Speaking of Hungaria, he fays, The hoftile queen revives a bleeding war, And arms her claim with covert dark intrigue.' He then informs us, that the Almighty fent Sagacity, Clad like a Genius " Certainly, the Author writes like a Genius. However, the genius Sagacity informs the king of his danger; and his Majefty affembling his generals, afks their opinion of dreams; for he is not certain, whether it is a dream, or a vifion. The generals, like wife men, fuppofe him to be wrong in his head: they "ey'd each other, as inclined to doubt Of the king's reason.' The generals make notable fpeeches upon the occafion, and the king preperes for war. Schwerin, fortunately intercepts a Poft, and brings him to his majefty, who reads his dispatches: Then thus bespoke fage Schwerin :-" Faft in hold "Detain the bearer, till he back tranfmit "In his own hand a refcript, but await "Our farther will, and leave us now alone." The king fays his prayers, and then delivers to the general, a refeript, aptly fram`d, And fuited to deceive Vienna's court; Which being copy'd by the Pott, and fent, &c.' The hero now marches his troops, • Since treaties deem'd like nugator: air, Were puff'd away by ftern Teresa's rage.' His firft exploit is to inveft Saxony; fo that Saxony must be a town, and not an electorate, as our ignorant geographers have made it. What it is to be upon the fpot! Thus then having invested Saxony, he blocks up Pirna: The trumpet founds citation,- Pirna deaf, thrice fhe hears Now, does Pirna hear, or does the not hear? The triple affertion, fhould influence us to believe that the really did hear; and yet, if poor Pirna was deaf, how could the poffibly hear the citation? But to proceed: Large contribution pays for lives indulg'd, The high affement, and the fword is fheath'd: So it appears, that the king pays the affeffment, and not the • Sounds dreadful, never to be heard again With polished muskets, in the fierce attack.' What in the name of wonder did the poet, the heroic paet, mean? We make no doubt but he had a meaning, though we are fo unhappy as not to perceive it. Our readers, we hope, will excufe us if we pursue this fublime writer no farther, as it is impoffible to give a juft idea of his poem, without tranfcribing the greatest part of it. We cannot, however, fuffer the fine picture of his hero, at the last battle, to país unnoticed: Upon the precipice of danger, fee The king in perfon, while his blazing fword Hangs o'er the verge of death, and rules the fight; Beneath him, in the dark abyfs, appear Carnage, befmear'd with gore, and re-fac'd rout: Purfuit upon the back of panting flight" Hacks terrible, and gathes him with wounds.' Unfortunately for the poet, in this battle, which ends the poem, the hero happens to have been beaten. Upon the whole, we have no reafon to doubt, that the Letter prefixed to the poem is genuine; and, we believe no body will queftion the king of Pruffia's judgment, as to heroic poetry: it must neceffarily follow then, that his majefty, is but little acquainted with the English language. B-t Confiderations on the Statutes, 21 and 28 Hen. VIII. concerning the Refidence of the Clergy. In Anfwer to the Interpretation given of thofe Statutes in the Bishop of London's late Charge*. 4to. is. Dodfley. HE question in debate appears to be this, What advantage, in point of refidence, the ftatutes abovementioned, were defigned to convey? The Bishop ftrenuoully pleads: That certain perfons excepted in the acts, Vide Review for May, 1759. p. 490. ⚫ which which were made to enforce the general refidence of the clergy under certain penalties, are thereby, exempted only from the penalties of the acts; but, that they are in no manner released from the obligation to refide, unless they obtain alfo, a difpenfation from the ordinary for that purpofe.' In oppofition to this, it is afferted in the confiderations, now before us, that the perfons excepted in thefe ftatutes are, by fuch exception, moft clearly and effectually discharged from the obligation to refide; without any intervention of the ordinary, or any kind of exemption whatfoever, except that only, which is conveyed to them by the acts themselves. In the times preceding the reformation, the clergy and people of the popifh church of England, were in a ftate of abject flavery and bondage, through the ufurpations and tyranny of the Pope; rigid impofitions were injoined by the decrees of councils, and the Pope's decretal letters. But thefe, even in the gloomieft feafons of anti-christian darkness, were never received in England, upon their own authority; fuch parts of them only, as were fubmitted to by general confent, and afterwards confirmed by ufuage, acquired the force of laws, merely in confequence of fuch ufage and confent: it is also observed, that whatever jurifdiction the bishops exercised, in respect of difpenfing with refidence, the main queftion to be confidered by us at prefent, is, whether it remained the fame after thefe ftatutes were made, or whether, on the contrary it was fuperfeded by them. Our Author proceeds diftinctly to explain the provisions made by thefe ftatutes, and then takes notice, that in a difpute of this kind, the words of the ftatutes themfelves, ought to be the fole rule of judgment. But thefe are intirely filent, with respect to the ordinary. They neither confirm, nor abrogate, his power; and therefore, the whole which can be collected from them upon this head, must be deduced in' the way of inference. He goes on to recite, and fet afide, the several pleas which the bifhop hath alleged in fupport of his hypothefis (which indeed appear rather to be fpecious and artful, then pertinent and folid) and remarks, that in one cafe, his Lordfhip, perhaps through inattention, hath changed the language of the ftatute; he then attempts to fhew, from a view of the thing itfelf, as it ftands independent of objections that a real and effectual privilege and liberty of non-refidence is conveyed to all the perfons excepted in the ftatutes, and fuch a liberty as the ordinary has not any power to controul. He repeats the obfervation, that the decrees of councils and of popes, which formed the chief part of that which was called the canon law, were never binding in England by their own intrinfic authority. The church admitted fome, and rejected others; as they were confiftent with, or repugnant to the laws of the realm; or, as they were found to be either reasonable, or unjuft in themselves; or as the temper of the clergy, and circumftances of the times, rendered them convenient, or improper. Nor was this method practifed in the cafe only of different councils: but even among the different conftitutions of the fame council, while fome were acknowledged and fubmitted to, others were thrown afide, and difregarded; and these were never afterwards thought to bind. And with refpect to thofe that were received, it was the general acquiefcence and fubmiffion, confirmed by ufe and cuftom, which in a course of time, gave to them the force of laws. This opinion, fays he, is confirmed by the words of parliament itself. For the ftatute 25 Hen. VIII. chap. 21. by no means imports, as fome have affected to interpret it, that the ecclefiaftical laws were no longer binding by their own authority; but, on the contrary, declares in the cleareft terms, that they never otherwife were binding, "than as they had been "ufed among the people by their own confent, and originally cftablifhed as laws of the realm by the faid confent, "fufferance and cuftom." But, whatever degree of authority may be fuppofed originally to have belonged to this body of laws, it is well known, that for fome ages before the reformation, the greater part of the clergy conftantly found means to elude their force; fometimes by the help of fraud, intereft, or faction, and fometimes, by the afliftance of indulgencies from Rome; which, in cafes more efpecially of non-refidence and plurality of benefices, were fcandaloufly proftituted to all who were able to pay their price. For though the poffeffion of only' a fingle benefice must be allowed, as well as refidence, to be a matter of duty, arifing both from the nature of the thing and the divine law, yet fo little regard was in thofe days paid to thefe facred obligations, that many inftances may be found of men who at one time occupied fix or ten, or even a greater number of prebends and other dignities.' 6 See the preface to bishop Gibfon's Codex.. But But if the acts of councils and of popes, were fo loofe and precarious a rule of difcipline, it is certain that the legatine decrees or conftitutions, had ftill lefs authority of Thofe of Otho, though ufually referred to by modern writers, as ftanding laws of the church, feem never to have been admitted by the clergy, either at the time when they were firft declared, or afterwards. All the circumftances that attended the arrival of the legate in the kingdom, as well as the manner in which the council was conducted, make this opinion highly probable. This council, he obferves, was held in London in the year 1237[22 Hen. III.] The following account of the whole tranfaction, as it contains a curious reprefentation of the general state and temper of the kingdom at that time, may ferve alfo more particularly to fhew, with what extreme reluctance both laity and clergy fubmitted to the yoke of foreign jurifdiction. The arrival of the legate in England, was in confequence of a fecret invitation fent to Rome by the king, without the confent or knowledge, or any of the chief perfons of his kingdom. The nobles therefore, inveighed against the king, upon this occafion, in the most bitter terms; as one who had trangreffed all laws; broken his oaths and promifes; and now defigned, by the interpofition of a foreign power, to Tubvert the whole ftate. The archbishop of Canterbury, is reported alfo to have remonftrated against this proceeding; as a thing, which in its confequences not only muft produce a diminution of the archiepifcopal rights, but be of great detriment, likewife, to the realm. The king, however, perfifted in his purpofe, and the legate arrived. His modeft and infinuating behaviour, foftened in fome degree the prejudices which the clergy had conceived against him; fo that they confented to pay obedience to his letters, and be prefent at the council. But, on the other hand, the extreme deference and respect, that was fhewn towards him by the king, who feemed, it is faid, to adore his very footfteps, and declared in public, That without the confent of his lord the Pope, or his legate, he had no power to difpofe or alter any thing belonging to the ftate; irritated still more and more the hearts of all the nobles. Upon this account therefore, and because it was fuggefted likewife, that many among the clergy who held a plurality of benefices, being apprehenfive that fevere injunctions would be made concerning them, had formed fome defign against the perfon of the legate, he obtained of the king, that certain offi⚫ cers Gg 3 |