(1.) The Subscription, as now required of all incumbents, is required
not by the Church, but by the State. The Church of England is in no
sense responsible for it, having never either sought or sanctioned it.
As the Church of England has always held the principle of Subscription,
so it has provided a form. This form was first prepared in Convocation,
and then sanctioned by James I., by virtue of his prerogative royal, and
supreme authority in causes ecclesiastical.