the said archbishop the places or offices of the judge of the Audience, and master of the Faculties, for the term of the natural life of the said sir Charles Cæsar. Sir Thomas Ridley, knt. hath and holdeth by the grant 5 of the said archbishop the place or office of vicar general to the said archbishop. And Nathaniel Brent, doctor of the laws, hath and holdeth by grant of the said archbishop the office or place of commissary to the said archbishop, as of his proper and 10 peculiar diocese of Canterbury. 15 And likewise the several registers of the Arches, Prerogative, Audience, Faculties, and of the vicar general and the commissary of Cant. hold their places by grants from the said archbishop respectively. Whereas the said archbishop in some or all of these several places and jurisdictions, doth or may sometimes assume unto his personal and proper judicature, order, or direction, some particular causes, actions, or cases at his pleasure; and forasmuch as the said archbishop cannot at 20 this present, in his own person, attend the services, which are otherwise proper for his cognizance and jurisdiction, and which as archbishop of Cant. he might and ought in his own person to have performed and executed in causes and matters ecclesiastical, in the proper function of arch25 bishop of that province; we therefore, of our regal power, and of our princely care and providence, that nothing shall be defective in the order, discipline, government, or right of the church, have thought fit by the service of some other learned and reverend bishops, to be named 30 by us, to supply those things which the said archbishop ought or might in the cases aforesaid to have done, but for this present cannot perform the same. Know ye therefore, that we reposing special trust and confidence in your approved wisdoms, learning, and inte35 grity, have nominated, authorized, and appointed, and do by these presents nominate, authorize, and appoint you the said George, lord bishop of London, Richard, lord bishop of Durham, John, lord bishop of Rochester, John, lord bishop of Oxford, and William, lord bishop of Bath and Wells, or any four, three, or two of you, to do, execute, and perform all and every those acts, matters, and 5 things, any way touching or concerning the power, jurisdiction, or authority of the archbishop of Cant. in causes or matters ecclesiastical, as amply, fully, and effectually, to all intents and purposes, as the said archbishop himself might have done. And we do hereby command you and every of you, to attend, perform, and execute this our royal pleasure, in and touching the premises, until we shall declare our will and pleasure to the contrary. IO And we do further hereby will and command the said 15 archbishop of Canterbury, quietly and without interruption to permit and suffer you the said George, bishop of London, Richard, bishop of Durham, John, bishop of Rochester, John, bishop of Oxford, and William, bishop of Bath and Wells, any four, three, or two of you, to exe- 20 cute and perform this our commission, according to our royal pleasure thereby signified. And we do further will and command all, and every other person and persons, whom it may any way concern, in their several places or offices, to be attendant, observ- 25 ant, and obedient to you, and every one of you, in the execution and performance of this our royal will and command, as they and every of them will answer the contrary at their utmost perils. Nevertheless we do hereby declare our royal pleasure 30 to be, that the said sir Henry Martin, sir Charles Cæsar, sir Thomas Ridley, and Nathaniel Brent, in their several offices and places aforesaid, and all other registers, officers, and ministers in the several courts, offices, and jurisdictions appertaining to the said archbishop, shall quietly and 35 without interruption hold, use, occupy, and enjoy their said offices and places, which they now hold by the grant of the said archbishop, or any other former archbishop of Cant. in such manner and form, and with those benefits, privileges, powers, and authorities, which they now have, 5 hold, and enjoy therein, or thereout, severally and respectively, they, and every of them, in their several places, being attendant and obedient unto you, the said George, bishop of London, Richard, bishop of Durham, John, bishop of Rochester, John, bishop of Oxford, and Wil10 liam, bishop of Bath and Wells, or to any four, three, or two of you, in all things, according to the tenour of this our commission, as they should or ought to have been to the said archbishop himself, if this commission had not been had or made. In witness whereof, we have caused 15 these our letters to be made patent. Witness ourself at Westminster the ninth day of October, in the third year of our reign. 20 Archiepisc. Cant. Anno Christi Reg. Angliæ His majesty's declaration. BEING by God's ordinance, according to our just title, defender of the faith, and supreme governor of the church within these our dominions, we hold it most agreeable to this our kingly office, and our own religious His majesty's declaration] This declaration is supposed by Dr. Burn 25 (Eccl. Law, vol. i. p. 99), by Dr. Blackburne (Confessional, p. 125), and others, to have been published in the first instance by king James I.; but it has been satisfactorily shewn that it was first issued in the year zeal, to conserve and maintain the church committed to our charge in unity of true religion, and in the bond of peace; and not to suffer unnecessary disputations, altercations, or questions to be raised, which may nourish faction both in the church and commonwealth. We have 5 therefore upon mature deliberation, and with the advice of so many of our bishops, as might conveniently be called together, thought fit to make this declaration following: That the articles of the church of England, which have been allowed and authorized heretofore, and 10 which our clergy generally have subscribed unto, do contain the true doctrine of the church of England agreeable 1628; and it may be inferred from the proceedings of the house of commons that it appeared during the interval between the prorogation of the 26th of June and the reassembling of the parliament on the follow- 15 ing 20th of January. Dr. Burn copied his mistake from Gibson's Codex, in which it appears to have originated; and Dr. Blackburne assumed it on grounds which are altogether untenable; as has been shewn by Gloc. Ridley in his Letters to the Author of the Confessional." 3d Lett. Postscr. p. 172. 20 The controversies of earlier origin, as well as those that were created by the recent synod of Dort, were revived and exasperated by the strong measures employed in the collection of the loan, and by the prominent part that was taken in its favour by many of the established clergy. It was thought advisable to republish the Thirty-nine Articles, 25 and to require all persons to abstain from all curious disputes and speculations; but the inevitable consequence was to condemn the Calvinistic interpretation which had hitherto prevailed. It was a contest in which one party was admitted to be the stronger of the two, but both were equally silenced. The declaration therefore that was issued by the 30 king, and was prefixed to the new edition of the articles, was pronounced by the puritans to be Arminian and popish. The effect of it certainly was to repress the proceedings of the Calvinists; as was shewn in the case of bishop Davenant, who was called before the council in March 1630, and rebuked for a sermon he had preached on the subject of the 35 seventeenth article, not because he had inculcated any strange or erroneous doctrine, but solely because he had been disobedient to the royal mandate. (Two letters of bp. Davenant, in the Tanner MSS. vol. ccxc. p. 89.) The parliament had been prorogued in June immediately after the 40 to God's word; which we do therefore ratify and confirm, requiring all our loving subjects to continue in the uniform profession thereof, and prohibiting the least difference from the said articles; which to that end we command 5 to be new printed, and this our declaration to be published therewith. That we are supreme governor of the church of England; and that if any difference arise about the external policy, concerning the injunctions, canons, or other conIo stitutions whatsoever thereto belonging, the clergy in their convocation is to order and settle them, having first obtained leave under our broad seal so to do; and we subsidies had been granted, which the king had purchased from the 15 commons by acceding to the petition of rights; but one of the first acts of the lower house after their reassembling in January 1629, was to protest against the declaration in the following manner: "We the commons in parliament assembled do claim, protest, and avow for truth, the sense of the articles of religion, (which were established by parliament 20 in the 13th year of our late queen Elizabeth,) which by the public act of the church of England, and by the general and current expositions of the writers of our church has been delivered unto us. And we reject the sense of the Jesuits and Arminians and all others wherein they differ from us." 25 Bishop Laud was accused at his trial of having interpolated this edition of the articles by inserting a sentence of his own, at the beginning of the 20th article, respecting the authority of the church. There was some apparent foundation for the charge, inasmuch as the passage was not to be found either in the first edition or in most of those that 30 followed it. But it certainly existed in others; and it was probably introduced by the queen after the articles had been approved by the convocation of 1562. We may admit however that we are indebted to bishop Laud for the publicity and confirmation that the passage has subsequently obtained. 35 Purit. vol. i. p. 519. Rushw. vol. i. Collier, vol. ii. p. 746. Neal, Lamb's Articles, p. 35. Heylin's Laud, p. 188. Canterb. Doom, p. 163. Lingard, vol. vi. p. 288. which we do therefore ratify and confirm] It was the constant maxim of queen Elizabeth, derived not so much from the statute of supremacy (1 Eliz. c. 1.) as from the inseparable rights and prerogatives of the 40 crown, that she might establish or repeal canons, and might ordain or |