Legal Instrument - Bishop of Lincoln's Petition for the Appointment of a Suffragan Bishop [1869-11-10]

Legal Instrument - Bishop of Lincoln's Petition for the Appointment of a Suffragan Bishop [1869-11-10]

Suffragan Bishops

Petition of the Bishop of Lincoln to Queen Victoria seeking the appointment of a suffragan bishop for the Diocese of Lincoln.

Christopher Wordsworth (Bishop of Lincoln)

1869-11-10

Jason Loch

Diocese of Lincoln

EXCELLENTISSIMÆ et Potentissimæ in Christo, Principi et Dominæ, Dominæ Nostræ Victoriæ, Magnæ Britanniæ et Hiberniæ Reginæ, Fidei Defensori, ac in terris Supremæ Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ Gubernatrici, vester humilis orator et subditus Christophorus permissione divinâ Lincolniensis Episcopus, omnimodam reverentiam et observantiam, tantæ Principi debitas et condignas, cum omni subjectionis honore.

Ad sedem Episcopalem de Nottingham, infra Lincolniensem Diœcesim, existentes dilectos mihi Venerabilem virum Henricum Mackenzie, Archidiaconum de Nottingham, Subdecanum Lincolniensem, et reverendum virum Franciscum Morse, Vicarium Sanctæ Mariæ de Nottingham, Praæbendarium Lincolniensem, Artium Magistros, juxta et secundum vim, formam et effectum Statuti Parliamenti hujus inclyti regni vestri Angliæ in hoc casu editi et provisi, Vestræ Regiæ Majestati per has Literas meas nomino et præsento; ac eidem Majestati vestræ humiliter supplico, quâtenus alteri earum, cui Vestra Regia Majestas id munus conferendum præoptaverit, titulum, nomen, stylumque et dignitatem Episcopalem et Suffraganeam ad sedem prædictam de Nottingham misericorditer conferre, ipsumque Archiepiscopo Cantuariensi, infra cujus Provinciam sedes antedicta consistit, per Literas vestras patentes intuitu charitatis punctare et mandare dignetur vestra Regia Majestas, quâtenus ipse sic nominatus et præsentatus in Episcopum Suffraganeum sedis prædictæ, juxta formam Statuti prædicti effectualiter consecretur et benedicatur, cæteraque omnia fiant, quæ ad effectum Archiepiscopalem spectaverint seu requisita fuerint in præmissis vivat denique et valeat in multos annos vestra Regia Celsitudo prælibata in [Eo] "per Quem Reges regnant et Principes dominantur."

Datæ apud Lincolniam Decimo die mensis Novembris Anno Domini Millesimo Octingentesimo Sexagesimo Nono, et regni Vestri florentissimi trigesimo tertio.

TRANSLATION

To the Most Excellent and Most Powerful Princess in Christ, Our Sovereign Lady Victoria, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, and Supreme Governor on Earth of the Church of England, your humble petitioner and subject Christopher, by divine permission Bishop of Lincoln, offers all reverence and observance due and fitting to so great a Princess, with all honor and submission.

Concerning the Episcopal see of Nottingham within the Diocese of Lincoln, I nominate and present to Your Royal Majesty through these my Letters, in accordance with the force, form, and effect of the Act of Parliament of this illustrious realm of England made and provided for this case, my beloved: the Venerable Henry Mackenzie, Archdeacon of Nottingham and Subdean of Lincoln, and the Reverend Francis Morse, Vicar of St. Mary's Nottingham and Prebendary of Lincoln, both Masters of Arts. I humbly beseech Your Majesty to graciously confer upon whichever of them Your Royal Majesty shall prefer for this office the title, name, style, and Episcopal dignity of Suffragan Bishop of the aforesaid see of Nottingham. May it also please Your Royal Majesty to direct and command the Archbishop of Canterbury, within whose Province the aforesaid see lies, through Your Letters Patent, that he should effectually consecrate and bless the one thus nominated and presented as Suffragan Bishop of the aforesaid see according to the form of the aforesaid Statute, and that all other things should be done that pertain to or are required for the Archiepiscopal function in these matters.

Finally, may Your Royal Highness live and flourish for many years in [Him] "through Whom Kings reign and Princes rule."

Given at Lincoln on the tenth day of November in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred sixty-nine, and in the thirty-third year of Your most flourishing reign.

The text of this instrument was printed in parliamentary paper and may not reflect the formatting of the original.

The text at the end of the body is damaged leaving behind something that looks like "F." However, the context suggests it was originally "Eo."

The use of Latin suggests that, like the Archbishop of Canterbury's petition, this was based on 16th-century precedents.

Although the printed text gives the date as November 10, 1869, the Bishop of Lincoln's certificate and the Letters Patent appointing the Suffragan Bishop of Nottingham both give the date as November 17. The printer of the sessional paper may have inadvertently skipped over "septimo" when copying the petition for publication.