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Rh by the king’s command, the Lower House, which was offended by the sermon and had also been offended by a treatise on the

same subject published by Dr Hoadly in the previous year, lost no time in representing the sermon to the Upper House, and in calling for its condemnation. A controversy thereupon arose between the two houses which was kept up with untiring energy by the Lower House, until the convocation was prorogued in 1717 in pursuance of a royal writ; from which time until 1861 no licence from the crown was granted to convocation to proceed to business. During this period, which may be regarded as the fourth distinguishing period in the history of the convocations of the Church of England,

it was usual for a few members of the convocation to meet when first summoned with every new parliament, in pursuance of the royal writ, for the Lower House to elect a prolocutor, and for both houses to vote an address to the crown, after which the convocation was prorogued from time to time, pursuant to royal writs, and ultimately discharged when the parliament was dissolved. There were, however, several occasions between 1717 and 1741 when the convocation of the province of Canterbury transacted certain matters, by way of consultation, which did not require any licence from the crown, and there was a short period in its session of 1741 when there was a probability of its being allowed to resume its deliberative functions, as the Lower House had consented to obey the president’s schedule of prorogation; but the Lower House having declined to receive a communication from the Upper House, the convocation was forthwith prorogued, from which time until the middle of the 19th century the convocation was not permitted by the crown to enjoy any opportunity even for consultation. The spirituality at last aroused itself from its long repose in 1852, and on this occasion the Upper House took the lead. The active spirit of the movement was Samuel Wilberforce,

bishop of Oxford, but the master mind was Henry Phillpotts, bishop of Exeter. On the convocation assembling several petitions were presented to both houses, praying them to take steps to procure from the crown the necessary licence for their meeting for the despatch of business, and an address to the Upper House was brought up from the Lower House, calling the attention of the Upper House to the reasonableness of the prayer of the various petitions. After some discussion the Upper House, influenced mainly by the argument of Henry, bishop of Exeter, consented to receive the address of the Lower House, and the convocation was thereupon prorogued, shortly after which it was discharged concurrently with the dissolution of parliament. On the assembling of the next convocation of the province of Canterbury, no royal writ of exoneration having been sent by the crown to the metropolitan, the sessions of the convocation were continued for several days; and from this time forth convocation may be considered to have resumed its action as a consultative body, whilst it has also been permitted on more than one occasion to exercise its functions as a deliberative body. In 1865, under licence from the crown, the Convocations of Canterbury and York framed new canons in place of the 36th, 37th, 38th and 40th canons of 1603, and amended the 62nd and 102nd canons in 1888. In 1872 convocation was empowered by letters of business from the crown to frame resolutions on the subject of public worship, which resolutions were afterwards incorporated in the Act of Uniformity Amendment Act 1872.

As a deliberative body, convocation has done much useful work, but it suffers considerably from its unrepresentative nature. The non-beneficed clergy still remain without the franchise, but the establishment of Houses of Laymen (see ) for both provinces has, to a certain extent, secured the co-operation of the lay element. Several attempts have been made to promote legislation to enable the convocations to reform their constitutions and to enable them to unite for special purposes; in 1905 a bill was introduced into the House of Lords. It did not, however, get beyond a first reading. In 1896 a departure was made in holding joint sessions of both convocations, in conjunction with the two Houses of Laymen, for consultative purposes. This body is now termed the Representative Church Council, and it adopted a Constitution in November 1905. All formal business is transacted in the separate convocations. It is usual for convocation to meet three times a year.

The order of convening the convocation of the province of Canterbury is as follows. A writ issues from the crown, addressed to the metropolitan archbishop of Canterbury, commanding him “by reason of certain difficult and urgent affairs concerning us, the security and defence of our Church of England, and the peace and tranquillity, public good and defence of our kingdom, and our subjects of the same, to call together with all convenient speed, and in lawful manner, the several bishops of the province of Canterbury, and deans of the cathedral churches, and also the archdeacons, chapters and colleges, and the whole clergy of every diocese of the said province, to appear before the said metropolitan in the cathedral church of St Paul, London, on a certain day, or elsewhere, as shall seem most expedient, to treat of, agree to and conclude upon the premises and other things, which to them shall then at the same place be more clearly explained on our behalf.” In case the metropolitical see of Canterbury should be vacant, the writ of the crown is addressed to the dean and chapter of the metropolitical church of Canterbury in similar terms, as being the guardians of the spiritualities of the see during a vacancy. Thereupon the metropolitan, or, as the case may be, the dean and chapter of the metropolitical church, issue a mandate to the bishop of London, as dean of the province, and if the bishopric of London should be vacant, then to the bishop of Winchester as subdean, which embodies the royal writ, and directs the bishop to cause all the bishops of the province to be cited, and through them the deans of the cathedral and collegiate churches, and the archdeacons and other dignitaries of churches, and each chapter by one, and the clergy of each diocese by two sufficient proctors, to appear before the metropolitan or his commissary, or, as the case may be, before the dean and chapter of the metropolitical church or their commissary, in the chapter-house of the cathedral church of St Paul, London, if that place be named in the mandate, or elsewhere, with continuation and prorogation of days next following, if that should be necessary, to treat upon arduous and weighty affairs, which shall concern the state and welfare, public good and defence of this kingdom and the subjects thereof, to be then and there seriously laid before them, and to give their good counsel and assistance on the said affairs, and to consent to such things as shall happen to be wholesomely ordered and appointed by their common advisement, for the honour of God and the good of the church.

The provincial dean, or the subdean, as the case may be, thereupon issues a citation to the several bishops of the province, which embodies the mandate of the metropolitan or of the dean and chapter of the metropolitical church, as the case may be, and admonishes them to appear, and to cite and admonish their clergy, as specified in the metropolitical mandate, to appear at the time and place mentioned in the mandate. The bishops thereupon either summon directly the clergy of their respective dioceses to appear before them or their commissaries to elect two proctors, or they send a citation to their archdeacons, according to the custom of the diocese, directing them to summon the clergy of their respective archdeaconries to elect a proctor. The practice of each diocese in this matter is the law of the convocation, and the practice varies indefinitely as regards the election of proctors to represent the beneficed clergy. As regards the deans, the bishops send special writs to them to appear in person, and to cause their chapters to appear severally by one proctor. Writs also go to every archdeacon, and on the day named in the royal writ, which is always the day next following that named in the writ to summon the parliament, the convocation assembles in the place named in the archbishop’s mandate. Thereupon, after the Litany has been sung or said, and a Latin sermon preached by a preacher appointed by the metropolitan, the clergy are praeconized or summoned by name to appear before the metropolitan or his commissary; after which the clergy of the Lower House are directed to withdraw and elect a prolocutor to be presented to the metropolitan for his approbation. The convocation thus constituted resolves itself at its next meeting into two houses, and it is in a fit state to proceed to business.

The constitution of the convocation of the province of York differs slightly from that of the convocation of the province of Canterbury, as each archdeaconry is represented by two proctors, precisely as in parliament formerly under the Praemunientes clause.

There are some anomalies in the diocesan returns of the two convocations, but in all such matters the consuetudo of the diocese is the governing rule.

—Wilkins, Concilia Magnae Britannia et Hiberniae (4 vols. folio, 1737); Gibson, Codex Juris Ecclesiastici Anglicani (2 vols. folio, 1713); Johnson, A Collection of all the Ecclesiastical Laws, Canons and Constitutions of the English Church (2 vols. 8vo, 1720); Gibson, Synodus Anglicana (8vo, 1702, re-edited by Dr Edward Cardwell, 8vo, 1854); Shower, A Letter to a Convocation Man concerning the Rights, Powers and Privileges of that Body (4to, 1697); Wake, The Authority of Christian Princes over their Ecclesiastical Synods asserted, occasioned by a late Pamphlet intituled A Letter