1832.] A fairs in General. 4(>7 V 



refer him to some very important documents left by the Council of Car- 

 thage, A.D. 378, art. 13, which ordains that bishops should reside near 

 their own officiating church ; and art. 14, that their furniture should be 

 plain, that they should be frugal in their manner of living, and seek honour 

 in a good name, rather than riches. Art. 20 enjoins that they should 

 not trouble themselves with secular affairs, but employ themselves solely 

 in reading prayer, and preaching the word of God. Art. ,11, declares 

 that they shall not apply any of the revenues of the church to them- 

 selves as appertaining to them, but look upon such gifts as a trust for 

 the benefit of others ; that they should cherish the poor, the infirm, and 

 the aged. Council of Augurs, A.D. 453, art 7, prohibits priests and 

 deacons from going to places of amusement where love-songs are sang 

 (the Opera) ; art. 13 ordains, " that any clerk, or member of the church, 

 being addicted to drinking, should be suspended for thirty days, and 

 suffer corporeal punishment/' At the Council of Orleans, assembled by 

 order of Clovis, and held the llth of July, A.D. 511, art. 5 ordains, 

 " that any benefactions bestowed on the church by a prince of the bloody 

 shall be appropriated in repairing the church, supporting the poor 

 clergy, maintaining the poor, and ransoming the poor captives. Bishops 

 neglecting to conform to this advice to be excommunicated." Art. 16 

 enjoins, " that each bishop, within his diocese, shall feed and clothe the 

 poor, the infirm, and all those who are unable to earn the common 

 necessaries of life." The Council of Tarragona, A.D. 516, directs that 

 each bishop shall annually visit all the churches in his diocese ; shall 

 repair, at his own expense, all those which are dilapidated, and shall 

 perform service in each." Art. 10 prohibits the clergy from receiving 

 any remuneration for their services, unless it be a free-will offering. 

 The Council of Epaisse prohibits the clergy from keeping any dogs or 

 birds for field sports, lest it should abstract the mind from religious 

 duties, and that no clergyman, or priest, should enjoy more than one 

 living. At the Council of Orleans, called by order of Chilbert, A.D. 

 553, art. 3 ordains, that bishops shall receive no pay for ordination, or 

 any other special episcopal function. Art. 4, that whatever bishop 

 shall receive money for consecrating a church, shall be deprived of his 

 benefice. Art. 24 enjoins the bishop to take care of the sick and poor 

 within his diocese. Council of Jous, A.D. 567, art. 5, prohibits the 

 bishop from receiving any fee for consecrating a church. Council of 

 Lyons ordains bishops to watch over and protect the sick in their dio- 

 ceses, to furnish them with clothing and food ; and the Council of 

 Toledo, A.D. 589, ordains that the bishops should daily read their bibles 

 at their own tables. 



These, and similar documents, we opine, would be of essential service 

 to the church, as well as to the public, should the editor bring such 

 forward ; and as facts are to be brought forward also, we certainly do 

 think there is a fine field of amusement were every clergyman to con- 

 tribute the facts of his alma mater, the mummery by day, the buf- 

 foonery by night, and the debauchery through both the doing generals, 

 juraments, and quodlibets the lecturing to dead walls, and the chaunt- 

 ing of Joe Miller's jests, done into Sternhold and Hopkins' metre. All 

 this would be doubtless highly amusing and edifying. The methodists 

 make a use of their backslidings, by giving the facts of their expe- 

 riences^ and perhaps the Britisli Magazine may become the repository 

 ef some of those instantaneous and remarkable conversions which must 



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