incapable of holding an ecclefiaftical benefice, or miniftering in the word and facraments. No Bifhop fhall marry without permiffion from his metropolitan, and fuch commiffioners as the Queen fhall appoint. -All Archbishops, and Bifhops, with all others who fhall preach or adminifter the facraments, or who fhall be prefered to any ecclefiaftical vocation, or admitted into any of the universities, fhall wear fuch garments and fquare caps as were worn in the reign of Edward the Sixth.-That no perfon fhall withdraw from his parish church and refort to another, unless on fome extraordinary occafion.-No innkeepers or public houfes fhall fell meat or drink in time of divine fervice.-None fhall keep in their houses any abufed images, fables, pictures, paintings, and other monuments of counterfeit miracles. -No man fhall disturb the minifter in his fermon, nor mock or make a jeft of him.-No man, woman, or child fhall be otherwife employed in time of divine fervice, than by giving attendance to what is read and preached.-No perfons fhall teach school but fuch as are allowed by the ordinary.-Schoolmafters fhall exhort their children to love and reverence the true religion now allowed by authority. They fhall teach their scholars certain fentences of fcripture, tending to godlinefs.-None shall be admitted to any fpiritual cure who are totally unlearned. The Parfon or Curate of the parifh fhall inftruct the children of his parish for half an hour before evening praver, every holy-day and fecond Sunday in the year, in the catechifm, and fhall teach them the Lord's prayer, creed, and ten commandments. mandments. All the ordinaries fhall exhibit to the vifitors a copy of the books containing the causes why any have been imprisoned, famished, or put to death for religion in the late reign.-Overseers in every parifh fhall fee that all parishioners duly refort to church; and fhall prefent the defaulters to the ordinary-Church-wardens fhall deliver to the Queen's vifitors, an inventory of all their church furniture, as vestments, copes, plates, books, and efpecially of grayles, couchers, legends, proceffionals, manuels, hymnals, portueffes, and fuch-like, pertain¬ ing to the church.-The litany shall be read weekly on Wednesdays and Fridays.-Singing-men fhall be continued and maintained in collegiate churches, and there fhall be a modest song fung in all parts of the common prayers in the church, that the fame may be as plainly and diftinctly understood as if it were read without finging-There fhall be no vain contentious difputes in matters of religion, nor the use of opprobrious language, as papift, papiftical, heretic, fchifmatic, or facramentary: fuch offenders fhall be remitted to the ordinary.-No book or pamphlet fhall be printed or made public without licence from the Queen, or fix of her privy council, or her ecclefiaftical commiffioners, or from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York, the Bishop of London, or the Chancellors of the universities; the names of the licensers to be printed at the end of the book, Ancient and profane authors are excepted.In time of reading the litany, and all other collects and common prayer, all the people fhall devoutly kneel; and when the name of Jefus fhall be in any leffon, fermon, or otherwife pronounced in the church, due reverence fhall be made by all perfons with lowlinefs of courtefy, and uncovering the heads of the men, as has been formerly practifed. These injunctions were to be read in the churches. once every quarter of a year. An appendix was alfo added, containing the form of bidding prayer, and an order relating to tables in churches. The penalties for difobeying thefe injunctions, were fufpenfion, deprivation, fequeftration of fruits and benefices, excommunication, and fuch other kind of correction as thofe who have ecclefiaftical jurifdiction under her Majefty fhall fee meet. The majority of the vifitors were laymen; any two of them were empowered to examine into the ftate of churches; to fufpend or deprive fuch clergymen as were unworthy, and to place others in their room; to proceed against the obftinate, by imprifonment, church cenfures, or any other legal methods. They had power to referve penfions for fuch as quitted their livings by refignation; to examine into the condition of all who were imprifoned on account of religion, and to discharge them; and to restore all fuch to their benefices who had been unlawfully deprived in the preceding reign. This was the firft high commiffion, and bore date about Midfummer, one thoufand five hundred and fifty-nine. It gave great offence to many, that the Queen fhould give lay-vifitors authority to proceed against clergymen by ecclefiaftical cenfures; yet this was no more than is done daily by lay chancellors chancellors in ecclefiaftical courts. There was another thing much worfe than this; the commiffioners went beyond the cenfures of the church by fines, imprifonments, and inquifitory oaths, whereby many hundreds of families were ruined, without the authority of that law which gave them exiftence. It is faid the visitors took fpecial care to have all the inftruments of idolatry demolished out of the churches where God's pure fervice was fet up, fuch as roods, which were images of Chrift upon the crofs, with John and Mary ftanding by; alfo images, tutelar faints of, the churches, which were dedicated to them, popifh books, aitars, and the like. In this they went beyond their injunctions; for it does not appear that they were authorized by the articles to remove images totally. Elizabeth was not yet determined in this point. Parker and Cox, it is faid, were for images, but Jewel and Grindal were against them. The determination of this point depended upon a dispute which was yet depending between thefe Bishops. Jewel affirms, that if images were continued, he would give up his bishopric. The visitors paid no regard to the deliberations of thefe Bishops, but commanded that all images fhould be taken down, and the altars removed, and in place of the altars, a decent table for the ordinary celebration of the Lord's fupper. The cruelties of the preceding reign had fo provoked the common people, that they easily joined in the reformation, and were ready to execute the orders of the vifitors. Their zeal pro ceeded ceeded to madness and extravagance; for they not only burnt roods and crucifixes which were taken down, but even the priest's garments, fuch as copes, furplices, altar-cloths, books, banners, fepulchres, &c. This was performed in Smithfield, St Paul's Churchyard, and Cheapfide, to make an atonement for the blood of the martyrs which had been fhed there in the late times. The tumultuous populace proceeded still farther; they broke the painted glass in the windows of churches, razed many ancient infcriptions, and spoiled thofe monuments of the dead that had any mark of popery upon them. Elizabeth was offended at thefe proceedings, for the conduct of the vifitors was exprefsly contrary to her practice: fhe retained a crucifix with the Virgin Mary and St John in her chapel, and when Sandys, Bishop of Worcester, spoke against it to her, fhe threatened to deprive him, and iffued a proclamation, dated the nineteenth of September, in the fecond year of her reign, forbidding the defacing of monuments, images, and pictures. She would hardly ftand to the import of her twenty-third injunction, which commanded that all fuperftitious images and pictures fhould be removed out of the churches: the even after all retained her altar and crucifix, and would not permit lighted candles to be difcontinued in her chapel. Singing-men and boys appeared there in their furplices, and the priests in their copes; the altar was furnished with rich plate, with two gilt candlesticks, and lighted candles, with a maffy crucifix in the middle. The fervice was not only fung with organs, but with cornets Vol. II. G and |