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the bishops dream that these light words were CH. 3. the spell which would burst the charm, and bid that spirit wake again in all its power and terror.

A.D. 1529.

mons pro

legislate.

The House of Commons in the mean time had not been idle. To them the questions at issue were unincumbered with theoretic difficulties. Enormous abuses had been long ripe for disso- The Comlution, and there was no occasion to waste time ceed to in unnecessary debates. At such a time, with a House practically unanimous, business could be rapidly transacted, the more rapidly indeed in proportion to its importance. In six weeks, for so long only the session lasted, the astonished church authorities saw bill after bill hurried up before the Lords, by which successively the pleasant fountains of their incomes would be dried up to flow no longer; or would flow only in shallow rivulets along the beds of the once abundant torrents. The jurisdiction of the spiritual courts was not immediately curtailed, and the authority which was in future to be permitted to convocation lay over for further consideration, to be dealt with in another manner. But probate duties and legacy duties, hitherto assessed at Curtaildiscretion, were dwarfed into fixed proportions,* probate dunot to touch the poorer laity any more, and bear- ties, legacy ing even upon wealth with a reserved and gentle mortuahand. Mortuaries were shorn of their luxuriance; when effects were small, no mortuary should be required; when large, the clergy should content

* 21 Hen. VIII. cap. 5. An Act concerning fines and sums of money to be taken by the

ministers of bishops and other
ordinaries of holy church for the
probate of testaments.

duties, and

ries.

Сн. 3.

A.D. 1529.

themselves with a modest share. No velvet cloaks should be stripped any more from strangers' bodies to save them from a rector's grasp;* no shameful battles with apparitors should disturb any more the recent rest of the dead.† Such sums as the law would permit should be paid thenceforward in the form of decent funeral fees for householders dying in their own parishes, and there the exactions should terminate.‡

The carelessness of the bishops in the discharge of their most immediate duties obliged the legislature to trespass also in the provinces purely spiritual, and undertake the discipline of the clergy. The Commons had complained in Clergy in their petition that the clergy, instead of attendfrom secu- ing to their duties, were acting as auditors, bailar employ- liffs, stewards, or in other capacities, as laymen;

hibited

ment.

they were engaged in trade also, in farming, in tanning, in brewing, in doing anything but the duties which they were paid for doing; while they purchased dispensations for non-residence on their benefices; and of these benefices, in

*HALE, Precedents, p. 86.
+ Ibid.

21 Hen. VIII. cap. 6. An
Act concerning the taking of
mortuaries, or demanding, re-
ceiving, or claiming the same.

In Scotland the usual mortuary was a cow and the uppermost cloth or counterpane on the bed in which the death took place. A bishop reprimanding a suspected clergyman for his leanings toward the Reformation, said to him:

'My joy, Dean Thomas, I am informed that ye preach the epistle and gospel every Sunday

to your parishioners, and that ye take not the cow nor the upmost cloth from your parishioners; which thing is very prejudicial to the churchmen. And therefore, Dean Thomas, I would ye took your cow and upmost cloth, or else it is too much to preach every Sunday, for in so doing ye may make the people think we should preach likewise.'-CALDERWOOD, vol. i. p. 126.

The bishop had to burn Dean Thomas at last, being unable to work conviction into him in these matters.

ment of re

and limi

pluralities.

favoured cases, single priests held as many as CH. 3. eight or nine. It was thought unnecessary to A.D. 1529. wait for the bishops' pleasure to apply a remedy here. If the clergy were unjustly accused of these offences, a law of general prohibition would not touch them. If the belief of the House of Commons was well founded, there was no occasion for longer delay. It was therefore enacted*- Enforce'for the more quiet and virtuous increase and sidence, maintenance of divine service, the preaching and tation of teaching the Word of God with godly and good example, for the better discharge of cures, the maintenance of hospitality, the relief of poor people, the increase of devotion and good opinion. of the lay fee towards spiritual persons'-that no such persons thenceforward should take any land to farm beyond what was necessary, bona fide, for the support of their own households; that they should not buy merchandize to sell again; that they should keep no tanneries or brewhouses, or otherwise directly or indirectly trade for gain. Pluralities were not to be permitted with benefices above the yearly value of eight pounds, and residence was made obligatory under penalty in cases of absence without special reason, of ten pounds for each month of such absence. The law against pluralities was limited as against existing holders, each of whom, for their natural lives, might continue to hold as many as four benefices. But dispensations, either for non-residence or for The bishops

21 Hen. VIII. cap. 13. An | houses or breweries. And for Act that no spiritual person shall pluralities of benefices and for take farms; or buy and sell for residence. lucre and profit; or keep tan

may grant

A.D. 1529.

sation from

these acts.

CH. 3. the violation of any other provision of the act, were made penal in a high degree, whether obno dispen- tained from the bishops or from the court of Rome. These bills struck hard and struck home. Yet even persons who most disapprove of the Reformation will not at the present time either wonder at their enactment or complain of their severity. They will be desirous rather to disentangle their doctrine from suspicious connexion, and will not be anxious to compromise their theology by the defence of unworthy professors of it.

in the

House of

Lords.

The bishops, however, could ill tolerate an interference with the privileges of the ecclesiastical order. The Commons, it was exclaimed, were heretics and schismatics;* the cry was heard everywhere, of Lack of faith, Lack of faith; and the lay peers being constitutionally conservative, and perhaps instinctively apprehensive of the infectious tendencies of innovation, it seemed likely Opposition for a time that an effective opposition might be raised in the Upper House. The clergy commanded an actual majority in that House from their own body, which they might employ if they dared; and although they were not likely to venture alone on so bold a measure, yet a partial support from the other members was a sufficient encouragement. The aged Bishop of Rochester was made the spokesman of the ecclesiastics on Speech of this occasion. My Lords,' he said, 'you see of Roches daily what bills come hither from the Commons. House, and all is to the destruction of the church. For God's sake see what a realm the kingdom of

the Bishop

ter.

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* HALL, 767.

A.D. 1529.

Bohemia was; and when the church went down, CH. 3. then fell the glory of that kingdom. Now with the Commons is nothing but Down with the church, and all this meseemeth is for lack of faith only.'* 'In result,' says Hall, 'the acts were sore debated; the Lords Spiritual would in no wise consent, and committees of the two Houses sate continually for discussion.' The spiritualty defended themselves by prescription and usage, to which a Gray's Inn lawyer something inso- Speech of lently answered, on one occasion, 'the usage hath man of ever been of thieves to rob on Shooter's Hill, ergo, it is lawful.' 'With this answer,' continues Hall, 'the spiritual men were sore offended because their doings were called robberies, but the temporal men stood by their sayings, insomuch that the said gentlemen declared to the Archbishop of Canterbury, that both the exaction of probates of testaments and the taking of mortuaries were open robbery and thefts.'

the gentle

Gray's Inn.

At length, people out of doors growing impatient, and dangerous symptoms threatening to show themselves, the king summoned a meeting in the Star-chamber between eight members of both Houses. The lay peers, after some discussion, conclusively gave way; and the bishops, left without support, were obliged to yield. They signified their unwilling consent, and the bills, somewhat qualified,' were the next day agreed The bills to-to the great rejoicing of the lay people, and the great displeasure of the spiritual persons.'† Nor were the House of Commons contented

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are passed.

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