant, 
 and enable the clergy to defend the validity of our 
 chapter, and the necessity of uj)holding it against all 
 sly underminers and open offenders of its essential 
 rights. 
 
 Note. — That from the beginning of the year 1624 
 to 1685, inclusive, public letters and memorials 
 passed between the court of Rome and our dean 
 and chapter ; in all which time the correspondence 
 was so mutual and friendly, all the agents [were] 
 received and admitted to audience with so much 
 facility and kindness, all the letters [were so con- 
 stantly] subscribed, " Decamis, tneo et capituli An- 
 glicani nomine,^' and these too directed to his holiness, 
 to the congregation of cardinals, to the Propafjanda, 
 to the ministers of the Holy See, [and] to the secre- 
 tary of the congregation, [that they] are unanswerable 
 demonstrations that that see could not pretend 
 ignorance of our claim and actual exercise of 
 episcopal ordinary jurisdiction ; — of which letters, 
 twenty-three were despatched from the year 1624 
 to 1640, and [are] reserved in the archives at Rome, 
 as Mr. Holt, our agent, saw and perused [them] ; 
 and others after, to the number of fifty, were sent 
 up to the same court ; which is a manifest argument 
 of that court's approbation of the chapter. And we 
 had the same civility returned by public letters from
 
 122 HISTORY AND TRANSACTIONS, ETC. 
 
 cardinals, nuncios, and internuncios, superscribed, — 
 " Admodiim reverendis dominis, Decano et Canonicis 
 Capitidi Anglicani ;" of which the originals of at least 
 half a score are at present extant in our public 
 records. Add to this the testimonials, vivd voce, of 
 the popes themselves of the authority and antiquity 
 of our chapter. Let all these particulars be well 
 weighed, and then let any impartial eye see where 
 he can find the least cause or reason for a scruple. 
 
 This being designedly an abstract, or concise 
 epitome, the reader may Avell suppose that an 
 infinite number of observations are omitted which 
 the bulk of this little treatise could not contain. 
 Neither was there any room for inferences, or many 
 notations : the reasons themselves are but hinted 
 at ; and the reader must be so ingenuous as to view 
 in his own thoughts the many illations, train of 
 consequences, and force and energy contained in 
 them. Not to detain him any longer, I shall desire 
 him to end the reading of it with this auspicious 
 and recommendatory testimony, that the consult of 
 cardinals, by a decree, sent a congratulatory letter 
 to Bishop William, givhig him thanks, in that he had 
 reduced the state of the Church of England to the 
 ancient pri7?iitive form, hy erecting and establishing a 
 chapter to govern by ; the copy of which decree is at 
 this present time in one of our friends' hands, which, 
 though I had not the convenience of perusing, yet I 
 thought it ought not to be pretermitted, it being 
 of such weight, and related by an unquestionable 
 testimony.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 (Referred to at page 9. Orig. in Dodd, iii. 117, ed. Tierney.) 
 
 Rationes quare CathoUci Anglicani suhordinatloriem aliquam 
 petunt inter sacerdotes Anglicaiico gentis, turn in Angl'td, 
 quam in Belgio degentes. 
 
 Cum ecclesia Catholica Anglicana in corpus magnum, per 
 Dei gratiam, jam excreverit, atque indies excrescat niagis, 
 numerus etiam sacerdotum, seminariorum multiplicatione, factus 
 sit auctior, humiliter petitur a vestra sanctitate, ut, ad incommoda 
 vitanda, quae ex corporis regimine, quod nuUam menibrorum 
 subordinationem hactenus agnovit, oriri necesse est, et pra^cipud 
 ad scbismatum ac divisionum occasion es tollendas, quae jam 
 alicubi pullulare cceperunt, duo saltern episcopi Anglicanrc 
 nationis constituantur, qui reliquos moderentur ac gubernent ; 
 alter in Anglia, alter verb in Belgio, qui in Anglia niorauti 
 correspoudeat ac cooperetur ; — idque ob rationes sequentes. 
 
 De Ejnscopo in Anglia. 
 
 Necessitas unius episcopi in Angliii, pro praescnti rerum 
 Catbolicarum statu, magna et multiplex esse videtur, — 
 
 1°. Ad roborandum Catbolicorum animos in ferendis pcrsecu- 
 tionibus ; episcopi enim arietes gregis esse solebant in persecu- 
 tionibus antiquis. 
 
 2°. Ad sacramentum confirmationis conferendum, quo, ad 
 quadraginta fere jam annos, caruerunt Catholici Anglicani, ob 
 episcopi inopiam, ciim tamcn ad fortitudineni in pugna spiritual i 
 obtinendam pnucipue confcrre Iioc sacramentum noscatur. 
 
 3". Ad chrisma olcumque sacrum couliciendum, cujus maxima
 
 124 APPENDIX. 
 
 inopiii premuiitur liodie sacerdotes Anglican), cum aliunde inipor- 
 tari sine maximis jiericulis non j)ossit. 
 
 4°. Ad sacros ordines quibusdain conferendos, qui, cum alioqui 
 digni siut, cxire tamen regno ad eos suscipiendos non possunt ; 
 vel quod carceribus tcneantur, vel justa aliquaalia causa impediti. 
 Aliquando etiam e seminariis remittuntui- scholares aliquot, sani- 
 tatis recuperandse causa, in Angliani, qui sacerdotio digni sunt, 
 nee tamen ob fetatis defectum ordinari possunt ante missionera. 
 
 5°. Ad consilium daudum in rebus dubiis, arduis, ac gravioribus, 
 quae cum s.Tpe incidant, his difficillirais Anglia? temporibus, neque 
 aliquis modo sit in uuiverso clero qui aliis auctoritate prseeat, non 
 leve iude damnum rebus communibus accedit. 
 
 G°. Ad informationes vei'as et cum auctoritate, turn ad vestram 
 sanctitatem ac cardinalem protectorem, tiim ad reliquos principes, 
 de rebus Auglicis mittendas, cujus rei defectu, unusquisque modo 
 scribit qua3 afFectus vel error suggerit. 
 
 7°. Ad tollendas sacerdotum inter se temulationes, et termi- 
 nandas lites, qua una re plurimiim paci ac coucordia? omnium 
 consuletur. 
 
 8°. Ad disponendos ac collocandos sacerdotes locis idoneis, 
 iisque movendos ciim erit necesse, aut majoris Dei glorise ratio 
 postulabit, qua etiam una re multum alleviabuntur patres socie- 
 tatis, tCim ouere, tum invidia aliquorum, cum ipsi hactenus 
 sacerdotibus omnibus, quantum potuerint, hac in re prospexerint, 
 non ex officio, sed tautum ex eliaritate. 
 
 9°. Ad juvandum hunc episcopum petunt Catholici adjungi 
 numerum aliquem prascipuorum sacerdotum, qui per Auglise 
 provincias degunt, hoc est ad septem vel octo, qui, vel archipres- 
 byterorum, vel arcliidiaconorum, nomine, episcopo assistant, et a 
 consiliis sint ; ita ut vices suas, per provincias, eis, tanquam 
 commissariis, delegare possit. Ilorum quatuor noniinari statini 
 a vestra sanctitate petunt, reliqui verb ab episcopo ipso jam 
 constitute, cum, pro regionum varietate, hominumque notitia, 
 ipse melius intelliget quinam magis idonei ad hoc munus erunt. 
 
 De Episcojyo Anglo in Bclf/io. 
 
 TTujus etiam episcopi constituendi par necessitas ac utilitas se 
 offerrc vidcntur.
 
 APPENDIX. 125 
 
 1°. Quia cum episcopus in Anglia jurisdictione episcopali uti 
 non possit, in foro exteriori, ob nietutn persecutoruni, hie in 
 Belgio degeus illani supplere poterit, evocando ex Anglia, et 
 puniendo (si opus fuerit) (juemcunque ille, f£ui in Anglia vivit, 
 castigare non audebit. 
 
 2°. Ut informationes ex Anglia acceptas videat, et pro diversi- 
 tate eorum hominum, qui ad ipsum scribent, varia conferat, et ea 
 quae certa sunt, ex assistentium suorura consensu, ad vestram 
 sanctitatem de rebus Anglicis transmittat. 
 
 3°. Ut examinet eos sacerdotes, vel scholares, qui, ex superi- 
 orum suorum mandate, Angliam sunt ingressuri, iisque facultates 
 impertiat, vel non inipertiat, pro mentis, vel demeritis, et judicium 
 8uum de ipsis ad episcopum in Anglia degentem perscribat, ne 
 omnibus liceat pro libitu ingredi, et causee Catholicorum incom- 
 modare, quod modo saepe fit. 
 
 Hie episcopus plurinmm juvamenti adferet ad causam Angli- 
 canam promovendam ; juvabit etiam ad unionem et concordiam 
 Catholicorum, qui in Belgio vivunt, prsesertim si ei sex archi- 
 presbyteri adjunguntur, ex prsecipuis nationis Anglicante sacer- 
 dotibus, quemadmodum supra de episcopo diximus, qui in Anglia 
 victurus est. 
 
 Si vestrge sanctitati visum fuerit Catholicis Anglicanis has 
 gratias concedere, expediet, primb, ut hi duo episcopi in partihus 
 nominentur, et quod non habeant titulos Anglicanos, tiim ad 
 vitandas ajmulationes, tiim etiam ne persecutores magis inde 
 exasperentur : * — secundo, ut uterque habeat jurisdictiouem in 
 universam Angliam, et forsan ut qui in Belgio victurus est 
 archiepiscopus sit, ob subordinationem : — tertib, ut fiant secretb, 
 per brevia apostolica, unius tantum episcopi ordinatione, ubi- 
 cunique ille reperiatur, sive in Anglia, Francia, Belgio, Scotia, 
 vel Hibernia ; hoc enim necessarium est, ad secretum servandum : 
 — quartb, ut res expediatur, si fieri potest, antequam innotescat, 
 aut hseretici Anglicani aliquid de ea suspicentur, ne majori dili- 
 gentia observent portus ad egressum vel ingressum alicujus 
 episcopi. 
 
 Endorsed, ^'- Rationes pro episcopis duohus Anglicanis, 1597." 
 
 * Persons appears to have been thus cautious only when the episcopal 
 authority was to be curtailed.
 
 PRINTED BY 
 
 rox (iinoTiiERS) and wysian, orkat uukkn street, 
 
 I.INCOLN'S-INN FIELDS.
 
 /L- (^.yA/. iTZfi /r.^^ yr-'^.^ ^e....^ 6^^0t: f»Y^^T^^
 
 ^^ ^^- /fe/^- ^^^^- '^^^ i^ -^
 
 .^^ ^^u^^^ Af^ /f^s cM^" 2^
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFOR? 
 
 mAJh 
 
 Los Angeles 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 ^^ 3 1158 00489 0371 
 
 RL 
 
 AUG 
 
 rr^'^!Jh-.</!.^^Y :,-OAN9f 
 
 [AUGo 19 
 
 Via)' o{^m 
 
 a<^.au^ 
 
 irNrrERi..iBRAt;^Y 
 
 ^^-/o / f 
 
 )UE TWO W'TI"'. 'KOW 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 OF RECEIBC 
 
 in id 
 LOANS 
 
 d79 
 
 iME OF RECEIPI 
 
 -ACILITY 
 
 '<CO U (.Uy,^, 
 
 "PR 2 2 ?988 
 
 L9-Series4939
 
 \ A 
 
 \ \