DOCUMENTARY ANNALS OF THE REFORMED CHURCH OF ENGLAND; BEING A COLLECTION OF INJUNCTIONS, DECLARATIONS, ORDERS, FROM THE YEAR 1546 TO THE YEAR 1716; WITH NOTES HISTORICAL AND EXPLANATORY, BY EDWARD CARDWELL, D. D. PRINCIPAL OF ST. ALBAN'S HALL. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. OXFORD, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. MDCCCXXXIX. PREFACE. HE laws and orders issued for the govern THE ment of the reformed Church of England, and possessing authority to bind its members, may be arranged under the three heads of legislative, synodical, and mandatory; the first consisting of acts of parliament, the second of decrees of synods confirmed by the sovereign, and the third of royal mandates. It is evi dent that in all these cases the assent of the sovereign is indispensable; and in the language of law as well as of prerogative, the royal pleasure has been considered as the source of all church authority; and the different bodies that took part with the Crown in the enactment of a This statement is consistent with the celebrated judgment of lord Hardwicke, in which it was ruled, that the canons of 1603, not having been confirmed by parliament, do not proprio vigore bind the laity. (2 Atkyns' Rep. 650). For synodical and mandatory acts, in matters ecclesiastical, though they cannot be enforced in all cases proprio vigore in courts of law, are still binding on every member of the church, as such, in foro conscientiæ. a 3 |