very inconveniently and indiscreetly enjoyned in another And therefore though such Apostolical Constitutions deserve Veneration as being unquestionably bâ—st Fitted to the then present Churches yet it remains in the Power of Church-Governours to lay them aside upon just Occasion and Constitute Others in their Room as may be most for the good of the Churches Again some Traditions concern the Practice of the Universal Church which obtained in all places and these have their Ground and Warrant from Scripture but their particular Determination from church-Church-Authority which is still preserved to us by Tradition Of this we have a clear Instance in the Fasts and Feasts of the Church as Gods Signal Mercies require our Solemn Thanksgiving so our own Sins especially the publick Call on us openly to Humble our Souls before God and to give manifest Testimony of our Repentance Besides to tame our unruly Affections and Fit us for the discharge of our 〈◊〉 Acts of Mortification are very requisite To this the Scriptures direct us and thereof gives us many Instances But when this shall be done I mean publickly for as to private Thanksgiving or Mortification relating to Mâ—ns private Concerns they may usâ— their â—â—scretion provided that they thwart not the Orders of the Church is partly pointed out to us by the times when such Mercies were received or Evil done and partly determined by Ecclesiastical Authority And this even Natural Reason it self doth so fully teach that there never were any Men of any Religion how barbarous soever but they had their Solemn Fasts and Feasts Upon this Account I was very sorry to find a Relation in Mr. Ricaut St. of Turk to this Effect That certain Fanatical Merchants of ours Residing at Sâ—â—…rna and some other parts of the Turks Domiâ—ionâ— being observed to keep neither Fast nor Feast but to use every day alike all Persons presently esteemed them as Men of no Religion and â—ook'd on them as Persons who thought they had no God against whom they could offend nor from whom they had or might hope to receive Favours But though these Men were of our Countrey they were not of our Communion And we are not to Answer for thâ—ir ill Examples who have forsaken us chiefly for this Reason that they might take their full swinge in Running a Whoring after their own Inventions The most Ancient â—eaâ—ts and Fasts are Appointed by the Constitutions of our Church and 〈◊〉 by the Laws of the Land If we regard not some in the Roman Church it is because they are Apparently of later date and introduced by their own Authority which obligeth not us Besides we much doubt of the Popes Skill in discerning these later Saints but more of his power to make them such If it be observed that our own Fasts and Feasts are ill observed among us I grant it to be true but I say it is not our fault Ill Men and ill Times have been and still are too hard for us and not to Complain of the too many Obstructions of Discipline without which no Church can long stand much less flourish which is the Reason that all Parties whatsoever have unanimously combined to hinder the Exercise of our Discipline that by that means they might have opportunity upon all Occasions to make their full blow at the Church it self though our Church hath had the Laws on her side yet she hath ever had the Lawyers without whom the rest could have done nothing her Enemies who have made even the Laws themselves either insignificant or hurtful to Her I speak not of the whole Body of them for there are many Honest and Honourable Persons amongst them But there want not enough who are sworn Enemies of Church-Discipline and all Ecclesiastical Authority who lay Trains and Snares for the Governours of the Church if they execute it And if any Man be Constrained to defend the Sanctions or Rights of the Church they will encourage Parties and make Interests against Him lead him thorough all the Courts in the Kingdom till they have undone him And expose Him as if he were the vilest Man living They will neither suffer the Censures of the Church to take place nor her Rights to be gotten Nay more I will be bold to say that partly by quite discharging some Tithes and by Erecting lewd Modâ—s's and upstart Customes and other Sly Tricks they have deprived the Clergy of one fourth of what the Bare-faced Church-Robbers left And if they be suffered to go on at this Rate they will in some few Generations insensibly Begger all the Livings in the Kingdom Now what can we do against these and many other powerful and inveterate Opponents whom I will not Name Our Constitutions are good We wish and endeavour what we fairly can that they may be kept They must Answer it to God Almighty who will not suffer it But to leave Complaining where we are like to have no Remedy and return to our Matter As to Traditions of Matters of Practice distinction must be made between the Matter of the Tradition and the Circumstances of it Tradition as to Circumstances may differ in different places and may be Altered by the Power of the Church Thus as to the Feast of Easter all Agreed in the Tradition that it was to be observed But divers Churches disagreed about the time of its Observation so that whilest some were Fasting and had not Compleated their Lent others had Entred upon the Feast of Easter Here the Church interposed her Authority and to prevent Disorder and Confusion reduced the Observation to a certain time though it did not take place without a great deal of trouble so tenacious are people of Ancient Usages and therefore ought Governouâ—s to be very tender of disturbing them without wâ—ighty Reasons But then as for the Matter of such Traditions which are genuine and truly primitive as of the Observation of Easter and the first day of the Week commonly called The Lords Day c I cannot perswade my self that even the whole Church hatb Power to Alter or Abrogate them What may be done in Plenitudine Potestaâ—ts I will not dispute because it is a thing I have no kindness for For when Persons will be judges of the Extent of their own Authority they will be sure to Câ—rve liberaâ—ly for themselves And when they will be Acting to the utmost Sounds of it the odds is ten to one that they go beyond them Lastly other Tradâ—tions there may be whiâ—h relate to Doctrine but this could be nothing but what the Apostles taught and therefore must be fetch'd from those they taught it to And so must be derived from the first primitive Churches If it stâ—rted up after it was an Innovation not a Tradition though older then Augustine or Ambrose for there could be no Tradition but from the Apostles and wherein the Churches immediately following them unanimously Agree as to their Doctrine It serves well for the Explanation of the Sense of Scripture as hath been
shewn But then it becomes not our Rule though it is an excellent Help for a Rule ought to be full obvious and useful He that will pretend it full has doubtless an Aking Tooth at the Holy Scriptures to explode them as Useless and then he will leave us no Rule at all for this pretended Rule is neither obvious nor useful as a Rule For to fetch the Doctrines of the Christian Religion from the unanimous Consent of all the Apostolick Churches is a Work for which not one in a thousand is capable Nay take twenty for one of their own Priests and either they are not able or shall not be suffered to Attempt it And is this Fit to be set up for a Rule in a Matter of the Eternal Salvation of all Men which the most cannot and many if they could must not use This and some other Reason I could give make me suspect that the â—ridentines in defining the Scriptures and Tradition to be Received Pari Pietaetis affectu ac reverentiâ had this in their Eye that under the pretended Authority of Tradition they might foist in those Corruptions which they knew the Holy Scriptures would by no means patronize But to leave this Matter and draw a Conclusion from the Premisses if according to our Constitutions for we are not to Answer for the Miscarriages of any particular Persons both our Doctrine and Discipline our Government and Worship are good and justifiable then we cannot be Hereticks If the Roman Patriarchate extended not to these Isles then the Maintaining or Re-assuming our just Liberties cannot make us guilty of Schism as to his Patriarchship but the first is proved therefore the latter must be true XLV I should now have done with this Matter were there not one Trifle in my Way Men who are Resolved not to be Convinced will be sure to say any thing rather then be put to Silence And so the Romanist when driven from all his Posts Cryes out You were once of the Roman Communion anâ did Pay Obedisnce to the Bishop of Rome There was a Coaluion and therefore there must be a Schism Now though the Answer of this is plain from what hath been said yet some Men must be particularly Answered in every Impertinence or else they will Cry up their Tristings for unanswerable Arguments Whoever denied there was a Schism Do not we bewail it and heartily wish that Peace were Restored to the House of Israel That all Churches held a sweet Correspondence and all Christians might Communicate in all Churches wheresoever they came without any Scâ—uple of Conscience as in the primitive times But our Enquiry is Who are in the fault And that the Romanists are the guilty Party I have in some Measure proved and shall do it more fully hereafter if it shall please God to Vouchâ—afe me Life and Leasure But to say the Truth there is a subâ—il Gincrack in this Objection which when they speak out runs thus You were once Vnited and Lived in Obedience to the See of Rome and are now gone off from it What do you tell us of Corruptions Faults or ill Actions of the Church of Rome You cannot be safe till you be reconciled and again Vnited to it because that Church is the Mother and Mystress of all Churches and the Source of all Authority This is indeed a nimble Way to take for granted the main Matter in dispute And if they could as easily prove it as they are ready to beg the Question it would go very far But by the Way take Notice how streightly She hath bound all other Churches in Fetters and what a swinging Priviledge She hath Cut out for her self Let her do what She will all others must follow Her Let her do nâ—ver so iâ—l none must so much as Accuse Her Let her hold here and She is safe enough It is well Conâ—rived if these wicked Cross grain'd Hereticks would but believe it They who Claim such ample Privileges ought to produce their Charter But when they come to proving they produce nothing but such wretched stâ—ffe that Men are at a loss to return them an Answer by being struck wiâ—h Admiration at their Impudence That other Churches have as good Authority as the Roman is already pâ—oved and shall be more fully in due place And therefore this Asserâ—ion is an insolent Affront and Abuse to all the Churches of God But yet 〈…〉 Answer That supposing some Pâ—eeminence did belong to the Church of Rome thâ—t cannot Justify them in an ill Cause If ever any Church should Claim to be the Fountain of all Authority the Jewish Church whether as Mosaical or Christian seems to bid the fairest for it Upon that Stock as I may sâ—y were the Christians Grafted What Prâ—eminence St. Paul allows the Jews above the Gentiles you may read Rom. the 11th and elsewhere And what particular Respect all the Apostles had to the Jews how forâ—earing they were towards them how yielding to them how tender of them and now careful and desirous to Maintain Communion with them the Scriptures every where Testify But yet when they became obstiâ—ate and spake evil of Christianity even St. Paul himself depaâ—ted from them and separated the Disciples Acts 19. 9. Now we have cast off a Usurped Authority and Reformed some insufferable Abuses For this the Pope not only with the Jâ—ws speaks evil of us but thrusts us away and Curseth us Let him pretend what Privilege he will if we be Schismaticks we are Schismaticks with St. Paul And in so good Company we are nothing concerned though the Pope and his Teazers Rail and Bark at us all the Way we go It must needs be saith our Saviour Matt. 18 7. that Offences come but Wâ— to that Man by whom the Offence cometh So deplorable Schisms there be and perhaps more or less will be till the dissolution of all things put an end to them But then Wo be to that Man who to Maintain his enormous Greatness tramples on his Fellow Bishops and Tyranâ—izeth over all Christians and unless they will buy Peace at his unconscionable Rates will not suffer the Wounds of the Church to be healed nor her Breaches made up Nay if they should yield to him it might indeed be some kind of uniting like Brethren in iniquity but then it would be only a debauching not regulating the Church So that it was not for nothing that Marcellus the second in a Silent Melanâ—holick posture Leaning his Head on his Hand at length broke forth into this Expression I do not see it possible how a Man in this High Dignity â—aâ— be saved But let them look to that for having put in an Answer to the Claim of the Western Patriarch and briefly Justified the actual Separation I shall now Examine whether the so much boasted Councel of Trent can do them any better service CHAP. V Of the Câ—uncel of Trent I. THough the best things by the Frowardness and Contrivance of wicked Men and Seducers may
of any Communion in the Christian World may safely joyn in it When any bring their particular Objections whether Romanists or Others they shall receive their Answers As for the Romanists I am apt to think that they would rather adde to it But because we think those to be such Matters as would corrupt it That must be Tried by the Examination of Particulars which is not the business of this place XLIII As for the Ways or Means of Coming to the Knowledge of the Catholicism of any Doctrine I know but two whereon the Ancients laid any Stress Scripture and Tradition The Sufficiency of the Scriptures as a Rule of Faith or that they contain all Matters in themselves necessary to Salvation we not only Maintain but further say That since God hath been pleasâ—d for the securing us from the scailtic of Mens Memories the Mâ—â—guidance of Mistakes the Cheat of Imposâ—ures and the like dangers to Cause his Will to be put in Writing and Compleat the Canon of Scripture The Scriptures are the only sure and infallible Rule of our Faith And whatsoever is fetch'd from those Fountains cannot but be Oâ—thodox and Right Here is our sure Ancho-Hold and in this the Fathers go along with us Nobis saith Teâ—tuâ— de Praescrip Curiositate opus non est post Christâ—â—n Jesâ—m nec Inquisitiâ—ne post Evangeluâ—m And Salviâ—n de Guber Dei lib. 3. p. 67. Si scire vis quid â—â—nendum est habes Literas sacras Perfecta Ratio est hoc tâ—nere quâ—d legeris He that Affects Citations may heap up enough to this purpose Nor doth it do the Romanists Cause any Service That many of their Authors speak so meanly and disgracefully of the Holy Scriptures for 〈…〉 do not well â—ear to Hear the Confessed Word of God 〈◊〉 â—reâ—ted And Mr. 〈◊〉 seems to Me to have been very impâ—â—dent in Entitling Part of his Answer to Dr. Tenison A Conâ—â—tation of 〈◊〉 â—octors Rule of Faith for the Doctors Rule of Faith was no other then thâ— Scriptures And a Conâ—utation of them would of all others be the Work for a Christiâ—n If a difference Arise Who shall Interpret this Râ—le I Answer First That whosoever Interpreteth he is bound to his 〈◊〉 And it is not therefore the sense of the Rule because he saith it but he is therefore in the Right because he gives the true Meaning of it If he speak his own and not the Rules Meaning he doth not Interpret but deprave Secondly I Answer That if the Priests Lips ought to preserve Knowledge and the People to seek the Law at his Mouth then we have a Succession of Lawful Pastors duely Authorized who no more depend on the Romanists then the Romanists on them And so we stand seized of as good Authority to interpret Scripture as any they can justly pretend to And that we use it more duely and rightly may appear hence That we not only diligently use all lawful Means to come to the Knowledge of Truth but Condemn all those ill Arts which obscure or coâ—rupt it We have no Index Expurgatorius to Expunge or Alter any Passages in the primitive Fathers or any other honest Authors if they do not please us yet by this one base unpardonable Artifice the Romanists whilst they have been undermining the sufficiency of the Scriptures have shaken the Authority and weakned the Evidence of Tradition and so disarmed the Church of her best Weapons of Defence for certainly a Tradition is best proved by those who lived in or near those times when it was delivered But how shall we believe their Testimony when their Writings are daily Curtail'd Changed and Falsified at pleasure And had not that God who takes Care of his Church caused the Cheat to be discovered it would have done more Mischief then all the diligence and pains of all the Romanists in the World could ever have made a just satisfaction for But this it is for a particular Church to set up for Infallibility which is a point that can never be gained without putting out the Eyes of all at present living and stopping the Mouths of all that went before them For though I beleeve that God will never desert his Church in all parts of it in Matters necessary to Salvation yet he has not given her any Power over the Faith but She is Tied to that and that alone which was at first delivered to the Saints And if the Roman or any other Church or an Angel from Heaven should teach any other doctrine then what we have received they ought to be so far from being regarded that if we follow St. Paul they ought to be Accursed That we Adhere to the Scriptures the Romanists cannot justly blame us because they themselves Acknowledge their divine Authority For see the Council of Trent doth Sess 4. decret de Caen Script ' but they accuse us as too strict Scripturists upon two Accounts First because we Admit not Tradition to be of equal Authority with the Holy Scriptures Secondly because we receive not several Books as Canonical or of unquestionable divine Authority which they have thrust into the Canon As for Tradition and its Authority I shall Treat of it more distinctly in the next Paragraph and there answer this Accusation As for the Canon of Scripture we own the very same and no other which the Church of God hath Handed down to us after the Canon of Scripture was Compleated As for those Books Called Apocrypha which the Council of Trent first made Canonical it is Apparent That we do not by that Title utterly Condemn them but rather Repute them of an Inferiour or Ecclesiastical Authority because we Read them in our Churches for Instruction of Manners and inciting to good Living And sometimes use them for the Illustration of Doctrine but never to Introduce or Found any Doctrine upon and this is as much as the Ancients allowed them The Jewish Church was the Keeper and Preserver of the Canon of the Old Testament as much as the Christian is of the Old and New now But they had none of those Books in their Canon And therefore if any Assert that those Books do belong to the Canon the Consequence will be That the Jewish Church did not preserve the Canon of Scripture entire and true and for the same Reason any one may suspect the Christian and so render the Authority of the whole dubious So injurious are the Romanists to the Faith it self whilest they set up their own Authority against the whole Church of God Besides if they will not own that we received the entire Canon of the Old Testament from the Jewish Church they ought to tell us from whom we did receive it and to whose Custody it was Committed till the time of Christ and his Apostles But whoever will be at the pains to read the Scholastical History of the Canon of Scripture Written by our Learned Dr. Cosins Bishop of Duresme will be abundantly satisfied that the
Tridentines under pretence of Tradition have Enlarged the Canon of Scripture contrary to the Tradition of the Church of God in all Ages even to their own time Thus when Modern Mens bare word must be allowed a sufficient Authority to Vouch a Tradition a Pretence of Tradition is set up against the truth of it and so Tradition it self rendred doubtful or useless And therefore I shall not trouble my self to pursue those many particular shuffling pleas which they use to Justify themselves in offering violence to the Sacred Canon But if you would know the true Reason which it was their Business to Conceal I believe Spalato hath Hit on it Suas non poterant Naenias ex Sacrâ Scripturâ verè Canonicâ probare ideoque noluerunt permittere uc sibi aliae Scripturae etiam non Canonicae eriperentur quo suas qualescunque haberent pharetras unde spicula desumerent ac praeterea viderent ac praeterea ne viderentur re in aliquâ Protestantibus cedere aut consentire maluerunt etiam falsa tueri definire de Repub. Ecc. lib. 7. cap. 1. Num. 28. XLIV He that doth believe the Scriptures to be the Word of God must of course believe their Sufficiency or that they contain all Matters necessary to Salvation for they give this Testimony to themselves And he that believes them to be the Word of God must believe the Testimony they give either of themselves or others St. Paul saith They are able to make Man wise â—◠〈◊〉 2 Tim. 3. 15. 16. But that cannot be so unless they contâ—in at least all things necessary thereto But though the Scriptures be thus sufficient and contain a certain Sense in themselves yet by reason of the distance of timâ— when they were Wrote through Unskilfulness in Oriental Customes and Phrases â—hâ—re they were Wrote through Ignorance of some partiâ—ular Tâ—ners which â—ome Argumentative part of Scripture is Levelled against and such like Câ—useâ— But above all through the Perversâ—ness of evil Men and Seducers it so falls out That those Scriptures which are of a certain Sense yea plain in themselves are made obscure to us and we eithâ—r become doubtful of thâ—ir Meaning or follow a wrong Meaning for what is or can there be so plain and easie which some wicked Men have not or cannot render intâ—icate and pâ—â—piexâ—d especially to weak Judgements and facile Tempers Now for the Discovery of the true Sense of Scripture in this Case true and genuine Tradition is possibly the best Heâ—p and surest Resuge and to Wrest the Scriptures out of the Hands of Hereâ—icks and Restore the Rule to its true Force right Use and proper Meaning perhaps there is not a surer nor more â—ffectual way for our Llessed Saviour Himself Wrote nothing or at least nothing which he designed to be a perpetual Standard and Rule to all his Followers It is said indeed John 8. 6. That He Wrote with his Finger on the Ground But what that was no Body can tâ—ll Eusâ—bius indeed Records an Epistle of his to Agbarus but if the Story be true and I have no mind to derogate from the Reputation of so Learned and Industrious an Historian yet it was to a particular Person in Answer to a paâ—ticular Request And the principal Contents are a Promise That after his Death oâ—e of his Disciples should come and both Cure and Instruct Him Nor was it ever Accounted as any part of Canonical Scripture The Apostles indeed being Led by the Spirit into all Truth not only tâ—ught it to the then present Age but Committed it to Writing for the benefit of â—â—sterity But then they Wrote nothing contrary or disagreeing with what â—hâ—y preach'd and taught both before and after they wrote And there is no doubt but that those Doctrines which they Comprized summarily in the Sâ—ripture were expounded more fully in their daily Conversation aâ—d conâ—â—nâ—ed discharge of their Ministerial Function If there oâ—e any doubt or Controversie did Arise concerning the Meaning of Scripture there could be no better way to determine it then by enquiring in what Sense those Churches understood it which the Apostles had planted St where upon all Occasions they at large Explained themselves for it is certain That the Apostles â—est knew their own Meaning And when they were no longer living to tell it let witty or wicked Men make never such a Bustle or fair Shew it will be very difficult to pâ—rswade any sober Men but that those must needs best know their Meaning to whom the Apostles themselves most amply discovered it Now it being the great Business of Hereticks to corrupt the Scriptures and wrest them to a wrong sense that they might seem to have a sufficient Authority patronizing their Errours When it so Hapned the Ancient Church usually declined the Nice Way of Cavilling and Captious Disputes and feâ—â— to enquire what was the Doctrine and Sense of the Apostolick Churches for it could not be but that those to whom the Apostles had preached all their days must better understand their Meaning then any Upstarts who followed their own Imaginations and were fond of New and pâ—stilent Notions And by this means they not only Silenced Hereticks but wrâ—ng the Sâ—riptures and the Interpretations of Them out of their Hands and then turned them against them And whilst Apostolical Men were living this was a sure Way And so far as such Tradition can be proved to have been preserved genuine and true it is still a good Way And when the Romanists have endeavoured to bring the Cause to this Issue I think they have had no great Cause to boast of their Gains Witness to avoid Naming many the Controversie Managed by Bishop Jewel and Harding But then as to Tradition these Cautions would be observed 1. That this is no prejudice to the Scriptures being the only sufficient Rule of Faith for though the Apostles wrote and taught the same things and so both were alike a Rule to the then living Persons yet when those things were put in Writing it was for this very Reason That a Sure and Certain Rule might be Preserved for Posterity For Tradition might in time be mistaken forgotten or corrupted But the Scriptures would remain unalterable So that the Scriptures are the Rule to us though there are many Helps to lead us to their true Meaning of which perhaps genuine Tradition is none of the worst But this makes nothing against the perfection and sufficiency of the Scriptures which contain all things necessary to Salvation though they do not find us Eyes to see nor Ears to hear nor Brains to Consider though God doth all this and all other Helps abundantly All Arts and Sciences are supposed to be Complete in themselves and to contain Rules sufficient to instruct a Man in them And yet some of the Noblest of them can never be thoroughly Attained unless a Man be first Instructed in the Rudiments of some other Arts or Sciences preliminary and preparatory to them But the
whose Brains are Heated with Enthusiasm beyond any Hope of Cure even those who are too Active and too Guilty in promoting Division do yet upon any sober Discourse freely Acknowledge That it is not only a good and a pleasant thing for Brethren to dwell together in Unity but also that it is a duty incumbent upon every Christian in his Station by all honest means to promote it not only amongst his own party but with all Others who have Given up their Names to Christ And I wish they were as serious in their Practice as they are free in their Acknowledgments and would not amongst themselves Teach some private Tenets to Ensure their Partizans whilest they discourse at another Rate with those whom they are too apt to Esteem their Adversaries II. And in the first place If we Consider the Nature of the Christian Religion what can be more evident then that all its Principles and Doctrines as they are most inseparably Knit together and subservient to each other so they tend to Effect and Confirm the strongest Unity amongst the Professors of it Saint Paul beseeching the Ephesians to Endeavor to Keep the Vnity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace presseth them more particularly with this very Argument There is saith he Eph 4. 4. c. one Body and one Spirit even as ye are Called in one Hope of your Calling one Lord one Faith one Baptism one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all And in this Profession we have all Engaged our selves to be the faithful Servants of God and of Christ and therefore ought joyntly to Serve the Interest and Maintain the Honour of our Gracious and common Master Nay we not only hereby become Servants but have the Honour of being Friends of Christ Adopted Sons of God and are taken into the same Family and Houshold And of how heinous and insufferable a Crime they are Guilty who are troublesome in this Family and make Factions in this Houshold we may Learn from that Saying of our Saviour Matth. 3. 25. If a House be divided against it self that House cannot stand III. But possibly it may deserve our particular Consideration That the Holy Scriptures speak of all Christians as being incorporated into one Body and that in such a manner that the Hopes of our common Salvation depends upon our being Members of that one Body Hence in relation to our first Admission or Insition we are said to be all Baptized into one Body and that whether we be Jews or Gentiles bond or free 1 Cor. 12. 13. Hence also our progress and Growth in Christianity is Attributed to that Nourishment which as Members is Communicated to us by this Body the Body it self being Fitly Framed and Joyned together by all parts drawing it from Christ the Head Eph. 4. 15 16. Col. 2. 19. Hence the Church of God is said to be his Body Col. 1. 24. and this Church not to be many Bodies but one Eph. 4. 4. and that we might understand That Salvation is not to be acquired but by being Members of this Body We are Taught That Christ Works our Salvation by Reconciling us into one Body Eph. 2. 16. And for this Reason the Apostle calls Him The Head of the Church and the Saviour of the Body Eph. 5. 23. from these and many other places of Scripture of the like Nature hath arose that common Axiom Extra Ecclesiam non est Salus Which the Ancient Fathers have upon occasion Excellently Explicated pressed and proved against Schismaticks But I have no mind to make a Flourish with Citations in a matter so well known though I wish it were better Heeded Only before I pass away I shall take the boldness to leave these Remarks 1. That all particular Christians as Members of the same Body are Reciprocally bound to each other not only in the Common Offices of Justice but even of Love Kindness and Christian Succours So that if the Man live in England or Armenia at Rome or Geneva in the Enemies Countrey or our own if he be a Christian I ought to wish and pray for his good and if occasion be offered in no case to decline the Promoting the good of his Soul And if Circumstances will permit of his Body and Estate also Secondly That Christs Church and his Body being terms convertible it must consist not only of the Present but of the past Ages even of all that either have or expect Salvation by Christ So that no Person by any Endeavors whatsoever can in the ordinary way diely hope for Salvation as being a Member uf this or that particular Church otherwise then as that particular Church by a Succession of Doctrine and Worship and consequently of Lawful Pastors and Governours without whom such Worship cannot be duly Performed is united to and Embodied with the Catholick Church of God for even the present Church diffused over the Face of the whole Earth though it may be said to be Catholick in respect of particular Churches and of its Authority as to the present living Persons yet in it self it is not Catholick otherwise then as deriving from and united to the Church of the foregoing Ages running up unto Christ their Head Neither can any that comes after be accounted Catholick but as an accession to the former And this if well Weighed might be a means to make Men very caâ—tioâ—s how they gathered separate Bodies without extraordinary good Grounds Thirdlâ— that though every Schismatick do affront and injure the whole Church of God yet the greaâ—est detriment is to himself The Church may lose an unprofitable Member but he loseth himself For if Christ be only the Saviour of the Body none can dividâ— from it without apparent hazard of their own Salvation So dangerous a thing is the Sin of Schism though so lightly esteemed in our dayes IV. But here some who are ready to catch at every Twig and think themselves just drowning and lost if they must be bound to live peaceably and to be wise only to Sobriety will Object That such are the various apprehensions inclinations inteâ—ests education and prejudices of Mankind That this Doctrine as meeting with insuperable Difâ—iculties cannot be admitted without very great Abatements and Allowances To these I might justly Answer That in this Case I am not concerned for their Prejudices Interest or any such Matters And it were much better if they were less concerned for 'um themselves for that Man that will be a Christian must not follow his particular Inclinations and Interests much less his Humours and Whimsey or any thing of like Nature but must abide by and keep close to the Constitutions of his Saviour and must cast down Imaginations and every high thing that exalteâ—h it self against the Knowledge of God and bring into Captivity every thought to the Obedience of Christ 2 Cor. 10. 5. But because I had rather Untiâ— the Knot then cut it I further Answer That
benefit But this is peculiar to the Christian Religion that it admits none such but whoever doth become a Member professing it must fall under an Obligation to perform the Duties it requires And by this we may perceive what further Progress our Christian Unity must make for we must be United in the Consent Profession and Practice of all those things which according to our several stations in that Society the Laws of Christianity do require from us Now these may have relation either to particular Christians or to them as embodied in particular Societies or to them considered under the Notion of Subjects and Governours Or laftly to the Duty and Behaviour of Governours towards each other IX Every particular Christian is bound to the Sincere and constant Profession and Exercise of all those Christian Duties which the Gospel requires of every one in their single Capacities as Humility Sobriety Temperance Patience and the like And their Concurrence in and due Observance of these things is not only very profitable and Comfortable to Themselves but very Honourable to their Society But above all we are Commanded to Put on Charity Col. 3. 14. and that not only for this Reason that it Virtually conteins and in its own Nature directs and provokes to the Practice of all other Christian Duties on which Account the Apostle in the following words stiles it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but also because our Saviour himself hath made it the Character and Badge of his Followers For saith he John 13. 35. By this shall all Men know that ye are my Disciples if ye have Love one to another X. But here it is to be Considered that these Vertues of particular Christians have been and may be so fairly Copied out and handsomely Exercised by Heathens and Unbelievers that to outward Appearance the one cannot be distinguished from the other And though the Vertues of Christians are really distinguishable from the like in Heathens from their Principles and Ends yet these Principles and Ends are things in themselves not seen And therefore that those Vertues may appear to proceed from such Christian Principles and Ends they must be practised in Conjunction with such other Duties as do apparently Testifie what Principles we own And that Charity it self may be a Mark of Christs Disciples it must carry them on to those Exercises which he hath Commanded his Worshippers to joyn in Now this cannot be done only by separate well living but by joyning in that Worship and Christian Communion which the Laws of Christ and the Nature of that Church or Society he hath Instituted doth Require And in these we do most clearly own and profess our selves Christians and visibly unite in the Body And from hence it will follow that all Christians under the penalty of excluding themselves from this Body are bound to joyn in all the publick Offices of the Church and to bear their part in all Acts and Duties of Christian Communion and therefore Attendance to Ordinances is not only the benefit but the necessary duty of every Christian And as Members of the Society they must do their parts joyning in the publick Prayers Praises Thanksgivings Confessions and the like And especially ought to be careful to be duely partakers of the Lords Supper as being that Act whereby of all others we are most strongly firmly and closely anited both to â—hrist our Head and to each other Hence it is by way of Eminence sometimes called The Communion And hence it is That amongst the primitive Christians though a Man had openly professed the Christian Faith had been admitted by Baptism was not only an Auditor but does Communicate in the Prayers of the Church yet they did not Account him compleatly a Christian till he did partake of the Lords Table And there is the same Reason for this still and perhaps greater Reason now then ever to urge it when the most weighty Duties are most neglected and People are so apt to set up their Rest far short of what our blessed Saviour hath made their Duties XI That this Communion is maintained by Communicating with that particular Christian Church being neither Heretical nor Schismatical wheâ—e every Christian lives seems to me out of doubt For if he do not Communicate there it is not possible he should actually Communicate any where else and therefore whatsoever Preparations of Mind may be pretended the wilful or careless neglect of this seems to Amount to no less then a Renunciation or Undervaluing of all Communion which strikes at the very Heart of the Christian Religion But yet for all this our Communion in that particular Church is Communion with the whole whereof that is a part by which we are United to the whole in which we express our Communion with the whole and by which we draw Supplies from the whole For our Communion in particular Churches Arises from the Necessity of our Natures and the Condition of Humane Beings which are not capable of Communicating with the whole altogether but only by parts And though particular Churches in respect of particular Christians and the Offices and Authority therein Exercised are truly called Churches yet in respect of the Catholick Church they are but Members whereby we are United to the whole and Communicate with the whole Both the Name and Benefit of Christianity comes to us from joyning in Communion with that Church which is Christs Body And that is the Catholick Church and it is to that we desire to be United and in that to Communicate by joyning with some true part of it which is all our Natures allow us to do and in Act can Compass But if any Man Unite himself to or joyn in Communion with any particular Church either in opposition to all others or without any relation or obligation to any other Church As to Catholick Communion he must suppose that particular Church to be that Body whereof Christ is the Head and Saviour or else he cannot Hope for Salvation in it and then unless he have the Impudence to affirm that there is no other true Church of God he must make Christ have more Bodies then one and in the immediate consequence overthrow an Article of our Creed which acknowledgeth but One Catholick Church Our Communion therefore though in a particular yet by means thereof is both in and with the Catholick Church And hence it is that the Members of particular Churches have an equal Right all the World over to Communion in all other Christian Churches And when they come to other Churches are then actually bound to Communicate with them Upon this Ground it was that the primitive Christians proceeded for though they did debarr Strangers from Communion till they did produce their Communicatory Letters or Credentials whereby it might appear that they lived in some particular Church of Catholick Communion that they might not be imposed upon by Hereticks and Schismaticks yet when the Church they came to was satisfied in that particular they
were not only acknowledged to have the same right with their own Members but also to lie under the same Obligations And if very satisfactory Reasons were not given of their forbearance if they did not then actually Communicate they were Treated as Schismaticks so that that Schismatical Distinction of such an Occasional Communion as leaves Men at liberty where and when to Communicate and that even in separate and opposite Communions was altogether unknown to the primitive Church or if it had been started would never have heen endured XII From what hath been said it may Appear That in the Practical Notion Unity Uniformity and Communion are words much of the same Importance The two latter only more clearly Explaining the Nature and Manner of the former And if it be true that our Unity consists in our Communion in the Solemn Acts of Worship and publick Offices and Duties the Christian Church it will then unavoidably follow that we must be United and firmly adhere to the True and Lawful Pastors of the Church without whom those Offices cannot be Lawfully discharged and for want of whose Support and Ministry the Solemn Worship and daily Sacrifice would fail And the greater Reason have all Christians to take Heed to this good Order of Men both because our Saviour hath Invested them with his own Authority so far forth as is necessary for the Officiating in and Governing of his Church and also because he hath made them a special Promise of his Assistance in the discharge of their Offices in Relation to the first he thus Commissionates his Disciples As my Father hath sent Me even so send I You John 20. 21. In Respect to the latter he hath said I am with you alway even unto the End of the World Matt 28. 20. So that if not under the Law much less under the Gospel may any Man take this Honour to himself but he that is Caâ—â—ed of God And he that intrudes into this Office without a derivation of just Authority comes not in by the Door but climbs up another way And for that Reason ought to be Esteemed a Thief and a Robber This Authority of theirs is indeed of a spiritual Nature They have no power of Coeroion they cannot by force lay a Restraint upon any Mans Person but yet their Authority is real and in some sense higher then theirs who by Gods Commission carry the Temporal Sword for the terrour of evil Doers and Defence of those who do well For the same God who gave Authority to the Pastors of his Church hath Commanded the people to obey them Heb. 13. 17. And doth interpret the disâ—bedience or neglect of them to be an Affront to Himself For thus our Saviour Teacheth us Luke 10 16. He that heareth you heareth me And he that despiseâ—h you despiseth me And he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me And therefore though such Despisers may not seem to suffer any tâ—ing here yet they stand Accountable to a higher Tribunal and do run a greater hazard then any temporal punishment when their Cause is forejudged by their Spiritual Governours Hence saith Tertullian Apol. Summum futuri Judicii Praejudicium est si quis ita deliquerit ut à Communicatione Orationis Conventû◠Omnis Sancti Commercii Relegetur The Wickedness indeed of Spiritual Governours is of very dangerous Consequence the Influence of it makes many bad and will not suffer others to be so good as they would And as we read that the Lâ—wdness of Eli's Sons made the People even to Abhor the Offering of the Lord So by Moses Law the Offering for the Sin of the Priest was the same as the Offering for the Sin of the whole People and much exceeded the Offering for the Sin of the Civil Ruler Levit. 4 It is sad with Gods Church when the Complaint lies at that Door But yet even this will not Absolve Christians from their Obedience to them in Matters which are within the just Bounds of their Authority and properly belong to their Office Even our Saviour himself who so often warns his disciples to Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisces yet Commands them to obey the same Men so far forth as they satt in Moses Chair And doubtless he doth not Require less Observance of those who Sit in his own Chair And though People are very apt to begin the Quarrel here yet methinks they should be more fearful of breaking Communion with their Pastors if they did Consider That this is the Door by which always Schism enters for it is not Conceiveable how they should forsake Christian Communion but by deserting their Pastors in their Pastoral Office Hence the Fathers especially St. Cyprian then whom no man better understood or wrote of this Case upon all Occasions as they usually describe a particular Church by the Union of the Flock to their Pastor so they define Schism by a Separation from the Bishop Not that they meant it is no more but that that is the Act which makes the Schismatick and that by leaving his proper Bishop he forsakes not only the Communion of that particular Church but of all other Churches of whose Communion that Bishop is And Consequently the Communion of the Catholick Church if he be truly a Catholick Bishop And hence I think it may Appear that for Maintaining Christian Communion in Christs Body the People must be United to their Pastors and that not only with Respect to Preaching the Word publick Prayers and the Use of the Sacraments but also with Regard to Matters of Discipline and Government without which Order and Regular Proceedings in the Church it cannot be upheld Upon this Score the primitive Christians were so Observant of the Rules Orders and Censures of their Bishop That if any Man fell under the Sentence of Excommunication they for so much as Related to them vigorously put it in Execution and not only would not suffer such a One to joyn in Communion but would not so much as Eat Drink Converse or ordinarily Traffick with Him Which Practice seems to have had its Foundation from that of St. Paul 2 Thes 3. 14. If any Man obey not our Word by this Epistle Note that Man and have no Company with him that he may be Ashamed As also from that 1 Cor. 5. 11. Now I have written unto you not to keep Company if any Man that is called a Brother be a Fornicator or Covetous or an Idolater or a Railer or a Drunkard or an Extortioner with such an One No not to Eat XIII But that a Firm Christian Unity may be in the Church of God it is not sufficient that the Flock continue in a due Subjection to and steddy Communion with their Pastor unless the Pastors themselves Maintain a fair Correspondence and keep due Order one amongst another For if the Trumpet give an uncertain sound who shall Prepare himself to the Battel as the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 14. 8. how is it possible that an
Army should be Unanimous in it self or Employ its full force against the Enemy if the Commanders Agree not but give out contrary Orders Nor is it possible That the Unity of the Church should be preserved if the Pastors Govern their Flocks not in Conjunction but Opposition to each other and set up such termes of Communion as other Churches cannot approve but must withdraw from It is indeed true That every Bishop in his particular Church hath a kind of Sovereign Authority and is to Govern his Flock Rationem Actûs sui Domino rediturus as St. Cyprian more then once phraseth it Hence it is That in some things a Christian Man is bound to Observe the Orders of his own Church and obey his own Bishop before any if not all the Bishops in the Christian World But then this Authority must not be stretch'd beyond the Bounds of his own particular Church And hence arose those several different and often contrary Usages and Customes in several Churches which were not excepted against because they belonged to the Power of each particular Church and consisted in such things That he that Communicated after the one Manner in one Church might Lawfully Communicate after the contrary in another Of this Nature was that known different Usage of old between the Churches of Rome and Millan In the former they Fasted on Saturdays in the latter not And therefore St. Ambrose who was truly as stout a Bishop as ever the Church had though he strictly Required Obedience to the Orders of his own Church yet at Rome was as Observant of theirs and Advised St. Augustine's Mother Monica to do the same The Reason must be fetch'd from the Nature of the Things which being indifferent in themselves might be Lawfully practised either Way and therefore were in the Power of every Church to determine or not determine as She found most for her good and Advantage But when these Things are determined Obedience put on the Nature of Duty and Disobedience of Sin But though every Bishop in Respect of his particular Church or Flock hath according to the Old Ecclesiastical Language his Throne yet in Relation to the Catholick Church he is but a principal Member who in Conjunction with Others of the same Authority is to Share in care of the whole And therefore in Matters which have an Influence on Catholick Communion he is Accountable to his Colleagues or Fellow Bishops and for any Misdemeanour herein may by them be Suspended Deposed or Censured as they or a convenient part of them shall judge Meet for the preservation of the Churches Peace And in this Case the Bishops of other Churches did not only Exhort but Require both the subordinate Clergy and the People to Refuse Communion with their Bishop though in all other Cases the separating from the Communion of their Bishops and the Erecting another Altar or setting up a Conventicle against him was Accounted the peculiar Signature of Schism And the Reason is plain for though they could not hold Communion with the Church but by Maintaining Communion with their Bishop yet they did Communicate in that Church as a part of the whole And if he did break off from the whole or was Injurious to the whole if they should Adhere to him therein they must follow his Fate And therefore here they might desert him and cleave to some other sound part and joyn in Communion Approved by Orthodox Bishops The Reason of the Bishops absolute Power in one respect and his Subjection in another seems to be briefly Couched in that short Saying of St. Cyprian Episcopatus unus est cujus à singulis in solidum par̄s tenetur do un for though he held but part of that Episcopacy by which the whole Church Concordi multorum Episcoporum numerositate was Governed yet holding that Parte in solidum he had the full Episcopal Authority and was a Catholick Bishop and his Orders according to their Nature ought to be Heeded by all Bishops But then what he held in solidum being but Pars Episcopatûs unius he was Bound to Exercise his Office in Conjunction with them who were equal Sharers with him And herein was Answerable to his Fellow-Bishops sor any detriment or injury done by him to their Common Office and Common Charge Hence a Bishop was in some things Obnoxious even to the delebility and loss of his Character as Spalato hath proved against the fond device of the Schools lib. 2. cap. 4. and was bound at his peril not only to Preach the same Faith but to Walk and Act according to the Cannons of the Church And yet in other Things his Act was sufficient to Tye up all the Bishops in the Christian World Both which Things are an invincible Evidence of the Sense of Antiquity of their Participation of the same Office and of their Obligation to and dependance upon each other in the discharge of it Hence it was that when a Bishop was placed in any Vacant See though he was never so Canonically Ordained yet he was bound to send abroad his Circular Epistles to other Bishops to Signifie his due Admission to that great dignity and withal to give in a Summary of his Faith that they might Admit him to Catholick Communion and upon occasion might Communicate with him and Assist him in the just discharge of his place If he afterwards fell into Heresie or did any irregular Act he was Tryable by his Peers and might be Censured according to his demerits On the other Hand what wholesome Orders he made for the good of his own particular Church those who came from any other Church thither were bound to observe them And if he justly put any Person under the Sentence of Excommunication upon his Certifying thereof with the Cause all other Bishops and all other Churches were bound to take that Person for Excommunicate wherever he came and to Reject him from their Communion For in Cases of this Nature every Regular Act of Authority in one Church was Regarded as the Act of the whole Church And thus in all things particular Churches Acted in Relation to and Communion with the Catholick and Maintained their Unity Firm and Inviolable XIV My Design hath been to Write a Chapter not a Treatise of Christian Unity and therefore I may be excuseable if I have not Hit every thing though I perswade my self that had we these the rest would not be wanting But my fear is that my Accusation will rather Lye on the other Hand That I have Iaid the Platform of such a Unity as in all its parts is no where on Earth to be found And though the more is the pity yet possibly it is too true But then this Objection Amounts to no more though that God knows is too much then to shew the deplorable state of the Church and the woful degeneracy of Christians For the Religion we profess Requires such an Unity And de facto it has been had and practised in the
â—hristiaâ—s in the Profession of the Faith and Duties it Requires So that Heresy seems to be opposed to the Verity and Soundness of Religion Schism to the Union of Persons amongst themselves professing â—eligion Now because the Acts of this Unity consist in Christian Communion and it cannot be otherwise expressed and manifested but by such Communion therefore a Departure or Separation from that Communion must be that which we call Schism Hence Hesychius explains 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Signifies a Secession or Separation And hence it appears That every Heat Quarrel or Brabble how faulty soever it may otherwise be doth not Amount to Schism unless it so influence the Communion as to make a breach in that And therefore neither that Contention between Paul and Barnabas nor that Contest between Polycarp and Aâ—icetus nor that Difference between Chrysostom and some who had been his Auditors nor that sharp Conflict between the same Chrysostom and Epiphanius nor that long debate between Stephen and Cyprian were any of them to be Accounted or brought under the Notion of Schism because the Communion of the Church was still kept up and Maintained by all the Parties But when this Communion is violated and broken then it comes to a direct and open Schism And this may be done several wayes all of them I pretend not to reach and those I shall mention I shall not dwell on VII Some there are who forsake the Communion of the Charch but go not so far as to set up any opposite Communion not that they have any honour for or regard to Church Communion but that they think it unnecessary if not prejudicial These though they seem not to Fly so high as others in that they Vex not the Church with opposite Communions yet they really overthrow all Communion and destroy the whole publick Worship of God wherein his People are United for his glory and their own-benefit And therefore these are nothing such harmless Creatures as some think them Amongst these we may Reckon those Rank Enthusiasts who have overgrown Ordinances and account themselves far above all such weak Helps and beggerly Elements VIII I shall further propose it as a Question whether some Men by their particular Opinions or Declarations may not make themselves Schismaticks even whilest they continue in the Communion of a Church that is truly of Catholick Communion for though the Pastor and Officers of the Church walk never so Canonically and Perform all Services with relation to and dependance upon the Catholick Church yet if any Member shall so awkwardly adhere to this particular Church as to oppose it to all others and condemn all others and refuse Communion with any other he seems to Me to make himself a Schismatick For though the Church be of Catholick Communion yet he communicates in it upon Schismatical Principles and makes it Schismatical to him The Church indeed is in Communion with other Churches but he communicates in it in opposition to other Churches And this seems in some Measure to have been the Case of the Church of Corinth Paul and Apollos and Cephas were all Ministers of the same Christ great Master-Builders in his Church and zealous Maintainers of its Communions and yet several in the Communion of this Church seems to have communicated upon narrower termes then the Constitution of it Required For some were for Paul and some for Apollos and some for Cephas and they that were for one were against the other two and against all others who did not joyn with them in the same quarrel I will not say but that it might go higher and that there might be opposite Communions That St. Paul there Planting the Gospel might leave so many Congregations in that Church as the Number of Converts required That Apollos coming after upon the increase of Converts might leave them more Church-Officers and increase the Number of their Congregations And the first might stand stiffly for Paul and the other for Apollos However the first is not improbable and indeed both might be true successively They might first clash in the same Communion and then break into opposite Communions But this I leave to the further Consideration and Censure of Others IX Where there is such a Renunciation of Communion as to set up opposite Communions it may be Effected several Ways Sometimes the Layety have forsaken their Pastors Congregated into Bodies and of their own Authority Raised distinct Communions I will not here dispute whether they deserve that Name but certainly this is the Height of Presumption and Madness for though it be true which Corah said Numb 16. 3. That all the Congregation are holy yet the sad Story that follows assures us That they are not therefore all Priests and Levites and that they may not presume to enter upon and promiscuously discharge that Sacred Office and Function Sometimes Subject Presbyters and other Church-Officers have forsaken their Bishop carried away many of the Members of his Church and gathered Sheep from all Quarters out of the true Fold And this is the more Mischievous as carrying along with it some Shew of Authority Sometimes Bishops and their Churches have Rejected the Communion of other Bishops and their Churches Sometimes in like manner Metropolitans have opposed Metropâ—litans National Churches National and Patriarchal Patriarchal And the Sehism is ever the more Mischievous according to the Considerableness of the Persons concerned in it or the Extent of their Jurisdiction or the Cause they divide upon Too much of all this is in the present Divisions of the Christian World which are managed with that Bitterness and Height and have torn the Church so all-to pieces that it is a Subject fitter for our Lamentation then Discourse X. And yet after all it must be Acknowledged that all Separation is not sinful for then wherever there was a Separation they would be faulty on both Sides as well they that made as they that suffer by the Separation Nay if that should be granted a Man might be necessitated to Sin which he never is or can be For if unsufferable Corruptions or sinful Usages be brought into a Church whereof any Person is a Member and set up as termes of Communion He cannot Communicate without Sin nor can he Depart without Sin but unavoidably must Split upon one of these two Rocks if all Separation be sinful And therefore to discover that Schism which is Sinful or Criminal we mast bring it not only a Physical but a Moral Consideration Such the Case may be that the Separation may not only be lawful but necessary It was Gods Command to the Israelites concerning Babylon Jerem. 5. 45. My People Go ye out of thae midst of her and deliver ye every Man his Soul from the fierce Anger of the Lord. And St. Paul having described a Sort of ill Men which in the latter times should infest the Churcâ— he gives this Charge to Tsmothy concerning them 2 Tim. 3. 5. From
such turn away Actual Separation therefore may sometimes be a Duty when it is a Departure from those who have before departed from the Right and violated the Unity and corrupted the Communion of the Church But being there ought to be no Separation but upon the score of Avoiding Obligations to Sin and no further then may secure us in that matter there can be no Separation but there will be Sin on the one side or the other And being the bare Separation may not only be lawful but duty the Sin of Schism must Lie where the cause and evil is found and they are the Schismaticks who unjustly cause the Breach And indeed simple Separation doth not include the whole Nature of Schism in an Ecclâ—siastical Sense For though those who depart from any true Church of God as it is a part of the Catholick Church do break off from the Body yet those who depart upon just and warrantable Grounds though they depart from the Schismaticks yet they do not fo sake the Church of God but continue in its Communion and are Members of that Body and therefore cannot be Schismaticks But I need not Discourse this any further because I think it is Agreed on all Hands that the Sin of Schism follows the Cause Now from all that hath been said this or the like Definition of Schism may be Gathered That it is an unjust Violation Breach or Solution of the Unity of the Church Or to express it more plainly a Causeless Separation from Ecclesiastical Communion XI How far some more moderate Person in the Church of Rome may be willing to go along with Me in these Considerations I cannot tell the Generality of them I know go further but that will not be the least part of that Controversie However here we must part But because I do prosess my self a Person who doth deeply Mourn over that dismal state of the Church to which these Divisions have brought it and that God who knows the Secrets of all Hearts knows that I say true and do wish an End of their Broils and would Contribute the utmost of my Endeavors to Repair the Breaches And do moreover freely confess That Schism is a Sin of a very dangerous Nature it will therefore Concern Me to discharge my self from being either a Partner in or an Abettor of that Mischievous Evil of which I Complain And therefore now I shall endeavour to prove not only that the Cause of the Schism between the Church of England and the Church of Rome lyes at the Church of Rome's door But further that let them pretend what they will that Schism was first made and still Maintained and Upheld for such Reasons as ought to be Strangers to the Christian Religion and do drive on and keep up such an unwarrantable and fulsom Interest as is not Consistent with the true state of Gods Church If any Man shall give me better Information upon due Consideration I shall be willing to receive it and thankful for it But if any Man shall please to set himself against Me I would desire him to deal with Me as a Man who is of the Communion of the Chuâ—ch of England in sense of duty who never gave uâ— my self to any particular Party of Men and who in all my Studies have had a Special Eye to the Advancement of the Peace of Gods Church and the Satisfaction of my own Conscience CHAP. IV. Of the Liberties and Priviledges of the Britannick Churches And of the Actual Separation HE who would Build true will first clear the Ground And therefore I must crave leave to Remove some old Rubbish out of my way before I can descend to some such particular Matters for I pretend not to take in all as I think may Justifie that Separation which we now Maintain for we are not the Men who made it but defend that Church which we found and were born and bred in and therefore ought not to desert it without just Cause Two things with no lack of Confidence are Urged as a Prejudice against our whole Cause First That these Churches and even all their Bishops did owe a particular Subjection to the Bishop of Rome either as Sole Vâ—câ—r and Plenipotâ—ntiary of Christ Jesus on Earth or at least as the Western Patâ—iarch Secondly that supposing this to be otherwise yet since the Separation Matters have been decided by a General Council viz. That of Trent to which all ought to submit I shall Endeavor to give a fair Answer to both these Objections But first must premise That supposing not granting the truth of either or both these Objections yet of themselves they do â—ot overthrow our Cause for no Plea of any exorbitant Authority or Conciliar Determination can oblige us to a Sinful Communion And if that Plea be made good against them all their other Arguments Vanish into Air For the Holy Ghost never Assisted any Council to make wicked Determinations Nor did the Ancients know of any such Exotick Power in the Pope as that he might be Obeyed in every thing for though several Matters contributed to gain him an extraordinary Respect in and Influence on the Church yet they held him to the Canons And if he deviated from them or the Truth they without scruple opposed him When Basilides and Martialis two Spanish Bishops justly deposed fled to Stephen Bishop of Rome And by Lyes and Flattery so prevailed with him that he not only admitted them to Communion but endeavored to restore them St. Cyprian smartly opposeth it writes not only to the Bishops but even to the People there to refuse Communion with them Commends the Substituting two other Bishops in their Room and says That the Faults of Basilides in Endeavoring his Restitution by Stephen's means were Non tam abobita quà m cumulata Epist 68. dd Pam. I could bring Instances enough of this kind but this being a by-matter in this place I will leave it and Return to the Objections II. Two Titles are set up the better to secure us But the one is purely forged and the other is crackt weak and bad and not able to support the Claim which is Founded on it It is hard to say what Authority the Bishop of Rome doth not Challenge under the Notion of Christs Vicar His Flatterers will scarce allow any Bounds to be Set to it and Examine his Actions and you will find that he Sets himself none On this score not only we but all the Christian Churches in the World which are not of the Roman Communion are stigmatized for Schismaticks On the contrary I think that there is no one thing that doth better Justify our Separation then the Challenge and what in him lies Exercise of such an Arbitrary and boundless Authority over all the Churches of God Upon this Account this Matter will fall under a particular Consideration as one of the principal Grounds and Reasons of our Separation And therefore at present I will leave this great Vicar-General and
try if we can come to any better termes with the Western Patriarch III. This latter Title as less liable to Exception hath been insisted upon of late by some who would seem to be of more moderate Principles and more tender both of the Liberty and Authority of particular Churches nor is it to be denied That the Bishop of Rome had a Patriarchate in the Western part of the Roman Empire but by what Authority he came by it and how far it was extended and whether he hath forfeited and justly fallen from it and other Questions of the like Nature will fall in of themselves in the Series of our Discourse In the mean time I do think this Title to be set up at this time only as a Blind to Amuse the more unwary and well Meaning Persons who are willing to submit to Ecclesiastical Constitutions though they detest all unjust much more all insolent and shameless Usurpations for if by a Charter from Christ he be his only Vicar over the Universal Church it is not only a Lessening of his Holiness but a direct Affâ—ont to our Saviour to Cope up his Deputy within Bounds and to Give Him a limited Jurisdiction by Ecclesiastical Authority when he is Invested with all by Original Right and needs not any which they can Give And it would certainly be much greater Satisfaction to the Christian World to prove his Authority to be of God rather then Men. Besides I would gladly know whether the Bishop of Rome will Acquiesce here and Rest Contented with the Title and Authority of the Western Patriarch For Patriarchal Authority is by Ecclesiastical Constitution and was at first Suited to the Divisions of the Empire and the Grandeur of some principal Cities in it And by the same Authority it was Given may be taken away or placed elsewhere as shall be judged most useful and beneficial to the Church of God Now though all this may be easily proved yet being applied to the Bishop of Rome and according to the present state of the Question it is as applicable to him as any other Patriarch I fear the whole College of Cardinals Nemine Contradicente would Cry out Heresie damnable Heresie And therefore the starting this Title at this time I only look on as a Sly Device to let in the Cats Head that she may with greater Ease draw in her Body after IV. But be it as it will without any regard to any such ill Designes which some Men may covertly Manage let the Objection have its due force and let us Examine whether the Bishop of Rome as Western Patriarch so called in Relation to other Patriarchates in the Empire of another Site had any peculiar and proper Jurisdiction over the Britannick Churches or whether they were any part of his Diocess as the word in its largest Acception signifies A Division containing several Provinces And this I think will be fully Answered if I prove That in Relation to the Britannick Church either he had no such Jurisdiction or noâ—e by Right V. That the Government of the Church was left in the Hands of the Bishops I shall prove hereafter But for the more convenient and advantageous Management of the Churches Affairs there began very early a particular Deference Respect and Observance to be paid to the Bishop of the principal City where the Secular Governour had his Residence He at first was called Episcopus primae Vrbis or Sedis Afterwards a Metropolitan But some overgrown Cities whose Numbers Wealth and Interest enabled them to overtop and oppress Others as it were Naturally Infused into their Bishops a Spirit of Ambition to extend their Jurisdiction and Power Answerably to the Grandeur of their City These Mens Encroachments were for a long time stoutly opposed but Power naturally following Strength Wealth and Interest and an Advantage being given them by the New Division of the Empire by Constantine they in the End prevail'd and Grasp'd so large Jurisdiction as to have several Metropolitans under them and obtained their first Ratification in the Council of Chalcedon as our late Learned Bishop of Oxford hath clearly proved Account of Church-Govern These at first were called Exarchs afterwards Patriarchs and sometimes Primates Of this new Booty without fail the Bishop of Rome as Bishop of the most Renowned City in the World and the Ancient Seat of the Empire carried away no small Share for he was always of Kin to the Lion in the Fable who when the Prey came to be divided made the Beasts that Hunted with him Content with a very small pittance if he was so gracious as to allow any thing But yet this New Exorbitant Power did not swallow up the whole Church but in many Places they still Lived in their Ancient Liberty Governed by their Bishops and Metropolitans without being subject to any Pratriarch of which the Cyprian Churches are a famous Instance in the East and I can yet see nothing to perswade me to think otherwise of the Britannick in the West VI. Never any Succession of Men have stood so constantly on their Guard and have been so watchful diligent and industrious upon all occasions to depress others and Exalt themselves as the Bishops of the Roman See All was Fish that ever come to their Net If they could at any time steal into a Jurisdiction though never so unjustly they would never quit it or not without strong Tugging and eternal Claiming And therefore Considering this Temper it were a fair Proposal that Setting aside Flams and Impertinencies they would produce any fair Footsteps of a proper Jurisdiction exercised by the Bishop of Rome over the Britons within the space of a Hundred years after the Council of Chalcedon For when Men have always been so busie in Acquiring so tenacious in Keeping so severe in Exercising Jurisdiction and want no Records unless what themselves have either falsifyed or abused That these Men can produce no good Evidence for such a Jurisdiction to Me it seems a good Argument that from the Beginning there was none If bare Claims and those coming after were enough no Man could live in Peace And therefore he that will thrust another out of possession for his own benefit must well and clearly prove his Title Had these Islands belonged to the Roman Patriarch there was no strength in them to have kept out his Power when it was back'd with the least Shew of Right If therefore it cannot be proved that the Bishop of Rome was in possession of such Jurisdiction here at or near the time that Patriarchates were setled he may let his Suit fall unless he have more Hopes from force or fraud then Right In this Cafe if in any that Common Rule Idem est non esse non apparere hold good And the rather because the Canon that Confirms Patriarchates supposeth the former Exercise of fuch Jurisdiction by Custom What by degrees he gained long after may serve well enough to prove him an Usurper but can Create him
no Right as I shall prove Anon. VII Now though it be all the Reason in the World that if the Romanists will pretend a Title they should prove it yet I will not barely insist upon Possession on our part without giving some Reasons that may manifest our Right to it If the Patriarchate of the Bishop of Rome was Confined to the Suburbicary Churches it is most certain that the Britons lay too far off to be Hook'd in by that Title What other Evidence can be brought for the certain Bounds of his Patriarchate I cannot tell I have met with no better And this having been plainly Assigned to him it will concern them to bring their Proofs who will extend it further and therefore I will not longer insist on it Yet this among other Reasons moves me to think that as Patriarch he had no proper Jurisdiction either over the Gallican or Spanish Churches and divers others otherwise then as he might sometimes interpose as an Honourary Arbitrator or at other times upon a nicking Opportunity with the diligence of a watchful Usurper invade their Rights That the French Churches came not under his Authority in the same way and manner that some Others did the Liberties of the Gallican Churches so stoutly Maintained to this very day are an irrefragable Instance And perhaps that is almost the only Church of the Roman Communion which affords us any Hope that the Cause may one day come to a more equal Hearing and Matters be brought more to Rights in the Church of God But as for our selves if the Bishop of Rome never Exercised any such Patriarchal Jurisdiction over the Briâ—ons nor would they own or submit to any such considering the low Estate of the One and the Power Arts and indefatigable Industry of the other it will be a Convincing Argument to any unprejudiced Person that he never had any such Jurisdiction here That he did Exercise any such Jurisdiction I deny And it will Concern them to Convince Me by clear Instances of the contraâ—y who will Assert it But if it were possible that they could tell me Five Hundred Tales of Persons sent over hither by the Bishop of Rome I shall not Value it one Rush For if wherever he sends one of an Errand he Requires the Jurisdiction of the place as he hath the Privilege which never Man had so if he hath not been very negligent and false to his own Interest he might long since have gained the Jurisdiction of the whole World and that is certainly too much for a Patriarch which is our present dispute But though I am not bound to prove the Negative yet to shew that he could have no such Jurisdiction I shall produce two Arguments the one taken from the different Rites and Usages of the Britons from the Romans The other from the Brittish Bishops downright disclaiming such Authority and Asserting and Proving their Liberty VIII Doubtless it doth more Concern us to be truly thankful that God hath Vouchsafed us the Light of his Gospel and to be careful to live according to it then scrupulously to enquire after the precise time when the Britons Received the Christian Faith But if Enquiry should be made which in our present Case may not only be allowable but useful I am prone to think it would appear That the Brittish Churches were so far from being the Slave that they were the Elder Sister of the Church of Rome And if neither the Gift of Christ nor the Canons of the Ancient Church have dealt her any hard Measure in this Matter certainly the Prerogative of her Birth-right ought to invest Her with some Honour and Priviledge at least to Shield Her from Truckling too much to the Power and Petulance of her younger Sister And the rather because she hath not been unfruitful as having brought forth the first Christian King furnished the World with the first Christian Emperour afforded the first call her as you please Christian Queen or Empress and of all Others first so Received the Faith that it was the publick Allowed and Authorized Religion of the place in which Respect she hath sometimes been Honoured with the Title of Primogenita Ecclesia But to pass by these Honourary Titles it is generally Agreed That the Britons as in several other Matters so especially in the Observation of the Feast of Easter did differ from the Romans And to find out the true Reason of this I think the best Way will be to look still higher even to the first times of Christianity Our blessed Saviour was so far from separating from the Jewish Church that he made them his particular Care and Charge and seems to have so designed all his Labours for their Conviction and Reformation that all Nations might have been Aggregated to them in his Name And therefore he was generally shy towards Others and being Urged with Arguments in favour of the Woman of Canaan plainly Answers Matth. 15. 24. I am not sent but unto the lost Sheep of the House of Israel This Honour towards the Jewish Church the only Church of God then on Earth and Care that it might not be lost bat rather that the Wall of Separation being broken down all Others might be let in to Her continued with the Apostles and Disciples of Christ after his Death and Resurrection for they remained still at Jerusalem preaching to the Jews And when the Cruelty of Herod and Malice of the Jews followed them so close that they were many of them forced to Fly out of Jerusalem to save their Lives yet their kindness to the Jews and Hopes of their Conversion still stuck close to them in so much that those who were scattered upon the Persecution of Stephen and went as far as Phenice Cyprus and Antioch Preached the Word to none but the Jews only Acts 11. 19. And there was need of no less then a Miracle to perswade Peter to go and instruct Cornelius a Gentile in the Way of Truth Acts 10. and though he did go upon such unanswerable Motives yet he was called to an Account for it The going in unto Men Uncircumcised was thought a Crime not to be suffered unless extraordinary Reason could be given for it And perhaps this Tenderness towards the Jews might be no small cause of Peters Judaizing at Antioch Now whilest the Disciples did Adhere so close to the Jews it is not only Reasonable to suppose that they Used their Customes and Rites But we have Scripture Testimony of some Instances wherein they did so as in the matter of the Sabbath though they kept also the Lords Day and Circumcision and some other things And therefore it is likely that they did observe with them their other â—asts and Feasts especially that which was Accounted the Principal the Passeover For as they look'd upon these things as in their own Natures to be matters then indifferent so tbey did hope to draw off the Jews by degrees and to let the Law of Moses go off
This much troubled the good Pope who by all Circumstances seems to have Set his Heart on this Work And he had the greater Reason for it because it was already half done to his Hands And therefore he gently Reproves these faint-hearted Souldiers but takes greater pains to encourage them And that they might want nothing to Fit them for the Work he Sends and Recommends them to Etherius Archbishop of Aâ—les who furnisheth them with Interpreters de Gente Francorum Bed Eccl. Hist lib. 1. cap. 24. 25. And now away they go for good and Land in the Isle of Thanet and perhaps there was no great difficulty in Converting King Ethelbert for it was now about 150 Years since the Coming in of the Saxons And though their Quarrel was with the Britons yet they could not in all that time but understand somewhat of the Christian Religion from them Besides Ethelberts Queen was a Christian and de Gente Francorum Regiâ as Beda phraseth it And it was Conditioned at her Marriage That She should have the free Use of her Religion And the Condition was duely kept for whereas the King had his Court in Canterbury the Queen had for her Use the then Ancient Church of St. Martin standing at the Towns-End and her Bishop Lindhaâ—dus who Officiated And any Body will suppose That both She and her Bishop would do all they could to Influence and perswade the King Furthâ—r Beda Eccl. Hist lib. 1. cap. 25. saith expressly though somewhat mincingly That Antea fama ad eum Christianae Religionis pervenerat And Gregory the Great in one of his Letters saith They were desirous of it And whosoever shall duely Consider the whole Behaviour of King Ethelbert will find in him no Aversion to the Christian Religion but that like a wise Prince he only took care so to manage the Matter that he might Receive it with the Satisfaction of his Subjects and draw them to it after him Well in a short time the King is Converted and Aâ—gustine becomes his Favourite And yet before this with the true Industry of a Monck he Lends the Honest Bishop Linhardus a Lift who had prepared Matters for him and by the Kings Favour gets Possession of St. Martins Church And here I know not well how to excuse Beda from Partiality For he saith as little as could be beâ—ore but henceforward not a word of the endeavors of the Queen or her Bishop nor a tittle of all the labor and pains of the French Intetpreters without whom this our English Apostle could have done nothing But Augustine like a true Son of the Roman Church goes away both with all the Honour and all the profit And now being grown too great for a Monck he makes a Journey to Arles and by the Arch-bishop of that place at the Motion of Pope Gregory is Ordained no less then Archiepiscopus Genti Anglorum Bed Eccl. Hist lib. 1. cap. 27. a pretty Fetch before New Converts understood themselves to secure the whole Authority of the Nation to a Roman Missionary and consequently to the Pope whoever should be afterwards at the pains to convert them However after his Return he seems to have Laboured in the business and after the Death of Pope Gregory which Beda Eccl. Hist lsb. 2. cap 1. Refers to the Year 605 he obtains a Conference with the Brittish Bishops with a design to get their Assistance in converting the Saxons and withal to Advance Himself by drawing them under his Jurisdiction But whether in Hatred to the Saxons their Mortal and indeed unjust Enemies or through offence at Augustines pride and taking too much upon him or in love to their old Customes which Augustine unseasonably would not allow the main Business miscarried and then first Arose the Paschal Controversie in Britain so that at first dash here Ariseth a Prescription of about 600 Yeares for the British Usage XI The Grounds whereon the Britons proceeded seem to be Chiefely these That they would not give up their Ancient Liberties and Customes nor depart from the Canons of the Church And here Beda shews himself little favourable to their Affaires as at other times he appears very ignorant in them for though he studiously Conceals Augustines Ambition yet the Britons Answers plainly discover it For their first Answer is this Non se posse absque suorum consensâ— ac Licentiâ Priscis abdicare Moribus And in the second Meeting or Synod their Answer is plainly this That they will not Receive Him for their Arch-bishop Bed Ecc. Hist lib. 2. cap. 2. But the Answer of the Abbot of Bangor shews the Reason why they neither could nor ought to do it and is so pat to the purpose that I shall set it down as Sir Henry Spelman hath Translated it from the Brittish Co. pag. 108. Be it known and without doubt unto you That we all are and every one of us Obedient and Subjects to the Church of God and to the Pope of Rome and to every godly Christian and to love every One in his degree in perfect Charity and to keep every One of them by word and dâ—ed to be the Children of God And other Obedience than this I do not know due 〈◊〉 Him whom you Name to be Pope nor to be the Father of Fathers to be Claimed and to be Demanded And this Obedience we are ready to give and to pay to him and to every Christian continually Besides we are under the Government of the Bishop of Kaerleon upon Uske who is to Oversee under God over us to Cause us to keep the Way Spiritual This Answer throughout savours the temper of the most early Primitive times and shews That the Afflictions of the Britons had kept their Churches from that Corruption and secular Pride which had then too much invaded Others And from it I will only observe three things First That with a tender Care to express their Communion with the Catholick Church and their duty to all Christians they own no other Obedience to the Bishop of Rome then as Christians they owe to any other Foreign Bishops and their Churches And so the Bishop of Rome owed as much to Them as they to Him Secondly That the Authority which Augustine demanded and the Power of any Foreign Bishop to place him over them was a thing utterly unknown and unheard of to them so little were they Acquainted with the Patriarchate which is now so Confidently Asserted Thirdly that they were so subject to the Arch-bishop of Caerleon That they did not think him subject to the Jurisdiction of any other particular Bishop whatsoever but that he was over them next under God And accordingly we never hear of any Appeals from him to any Superiour See But if any thing concerned them in Common or was too weighty for him it was Transacted Synodically And it is Observeable That though the Brittish Bishops and Clergy Flockt to this Synod with their main strength yet the Arch-bishop of Caerleon absented himself
Bishop And having happily Reclaimed King Eadbald the Son and Successor of Ethelbert he recals Mellitus and Justus And now it is very Reasonable to suppose That he Resolved to lay aside these Punctillo's and little Differences and perswaded Mellitus and Justus who both in their Turns succeeded him to do the same that they might be more serviceable to the main Christian Cause and the Propagation of the Gospel For though the Britons could by no means be Wrought on as either being Jealous of the Roman Clergy or Exasperated by the Injuries which they had and daily did Receive from the Saxons yet the Irish and Scotch who had not the like Quarrel as to their Territories in a short time fall to Labour in the Harvest and that very successfully But it should seem that they first Agreed to enjoy their own Liberties and Rites For those who were Converted by them of the Roman Way kept Easter as the Romans did and observed their Rites And those who were Converted by the Irish or Scots followed the Irish Customes which were the same with the Britons and yet both Communicated with each other and joyntly promoted the Common Cause And this with some little Disputes which will always Happen in such Cases continued without any breach of Communion for a very Considerable time Aidan a Scotchman the first Bishop of the Northumbrians preached the Gospel so powerfully and lived so Exemplarily That the Romanists themselves had him in no mean Veneration Nor doth Beda except in the Matter of the Paschal Solemnity in which he forgives no Man afford any Man a fairer or sweeter Character throughout his whole History After seventeen Years toyl God sends him a Writ of Ease and he is Succeeded by his Countreyman Einan who lived in the Sâ—e ten Years All this time both Romish and Britisb Rites were promiscuously used according as every Man was instructed by him who Converted him and yet both Parties lived in great Charity and Christian Communion And thus it held till the third year of Coleman Finans Successor which was in the Year of our Lord 664. Bed Ecc. Hist lib. 3. cap. 26. And then that turbulent Fellow Wilfrid set it on Foot again and violently push'd on so far that a Synod or Conference was had about it where the King the Prince several Bishops and many of the Clergy appear Now Wilâ—rid had subtilely nickt his time for the King was wavering the Queen and Prince sure on his side and Agilbertus Bishop of the West-Saxons a stiff Assertor of the Roman Way was then occasionally come to that Court The King opens the Conference and desires his Bishop Coleman first to relate upon what Grounds he Relied The Summe of whose Answer is this That he had Received the Tradition â—rom his Forefathers who had all unanimously observed it That herein they followed St. John the beloved Disciple of our Saviour and the Churches which he Governed And that they had also on their side the Authority of Anatolius Now considering how Eusebius relates Matters to have been long before Adjusted by Polycarp and Anicâ—tas viz. That Charity and Christian Communion being preserved each might follow the Ancient Customes of those whom they succeeded Any one would think this so fair a Plea that it might deserve both a Civil and Satisfactory Answer Yet Wilfrid then but newly made a Priest with a Roman Modesty puts the Fool upon the Good Bishop Coleman and his whole Party His Answer is Related by Beda with all Advantage in which some things are true some false But it is Observeable That he never tells them of any Missionaries from Rome either to the Britons Irisb Scots or Picts He never tells them that they had received the Faith by means of the Roman Church He never Charges them so much as with Ingratitude or to have fallen from what they had received Nay he doth not deny such a Tradition amongst them but impugnes it as a too early Tradition as more Ancient then he pretended to or ought to be followed And that they were ignorant of what was established in the Church after the Separation from the Jews And herein lies the main strength of his Plea But of all things insisted on by Wâ—lfrid nothing was so luckily urged as that St. Peter had the Keyes of the Kingdom of Heaven For the King in no small fear that he might be lock'd out if he displeased the Porter presently gives the matter on Wilfrids side But all this nothing moved Coleman who chose rather to abandon his Bishoprick then forsake his Ancient Customes and seem to betray the Rights of those Churches and Bishops who had Ordained and sent him thither And accordingly he Retires into his own Countrey with many others who were of the same Persuasion And no doubt but Wilfrid and the Romanists were well pleased that they had all to themselves XV. These Considerations amongst Others do with Me not a little shake the Credit of those Stories that tell us how Phaganus and Deruvianus or by whâ—t other Names they are Called for they have not less then Twenty between them were sent by Pope Eleutherius to King Lucius Palladius and St. Patrick by Celestine to the Irisb or of any other Persons pretended to be sent before Augustines time I do not deny but that there were such Persons who were famous in their Generation and did eminent Service in the Church of God But the Assertions of all our Moncks and as many more will not half perswade Me that these Men were Roman Missionaries For who can believe That these Men should come with Instructions from Rome and yet every one of them should Agree to Establish such Rites as were not only different from the Church of Rome but such as the Bishops of Rome were particular Enemies to If any Man say that these Rites in opposition to each other had not clearly obtained even in Rome it self so early so far as Relates to Easter that early Contest between Polycarp and Anicetus confutes it But if it be said that though such Usages were setled at Rome yet they were not averse but that Others might be Taught and Practised in other Countreys then that bustle which Victor made over all the Christian World will not suffer us to believe this But that those very Men who were sent by the Popes to Convert the Britons should Establish those Rites and Usages which they knew he would never endure is such a Riddle as wants a better Oedipus then Me to uâ—fold it And it is somewhat strange that in all the Contests between Augustine and his Followers with the Britons and Irish not one of these Men should be Objected to the Brittish Irish or Scâ—ts that they should never be Check'd with Ingratitude to his Holiness that it should never be said that they had been taught otherwise and were fallen from their first Principles and Converters It is very Rare that the Romanists forget themselves so much or are meal-Mouth'd
and he likewise is Constituted by the other Bishops his Suffragans without any manner of Account Given or Subjection made to any other Church And here by the way take Notice That the Britons kept close to the true and most early Antiquity in paying a just deference to him who was Episcopus primae Sedis without using the Names of Metripolitan or Arch-bishop which were termes of later date XVIII I was never an Admirer of Personal Quarrels and therefore was never fond of heing engaged against particular Persons But that Arch-Traytor to his Countrey F. Parsons hath made such a Blunder and Bustle in this Matter that it may seem needful to return a particular Answer to some things alledged by him If scurrilous Language and Impudence be necessary Properties in an accurate Lyar scarce any Man was ever better Accomplished Only one Qualisication he wanted without which all the Learned have thought a Man can never dextrously Manage that Trade for either he had a very frail Memory or else thought all other Men to be very short-Sighted and would swallow down all his Assertions without any Examination If a Conjecture of any Protestant fall in his Way whether of any moment or not he Teazeth it with all his might and cunning and yet the greatest part of his Proofs are meerly Conjectural and often very â—roundless He is highly Offended with Sir Francis Hastsngs for saying That the first Teachers of Christian Faith in Britain were rather Grecians and of the East Church in Asiâ— then of the West Roman Church And for this he peremptorily says That there is no Author at all 3 Conver. cap 1. sec 4. I will not insist on it that they were Grecians they might be of the Jewisb Nation But with F. Parsons good leave even the Romans themselves owe their Conversion to the Easterlings either Jews or Grecians for they were bâ—fore them in Christianity And considering the early Conversion of the Britons it could come from none other unless Travelling thorough the Western Parts of the World made them of the Western Church and no other And if he were living I would desire him to tell me what Countreymen Ssmon Zelotes and Joseph of Arimathea were whom he himself makes great Instruments of our Conversion Besides the Feast of Easter was then Celebrated uncertainly and the Controversie not risen and not determined till long after And it is an Argument that we were not under the Authority of the Bishop of Rome because these Isles did not submit to their Determination But afterwards cap. 3. sect 7. forgetting himself he Acknowledgeth That Coleman Alledged a Tradition from St. John and Anatolius So that his Saying will be true when St John and Anatolius can be proved to be of the particular Church of Rome and Bishop Colâ—man and Beda to be no Authors XIX He proceeds telling us That it is a Notorious Lie of John Fox in saying That St. Beda Affirmeth this Custom of Keeping Easter with the Jews to have been here in Britain in his time as though all Britain had used it whereas in divers places he doth expressly Attribute â—he same to the Scots that dwelled in the Island of Ireland principally as also to some of them that dwelt in Britain and to some Britains themselves But all the English Church saith he was free from it Indeed it is a Mistake both in Parsons and Fox if they thought any of them kept it with the Jews in the strict sense For in that famous Northumbrian Disputation their Enemy Wilfrid doth not deny their Keeping it on the Lords Day but accuseth them with a false Account from the Fourteenth to the Twentieth of the Moon But if there were any other some who kept it the Roman way I would know who they were what were any of their Names and in what paâ—ts of these Islands they dwelt Here all Instances utterly failed the Jesuite and therefore he subtilely passeth it by never offering at any proof But I need not insist on this because I haue already proved that all the Christians of these Isles till Augustines time kept Easter the same way and different from the Roman Beda himself tells us That Wilfrid was Confident that his Doctrine was Omnibus Scottorum Traditionibus jure Praeferendam So that as Confident as he was yet they were all against him by his own Confession without anâ— of F Pâ—rsons Exceptions And in the Beginning of the Dispute Coleman's Assertion is this Pasca hoc quod agere soleo à Majorâ—â—us meis accepi qui me huc Episcopum miserunt quod omnes Patres nostri viri Dâ—o dilecti codem modo Celebrasse noscuntur Bed Ecc. Hist lib. 3. cap. 25. As for his English Church being sree i. e. from this Errour nothing could be said more impâ—rtinent and ridiculous For if he mean before Augustine's time his English Church were then all Pagans If he speak of what was in or after Augustine's time it is nothing to the purpose for no Body denies but that Augustine brought in the Roman way the Dispute is concerning what was the Practice here before And now F. Parsons may take his Lye again as being the true Father of it XX. Upon this false Foundation he frames this Trifling Argument which he seems to make great Account of That the Britons can no more be said to be of Eastern Conversion then a Man could say the first Preachers to them were Pelagians because in Beda's time some Reliques of the Pelagian Heresie might be sound amongst them To which I Answer That the Case is quite otherwise And if in Beda's or any others time the Britons had been found as unanimously Agreeing in the Pelagian Heresie as they were in the Paschal Solemnity and no Footsteps appearing that it had been otherwise any Man would Conclude That their first Preachers had been Pelagians or Men infected with the same Heresie if they were not known by the same Name And thus he ought to have laid his Argument to make the Parallel run true to the Reality of the Cases But he was more Crafty then so for that had been to Confute himself Next he triumphs over Fox for saying That Beda affirms this Custom concerning Easter to have been in Britain almost 1000 yeares after Christ Whereas saith he Beda was a much older Author and died in the Year 735. Well but what if all this should be done by Miracle without one I know not how it could and Beda should appear almost 300 yeares after his Death to some drowsie Monk and tell him this Tale F. Parsons if it had made for him would have Hugg'd such a Revelation But after all it is only a mistake if not a wilful One though Fox's heedless way of Expression gave too much Occasion for it for his meaning is this That Beda affirmeth Easter to be so kept by the Britons in his time and that the same Custom continued after his time amongst them so long as to be Practised almost
appear abroad lest it should have bâ—en Knock'd o' th' Head for a Monster Popes themselves in those days pleaded the Canons and were iudged by them And this Canon hath a peculiar evil Aspect upon him for it is directly contrary to his declared Opinion and Determination in behalf of the Bishop of Antioch So that if the Popes now do not regard the Canons it seems heretofore they as little regarded him The second Reason of the Canon is expressed thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That the Pride and Vanity of Secular Power may not enter the Church under a pretence of Discharging the Ministerial Function which seems directly to point to that Saying of our Saviour to his Disciples Matth. 20 25. I Cite the Original because there is something peculiar in the words which our Englisb Translation could not easily reach 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Surely if these Fathers had not a Grudge at the Bishop of Rome they had a foresight of his Progress For put together what the Bishop of Rome now Acts and what he Claims And if that Typhus Seculi which the Antients all along so feared and bitterly inveighed against be not brought into the Church by him I will be bold to say that all their Feares were Follies and that it neither is nor ever can be brought in whilest the World stands The third Reason ought to Affect any Man who calls Himself a Christian It is this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lest by degrees we lose that Liberty which our Lord Jesus Christ the Redeemer of all Men hath purchased for us or bestowed on us with his Blood If so our Churches in stead of being blamed ought to be highly Commended for defending this Liberty And as he who shall invade it ought at present to be discountenanced by all others so it is to be feared that he will have a sad Account to make up in the day of the Lord Jesus though he pretend to be his Vicar Now if Reason could prevail here is sufficient But because oftentimes Men will not be Ruled by Reason therefore the Fathers yet take a further Care to Compel them by Law and determine in the same Canon That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. If any Man do Seize anothers Province and subject it to Him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That He shall Restore it And that they might take away all Pretences they Conclude 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That if any Man should produce a Constitution contrary to what is now determined it shall be void or of no Authority Now if there be any Reverence for or force in a Canon so carefully penn'd by so Venerable a Councel then it is plain That we have withdrawn no Obedience which the Pope could lawfully Claim nor Cast off any Authority that he was possessâ—d of in Right For being there were then Churches in these Illes setled under their Bishops according to the primitive Forme and Usage and Owed no Subjection to the Bishop of Rome either as Metropolitan or Patriarch as hath been proved then whatever Pretences he can now make for any Authority over us are by the Councel determined to be void And what Usurpations soever he hath made are Adjudged to be Restored So that if they have no better Arguments then the Bishop of Rome's Authority as Patriarch that will do them no service here but it will rather Appear That we have proceeded very Canonically in our Reformation XXIX Thus much will clearly Appear That as the Bishops of those populous and powerful Cities Rome Antioch and Alexandria were ever and Anon making Inroads upon other Mens Jurisdiction So the Three First General Councels were very careful to Fence the Liberties of the Church against their and all others Encroachments For as for the Sâ—cond General Councel which I have Omitted any Man may be abundantly satisfied who will take the pains to Read The Account of the Government of the Christian Church written by the Learned Dr. Parker late Bishop of Oxford Yet either Tyred with endless strugling or over-born with power or out-witted by Cunning or rather wrought on by all these means the Fourth General Councel did plainly Amplifie their Power For after the Translation of the Seat of the Empire to Constantinople the â—â—shop of that place by the favour of the Emperour by the Power of the City by the Assistance of Dependants and by a lucky Opportunity offered from the New Division of the Empire suddenly starts up from a mean Suffragan to be the Second and perhaps most powerful Bishop of the Empire And now a Councel Meeting at Chalcedon just under his Nose and Consisting mostly of Eastern Bishops and many of them his Dependants and where the Emperour some time Appeared in Person and his Ministers all along bore a great sway This he thought was the time if ever to get that done which no Councel before would hearken to And to obtain a Conâ—irmation of that exorbitant Jurisdiction which that Ravenous See had seized in few yeares space But in doing this he is constrained to do Others Business that he might do his own And here first we find one set over the Head of the Metropolitan and an Appâ—al from Him Ratisied by Canon And thus the Bishops of those great Cities Mounted into Exarchs afterwards called Patriarchs and the Bishop of Constantinople got the best Share There was doubtless no mean Artifice used in the Managery of this Matter for it seems to be rather Slurr'd upon the Councel then Acted by them And the Foxes themselves the Bishop of Rome's Legats were here caught and all they could do was afterwards to Protest against Proceedings in this Matter But when Leo heard of it at Rome he fell a Roaring at no Rate not that he had too little but that the Bishop of Constantinople had too much He was in a bodily fear of such a dangerous Competitour who on a sudden had from almost Nothing Risen to such Greatness that he was able to Cope with Him And by the Grandeur of his City his Interest in the Clergy and favour of the Emperour might in a short time be able to over-top Him It is not unlikely that Leo might think that he could have scrambled well enough for Himself without the Help of any such Canon and might possibly look on it as a Confinement But whatever he thought his Plâ—a is clear contrary and that he might depress the Rising Constantinopolitan he is â—ooth and Nail for the Nicene Canons and the power of Metropolitans which by the Way is an Argument that it was not then thought that the Nicene Canons Erected Patriarchates as some since Maintain The Issue of this Quarrel I am not concerned to pursue But granting the Bishop of Rome to be here made Patriarch you see he doth not care to accept it But suppose him to be Nâ—lâ—ns Volâ—ns invested with it yet the Churches in these Iâ—les were out of the Reach of it and lived long after in their former state
and freedom and therefore may still Challenge the Benefit of the Ephesine Canon against Usurpations XXX But now let us for once suppose what can never be proved viz. That the Patriarchate of the Bishop of Râ—me was Legally and Canonically extended over these Isles yet what Feats will this do for him even under Patriarchates sor they did not obtain in all places of the Empire the power of Metropolitans was still Reserved they still Ordained the Bishops of their Provinces they did Convene and hold Provincial Synods and determined Matters as formerly Only whereas the Metropolitan was before Ordained in his Province by his Suffragans now he was to be Ordained by the Patriarch or at least with his Consent and there lay an Appeal from him and his Synod In short the Power of a Patriarch Consisted in certain known Instances but chiefly in Conjunction with the Bishops of his Diocess or Exarchate Now what a pitiful shrivel'd thing would the Pope think this if it were offered him How would he fret and storm if we should thus Admit Him and Tye his Hands behind Him And yet as Patriarch this is all he can Claim But to Claim that and ten times more where he hath not so much as a Patriarchal Right is such a Piece of Impudence as none would be guilty of but those who can blush at nothing And therefore it will be best not to trust him but hold our own as long as we can XXXI Upon the same Supposition we may still proceed further and Enquire whether a Patriarchal Power do Entitle a Man to all he can Grasp or lay his Hands on Are we so fast bound that there is no getting quit of Him though he Command such Matters as dishonour God disturb the Church mislead Christians out of the true Way and does Actually Tyrannize over Mens Souls Bodies and Estates Patriarchal Authority was first Instituted for the good of the Church that Order might be preserved Purity of Religion secured all Persons contained in and held to their Duties and Heresies and Schisms prevented But now if this Power be made use of against all these Ends must the good of the Church give way to it or it to the good of the Church That it has been and is abused by the Bishop of Roms contrary to all these Ends might be fully proved by an Induction of Particulars but that would lead Me into too large a Field And I shall therefore Omit here because it will be done hereafter when I shall insist on those particular Heads which prove the Romanists guilty of the Schism Besides a Patriarch is only a Bishop with an extended Jurisdiction The Bishop is the highest Oâ—der in Gods Church the Patriarchate is only an Ecclesiastical Gift or Institution whereby the Bishop of a certain place is Entrusted with the oversight of more Churches for the Enlarging Communion and securing Religion Now if any Bishop go against the Canons or teach false doctrine or encourage lewd Practices and preach up ill Manners his Flock might desert Him and joyn in Communion with such as were Orthodox If a Metropolitan took such Courses the Bishops of his Province might cast Him off and Govern their Churches by themselves independently of Him And if a Patriarch who hath somewhat a greater trust shall at the same Rate abuse it he ought the more speediâ—y to be Renounced to Avoid the greater Mischief and Detriment which will otherwise befal the Church of God Ecclesiastical Constitutions must give way to Divine and when instead of serving them they overthrow or frustrate them they are ipso facto void and null Let us suppose that a Person were Recommended to the Pope to be Consecrated or Instituted Archbishop of Canterbury besides the tedious Waiting and large Feeing that must be in the Case his Holiness will have for First-Fruits 10000 Florens and for the Pall 5000 for these were the old Rates And besides all this to secure the New Archbishep to be at his devotion at all times for the future will force Him to take an Oath not of Canonical Obedience but of Fealty for that they have brought it to Now perhaps the King may not be willing that such great Summs of Money should from time to time be dreyned out of the Nation And as much more Averse that his Subjects should Swear Allegiance to another Prince as thinking it prejudicial to his absolute Sovereignty and inconsistent with the safety and peace of his Kingdoms What shall be the Issue of â—his Either the Person Recommended and King too must yield or we must have no Metropoliâ—an and the King shall be Excommunicated And if he continue stubborn and obstinate in the Right perhaps the whole Kingdom shall be put under an Interdict And so if your Purses be not at the Popes service and your Persons his Slaves you shall not be suffered so much as to Worship God Now is not this a fine Patriarch And would it not be a great Sin to cast Him off and serve God whether he will or no This Power the Pope has used this Power he still pretends to and he that Claims an Authority against God and his Worship who was only Entrusted for it hath Forfeited his Trust and fallen from the Honour of it XXXII I shall now only Advance one step higher and then leave this mighty Patriarch tiâ—l we Meet him again in another disguise Let us still suppose the Roman Patriarchate to have extended over these Isles Nay more be it supposed that the Pope is his Holiness indeed and that he could be accused of no ill Management yet I doubt not but his Patriarchate hath of it self in course failed ceased and become void at least so far as Relates to their Churches And that too by these very Laws and Canons of the Anciâ—nt Church which may sâ—em to have Erected or Countenanced it The Motives Reasons and Ends of a Law ought to be well Considered because It is not the Words and Phrases but the Sense and Meaning which is the Law And therefore we commonly say That Ratio Legis Lex est Now nothing can be more plain then that the Bounds of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction were Framed on purpose that they might not interfere with the Civil Power And as hereby the Church maniâ—ested her Tenderness and Regard to it and the Subjection of her Members so She Reaped no small Benesit by it Hence the Limits of Jurisdiction in the Church followed the Divisions of the State Where the Governour of the Province had his Residence there of course the Metropolitical Authority placed it self and the Bishop of that City was he whom the Apostles Canons Can. 35. call the First to whom all the other Bishops of the Province are to have such a peculiar Regard that they are to Act nothing of Common Concern without his Concurrence And so after the Division of the Empire into Diocesses suddenly rose up that Rank of Men since called Patriarchs But by the way we
must observe that this did not take in all places For in some Cities where the Vicars of the Empire Resided were not of Strength Interest and Power sufficient to Mount their Bishops into Patriarchs Besides the Bishops of the Church were exceeding jealous of this new start-up Power as savouring more of Worldly Pride then Episcopal Care and therefore kept it out wherever they could And the wary African Bishops made a Decree against so much as the Use of the Name And great Reason they had for it for it would be no hard Matter to prove that by this means crept in those Abuses and Corruptions into the Church which are now Maintained with a Pretence of Authority and therefore the more Remediless Moreover as this new Honour was dangerous so it was needless for the Diocesses though they seemed to swallow up yet they did not destroy the Provinces So that the Metropolitical Authority remained still Suited to the Government of the State and was much more safe and botter Fitted to keep out Secular Pride Vanity and Worldly Pomp out of the Church And though it was thought requisite that the Ecclesiastical should Comply with the Civil Government so far as to be useful in the State yet it was never thought needful to run oâ—t into all Divisions of Civil Government so as to be prejudicial to the Church But however if those Laws of the Church which Erected or Confirmed Metropolitical or Patriarchal Power proceed upon this Grand Reason That the Government of the Church might be Agreeable to the State then it is Apparent that they never did immoveably Fix such Authority to any particular places for Alteratioâ—s often happening in States that might be clear contrary to their deâ—â—gnes Bùt the End Sense and Meaning of those Laws must be this that the Governours of the Church should always be careful that the Limits of Church mens Jurisdiction should be made to Comply with the Divisions and Limits of the Civil Government under which they live that both may Sit easie and be useful to each other And doubtless the God of Order never intâ—nded that his Church should Fill the World with Disturbance and Confusion which will be unavoidable if those two Powers be always Clashing If then such Civil Divisions are abolishâ—d and the Government ceased or altered for whose sake such Metropolitical or Patriarchal Power was Erected then those very Laws themselves which first Erected it do in their professed Design Reason and Intention not only disannul it but direct the Governours of the Church to establish or procure the Establishment of such other Limits of Jurisdiction as may be more satisfactory to the State and beneficial to the Church Indeed all these Supereminent dignities whereby one Bishop was raised above another were Erected either for he better Management of Affaires in the Roman Empire or for the Grandeur of it Or else sprang up by degrees for the benefit of those Cities which were of greatest Power and Interest in which thing Rome had the most advantage as being the Imperial City and giving Denomination to the whole Empire But now that Empire being broken and Resolved into several absolute and independent Principalities other Measures ought to be taken and for the same Reason that such Authority was set up it ought now to be taken down or Restrained And the Limits of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Confined within the Extent of the Civil Power and Exercised for its Ease Safety and Benefit And it seems to Me to be a Matter not to be despised that though the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament were written under the Government of the Roman Empire and in the time of its greatest Height and Glory yet the word Emperour so far as I can Call to mind is no where to be found there Indeed there is a Precept Relating to Caesar by Reason of a particular Question which determined it to that Name and the word Augustus and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Answers it are Historically mentioned But these what use soever After-times made of them were then Gentilitial or Honourary Titles But the Name Emperour was that by which they then Ruled and which Held all along whatever other Titles or Distinctions were devised And that I think is no where to be found in the New Testament at least not in that sense Perhaps the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which mostly Answers it was thought too presumptuous However it is the Security the New Testament gives them is only by Commanding Obedience to the Higher Powers or in the like Phrases never mentioning their distinct Title But though the Name of Kings was odious to the Romans yet most of the Evangelical Precepts which Require Obedience to the Civil Power expressly direct it to Kings so that they seem to be given not only with a Spirit of Prophesie that that great unweldy Body should fall in pieces and be divided into several Kingdomes but also with a special design to secure and oblige all Christians to Obedience and Submission to such Kings And if we further consider that our Blessed Saviour hath told us That his Kingdom is not of this World And that the Christian Religion teacheth Self denial and Renunciation of the World and Requires all Christians especially the Governours of the Church to be of a most Humble peaceable and exemplary Behaviour This kind of Proceedings in its Covernment will seem most agreeable and natural to it For the Business of Church-Governours is to promote the Interest and Power of the Gospel not pertinaciously to strive for Jurisdiction to its prejudice and dishonour If each Changes happen in Mundane Affairs that by Alteration of the Bounds of Temporal Principalities one Bishop gain and another lose yet the Church of God loseth nothing but hereby gains its Peace and a good opinion amongst the Princes of the Earth And Church-Governours have the greater freedom and more Advantage to do good But the insisting upon Jurisdiction in another Christian Princes Dominion is to take his Subjects from him It ever causeth Disturbances Creates Jealousies in Princes and makes them think those who should be the best Christians to be the worst Subjects And for that cause to have the meaner opinion of Religion it self It would therefore certainly be best with the Church of God and most conduce to its happy Government if this Rule were observed in all Christian Kingdoms that the Jurisdictions of Bishops should Comply with and Conform to the Divisions Boundaries of the Civil Power This was the true primitive Practice and this the Bishops have ever been inclinable to when they have been able to withstand that everlasting Encroacher the Bishop of Rome Of which take this one Instance Immediately after the Synod at Constantinople against Photius a Controversie arose to whose Diocess the Bulgarians then newly Converted to the Faith should belong The Bishop of Rome who never lost any thing for want of demanding it made strong Claim by his Legats Upon this
in detaining the Peter-pence or setting up his own power it seems he was Catholick enough in his Proceedings upon the Six Articles Any thing they imagine to be ill must be Ours But make Enquiry after the Authors and they are all their own Methinks it should concern them to Acquit themselves before they fall foul upon us Nay if we proceed forward so far as to the Reign of Queen Mary the Persons who had the greatest Influence on those Revolutions will be found Men of their own Persuasion for except some few whose Proceedings were more easily Answered with Fagots then Arguments thofe on our part will not be very Considerable throughout the Reigns of Henry the Eighth and Edward the Sixth Scarce any two Persons seem to be deeper dipt in Sacrilege then the Vicar-General Cromwell and Dudley Duke of Northumberland yet how profound Hypocrites soever they might live our Oxford Church-Governour will have them both Roman-Catholicks at their Death Others if they think it worth their while may Contest it with him But for Me he may take them both and make his best of them Only I think it a Reasonable Request that since he will needs have their Persons he would be pleased to take their faults along with them and not accuse us for the Crimes of his Brethren XXXVI But let particular Persons whether theirs or ours Answer for their own demerits I can be heartily sorrowful for the Men but never will be an Advocate for their Mis-deeds The only Matters of any moment for which we can be concerned I conceive must be either Doctrine Discipline Worship or Government Now though the Pope might think himself obliged to stickle for his profits and above all for his Supremacy yet the Roman Catholicks themselves did not think the Changes in Religion of such Weight that upon that Account they should make a perfect Schism For till Felton fixed the Bull of Pius the Fifth upon the Bishop of Londons Palace Gate the Roman Catholicks freely frequented our Churches and joyned in Communion with us And this was no small time for this was not done till the eleventh or twelsth year of Queen Elizabeth So that a small matter would have made her Catholick if she could have digested the Roman Supremacy And though the Romanists so far as concerned Religion thought themselves bound to obey the Pope yet the discreeter sort of them were not a little offended that they were thus thrust headlong into so dangerous a Schism For this we have the Testimony of Mr. Cambden a Person beyond Exception not only as he was a Man of Singular Judgement and Learning and a faithful and prudent Historian But as being personally Acquainted with the Transactions of those times His Words are these Caeterùm hanc Bullam Pontificii plerique moderatiores tacitè improbabant quòd nulla ex jure admonitio praecesserit praevidentes molem malorum inde sibi impendere qui priùs privatim sua sacra intra paâ—â—etes Jaâ—is securè â—â—â—â—â—…nt vel recepta in Ecclcsiâ Anglicanâ sacra sine Conscientiae Scrupulo adire non Recusârunt Annal. Eliz. ad Ann Dom ' 1570. So that the Reformation was indeed made on our part for which we wanted neither good Cause nor sufficient Authority But the Separation was made by the Pope For had not He Excommunicated Queen Elizabeth for what Reason the Romanists held Communion with us till such Excommunication for the same it might have continued to this day and no Schism made But if this Excommunication had neither lawful Authority nor just cause then will the Pope be not only the Author but cause of the Schism and draw the whole guilt of it on him and his party The proof of this in particular I will not insist on here because it will be abundantly done in the progress of the Work especially in the second and third part if it shall please God that I live to Finish them Only here I will leave this Choak-pear which I desire my Adversary to swallow before he Attaqae me That whosoever undertakes the Defence of that Bull besides all other Extravagancies which he shall be obliged to maintain must in the first place fairly Confess himself to be a Rebel and a Traytor as to Principles of Civil Government and obliged in Conscience actually to be so as often as the Pope requires and of this the Pope to be the sole and uncontroulable Judge XXXVII Having here slipt into the mention of Queen Elizabeth it may not be altogether impertinent to Acquit Her of one dishonourable Scandal wherewith some foul Mouth'd Romanists endeavour to Blast her Memory If Henry the Eighth belonged to any he was certainly theirs not ours Yet in Handling the Reformation they spare not to charge Him with all the indecencies true or false which they can Rake together But nothing is more exagitated then his two First Marriages and that often in such fulsom and obscene Language as is not a little offensive to chast Eares The Design of all this is that they might invalidate Queen Elizabeths Title to the Crown upon which score some ruder Romanists will at this day as samiliarly and confidently call Her Bastard as if she had been found in the streets laid at some door in a Basket It is well known that she was a Person so excellently qualified for Government that even living she struck Envy dumb and made those who most implacably hated Her to Admire Her It might therefore justly move Indignation in any Generous Spirit to see every Ass spurn at a dead Lion But if this were as rrue as it is false yet if they would deal ingeniously they must confess that this could no way effect the Church as to that Power Conferred on it by God and that Authority which doth always distinctly and entirely remain in it self Only it may leave the Church destitute of any Legal Civil Sanction during her time And if for tbat they will Condemn us they may as well Condemn the Christian Churches of the first three Hundred Yeares and then we shall not be much afraid in so good Company But there is nothing but Malice or Ignorance in the thing it self and the Romanists of all Men ought to be cautious in this Matter because whilest they Fence with this Two-Edged Sword intending to Cut Queen Elizabeth they as deeply Wound Queen Mary Neither will the Sickly Salvo of the Popes Dispensation stand them in any stead for it is not only we who deny that his Power reached to it but the greatest part of their own Universities gave it under their Hands and Seals And indeed this was at that time so generally the Opinion of the Romanists That the Author of Church-Government freely Acknowledgeth though little to the Credit of his Cause that when Mary was Offered in Marriage First to the Emperour Charles the Fifth and after to Francis King of France She was Refused by both on this Account because they doubted of the Lawfulness of
in this Matter are such as may with equal if not more advantage be â—eturned upon themselves 'T is true we are not desirous to Molest others we wish Peace to the Churches Reasonable things would Content us and therefore we generally keep on the defensive part and stand all their Attacks and Opposition But if by such foul dealing they will continually provoke us till we change the state of this Scribling War and bring it into their own Countrey what Work will this make For if they will Vouch those Arguments to be good against our Orders And we prove that they are of no less force against their own or that we have other stronger Reasons against them whither will they then go for Ecclesiastical Authority their pride and stomach is too great to Truckle to the Greek or any other Church or to Borrow any Authority from them But if they should they ought to Consider whether the same Arguments will not follow them yea more whether divers of their Hot-spurs have not Carried them thither already If so all their Labour is in vain And if their Arguments be good all Church power and Succession is lost This indeed doth not so fatally affect us as it doth them because we for good Reasons deny those Arguments to be good and so keep up our Succession and Ecclesiastical Authority But what will become of that Church or what Remedy is left for it which obstinately maintains the Validity of such Arguments when they are proved as valid against her self especially it being a Church of that pride and ambition as to scorn to own any Authority in any other Church which she hath not more fully in her self Now if rather then not destroy our Orders they will what in them Lies overthrow all Ecclesiastical Authority and Succession though thanks be to God they cannot do it yet it is Apparent that they will hazard the very Worship of God and shake the very Foundations of Religion rather then be frustrated in their malicious Purposes and ambitious Designes And this I take not to be any strong Temptation to prefer their Communion before all Others XL. As for our Doctrine we are willing it should come to the Trial And I know no better Way to Try it then by its Agreement with what was Taught by our Saviour and his Apostles This is the Way Tertulliaen prescribes us both for the Security of the Church and Exclusion of Hereticks For after some things premised he makes this Inference Const aâ— proinde omnem Doctrinam quae cum illis Ecclesiis Apostolicis Matricibus Origiualibus Fidei conspiret Veritati deputandam id sine dubio tenentem quod Ecclesiae aeb Apostolis Aposto'i à Christo Christus à Deo suscepit Roliquam vero omnem doctrinam de Mendaâ—io praejudicandum quae sapiat contra Veritatem Ecclesiarum Apostolorâ—â— Christi Dâ—i And again speaking of Hereticks in general Ipsa 〈◊〉 doctrina â—orum cum Apostolicâ comparata ex diversitate contrarietate sâ—a Pronunciabit negue Apostoli alicujus Autoris esse neque Apostolici And then shewing how later Churches or such which shou'd at any time after be Constituted might defend themselves against Hereticks He saith thus Ad hanc itaque formam Provocabuntur ab illis Ecclesiis quae licèt nullum ex Apostolis vel Apostoliciâ— Aâ—ctoâ—em sâ—am proserant ut mulâ—ò Posteriores quae denique quotidie instituuntur â—amen in eâdem fide Conspirantes non minùs Apostolicae deputantur pro Consanguinitate doâ—trinae de Praescrip Now let this be the Test and in our Defence we say with Tertullian Postcrior nostrares non est immò omnibus Prior est Hoc crit Testimonium Veritaetis ubique occupantis Principatum de Praescrip Now let them Charge us if they can with Maintaining any Doctrine as of necessity to Salvation which came not from Christ or his Apostles and when they can prove that all these did they shall make Me believe any thing Only by the Way I cannot but take Notice of the difference between this good Old Father and the present Romanists in their Resolution of Faith or in the last Result Standard and Trial of Faith The One Refers us to what our Saviour taught by Commission from the Father and the Apostles by Authority from Him and to Examine Matters by their Agreement herewith The other without more ado Resolves all into the Authority of the present Roman Church The One saith It is the Way of Truth because the same that Christ and his Apostles Taught The Other saith We cannot be deceived because the Present Roman Church Voucheth it to be Right Now though for my own part I Adhere to the Opinion of the Father and therein of the Ancient Church yet I must Confess that the Romanists whether right or wrong have laid their Plot well for if they can once bring a Man to swallow this Proposition That the Roman Church is the only certain Rule and Judge of Truth Or That all thinge must give Way to their Determinations Then as for Particulars his Work is done and he is bound with an implicit Faith to swallow them all without any scruple or the least Examination Now this is sure and quick Work but too quick for Me who as a Christian lying under an Obligation upon occasion to Render a Reason of the Faith that is in Me would be willing to know a Reason that I may be able to do so That the Roman Church saith so will be no Reason till she produce a better Charter for her Authority then she hath yet done And till I and Oâ—hers can be satisfied by good Reason or Evidence of such Authority For if a Reason be Required of Me my Answer that Others say so will be none unless I can convince them by good Evidence that their Say-so is of sufficient Authority and indubitable the Plea indeed of Indefectibility were good if it were true But they rather urge that because it serves their Turns then that they have any good Evidence of it And the Father who directs us to trace Truth to the Apostolical Churches supposes that particular Churches may fall from it Sicut saith he Apostoli non diversa inter se docuissent ita Apostolici non contrarià Apostolis edidissent nisi illi qui ab Apostolis desciverant aliter praedicaverunt de Praescrip The Romanists indeed lay their Scene wisely they understand well enough what would do their Business and accordingly fail not to plead what must do it with those who Admit their Plea without proof The Consequence or Building would be good if the Antecedent or Foundation were sound But you must not narrowly Examine that lest a Rotten Bottom tumble all the stately Pageant down again If the Roman Church be indefectible by Vertue of any Promise made to St. Peter then other Churches may use the same Arguments and lay Claim to the same Privileges as well as they And our own Church
Scriptures being the most perfect Rule as proceeding from the All-wise God and leading to the Noblest End why should not Others or rather all be subservient to them yet this is so far from making thâ—m less that it argues their greater Perfection Secondly That nothing be Admitted as a Tradition which hath not some Apparent Foundation in Scripture for that being the undoubted Word of God whatever is not Agreâ—able thereto much more whatsoever is contrary to it ought never to be admitted But by Reason of our own Weakness or Others Fâ—owardness the Rule in some Cases being not so clear a true primitive Tradition in relation to Matters contained in Scripture may be very useful to lead us to the true Sense as in the Case of Infants Baptism the Observation of the Lords Day and some other Matters For all the Churches of God from the first times having Baptized Infants and duely observed the Lords Day it must be supposed That the Apostles did unanimously so teach the first Churches and consequently that those General Precepts concerning Baptism in Scripture are inclusive of the Children of believing Parents And that those Scriptural Instances of the Observation of the Lords Day were intended to direct our Practice Nor let any Man think that the Romanists will be Gainers by this for I will never deny any Truth for fear of giving Advantage to an Adversary Whatever they can prove from Scripture Expounded by such truly primitive Tradition as shall be agreeable to the two foregoing and the following Cautions I shall freely yield to them or any other Party But if the Matter come to this Issue they must lose all the most Considerable things for which they Contend with us I know they make great Flourishes and pretend Scripture back'd with Tradition for Purgatory and some other Fopperies But what can I or any Man help it if they will use the best means for the worst Ends They know good Rules but use them ill For as for such a Notion of Purgatory which they have set up and such a Use for it as they have devised as there is not any Footsteps of it in Scripture so was it utterly unknown to the primitive Church or if it could have been known would have been Abominated And if Men will have the Impudence to pretend without any colour for their Pretences yet I will not forsake a good Course because they abuse it Thirdly that nothing be admitted as a genuine Tradition but what was universally received and wherein all the primitive Churches were agreed according to that known Rule of Vincentius Lyrinensis Quod ubique quod semper quod ab â—â—…nibus or as he otherwise phraseth it Vniversitatis Antiquitatis Consensio Nothing can be so plainly spoken but the Weakness the Heedlessness or the Malice of some Persons may mistake or corrupt it Thus the Millenary Errour sprang from Papias misunderstanding John the Elder And his Authority again seems to have Influenced Irenaeus and Justin Martyr But this Meeting with Opposition in the Church and being in the End Exploded it hath only the Reputation of a very early Mistake and serves well for an Instance to shew how quickly Tradition may be Corrupted unless the Churches of God be exceeding vigilant What the Apostles taught for the Common Concern of our Salvation in any one Church they taught the same in all and therefore unless they all Agree that there is a Mistake is certain whether there be a Tradition or where it lies is uncertain and so at least it is useless But though here and there a Man might in some particular things mistake the Apoâ—tles and by their means Others might be deceived yet that all Persons of all Churches should clearly mistake the Apostles in any necessary matter notwithstanding they lived so long and daily so Laboured in the Word and Doctrine is a thing incredible And therefore wherein they unanimously Agree concerning the Doctrine of the Apostles no doubt but it is the best Exposition of the Doctrine in the Scriptures the same things being written for our perpetual Instruction which were at first preached for the benefit of the then living Generation Fourthly That Traditions be always deduced from the First Ages of the Church for Traditions are received not made And if they proceeded not from Apostles and Apostolick Persons they can never become genuine Traditions afterwards What was delivered to the first Churches though since neglected lost or forgotten was a true and genuine Tradition and is so still if it can be discovered But if any thing be Vouched as a Tradition though of a Thousand yeares standing and more yet if it came not from the First Churches it is not a Tradition but an Imposture And such are most of the Roman Traditions much like those of the Pharisees of whom our Saviour saith That they had made the Commandment of God of none effect by their Traditions Mat 15. 6. and yet they called them the Traditions of the Elders verse 2. and stood then up for their Antiquity as stoutly as the Other do now But as Tertullian observes lib. de Praeserip Veritas mendacio prior est And therefore here we are to follow not quâ—d Antiquum but quod Antiquissimum Lastly that a Difference be observed as to Traditions according to their Nature and Rife There are Traditions of particular Churches arising mostly from the Orders and Constitutions of some Venerable Apostolick Persons made and prescribed to the Churches which they respectively Governed These Claim a Respect not only upon the Account of their suitableness to Order but also in Honour of the Persons from whom they came but yet they oblige not other Churches None indeed ought to contemn them but they may lawfully either use or disuse them as their present Churth-Governours shall think Fitting for the benefit of the present Churches Some Traditions are more Universal as proceeding from the Apostles themselves but if they be only concerning things in their own Nature indifferent neither are these immutably binding That some such were is Apparent from that of St. Paul to the Corinthians 1 Cor. 11. 34. The Rest will I set in Order when I come But if any Man can certainly tell Me what Orders he made Erit mihi magnus Apollo And perhaps the Apostle never Committed them to Writing lest an over-great Veneration to Apostolical Authority should Run other Churches into an inconvenience For those very Orders though most wisely Fitted to the Church of Corinth might at the same time be inconvenient for other Churches yea for the very self-same Church in following times For though some indifferent things must of Necessity be determined because otherwise the Solemn Worship will unavoidably be disorderly and indecent yet such Orders can never be so Fixed for all â—hurches as to be of a perpetual immutable and unalterable Nature For Climates Customes Times Persons do variously alter the state of Matters so that what is prudently Constituted in one Church may be
it is not that which they would have as also because they have Received such Answers already in that Matter from Spalato the most Reverend A. B. Laud the Learned Dean of St. Pauls and others that it is now altogether a Needless Labour III. He that takes his Aim though never so carefully yet may sometimes miss his Mark And if that should be my Misfortune in what I write in this place I may in Equity expect the more favourable Usage For though in a good Sense a Councel may be said to be the Church Representative as I shall shew anon Yet I have Considered and Considered again and can by no means Reconcile to Reason that Notion or Proposition in the sense which some Men take and Explain it That a General Councel is Representative of the diffusive Body of the Church For if it be so it must either be by Institution from God or Delegation from Men. But that God in any Case hath Appointed the whole Body of Christians to choose certain Persons as their Representatives whose Acts by vertue of such Election shall be as binding as if it had been done by all and every Man I think can no where be found for my own part I could never see any Footsteps of it or any thing like it If on the other Hand it be by an unprescribed spontaneous Delegation from Men it must either be by the whole Body of Christians Met together for that purpose or by Parts Assembled in particular Churches The First I think if it be not impossible is altogether impracticable as the state of the Church now is Nor was it ever put in Practice when the Church being less closer and better united did not labour under those difficulties which now it doth As for the second it hath neither Scripture nor Antiquity on its side and for that Little which some may wrest to look that way it is so very little that it may thence Appear that the Churches of God never thought it necessary For though Paul and Barnabas and certain others were sent up to Jerusalem about the Controversie between the Jews and Gentiles Acts 15. 2. Yet there is not any Circumstance to lead us to think otherwise but that they went by Order or Agreement of these Governours of the Churches among whom that Controversie had been debated but could not be finally decided by reason of the turbulency of the Jews and not by Election of the People And when the Councel Met at Jerusalem though all Christians had freedom to Appear in it yet when the Apostles and Elders are said to come together to Consider of the Matter verse 6. they Met by their own Authority And further if a Councel be so the Church Representative that in Order to its being a Representative it be necessary that the Persons Appearing be Elected from the Church-Members of particular Churches the Consequence will be That the first four Famous General Councels were not lawful Councels for they Met by the Emperours Summons not by Election from the People And therefore upon this Supposition could not be duely Convocated Besides if a Deputation of the People or Church-Members be necessary let the Honour or Orders of the Persons deputed be what it will they must Represent mostly as Laymen for such are Incomparably the far greater Number But we read not of any Bishops Sitting in Councel but as Bishops and subscribing as Bishops and taking place there by vertue of their own Authority as Bishops not by any Deputation unless perhaps some Person Appeared for some absent Bishop as well as himself or as the Legate of some Bishop But then a Commission or Deputation from that absent Bishop was sufficient without so much as Consulting any Church-Members I do not say but that some Persons were Chosen on purpose to be sent to Councels but then they were either such Priests or Deacons as the Bishops thought Fit to take along with them or were pitch'd on by the Advice of their Clergy And we have a Custom amongst our selves that Two out of every Diocess be Chosen and sent to the Provincial Synod or Convocation And though it is Reasonable that some should be there who by daily Inspection and Experience understand the Countreys Affairs and the Circumstances of the Rural Clergy upon whom not the least part of the Burthen lies yet the great Reason iâ— this That the Determinations of the Convocation may pass into the Law of the Land which they cannot do unless the Convocation consists of such Persons as the Law requires whose Acts must be Ratified by the King also to that purpose But then those Persons so Choseâ— are only the Proctors of the Clergy not Deputies of the People And Câ—nonâ— for the Church might be made without them though not Laws of the Land And indeed the Romanists themselves though they talk loud of a Councels being the Churches Representative yet sometimes they are as dumb again and willing to let it sleep or to shift it off When they have to do with private Persons or such whom they Call Hereticks then they talk big of their pack'd Councels and what a Madness it is to withstand the Representative of the whole Church of God This looks great and seems to carry no small Authority with it But if DiscouÌ„rse happen of a Councel in Relation to the Pope then they are as Mute as Fishes or Mince the Matter and will by no means be induced to speak out as to any such Authority in Councels of themselves And it is well known That the Tridentines were never suffered to use the Phrase Repraesentans universalem Ecclesiam though many stickled hard for it the Pope being in no small fear that an Inferencâ— would be thence drawn That any Member how great soever was Inferiour to the Representative of the whole Body of Gods Church the Consequence of which might have been fatal to Himself But the Question concerning the Right to or Exercise of Authority in any diffusive Body of Men whether Ecclesiastical or Civil perhaps deserves a more thorough Examination then it hath ever yet undergone And consequently whether any can And if any then who and how far they can make a Representative I may perhaps have Occasion to discourse of it hereafter but shall not in this place IV. He that proceeds only in a destructive way gives too much Advantage to Loose Wits and in stead of Instructing unsettles weak Heads It is therefore but just that he who opposeth what he thinks a Mistake should set down what he thinks right lest he do more hurt by leaving nothing to build upon then he doth good by discovering an Errour which perhaps might be harmless if Consequences of too great moment were not Wire-drawn from it If therefore we should say That a Councel i. e. as far as Relates to such Churches whose Bishops Appear in Councel is the Church Authoritative and in Consequence the Representative as bringing with it all that Authority Christ
left in his Church and which he Lodg'd in his Church-Officers by Vertue of which Authority they Represent and not by any Deputation from the People or Church Members I think that with submission to better Judgements it would be much more plain in the Explication and facile in the Reasons of it And thence would Evidentâ—y Appeâ—r the true Grounds of the different force of their Decrees and Canons For in what Relates to Discipline and exâ—ernal Government every Bishop haâ—h Power to make Orders in his own Church And when they are Met in Councel together for the Agreement and Harmony of Churches and better upholding Communion they may make Rules binding all those Churches and in all things lawful and honest they are to be obeyed For in their Hands God left the Government of his Church as a Church And it is no less then an Apostolical Command in â—eserence to Church-Governours Obey them thâ—e have the Rule â—ver you and submit your selves c. Heb 13. 17. And this is so clear from the Practice of the pâ—imitive Church that to bring a few Instances were only to light a Candle to the Sun But then those Regimental Rules or Orders were not binding to those Churches whose Bâ—shops were not there either by themselves or their Delegates and Consenting to them though they were bound to observe them whenever upon any Occasion they came to any of those Churches on whom they were laid And also had a Power to Receive and Confirm them if they found them convenient for their Churches and so to make them Obligatory ex post facto though they themselves were not at the Councel And it is further Observable That Constitutions of this Nature were never thought to be so unalterable and binding But that not only foâ—lowing General Councels might alter them but even Provincial Councels in some Cases mighâ— Reseind what more General Councels had Appointed For no Laws are binding contrary to their own End and Design Now the End and Design of their Constitutions being the Peace and Bâ—nefit of the Churches and for the most part in Matters of themselâ—es by Nature indifferent or mutable It can hardly be that in all things their General Sanctions should Hit the Condition of all Churches for Climates alter Men much And the Humours Inclinationâ— and Customes of People much vary in different places yea not seldom in the same place in different Ages So that what is convenient easie and useful in one place may be inconvenient uneasie and unprofitable in another If therefore by Reason of the Condition of some particular Church or Churches which was not well made known to the General Councel some of their Constitutions should prove to be really and truly Burthensom and Ossensive to such Churches If there be no Prospect of another General Councel near at Hand a Provincial Councel of their own who understand their state and necessities may Relieve them by making other Orders more Fit and Practicable for them but always with Honour and Observance of those Constitutions where they do take place and without any Contempt or disrespect where they are laid aside To this Effect is that Answer of our Learned Dr. Beveridge to his fâ—â—ward Observator Nemo nescit Synodos Posteriores sape aliâ— nonnunquam â—entraria constituisse ac quae prioribus constituta fuerant idque licèt Priores iâ—ae acuâ—â—â—icae sive Vniversales Posteriores singularium tantummodò Provinciarum Synodi 〈◊〉 quod sexcentis sinecesse â—sset exemplis demonstrare licet Cod. Can. Ecc. â—â—i lib. 1. cap. 3. In these things if I mistake not consists the greatest 〈◊〉 most direct Power of Councels for these things are to be received and observed by vertue of their own Authority And hence it is Observable That in most ancient Councels the greatest Part of their Canons relate to Discipline and Government And they never Caâ—ed to meddle with Matter of Doctrine unless the Troubles of the Church and unquietness of Hereticks constrained them to it And though in this Case not only Men in inseriour Orders but even prudent Lay men may be Consulted with and have liberty â—o Advise and freely spâ—ak their Thoughts that the state of the Church may be the better known yet the decisive Voice is in the Bishop And that the Contrary Asserted by Spalato is a great Mistake I shall happily have Occasion to prove when I come to speak of the Nature Power and Rights of Episcopacy in opposition to the Roman See whose Usurpations have not only diminished but in a manner destroyed that Order to the irreparable damage of Gods Church and without the Restoration of which to its just Rights I see not how the Church can hope for either Unity or Peace V. But though in Relation to Government and Discipline the Power of Bishops in Councel is very great yet in Matters of Doctrine it is by no means the same For he that Committed to their Trust the Government of his Church gave them no Power over the Faith Rules for Discipline may alter as Cases alter But the Gospel of Christ Jesus must be yesterday and to day and the same for ever No Monckish Evangelium aeternum nor Fanatick Evangelum armatum must be suffered to thrust this out of doors What Christ and his Apostles delivered to the Saints at first must be the Rule to the last And therefore here the Business of Councelâ— is not to Appoint but Enquire Not to Constitute but declare They have no Authority to make us a New Gospel or any New Article of Faith but to discover the Old And therefore here their Authority goes equal pace with their Sincerity Diligence and Skill And if these Qualifications be truly in them and duely used It â—s all the Reason in the world that we should Acquiesce in their Determinations and that not only because we cannot have any better or more able Body of Men to decide the Controversie But also because we have good Grounds to believe that God will Afford them his Assistance for the Promise made to the Disciples of beiâ—g with them always to the End of the World is not capable of any other Construction but of his Affording not only to them but to their Successors sufficient Aid and Assistance to preserve discover teach and declare that Truth and Doctrine which our Bâ—â—ssed Saviour and his Apostles taught and left with them to be taught to thâ— End of the World for the Salvation of Souls And though even Laymen as being all Concerned in the Common Salvation may Challenge a Right to Appear in Councel in orderly Manner and Number yet certainly the greatest Authority lies in them To whom God hath Committed the Care of all the Churches and who must Answer for others Souls as well as their own Where therefore the Pastors of the Church are Mâ—t together about Matters relating to the Necessities of the Church and are Honest Industrious and able I doubt not but that in Matters of Religion
is as good as a General if Confirmed by the Pope and without his Confirmation the most General is not worth a Rush Thus what shrivelled things are Councels to a Pope But as if all Reformation Consisted in exalting the Pope in the Decree of Reformation Sess 6. cap. 1 He is stiled Ipsius Dei in Terris Vicarius They could hardly have made him greater unless they had stiled Him Our Lord God the Pope And in the latter part of the same Decree they declare him to be Captain ' Mend-all with a power to punish at Discretion even the Highest Prelates of the Church And that not by Vertue of any Trust reposed in Him by the Councel but Suae Supremae Sedis Aâ—ctoritate This I think is pretty fair they did deserve to be stroked and called his white Boys for it When they come to determine the Matter concerning the Reservation of Cases which extreamly needed Reformation for by that means Persons oft were forced to Travel to Rome from the farthâ—st Countreys at vast Charges and often for meer Trifles in stead of Reforming they Justify it Aâ—d for fear of losing the booty they seem willing that some otheâ— Bishops should have a Shâ—re with Subordination to his Holiness But 〈◊〉 for thâ— Pope himself they tell us roundly that he may do it 〈…〉 Potestate sibi in Ecclesâ—â Vniversâ traditâ Sess 14. cap. 7 〈…〉 the Naâ— home and Clinches it too for it his be the Supâ—emâ— Pâ—wer in the universal Church that Man oâ— Men had nâ—ed be Back'd with a strange Authority who shall dare to Contâ—oul or oppose Him Further the Matter is so Ordered that the Councel frequently gives the Pope the Title of Domâ—nâ—s nesier and the Consequence can be no less but that they were or ought to be his Humble Servants Perhaps some will say that this was done in good Manners and by way of Complement But put a Complement upon the Pope and if it serves his Turn he interprets it a Reality And the Decrees and Canons of this Councel are Restrained to his Interpretation that they can only speak what he pleases so thâ—t he mâ—y make the utmost Use of it And we know that Sayings whiâ—h do not by the hundredth part so much Countenance his Supremacy are Confidently brought in to prove it An endless and needless Labour it would be to pursue all Instances of this kind and therefore I shall Content my self with one more When most Men were Tyred out and grown Sick of the Councel and the Papalins being in fear of the Popes Death were Resolved to Conclude it in a Hurry in the very last Session this Decree passeth Postremò Sancta Synodus omnia singula sub quibuscunque claâ—sulis verbis quae de Morum Reformatione atque Ecclesiasticâ Disciplinâ tam sub fel. rec Paulo 3 tio ac Julio 3 tio quèm sub Beatissimo Pâ—o 4 to Pontificibus Maximis in hoc Sacro Concilio statut a sunt declarat ita decreta fuisse ut in his Salva semper Auctoritas Sedis Apostolicae sit esse intelligatur cap. 21. Now if they had done any thing as to the Pope before this had undone it all And this with the Help of such a Construction as the Pope may put upon it may enable Him to do what he will He is now left to Carve for Himself and if he want any thing it is his own fault By what Surprize this Decree was obtained the Historian briefly tells us When a Councel was just Shutting up few Men gave their Minds to Heed or stick at any thing and therefore in the Close of the day this is passed as a thing granted though it had never been mentioned in any Congregation Hist C. T. lib. 8 pag. 812 Now what the Authority here designed is you may give a shrewd Guess by the Acclamation in the Shutting up of the Councel Beatissimo Pio Papae Domino nostro Sanctae Vnivsrsalis Ecclesiae Pontifici c. What can he desire more It seems the Dispute about Vniversalem Ecclesiam and Vniversas Ecclesias was out of their Heads now VIII As to the Authority of Bishops it was the Contrivance of the Councel all along by all Arts possible to bring it in a manner to nothing 'T is true some were sensible of the Mischief of this and amongst such the Spaniards deserved no mean Commendation especially Granata then whom there was not a more brave and Magnanimous Prelate in all the Councel It wanted not much once but that they had out-witted the early Legats but their honest Plot being discovered they were quickly over-born by the Italians and Pensioners who never Consider what is Right but what will serve the Pope's Turn And to exalt him it was necessary to depress all other Bishops for if other Bishops be Christs Vicars as well as the Pope they will be in danger to be his Fellows but if they be only Vicars or Delegates of Christs-Vicar then they must submit to Him as their Head from whom they derive all their Authority And to bring it to this Pass they used many Arts though none more effectual then this which shall be the only Instance I shall produce in this place In the Matter of Reformation it was necessary to seem to do something though God knows their Reformâ—tion was much like Boccaline's in Parnassus which after a mighty Bustle and vast Expectations Amounted to no more then the Moderating the Price of Cabbages and Onyons Now though in things of greatest Concern the Reformation was left to the Pope which was Magno conatu nihil agere yet all could not be so Referred and the Execution of such things had been always left to the Bishops Now to have Committed them to any other Hands would have been not only to bring themselves under Eternal Infamy but to put the World in a Mutiny On the other Hand to leave it to them would seem to infer a Right if not a Divine Right in prejudice of the Pope One would think here they had been taken in a Noose but they slip the Knot with ease And certainly never any thing was more Neatly taken away in the very giving For when Matters came under debate which did Require the Exercise of Jurisdiction upon the place they then Committed it to the Bishops but with this Restriction As Delegates of the Apostolick See Here indeed the Bishops Received a Power to Exercise some Authority but in the very Accepting it they gave up their Right and placed all Authority Originally in the Pope so that if he pleased at any time to undelegate them he did in effect unbishop them And yet the only Reason which moved the Cardinals St. Clemens and Alexandrinus to persevere in their Opinioe to the last against the Confirmation of the Councel was this That too much Authority had been Given to Bishops in that Councel Hist C. T. lib. 8. p 817. So Jealous is the Roman Court of the Authority
Act the Play which Others made and therefore it is unjust that they should be Accounted the Authors of it and Rob Others of their Glory for though they carry the Name yet in Truth the Tridentine Fathers were neither Fathers nor Mothers of those Decrees and Canons but were only the Midwives to deliver the Pope and Conclave of a Brat which they had long been big with though they were partly forced and partly Hired to take it upon themselves lest the World should have judged it a Bastard-Child By the Orders of Paul the 3d. to the Legats they were to receive from him what they should propose deliberate and conclude and not to publish any Decree in Session before they had Communicated it at Rome Hist C. T. lib. 2. p. 164 And all along there were Deputies in Rome kept over the Councel that nothing could be dispatched in Trent till they had first Considered Corrected and Concluded the Matter and satisfied the Pope in it And then he sent it to Trent that it might pass for their Decree And to this purpose Dispatches came from Rome every Week at least once and sometimes twice unless the Waters were up as they often were there and then the Pope could not inspire them but the Legats were forced to make delays and Busie the Councel in By-matters of all which a very pleasant Account is given in the Letter of the Bishop of Five-Churches to the Emperour And sometimes it Hapned that the Deputies in Rome did not understand the Affair so well as the Legats who were upon the place And so the Pope sometimes put things upon them that were uneasie or unsafe And then they were at a Stand whether they should follow his Orders or his Interest But the Common Resolution was to Employ the Councel in something else till they could give the Deputies more full Information and Satisfaction that the Orders might be Corrected but still nothing could be Concluded in the Councel till it was first Agreed on and determined at Rome And from that they were not to depart Now I cannot understand but that those who made the Decrees and Canons were more effectually the Councel then those who published them And being Romanists are apt to Ask what Objection can be made against the Councel of Trent which may not also be made against the Councel of Nice I desire to know of them whether they will say that these things can be truly Objected against the Councel of Nice If not then they must Acknowledge a wide difference XI But suppose these and other Objections did not Lye against it yet what is the Councel of Trent to us If the Acts of that Councel bind us it must either be from the Authority of the Councel or the Nature of the things determined If from the Nature of the things then they are binding before and without the Councel And so where the Councel of Trent is in the Right we may receive it â—or its own sake not the Councels because it is true not because the Tridentine Fathers so determined And so the Plea of the Councel is laid aside to Examine the Nature of the thing But if those Acts must be supposed Binding by Vertue of the Authority of the Councel I would know how that Authority Reacheth us for Councels bind those Churches whose Bishops are present and Consenting to them And though the Pope hath Usurped the Privilege to be the only Confirmer of Councels yet Anciently his Confirmation Reached no further then to his own Church of Diocess at most And every Bishop had as much power to Confirm Councels as He and the Councel stood in as much need of their Confirmation as his in Respect of their particular Churches And their Common Stile in Subscribing was Ego A. B. Confirmavi Corroboravi or the like And if they did not do thus the Decrees and Canons of the Councel were not Reputed to be Binding to their particular Churches If the Determinations of the Councel were thought to be of General Concern then they were sent to other Churches whose Bishops were not there and they might Receive or Reject either in whole or in part but what they received they bound themselves to but not but by their own Act. Now what Bishops of ours were at Trent or when did we receive it or approve it ex post facto Henry the 8th was so far from sending any Bishops to that Councel that he Protested against it Edward the 6th was less a Friend to it What Queen Mary would have done I know not But all the time of her Reign the Councel was under a Suspension and sate not And though it was Revived again in Queen Elizabeths time yet it is well known that she thought that neither the Pope had Right to Call a Councel nor equal that he should Preside in it Neither did any of the Bishops of her time either of those put out or those put in Appear there As for the Blind Irish-man he is nothing to us and as little I think to his own Nation It is indeed true that Cardinal Poole an Englisb-man whom even Protestants Honour for his Moderation and Piety was in that Councel some small time under Paul the Third But he Sate there as the Pope's Legat not an English Bishop Nay at that time he was not a Bishop at least not of any English Church nor deputed by any Bishop of Ours And therefore could not Carry with Him the Authority of any one of our Churches I wonder the Pope had not so much forecast as to Set up some Titulars to supply this defect But if He had we should have little Regarded such a moâ—k-Moâ—k-Authority And as none of our Bishops were there so there is not the least Colour to say that we Received it since And therefore they may Keep their Councel for a Snare to themselves it doth not bind us And this Argument ought to be Held good even in the Opinion of the Councel of Trent it self for when in Order to Carrying a Matter under debate the Determination of the Councel of Florence was urged it was pressed as an Argument against the Spaniards not against the French And for this Reason that the one Nation had Received that Councel but not the other And thus I have done with the General Part and now we must come to a more close Fight insisting upon such Particulars as may both Justify our Separation and withal make manifest that whatever they pretend the tâ—ue Reason of their Adherence to those Matters is only a Selfish and Unchristian Interest FINIS BOOKS Sold by and Printed for RICHAKD NORTHCOTT Adjoyning to St. Peters Alley in Cornhil 1691. SPiritual Songs or Songs of Praise to Almighty God upon several Occasions together with the Song of Songs which is Solomons first Turn'd then Paraphras'd in English Verse the third Edition with an Addition of Dives and Lazarus A Sermon concerning the Excellency and Usefulness of the Common Prayer preached by William Beveridge D. D. Rector of St. Peters Cornhil London A Sermon preached before the Queen at Whitehall October the 12th 1690 by William Beveridge D. D. A Friendly Discourse between an English Dissenter and a French Protestant concerning the Liturgy and Ceremonies of the Church of England by Daniel La Fite M. A. Rector of East Dean in the County of Sussex Gnomoniques or the Art of drawing Sun-Dials on all sorts of Planes by different Methods with the Geomemetrical Demonstrations of all the Operations by Jâ—hn Leek Professor of the Mathematicks The Experienccd Farrier or Farring Compleated in Two Books Physical and Chyrurgical bringing pleasure to the Gentleman and Profit to the Countreyman in which you have the Whole Body Sum and Substance of it in one Entire Volume in so full and ample Manner that there is nothing more Material to be Added hereto
Henry's Marriage with her Mother part 5. cap. 2. But for my part I am not of their Humour who take a pleasure in bespattering Princes and to do it by our own can be no Honour to our selves I do not see that any thing Alledged can be any real Prejudice either to Mary or Elizabetâ— for the Succession to our Crown depends neither upon Canons nor Councels much less upon Popes Bulls and Decretals but upon the Constitutions of our Kingdom And it was never yet doubted but that King Henry was Married as well to Katherine as Anue Bolen And if the Marriage was Solemnized the Children are Legitimate by our Laws which abhor all thoughts of any such thing as Bastards in Matrimony 'T is true our Laws permit and Authorize Ecclesiasticks to divorce such Persons who Marry within the degrees prohibited but yet suffer no prejudice to be done to their Issue And if the Parents though too near of Kin were Legally Married their Children shall succeed to their Estates and Rights in the same manner that other Persons Children do where the Marriage was without Exception And it is very hard Measure to deprive a King oâ— that privilege which belongs to the meanest of his Subjects especially in this Case which may endanger to involve a Nation in Confusion and Ruine Let King Henry therefore Answer for his own faults what iniquity soever there might be in his Marrages yet being Married his 〈◊〉 are Legitimated And I doubt not but that Mary and Elizabeth were both in their Turns our Lawâ—ul Sovereigns I will therefore prosecute this no further save with a Request to the Romanists that henceforward they would cease to set the Childrens Teeth on Edge with the soure Grapes the Father Eat and be as ready to Acknowâ—edge Queen Elizabeth a Lawful Sovereign as we are Queen Mary XXXVIII I did once Intend to have thoroughly Examined the Matter of the Reformation but I find that it would oblige Me rather to Write a Volume then a Chapter And after all perhaps I should be accused of needless pains for it hath been often and sufficiently done already And all Answers contain only the Crambe centies cocta or some bold Fictions or tedious Triflings Nor do I think that I can be Constrained to Answer for all that went before me In this Church I was Born Baptized and Bred I had no Hand in the Making Modelling or Altering it Gods Providence cast Me into it and I take it as I found it And if as such it be defensible I need concern my self no further And therefore without troubling my self to Rake the Dead out of their Graves I shall Consider our Church under her present Constitution for if that will not Hold we are gone without more ado But if that be good it is not ten thousand faults of Men who are dead and rotten that can overthrow it XXXIX I have alâ—eady proved that the Romanists themselves made the Breach And it may be more fully proved if need Require But two Schismaticks may fall out and both be in the wrong And therefore that we may Appear to be in the right something must be said to clear up the Justice of our own Cause To this End I shall briefly Examine these two things The Government and the Doctrine of our Church Government will of course take in Discipline as the Fruits of it And Doctrine will include Worship because there is no Abuse or ill Practice in Worship but it is Founded upon some Errour in Doctrine Government seems to Me therefore to belong even to the Essence of every particular Constituted Church because without it Ordinances cannot be discharged Sacraments Celebrated nor those things Performed which they are obliged to do in joynt Communion and as a Body of Men. That this Government be lawful and warrantable it is to be wished that the Governours might be always good but it is absolutely necessary that they have Lawful Authority and are rightly empowered to do some things which other Men may not do He who â—â—ith otherwise must with Corah and his Company lay all in Common which the most Heathenish and Brâ—itish Religions have ever abhorred to do For this perhaps the Romanists will not much quarrel Me But if it were for my present purpose I could accuâ—e him for being false to these Principles by allowing the contrary in Practice But to return to the Business That Authority be lawful it is requisite that it be derived from such who were truly invested with such Authority for Nâ—l dat quod non habet And further thâ—t they have likâ—wise a Power or Authorâ—ty to convey and derive it to others for it is often Personally Lodg'd in Mâ—n and Incommunicable as Knights cannot make Knights nor Lords Lords And therefore a Lawful Church-Authority must be such as descends from those who received it from Châ—ist with a Power to transmit it Now I find not that our Saviour said to any but his Apostles As my Father hath sent me even so send I you John 20. 21. And therefore from those Hands wherein they left it with the like power to transfer it to others must all Lawful ecclesâ—â—stical Authoâ—ity come The Way to Avoid this is either with Erastus and Hâ—bbs who learnt their Politicks from Jeroboams Practice to place all Authority in the Civil Magistrate or else with the Fanaticks to set up the extraordinary Call and Plea of an Authority immediately from God Now though too many of late have put in Practice M. Hobs his doctrine whilst they Rail against his Person â—nd others are drunk with their pretended Visions Revelations thereby Filling Mens Brains with Enthusiasm and in many places making a Nullity of all Ordinances yet these are not the Men I have now to do with and therefore I will not here engage against them And as for the Romanists I think I need not dispute it with them for though they strangely doat on Miracles yet I could never observe them either very fond of exeraordinary Missions or very free in allowing any Ecclesiastical Authority to the Civil Magistrate Now if they will take us at this Lock we are ready to Joyn Issue with them And to prove that we have a good Succession of Lawful Authority They cannot fairly Refuse us here becausâ— this is one of the Prescriptions which Tertullian lays down against Hereticks Edant ergo saith he Origines Ecclesiarum suarum evolvant Ordinem Episcoporum suorum ita per Successiones ab initâ—o decurrentem ut primus ille Episcopus aliquem ex Apostolis vel Apostolicis viris qui tamen cum Apostolis Perseveraverint habuit Auctorem Antecessorcm de Praescrip Now as for a Succession possibly there is not any in the Christian World so strongly Twisted as that of the English Churches If some of the Apostles and other Apostolical Persons being present in this Isle and planting Churches If Ordination from the British Irish French or Roman Bishops or any or all of these
could derive a Lawful Authority to us we do not want it We have more Ways of Conveâ—ance and consequently of God more Evidence of our Authority then the Romanists themselves And if the Rest were laid aside we have the same which they have and so cannot have less so little Reason had the Author of Church-Government to Conclude his Book with such a passionate Invective against our Anâ—ocatacresies Indeed could that Infamous Fable of the Naggs-Head Ordination have been made good it would have made a foul Breach in our Succession if not put a full stop to it But never was a most malicious Contrivance more miserably Baffled Several Learned Pens have not only cleared the Mâ—tter of Fact but disproved the probability yea the very possibility of such a thing so that if any thing more can nothing more need to be spoken to it If therefore any Romanist will still urge it in this particular I shall leave him as a Man either past shame or given upto strong delusions to believe a Lye Their other Objections are of two Sorts Either against the Legality or the Validity of our Ordination But because Others have Answered them fully in every minute particular I shall Content my self with two General Answers First That the Neglect or Oversight if any such were of some Circumstances Required by Law though it may make the Persons obnoxious yet it doth not invalidate the Ordination Our Laws Allow Persons to be Married only betwixt Eight and Twelve in the Forenoon Yet if it Happen that they be Married at Ten at Night the Marriage is good though the Persons be punishable Some Circumstances in the Managery of Ordination may be Regulated by the Civil Power i. e. So faâ— as it hath Regard to the State But the Ordination it self and the Vaâ—â—dity of it proceeds from a Power so distinct from the Civil that no Civil Authority or Sanction can either make or disannul it And therefore such Objections whiâ—h are made only against the Legality of our Ordination do tacitely suppose the Validity of it And so if they were true are little or nothing to the purpose As for the other sort of Objections which relate to the Validity of our Ordination those indeed would be fatal if they were sufficient But before I Return my General Answer thereto I desire it may be observed That there is more of Interest then Matter in these Objections For the Church of Rome hath such a Jealousie of this small Church that they think not themselves safe while it is in being Now if they could invalidate our Ordination it would take away our Ministry our Ordinances and consequently our Church so that this is a â—low at the Root And therefore right or wrong they Resolve to stick on this which may Win some to them keep Others from us and Alarm all And though their Arguments be never so weak yet being Managed by subtile Heads they will Appear the more Considerable because few Persons are able to judge of a Case of this Nature But if we were reduced to that statâ— that they thought themselves out of all danger from us our Ordination might easily pass A pretty instaâ—ce of this hapned in the time of the Rebellion The Loyal Clergy of this Church being either starved at home or driven out into other Countreys and little or no Hopes appearing that they should ever be Restored Dr. Basier amongst other places any place being then better then Home Travels to Jerusalem And after the mention of his Reception from the Grteks he thus sets down his Entertainment by those of the Roman Way As for the Latins they Received Me most Courteously into their own Convent though I did openly Profesi my self a Priest of the Church of England And after some Velitations about the Validity of our Ordination they procured Me Entrance into the Temple of the Sepulchre at the Rate of a Priest that is Half in Half lesâ— then the Laymens Râ—â—e And at my Departure from Jerusalem she Pope's own Vicar Called Commissarius Apostolicus Generalis gave Me his Diploma in Parchment under his own Hand and Pâ—blick Seal In it stiling Me Sacerdotem Ecclesiae Anglicanae S. S. Theologiae Doctorem But there was no need to have Travelled so far for an Instance it being well known that King Edwards Bishops were Admitted in the time of Queen Mary without Re-ordination so that it is not the validity of Ordination but our Non-submission to the Pope which lies at the bottom It is true that a Dispensation from Rome was talked of but that was only a Blind A Dispensation may Reâ—ch Circumstances but not Essentials If their former Ordination had been invalid and null they ought to have been Re-ordained for no Dispensation nor all the Popes in the World can make those to be true and valid Orders which never were so in themselves He may as well Build Castles in the Air or Erect stately Palaces without any Materials as to make those really and truly to be Orders which never were â—o It is one thing to Dispense another to Ordain Seeing he did only dispense it is plain that he accused them of no more then some Irregularities in the Circumstances of their Ordination which though we shall not yield yet I think it unnecessary to dispute because not being Re-ordained their former Ordination must be supposed good 'T is true they very devoutly burnt Ridley and one or two others without degrading them as Bishops And thence Conclude that they were never truly such i. e. They set up a Novel Opinion and prove it by their own wicked Actions And the proof will be good when they are as infalâ—ible in Matter of Fact as they pretend to be in Matter of Right But it is no New thing for the Court of Rome to make quite contrary Determinations as to the self-same thing as their present Interest leads them When Queen Mary first came to the Crown and they wanted Help then King Eawards Bishops are to be Invited in and Acknowledged with the slight Salvo of a Dispensation that the Pope might seem to do something But when they were a little setled in the Saddle and could Ride over all who stood in their way Then none of his Bishops were to be Acknowledged who did not fully Comply with them i. e. those who joyned with them were good Bishops those who opposed them were no Bishops though the Orders of both stood upon the same Foundation and were either valid or null for the same Reason But to avoid the tediousness of discussing the whole Matter I shall now only Give this General Answer That in this Way of Arguing they take the Course to undermine and destroy all Succession and Church-power This I am apt to think that many of them well enough see But they think that we â—â—â—â—…er do not or will not and so they are safe enough whilest it only serves to Route us The Arguments whereon they lay the greatest stress
their Authority is the greatest of any Men on Earth God I think would not suffer such Men so qualified to deceive us in any thing of necessity to Salvation and therefore they are not lightly to be regarded And if thâ—se things could be truly said for the Councel of Trâ—â—t I should have a better esteem for it then I am like to have in â—aste Put on the other Hand â—f any Pastors of the Church how many soever though never so able and industrious Meet together and be not Honest and Sincere but at least by the prevailing Number for base Interest labour by subtile and unworthy Arts not to Amend but Establish gross Errours Abuses and Corruptions These Men not only Offer the greatest Affront to God and his Christ but Attempt to put thâ— most pernicious Cheat upon the Christian World And in stead of Assistance from God they may rather expect that in Judgement he should give them over to strong delusions to believe a Lye And these are to be Aâ—ominated and with as great indignation Rejected as good and lawful Councels are with Reverence to be received and followed And in which of these Rancks the Councel of Trent ought to stand I shall now Enquire VI. And in the first place it may not be Amiss to Consider what time was taken to Frame and Mould this Councel to the Popes Mind The Councels of Constance and Basil having Eclipsed the Roman See in the very Height of its Greatness and Glory the Popes ever since have looked with a maligne Aspect upon General Councels and the very Naming one was enough to put any of them into a Fit of a Feavour And indeed this made following Councels not only useless but noxious For if the Necessities of the Church seemed at any time to Require a General Councel the Pope would never suffer it to be but in such place that he could Command And always took care that it should Consist of such Persons who at least for the greater Number were at his devotion And yet even then was wofully uneasie till it was Finished so unwilling are Popes to trust themselves with a Councel though themselves have the packing of it But that Spark which first fell through the Clashing of Luther and the Pardonmongers being blown to such a Flame that no Common Help could quench it a General Councel seemed necessary But to Manage it for the Advantage of the Roman See and to hold it in convenient place was a Matter of no small difficulty in such times of Confusion so that it seemed to be as dangerous to the Pope as it was necessary for the Church It was well for the Court of Rome that the greatest Princes of those times were perswaded that it was the Popes Right though meerly Founded upon Usurpationâ— to Call General Councels For by this means they gained time to Fit Matters for their Turn And yet though the most Refined Politicians in the World it was not a little time did serve their Turn For though the Popes successively seemed daily willing that so they might stop Mens Mouths and Gratifie their Importunity yet was it not less then Twenty seven yeares before these perfect Crafts-Masters could Contrive Matters to their Mind and then too they were rather Necessitated then willing and in no small fear that their Wings would be Clipt Luthers first Appeal to a â—eneral Councel which was quickly followed with the desires of all Germany was in the Year 1518. But the Councel of Trent did not open till the 13th of December 1545. So long did this Compassionate Successor of St. Peter suffer the Wounds of the Church to Lye Bleeding and at last only Cured them as Chyrurgions do Gangrenes by Cutting off the Members As for the Indictions at Mantua and Vicenza I make no Account of them for as it may Reasonably be suspected that they were only Shams to gain time so had either taken effect it is certain it was a Device to keep the Councel in greater Slavery then it was at Trent though it was so great there that little good could be expected from it as shall presently appear And now after so long Plotting having got something like a Councel in a frightful place at a time when Christian Princes were most jealous of each other and the Pope had Leasure and Opportunity to play his Game Let us enquire into its State and Actions And if just Exceptions cannot be brought against it let it take place VII I do not pretend to bring all the just Exceptions which may be Alledged against the Councel of Trent It is sufficient if those few I shall bring or any one of them be so material and to the purpose as to Justify our Rejecting it Now the first Quarrel I have against them is that the prevailing Part all along carried on a Design to betray the Liberties of all the Churches and the Power of all Bishops to the Pope and to make him the absolute Monarch of the whole Church And what good can we expect from Men who were Traitors to their own Order But though there could be no greater baseness and falseness then such a Design yet it must be Confessed that never was an Intrigue Managed more Neatly or more Slily brought about for they never Offer to put his Supremacy to the Vote nor by any express Canon or Decree declare or give it him for that might have Awakened the Sleeping Bishops and Alarm'd the World and perhaps they might not have Carried it Or if they had yet what one Councel gave another might take away At least he must have been beholding to them and held it as their Gift which would not do the Pope's Business But more craftily whilest the Councel was intent upon other Matters they upon all Occasions Sluâ—r in such words into the Decrees and Canons which though nothing to the purpose as to the Matter to be decided and therefore in all likelihood little Heeded yet might infer the Pope's Supremacy by an Antecedent or Divine Right And thus they insensibly put him out of the Reach of all Councels and did their Work more effectually then if they had spoke never so plainly Those who Heedfully Read over the Canons and Decrees of the Councel of Trent may furnish themselves with plenty of Instances To Avoid Tediousness I shall only mention some few For a Trial how this would glide down the Decree for Reformation is Ushered in with these words Eadem SS Synodus Piis Summorum Pontificum Probatorum Conciliorum Constitutionibus inhaerens Sess 5. cap. 1. Here the Pope is not only put before the Councels but that ye might see by what Right he is Adorned with the Epithet Summus And though the Councels are suffered to wait on-him yet it is with a Restriction they must be such as are Probata Now what those are and who shall have the Approving them any Man may guess without being suspected for a Conjurer For with them the meanest Provincial Councel