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have any Right must be a Right of Presentation ; if so they
must have a Right of Patronage. But the Right of Advowson
is vested solely in the hands of the Lord Proprietary by his
Charter nor have I heard that ever he has transferr'd that
Right to Vestries If the Concurrence then of a Vestry be
Necessary in any Respect to render a Presentation valid it
must in all. If in two why not in one ? Can we Suppose the
Legislature so absurd as to enlarge a power where they
Ought to restrain it? But even supposing their Concurrence
necessary it does not Follow that they have a Power of con-
trolling the Will of the Ordinary.
That still must be beyond their Reach. The Archbishop
has a power Concurrent with that of the King in Dispensa-
tions, but the King's as Supreme Ordinary is still Superior to
and uncontrollable by any Act of the Archbishop. The Truth
of the Matter is that neither in all nor two nor yet one is the
Consent of any Vestry or Vestries necessary towards render-
ing a Presentation or Appointment valid, Nay to show it to be
a Temporary Expedient the Vestry may recommend a Lay
Reader, whom the Ordinary may admit or reject. So upon a '
Petition the Ordinary may Grant his Appointment or Refuse
it. It would be hard indeed if Granting a Favor on being
asked should preclude the power of doing the same thing
without asking.
But let us now suppose the Letter of the Act complied with
and Consider its Effect. One Vestry petitions, another con-
sents, the governor Appoints, and a Person takes Possession
of his two Livings, leaps over the Canon and Statute Law and
becomes a Pluralist, by Consent of Vestries Are Vestries
then invested with Royal or Archiepiscopal powers ? have
they a Right of Dispensation ? Do they constitute any Branch
of the Legislature without which a power of dispensing cannot
exist?* If not how can a Minister Be entitled to the Profits
of two Parishes even with Consent of Vestries ? To solve
This Difficulty we must have Recourse to the true meaning
and Signification of The Word Appointment, which is the
Nomination of a Curate to Supply a vacant Parish, in which
sense it is always used in Law, and is never taken to imply
Institution & Induction. It answers precisely to a Com-
mendam in its Original Signification which is defin'd to be a
Benefice or Ecclesiastical Living, which being void commen-
dature is committed to the Charge and Care of some sufficient
Clerk to be Supplied, until it may be Conveniently provided
of a Pastor, which Commendams were granted sometimes for
* If the Consent of Vestries operated at all in Law it must operate by
way of Dispensation; the Absurdity of which Supposition appears from
this Quere which is unanswerable.
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