Page:History of the Nonjurors.djvu/533

 But, Secondly, there are other Rubrics, which, from the causes already stated, are more generally disregarded. When a Clergyman is in doubt respecting the meaning of a Rubric, the Church refers him to the Ordinary, whose decision is the law in that particular case. The Bishop may refer the matter to the Archbishop: but the decision of either, possessing the force of a Rubric, is binding. It is not in the power of a Bishop to dispense with any Rubric: he may recommend a Clergyman not to revive a practice, which, though enjoined, has been long discontinued, and the Diocesan's wish would not be likely to be disregarded: but still he cannot interfere so as to prevent compliance with anything positively enjoined, though it may have fallen into disuse. There is no power to dispense with disused Rubrics, should a Clergyman revive them, though a Bishop may not himself see it necessary to enforce them. It seems necessary to notice this distinction in the present day: