have none of this external and coercive jurisdiction, with temporal effects, but by and from his majesty's permission. And that, indeed, is all which the law considers as being properly jurisdiction; for though, indeed, the law does suppose, as I have above shewn from the ordinal for consecrating bishops, that they, the bishops, have some power derived from Christ for correction of others; yet the spiritual effects of that power not being visible nor cognizable by the temporal judges, they therefore never took any cognizance of them, but only of the temporal and visible effects of the bishop's power: this they only meant by lawful or legal jurisdiction though even

by God's word: and the law ought not to be supposed to contradict itself; and therefore this act in Henry the Eighth must necessarily be understood only of external coercive jurisdiction; and it is true that the bishops, &c. have none of this, &c.

† Jurisdiction properly signifies an authority to take cognizance of, and determine in a public and judicial way, and with legal forms and effects, any controversies or causes that are litigated, and to censure or acquit any persons according to laws before made concerning those matters.

Now, though the bishops and clergy have originally in them. selves derived from Christ an authority to judge in church matters, and of persons as concerned in them; yet, since the establishment of Christianity in this realm, and, as long as that lasts, they have no right to exercise this authority in a judicial way, in this realm, but from the king; because, by the supposed convention between the church and civil government, by which the exercise of this spiritual authority is attended with temporal penalties and effects, which of itself it had not; it was agreed, that this spiritual authority should not be exercised in a public judicial way, but by the king's permission or consent, and with such

the bishop's jurisdiction, attended with spiritual effects, they might consider as being also derived from the crown, in regard that the crown permitted the exercise of it.

The same sense may be justly put upon 1 Eliz. chap. i. sect. 17. which asserts, that such jurisdictions, spiritual and ecclesiastical, as by any spiritual or ecclesiastical power or authority hath heretofore been, or may lawfully be, exercised or used for the visitation of the ecclesiastical state or persons, or for the reformation of all manner of heresies, &c. shall be for ever united to the imperial crown of this realm.

The ecclesiastical authority formerly used for the correction of ecclesiastical and other persons, of which the law took cognizance, was, as I said, only the external and coercive authority attended with temporal effects. Of the spiritual effects, though they at the same time supposed there might be such,

limitation as he or the law should put upon it: and, in regard to this state of things, it may be properly enough said, that the bishops, &c. have no spiritual jurisdiction that is attended with legal effects, nor any that can be exercised here, but by and from the king's permission. And this is what our laws mean.

This was plainly the sense of our judges, and of the legisla tors themselves before the Reformation: they allowed that the bishops and the Pope too, had a spiritual authority in several cases this is plain from the notion of the whole church at that time; but not that they should exercise this authority here, but with certain circumstances. And, if they did at any time exercise it otherwise, they regarded the exercise of it as null. This appears from several cases in the year books.

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yet they would not take any notice, nor consider them at all; not even in the times when popery prevailed here. This appears from divers cases in the year books, and particularly from the following remarkable one: there had been an appeal made to the Pope in some cause litigated between the subjects of this realm, and of ecclesiastical cognizance. The Pope, having tried the cause, awarded costs to one of the parties, and sent a commission of delegacy to the Archbishop of Canterbury to cause them to be levied. The archbishop, upon the refusal of the party who was to pay them, excommunicated him for contumacy: the law, in those times, did, no question, admit that the archbishop's sentence of excommunication, when just, would be attended with spiritual effects; but whether it was so or not, or whether it was just or not in that case, the judges would not examine. It was a maxim in law, that the Pope's excommunications, whatever spiritual effects they might have, were not to be at all regarded by our law, nor suffered to have any temporal effects here; that is, he was not allowed to have any ecclesiastical jurisdiction in this realm; and though the archbishop, in other cases, had such spiritual jurisdiction by law, yet, in this case, as he acted in pursuance of the Pope's commission and sentence, the judges would not allow even him to have any legal ecclesiastical jurisdiction.* What effects his

*

They would not allow an excommunication by any of our own bishops to be of force, but against persons within his own

and the Pope's sentence might have in foro spirituali, the judges would not consider: but visible, legal, and temporal effects, they would not allow them to have any in this realm. This was the notion which the law had of spiritual or ecclesiastical jurisdiction. long before the Reformation. And all ecclesiastical or spiritual power and jurisdiction, in this sense, is truly said to be united to the crown; and, indeed, to have always been in it. Which consideration made Lord Coke, and others of our chief lawyers, affirm, that this (1 Eliz. chap. i.) was only a declarative law reviving and restoring the ancient ecclesiastical authority of the crown, and not adding any new authority to it. And this undoubtedly is true, if the act be understood in the sense I here put upon it, as asserting only an external coercive jurisdiction in ecclesiastical causes to belong to the crown: for such a one was always affirmed and acknowledged to belong to it, even before the Reformation. But if this were to be understood to affirm, that all that internal spiritual authority, which Christ gave to his apostles and their successors, in every ecclesiastical matter, was inherent in, and could be justly exercised by, the crown or its

diocese: nor even in his own diocese, unless, in his certificate of it to the temporal courts, he specified the particular cause of it, that they might know whether it was legal or not.

The act of 1 Eliz. chap. i. is intituled, An act to restore to the crown the ancient jurisdiction over the estate, ecclesiastical and spiritual, and abolishing all foreign power repugnant to the

same.

delegates; it is most certain, that this was not the notion of any of our judges or legislators before the Reformation. Our laws did then most evidently suppose and assert the contrary. Since, therefore, this act is allowed to be only declarative of the ancient spiritual authority and jurisdiction of the crown, and not to vest in it any new powers; it follows, that it must be taken in the sense I have here put upon it, as asserting only an external, coercive, political authority in spiritual things, and over spiritual persons: and this authority may very truly and consistently with the institutions of the gospel, and with the spiritual authority from thence derived to the clergy, be allowed to our princes; so that, in this sense, there is no just cause for the Romanists to object against the supremacy in ecclesiastical matters vested by our laws in the crown of this realm.

Nor had those prelates in the first year of Queen Elizabeth, to whom the oath of supremacy was offered, any just cause to refuse it. That oath asserted only," that the Queen's highness was the "only supreme governor of this realm, and all "other her highness's dominions and countries, as "well in all spiritual or ecclesiastical things or causes, as temporal; and that no foreign prince,

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person, prelate, state, or potentate hath or ought "to have any jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre"eminence, or authority, ecclesiastical or spiritual, "within this realm: and, therefore, I do utterly