subject could bear II. After these Sermons of which we have spoke there is a small work Intituled a brief exposition of the Lords Prayer and the Decalogue with the Doctrine of the Sacraments these treaties have been already published in Twelves they are extreamly short but one may there find the Lords Prayer and the ten Commandments explained in a good and correct method yet there is almost nothing essential which is forgot Altho the Author took pains for the Vulgar yet he did not omit to cite in the Margin the Fathers and Heathen Authors where he found it for his purpose as when he expounded these words in the Lords Prayer thy Will be done c. he cites Epictetus Plato Antoninus and Seneca Epictetus says in his Enchiridion if God will have it so let it be so and Plato in his Dialogue Intituled Citron affirms that Socrates being in Prison pass'd the time whilst he tarried there as one that resigned himself to God in every thing which should happen to him The Emperor Antoninus says that we must chearfully receive every thing that happens to us and the words of Seneca are no less remarkable Ego Secundum Naturam vivo si totum me illi dedo optimum est Deum quo auctore cuncta proveniunt sine murmuratione comitari c. hic est magnus Animus qui se Deo tradidit I live according to Nature when I resign my self entirely to him nor is there any thing better than to follow without murmuring that God that is the cause of every thing It belongs only to great Souls to commit themselves wholly to God Mr. Barrow in the beginning of his Exposition of the Decalogue says it seems at first sight That it rather contains the Laws of the Iewish State than their Moral Precepts since there 's nothing spoke of the manner how we ought to live in regard of our selves as to the Continency Sobriety or Devotion and which we owe towards God as to Prayer Thanksgiving Confession of sins c. It seems to have a particular respect to the Jews who were a chosen people and that God govern'd them after a more peculiar manner than other Nations in giving 'em Laws for every particular thing which was only accommodated to the State of the Israelites to whom God only made himself known and that so this Law does not oblige all Nations in that especial sense wherein it was given by the Holy Ghost After this he gives divers Reasons for which we yet ought to have the Decalogue in the greatest Veneration and to observe it exactly except the 4th Commandment which doth not oblige the observation of Christians in this that it is Ceremonial no more than the first Patriarchs who also were not the less pleasing to God notwithstanding the testimony of Iustin and St. Ireneus but Reason it self dictates that it is necessary to set some time apart in which we may more particularly apply our selves to Divine Service and in which Servants may rest themselves from Labour 't is this the Heathens themselves observed witness Plato who says that the Gods are touch'd with pity towards Men and because of the Labour which they are obliged to he permits 'em some repose and days of rest Legum Conditores says Seneca festos instituerunt dies ut ad hilaritatem homines publicè cogerentur tanquam necessarium laboribus Mr. Barrow says nothing of the Sacraments since there is enough spoken of them by the most able Protestant Divines In the beginning there is one thing worthy of remark Besides other Washings which he speaks of he shews that it was a Custom amongst the Jews that those who were dedicated to God were exhorted to repentance for transgressing the Law and were wash'd in publick Testimony that they should change their Life He maintained this assertion upon the success which the Baptism of St. Iohn the Baptist had for it wou'd have been without doubt rejected as an Innovated Ceremony in a time when the Jews had such an extravagant respect to their own Traditions that they wou'd have opposed it if not upheld upon an Antient Custom If this is so one might also conjecture that the Lustrations of the Heathens gave birth to this extraordinary Baptism for 't is well known that those who had committed some Crimes were to be washed by some publick person and even by Princes themselves whereof we find an infinite number of Examples in the most Antient History of the Greeks III. The third piece which is in this Volume is a Treatise of the Pope's Supremacy to which is added a Discourse concerning the Vnity of the Church There has been already published in quarto in 1679. by Dr. Tillotson to whom the Author had committed the Care of the Impression at his death the first Testimony in a small Preface He believes that Dr. Barrow has omitted nothing essential or what might be of any consequence in this Controversie he believes that there is enough to decide for ever all the difficulties and to disswade all wise men of either Party from writing any more upon this Subject We shall remark in few words the method of his Treatise to the end that we may have a general Idea of what is contained in it we have at the first sight a preface wherein the Author relates the different sentiments of the Doctors of the Roman Church touching the Authority of the Pope which some make Inferiour to that of the Councils whilst others are of a contrary perswasion yet he briefly gives us the History of the Original and progress of the Papal Power Mr. Barrow having remarked that all that is said on this Power can only be founded upon seven suppositions he divides his Work into seven parts and examines them one after another these are the suppositions 1. That St. Peter received from Iesus Christ the Preheminence amongst the Apostles and had given to him an Authority and Sovereign Iurisdiction over the rest 2. That the rights and advantages of this Soveraignty were not personal but might be transmitted to others and left to their Successors 3. That St. Peter was the Bishop of Rome 4. That St. Peter continued to be Bishop of Rome after he had left Judea and that he remained so till his death 5. That 't is from thence that the priviledges of the Pope do come as Successor to St. Peter to wit Vniversal Iurisdiction over the whole Church of Iesus Christ. 6. That the Popes have effectually enjoy'd this Power and have exercised it without discontinuations from St. Peter till now 7. That this Power could not be lost nor be lessened by any means whatsoever The Author admits that St. Peter might be the first of the Apostles in regard of personal qualities esteem and reputation but he questions his precedency in order or dignity It appears too great a vanity for a man that had the Vertue and Humility of St. Peter He supposes it is very probable
said also that Usher was a Bishop that he had made because that he had appointed him so without being sollicited to it by any person this Election was made in 1620. Returning into Ireland sometime after he was oblig'd to discourse some persons of Quality of the Roman Religion to administer to 'em the Oath of Allegiance and Supremacy that they had refused to the Priest this discourse is inserted in his Life he remarks the form of this Oath is compos'd of two parts the one positive in which they acknowledge the King is Soveraign in all cases whatsoever and the other negative in which they declare they acknowledge no Jurisdiction or Authority of any strange Prince in the estates of the King he says afterwards in regard of the first part that the Scripture commands that we submit our selves to the Higher Powers and that we ought to acknowledge that the power the Kings have whatsoever it may be is Supream as they are Kings upon which he cites this verse of Martial Qui Rex est Regem maxime non habeat That one ought well to distinguish the power of the Keys from that of the Sword and the King of England does not exact an acknowledgment of the same power that is possess'd by the Bishops but nevertheless the Kings may interest themselves with Ecclesiastical Affairs in as much as it regards the body since according to the Church of Rome 't is the Magistrates duty to punish Hereticks For that which regards the second part of the Oath where it 's said that we shall not own any strange power as having any Iurisdiction Superiority Preheminence Ecclesiastical or Temporal in the Kingdom He says that if St. Peter were still alive he would willingly own that the King had this Authority in Ireland and that he us'd the same in regard of all the Apostles that the Apostleship was a personal dignity which the Apostles have not left hereditary to any but nevertheless suppose it was so he sees not why St. Peter should leave it to his successors rather than St. Iohn who outliv'd all the Apostles that there was no reason to believe that St. Peter shou'd leave the Apostolical Authority to the Bishops of Rome rather than to those of Antioch this last Church being founded before the first The King writ to Vsher to thank him for this Discourse which produced so good effect He afterwards went into England by the King's order to collect the Antiquities of the Churches of England Scotland and Ireland and publish'd two years after that his Book intituled De Primordiis Ecclesiarum Britannicarum 'T was in that time that the King made him Arch-Bishop of Armagh The Winter following he caused to be brought before him the Order for Toleration of the Roman Catholicks and the Lord Falkland then Deputy for the King in Ireland convocated and assembled the whole Nation to settle this Affair But the Bishops call'd by the Primate oppos'd it with much heat as may be seen by a Remonstrance sign'd by ten Bishops besides the Primate and which is in the 28th page They also spoke of raising some Forces by the Joynt consent both of Catholicks and Protestants to hinder any differences that might arise in the Kingdom the Protestants refus'd to consent thereto and wou'd not hearken to discourse the Primate thereupon in the Castle of Dublin altho' his reasonings were founded upon the principal Maxims of the Government of Ireland and maintain'd by Examples drawn from the Antient and Modern Histories of that Kingdom During the time our Primate stayed in Ireland after he had performed the Duties of his Charge which he acquitted with extraordinary care he employed the remaining part of his time to study the fruits whereof were to be seen in 1631. in the first Latin book which he ever published in Ireland 't is his History of Godescalch Monk of the Abby of Orbais who lived in the beginning of the 6th Age there was soon made a small abridgment of the History of Pelagianism which was then extreamly dispersed through Spain and England when he comes to the History of Godescalch he explains his Doctrine and shews by Flodoard and other Authors of that time that those sentiments whereof Hincmar Archbishop of Rhemes and Rabanus Archbishop of Maynce accused him and which were condemn'd by their Authority in two Councils were the same that St. Remigius Archbishop of Lyons and the Clergy of his Diocess defended openly many opinions and odious consequences according to Vsher were fathered upon Godescalch because that this Monk who maintained the opinions of St Augustine about Predestination and Grace did not at all understand ' em Ioannes Scotus Erygenus wrote a treatise against him in which are to be found the principal heads of Vsher but Florus Deacon of the Church of Lions answers it and censures him in the Name of all the Diocess Vsher gave an abridgment of this Censure as also of divers other treatises as that of St Remigius Pudentius Bishop of Troy Ratramus Monk of Corbi who writ against Scotus for his defence of Godescalch there had been two Councils which established the doctrine of this Monk and condemn'd that of Scotus 'T is true that Hincmar published a very large Book against these Councils which he dedicated to Charles le Chauve as Flodoard reports who shews briefly what it is that this Book treats of but that did not at all hinder St. Remigius and those of his Party to convocate another Council at Langres where they confirm'd the Doctrine established in the former Councils and condemn'd that new one of Scotus These Controversies were still agitated in the National Council of the Gauls where nothing was concluded altho' Barancus and others voted that Godescalch should be condemn'd there On the contrary Vsher maintains that in an Assembly which was in a small time after his Sentiments were approv'd of Nevertheless this wicked Godescalch was condemn'd by the Council of Maynce to perpetual Imprisonment where he was severely treated because he would never retract his Errours There are still two Confessions of his Faith by which one may see there are many things attributed to him which he never believ'd after having made a faithful report of the Sentiments of this Monk and those of his Adversaries Vsher concludes that it were better for men to be silent upon these matters than to scandalize the weak in proposing to 'em such Doctrines from which they may draw bad consequences There has been adds Mr. Parr and always will be different Opinions upon the great and abstruse Questions of Predestination and Free Will which nevertheless may be tolerated in the same Church provided those who maintain these divers Opinions have that Charity for one another which they ought to have That they condemn them not publickly That they abstain from mutual Calumnies and that they publish no Invectives against those who are not of the same Sentiments To return to the Life of our Prelate who altho' he
in his Historical Dissertations p. 45 c. fol. IV. Bom after that takes another turn to Answer the Question of Episcopius touching the Institution of a Soveraign Judge over Controversies who succeeded the Apostles He asks of him a formal passage Wherein Iesus Christ hath ordered the Apostles that if there arose Disputes in the Church they should Convocate a Synod and make Decisions thereupon to which the Faithful should be obliged in Conscience to submit There is no appearance adds he that the Apostles should do it if they had not believed this Action conformable to the Will of their Master nor that the Primitive Church should so soon imitate them if the Apostles had ordered nothing thereupon It must then be that either the Institution of Synods is an Apostolical Tradition or that it is an inseparable Sequel of the Ministery and Promises that Iesus Christ hath made to those who exercise it I am always with you until the end of the World and other Passages which tho they are at every moment in the mouth of Catholicks seem not the stronger for that to Protestants Episcopius confesseth that Iesus Christ hath commanded no where his Disciples to convocate Synods and that notwithstanding they have done it He adds That according to their Example Ecclesiastical Assemblies may be held but that it followeth not that these Assemblies where none less than the Holy Ghost presides have as much Authority as the Apostolick ones The reason hereof is that the Authority of the Apostolick Synods depended not so much on the consent and conformity of their Opinions as on the quality of their persons and of the Authority which God had clothed them with by the Revelations he had made unto them and the Orders he had given them This will appear evident if we take notice of the conduct of the Apostles When they have an express command from God they expect not the Resolutions of a Synod for to act and St. Peter understood no sooner the meaning of the Vision which he had had but he went to Cornelius But when they speak of their own head they say I advise you 1 Cor. vii 25. On these occasions they took advice of one another Sometime they agreed not as it happened to Paul and Barnabas Act. xv 39. But commonly the spirit of Mildness and Peace which fill'd them and which shewed them all the Principles and all the Consequences of the Gospel brought them mutually to consult each other So that their actions being thus conducted by the Spirit of God they could say It seemed good to the Holy Ghost and to us But tho it was granted that the Convocation of Synods is of a divine Institution doth it follow that all the Synods and Councils which have been held after the Apostles have made good Decisions A Catholick denyes it and if he is asked the reason He must of necessity answer that what distinguisheth true Synods from false ones is that there have been some which have had all the Conditions necessary for a true Synod and have made good Decisions and the others wanting these Conditions have been but Conciliabula But how can it be known that these Conditions are assured marks of the Truth of Synods seeing that there is not one which is not equivocate according to some Doctors of the Roman Church And how can one tell what Synod hath them Will it be known by its Decisions But they should be examined and so to deny the Principle to wit that it might have pronounced a definitive Sentence Is it enough to assure it lawful that it be general Yes for the Gallican Church which receives the Council of Basil but not for Italy It must besides be confirmed by the Pope but who hath given him this Right Is it a Priviledge of the Successors of St. Peter How have they obtained it and whence comes it that the Bishops of Antioch who have succeeded this Apostle as well as those of Rome have had no share in it After all what needs there any trouble to prove the Authority of Synods when People are of the sentiment of Bom and the Iesuites And seeing that St. Peter and his Successours are the Soveraign Judges of Controversies what need is there of these Ecumenick Assemblies convocated with so much difficulty and Expences It 's not enough to interrogate this infallible Judge and to receive his Decisions as Oracles from Heaven The Passages which the Catholick alledgeth here in his behalf and the Answers which he hath made to those of the Protestants have been so often repeated that tho Episcopius refutes them sufficiently after a new manner we notwithstanding do not think it worth while to stop at them We shall only relate the manner wherewith our Professour translates the famous passage of the First Epistle to Timothy III. 15 16. because it is not common and that it destroyeth at once all the proofs which the Roman Church could draw thence Episcopius having proved against his Adversary as an illiterate Person that the Division of the Canonical Books into Chapters and Verses is not of the Sacred Writers and that it is not they who have put the Points and Comma's thereto he sheweth him that it is much more natural and more conformable to the aim of the Apostle to point this place otherwise than the common Copies are And to Translate it thus I have written this unto you That if I delay to come you may know how Men ought to behave themselves in the House of God which is the Church of the living God The stay and prop of Truth and the Mystery of Piety is certainly great God manifested in the Flesh c. When there is want of clear Reasons and convincing Arguments people are constrained to have recourse to Prejudices to Comparisons and to the Reasons of Convenience Therefore the Roman Catholicks say incessantly to us That God who well knew that there would arise Disputes in the Church upon Matters of Faith as there are Processes formed amongst Citizens of one State touching the Goods which they possess ought to establish a Judge who should be consulted at all times and who might instruct us in the true sense of Scripture in contested places and thus end the Differences It seemeth that Iesus Christ otherwise would not have taken care enough of his Church and the faithful who compose it seeing he would not have given them means of assuring themselves perfectly that the Doctrine which appears most conformable to Scripture is true if they might be in doubt as to several Articles of Faith and that what they should most determinately believe thereupon could not pass but for a a greater likelihood of Truth It must be granted that there would be nothing better understood nor more commodious than a Judge of this nature There would be no more need for one to break his Head in examining all things and to seek for truth it should be all found and People would go to Heaven
that the Apostles insisted upon no points of Ceremonies amongst themselves which should oblige 'em to a certain order as to precedency in walking c. he confesses that one might oppose to this the Authority of some Fathers but he maintains that their Authority is not of so great weight in these things which are not essential to Faith because that upon these occasions they followed their own thoughts and conjectures being as much actuated by the dictates of their imaginations as other-men altho St. Cyprian and other African Doctors assure us that St. Peter had only this Preheminence because that we might learn thereby to keep the Unity of the Church Mr. Barrow omits not to tell us that one might assent to the Priority of St. Peter and he gives there the same reasons for example he was call'd to the Apostleship before the others he was older c. That which can't be granted to St. Peter according to our Author is a Superiority of Iurisdiction whereof nothing is to be found in Holy Writ and which ought to be there contained and very clearly if it were a Doctrine of Faith according to this Rule of St. Austin Credo etiam hic Divinorum eloquiorum clarissima auctoritas esset si homo sine dispendio promissae salutis ignorare non posset The Author is very large in proving that St. Peter had not any Authority like to this over the Apostles and carefully answers the passages of the Fathers which the Roman Catholicks use to object to the Protestants on this occasion and he brings divers of the same Fathers frequently opposing themselves and very strongly confutes those arguments brought for the Superiority of St. Peter Mr. Barrow endeavours in the sequel to shew that the Priviledges of the Apostleship were personal and died with the Apostles according to that Maxim of the Law Privilegium personale personam sequitur cum persona extinguitur That if the Fathers say that Bishops are Successors of the Apostles they also say it indifferently of all Bishops They cou'd not say any thing more than this that the Apostles have established them to govern the Christian Church after 'em not that any of them has succeeded in the utmost extent of the Apostles Charge but because that every Bishop governs the Flock which is committed to him Singulis Pastoribus says St. Cyprian portio gregis adscripta est quam regat unusquisque gubernet c. Episcopatus unus as he adds in another place cujus à singulis in solidum pars tenetur He afterwards attempts to shew that the Episcopacy of St. Peter is incompatible with his Apostleship and that none of the Antients believed that he was the Bishop of Rome where he could not stay long altho' it is pretended he continued many years 'T is said on this occasion that he who wrote the Letter by some supposed from St. Peter to St. Iames does not misrepresent the personage of this Apostle since it makes him to say If whilst I am alive they dare raise so many falsities upon me what will not posterity undertake He maintains yet farther that St. Peter was not Bishop of Rome because there were others there in his time to wit Linus established by St. Paul and Clement established after Linus by St. Peter himself There are yet brought many other Reasons drawn from Antiquity After having refuted the four first Suppositions of the Roman Catholicks he remarks that since they are the only foundation upon which the fifth can be upheld it must necessarily be false since the preceding ones are so which he believes he has sufficiently proved He yet maintains farther which is more than needful that when they grant to St. Peter all the Roman Catholicks attribute to him it would not follow that the Bishop of Rome should be his Successor This he shews all along by many Reasons and by the Testimony of the Fathers as well as by Sacred Writ he much enlarges upon the Inconveniencies which would be in obeying the Bishop of Rome as the only Successor of the Priviledges of the Apostles and he says amongst many other things that the Popes have render'd that definition true which Scioppius has given to the Roman Church viz. Ecclesia est Mandra sive grex aut multitudo Iumentorum sive Asinorum He also mentions the History of the Establishment and the Jurisdiction of the Metropolitans or Primates and maintains that as they were established by Humane Prudence so they might also be abolished by the same Power and other things of this nature which entirely ruine the Authority of the Pope The Author after this applies himself to shew that the Popes since St. Peter have not enjoyed without discontinuation this Soveraign Authority which they usurp since they have not had the power to convocate general Councils nor to preside there nor to make Laws or oppose themselves to the Canons of the Councils and lastly that they enjoy'd not for many Ages the other Rights of this Soveraignty There is in this Chapter the History of the Convocation of General Councils and the oppositions which have been made divers times against the power of the Bishop of Rome In fine Mr. Barrow engages the last supposition of the Roman Catholicks to wit that the Supremacy of the Popes could not be ruined He brings many reasons to evince that it might cease and that when it was granted to the Pope it might happen that he could lose it by the faults he should commit or personal defects as if he turn'd a Heretick because St. Ambrose says those who have not the faith of St. Peter cannot be his Successors Non habent Petri haereditatem qui Petri fidem non habent quam Impia divisione discerpunt and this frequently happens as Dr. Barrow says acccording to the Ancients and is yet seen to this day if we may believe the Protestants whose reasons the Author proposes very strongly in enumerating the sentiments of the Roman Church which are considered as very erroneous 'T is this which contains the treaties of the Popes Supremacy the other follows to wit the Vnity of the Church where Dr. Barrow designs to prove that Vnity may well subsist without the necessity of the Christian Churches having a visible head He engages to shew that the Unity of the Church consists in this that all the Christians do agree in Fundamentals particularly in those which have a necessary connexion with Piety and the Practice of good works and in this that they be joined in the bond of mutual charity c. He afterwards shews in what manner the Christian Churches may root out Heresie and Schism without the assistance of a Visible Head and keep at the same time a Conformity of Discipline in things of the highest consequence even when it cou'd not be established but by Humane Prudence but he yet maintains that this last Union is possible in supposing certain things which are
more than 10000 Volumes they were forced to refuse considerable sums from the K. of Denmark and Cardinal Mazarine who had a desire to buy ' em But Cromwell oblig'd the Heirs to sell them for much less than they were worth to his Neighbours in Ireland to make a Present of it to the University of Dublin in imitation of Queen Elizabeths Army who after the Victory at Kinsale brought back from the Spaniards and the Rebels in 1603. 1800 l. sterling that is more than 7000 Crowns which they gave to the same University Dr. Parr after that gives us a Character of the Person good Works and Learning of the Archbishop of Ardmach which is not in the Original It 's said when they open'd his body to embalm him they found a strange Membrane Thick and very Fat which was like the continuation of the Omentum and extends it self to the upper part of the Stomach being fasten'd to the Peritonaeum a little below the Diaphragma 'T was suppos'd that this Membrane contributed much to the goodness of his Stomach that no Diet injured him Dr. Bernard a Divine Printed after his death a collection of some English Treatises Intituled the Iudgment of the late Primate c. where he speaks first of the Spiritual Babylon of which 't is spoken Apoc. 18.4 and 2. The Imposition of hands Hebrews 6.2 and of the words formerly used in the Ordination Thirdly The Forms of Prayer which are used in the Church It 's thought fit to speak of the principal works of this Celebrated Archbishop because that there are many men that knew but a part and even some but the Titles of 'em he left many other imperfect writings which have not yet been Printed that may be seen in the Catalogue at the end of his Life he wish'd that they might be publish'd in form of Miscellanies that they may be the better read by the publick there are many Booksellers beyond Sea that wou'd be glad to Print this work An Appendix is added to the end of Vshers Life where is a Defence of what he said against Dr. Heylen in a Book Intitul'd Respondit Petrus where he accuses him of being of a contrary opinion to the English Church Secondly The Letters which compose the second part of this Volume are not all of the same equal importance there are some of pure Civility which contain nothing but news others where the Archbishop declares he hath sent for and receiv'd certain Books on which he raiseth queries the solution of which is not to be seen in this collection others wherein he only speaks of particular affairs and of certain useful things concerning the Ecclesiasticks of Ireland The third Letter contains the project of a work of William Eyre a learned Cantabrigian he propos'd to defend the points of antiquity and the vowels of the Hebrew against Ios. Scaliger who had said that the Masorethes were Invented a long time before St. Ierom and to remark all the varieties of reading in the Old and New Testament to shew that there is no corruption slipt in there he design'd this in 1607. and 't is not known whether he accomplish'd it As to the Old and New Testament we are sure that Buxtorf and Cappel have drain'd the subject and treated more of it than he could if we may judge by his project There are ten Letters and eleven opinions of Vsher and Samuel Ward upon the collection and number of the Antient Canons Vsher writing to this last in 1608. tells him that he believes that the first collection of the English and Greek Canons contained only those of the first oecumenical Council and of five Provincial Councils after which was join'd thereto the Canons of the other oecumenical Councils as in the sequel This appears chiefly by these words of Dionysius Iunior in the Preface to his Greek Canons dedicated to Stephen Bishop of Salones in Dalmatia Regulas Nicaenae synodi Deinceps omnium Conciliorum sive quae antea sive quae post modùm usque ad synodum 150 Pontificum qui apud Constantinopolin Convenerunt sub ordine Numerorum id est à primo Capitulo usque ad 165. Sicut habentur in Graeca auctoritate digessimus cùm sancti Calcedonensis Concilii decreta subdentes in his Graecorum Canonum finem esse declaramus Harmenopulus in the Preface to his Abridgments of the Canons of the Greek Church reckons twenty Canons of the Council of Nice twenty five of that of Ancyra fifteen of Neocaesarea nineteen of Gangres twenty five of Antioch and sixty of Laodicea that amounts just to 164. which with the first Canon of the Council of Constantinople which followed according to Dionisius the five national ones we have been speaking of amounts Just to 165. Secondly If from the time of the first collection they had had the Canons of the first General Council they would not have placed 'em after some of the National ones but immediately subjoined 'em to that of Nice Vsher doubts if at the same time they added to this Collection the Councils of Constantinople and Calcedon and also that of Ephesus because Fulgentius Ferandus cites it not and 't is not well known whether they were the Canons of Ephesus which are supposed to be collected from Issidore being very different from those that are found in the edition of Tilius There was an Antient Latin version of the Greek Canons before Dionysius Iunior as he witnesses in his Preface but being in some confusion he reprinted the same anew with additions placing before them the fifty Canons of the Apostles which he translated from the Greek having finished the Canons of the Greeks at the Council of Chalcedon he there also adds the Sardick Canons and those of the Council of Africk which he had not inserted before in the body of the Canons We can't find that he hath spoke of these Sardick Canons added by Dionysius and Ferrandus after the year 530 They were unknown even to the Greek Church tho' afterwards they were added to the collection of the Greek Canons A certain Author who liv'd about the time of Iustinian did not compose his collection of Ecclesiastical Constitutions but the Canons of the Apostles and those of the ten great Councils as they were call'd to wit the Councils of Ancyra Neocesarea Nice Gangres Antioch Laodicea Constantinople Chalcedon and Carthage He makes no mention of that of Sardis of which the Canon seems to have been form'd to encrease the Popes Authority when 't is seen they attempted in vain the same thing at the Counsel of Nice Usher afterwards makes some reflections upon the Roman Copy of the Greek Canons he says there is nothing is this version of Dionysius except the Canon of the Apostles but what is also in the Antient version or some other for there have been many as Vsher proves by the suppos'd collection of Issidore and by Hincmar Archbishop of Rhemes There were no more Councils in the Roman collections
afterwards in what manner the Apostles consecrated the Sabbath particularly by this passage of St. Ignatius to the Magnesians Non amplius sabbatizantes sed secundum Dominicam Viventes in qua vita nostra orta est But this matter hath been more largely treated upon by others and Vsher confesses when he read the Fathers he collected nothing upon this subject because he thought there was never any controversie about it produced amongst the Divines Those that desire to understand all the Antient Characters of the Saxons may find an Alphabet thereof in the 253 Letter from Dr. Longbain as also divers Letters that treated by the by of Chronological questions and Astronomy but as there is nothing compleat or very considerable upon these abstruse matters upon which few persons will give themselves any trouble 't was thought unnecessary to make any extract thereof I shall say but one word of the 267 Letter addressed to Lewis Cappel where our Archbishop takes against him the part of Arnold Boat the difference that was between these two Learned men may be reduced to these two heads First Boat believed there was very little variety of reading in the Old Testament as the differences of Keri and Chelib and of the Eastern and Western Copies and that these varieties were not to be found but by the means of the Massore and from the Hebrew Manuscripts Cappel on the contrary maintains that the number of these varieties are very great that they may be collected from many ancient Copies and particularly that of the Septuagint although much corrupted The Archbishop says also that we can't have such assurance upon this version where there are many prodigious faults and so very many differences that the Authors connot be made use of but as an Original very corrupt even without speaking of the errors produced by malice but there is no Book of the Scripture where they are so far from the Original as that of Iob which by the Authority of Origen and St. Ierome is proved that these Interpreters have cut off a great number of verses Vsher maintains after St. Ierome that they added and changed several passages He says 't was occasioned by malice to keep from the Greeks the knowledge of the Sacred Oracles having shewn in some places that they were very capable of translating it well had they been Inclin'd thereto as in the Book of Ezek. where they are much more conform to our Hebrew than in the other Books of the Scripture according to the works of St. Ierome These Sentiments of Vsher are not to be wondered at when we consider what hath been said of his opinion concerning the Author of the Translation of the 70. Secondly Boat and Vsher believed that they began to work at Massore immediately after the time of Esdras whereas Cappel maintains that it was not so much as thought on till 600 years after Christ Vsher endeavours to maintain his Sentiment by a proof drawn from the Gemare of Babylon Which makes mention of Certain Scribes who counted all the Letters of the Law and mark'd that Vau which is in the word Gachon Levit. 11.24 is exactly in the middle in regard of the number of the Letters c. On which occasion Usher speaks of Ioseph and tho he confess'd to Cappel that Philo did not know the Hebrew he agrees not with the Jewish Historian who had written his History in Hebrew as himself saith and who drew it from the Original Hebrew Vsher says nevertheless that he hath not done it faithfully As Ierome Xavier the Jesuite saith 't is not long since he gave the History of the Evangelists to the Persians which he hath adjusted as himself pleas'd Ioseph gave formerly to the Greeks the History of the Old Testament changing therein and adding thereto many things drawn from the Apocriphal Books 'T is thus that he says Solomon Reigned 80. years in stead of 40. and that he says David Left for the use of the Temple 100000 talents of Silver instead of 1000000 He adds to the Text an account of Moses Age from three years of the War he made with the Ethiopians and of Tharbis son of the Ethiopian King which conceived a great love for him c Vsher speaks also of the Samaritan Pentateuch from whence he brings 5. or 6 Copies first into Europe He believes that it was corrupted by one Dosthes or Dositheus which in the time of the Apostles was suppos'd to pass for the Messia amongst the Samaritans this is founded upon the Authority of St. Origen who assures us in express terms that this Dositheus corrupted the Pentateuch in many places He afterwards brings some passages in the Samaritan Pentateuch where he maintains that the numbers or the words were chang'd he even believes that Hebrew was intermix'd with the Greek Septuagint If that were true we ought not to be surpriz'd to find that this translation is more conform to the Samaritan text than the Hebrew Vsher also pretends that there is not more variety of reading any where than in the Greek Version Tom. 8. p. 174. The Antiquities of the British Churches in which is inserted the History of the Pestiferous Heresie introduced into the Church by Pelagius a Britain against the Grace of God To which is added an historical Exposition of the most important dispute about the Succession and State of the Christian Churches By James Usher Archbishop of Ardmagh Primate of Ireland The Second Edition Each part Corrected and Augmented by the Author himself At London 1687. in Fol. pag. 738. THE British Antiquities of Usher are composed of three parts the first containeth six Chapters and includes the fabulous History of the Progress of the Christian Religion in England since the year XLI of Jesus Christ to the year CCI. The Monks of the last Ages have almost entirely invented it and whatsoever truththere may be in it is so mingled with gross lyes that in divers places of the Pagan Fables are found more footsteps of truth than in these Monastick Histories Neither doth Vsher propose them as true he is so far from that that he advertiseth the Reader to believe nothing of it by these terms of the Epicharme Watch and Remember to be incredulous are the sins of Wisdom and by these words of Euripides there is nothing more profitable to mortals than a wise incredulity 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 As it is certain that a great many men do but too much follow this maxim in our Age So it cannot be doubted but a great part of Christianity hath need enough to be put in mind thereof What is most likely in it to be true is according to the testimony of Gildas which hath been related elsewhere that some person Preached the Gospel in England towards the end of the Reign of Tiberius which continued here until the time of Dioclesian At least Tertullian and Origen reckon England amongst those Countries that in their time had
the Gauls The conduct of Victor pleased not all the other Bishops who exhorted him in their turn to have sentiments conformable to a Peace Unity and Love to our Neighbours There are still of their Letters adds Eusebius wherein they reprehend Victor with eagerness enough Amongst these Bishops was Irenaeus who in the Letter which he Writ upon this Subject in the Name of the Brothers over whom he presided among the Gauls maintains also that one Sunday must be Celebrated the Resurrection of our Lord yet he advertiseth Victor with much gravity that he ought not to cut off from the Communion whole Churches of God who observe a Tradition and Ancient Custom It will be some difficulty to believe that Bom found in this Affair a Proof of the Authority of the Pope Notwithstanding it is the conclusion he draws from it and grounds 1. Upon that the Bishops who were displeased at this Excommunication would undoubtedly have acted with more haughtiness against Victor if he had not been their Superior whereas they speak unto him with a mildness which marks well that they contested not the Right of Excommunicating the Churches as not being of his Jurisdiction but that they only found fault with the use he made thereof the cause of the Excommunication not being of consequence enough according to them 2. That notwithstanding they were deceived in that and that Victor did well to use this rigour because Blastus one of the principal Patrons of the Opinion of the Asiaticks would have introduced Iudaism under this pretence 3. That the Church approved of the Conduct of Victor in condemning the Bishops of Asia to whom was given the name of Quartodecimal Hereticks 4. That Irenaeus himself hath not doubted of the Superiority of the Bishop of Rome seeing he saith elsewhere That all the Churches must to wit all the Faithful of what place soever they are come to this Church in which the Apostolical Tradition hath been preserved by those who came to it from every Part because of its more powerful Principality Ad hanc enim Ecclesiam propter potentiorem Principalitatem necesse est omnem convenire Ecclesiam hoc est eos qui sunt undique fideles in qua semper ab his qui sunt undique conservata est ea quae est ab Apostolis Traditio To this Episcopius Replies That the Answer of the Bishops of Asia and the Letter of Irenaeus would not be very respectful if Victor had been the Chief of the Church that the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies properly to give a contrary order and those of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 acerbius perstringere are not invented to express the submission of a Subject to his Prince and that if these Bishops could take it ill that their Judge a pretended Soveraign and Infallible should banish from the Church and exclude from Heaven so great a number of Churches for so slight a cause they have therefore thought that he might be mistaken in his Decisions upon matters of Faith and that they had a right to examine them 2. That the Heresie of Blastus justifies not the proceedings of Victor seeing the Asiaticks looked not upon the Celebration of the Passover as a necessary Observance and which should precisely be applyed to such a day that they were contented that Victor and other Bishops should Celebrate it on Sunday if they had their Reasons for it but that they having not the same proofs thereof believed themselves not obliged to abandon the Apostolical Tradition It hath not been remarked that our Professor answereth the passage of Irenaeus because we need only to read it throughly to shew that there is no mention there of the Right of the Bishop of Rome in the Decision of Controversies but only of the Characters which they in the time of Irenaeus did acknowledge Apostolical Thereupon he saith That it must be sought for in the places where the Apostles have established Bishops but because it would be too long to make an enumeration of all the Apostolick Churches he stops at one of the most ancient and greatest which is the Church of Rome As this City was the Capital of the Empire Principalitas Potentior and that for that Reason the Inhabitants of divers Provinces negotiated there and were obliged to come thither Irenaeus concludes that the Apostolical Tradition could not fail of having been faithfully kept there since that if the Christians of a Province or of a City had been minded to corrupt it the Christians of other places who were at Rome would have opposed it it being improbable to suppose that so many different Nations would agree to abandon in so little a time the Doctrine of the Apostles II. Bom often alledged passages out of St. Augustin for the Authority of Popes that gave occasion to Episcopius of citing him the 22d Canon of the Council of Millan where St. Augustin was Secretary and another Canon of the 6th Council of Carthage where this Bishop also assisted both which prohibited the drawing Ecclesiastical Causes of the Diocess of Africk on the other side the Sea whether they regard the Inferior Members of the Clergy or the very Bishops That the Deputies of the Pope having represented to the Assembly That this Canon destroyed the Priviledges which the Council had granted to the Patriarch of Rome in permitting Ecclesiasticks to appeal unto him in Judgments had against them by the Ordinaries the Bishops of Africk were extreamly surprized and said all Unanimously That they never heard of such Priviledges Thereupon these Deputies related three Canons which they said to be of the Council of Nice the Fathers of Carthage to Constantinople Alexandria and Antioch and the Authentick Copies of this Council where not finding these three Canons they Writ to the Pope That the Right of Appealing which he pretended to in quality of Supream Judge and belonged not to him by virtue of the Council of Nice seeing the Three Canons upon which he grounded his pretentions were not to be found in the Originals The Exceptions are reduced to this 1. That the Council of Millan prohibits but the Inferior Clerks to Appeal beyond the Sea and that this is evident because Pope Innocent to whom the Synod of Millan submitted all their Decrees as to the Head of the Church approved the Canon in question 2. That there is no reason to believe that the Copy of the Council of Nice which was kept at Rome was supposed but that there is much more likelyhood that those of Constantinople Antioch and Alexandria were defective seeing the Manuscript upon which Ruffinus Writ his History was so and that there are several Canons of this Council cited in that of Calcedonia and in St. Ambros St. Augustin and Ierome which are not found in this Historian 3. That the Decrees which are accused of Supposition have been cited by other Popes before Zozime as Iulius speaks who living but Twenty years after the Council of Nice could easily have been convinced
Divines who pretend that Episcopacy is of Divine Institution maintain at the same time That Saint Iames Bishop of Ierusalem was not an Apostle But St. Paul gives him the Title of an Apostle They say That this first Bishop of Jerusalem had a right of entring into the most Holy Place and to carry a Golden Reed as the High Priest of the Jews But it is certain at least that St. Epiphanes mistook when he relyes upon the Authority of Eusebius to prove it For Eusebius never said any such thing speaking of St. Iames and there is a great likelyhood that this is one of these false Traditions which cannot be applyed to any of the Apostles Besides the Apostles there were Prophets in the Christian Church whose Charge consisted chiefly to edifie the Church by the Exposition of the most difficult passages of Scripture They penetrated sometimes into the time to come and foretold its events Justin Martyr assures us that this Gift of Prophecy continued also to his time But it was soon extinguished For when Montan begun to publish his Revelations the Churches of Phrygia were moved thereat and these motions of wonder and admiration are formed commonly on unheard of events or which are extreamly rare The Author affirms this Maxim That Prophecies are not well understood until after their accomplishment Opinions have been always much divided about the duration of the Ministery of Iesus Christ who is the Head of the Church St. Irenaeus refuting the Valentinians is fallen into a great Excess For he believed that Iesus Christ lived almost 50 years The most common opinion is that he Preached the space of 3 or three years and a half Mr. Burman takes another Party and maintains that Iesus Christ Celebrated but two Feasts of the Passover whence he concludes That he could live but a year and a half after his Baptism The last Passover wherein Iesus Christ Instituted the Sacrament of the Eucharist makes another subject of Contestation The Greeks who think they have a great Interest to maintain That Iesus Christ Communicated with Leavened Bread pretend That he Celebrated his last Passover after the Wednesday at night This opinion which is established by them but since the Dispute they had with the Roman Church upon the Azymes deserves not much examination Scaliger hath not been ashamed to retract and to refute himself upon this matter For after having inclined to the Greeks he maintains at last That there is reason to believe that Jesus Christ eat the Lamb of the Passover a day before the greatest part of the other Jews who begun to Celebrate the Feast but on Friday at Night Our Author believes on the contrary That all the Jews were forced to Celebrate the Feast the same day because it was necessary to kill all the Lambs in the Porch of the Temple The almost infinite number of these beasts which were to be killed and which if Iosephus may be believed amounted to Five Millions five thousand six hundred troubleth him not He believeth that the great number of Priests who assisted at this Service was sufficient for this great Execution Not mentioning that each private Man had a right to kill his Lamb provided it was in the Porch of the Temple which was so big that in the time of Solomon there entred into it 22000 Oxen 12000 Sheep besides the other Sacrifices which the People offered Yet there remains a great difficulty For the Lambs were not begun to be presented but at the Ninth Hour to wit at three in the Afternoon and Iosephus assureth us that this Ceremony ended about Nine of the Clock So though the Temple should be spatious enough to contain the number of Lambs the time would not be long enough to kill them The last Disputes concern the Eucharist But as this matter hath been treated on very often we will make an end here A Famous SPEECH of Monsieur Cocquelin Chancellor of the Church of Paris in 1686. IT is the Custom amongst the Divines of Paris before the Cap is given to those who have accomplished their License to present them by a Doctor to the Chancellour of the Cathedral Church The Doctor who presents these Licentiates makes a small Discourse in their Praise to which the Chancellor answers by another Discourse As this which Mr. Cocquelin hath made this year on the like occasion hath had something singular in it as well for its Eloquence which how natural soever it is to the Author had not notwithstanding appeared with so much lustre but for the fine and delicate turn wherewith he manag'd his Subject when he treated on the Affairs of the times and by the fine Poem which he added to it We have thought we could not do better than to begin with this Piece which hath fallen by chance into our hands and to gather together the scatter'd Pieces which we have promised to impart to the Publick when they should deserve to have this Justice done them Here is then what he saith VIris eruditis è Theologica Palaestra Biennio quolibet secendentibus Viri Ecclesiae Parisiensis Proceres sapientissimi Patres Auditores humanissimi non defuit huc usque neque decrit unquam laborum laudisque sibi conciliandae seges si modo quod in scholis didicerint ad summum perducere pro rerum pro locorum pro temporum opportunitate impendere ad bravium de quo hodie Apostolus at que immarcescibilem corenam totis viribus contendere voluerint Et sane quamvis pro uberrima Sacrae facultatis Theologicae Paris feracitate ex ipsius sinu viri in omni sacrarum litterarum genere quantum patitur aetas exercitatissimi longè plures uno quoque biennio prorumpant quam ex toto quantus quantus est reliquo Christiano orbe quod nihilominus apud Apostolos Christus olim Dominus pronuntiavit effatum illud ipsum labentibus exinde perpetuo saeculis merito proferri potuit poteritque inposterum Messis quidem multa operarii vero pauci At nunquam ejusdem Christi aliud oraculum vos Apostolos ad fidem religionemque praedicandam adhortantis aequiori jure quam in praesentiarum possit usurpari quo verae sapientiae candidatis ejusdem fidei religionisque aut disseminand◠aut propagandae pro nostro munere concedamus Licentiam Videte aiebat Deus ille generis humani servator videte Regiones quoniam jam albae sunt ad messem Enimvero quicumque hactenus sacrae Facultatis Theol. Paris stadium emensi praeivere vobis ad coronam Galliam quae monstris ad Calvinum usque caruerat aut totam Catholicae fidei deditam aut nascentem haeresim quae proinde tunc contemptui potius quam timori habebatur aut jam adultam atque roboratam atque adeo cui evertendae inutilis ut plurimum opera navabatur divino sacrae sapientiae lumine illustrandam aggressi sunt vobis vero Licentiandi meritissimi id unum ex divinae providentiae
Life of Christ though perhaps the Reason that Eusebius was the Person that first takes notice of it might be this that these Letters lying in the hands of the Arch-bishop of Edessa were not come to the knowledge of the Greeks because they were written in Syriac and that Eusebius first Published them in the Greek He cites also other Pieces that many Learned Men have censured as Counterfeit among which are the Acts of Pilate from whence Tertullian hath taken what he saith in his Apologetic touching I know not what Design of Tiberius to put Jesus Christ into the Number of the Roman Deities See what Mr. Le Feverre saith of this History in his Epistles Dr. Cave makes no long stay on the Preaching of the Apostles but passing to the Third Part he there considers first the Progress that the Christian Religion hath made in the World after the Apostles time secondly What contributed to so great and swift a Growth as that of Christianity in spight of all the Persecutions that it suffered and then gives a brief History of them Of which according to the common Opinion he reckons up Ten and he advances many other things that the Learned have contested about as the silence of the Oracles c. It is not long since the Ingenious Dodwell made it appear that the number of these Persecutions was very dubious and that an Author of the United Provinces shews there was no certainty in the Reason that was generally given for the pretended silence of the Heathen Oracles 1. Without rehearsing what all the World knows of Saint Stephen by reading the Acts of the Apostles he tells us ancient History teacheth nothing certain of the Extraction Place Birth nor Life of this first Martyr Baronius maintains as he says upon the Authority of Lucian Presbyter of Ierusalem who lived about the beginning of the Fifth Age that Saint Stephen was a Disciple of Gamaliel as well as Saint Paul who became his Enemy after he was Converted to Christianity But Dr. Cave saith he found nothing like it in this Letter Others say he was one of the Seventy Disciples Be it as it will he was certainly one of the Seven first Deacons that the Apostles Establish'd in the Christian Church and who were supposed to have been all Greeks by Nation but of the Iewish Religion As Nicholas one of them being a Proselyte of Antioch 't was thought all the rest might be Proselytes of Ierusalem The Apostles being employ'd about things of greater Importance were obliged to remit to other Persons the Care of Serving the Tables which was to make it their business to relieve the Poor and buy sufficient Provisions to refresh them this they called Agapes to manage the Treasure of the Church and to distribute to each according to his Necessity The Office of Deacon answers very well to the Signification this word hath in the Heathen Authors where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies a Servant whose place it was to wait on Guests at the Table or a kind of Carver Dr. Cave believes that the Charge of Deacon extended much farther and that when the Eucharist was celebrated in these Agapes the Deacons were imployed to distribute it As was practised in the Christian Church in Iustin Martyr's time which his second Apology sufficiently testifies where he says the Deacons distributed the Bread and Wine to the Assembly after it had been consecrated by the President Besides which they Preach'd Baptiz'd and Absolv'd Penitents especially when they were empower'd by the Bishop The Apostles establish'd but seven Deacons the reason is apparent without seeking for Mysteries 't was because that number was sufficient Nevertheless the Fathers of the Council of Neocesaria ordained there should never be more than seven Deacons in one City founding their Canon on this Practice of the Apostles Sozomen tells us also That in his time there was no more at Rome altho' in other Churches they observed not this Rule These Deacons made by the Apostles met with violent Opposition in performing their Office from one or other of the Synagogues whereof if the Rabbins are to be credited there was at Ierusalem to the number of 480 besides Colleges in which Dr. Cave believes young Persons were instructed in the Law St. Stephen was first set upon by those of the Synagogue of the Libertins Alexandrians the Cyrenians of Cilicia and of Asia on whom the Author makes some Remarks and particularly upon the first To understand who these Libertins were 't is necessary to know that Pompey having subdued Iudea brought from thence a great number of Slaves to Rome and the Governors of Syria and Iudea who succeeded Pompey did the like there was so many of them when the Jews sent Ambassadors to Augustus that Iosephus says there was near eight thousand of their own Nation that joyned themselves to them They continued in that Slavish Condition till by degrees they were all made Free which happened in the time of Tiberius who permitted them to live a little beyond the Tyber as Philo informs us Among these Jews were without doubt no small number of Libertins or Free-men who had their Proseuques or Chappels where they assembled together to pay their Devotions Every Year they sent a Summ of Mony to Ierusalem instead of first Fruits and deputed some among them to offer Sacrifices in the name of the rest Tacitus and Suetonius report That afterwards the Senate sent to Sardina four thousand young Men of the Jewish Nation that were Free to clear that Isle of the Thieves that were very Incommodious to it Tacitus likewise says That all the other Jews and Proselites were banished from Rome and even Italy it self Dr. Cave supposes many of these Enfranchised Jews took occasion from thence to return to Ierusalem and established a Synagogue there which was call'd The Synagogue of the Libertins Of the Members of this Society 't is that St. Luke speaks when amongst those that were at Ierusalem on the day of Pentecost he says There were Strangers from Rome Iews and Proselites The Violence of these Men was so great that they run upon St. Stephen to Stone him without observing the accustom'd Formalities in the like cases if what the Rabbins report thereof is true As thus when they brought the Delinquent to the place of Punishment a Man stood at the Door of the Sanhedrin with a Handkerchief in his Hand which he waved to an fro that some one might undertake to speak in Favour of the Criminal and by this sign to advertise a Man on Horse-back which was at some distance to ride full speed to bring back the accused Person and defer his Punishment till they had heard all that could be said in his Favour Sometimes he was brought back four or five times if he said he had any thing to represent to his Judges in defence of himself But as the Laws of the Thalmud often much resemble those of Plato it is no
were not forbidden the last 7. That there were few Disputes in the Church concerning Morality There are many Tables at the end some Chronological ones observing the times in which the Holy Writers and Ecclesiastick Authors Flourished with that of their Birth and Death others that serve to distinguish the true Works from the Supposititious There are also Alphabetical Indexes for Authors and for the Subjects they treat on De Antiqua Ecclesiae Disciplina dissertationes Historicae Autore Ludovico Ellies Du Pin Saerae Facultatis Theologiae Parisiensis Doctore An Historical Dissertation upon the Ancient Discipline of the Church by Mr. Du Pin Doctor of Divinity At Paris 1686 in 4to THE Author speaks very freely against the Ambition of the Court of Rome and for the Liberty of the French Church He vigorously maintains the Independence of Kings Superiority of Councils and other points which have a long time caus'd many Disputes between France and Rome which altho' it does not run into an actual Schism yet it does into a Virtual one but it wou'd be something very humbling to the Roman Communion if its Divines had not wholly betaken themselves to the Asylum of Providence For in fine never to agree upon the Principle of infallibity and to dispute eternally upon Pretensions of the greatest importance and by a fundamental Rule which the two Parties agree upon I mean Tradition is not this Eagle against Eagle and Rome against Rome It not this to discover its Nakedness to all Passengers And what will become of it if this last Remedy is wanting that God being willing to try our Faith permits this great diversity of Opinions about the Authority of his Vicar Indeed we must confess this is a great Latitude for a mans Faith But let us see Examin what Mr. Du Pin says in his 7 Dessertations which are in very good Latin He proposes in the I. to shew the Ancient Form of Church-Government and to this end he shews the division that was made of great Bodies into Metropolis's Iurisdictions ArchBishopricks Exarchats and Patriachates He tells us the Names and Privileges of those that possess'd these different dignities and as these things had not a beginning all at the same time nor have continued in their original terms he forgets not to observe their rise and different changes the name of Metropolitan he believes was not used in the same sense we take it now before the Council of Nice and he says that that of Arch-Bishop was not known before the Fourth Age when they some times gave it the Pope and some other Prelates of the greatest Towns but that afterwards it was given to all Metropolitans There were also Bishops amongst the Greeks which took upon 'em the Quality of Archbishops Not because they did not see very well that to do things in order theâ— ought to add a Title with the real thing signified but it depended not upon themselves to extend their Jurisdictions over other Bishops they must therefore accommodate themselves to an abuse that they desired to cure by joyning with the Word the thing it signify'd Simplicibus Episcopis says the Author Speciosum Archopiscopi Nomen sibi vindicare haud difficile fuit At subject as alijs Ecclesias sibi subere non iâ— a facile There are also at this time in Italy Archbishops who have no Suffragans What he says upon the word Patriarch is a very learned account of the Variations and Fortune of this Word and may be surprizing to those that imagine Ecclesiastick affairs have been always the same Tho' they will be yet more astonished says the Abridger when they shall know that Mr. Du Pin proves by very good reasons that the charge of Metropolitan or Patriarch was neither instituted by Iesus Christ nor his Apostles but that it proceeded from the rank that was held in certain Cities according to the division of the Provinces by those who in the Roman Empire had such a place in the Civil Government It s very Natural to suppose that those who were Pastors in Capital Towns had some Authority in the Province because it s very necessary that the People shew'd have recourse to them if any difference happen'd amongst 'em wherein they needed advice or determination This introduced a Custom that displeased not these Pastors and from whence they were very willing to deducea Title and Right to Possesiâ—n Natural Order requires it and when Nature wills a thing it s very rare that she does not accomplish it Thus from the First Ages the Archiepiscopal degree of Hierarchy began to form it self which afterwards passed by little and little into custom and then the Canons confirm'd it and thus the Ecclesiastical Government was divided according to the Form of Civil Government so that when some Cities were the chief of many Provinces their Prelates had also some Authority over the Metropolitans for that Reason the Churches of Rome Antioch and Alexandria became the Principal ones the First in the West the Second in the East and the Third in South Constantinople was rais'd to the same degree after it became the Seat of the Emperours As for the Church of Ierusalem it was the same but not for the greatness of the place but because of its Primogeniture Rome Antioch and Alexandria aquired Privileges beyond other Seats either by time Learning or the Liberality of their Synods Thus we may translate the words of Mr. Du Pin Vel sibi vindicarunt vel a Synodâ—s Concess a receperunt He gives many proofs for what he advances concerning the rise of Metropolis's after which he gives a particular account of the distribution of the Ecclesiastical Government which was regulated after the form of the Civil Government and when he comes to the division of the Gauls he forgets not the difference between the Archbishops of Arles and Vienna nor the Priviledg of Primate which some French Metropolitans enjoy He is very large upon the Authority of the Patriarchs and maintains that Rome had always the First Rank but that it's Jurisdiction extended no further than the Suburbicary Provinces since elsewhere he had no power to command the Metropolitans which is one of the particular Prerogatives belonging to the Patriarchs He confesses that the Popes have enlarged the limits of their Patriarchate more than they ought and that they have since ruined the Priviledgs of all Metropolitans He examins the Objections of the contrary Party and many difficulties which are represented about the Patriarchate of Constantinople the Sixth Canon of the Council of Nice and some other Passages One of these Two things cannot be deny'd when so many Innovations are Visible either that for some time the Popes remitted a part of their Right or that they have Usurped over other Prelates The First is much more unlikely than the Second But there is another Question which extreamly perplext those that are not used to dispute viz how so great a number of Learned Men can be so confidently accused of
suspected places viz. the Roman Libraries in quorum MSS. certum est pleraque eorum quae Curiae Romanae placitis adversabantur esse erasa aut omissa It is certain that almost every thing which was contrary to the Maxims of the Roman Court was either taken away or omitted in the Manuscripts of their Libraries I shall speak more fully to the last Dissertation of Mr. Du Pin where he pretends to prove that neither Pope nor Church have any power either direct or indirect over the Temporalties of Kings 1. Because our Lord exercised no Temporal Jurisdiction 2. That all the power that he gave to his Apostles was only to publish the Gospel'Baptize to Bind and Unbind Sinners to Celebrate the Eucharist to separate the Wicked from the Church and Establish a Discipline 3. Because Christ and his Apostles forbid the Church to exercise any Temporal Authority 4. That according to the opinions of the Ancient Popes and Holy Fathers the power of the Church extended no farther than Spiritual Affairs 5. Because the Primitive Church exercised over its Members only the pain of Deposition and Excommunication for when She desired to put an end to her Rebellions by Penalties and Exiles She had recourse to a Secular power Mr. Du Pin adds that if in the following Ages the Church had the power of Condemning to Temporal punishments it was by the Concession of Princes To prove this first he shews that Jesus Christ suffered not his Apostles to make use of the Sword or to wish for fire from Heaven upon those that resisted them Secondly he relates a hundred fine passages of the Fathers who say very positively that Religion ought to constrain no one These are the same passages that the Refugees alledge to the French Converters to shew them the great difference between the Maxims of the first Ages and these Dragooning Missioners who compell'd the Protestants to Sign another Confession of Faith But what use wou'd Mr. Du Pin make of this Does not he see that M. Schelstrate will answer him 't is a mocking of the World to refer 'em to such Maxims as the Fathers themselves laughed at when instead of suffering Persecution they were in a Condition of making others suffer Does not he see that if these Maxims were good the Clergy of France cou'd not justify the Approbation which he has given of the Conduct he maintains In a word these Maxims are perfect Burlesk if the Church can have recourse to a Secular power forcibly to constrain Hereticks to enter into its Communion Common sense plainly says that if Jesus Christ forbid his Church to use Violence he has also forbidden their desiring such Assistance from Kings and if he had permitted them to compel Persons by the Intervening of Kings he has not command them in case of Necessity to make use of all the power they can furnish themselves with I mean by the credit they may have with the Multitude But all this is inconclusive Thus Mr. Schelstrate ruins his Adversaries if we come to Arguments ad hominem But it s true the proofs of Mr. Du Pin considered abstractedly are very solid I mean those which I have already spoken of and those that he founds upon the Nature of the Royal Power for he plainly shews by Scripture and the Fathers that it depends upon God Almighty that its only justifiable in him and that the Church is only obliged to suffer with patience where Princes abuse their Power These Maxims were so evident to the Holy Fathers that St. Ambrose who durst not abandon them in retaining a Church contrary to the Orders of the Emperour nevertheless he set a great value upon himself because he practised no other Resistance than that of Sighs and Tears See how Witty Men are mistaken if they are not Orthodox in their Actions they are at least so in their Words The Answering these Objections it seems Mr. Du Pin has found much difficulty in for altho' he proves very evidently the opinion that he wou'd refute is New yet he cannot Demonstrate it to his Antagonists because they may maintain that they are Truths that have continued a long time undiscovered and now are made manifest to the Church The Mystery of Transubstantiation is of this Number since M. Allix has shewn us that before the Council of Trent it was strongly rejected This is therefore indeed what was never revealed as an Article of Faith till the 16 th Age. Why may not they also say that the Power of the Church over the Temporalties of Kings is another Truth that lay undiscovered till Gregory the Seventh This is a little perplexing but the Council of Constance the Terrible Shield of the French Church is yet more difficult I shall only speak a little to that of all the Learned Disputes of the Author against Cardinal Bellarmin who to prove that the Temporalties of Moriarchs ought to submit to the Tribunals of the Church has Collected in one Piece all matter of Fact that he has found in Ecclesiastick History and the Old Testament with all the Reasons that his great Wit and Learning cou'd furnish him with From whence it appears that we may learn a thousand curious things in the answer of Mr. Du Pin to this Famous Cardinal We find many places in the Acts of the Council of Constance where it attributes to the Church the Right of Deposing Princes but we shall content our selves with relating the words of the 14 th Session where 't is Decreed that all those who observe not its determinations shall be eternally Infamous and deprived of all Dignity Estate Honour Charge and Benefice Ecclesiastical and Civil altho it should even be a King an Emperor a Cardinal or a Pope The Council of Basil Decreed the same thing Mr. Du Pin answers to that 1. That 't is a Menace without effect 2. That we may understand it shou'd be done only with the consent of Princes and by their Voluntary Submission 3. That as it was done in a time when the general Opinion attributed to the Church any power over Kings so these Decrees were rash 4. That these Councils determined it not in Form since they did not examin it but spoke only according to the General Style of the Prelates of that time so that this cannot be a Decision made Conciliariter It wou'd be needless to tell the Reader that these Answers neither taken together nor separately can any way injure this Decree from whence it follows either that the Church has a Right to depose Soveraigns or that it has made a very false Decision I say Decision fâ—r 't is as impossible to make a Decree without defining the the Doctrin which is the Insparable foundation of this Decree as it is to declare this particular Proposition for an Article of Faith We ought to believe St. Peter because he was inspired of God without declaring this General Proâ—osition as an Article of Faith we must believe all those that speak by the