I HAVE made it my Enquiry, among most of my Acquaintance, to find out a Letter of Licence to a Curacy, merely to fee the Form of it, but can meet with none; and may therefore be excus'd, if my Conjectures upon it prove er roneous, and that I am forc'd to talk upon this Subject not fo warrantably as I could wifh. BUT according to my prefent Conception, and as I always understood the Senfe of Licences-By them we are made properly Curates to the Bishop, and not to the Incumbent; are appointed to take care, either in part or in the whole of fuch a Church or Parish; but not pur under the Service or Jurifdiction of fuch a Rector or Vicar. He has the Nomination of us indeed, but the Bishop gives us the whole Sanction and Appointment to our Office; he pays us our Salary, as 'tis fit he fhould, but the Bifhop takes care to fettle and adjust it between us, before we begin. By the fame Authority then, which inftituted him to the Living, we are admitted to the Curacy; and by that Authority only are removeable. Confequently, every Pet or Dif guft taken, every View of Profit or Advantage in him, every Surmife of Faults and Mifdemeanors in us, is not a fufficient Caufe for Dif miffion (in this Cafe, we prefume, the Incumbent is not a Judge for himself) without a fair Hearing before the Bifhop that appointed us. Nay, according to my Notion of Licences, we are not removeable upon the Demife of one Incumbent, and the Induction of another, or any other Change that may befal the Parish where we are plac'd; becaufe, as we apprehend, we are not the Servants of particular Men, or fubject to their Humours and Viciffitudes, but fix'd permanently in a Church, where we have an unKlienable Right to ferve, fo long as any Curate is kept upon the Place, and the Bishop is pleas'd to abide by his Licence, and approve of our Service. And for this Reason I fuppofe it is, that, in one of the above-cited* Canons, every Curate is required at the Bishop's firft Vifitation, or at the next Vifitation after his Admiffion to fuch a Curacy, to exhibit his Licence and if it is approv'd by the Bishop, then, as the Cuftom is, to have it fign'd by the Regifter. Ir this be the Senfe and Intention of Licences, as I conceive it may, then all that Eafe and Tranquillity of Mind, that arifes from a fecure Poffeffion of what we have; all those Motives and Encouragements to study, that the Senfe of a Bishop's Eye upon us infpires; all that Alacrity and Diligence in our Duty, that a fettled Abode, and good Understanding with our Parishioners gives; and all that Freedom of Speech, and Simplicity of Manners, highly becoming Gofpel-Minifters, that an independent State occafions, is the Refult of our having, and the very Reverse of all this, the certain Confe quence of our wanting Licences. For how juft foever a Man may be in his Temper, yet 'tis a fad Confideration, to have no other Law for one's Safety against him, no other Security for one's Maintenance under him, than his bare Wilt and Pleafure; and tho' a Mafter may not tyrannize at prefent, yet 'tis a moft miferable # thing, that 'tis in his Power to do fo when he will. Can. 137. + Since I writ this, I have feen a Letter of Licence, fign'd by a Regifter only (for I can meet with none under the Hand of a Bifbop, as the Law directs) prefuming however, that the Form is every where much the fame, I perceive that my foregoing Conjectures are pretty right. Etiamfi non fit moleftus dominus, tamen eft miferrimum polle fi velit. Crc. Phil; 3: THIS Reflection, improv'd by the Obfer vation of the several Inftances of fuffering, which are occafioned by the Abuse of fuch a boundless Power, is enough to make a Man distracted, when he comes to confider that his State and Condition is expos'd to the fame Danger; that he has no better Hold of his Curacy, no fafer Fence against the Paffions of the Man with whom he has to do, than had the many Victims that lie before his Eyes; that his Principal may deal with him, and his poor Family, just as he pleases; pay at Difcretion, and dismiss with Defiance, because he has no Superior to controul him; that the Bishop, the only Power under God he has to look up to, will think his Want of a Licence a Contempt of his Authority, and turn the deaf Ear to his Complaint: Nay, that he cannot fo much as fue in the * Ecclefiaftical Court at all, nor even at common Law, without proving a Contract (which he is not always able to do) for his little Stipend, if the Will of his mighty Mafter be to withold it. WITH fuch Confiderations as these molefting his Mind perpetually, I ask not your Lordship how a Man can apply himself to study, and the Acquifition of fuch Knowledge as becomes his Vocation, or how he can attend the Care of a Parish without Distraction; that is all over: But how he can appear in Company with Chearfulness, how he can live at Home with Satisfaction, or eat the little Morfel he has with Content; when he fees the Sword of another + * Vid. Clergyman's Vade mecum, p. 92, 93. + Vid. p. 86, &c. Diftriétus enfis cui fuper impia Cervice pendet, non ficulæ dapes Somnum reducent. HoR. Car. Lib. 3. Ode 1. Man's Man's Wrath impending over his Head, and fuftain'd only by the flender Thread of a right Understanding at prefent, which every little Difguft, or prefum'd Affront, or Profpect of Advantage, fnaps afunder. We owe a great deal of our Happiness, without doubt, to Indolence; to our taking no Care for To-morrow, nor anticipating Dangers by Cogitation; or otherwife I cannot fee how any one, that gives himself Liberty to think, can be eafy for one Moment under fuch precarious Circumstances. WE have the Happiness, or Mortification fhall I call it, my Lord, to live in a Kingdom, where we fee Deputies of all forts better provided for in point of Allowance, and Servants of all Kinds better fecur'd against the Oppreffion of their Masters, than 'tis our Fate to be. The Laws of the Land agree with the Laws of the Gospel, in calling upon Masters to give unto Col. iv. 1. their Servants that which is equal and juft, knowing that they have also a Master in Heaven; Eph. vi.9. neither is there any Refpect of Perfons. They ftep in to the Affiftance of the Weak, as well as the Strong, when at any time they are defrauded in their Wages, or abus'd in their Persons, or injur❜d in their Reputations. Deu. xxiv. NAY, in the very Laws of Mofes (before the merciful Precepts of Christianity came down from Heaven, and while Men were in fome Measure indulg'd in the Hardness of their Heart) we read fuch Injunctions as thefe: Thou Lev. xxv. fhalt not rule over thy Servant with Rigor, Thou 43. halt not opprefs an hired Servant that is poor and needy: At his Day thou shalt give him his 14, 15. Hire, neither fall the Sun go down upon it, for he is poor, and fetteth his Heart upon it, left be cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be fin unto thee. And if at any time thou and he part, I 3 Deu, xv. 14. part, thou shalt not fend him away empty; thou halt furnish him liberally out of thy Flock, and out of thy Floor, and out of thy Wine-Press; that wherewith the Lord thy God hath blessed thee, thou shalt give unto him. We perhaps are the only Servants (for as yet I hope we are not thought Slaves) that were ever heard of in the World, who may be turn'd away for no Fault, and without any warning; who may be ftarv'd, while we ftay, and cannot help ourfelves; who may be opprefs'd, when we are gone, and must not complain; and who may be defrauded of our Wages at laft, and have no Course at Law to recover them; in a free Country, under an happy Government, a wife Adminiftration, and, what is the greatest Aggravation of all, by Perfons of the fame Order and Fraternity with ourfelves; and all this for want of Licences. THIS however, my Lord, is not the worst ill Confequence that befals us. We have a greater Concern to take care of than our cafy Maintainance in this World, and that is, the Work of our Miniftry. But in this, I fear, we grow moit of us remifs and careless (tho' certainly we fhould not be fo) at the Confideration of what uncertain Terms we are upon, more than any thing else. . I have no Licence, and may therefore be difmifs'd by the Doctor this Moment. His Humour and mine may foon difagree, and then I must be gone. Some Pet or other perchance • he may take, and revenge himself on me by turning me away. Some Sycophants or other • may rife up against me, and I must be facrific'd to make his Court to them. My Settleement therefore is not determined here, nor can I expect to continue long. The Parish was never |