' and archdeacons, and the rest that bear office in the same, 'is anti-christian, or repugnant to the word of God, let him be excommunicated ipso facto, and not restored, &c. "Canon VIII. Whosoever shall affirm, that the form and manner of making and consecrating bishops, priests, or deacons, contains any thing repugnant to the word of God; or that persons so made and consecrated are not lawfully made, or need any other calling or ordination to their divine offices, let him be excommunicated, ipso 'facto, and not restored, &c.

6

"Canon IX. Whosoever shall separate from the communion of the church of England, as it is approved by the Apostles' rules, and combine together in a new brotherhood, accounting those who conform to the doctrines, rites and ceremonies of the church unmeet for their communion, let them be excommunicated ipso facto,and not restored, &c. "Canon X. Whosoever shall affirm that such ministers as refuse to subscribe to the form and manner of God's 'worship in the church of England, and their adherents, may truly take to themselves the name of another church "not established by law, and shall publish, that their pre'tended church has groaned under the burden of certain 'grievances, imposed on them by the church of England, let them be excommunicated ipso facto, and not restor'ed, &c.

"Canon XI. Whosoever shall affirm, that there are within this realm, other meetings, assemblies or congre'gations of the king's born subjects, than such as are 'established by law, which may rightly challenge to 'themselves the name of true and lawful churches, let him 'be excommunicated ipso facto, and not restored, &c.

"Canon XII. Whosoever shall affirm, that it is lawful 'for any sort of ministers or lay-persons to make rules, orders and constitutions, in causes ecclesiastical, without 'the king's authority, and shall submit to be ruled and gov'erned by them, let him be excommunicated ipso facto, and not restored, &c.

"Canon XCVIII. we decree and appoint, that after any judge ecclesiastical hath proceeded judicially against 'obstinate and factious persons, for not observing the rites ⚫ and ceremonies of the church, or for contempt of public

'prayer, no judge ad quem shall admit, or allow of an appeal, unless he having first seen the original appeal, the 'party appellant do first personally promise and vow, that 'he will faithfully keep and observe all the rites and ceremonies of the church of England, as also the prescript 'form of common prayer; and do likewise subscribe the 'three articles formerly by us specified and declared."

They who are acquainted with the terrible consequences of an excommunication in the spiritual courts, must be sensible of the new hardships put upon the puritans by these canons; suspensions and deprivations from their livings, were not now thought sufficient punishments for the sin of non-conformity; but the puritans, both clergy and laity, must be turned out of the congregation of the faithful; they must be rendered incapable of suing for their lawful debts; they must be imprisoned for life by process out of the civil courts, or until they make satisfaction to the church; and when they die, they must be denied christian burial; and, so far as lies in the power of the court, be excluded the kingdom of heaven. O uncharitableness! papists excommunicate protestants, because, by renouncing the catholic faith, they apprehend them guilty of heresy; but for protestants of the same faith to excommunicate their fellowchristians and subjects, and deprive them of their liberties, properties, and estates, for a few ceremonies, or because they have not the same veneration for the ecclesiastical constitution with themselves, is hardly to be paralleled.

To take notice of a few more of the canons: Canon XIV forbids the minister to add to, or leave out, any part of the prayers. Canon XVIII. enjoins bowing at the name of Jesus. Canons XVII, XXIV, XXV, LVIII, LXXIV, enjoin the wearing the habits in colleges, cathedrals, &c. as copes, surplices, hoods. Canon XXVII, forbids giving the sacrament to SCHISMATICS, or to any but such as kneel, and allow of the rites, ceremonies, and orders of the church. Canon XXVIII says, that none shall be admitted to the sacrament but in their own parish. Canon XXIX, That no parent shall be urged to be present, nor be admitted to answer as a godfather for his own child in baptism.

Canon XXX declares the sign of the cross to be no part of the substance of the sacrament of baptism, but that the ordinance is perfect without it. Canon XXXIII prohibits ordination without a presentation, and says, that if any bishop ordain without a title, he shall maintain the person till he be provided with a living. Canon XXXVI, and XXXVII, says, that no person shall be ordained, or suffered to preach, or catechise in any place as a lecturer, or otherwise, unless he first subscribe the three articles following; 1. That the king's majesty is the supreme head and governor of this realm, as well in all spiritual and ecclesiastical, as temporal causes. 2. That the book of common-prayer, &c. contains nothing contrary to the word of God, and that he will use it and none other. 3. That he alloweth the thirty-nine articles of 1562, to be all and every one of them agreeable to the word of God. To these he shall subscribe in the following form of words:

IN. N. do willingly, and ex animo, subscribe to these three articles abovementioned, and to all things that are contained in them.

Canon XXXVIII says, that if any minister, after subscription, shall disuse the ceremonies, he shall first be suspended; then after a month be excommunicated, and after another month deposed from his ministry. Canon LV contains the form of bidding prayer before sermon; ye shall pray for Christ's holy catholic church, &c. the original of which I have accounted for. Canon LXXXII appoints, that convenient and decent tables shall be provided in all 'churches for the celebration of the holy communion, and 'the same tables shall be covered in time of divine service 'with a carpet of silk, or other convenient stuff; and with 'a fair linen cloth at the time of the administration, as be'cometh that table, and so stand, saving when the said holy communion is to be administered; at which time the same shall be placed in so good sort within the church or chancel, as thereby the minister may be more conveniently heard of the communicants in his prayer and administration; and the communicants also more conveniently, and in more numbers, may communicate with the said

minister; and a convenient seat shall be made for the minister to read service in."

The other canons relate to the particular duties of ministers, lecturers, church-wardens, parish clerks; to the jurisdiction and business of ecclesiastical courts, with their proper officers, as judges ecclesiastical, surrogates, proctors, registers, apparitors, &c. The book concludes with denouncing the sentence of excommunication, 1. Against such as shall affirm, that this synod thus assembled, is not the true church of England by representation. 2. Against such as shall affirm, that persons not particularly assembled in this synod, either clergy or laity, are not subject to the decrees thereof, as not having given their voices to them. 3. Against such as shall affirm, this sacred synod was a company of such persons as did conspire against godly and religious professors of the gospel, and therefore that they and their proceedings ought to be despised and contemned, though ratified and confirmed by the royal supremacy and authority.

The king, in his ratification of these canons, commands them to be diligently observed and executed; and for the better observation of the same, that every parish minister shall read them over once every year in his church, on a Sunday or holiday, before divine service; and all archbishops, bishops and others, having ecclesiastical jurisdiction, are commanded to see all and every the same put in execution, and not spare to execute the penalties in them sevally mentioned on those that wilfully break or neglect them. I shall leave the reader to make his own comment on the proceedings of this synod, only observing, that when they had finished their decrees, they were prorogued to January, 1605, when, Dr. Overal being prolocutor, they gave the king four subsidies, but did no more church business till the time of their dissolution, in the year 1610.

Dr. Bancroft bishop of London, being translated to the see of Canterbury, [December, 1604] was succeeded by Vaughan bishop of Chester, a corpulent man, and of little activity; upon his advancement the Dutch and French ministers within his diocese presented him with an address for his protection and favor, wherein they set forth, "that their churches were granted them by charter from pious king

'Edward VI. in the year 1550; and that, though they were again dispersed by the Marian persecution, they were 'restored to their churches and privileges by queen "Elizabeth, in the year 1558, from which time they have 'been in the uninterrupted possession of them. It appears 'from our records (say they) how kind and friendly the 'pious Grindal was to us; and what pains the prudent bishop Sandys took in composing our differences. We 'promise ourselves the like favor from your lordship, &c. 'for whom we shall always pray, &c.-"* Monsieur de la Fontain delivered the address, with a short Latin speech, to whom the bishop replied, "I thank you, most dear brethren, for your kind address; I am sensible ' of the merits of John Alasco, Utenhovius, and Edmund Grindal bishop of London ;† superintendents of your 'churches; and of the rest of my predecessors in this 'bishopric, who had reason to take your churches, which are of the same faith with our own, under their patronage, ' which I also am ready to do. I have known your church'es twenty-five years to have been beneficial to the king'dom, and serviceable to the church of England, in which the devil, the author of discord, has kindled the fire of 'dissension, into which I pray you not to pour oil, but to 'endeavor by your counsels and prayers to extinguish."+ Thus the foreign churches enjoyed full peace, while his majesty's own subjects, of the same faith and discipline with them, were harrassed out of the kingdom.

BANCROFT was a divine of a rough temper, a perfect creature of the prerogative, and a declared enemy of the religious and civil liberties of his country. He was for advancing the prerogative above law, and for enlarging the jurisdiction of the spiritual courts, by advising his majesty to take from the courts of Westminister-hall, to himself, the whole right of granting prohibitions; for this purpose he framed twenty-five grievances of the clergy, which he called articuli cleri, and presented them to the king for

* Address of the French and Dutch churches to the Bp. of London. Strype's Ann. vol. iv. p. 390.

† Utenhovius and Edmund Grindal, as Dr. Grey observes, are not mentioned in the bishop's answer, though they are in Fontain's speech. Ed. + Strype's Annals, vol. v. p. 395.