The same appears from an Entry in my Register of Dublin by ABp Allen in 1533. The Title is, Sessiones in Parlemento, a Copy of which I send your Grace marked (3.) This shews the Proctors were only two. The same appears from a Wiit of Summons to Parliam' primo Rich: a copy of wch I likewise send You mark'd (N° 2.) 4thly The Act of Parliament in ye time of Hen. 8. anno Hen: 8 28° Chap. 21. sufficiently shews this; for there in ye Preamble tis said that at every Parliament two Proctors of every Diocese have bin used and accustom'd to be summoned and warn'd to be at ye said Parliam &c. and they are Charged usurpishly to take on ymselves and to be parcel of ye Body in manner claiming That without their assent nothing can be Enacted at any Parliament. And lastly in ye few Parliam Rolls yt remain several Acts run in this form, Be it therefore Enacted and Established by Authority of this present Parliament, by ye Assent of Lords spiritual and temporal, Proctors and Commons of this Land in this Parliament assembled. Your Grace will easily see yt these two Proctors for each Diocese cou'd never make a Convocation, but were truly Voting and Sitting Members of Parliam* and yt the Deans or Archdeacons had no place there, nor ye Chapters any peculiar Representatives, but ye two Proctors represented ye whole inferior Clergy of yo Diocese as ye Knights of ye Shires represented the whole Commons of ye County. Nor do we find any Ecclesiastical or Spiritual matters transacted by them, but for the Affairs of the Church there were sometimes, tho' rarely, national Synods, and frequently Provincial and Diocesan. In these I conceive were transacted and ordered ye spiritual Concerns of the Church, and we have still remaining several Constitutions made in ym-but none by ye Parliamentary Proctors. The Provincial Synods were triennial and yo Diocesan annual, the first is drop'd in ye other three Provinces, but has all along been kept up in that of Dublin and is so still according to ye ancient Custom, and at it appear all the Bishops of the Province, the Deans, Archdeacons and Proctors for ye Chapters and other Clergy. Let me observe farther to Yo' Grace That ye Clergy of Ireland never made such a Submission as the Clergy of England Did to Hen: 8th, Nor have we yt I know of any Law making it penal to us to make Provincial Constitutions. We have several of these Provincial Constitutions remaining and an Account of the Synods y' enacted ym and particularly in Queen Mary's Reign. ye Diocesan Synods are kept up in many Dioceses and I believe Rules and Orders may be made in them as is allowed by Our 26th Canon for ye Bishops to make in their Visitations as Bp in a Synod at his Diocese before ye Year 1641. vide His Life. did Since ye time of ye Reformation We had no Convocation yt I can find till ye year 1614, nor do any footsteps of any appear either in Our Records or History yt I can hear of. How the Parliamentary Writs were for yt time worded is likewise unknown, for I have not bin able to get any account of them, all ye Journals of Parliams for yt time being lost, nor is there any thing in ye Rolls or Hannoper left relating to them or yt can help us. But I see no reason to think y' they were alter'd from the form used in Richard ye 2ds Reign wch is ye only one remainining yt I can find before that time. The Rebellion of Tyrone being suppress'd in ye latter End of Queen Elizabeth's Reign, and Plantations made in Ulster and other parts of the Kingdom in ye be • This is blank in the MS.; but there can be no doubt that the admirable Bishop Bedell is the person spoken of. gining of King James, about ye 13th year of His Reign He began to think of Calling a Parliam which had been discontinued 27 years. He thought fit, and surely most fit it was, yt He shou'd make use of an Ecclesiastical Assembly to make Laws and Constitutions for ye better Governing ye Church, as He did of a Parliament to enact Secular Laws for the State. And inasmuch as it has been ye Design of ye Kings of England ever since ye Conquest to Conform ye Government of Ireland to that of England, both in Spirituals and Temporals as appears by ye Original Contract made between ye Clergy of Ireland and King Hen: 2. in ye great Council of Cassel wch is in Geraldus Cambrensis Chap. 34. Hib. expugnatio. it was very natural for King James to Call a Convocation with a Parliament in Ireland, and having no Precedents here, it is plain yt He took ye model and forms from what he found in England. But as the Common Law of England when received in Ireland was of necessity alter'd in several particulars and acommodated to ye circumstances of things and persons here, so likewise were ye ecclesiastical Laws, and particularly ye form of Convocation, wch cou'd not be brought in wth ye Conquest, because they were not so old in England, but King James took them as He found them in His time and brought them here wth this Alteration, That whereas in England ye Convocations are call'd and sit in ye several Provinces, and indeed are no other than Provincial Synods, Ours are call'd by ye same sort of Provincial Writs, but ye ArchBps are all required to meet and bring their Clergy to Dublin. And yet this seems to be left to the discretion of ye ABps, for by the word alibi likewise inserted it seems to me yt each ABp may Summon His Suffragans and ye Clergy to meet in His own Province. Your Grace will find the Provincial Writ verbatim in ye ABp's Mandate (N° 6.) The Convocation met wth this Parliam*, but there remains nothing of it but ye Articles of the Church of Ireland, amongst which we inserted ye Nine Lambeth Articles, but whether Confirmed or no by ye King I cannot say. I have likewise seen ye Licence for them to Act, but it is at present mislaid, and I cannot come at it.Twas directed to ye ABp of Dublin. This seems to be ye first Convocation we ever had in Ireland in ye present form, we had frequent Provincial Councils or Synods as I observed before, call'd by ye several ArchBps in their proper Provinces, and some of ye rare National Synods, and since ye Pope's power was received in Ireland his Legate call'd and presided in them as may be seen in ye fore-mentioned Synod of Cassel where Gilbertus Bp. of Lismore ye Pope's Legate presided. The next Parliam1 and Convocation we had were call'd in ye 10th of King Charles ye first. There remains of this Convocation only ye Canons of ye Church of Ireland with the King's Confirmation of them. I find there is a Manuscript amongst my Lord Clarendon's of this Synod mentioned p. 13. (N° 2.) It appears by ye confirmation of ym that ye Bishops, Deans, Archdeacons &c. were summon'd and call'd by ye King's Writ bearing Date ye 24th of May 1634, and ye time of appearance being ye 21st July, three weeks after ye Day for ye Meeting of ye Parliamt and their Licence to Act dated ye same Day wth their meeting. Tis then apparent yt they met and sat by Virtue of ye Provincial Writs, and yet by what appears from the Registrys of some Bishops ye Proctors were Elected on ye præmunientes Clause only, how this happen'd or on what reason I cannot say, perhaps it might be so Order'd because the Convocation then gave money, and it was thought most proper that the Representatives shou'd be such as had some relation to the Parliam', or it might happen by mere mistake. The generality here being unacquainted with ye method of Electing Proctors in England. But however it came at first, so it has continued with little variety ever since whether any of the Persons concerned might remember or find something concerning the two Parliamentary Proctors of old, and think it proper to continue ye same way of Elections now may likewise be a question which I cannot solve. The next Parliament was in the year 1640, and ye Convocation sat wth it, as appears from some remains of a Journal of the Upper House but I can find nothing else concerning it. The Rebellion of Ireland in 1641 and the Confusions of all things prevented ye sitting of any Parliamt till ye Restauration and then in ye year 1661 a Parliament was call'd and a Convocation sat with it, for aught I can find they had no Records, Journals or Acts of ye former Convocations besides those I have mentioned and therefore were at a loss how to Call it, but took ye method to settle it, y' Yor Grace will find N° (8) which I got transcribed out of ye Council Books before they were burnt. We have likewise a Journal of ye Upper house but not signed by any Body. The Liturgy of Our Church was revised and agreed on in this Convo cation. You have ye Copy of ye Licence N° (7) After this we had a Vacation from Parlt and Convocations for 27 years, but after ye Revolution King William and Queen Mary call'd a Parliament in 1692 and again in 1695 but no Convocation sat with either of them, and by what Advice I know not the præmunientes clause was left out of ye Bishops Parliamentary Writs of wch the Clergy greatly complain'd. In the year 1703 Her late Majesty Queen Anne thought fit to call a Parliamt and to restore ye Præmunientes Clause, upon wch the Clergy proceeded to Elect Proctors, but here we are as much at a loss as ever, nothing remaining of former convocations besides an imperfect Journal of ye Upper House, sign'd by nobody as I observed before, and what I have mentioned to Yr Grace already, insomuch yt we are forced to have recourse to ye Synodus Anglica for forms; and even ye Provincial Writs were I believe taken out of it, for I cou'd not find any Precedent in the forms remaining amongst us. The Writs issued a great while after ye Parliamt met, and Yor Grace will perceive by ye Earl of Nottingham's Queres and ye Answers No (8) how much we were at a loss. When we obtained these I do not remember yt any new Elections were made on them, perhaps in some Dioceses there were, but being not able to get a view of ye Convocation Papers I cannot be positive. When we met I was aware how much we were short of making legall proofs of Our right to Convocations and therefore frequently admonished and advised my Brethren, both of ye Upper and Lower House, to be very quiet and modest, for yt I doubted ye ground on wch we stood was not very firm, but if we gave no of fence, no body wou'd Enquire into it, and it would grow firmer in time; and this prevail'd for some time but not long, for ye present Lord Primate, the Ld Bp of Rapho, Dr. Pooley and ye late ABp of Tuam amongst ye Bishops, and Mr. Percivall, Mr. Higgins and Mr. Dogherty got ye management of ye Clergy and Convocation into their hands, Tho it is plain they had never looked into ye Records, nor Understood on wt foot we stood, and being pretty violent in their temper and entirely in with and guided by Dr. Atterbury and his party in England, they run us into 'many inconveniences, clash'd with ye House of Commons, and after a struggle meanly gave up Our Right of Taxing Ourselves. I was then in England and foresaw some such mischief when Mr. Higgins and Mr. Percivall went to ye Convocation there and gave a most false and ignorant Account of the Rights of our Convocation and brought hither wth them ye Spirit of Faction yt was so violent then in ye English Lower House: When my Lord Wharton came over here Ld. Lt. they were very Turbulent, and He was inclined to Prorogue ym. I prevented it for six weeks, but being obliged to go on my Triennial Visitation, in my absence they were prorogued and did not sit till ye Duke of Ormond returned and then they got a Licence, but did little of what was prescribed ym, only agreed on a Representation mostly against ye Dissenters, wch was not any of the heads recommended to them in the Licence, and it was such yt I refused to sign it, and if I remembeer right, some other Bps. and Members of ye Lower House did the like, to conceal wch they printed it without ye Subscribers Names. In the Parliamt assembled in ye Duke of Shrewsbury's Lieutenancy, the Convocation sat: I cou'd not appear in it because the place yt I did believe was due to me was deny'd me, nor did ye ABp of Cassel appear in it: The Primate was dead, and it was held only by ye late ABp of Tuam. The Business in it was to make Addresses of ye House of Commons in relation to Civil Affairs and Officers. When ye present Parliamt was called ye præmunientes clause was continued in ye Bps Writs and I discoursed ye late ABp of Tuam about ye provincial and told him yt I believed if he would join with me in proper measures that they might be procured, but whilst Mr. Percivall was Prolocutor and Mr. Higgins and Mr. Clayton had ye chief management of the Lower House, I could not move for ye Writs, for If I did, 'twou'd be expected yt I shou'd in some measure answer for ye proceedings of ye Convocation, weh I cou'd not do without Engagemts from my Brethren, He took time to deliberate and at last, when he had Consider'd it, told me that He would not be concern'd, on wch the thing has slip'd hitherto. Thus I have Given Yor Grace ye best Account I can of Our Convocation. And here a Quere arises How Our Convocation comes to be a National Synod ? Tis plain the præmunientes Clause can't do it, for yt calls ye Clergy to Parliamt not to a Synod: the Clergy are to appear by it before ye King, not before ye ABps, nor can ye ArchBps, as Yo' Grace rightly observes, require them to appear. Neither is it by the Provincial Writs that they can claim this, for those indeed require them to Appear before ye ABps, but it is in Dublin or alibi as ye several ABps shall summon them: these Writs therefore may Enable ym to hold four Provincial Synods, but I see no power or obligation to make that a National Council. Neither doth ye Licence make ym one, but supposes them already constituted such, so yt for my own part I can see nothing to make ym so but ye Consent of ye four ArchBps among ymselves, nor can I see what is meant by embodying them but giving ye ABps power to call them before yTM, nor doth it seem proper ye Proctors Elected by ye Parliamt Writ to appear in Parliamt shou'd by Virtue of that appear before ye ABps in a Synod, nor can I say any thing for it, but yt the Clergy have submitted to it and the Custom has been so. If Your Grace wou'd desire my Lord Primate and ye other Bishops, yt have writ to You about a Convocation, to give You an account of Our Convocations: of what standing they are, what Records remain of their Sitting and Actings, what Writs they were Call'd by, and what returns were made by the Bps upon them, and to whom, perhaps more may be found in their Registrys than I have seen; and by Comparing y Accots with what I have given, Yo" Grace will be better able to Judge what is proper to be done. I hope Yo Grace will Excuse ye Delay and Tediousness of this, and believe that I am My Lord, Yor Graces most Obedt Servt and Bro. AN ANSWER to ye Queres relating to a Convocation made by ye Lord Nottingham. I Q: When the last Convocation was held in Ireland? The last Convocation was held in Ireland after ye Restauration of ye Royal family in the year 1661. It began wth ye Parliamt then called and continued during ye said Parliamt viz to the Year 1666, between wch time and the year 1692 there was no Parliament in Ireland. 2 Q: How the Convocations are usually Summoned ? There was some question concerning this matter in ye year 1661 and ye Council to inform ymselves made ye following Order. By ye Lord Justices and Council. MAURICE EUSTACE, CAN ORRERY MONTRATH. His Majesties Gracious Concession for calling a Parliamt in this Kingdom having been this Day read at this Board it is Order'd That ye most Reverend Fathers in God ye Lord ABp of Armaugh, and the Ld ABp of Dublin do forthwith meet and advise of, and return unto Us their opinions how all things legally requisite in Order to ye Convocation and other things relating to ye Church may be done and prepared, and present ye same unto us with all convenient speed. Given at ye Council Chamber in Dublin 25. March. 1661. KILDARE MOUNTGOMERY, W. CAUFIELD, RD. COOTE On this Order ye two ABps made the following Report in pursuance of their Ldps within Order. We have considered of things requisite in Order to ye Convocation and particularly have made search for a Form of Writs to be issued out as formerly for Convocating the Clergy and can find no other than what is of ye Tenor hereunto annexed which we conceive a sufficient Form for ye present to be sent presently to every of the Lords Arch Bishops and Bishops. J: ARMACHANUS The Clause in ye Writ returned by ye sd ABps relating to a Convocation is in these words-Premonent Decan. et Capitul. Eccl.: viz Armach. ac Archidiacōn. totumq. Cler. viz Dioces. qa ijdem Decan. et Archidiacōn. in prop, person. Idemq. Cler. per duos procur. idoneos plen. et sufficient. potest. ab ijs Capitul. et Clero divīs.: habente pro die et loco Prolocur intersint ad consentiend. His quæ tunc et ibm de Commun. Concil. Regni nri. prd, Divina favente Clementia Contigerint Ordinar. Test. &c. 3 Q. Quere what Right ye Clergy of Ireland have to a Convocation upon Summoning a Parliament ? It has been ye Custom for a Convocation to meet with a Parliament in Ireland, and ye Clergy have claim'd it as a right, but in ye two late Parliamts held in King William's Reign, the antient Form of Writs Directed to ye Bps. to appear in Parliamt were alter'd ye Clause for Summoning ye Convocation being left out, and none sat with these two Parliamts. 4 Q. What Authority ye Convocatiors when Summon'd have to Act without |