out where it may be trod upon, or treated with any irreverence, it fhall alfo be close covered at top, and locked up, and until fuch time as a Font fhall be provided, they fhall have a Vessel of fome Metal or other, which fhall be put to no other use, and fhall be always kept in fome decent place in the Church, or Sacrifty; neither fhall they hereafter make use of any common Veffel, as has been the Custom hitherto; and the Water they have baptized with, shall be thrown in fome place of the Church, where it will not be trod upon, and all the Water that fhall be made ufe of in Baptifm, whether it be in a Font, or a Vessel, shall be bleffed with the Holy Chrifm, according to the Roman Ceremo nial, which they are to make use of.

Decree XX.

THis Synod, conforming it felf to the Decrees of the Holy Council of Trent, and the Univerfal ufages of the Church, doth command every Parish-Church to provide a Book, wherein the Vicar fhall register the Names of all that are baptized, together with the Names of the Parents, and of the place where they live, and of the Godfathers and Godmothers, naming the place also where they were Christened, the day of the Month, and the Year, in this Form: On fuch a day of the month, in the Year N, IN. Vicar of the Church of N. baptized there, or in fuch a place, N. the Son of N. and of N. naming

the

the Father and Mother Natives of fuch a place, and the Godfathers and Godmothers were N. and N. the Vicar figning his Name to it at the bottom; and when any Priest that is not the Vicar fhall Chriften a Child, which shall never be done without the Vicars leave, he shall Regifter it thus: I N. Curate, with leave from the Vicar of fuch a Church, naming both the Vicar and the Church, did Baptize N. and fo on as above, figning his Name at the bottom; which Book fhall be always kept in the Church, and the Vicars fhall be obliged to give an account thereof, and at every Vifitation to fhew it to the Prelate, out of which the Curates are to give Certificates of the Age of fuch as are to be Married, or to receive Holy Orders, that so their Age may be certainly known; and that fuch Matters may not be fo in the dark, as they have been formerly, when there was no certain way of coming to the knowledge of Peoples Age, which must needs create great fcruples in the Minds of fuch as were to be Married or Or dained.

The Doctrine of the Sacrament of Confirmation.

He Second Sacrament is Confirmation, which our Lord Chrift inftituted, in order to the confirming and establishing of Christians in the Faith, fo that nothing might be able to separate them from it through the Power of the P

Holy

Holy Ghost which is given therein, particularly to that effect; befides the fanctifying Grace which it gives in common with the other Divine Sacraments; the Matter of this Sacrament is the Holy Oyl of Chrifm, made of the Oyl of the Olive-tree, fignifying the light and purity of the Confcience; and of Balfam, which fignifies the fweet smell of a good Name, both mixed together, and blefled by the hand of the Bishop; the Form are the words fpoke by the Bishop when he dips his Thumb into the faid Chrism, making therewith the Sign of the Crofs on the Forehead of the Perfon that is confirmed, faying, Ifign thee with the fign of the Cross, and do confirm thee with the Chrism of Health, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghoft; to which the Bishop fubjoyns three holy and wholfome Prayers, wherein he befeeches God to fill thofe that are confirmed with his Divine Spirit. The ordinary Minifter of Confirmation is the Bishop, for tho' fimple Priefts may perform feveral other Unctions, this can be done only by

*The English Jefuits, who could not endure that the Pope fhould put a Bifhop over them here in England, in their Books wherein they laboured to prove that there was no need of one, fpoke very fightingly of Confirmation; affirming it to be a Sacra ment that was not enjoyned but only where it might be had very cafily; that the effects thereof might be abundantly fupplyed by the other Sacraments, nay by or

*

dinary Affiftances, that the Chrifm
in Baptifm had nor only the figni-
fication, but all the effects of Con-
firmation, fo far at least as to
make it not to be very neceffa-
ry. In a word, that Confirmati-
on was not fimply neceffary, nei-
ther Neceffitate Medir, nor Necef-
fitate Precepti; fo that it was not
likely, that the want of it in Eng-
land was the cause of fo many.
Peoples apoftatizing from the Ca-
tholick Faith: So little do either

a Bishop, the Bishops being the Succeffors of the Apoftles, by the impofition of whose hands the Holy Ghoft was given; in the place of which impofition of hands the Church gives Confirmation, Chrift having fo ordained it, wherein the Holy Ghost is given likewife; Nevertheless, by a difpenfation from the Holy See, and by no o ther way, when there is any very urgent Occafion, or when it happens to be neceffary for the good of the Faithful, fimple Priefts may confirm with Chrifim, that has been confecrated by a Bishop in the forementioned Form; the effect of this Sacrament is, that therein the Holy Ghost is given, to the strengthening

the Sacraments, or the Hierarchy, not excepting the Papacy it felf, fignifie, when they ftand in the way of the Jefuics ambition.

I do not except the Papacy, because when it was generally believed that Clement the VIIIch. was refolved to condemn Molina's Book of Scientia Media, the Spanish Jefuits endeavoured to ward off that blow, by affirming in their publick Conclufions in their College at Complutum, that it was not a matter of Faith, to believe that Clement the VIIIth. was true Pope; for which Luifius Turrianus the Prefident of the Difputation, the Rector of the College, and, Vasquez, who were prefent at the Act, were all fummoned to appear before the Inquifition of Toledo, as Gafpar Hortadus, Grego ry de la Camara, and Alvarez de

Villegas, were to appear at Rome before the Pope, for having defended the fame Conclufion publickly in the faid Univerfity much about the fame time; so that had Clement the VIIIth.condemned Mɔlina's Book after the whole order of the Jefuits had efpoufed the me» rits therecf fo publickly, which the Dominicans fay he would certainly have done, had he but lived a few Months longer, Ignatius Loyola appearing to fome Jefuits in Spain, and affuring them that Molina's Book would never be condemned by any Pope notwithftanding; we should have had Simony, or fome other Nullity found in his Election by the Jefu its before this time: By this we fee that Jefuits have wherewith to intimidate Popes, as well as Princes and Bifhops.

and fortifying of the Soul, as it was given to the Apostles on the day of Pentecoft, that Chriftians may with boldness confefs the Name of Chrift and his Catholick Faith, for which reafon the Perfon confirmed is anointed on the forehead with the Sign of the Crofs, that being the most open place of the Body, and the Seat of Shame and Confufion, which is very different from what is done to People when they are baptized, who are anointed on the Head; People are confirmed on the forehead, that they may not be ashamed to confefs the Name of Jefus Chrift and his Crofs, which as the Apoftle faith, is to the Jews an Offence, and to the Heathens foolishness; this Sacrament differs much from that of Baptifm, for as by Baptism we are born into the Faith, fo by this we are confirmed therein; for as in the Natural Life, to be born is different from growing, fo in the Spiritual Life it is one thing to be born to Grace and Faith, which is done in Baptifm, and another to encrease and grow ftronger therein, which is done in Confirmation, and fo in Baptifm we are born to a Spiritual Life, and are afterwards prepared and confirmed for our Warfare, and do receive fo much strength, that no dangers or terrors of Punishments, or Loffes, or Torments, or Deaths are able to feparate us from the Confeffion of the Name of Christ, and of the true Faith we profess.

Decree