I. YOU shall read His Majesty's Letter, of the 13. of February last, to the Clergy in your Respective Archdeaconries; and you shall press them seriously to consider and observe the Rules that are set in it.

II. You shall signifie to the Clergy of this Diocess, That in order to their obeying Regularly and Uniformly the Com­mands sent to us and them by His Majesty's Letter, they shall observe this Method. On the second Sunday in May [Page 2] they shall read the Act of Parliament concerning the Ob­servation of the Lord's day, and shall exhort their Hearers to the Religious Observation of it. On the Sunday seven­night before the Assizes, they shall read the Act against Per­jury, and preach on the same Subject. On the first Sunday in Advent, they shall read the Act against Drunkenness, and li [...]ewise preach against that Uice. And on the second Sun­day in Lent they shall read the Act against Blasphemy Swea­ring, and Cursing, and preach on the same Subject: And on the fourth Sunday in Lent they shall preach against the sins of Adultery and Fornication. It is intended to provide Homilies▪ for all these daies, but till these are prepared, every one is to furnish himself with Sermons on these Heads: and this is to be continued from year to year.

III. You shall read this our Letter, that is herewith given to you, to our Clergy, of which care shall be taken to send to every one of them a printed Copy; and you shall charge them strictly to consider well the Contents and Matter of it.

IV. You shall require such as have Sermons twice a day in Summer, to make their Evening-Sermon on some part of the Church-Catechism, in such a Division, that they may go quite through it once a year. And for such as preach but one Sermon a day, you shall charge them, that every fortnight they preach on some part of the Church-Catechism, so that once a year in every Church the Catechism be explained quite through: and charge them likewise to examine the young persons of their Parishes quite through the Catechism at every time that they preach on any part of it.

V. You shall signifie to the Clergy of the Diocess, That for avoiding Crowds and Disorders in Confirmations, we intend to confirm frequently, not only in our Cathedral on Good-Fridays, and Whitsun-Eves, and Christmas-Eves, but as we go about to any of the Churches of our Diocess; and that therefore they take care to send such to us, to be con­firmed by us, when they hear that we are in their Neighbour­hood, whom they find not only capable of repeating the words [Page 3] of the Catechism, but likewise sensible of those Uows which were made in their name in Baptism, and which they are then to renew: and who are of an age capable of receiving the Sacrament, and in a disposition fit for it.

VI. You are to deal with our Clergy▪ and particularly with the Rural Deans, to see if the Clergy of each Rural Deanery▪ can be brought to meet together in some convenient place within the respective Deanery, if it may be three or four times in a year, to consult of their common Concerns, and to acquaint us with such things in which we may be assistant or helpful to them. This may be a great means of begetting and keeping Brotherly Love and Friendship among them, of giving advice to such as want experience, and of strengthening the whole Body: therefore we do most earnestly recommend it to you and them.

VII. You are to enquire into the Deportment of the Cler­gy, and to see what Scandals or ill Reports go upon any of them; and in particular, what their Behaviour is, with re­lation to those Canons which His Majesty has charged us to look more narrowly to. You are also to examine who reside in their Livings, who attend constantly on them, or are fre­quently, and without any just cause, absent from them; who have Prayers Wednesdays and Fridays at the least▪ if not oftener, where it is possible to have any number of Christians brought together, though it were a very small one: and you are to accept no Excuse from those who have not for some considerable time tried it: even two or three make a Congre­gation.

VIII. You are to enquire, If under the pretence of having the benefit of the Indulgence granted by Law there are any that do cast off quite the Worship of God, neither coming to Church, nor going to any of the Meetings of the Dissenters; and since it was far from the intent of the Law to grant any Indulgence to Atheism, you are to enquire after all such per­sons, that they may be procéeded against; but you are not to suffer any Uexation to be created upon this pretence, to any that go to the Méetings of the Dissenters.

[Page 4]IX. You are to signifie to our Clergy, That all such as de­sire to be put in Orders, must be addrest to us some considera­ble time before the Ordination-Sundays, that so we may have sufficient time not only to try and examine them, but also to order notice to be given at the Parish-Churches where they live, that so any who have any Impediment to object why they should not be admitted into Holy Orders, may have timely warning, and may signifie it to us. We do desire that such as come for Orders, appear before us in the Ember-week, not immediately preceeding, but thrée months before we ordain them, that so we may have a larger time and better opportu­nities of being fully satisfied concerning them, remembring those heavy words of St. Paul's, Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other mens sins; keep thy self pure.

I Send you herewith His Majesty's Letter that was sent to me by My Lord Bishop of London, which, according to my duty, I do now transmit to all you the Clergy of my Di­ocese. I do bless God that has put into His Majesty's heart such a Zeal for this our Church, and such a sense of the ways that are most proper for preserving it, and which by the Blessing of God will certainly do it. For if the Pastors and Guides of the Church of all Ranks, do adorn their Profession with a good Conversation, and apply themselves seriously and zealou­sly to the Duties of their Function, the Church will both shine and prosper in spite of all the opposition that can be made to it from its enemies of both hands. The least ble­mish in a Church man's Life, as it is searched out and observed by all men, so it not only lessens the force of all his other La­bours; but it weakens very much the credit of the whole Church, which is often judged by the Errors and Disorders of every one of its Pastors. Yet it is not enough for men in Holy Orders to be free of those crying sins which are odious in all Christians, but are to be detested out of measure in Church men. It is a monstrous thing to see one of that Holy Profession give himself to the excesses of Eating and Drink­ing, or to other Sensual Appetites, to be guilty of Injustice or Lying, of ungoverned Passion or Swearing, of Malice or filthy Avarice. These things ought not to be named but with dete­station among us. We ought not only to be blameless and harmless, but to shine as lights in the World, and to shew in our lives, that to which we exhort our People in our Sermons, being Patterns to the Believers in Word, in Conversation, in Charity, in Faith, and in Purity, and giving attendance to Read­ing, to Exhortation and to Doctrine, that in so doing We may both save our selves, and also them that hear us. Consider of­ten what a great Account you have to make to God for the [Page 6] Souls committed to your charge. Remember and read over fre­quently the Vows that you made to God at your Ordination, and the Charge that was then given you, and examine your selves frequently whether you do observe these or not. Think how Sacred a Trust that of Souls is, which the Son of God has purchased with his own Blood: and how severely he will reckon with you, if through your ill Example, bad Doctrine, or the other neglects of your duty, those Souls perish, for which he died. Think it not enough barely to read Prayers, or perform other Divine Offices. You must go often among them to in­struct, exhort, admonish, or reprove them, as the [...]e is occasion for it; You must instruct the Youth, visit the Sick reprove Offenders, and reconcile such Differences as happen at any time to create Quarrels among your People, and all this you must do with Zeal and Affection. And in particular, you ought to warn your People frequently of the heavy Judgments of God, which the sins of the Land give us just cause to apprehend; and that the rather since God has spared us so long, whilst he has visited so many Nations round about us in so terrible a manner, and has given us so great a measure of the light of his Gospel, and so long a course of Temporal as well as Spiritual Blessings; and you ought frequently to set forth to them the heinousness of such sins as you find do most abound among them, whether they be the crying ones mentioned in the Acts of Parliament herewith sent you, or others You ought to represent to them the high con­tempt done to God, when Men make their Bodies, which ought to be Temples for God to dwell in by his Spirit, the members of a Harlot, and the Indignity done their own Natures, when by the excesses of Drinking, a Man has changed himself into a Beast. You ought to shew them what a horrible Affront it is to Almighty God to profane his Holy Name by rash and vain Swearing, and what a dreadful thing it is to swear falsly, even in common Discourse, but much more when it is before a Judge. You ought to set often before your People the great wickedness of Lying and Slander, of Falshood and Injustice, and of all Cheating and Oppression, and that in all cases of wrong done their Neighbours, there is no repentance that is acceptable to God, but that which is accompanied with restitution or repara­tion, as far as the Party can possibly make it. You are often to represent to your People the indispensable necessity of true holi­ness, [Page 7] without which no Man can see God, and without which, their believing a true Faith, and their being of a true Church, cannot serve them in any stead. For we are assured from the Word of God, that not only Idolaters, but Fornicators, and Adulterers, Thieves, Covetous Persons, Drunkards, Revilers and Extortioners cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. Put them often in mind of the importance of the Word Reformed Church, that imports, that as our Doctrine and Worship are by the blessing of God Reformed; so our Lives ought also to be Reformed; otherwise all the advantages that we have of light and truth beyond other Churches, will rise up in Judgment against us, if we do not live suitably to them. But above all things study to possess your people with a deep sense of the duty that they owe to God their Maker, and to Jesus Christ their Saviour, that they may apply themselves to the exercises of Devotion in secret, to the frequenting the Publick Worship of God, and chiefly to the receiving the Sacrament with that serious dispositi­on of mind that becomes such Holy Performances▪ that so they may delight in going together to the House of God. And in order to their doing this aright, infuse into them a great reverence for the Lord's Day, as a time separated from the common busi­ness of life, for their attending on the Worship of God, and such other Religious Exercises as may both increase their know­ledge and their sense of Divine Matters, and that therefore they ought not to satisfie themselves with going to Church, and assi­sting publickly in the Service of God; but that they should set themselves more to Prayer on that day, and to the reading of Scriptures, or other good Books, both apart and together in their Families, that so they may grow up in Grace, and in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. These things you must open to your People frequently in season and out of season, both at Church, and from House to House. And I charge you by all the Authority that I have over you, by the Zeal that you bear to the Church of England, and as you desire to have from your Labours and your People, a Crown of rejoy­cing in the day of the Lord, and as you bear a due regard both to your own Souls, and to the Souls that are committed to your care, and to that Precious Blood by which they were redeemed, as you desire to be faithful to your Ordination-Vows, and to have a share in those blessed words; Well done, good and faithful [Page 8] servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord: That you will give your selves wholly to these things, that you will account no la­bour great in advancing that Work for which our Saviour spa­red not his own life: and that you will pursue all the parts of your Ministry with a Zeal suitable to the importance of them, that so we doing our parts faithfully under the Protection and Fa­vour of Our Gracious King and Queen, whom God long pre­serve, this Church may recover its first Glory, and may so shine in all those things which can adorn our Holy Profession, that she may become the head of the Reformation, and the joy of the whole Earth; that she may still be safe under the Prote­ction of God, and may so conquer and gain upon all that depart from her, that all her Children may with one Heart, and with one Mouth glorifie the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whose Grace and Favour I do most earnestly commend you and your Labours. And am very sincerely,