neighbouring Churches shall join together that at least there might be a maintenance for each Colloque and that rather than fail the 5th Penny of the Alms-money be set apart for this use if it may be conveniently done CONFORMITY It appears by the 14th Canon of the Synod of Epaum Assembled in the Year 517 That it was practis'd at that time just as our Discipline prescribes for it appoints to him of the Clergy that shall have received any Gratification and Present from the liberality of the Church wherein he liv'd that he should return it back again if he be advanced to be Bishop of another Church it appears to me this cannot be understood but of the assistance was given him during the time of his studies seeing that from the very moment any one entred into the Service of a Church he was to have his support and maintenance from it It was in this regard Theodolphus Bishop of Orleans permitted the Priests of his Diocess in the Year 797. to send their Nephews or some of their Relations unto the School he names which they shall like best there to be Taught and Educated There 's something like this in the Seminaries which the 2d Council of Toledo as 't were founded in the Year 530. and the 4th of the same place An. 633. Can. 23 or 24. Tom. 4. Conc. Page 588. Not so much as the Council of Trent but made a Decree in the 29th Session Anno 1563. for the Establishing these Seminaries Tom. 9. Conc. Page 409. cap. 18. V. In each Church there shall be appointed Propositions of the Word of God amongst the Scholars according as the convenience of the place and persons shall permit where the Pastors shall be present as well to preside as to direct and help the said Students CONFORMITY The Exercises here prescrib'd have no other scope but to fit and prepare Students in Divinity for Preaching and to put them in a condition to Preach the Gospel to Edification with profit which agrees very well with the Establishments of the Synods of Chalons and Meaux which we cited on the first Article CHAP. III. Of ELDERS and DEACONS ARTICLE I. IN those places where the Order of Discipline is not yet Established the Election as well of Elders as of Deacons shall be made as well by the common voice of the People as of the Ministers but where the Discipline is already established it shall pertain to the Consistory with the Pastors to make choice of the fittest Persons by ardent Prayers to that effect And the Parties shall be expresly nominated publickly in the Consistory and to those which shall be chosen the Office shall be read to the end they may know the business they are to be employed in If they consent to it they shall afterwards be nominated to the People two or three Sundays that so the consent of the People may also intervene and if there be no opposition the third Sunday they shall be publickly admitted by solemn Prayers they standing before the Pulpit and so shall be setled in their Office subscribing the Confession of Faith and the Ecclesiastical Discipline but if there be opposition the Matter shall be decided in Consistory and if it cannot be there determin'd the whole shall be transmitted to a Colloque or Provincial Synod CONFORMITY Having treated of Ministers and the Schools where they ought to study to attain to the Office of the Holy Ministry it follows in order to speak of those which partake with them of the care in Governing the Flock That is of Deacons and Elders which amongst us are Secular persons serving in the Church and distinguished from Ministers or to speak with the Fathers from the Clergy it is then of these two sorts of Persons and of their Election that I am to treat in examining this Article according to the design and intention of the Compilers of our Discipline I 'll begin with the Deacons which as every body knows are of Apostolical institution In effect we find in the 6th Chapter of the Acts That the Apostles giving themselves up wholly to the Preaching of the Gospel they desir'd the Church of Jerusalem to chuse out certain persons of good repute for Wisdom and Piety that they might commit unto them the care of the Poor which they express by serving of Tables that by this means they might the more conveniently attend to Prayer and Preaching of the Word St. Chrysostom observes on this place that this was the first establishing of Deacons the very name not being till then known that is in the Christian Church as for the Jewish Church they had their Deacons as Epiphanius writes in the Heresie of the Ebeonites which is the 30th they were called Azanites and thence probably 't was that the Apostles took the Original of Christian Deacons and they called them so because they served at Tables and at the distributing of Money to the Poor It was to that time those which followed St. Chrysostom and wrote of the first institution of Deacons writing on the Acts of the Apostles as Beda and Orcumenius have refer'd it As for Lay-Elders such as ours be I do not find their institution in Scripture as that of the Deacons is found as for the Elders of the Christian Churches whereof there is mention made in several places in the New-Testament I am fully persuaded that by them is to be understood Pastors themselves which were called indifferently Elders or Priests and Bishops I do not except that famous passage chap. 5. vers 17. of the 1st Ep. to Timothy It is certain that these Elders were all of the same Order that is to say They were all Pastors but because there were several in the same Church and that some were sitter for Preaching the Word than others they gave them different employments according to the diversity of Gifts in my judgment there needs no other proof of this Truth than the right of Precedency which St. Paul attributes indifferently to all which he would not have done had they not been all of one Order the Greek word also which he uses ordinarily imports a precedency which is due only to Pastors which the Ancients frequently design by this name particularly Justin Martyr But notwithstanding this I make no question but the Original of our Elders is very Ancient and that it approaches very near to the Apostles days if they be not rather themselves the Founders of them and what confirms me in this Opinion is that they establish'd in the Church a Government like that of the Synagogue a Christian Presbytery instead of a Jewish one and as there were Elders amongst the Jews which had share in Governing the Synagogue it is very probable that there were also Elders amongst the Christians People which had part in that of the Church if not at the very first birth of Christianity at least there was as soon as the number of them was increased in so great a manner for then it was
left off as he doth testifie in his 80 Letter It may be thought that the Synod of Ries in Province had given some slight endeavour to the first practice Tom conc Gal. p. 69. Ibid. p. 74. in the year 439 when it confirms it in the Eighth Cannon but under condition that times were quiet That of Orange explains it self fuller in the year 441 Cannon 29 saying it was difficult to assemble twice a year by reason of sad and difficult times The Second thing I mean to observe is Ibid. p. 173. Ib. p. 268 284. That the Synod of Agde in Languedock made a Decree in the 71 Cannon by which it reduces these Synodal Assemblies to hold once a year and it declares in the same Cannon which is of the year 506 that it does so according to the constitution of the Fathers having respect it may 〈◊〉 to the Cannons of Orange and Ries but just now cite The 37 of the 4 of Orleans of the year 541 the 23 an◠〈◊〉 of the year 549 on the same with that of Agde 〈◊〉 â—he 18 of the 3 of Tolledo alleges for a reason in the 〈◊〉 589 the length of the way and poverty of the Churches To. 4 Conc. pa. 505 506. II. Ministers shall bring along with them one or two Elders at the most chosen by the Consistory and the said Ministers and Elders shall shew their Deputations If a Minister comes alone no heed shall be taken of the Certificates he brings along with him no more than there shall be of those an Elder shall produce if he comes alone without a Pastor which Rule shall be of force in all Ecclesiastical Assemblies If they cannot come they shall make their excuse by Letters of the which the Brethren there present shall be Judges and shall send their Memoirs signed by a Pastor and an Elder Those who shall fail of being present at Colloques and at Provincial Synods without lawful Excuse shall be sensur'd and the said Colloques and Provincial Synods may finally judge their Cause and dispose of their Persons CONFORMITY There are in this Establishment several things to be consider'd in the first place the deputing of our Elders with the Pastors to Synods which is very agreeable to the practice of the Antient Church which admitted the Layity into their Synods after the Example of the Apostles who in the Synod of Jerusalem make mention of the Church in distinguishing it not only from themselves but also from ordinary Persons which they design by the term of Elders Acts 15.22 to shew that by the Church they meant the faithful People which assisted at that Holy Assembly according to which the Fathers in the Council of Antioch distinguishes also the Churches of God Aâ—d Euseb l. â— c. 30. from Bishops Priests and Deacons in the Letter wrote to Dennis Bishop of Rome to Maximus Bishop of Alexandria and to all the Churches to inform them of the deposing of this Arch Heretick not that 't is necessary to think that the intire Churches assisted at this Council which was assembled from sundry Provinces but they assisted by some of their Body which represented them that is by some of the Body of the People But to say something more to the purpose I have shewn on the First Article of the Third chap. by Authority of Fermillian and of the African Code that the Elders such as ours were deputed to Synods with the Pastors against whom they sometimes pleaded the right of the People which deputed them The Second thing I observe on this Article is that the Deputies to Synods are obliged to be present there or to excuse themselves by Letter And if their Excuse be not sufficient they are sensur'd as shall be thought fit in the Colloques and in the Provincial Synods which have power to judge definitively of their Excuses and to dispose of their Persons which also is according to the practice of the Primitive Christians the Fortieth Cannon of the Council of Laodicea is conceiv'd in these terms The Bishops which are called to a Synod must not neglect to go thither and if any one does neglect he will condemn himself unless some Sickness doth hinder him The 19th of Calcedon requires that one should reprove in a brotherly way those which fail of coming although they are in good health and that they are hindred by any extraordinary business which might not be deferr'd In France no other Excuse will be admitted but that of Sickness as appears by a great many Cannons and amongst others by that of the First of Epaume by the 1 of the 2 of Orleans by the 80 Letter of Auitus Bishop of Vienna and by several other Decrees which I forbear to cite The Council of Agde in the 35 Cannon joyns to Sickness some command of the King next to which it deprives from the Communion of the Church till the next Synod those which have failed to be present at the former and as it deprives them for that time from the Communion of the Church it also deprives them from the Charity of their Brethren that is from the other Bishops to which the Council of Tarragona in the year 517 reduces in the VI. Cannon all the punishment of those Bishops which neglect to be present at the Synods where they have been called by the Metropolitans and excuses none but them which are hindred by Sickness The 15 of the 11 of Toledo assembled Anno 575 Excommunicates them for one year if they are not hinder'd by some Sickness or by some inevitable necessity the 76 of the African Code wills That they should be content with the Communion of their Church the V. Cannon of the Council of Merrida of which I will speak on the 10 Article of the IX chap. excuses those who are hindred by Sickness or by Order of the Prince As to what our Discipline saith That if the Pastor comes alone no heed shall be taken of the Memorials he shall bring nor of those the Elder brings if he comes without the Minister it agrees not ill with what we read in the 100 Cannon of the African Code where a Bishop complains of his Church but because the Elders the Church had deputed to defend its cause against the Bishop did not appear the Council referr'd the Judgment of this Affair to a certain Number of Bishops whereof some were nominated by the Bishop which was dissatisfied with his Flock and the rest were left to be named by the Elders although absent As for the Memorials whereof mention is made in this Article more may be seen of it in what I shall say on the Third Article of the Ninth Chapter III. Those Churches which have several Ministers shall depute them by turns to Colloques and Synods CONFORMITY This Article is grounded on that That Ministers may not pretend any Authority one over the other as I have made appear on the Sixteenth Article of the First Chapter and having no Power one
one else in his name teaches in the Homily that there is but one Legislator of the Old and New Testament he teaches I say that the reason wherefore this Ceremony was practis'd in the Ordination of Bishops was to mind them that to be Rulers over others they were subject nevertheless themselves to these Divine Laws and oblig'd to observe its Commands Moreover it appears by all I have said that the Author of the Book of Divine Offices which is falsly attributed to Alcuin Tutor to Charlemaign and to Amalarius Fortunatus who liv'd in the time of Lewis le Debonair it appears they were deceiv'd when they said the former in the 37th Chap. and the other in Chap. 14. of the Book of Fcclesiastical Offices that this Ceremony which I have touched was not countenanc'd by the authority of the Ancients The second Consideration regards the Imposition of hands which the Apostles used in Establishing of Deacons Acts 6.6 and in that of Pastors and Ministers under the name of Elders Acts 14.23 for the Greek word which may be referr'd to the suffrages of the people does commonly signifie the Imposition of Hands whereof express mention is made 1 Tim. 4.14 5.22 a Ceremony which the ancient Christians always practis'd in these Occasions I should be over-tedious should I cite all the passages which confirm this truth wherefore I shall only instance some places of Antiquity where mention is made of this imposition of hands St. Cyprian makes mention of it in his 68 Epist the last Edition Cornelius Bishop of Rome in the same St. Cyprian Ep. 46. Eusein the 8 23 and 43. of the sixth Book of his Ecclesiastical History and in the 32. and 7. Book St. Basil in the first Canon of his first Canonical Epistle to Amphilokius and in the 192. to the Priests of Nicopolis The Great Council of Nice in the ninth Canon that of Antioch in the 10. and 17. and the fourth of Carthage in the second I pass in silence a great number of other passages which favour the use of this Holy Ceremony to observe That in the very time when they added a great many other things to this Imposition of hands yet it was nevertheless consider'd as the chief of all the rest Insomuch that in the Theses that were maintain'd at Paris in the year 1633 June 7. it was taught That in Orders where Imposition of hands was us'd it suffic'd Antir 2. Part 2. c. 8. p. 72. Paris 1634. Ad valorem firmitatunque Sacramenti which also is the judgment of many Learned Divines saith the Jesuit Sirniond We are indeed of another opinion for we do not believe that Orders is a Sacrament but I have alledged this Example to shew that those it self which have accompanied the Ordination of Pastors with several Ceremonies which are not of the first nor purest Antiquity do nevertheless give the chiefest place to the Imposition of hands The third thing observable is That Prayer was joyn'd to the laying on of Hands as appears by the passages in the Holy Scriptures cited in the foregoing Section which was Religiously practis'd by those which succeeded those first Ministers of Jesus Christ the second Canon of the fourth Council of Carthage represents to us one of its Bishops imploring the Blessing of God upon him on whom they laid their hands St. Basil in his Morals saith To. 2. Reg. 70. C. 1. p. 476. To. 4. pag. 383. T. 5. p. 326. Paris 1632. That that ought to be done with Prayer and Supplications St. Ambrose saith the same in his Book of the Dignity of Priesthood and in the 60 Epist Thence it is that the Deacon Hilary in the third Tome of the Works of the same St. Ambrose expounding the 14 verse of the 4th Chap. of the 1st to Tim. he looks on the Imposition of hands as so many mystical words whereby him that is Ordain'd is confirm'd for the work of the Ministry Tom. 4. p. 192. Paris 1623. St. Jerome saith positively on the 58th Chap. of Isaiah That Ordination is compleated not only by Prayer but also by the laying on of hands Theodoret in the 19th Chap. of his Religious History in the third Volume of his Works Printed at Paris Anno 1642 Theodoret joyns these two actions together to wit Imposition of Hands and Prayer as things which should not be separated in the Ordination of Pastors Twenty five years ago the Letters of Photius Patriarch of Constantinople in the Eleventh Century were Printed at London and at the end of these Letters five more of this same Patriarch were subjoyn'd which were taken out of an ancient Eastern Manuscript in the fourth of which Letters he declares that Hands were not impos'd on a Bishop But to implore the Grace of the Holy Spirit which is needful for a Minister Tom. 4. Conc. 525 Ibid. pag. 531 To 1. Conc. Gal. It is doubtless upon this account that the Council of Sarragosa in the year 592 Can. 9 calls this the Benediction as also the fourth of Carthage and the first of Barcelona in the year 599. Can. 3. The Blessing of Consecration The first of Orleans Anno 511. Can. 10. speaks of the Benediction of the laying on of hands This third Consideration opens the way to us for a fourth which regards the posture of him which is Consecrated and of him which Consecrates It may easily be observ'd from what has been said that him which Consecrates is standing and him which is Consecrated kneeling otherwise it had been hard and almost impossible to lay his hands on him and to pray to God holding them on his head to the end he would be pleas'd liberally to bestow on him the Gifts and Graces necessary duly to discharge the Office wherewith he is honour'd But were it so that the truth of this practice which is very just could not be gather'd from this Discourse Theodoret gives us no cause to doubt of it for he observes in the 15th Chap. of the fourth Book of his Ecclesiastical History that when there was need of appointing a Successor to Eusebius Bishop of Samosatia the Synod of the Province cast their Eye on Antiochus his Nephew and that after his Election he was led towards the Communion Table and there he was made to kneel down to receive the Imposition of Hands It remains now to say something of the Number of the Pastors which are to be present at this Holy Ceremony The 4th Canon of the 1st Council of Nice appoints this should be done by all the Bishops of the Province or if that cannot be that there should be three at the least the others by their Letters approving of the Ordination The 19th of that of Antioch prescribes partly the same thing that is to say it declares That 't were to be wished that all the Bishops of the Province could be present but when there is any hindrance it doth not specify as that of Nice the number of those which ought to be
to the Council of Carthage in the year 407 speaks three several times of the Elders at Nova Germania and because there had been some difference betwixt this Church and Maurentius its Bishop and that nevertheless the Elders deputed in this affair to the Synod appeared not the Council assigned to Maurentius the Judges he desired and left to the choice of the Elders tho absent the nomination of those that should be needful to compleat the number and what is very remarkable in this conjuncture is that these Elders defended the right of the People which were the Bishops opposite party who complained of their outrage and calumnies What I have hitherto writ does clearly shew that when the Deacon Hillary complained that the use of Elders was abolished he had a regad to Italy where it had indeed hapned in sundry places though the same practise continued elsewhere as I have justified by many Examples after the time in which this Roman Deacon wrote I now proceed on farther and do say this custom was not extinct in France and Sicily at the end of the Sixth Century I say first of all in Sicily for Pope Gregory the First writ to John Bishop of Palermo Tom. 2. lib. â—1 Ind. 6 Ep. 49. p. 1083 and recommends two things to him one was To establish a Receiver by consent of the Elders and Clergy to give an account yearly to take away all suspition of fraud The other was not to give easie credit to reports that might be made to him of his Clergy but carefully to examine the truth in presence of the Elders of his Church I say in the second place this same practice was observed in France In effect Gregory of Tours has transmitted to us the Letter of an Assembly of Bishops held at Poictiers by the King's Command to take course about the disorders of the Monastry of St. Radegonda Hib. l. 1â— c. 16. and in this Letter the Abbess confesses amongst other things that she received Earnest for the Marriage of her Neece which was an Orphan that she received it in presence of the Bishop the Clergy and the Elders And in the year 585. King Goutran makes express mention of the Elders of the Church which he distinguishes from the Clergy in the Edict which he addresses to the Bishops and Judges of his Kingdom Tom. 1. Conc. Gall. p. 391. I can't say but Agobard Bishop of Lions in the ninth Century might design these same Elders Lib. de Jure Sacerd pag. 135. Tom. 2. when complaining of Persons of Quality that abused Priests they had in their Houses He saith That by reason of these Domestick Chaplains They forsook the Churches the Elders and the publick service Now it follows I must treat of the form and manner of Electing our Deacons and Elders The Establishment I examin distinguishes the places where the Discipline is not yet setled from those where it is already received in the former it requires Election should be made by the Votes of the People and Pastors In the other it appoints that nomination shall be made in the Consistory and that it shall be signified to the People to have either their consent or their refusal because their Establishment depends on the liking and approbation of the People the nomination made in the Consistory no way depriving the People of their Right seeing the most part of those which do it that is to say the Elders and Deacons do represent the People and are invested with its power and rights It is therefore of the People either mediately or immediately that depends the Establishing of Elders and Deacons amongst us And herein our Discipline has Religiously followed the practice of the holy Apostles who referred to the liberty of the People the Election of the Seven Deacons the History whereof is mentioned by St. Luke in the 6th Chap. of the Acts. And 't is not only in regard of Deacons the Apostles proceeded in this manner they would also that the whole Church of Jerusalem should have share in Establishing Matthias Acts 1. who by common consent was added to the Number of the Eleven Apostles and when they Ordained ordinary Pastors doubtless they did it by the advice of the Assemblies of the People to the conduct of whom they intended to commit them Which example the succeeding Christians imitated very exactly as we have made appear on Artic. 4. of the first Chap. Our Discipline does not therefore prescribe any thing as to what regards the Election of our Elders and Deacons but what is very conformable to the practice of the Apostles and to that of the Primitive Christians in short if in the first Ages of Christianity the People had a good share in the Vocation of Ministers of greater reason had they in Establishing of Elders which were if it may be so said the Executors of their Will and the dispencers of their Rights And if our Ministers by the ninth Article of the first Chapter are obliged to sign our Confession of Faith and Ecclesiastical Discipline agreeable to what was practiced in the Primitive Church it cannot be thought strange that we should also oblige our Elders and Deacons to sign them because they make up one body with the Ministers of each Church and do partake with them of the conduct of the same Flocks II. Hence forward as much as possible may be avoided there shall not be elected for Elders and Deacons of the Church those which have Wives contrary to the true Religion according to the saying of the Apostle Nevertheless that the Church may not be deprived of the labour of several good persons who by reason of the ignorance of past-time have Wives of a contrary Religion they shall be dispensed withal for the present necessity provided they shew their readiness in instructing their said Wives and in desiring them to joyn themselves to the Church CONFORMITY Having established as we have done the first Article this has no difficulty in it for St. Paul requires 1 Tim. 3. That Deacons should hold the mystery of the Faith in a pure Conscience He also requires That their Wives be faithful in all things and by consequence in those of Religion and Piety which should be the only Religion of Jesus Christ both in Husband and Wife to avoid the great inconveniences which happen by diversity of Religions which Tertullian represents very well to his Wife in the Second Book he wrote to her III. The Office of Elders is to have care of the Flock with the Pastors to take care the People come to the Assemblies and that every one frequent the holy Congregations to give notice of misdemeanors and scandals to take cognizance and judg of them with the Pastors and in general to have care with them of all such like things which concern the Order Support and Government of the Church so that in each Church there shall be a form of their office in writing according to the circumstance
confer with the Ministers and Elders if they have not been sufficiently instructed And in case the gainsaying Brethren refuse to make the said promises they shall be censur'd as Rebels according to the Discipline and the Colloque being assembled shall proceed as above And if the said Opposers have been patiently heard and refuted by consent the whole shall be Registred if not the Provincial Synod shall be desir'd to meet extraordinarily if need require at the time and place that the said Colloque shall judge most convenient after the Promise as above-mention'd reiterated by the said Opposers The Synod assembled shall first of all consider with good deliberation and consideration of the Matter the Places the Time and Persons whether it shall be expedient that the Conference with the said Opposers be made in presence of the People the Doors shut or open and that Audience be given to any of the Parties present that would speak or not and that in all Cases the decision should belong to others than to those called in the Province and the whole according to the Order contain'd in the Discipline And that then if the said gain-sayers will not obey they shall make the same Promise as above and shall be transmitted over to the National Synod ordinarily or if necessity require extraordinarily assembled the which shall hear them with all Holy Liberty and there the intire and final resolution shall be made by the Word of God to which if they refuse to acquiesce from Point to Point and with express dislike of their Errors Registred they shall be cut off from the Church CONFORMITY This Article shall be Explain'd in what I shall observe on that which follows XXXII A Pastor or Elder breaking the Vnity of the Church or stirring up contention about some Point of Doctrine or of Discipline which he has subscribed or of the form of Catechism or Administring the Sacraments or publick Prayers or Marriages refusing to obey what the Colloque has determin'd shall then be suspended from his Office to be farther proceeded against at the Provincial or National Synod CONFORMITY A Council of Africa Ep. 71. p. 121. ult Edit in the time of St. Cyprian Deposed those of the Clergy which by their Rebellions disturb'd the Concord and Unity of the Church St. Basil in his 1st Canon of his 1st Canonical Epistle to Amphilochius prescribes after what manner one should act not only against true Schismaticks but likewise against all those which stir up Divisions in the Church and which also make Conventicles and Assemblies apart He speaks in the same place of Hereticks and as these are three sorts of Persons very different one from another this Doctor doth also adjudge diversity of Punishments But besides what I have now remark'd we have also several Canons of Ancient Councils which do favour the Order of our Discipline the 6th of the 1st Universal Council of Constantinople is against those which endeavour to confound and overthrow the Ecclesiastical Order The VII first of the 1st of Ephesus which is the 3d Oecumenical were compos'd against all such of the Clergy as well as People which should depart from the Decrees of the Council and that should adhere to Revolt or Apostatize The 18th of Chalcedon forbids all sorts of Fraternities and Combinations against the Church observing That seeing this Crime is forbid by the Civil Laws that it ought much more to be defended in the Church It is for this Cause ought to be cited the 21st Canon of the 3d Council of Orleans in the year 538. Tom. 1. Conc Gal. p. 254. Ib. p. 480. and the second Decree made by the Synod of Rheims in the year of our Lord 630. XXXIII In each Church there shall Memorials be made of all remarkable things in Matters of Religion and a Minister shall be deputed to each Colloque to receive and carry them to the Provincial and from thence to the National Synod CONFORMITY Pope Fabian who finished his Days by a Glorious Martyrdom for the Cause of Jesus Christ during the Persecution of Decius about the year of Christ 250. Pope Fabian Tom. 1. Coâ—il p. 113â— I say Established persons to Collect the Acts of Martyrs as is to be seen in the Pontifical Book commonly attributed to Damasus and it may truly be said this was the principal subject our Discipline aimed at in the Article which we Examine as appears by this Establishment of the National Synod of Privas in the year 1612. The Provinces shall be exhorted carefully to recollect the Histories of Pastors and other Believers which in these last times have suffer'd for the Truth of the Son of God and such Memoirs shall be sent to Geneva to be made publick In the same Pontifical of Damasus Ubi supra p. 30. which I but now spoke of it is observ'd That St. Clement Disciple of the Apostles had a long time before Fabian divided the seven quarters of the City of Rome to seven faithful persons of the Church that each might exactly enquire in his District the Acts of Martyrs in the number of which he was put himself Ib. p. 110. about the year our Lord 100. Pope Anterus Predecessor to Fabian did near-hand the same as was done by Clement But if that was done in the Church of Rome it was also practised in divers others St. Cyprian testifies it was practised by that of Africa in his 37th Epistle where he ordains That the Day of the Death of Martyrs should be taken account of to the end to celebrate their Memory It is in this regard Tertullian speaks De Coron c. 13. des Fastes of the Feasts of the Church and the Letter of the Church of Smyrna touching the Martyrdom of St. Pollycarp gives us also a proof of the thing now in question and which ought to be looked upon as the Original of what we call Martyrologies which comprehend not the Martyrs of one Church only but generally of all as can be discover'd in which 't is thought Eusebius first laboured CHAP. VI. Of the Union of Churches ARTICLE I. NO Church can pretend Precedencie nor Domination over another nor one Province over another CONFORMITY Let the Reader see what I have said already on the Sixteen and Eighteen Articles of the first Chap. where he will find this Article Established and its conformity to the ancient Cannons II. No Church can transact any matter of great consequence wherein the Interest or Dammage of other Churches may be concern'd without the advice of the Provincial Synod if it be possible to assemble it and if the matter be pressing it shall communicate and have the advice of the other Churches of the Provinces at least by Letters CONFORMITY This Second Article is also very conformable to the Antient Discipline according to which the Affairs of each Province were administred by the Provincial Synods it is partly the Subject of the Second Cannon of the First Oecumenical Council of Constantinople
Rochester Lib. 3. Cap. 20. alone of himself Consecrated two Arch-Bishops of Canterbury one after another successively I now proceed to the second Head of this Article which concerns the Testimonies those are to produce who are to be Consecrated to the Holy Ministry Pastors being to be an example to their flock in word and conversation it is very fitting there should be good testimonies of their Life and Doctrine before they are established in this Divine Office insomuch as St. Paul desires that they may have a good report of those which are without fearing lest they should fall into shame and the snare of the Devil therefore the Church has ever used after this manner admitting unto this trust only those which had good and sufficient testimonies as well for their capacity as for their good Conduct it is whereunto amounted the proof St. Clement Disciple of the Apostles and Tertullian have already made mention thence it is St. Cyprian will * Ep. 67. ult Edit That the Pastor be established in the presence of all the people who perfectly know the life of each person and that have narrowly observ'd his conversation to the end that having discover'd his vertues or vices the Ordination made by the consent and approbation of all may be just and legitimate * Id. Ep. 33. And elswhere he saith to the people That he is wont to advise with them when he is about to Ordain any Clerk to the end they may examin and try altogether the life and good qualities of each one Saint Basil complaining of the relaxation of Discipline T. 3. Ep. 181. Paris 1638. and the slighting of the Canons which in time might occasion great confusions in the Church he saith That the ancient custom of Christians was carefully to search and to make very strict inquiry into the life and conversation of those who were admitted into the Ministry to find out if they were Slanderers Drunkards Fighters if they carry'd themselves soberly and if they could walk stedfastly in the ways of Sanctification without which no one shall see God Moreover this custom appear'd so good and holy to him that he will absolutely have the use of it reviv'd throughout all his Diocess that he will have the Church purg'd of all those that were enter'd into it by any other manner as being unworthy to serve in it and that for the future none should be admitted but those which were first duly examin'd and accounted worthy the Employments intended for them I will not here repeat what I alledged of the fourth Council of Carthage upon the first Article I will only say that in the third Tome of the Library of the Fathers and in the Pandect of the Cannons Printed at Oxford of late years there is a Canonical Epistle of Theophilus Bishop of Alexandria the sixth Canon of which treats of Ordinations wherein he desires the Election and consent of the Clergy the examination of the Bishop and the testimony of the people In the Book of Sacraments of Gregory the first P. 236. Paris 1642. the Bishop is to signifie to the People the Names of those which are to be chosen to the end that if any there present know any thing that might hinder the Ordination they might declare it freely and with a safe conscience thence it is that Leo the first desires in these Occasions the testimony of the People as he explains himself in his 89 Epistle And Pope Eugenius II. in a Synod assembled at Rome about the year of our Lord 826 and which is to be seen in the second part of the Roman Collection of Holstenius Printed at Rome 1642 I say with the Synod prescribes in the very terms of the Apostle Cap. 1. the manner of Ordination that is to say that he requires that he which desires to receive it may be adorn'd with the Qualities recommended by St. Paul and that he may be acceptable to all the world by his good Works The Emperor Alexander Severus so highly approv'd this use and practise as also the publishing which was made of those which were to be admitted into the Ministry of the Church whereof I shall speak on the tenth Article Aelius Lampri in Alex. Sev. that he would have it be put in practice in establishing Governours of Provinces of the Empire and other Magistrates The Fathers of the first Council of Nice in the Letter they wrote to the Church of Alexandria and which has been transmitted to us by Socrates and Theodoret these Fathers term this L. 1. c. 9. Offering to the People the Names of those which were to be advanced to any Dignity in the Church St. Chrysostome in the 18th Homily upon the 2 Epist to the Corinthians Establishes and confirms this custom by the Example of the Apostles which us'd the same when Mathias was to be chosen and also by that of the Seven Deacons Something of the same kind is to be seen in 61 and 76 Epistles of Synesius according to which Nicetas in the Life of St. Ignatius Patriarch of Constantinople in the IX Century which is contain'd in the Preliminaries of the eighth Council of Constantinople which the Latins hold for Oecumenical but is rejected by the Greeks Tom. 6. Concil pa. 872. Nicetas observes that several were named to sill the vacant Chair and that St. Ignatius was preferred before the rest V. The Examination of him that shall be presented shall in the first place be made by Propositions out of the Word of God upon the Texts of Scripture which shall be given to him the one in French of necessity the other in Latin if it be thought expedient by the Colloque for each of which he shall be allowed 24 hours time to prepare himself if therein he satisfies the Company it shall be farther known by a Chapter in the New Testament which shall be assign'd him whether he is skilful in the Greek so as to interpret it and as for Hebrew it will be requisite to know if he understands it so far as to make choice of good Books for the better understanding the Scriptures whereunto shall be added an Essay of his Industry and skill on the most necessary Parts of Philosophy all in Charity without affectation of difficult and unnecessary Questions To conclude there must be requir'd of him a short confession of Faith in Latin upon which he shall be examin'd by way of Dispute and if after this trial he shall be found capable the Company representing to him the obligation of the Office whereunto he is called shall declare to him the power which is given to him in the Name of Jesus Christ of Administring as well the Word as the Sacraments after his intire Ordination into the Church whereunto he is appointed the which shall have notice of his Election by Acts and Letters of the Synod or Colloque carried and read by one of the Elders CONFORMITY After what I have hitherto said it cannot
of time and place CONFORMITY In the Christian Church there has ever been persons appointed to take care of the conduct of those which were Members of it and to watch over their Flocks to the end no scandalous actions should be committed therein nothing that should be unbecoming the profession of the Gospel Origen at least tells us that in his time which was the third Century it was so practised for he declares in his answer to Celsus that there was in the Churches Lib. 3. pag. 142. of Cambridge Edit 1658 Persons established to take notice of the life and conversation of those which imbraced the Christian Religion that when they committed any evil actions to expel them out of the Congregations and on the contrary to receive with great affection all those which lived orderly and well to the end to improve and make them better from day to day Tertullian before Origen Apolog. c. 39. had sufficiently intimated this same practice speaking in his Apologetick of Censures inflicted on sinners in Christian Assemblies which banished from their Communion those which were convicted of heinous offences for example of Idolatry Murder and of Fornication which proceeding shews there was in each Church persons intrusted to keep watch over the life and manners of the People and these persons were the same which we call Elders which also is the name St. Austin gives them in the nineteenth Sermon on the words of our Lord and which at this time is the third in the Appendix of the tenth Tome In this Sermon which others attribute to Maximus Bishop of Turin and which is the 66th amongst those of St. Ambrose there is to be seen the Name and the Office of Elders the same in effect as they are amongst us for the Author whoever he be having observed that Soldiers and those in any Office could not bear to be reprov'd and to be told of their Duty he speaks after this manner When the Elders reprove them for any misdemeanor and that any of them are asked why they are drunk wherefore they took away other folks goods wherefore they committed murder They presently answered What would you have me do being one of the World and a Soldier Do I profess to be a Frier or a Clergy-man IV. The office of Deacons is to collect and distribute by direction of the Consistory the Money belonging to the Poor to Prisoners and to sick folks to visit and have care of them CONFORMITY It appears by Chap. 6. of the Acts of the Apostles that the Office of Deacons is what our Discipline does represent because they were first of all appointed to serve at Tables that is to say to take care of the Poor Oecumenius in his Commentaries on this Chapter of the Acts I now mentioned observes expresly that they were appointed to distribute to Widows and Orphans with care the things necessary for their subsistence According to which the Enemies of Cecilian Bishop of Carthage laid it to his charge as a great crime That being Deacon he hindered people from giving meat to the Martyrs whereas he ought to have carried them some himself Fascicul rer Expet fug fol. 32. vers Coloniae 1535. Cardinal Julian who presided at the Council of Basle remonstrates to Pope Eugenius the Fourth That there are several things he ought to do himself and others which he may refer to the care of those which are under him after the example of the Apostles who to attend the more freely to the Preaching of the Word instituted seven Deacons which served Tables and the administration of things of less weight It is nevertheless true Apolog. 2. pag. 99. that in the time of Justin Martyr it was the Pastor that distributed the Money to the Poor which was appointed for their Maintenance which was given by Peoples Charity But this Distribution in all likelihood was made by the Ministry of Deacons Cap. 39. Tertullian indeed in his Apologetick declares one had care of the Poor of Orphans of Old Folks of those which had lost their Goods by Shipwrack of those which laboured in Mines who were banished into Islands or detained in Prisons for the Gospel sake but he don't mention by whom it was done The Church of Rome in the time of Cornelius its Bishop that is about the middle of the third Century Apud Euseb Hist lib 6. c. 43. p. 244. maintained above 1500 poor as well Widows as others who were reduced to poverty or afflicted with sickness or infirmities The charity of that of Antioch was no less conspicuous than that of the Church of Rome as we find by some of St. Chrysostom's Homilies on St. Matthew particularly the 67 and 86th It is true we are not certain that the Deacons were charged with the care of these two Churches in the days of Cornelius and of St. Chrysostom but we know very well the Deacons amongst us attend on the things for which they were established by the Apostles that is that they should take care of the Poor and Necessitous according to their Primitive institution It was on this account that Fabian Bishop of Rome divided amongst seven Deacons in the third Century the fourteen Quarters of the City of Rome that is to say to the end they should take care of the Poor which were in each of these Quarters as is to be seen in the Roman Breviary on the 20th day of January and as Binnius observes in the Life of Fabian Tom. Conc. pag. 114. But what the Deacons did at first was in time performed by the Ministry of Oeconoms and others of which the ancient Canons make so frequent mention in such a way nevertheless that the Bishop had the chief power in the distribution which however was not done without the knowledg of these Deputies when they had taken the place and office of those first Deacons and that it is so I explain what Zozomen says of St. Epiphanius Lib. 7. Chap. 27. Read what shall be said on the second Art of the 4th Chap. V. The office of Deacons is not to Preach the Word of God and administer the Sacraments Nevertheless if necessity require the Consistory may chuse certain Elders and Deacons to Cacechise in Families as also it is permitted to Elders in absence of the Pastor to read Publick Prayers on working-days being chose by the Consistory for that purpose and that they follow the usual form in Reading the Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament As for the Deacons who are wont to Catechise publickly in some Provinces the inconveniences which have already or may hereafter ensue being heard and considered the Churches where this custom is not yet introduced are desired to forbear and the others where it is to continue and to order that the said Deacons if they are found capable would enter into the Ministry of the Gospel as soon as they can possible CONFORMITY What I have said of the Office of Deacons doth highly
reasonably be doubted but that in all times those have been Examin'd in the Church which were to Labour for her Instruction and Edification and which were to serve in Preaching the Word and Administring the Sacraments I grant this Examination may differ according to the diversity of Places and Persons which were to do the Office of Examiners some doing it with more Exactness and Severity and others with more Mildness and Charity and I can't tell if ever there has been seen on this Subject a more strict and exact establishment than that which our Discipline doth prescribe Whatever it is it is most certain that is That the Examination of Life and Doctrine however 't was perform'd always preceded Ordination The 19th Canon of the 1st Council of Nice the 12th of that of Laodicea and the 1st and 4th of Carthage ordaining it should be so although the latter makes it more ample than the two others and declares distinctly the Questions which were to be made and the Articles upon which those were to be Interrogated which were to be called to be Bishops and I make no question but 't was with regard to this Examination That Gregory the first condemn'd in his Pastoral Part. 1. c. 1. T. 1. Paris 1586. The temerity of those which being ignorant and destitute of knowledg would presume to take on them the Office of Pastors never considering that the Conduct of Souls is the Art of Arts That is to say the Noblest and most Excellent of all the Sciences and withal the most Difficult the most Intricate and most Laborious and by consequence requires more Study and Care than any other whatsoever What a shame would it be for a Pastor to speak yet with the same St. Gregory Part. 2. cap. 11. in the same Treatise If he should go about to learn in the time that he should resolve the difficulties should be propos'd to him Whereas he ought always to be ready to give to Believers the satisfaction which they desire upon things which concern Conscience and Salvation This laudable Custom continued a long while after the Death of Gregory but since the Ninth Century the Examination of Pastors was insensibly brought to so mean a State that there needed not much Learning to Answer the Questions that were propos'd And to conclude The greatest part of the Vocation and Consecration of those to whom the Care and Conduct of Souls was committed consisted only in Shew and Ceremony or at least so little heed was taken of their Judgment and Capacity that there was seen to grow in a little time from a practise so different from that of the Primitive Christians that gross Ignorance which was the Spring and Cause of most part of the Evils and Disorders which have befaln the Western Church Not but that several Rules have been made to redress this great Mischief but it had got too deep root Besides Favour and Authority had a greater share in these promotions than the Glory of God and the Instruction of the People especially the Power of the Bishops of Rome who by degrees had gain'd to themselves the greatest part of Ecclesiastical Power bethought themselves about the XI Century to cause to be demanded or demanded themselves of the Bishops which were Examined and in the very moment of their Examination if they did not promise subjection and fealty in all things to St. Peter Tom. 10. Probl. Pat. p. 107. and to his Church to his Viear and to his Successors as appears by the Roman Order which in all likelihood was writ about that time and where is to be seen at this day amongst the Questions made to the Bishop which was Examin'd those which regard the Obedience and Fidellity which I but now mentioned and there is to be seen in the Roman Pontifical Printed at Venice in the Year 1582. Page 25. the Form of the Oath they were made to take and whereunto they ingaged themselves in doing it which are things quite different from the Discipline of the Primitive Christians I know very well that about the year 722. Boniface Archbishop of Mayence made an Oath to Pope Gregory the II. at the time of his Ordination and Promotion to the Prelacy but this Oath did properly contain no more but a Profession of Faith and the Essential Duty of an Apostollical Legat and of a Vicar of the Holy See as they express it which is to make Bishops observe the Canons and to give the Pope Information of the great difficulties which is therein I know also this Prelat Assembled a Council as he recites it in his 105. Letter to the Bishop Cuthbert wherein he made alike profession to the Bishops which there assisted but besides that all this was done but only by Order of the Princes and Bishops of the Kingdom as may be gathered from the very Letter of Boniface and from the 1st Canon of the Synod of Leptines where Prince Carloman protests That by advice of the Bishops and Nobles of the Kingdom he setled Bishops in all Cities and gave them for Chief and Superiour the Archbishop Boniface Legat of the Holy See Besides this I say these Examples now alledged went no farther if my memory fail me not before the time I mention VI. Him whose Ordination shall be signified to the Church shall Preach the Word Three several Sundays in publick but not Administer the Sacraments nor Celebrate Marriage in presence of all the People that they may observe his manner of Teaching The said People being expresly warn'd That if there be any one that know any just cause wherefore the Election of him so signified may not be fully ratified or that he be not liked of they may come and make it known to the Consistory who will patiently hear any one's Reasons to judge of the whole The silence of the People shall be look'd upon as a full consent But if there be murmuring and that the Party named is liked of the Consistory and not of the People or the major part of them his admission shall be deferred and the whole shall be reported to the Colloqui or the Provincial Synod to discern as well the Justification of the Person named as of his Reception and altho' the Person named was there justified yet he shall not be impos'd as a Pastor on the People contrary to their desire nor so much as to the dislike of the greatest part of them nor the Pastor in like manner against his will to the People and the difference shall be clear'd by order as abovesaid at the Charge and Expence of the Church which shall demand it CONFORMITY Although a Minister might be judged capable by the Synod or the Colloqui which have Examin'd him That is not sufficient to Establish him It is moreover requisite that the Flock that is appointed for him be satisfied with his Preaching therefore he is obliged to Preach Three several times before he receives the Imposition of Hands to the