trial takes orders, he ſhall notwithſtanding appear and be ſworn[1]. Neither can he be choſen to any temporal office; as bailiff, reeve, conſtable, or the like: in regard of his own continual attendance on the ſacred function[2]. During his attendance on divine ſervice he is privileged from arreſts in civil ſuits[3]. In caſes alſo of felony, a clerk in orders ſhall have the benefit of his clergy, without being branded in the hand; and may likewiſe have it more than once: in both which particulars he is diſtinguiſhed from a layman[4]. But as they have their privileges, ſo alſo they have their diſabilities, on account of their ſpiritual avocations. Clergymen, we have ſeen[5], are incapable of ſitting in the houſe of commons; and by ſtatute 21 Hen. VIII. c. 13. are not (in general) allowed to take any lands or tenements to farm, upon pain of 10𝑙. per month, and total avoidance of the leaſe; nor ſhall engage in any manner of trade, nor ſell any merchandize, under forfeiture of the treble value. Which prohibition is conſonant to the canon law.
In the frame and conſtitution of eccleſiaſtical polity there are divers ranks and degrees: which I ſhall conſider in their reſpective order, merely as they are taken notice of by the ſecular laws of England; without intermeddling with the canons and conſtitutions, by which the clergy have bound themſelves. And under each diviſion I ſhall conſider, 1. The method of their appointment; 2. Their rights and duties; and 3. The manner wherein their character or office may ceaſe.
I. An arch-biſhop or biſhop is elected by the chapter of the cathedral church, by virtue of a licence from the crown. Election was, in very early times, the uſual mode of elevation to the epiſcopal chair throughout all chriſtendom; and this was promiſcuouſly performed by the laity as well as the clergy[6]: till at length, it becoming tumultuous, the emperors and other ſovereigns
