— 214 — 



hops for the exercise of those offices of which they had so long acquittée! 

 themselves witliout tlie assistance of any bishop. Tiie Bénédictins, alone 

 of ail the other regulars , pleaded another raotive of exeraption , founded 

 up on the cannon law, in vertue of their having keiit up a succession of 

 cannons, since Iheir expulsion froni Cantorbury and other cathedral chur- 

 ches of which Ihey were possessed at the lime of the reformalion. Now it 

 is universally allowed that upon the démise of a bishop, the einscopal au- 

 thority naturally devolves on the chaptcr of the vacant see. Hence the 

 bénédictin raonks seam to hâve some reason to say Ihat. as thcre are, as 

 roman catholic bishops of the oldsecs in England, ail righl and jurisdiction 

 is devolved upon Ihem ; as they are the only ones who hâve kept up a 

 succession in those cliurches; accoiding to which the missionary bishops 

 thp.niselves ought rather to hâve (heir authority from the said chaptei's of 

 bénédictins But tho' the Bénédictins hâve always been willing for the 

 sake of peace , to wave this last part of the question , they think hard to 

 be dcprived of what regards themselves. 



The bishops hâve soughl to obviale ail this by engaging the court of 

 Rome to recall those missionary priviledgos granted by it to the regulars, 

 before the missionary bishops were Qrst sent to England. 



As lo what the bénédictin monks advanccd concerning their authority 

 derived from their succession to the metropolitan and other cathedral 

 churches, the clergy bave endeavoured to invalidate it by divers means; 

 in the first place they denied a succession of the présent Bénédictins from 

 those who existed in England before the reformation. That point being suffi- 

 cienlly proved to them.they immediately changed their attack, and pre- 

 tended that the bénédictins, formeily in England, were not united in one 

 body or congrégation , and consequently that tho' they had got together , 

 when Ihe first troubles were near an end , a few of the last surviving 

 members of tbe old Bénédictins in England , that they could hâve no pre- 

 tence, but to the rights of those houses of which thèse survivors were pro- 

 fessed. 



Reyner, in his Aposlolalus B. in Anglia, answerd this with greatest de- 

 gree of évidence, and plainty demonstrated that the ancient bénédictins , 

 long before the reformation , made one body or congrégation , and bas 

 published many acts of their gênerai chapters in proof thereof , which are 

 still extantin différent iibraries in England. 



Beat from this hold , and still resolved to fasten to som'thing they pré- 

 tend that the monks were intruders put unjuslly over their heads into the 

 cathedral churches by Dunstan ; that Austin and his compagnions , who 

 founded Ihe english church were not bénédictins and that consequently 

 they had no right to those churches , but had takèn Ihem very injustly 

 from the secular clergy; and for this end they are glad to bave an author 

 of the bulk of Baronius to back Ihem , where ihey cast their anchor, and 

 ail ; and ail authority against him is deemed no belter than monkish for- 

 gery ; but bappily the authenlic monuments which the mouks produce 



