The Samaritan Showing Healing, Bill 1
THE Bill for Comprehenſion.
WHereas the Peace of the State is highly concern'd in the Peace of the Church, Therefore at all Times, but eſpecially in this Conjuncture, it is most Neceſſary to be preſerved. In Order therefore to remove Differences and Diſſatisfactions, which may ariſe among Proteſtants, Be it enacted by the Kings moſt Excellent Majeſty, by, and with the Advice and Conſent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons in this preſent Parliament Aſſembled, and by the Authority of the ſame, That if any Perſon ſhall (without making any Interpretation of his own, unleſs it be ſuch as ſhall be allowed to be Orthodox by his Dioceſan, or two other Biſhops) Subſcribe, and Declare his Aſſent and Conſent unto, and Approbation of the Articles of Religion, mentioned in the Statute made in the 13th. Year of the late Q. Elizabeth, except only the 34th. 35th. and 36th. Articles; and alſo, except theſe words in the 20th. Article [Viz. The Church hath power to decree Rites & Ceremonies, & Authority in Controverſies of Faith,] in like manner as he is already Obliged to Subſcribe, and Declare his Aſſent and Conſent unto, and Approbation of, all the ſaid 39 Articles: Every ſuch Perſon ſhall be as capable of taking any Degree in either Ʋniverſity, or being Ordained Prieſt or Deacon, or of being Collated, Admitted, or put into, and to Hold and Enjoy any Eccleſiastical Benefice or Promotion, as if the ſaid Perſon had Subſcribed and Declared his Aſſent and Conſent unto, and Approbation of all the ſaid Articles of Religion.
And be it further Enacted by the Authority aforeſaid, That every Perſon Ordained between the Year of our Lord 1644, and the Firſt of May, in the Year 1680, according to the Form of Ordination, uſed by laying on of hands by the Presbytery, ſhall be as capable of any Eccleſiaſtical Benefice, or Promotion, as if he had been Ordained according to the Form of Making and Ordaining Prieſts and Deacons in the Church of England: And that every Perſon Ordained only by Presbyters ſince the Year of our Lord 1660, ſhall not be admitted to any Benefice, unleſs he receive a ſecond Impoſition of Hands from ſome Biſhop, to recommend him to the Grace of God, for the Work or Exerciſe of his Office, in the Place or Charge unto which he is call'd; and the Biſhop ſhall frame his Words accordingly.
And Whereas, by a Statute made in the 13th. and 14th. Year of His Majeſties Raign that now is, Entituled, An Act for the Uniformity of the Publick Prayer, and Adminiſtration of Sacraments, & other Rites and Ceremonies, and for Eſtabliſhing the Form of Ordaining & Conſecrating Biſhops, Prieſts, and Deacons, in the Church of England, there are two Declarations impoſed upon ſeveral Perſons, and in ſuch manner as is there ſpecified.
Be it further Enacted by the Authority aforeſaid, That no Perſon that hereafter ſhall be Preſented, or Collated, or Put into any Eccleſiastical Benefice or Promotion, ſhall declare his unfeigned Aſſent and Conſent to the Ʋſe of all things contained, and Preſcribed in the Book of Common-Prayer; nor Make and Subſcribe the other Declaration, or Acknowledgment, [Viz. I A. B. do declare, That it is not Lawful to take up Arms againſt the King, &c.] according to the Formes in the ſaid Act, in the 13th. and 14th. Year of His Majesties Reign, directed and appointed; but that Both the ſaid Declarations ſhall be wholly Omitted, any thing in the aforeſaid Statute to the Contrary Notwithſtanding.
And be it further enacted by the Authority aforeſaid, That no Perſon ſhall hereafter be capable of being collated, Admitted, or put into any Eccleſiastical Benefice, or Promotion, before ſuch time as the ſaid Perſon ſhall have taken the Oaths of Supremacy and Allegiance (which Oath of Allegiance is contained in the Statute made in the 3d Year of King James) before the Biſhop of the Dioceſs, (who is hereby Impowred to administer the ſame) and ſhall alſo Make and Subſcribe the Declaration mentioned in an Act of Parliament, made in the 30th. Year of His Majesties Reign that now is, Entituled, An Act to prevent Papiſts from Sitting in either Houſe of Parliament: And the Name of every Perſon ſo taking the Oath, and Making and Subſcribing the Declaration aforeſaid, ſhall be Enrolled with the Day and Time of his Taking the ſame, in Rolls to be kept by the reſpective Biſhop of each Dioceſs for that purpoſe.
And be it further enacted by the Authority aforeſaid, That no Perſon ſhall hereafter be Obliged to take the Oath of Canonical Obedience, or to make the Subſcription required by the Canons, or to go to the Biſhop for a Licenſe to Preach, being already lawfully Ordained, any Statute or Cuſtome to the contrary Notwithstanding.
And be it further enacted by the Authority aforeſaid, That from henceforth, no Perſon whatſoever wear a Surplice, during the time of Reading Common Prayer, or Preaching or Performing any Religious Worſhip, in any Church, or Chappel whatſoever, except only in the Chappel of the Kings Majesty, and all Cathedral Churches of this Realm of England, and Dominion of Wales.
And be it further enacted by the Authority aforeſaid, That from henceforth, no Minister, or other Eccleſiaſtieal Perſon, ſhall be Obliged or compelled to uſe the Signe of the Croſs in Baptiſm, or any Parent Obliged to have his Child Chriſtened by the Minister of the Pariſh, if the ſaid Minister will not uſe or omit the Sign of the Croſs, according to the Deſire of the Parent, who in that Caſe may procure ſome other Minister to do it. Nor ſhall the Child of any Perſon be refuſed Baptiſm, for want of Godfathers and Godmothers, ſo long as the Parent is preſent to fill their place.
And be it further enacted by the Authority aforeſaid, That no Miniſter, or Eccleſiaſtical Perſon, that ſhall Officiate in the Administration of the Sacrament of the Lords Supper, ſhall refuſe it to any Perſon that deſires to be admitted to the ſame, although ſuch Perſon ſhall not uſe the Geſture of Kneeling in the Act of Receiving, nor come up to the Communion Table, but ſhall go to ſuch Convenient Place in the Church, where ſuch Perſon is, and there give it him in ſome other decent Gesture of Ordinary uſe in the Reformed Churches. Nor ſhall any Miniſter be troubled for the withholding his own Act, in delivery of the Sacrament from any, whom he Judges notoriouſly unworthy, or unfit for it: Nor for ſuſpending his reading the Sentence of Excommunication against any of his Pariſh, until he be ſatisfied in the Caſe, that his crime deſerves it.
And to the intent that Ʋniformity may (ſo far as it is needful, and ſo far as it can) be ſtill maintained, Be it enacted Moreover by the Authority aforeſaid, That every Parſon, Vicar, and Lecturer, ſhall conform to the Liturgy of the Church, in the Ordinary Lords-day Service, reading the ſame by himſelf, or by his Curate, as by Law it is Eſtabliſhed: Reſerving a Neceſſary, and Juſt Liberty, for his Conſcience in any Matter, or Words, which himſelf eſteems unlawful (and ſo to him it is ſin) in the By-Offices, Occaſional Service, the Rubricks, and otherwiſe: and alſo, for Prudence in the whole Mannagement, to Act with reſpect to Time, Place, and Circumſtances, ſo as appeares moſt conducive to Edification. And ſo long as the main Body of the Service appointed, is there Read, and the Subſtance of the Offices … there performed, he ſhall not be Puniſhable for any Breach otherwiſe of the Acts of Ʋniformity, any thing in the ſaid Statutes to the Contrary notwithſtanding.