Antiphonae to be made out of them and sung The Epistle was constantly taken out of St. Paul as Walafr Strabo proves out of the Pontifical Book But in process of time he saith other Lessons were taken out of the Old and New Testament agreeably to the time Which might be borrow'd from the Gallican Church as other Inlargements of their Offices by the Ritualists Confession were and in probability the Distribution of the Lessons was first begun by Musaeus which we have digested according to the Roman Custome in the Lectionarius published by Pamelius by some attributed to St. Jerome After the Lessons follow'd the Responsoria or Proper Hymns for so Isidore saith they were called because one singing the whole Choire did answer and Rhabanus Maurus calls such an Anthem Responsorius Cantus and these differ'd from the Antiphonae because in them the whole Choire sung each Verse alternatim But Rupertus thinks they had their Name because they answered to the Lessons being sung immediately after them for the refreshment of the Hearers mind saith Amalarius But besides the Lessons and Hymns he methodiz'd the Psalms so as to be read agreeably to the times and the Lessons and not in the Order wherein they stand which seems to have been peculiar to the Gallican Church The most ancient Custome of the Church as Menardus proves from Justin Martyr and others was to begin the publick Service with the Lessons And St. Ambrose in one Place seems to mention no more in his Church at Milan besides the Lessons and the Sermon before his expounding the Creed to the Competentes But in the same Epistle he speaks of the Psalms that were read in the Morning Service And elsewhere of the People's answering to the Psalms and it is generally said by the ancient Ritualists that St. Ambrose brought into the use of the Western Church the custome of Singing the Psalms Verse by Verse in turns by both sides of the Choire so Isidore Rabanus Walafridus Strabo and Radulphus Tungrensis And so Paulinus in his Life saith he brought up the use of Antiphonae in the Western Church And Sigebert adds that he took it from the Greeks And St. Augustine sets down the occasion of it viz. when the People at Milan were persecuted by the Arians and resolved to abide in the Church And therefore to keep them well employ'd he thought upon this Custome of the Eastern Churches Which not onely continued there but from thence spread into other Churches not without opposition in some Places as St. Augustine confesses it met with some at Carthage But withall he saith he wrote in Vindication of it In the Eastern Church it was of ancient use if Socrates say true for he saith it begun upon a Divine Vision to Ignatius at the Church of Antioch But Theodoret saith Flavianus and Diodorus brought it up there But the words of Theodorus Mopseustenus in Nicetas seem to intimate that they took this Custome from the Syriack Churches However Theodoret attributes the beginning of Singing the Psalms of David in that manner in the Greek Churches to them From whence he saith it spread into other Parts But we find by St. Basil it was very hardly received in the Church of Neocaesarea because it was not introduced by Gregory who first settled the Church there Neither saith he were the Litanies which they then used brought in by him And for that Custome of Singing he saith it was practised in the Churches of Egypt Palaestine and Syria as far as Euphrates But it came later into the Western Church Card. Bona saith That Damasus first commanded it to be used in all Churches by his Apostolical Authority But Card. Baronius saith It is a plain falshood which the Pontifical Book affirms of Damasus his appointing the Psalms to be sung in all Churches and he adds that the Epistles of St. Hierome and Damasus about it are counterfeit Yet those are the Authorities which as appears by Pamelius the ancient Ritualists rely upon All that Baronius will allow to be done in the time of Damasus was that St. Jerome 's Psalter was then introduced at Rome And yet we are told that to this day the old Translation of the Psalter is used in St. Peter 's and is called Psalterium Romanum in the Rule of St. Francis which he forbids to be used in Divine Service But the same is onely used in the Ambrosian Office And Card. Bona observes that St. Gregory composed the Antiphonae at the Introitus and at the Responsoria c. out of the old Version before St. Jerome's time Of which he gives this reason That the People at Rome were so accustom'd to it that they would not learn the New Testament of St. Jerome And the same Authour observes likewise That the old Italick Version was not onely used in Rome but in all the Suburbicary Churches and other Churches Gaul onely excepted And from thence St. Jerome's Translation was called Versio Gallicana because it was immediately received into the use of the Gallican Churches So that I see not how Baronius can make good his own Assertion That St. Jerome 's Translation of the Psalter was introduced by Damasus But the use of Alleluja by St. Jerome's means as St. Gregory saith was brought from the Church of Ierusalem Which Baronius thinks is rather to be understood of some particular manner of using it But how he can justifie the ancient use of the Singing Psalms at Rome either before or after Damasus his time till Celestine was Pope I cannot imagine if the Pontifical Book say true for that expresly affirms that Celestine appointed David 's Psalms to be sung Antiphonatim before the Sacrifice and that it was not done before but onely the Epistles of St. Paul and the holy Gospel were read Which words are repeated by Alcuinus Amalarius Rabanus Maurus Walafridus Strabo Berno Augiensis and several other Ritualists and Historians as may be seen in Pamelius his Collection and Cassander's besides the Authours themselves But Baronius saith the use of Singing the Psalms was from the beginning in the Roman Church which we are to take upon his Word for he brings no proof of it It is true that St. Augustine saith That we have the Precept and Example of Christ and his Apostles for singing in our Assemblies But he speaks not of David's Psalms nor of the Church of Rome And he saith The Customs of Churches were very different about this matter In the Churches of Africa he saith They confined themselves to the Prophetical Hymns for which they were upbraided by the Donatists as too grave and formal But he allows Singing to be one of the Solemn Parts of Divine Service with which he joins Reading the Lessons Preaching and Prayer either aloud by the Bishop or in common by the Deacon's giving notice Justin Martyr mentions the Hymns of the
the Fourth Council of Toledo which then took so many of the Gallican Offices into the Service of the Spanish Churches will see Reason to believe that this Creed was originally of a Gallican Composition and thence was carried into Spain upon the Conversion of the Goths from Arianism wherein several Expressions are taken out of St. Augustine's Works Ruffinus shews That those that were to be baptized did at Rome repeat the Creed but that is another thing from its use in the Liturgy which both Baronius and Bona confess was so lately introduced at Rome So that here we have one considerable difference of the Roman Offices from those of other Churches For Isidore saith That the Nicene Creed was then used in the Gothick Churches in the time of Sacrifice As the Church Service was then called For that it had no Relation to that which is called the Sacrifice of the Mass appears by Concil Aurel. 3. can 29. Where we find the name of Sacrifice applied to the Evening Service Sacrificia Matutina Missarum sive Vespertina And so Cassian uses Sacrificia Vespertina in allusion to the Custome of Sacrificing among the Jews And Honoratus in the Life of St. Hilarius of Arles calls it Sacrificium Vespertinae Laudis And Missa was then used for the publick Service as Cassander and others shew In the Rule of St. Benedict Missae are to be taken for the concluding Collects at the Canonical Hours Cassian useth Missa for any publick meeting at Prayers thence he speaks of Missa Nocturna and Missa Orationum and Missa Canonica for the Nocturnal Office among the Monks And in the Concil Agath c. 30. We reade of Missae Vespertinae But afterwards the name was appropriated to the most solemn part of publick Worship viz. the Communion Service In which the Creed was appointed by the third Council of Toledo c. 2. in all the Churches of Spain and Gallaecia or as some Copies have it of Gallia Which is confirmed by an Edict of Reccaredus to that purpose which extended to that Part of Gallia Narbonensis then under the Gothick Power Where a Council met under Reccaredus about the same time In which Gloria Patri was decreed to be used at the end of every Psalm Which was observed by the other Gallican Churches in Cassian's time It seems very probable that the Spanish Churches did follow the Customs of the Gallican in other parts of the Divine Offices as well as this Which appears by the Passage in the Epistle of Carolus Calvus produced by Card. Bona where speaking of the ancient Gallican Offices before the Introduction of the Roman he saith He had seen and heard how different they were by the Priests of the Church of Toledo who had celebrated the Offices of their Church before him Which had signified nothing to this matter unless the Gothick and Gallican Offices had then agreed I do not say that the old Gallican Service can be gather'd from all the Parts of the Mozarabick Liturgy as it was settled by Card. Ximenes in a Chapel of the Church of Toledo or as it is performed on certain days at Salamanca because many Alterations might be in those Offices as well as others in so long time And such no doubt there were as Mariana confesseth by the length of time although it did bear the Name of Leander and Isidore For Julianus Toletanus is said to have review'd the whole Office and to have alter'd and added many things and Johannes Caesaraugustanus and Conantius and after them Petrus Ilerdensis and Salvus Abbaildensis besides such whose Names are not preserved But so far as we can trace the ancient Customs of the Gothick Missal we may probably infer what the Customs of the Gallican Churches at that time were and thereby shew the difference between them and the Roman Offices As besides this of the Creed 2. The Prophetical Lessons were always to be read by the Rules of the Mozarabick Liturgy and accordingly three Books were laid upon the Altar in the Gallican Churches as Gregorius Turonensis observes That of the Prophets and of the Epistles and of the Gospels But nothing but the Epistle and Gospel were read at Rome as is shew'd already Which manifests that the Book under St. Jerome's Name called the Lectionarius or Comes must be counterfeit Because therein Lessons out of the Prophets are set down And the Authorities of Berno Augiensis Micrologus and Radulphus Tungrensis which are the best Pamelius could find are not great enough against so plain Evidence to the contrary to prove this Lectionarius to have been made by St. Jerome And he confesses that Amalarius several times onely mentions the Auctor Lectionarii without St. Jerome's name who lived a good while before them But in this the Roman Church had its peculiar Rites for in the Church of Milan first a Lesson out of the Prophets was read before the Epistle as appears by Sulpicius Severus And in the Greek Church St. Basil saith That Lessons out of the Old as well as the New Testament were read By the Council of Laodicea all the Canonical Books were appointed to be read Zonaras observes on the 16. Canon of that Council That before this Council there were nothing but Prayers before the Consecration But therein he was certainly mistaken For Justin Martyr shews That the Lessons were read long before and that out of the Prophets as well as Apostles But Balsamon and Aristenus restrain this Canon onely to Saturdays And it enjoins the reading of the Gospels then which was not accustomed before There being no Religious Assemblies in those Parts on that day But by the same Canon we find That where the Gospels were read other Scriptures were appointed to be read too It is observed by Dominicus Macer that at the Lessons of the Old Testament the Greeks do sit But stand at those out of the New Sozomen reckons it as a peculiar Custome of Alexandria That the Bishop did not rise up at the Gospels And Nicephorus Callisthus saith It was contrary to the Practice of all other Churches 3. After the Gospel the Sermon follow'd in other Churches But in the old Roman Offices there is no mention at all of any Sermon to the People Card. Bona saith That it hath been the uninterrupted practice of the Church from the Apostles times to our own for the Sermon to follow after the Gospel And he doth sufficiently prove the Antiquity of it from the Testimonies of Justin Martyr and Tertullian and the general practice of it in other Churches especially the Gallican But he offers no proof that it was observed in the Church of Rome But Sozomen observes it as the peculiar Custome of that Church That there was no Preaching in it neither by the Bishop nor by any one else Valesius seems to wonder at it But he saith If it had not been true
among the Britains is onely spoken of the Maeatae and Caledonii in their great Confusion when all the Reins of Government were cast off and the People did what they list as Tacitus describes them in his time saying That they were drawn off from their former obedience to their Kings by the Heads of several Factions among them So that although in the most ancient times here was Monarchical Government yet it was not extended over all Britain as the Monkish Tradition pretends concerning King Lucius and I know not how many Predecessours of his even from the coming of Brutus to his days But neither our Religion nor our Government need such Fictions to support them Supposing then that King Lucius succeeded Cogidunus though not immediately in the Government of that part of Britain committed to his care I see no inconvenience in allowing that King Lucius hearing of the Christian Doctrine either by the old British Christians such as Eluanus and Medwinus are supposed to have been or by some of M. Aurelius his Souldiers coming hither after the great deliverance of the Roman Army by the Prayers of the Christians which had then lately happen'd and occasion'd great discourse every where the Emperour himself as Tertullian saith giving the account of it in his own Letters might upon this be very desirous to inform himself throughly about this Religion and there being then frequent Intercourse between Rome and Britain by reason of the Colonies that were settled and the Governours and Souldiers passing to and fro he might send Eluanus and Medwinus to Eleutherius to be fully instructed in this Religion And either the same persons alone or two others with them called Faganus and Duvianus commonly coming into Britain might have so great success as to baptize King Lucius and many others and thereby inlarge the Christian Church here The old Book of Landaff gives a much more modest account of this whole matter than either Geffrey of Monmouth or any of his followers There we find onely that King Lucius sent Eluanus and Medwinus to Eleutherius the twelfth Bishop of Rome to desire that he might be made a Christian through his Instruction Upon which he gave God thanks that such a Heathen Nation did so much desire Christianity And then by the Advice of the Presbyters of the City of Rome they first baptized these Embassadours and being well instructed they ordained them making Eluanus a Bishop and Medwinus a Teacher And so they returned to King Lucius who with the chief of the Britains were baptized And then according to the Instructions of Eleutherius he settled the Ecclesiastical Order caused Bishops to be ordained and the Christian Religion to be taught There is nothing in all this account but what seems to have great probability in it The same account is in Capgrave out of John of Tinmouth in the Life of Dubricius and this seems to have been the original Tradition of the British Church Which Geffrey of Monmouth hath corrupted with his Flamins and Archiflamins and others afterwards made an Epistle for Eleutherius to King Lucius but could not avoid such Marks in the way of Writing as evidently discover the Imposture and when the Monks hands were once in they knew not how to give over For some of them carry Faganus and Diruvianus as some call him to Glassenbury others make them Consecrate the Church at Winchester to which they say King Lucius had a particular kindness and gave all the Lands and Privileges which the Flamins had to the Bishop and Monks A Gift that would never make them the richer or the safer Others make King Lucius to found St. Peter's Church at Westmister the Church in Dover Castle St. Martin's by Canterbury St. Peter's in Cornhill where the Metropolitan Church they say was placed by him and Theanus made the first Bishop who was succeeded by Eluanus who went on the Embassey to Eleutherius and besides these they make him to found and endow so many Churches with such unlikely Circumstances as hath made others question whether there was ever such a Person in the World as King Lucius That being the common effect of saying much more than is true to make what is really true more doubtfull and suspicious But there is one Difficulty yet to be cleared For all this Story in its best Circumstances seems to imply that there was no Christian Church here before For if there had been what need he to have sent as far as Rome to be instructed unless the Bishop of Rome were then known to be the Head of the Church which were a sufficient Reason for it To this I answer That if the Contest lay beâ—ween these two things Whether it be more credible that Christianity was planted here before King Lucius Or that King Lucius was baptized by order from Eleutherius I should very much prefer the former because the Authority of Gildas as to the British Christianity is to be relyed on before the later Writers and Gildas asserts the one and although he had as much reason as Bede or any after him he never takes the least notice of King Lucius and Eleutherius And if a Negative Argument will hold any where it is where a person hath as much reason to know as any that follow him and as great occasion to discover what he knows both which will hold in the case of Gildas compared with Bede or later Writers It were worth while for us to know whence Bede had his first Information of this matter for he professes to follow other Writers about the British Affairs and in many places he follows Gildas exactly but in this he passes by what Gildas saith about the Primitive Christianity of Britain and instead thereof puts in this Story of King Lucius Bale saith that Eluanus Avalonius was a Disciple to those who were the Disciples of the Apostles and that he preached the Gospel in Britain with good Success But King Lucius being persuaded by his Druids would not come to any resolution but to satisfie himself lest he should be deceived by his Countreymen he sent Eluanus and Medwinus to Eleutherius And Eluanus upon his return wrote a Book De Origine Ecclesiae Britannorum Of the first beginning of the British Church And Pits is sure to follow him where he hath no reason But Leland never mentions this Book nor the Writings of Medwinus Belgius and of King Lucius himself all relating to this matter But Leland onely takes notice that Eluanus and Medwinus were employ'd upon an Embassey to Eleutherius that by his means he might become a Christian which saith he is very unreasonable to suppose unless he were first informed what Christianity was which he thinks was preached to King Lucius by them being two of the old British Christians And there he relates how by chance he met with an old MS. of the British Affairs joyn'd with Geffrey of Monmouth wherein this Story is told exactly as it is in the Book
Professours of all Arts and Sciences And at Sicca Veneria in Africa Arnobius was Professour of Rhetorick Near Lyons in Gaul the 60 Cities had dedicated an Altar to Augustus where the Rhosn and the Arar meet there Caius Caligula appointed Prizes to be plaid both in Greek and Latine Eloquence And not that onely but Philosophy was there taught Thence Odilo Abbat of Clugney about Anno Dom. 1020. calls Lyons of old the Mother and Nurse of Philosophy In the time of Dioclesian and Maximianus the Nobility of Gaul were brought up to Learning at Augustodunum Autun and there Eumenius was both Rectour and Professour as appears by his Speech to Constantius where he celebrates so much the Scholae Moenianae Quondam pulcherimo opere studiorum frequentiâ celebres which having suffer'd very much in the Rebellion of the Bagaudae under the latter Claudius he was extremely concerned to have them rebuilt which is the design of his excellent Oration But long before in Tiberius his time Tacitus saith The Sons of the Nobility did there Liberalibus studiis operari improve themselves in Learning Eusebius mentions in the time of Nero Statius Vrsulus of Tholouse a famous Professour of Rhetorick And Ausonius reckons up many of those who had been famous there and at Bourdeaux and other Places But to spare our pains in particular Places there is extant in the Theodosian Code an Edict of Gratian requiring all the chief Cities of these Parts of the Roman Empire to settle and maintain in them Professours of Learning both of the Greek and Roman Languages This Edict was directed to the Praefectus Praetorio Galliarum and was commanded to be observed through all his Diocese which Gothofred restrains to the Provinces of Gaul excluding Britain for which I see no reason Since Ausonius who was himself in that Office in Gratian's time comprehends the Britains under his Jurisdiction And the Notitia Imperii places the Provinces of Britain under him after Gratian's time Which Notitia he thinks was made about Anno Dom. 426. By virtue of which Edict we are to search for the ancient Schools of Learning among the Britains in the chief Cities of the Provinces at that time especially at London which was the Caput Gentis being Augusta or the Imperial City and so at York and Caerleon So that the British Churches as long as the Roman Power continued here had the same advantages for Learning which they had in other Provinces But when the Roman Forces were withdrawn and nothing but Miseries and Desolation follow'd then St. German's Care proved a most seasonable Relief to them in providing such Schools as those of Dubricius and Iltutus for the breeding up of Persons qualified for the Service of the Church as far as the Miseries of those times would permit The last thing to be considered is The Publick Service of the British Churches And in an ancient MS. in the Cotton Library about the Original of Divine Offices Germanus and Lupus are said to have brought into the use of the British Churches Ordinem Cursûs Gallorum By which Archbishop Vsher understands the Gallican Liturgy For Cursus in the Ecclesiastical use of the Word is the same with Officium Divinum as Dominicus Macer in his late Hierolexicon shews thence Cursum celebrare is to perform Divine Offices And so the word Cursus is often used in Fortunatus his Life of St. German Bishop of Paris and in our Saxon Writers But this Cursus Gallorum is there distinguished from the Cursus Orientalis and the Cursus Ambrosii and the Cursus Benedicti which little differs he saith from the Cursus Romanus And this was that which Germanus and Lupus had learnt in the Monastery of Lerins where it was used by Cassianus and Honoratus as the Authour of that Book affirms which I find to have been the same which Sir H. Spelman commends for its great Antiquity And that Authour derives the Gallican Liturgy from St. John by Polycarp and Irenaeus Which MS. Mabillon was inclined to think to have been the Book which Gregorius Turonensis wrote de Cursibus Ecclesiasticis but for the quoting the Life of Columbanus and Attala which was not written till after his Death This will oblige us to enquire what the Gallican Liturgy at this time was and how far different from the Roman It is agreed on all hands that there was a material difference between them but wherein it lay is not so easily understood When Gregory sent Augustine the Monk into England to settle the Saxon Churches and he was consecrated by the Archbishop of Arles one of the Questions Augustine proposed was since there was such difference between the Offices of the Roman and Gallican Churches Which he should follow Gregory answered That he should chuse what he thought most proper for the English Church Which implies That there was a diversity still between them And that the Pope did not oblige him to follow the Example of the Roman Church chiefly I suppose Because the Queen being a Christian before and using the Gallican Liturgy in the Publick Service and her Bishop being of the Gallican Church it would have given great Offence to them to have had it taken away as likewise to all the British Churches which had been accustomed to it If the Books of Musaeus mention'd by Gennadius were extant we should easily understand wherein the difference lay For he being a Presbyter of the Church of Marseilles and a Man Learned in the Scriptures was desired by Venerius the Bishop there to draw up a Form of Publick Service consisting of two Parts viz. The Morning Service and the Communion Service The first he finished in the time of Venerius and is highly commended by Gennadius for its Order Vsefulness and Decency The second in the time of Eustathius his Successour which he likewise commends for its great weight and exactness And there was great Reason at that time to bring the Church Service into Order because Cassian and others endeavour'd to introduce the Monastick Customs which he had observed in Egypt and elsewhere as appears by the design of his Monastick Institutions especially the second and third Books which he dedicated to Castor Bishop of Apta Iulia at the same time that Venerius was Bishop of Marseilles where Cassian lived This Musaeus was therefore employ'd to draw up the most convenient Order for the Publick Service from whence we may be able to judge of the difference in both parts between the Gallican and Roman Offices I begin with the first viz. the Morning Service which consisted of Lessons Hymns and Psalms agreeable to the Lessons and short Collects after them In the Church of Rome for a long time viz. for above 400 years they had nothing before the Sacrifice as the old Ritualists agree besides the Epistle and Gospel then Celestine appointed the Psalms to be used or as Walafr Strabo and Micrologus say caused
Picts and Scots their mortal Enemies p. 242. The true original of the Picts from Scandinavia p. 246. That Name given to the new Colonies not to the old Inhabitants p. 241. The Scotish Antiquities enquired into p. 248. Fordon's Account of them compared with that of Hector Boethius and Buchanan p. 250. Of Veremundus Cornelius Hibernicus and their ancient Annals p. 255. The Modern Pleas for their Antiquities considered p. 261 282. An Account of the Antiquities of Ireland and of the Authority of their Traditions and Annals compared with Geffrey's British Antiquities in point of Credibility p. 266. A true Account of the fabulous Antiquities of the Northern Nations p. 277. The first coming of the Scots into Britain according to the Irish Writers p. 280. The first Cause of the Declension of the British Churches was the laying them open to the Fury of the Scots and Picts p. 286. Of Maximus his withdrawing the Roman Forces and the Emperours sending Numbers of Picts to draw them back p. 288. The miserable Condition of the Britains thus forsaken and Supplies sent them for a time and then taken away p. 293. Of the Walls built for their security and the Roman Legions there placed p. 297. The great degeneracy of Manners among the Britains p. 302. Of intestine Divisions and calling in foreign assistence p. 304. Of the Saxons coming who they were and whence they came p. 305. Bede's Account examined and reconciled with the circumstances of those times p. 313. Of the Reasons of Vortigern's calling in the Saxons p. 319. Of the dissatisfaction of the Britains upon their coming and Vortigern's League with them p. 320. Of the Valour of Vortimer and Aurelius Ambrosius against the Saxons p. 322. The different Account of the Battels between the Britains and Saxons among our Historians p. 325. The sad condition of the British Churches at that time ibid. The imperfect Account given by the British History p. 332. Of King Arthur's story and success p. 334. Of Persons in greatest Reputation then in the British Churches and particularly of St. David p. 346. Of the Britains passing over to Aremorica and the beginning of that Colony p. 351. Gildas there writes his Epistle the scope and design of it p. 354. The British Kings he writes to p. 355. The Independency of the British Churches proved from their carriage towards Augustin the Monk p. 356. The particulars of that Story cleared And the whole concluded p. 357. A Catalogue of Books published by the Reverend EDWARD STILLINGFLEET D. D. Dean of St. Paul's and sold by Henry Mortlock at the Phoenix in St. Paul's Church-yard A Rational account of the Grounds of the Protestant Religion being a Vindication of the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury's Relation of a Conference c. from the pretended Answer of T. C. wherein the true Grounds of Faith are cleared and the false discovered the Church of England vindicated from the imputation of Schism and the most important particular Controversies between us and those of the Church of Rome throughly examined the second Edition Folio Sermons preached upon several occasions with a Discourse annexed concerning the true reasons of the Sufferings of Christ wherein Crellius his Answer to Grotius is considered Folio Origines Britannicae or the Antiquities of the British Churches with a Preface concerning some pretended Antiquities relating to Britain in vindication of the Bishop of St. Asaph Folio Irenicum A weapon Salve for the Churches Wounds Quarto Origines Sacrae or a Rational account of the Grounds of Christian Faith as to the Truth and Divine authority of the Scriptures and matters therein contained Quarto The Unreasonableness of Separation or an impartial account of the History Nature and Pleas of the present Separation from the Communion of the Church of England to which several late Letters are annexed of eminent Protestant Divines abroad concerning the Nature of our Differences and the way to compose them Quarto A Discourse concerning the Idolatry practised in the Church of Rome and the hazard of Salvation in the Communion of it in answer to some Papers of a revolted Protestant wherein a particular account is given of the Fanaticism and Divisions of that Church Octavo An Answer to several late Treatises occasioned by a Book entituled A Discourse concerning the Idolatry practised in the Church of Rome and the hazard of Salvation in the Communion of it the first Part Octavo A second Discourse in vindication of the Protestant Grounds of Faith against the Pretence of Infallibility in the Roman Church in answer to the Guide in Controversie by R. H. Protestancy without Principles and Reason and Religion or the certain Rule of Faith by E. W. with a particular enquiry into the Miracles of the Roman Church Octavo An Answer to Mr. Cressy's Epistle apologetical to a Person of Honour touching his Vindication of Dr. Stilling fleet Octavo A Defence of the Discourse concerning the Idolatry practised in the Church of Rome in answer to a Book entituled Catholicks no Idolaters Octavo Several Conferences between a Romish Priest a Fanatick Chaplain and a Divine of the Church of England being a full Answer to the late Dialogues of T. G. Octavo The grand Question concerning the Bishops Right to vote in Parlament in Cases capital stated and argued from the Parlament Rolls and the History of former times with an Enquiry into their Peerage and the three Estates in Parlament Octavo Sermons preached upon several Occasions by Edward Stillingfleet D. D. Dean of St. Paul's not yet collected into a Volume THE Reformation justified in a Sermon preached at Guild-hall Chapel Sept. 21. 1673. before the Lord Mayor c. upon Acts XXIV 14. A Sermon preached Nov. 5. 1673. at St. Margaret's Westminster upon Matt. VII 15 16. A Sermon preached before the King at Whitehall Feb. 24. 1674 3. upon Heb. III. 13. A Sermon preached on the Fast-day Nov. 13. 1678. at St. Margarets Westminster before the Honourable House of Commons upon 1 Sam. XII 24 25. A Sermon preached before the King at White-hall March 7. 1678 9. upon Matt. X. 16. The Mischief of Separation a Sermon preached at Guild-hall Chapel May 11. 1680. before the Lord Mayor c. upon Phil. III. 16. Protestant Charity a Sermon preached at S. Sepulchre's Church on Tuesday in Easter Week 1681. before the Lord Mayor c. upon Galat. VI. 9. Of the nature of Superstition a Sermon preached at St. Dunstan's West March 31. 1682. upon Colos. II. 23. A Sermon preached before the King Feb. 15. 1683 4. upon Job XXIII 15. A Sermon preached at a publick Ordination at St. Peter's Cornhill March 15. 1684 5 upon 1 Tim. V. 22. THE Antiquities of Nottinghamshire extracted out of Records Original Evidences Leiger Books and other Manuscripts and authentick Authorities beautified with Maps Prospects and Portraictures by Robert Thoroton Dr. of Physick Folio THE ANTIQUITIES OF THE British-Churches CHAP. I. Of the first Planting a Christian Church in Britain by St. Paul
the History of all Churches designing an Ecclesiastical History out of the Collections he made The Testimony of a Person so qualified cannot but deserve great Consideration especially when it is not delivered by way of Report but when the force of an Argument depends upon it And Eusebius in his third Book of Evangelical Demonstration undertakes to prove that the Apostles who first preached the Gospel to the World could be no Impostours or Deceivers and among other Arguments he makes use of this That although it were possible for such men to deceive their Neighbours and Countreymen with an improbable Story yet what madness were it for such illiterate men who understood onely their Mother Tongue to go about to deceive the World by preaching this Doctrine in the remotest Cities and Countries And having named the Romans Persians Armenians Parthians Indians Scythians he adds particularly that some passed over the Ocean 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to those which are called the British Islands From whence he concludes that some more than humane power did accompany the Apostles and that they were no light or inconsiderable men much less Impostours and Deceivers Now unless this had been a thing very well known at that time that Christianity was planted here by the Apostles why should he so particularly and expresly mention the British Islands It cannot be said that they are onely set down to denote the most remote and obscure places For long before that time the British Islands were very well known all over the Roman Empire Britain having been the Scene of many Warlike Actions from Claudius his time The Occasion of Emperours additional Titles and Triumphs The Residence of Roman Lieutenants and Legions The Place of many Roman Colonies Cities and Ways But especially about Constantine's time It was the talk of the World for the Revolt of Carausius and Allectus The Victory and Death of Constantius here The Succession of Constantine and his being declared Emperour by the Army in Britain So that scarce any Roman Province was so much interested in the several Revolutions of the Empire as Britain and therefore Constantine going from hence and being so much in the esteem of Eusebius it is not to be conceived that he should speak these Words at random but that he had made a diligent Enquiry both of Constantine himself to whom he was well known and of others of his Court concerning the State of the British Churches of what continuance they were and by whom planted After all which Eusebius affirms it with so much assurance That some of the Apostles preached the Gospel in the British Islands Much to the same purpose Theodoret speaks another learned and judicious Church Historian For among the Nations converted by the Apostles he expresly names the Britains and elsewhere saith That St. Paul brought Salvation to the Islands that lie in the Ocean after he had mention'd Spain and therefore in all probability the British Islands are understood by him And in another place he saith That St. Paul after his Release at Rome went to Spain and from thence carried the Light of the Gospel to other Nations What other Nations so likely to be understood as those which lay the nearest and are elsewhere said to be converted by the Apostles as the Britains are by him St. Jerome saith That St. Paul having been in Spain went from one Ocean to another imitating the motion and course of the Sun of Righteousness of whom it is said his going forth is from the end of Heaven and his circuit unto the ends of it And that his diligence in Preaching extended as far as the Earth it self Which are more indefinite Expressions But elsewhere he saith That St. Paul after his Imprisonment preached the Gospel in the Western parts By which the British Islands were especially understood As will appear by the following Testimony of Clemens Romanus who saith St. Paul preached Righteousness through the whole World and in so doing went 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the utmost bounds of the West Which Passage will necessarily take in Britain if we consider what was then meant by the Bounds of the West Plutarch in the Life of Caesar speaking of his Expedition into Britain saith He was the first who brought a Fleet into the Western Ocean By which he understands the Sea between Gaul and Britain And Eusebius several times calls the British Ocean the Western and joins the British Ocean and the Western parts together And elsewhere he mentions Gaul and the Western parts beyond it by which he understands Britain And Theodoret reckons up the Inhabitants of Spain of Britain and Gaul who saith he lie between the other two as those who dwell in the bounds of the West And among these the Britains must be in the utmost bounds because the Gauls lie in the midst Herodotus saith the Celtae are the most Western of all the Europeans Now the ancient Greek Geographers knew of but two Nations in Europe besides themselves the Celtae and the Scythae these latter comprehended all in the most Northern parts of Europe and the Celtae the Western And among these the remotest were the Britains Thence Horace calls them Vltimos Orbis Britannos As Catullus before him Vltimósque Britannos For before the discovery of Britain the Morini who lived over against it were said to be the utmost People of the Earth So Virgil calls them Extremos hominum Morinos And Pliny VltimÃque hominum existimati Morini Aethicus saith they were Gentes Oceani Occidentalis But Britain being throughly made known in the time of Claudius The utmost bounds of the West must be understood of Britain especially since Catullus calls Britain Vltimam Occidentis Insulam And Arnobius setting down the bounds of the Gospel East and West for the East he mentions the Indians and for the West the Britains I cannot but wonder what so Learned a man as Joh. Launoy means when being urged by his Adversaries with this place of Clemens his Epistle to prove the Apostolical Antiquity of the Gallican Churches He fairly rejects the authority of this Epistle which hath been so universally received by all Learned men since the first publishing of it But then he argues well that if this passage holds for Gaul it will much more hold for Britain So that from this undoubted Testimony of Clemens it follows not onely That the Gospel was preached in Britain in the times of the Romans but That St. Paul himself was the Preacher of it Which is affirmed by Venantius Fortunatus where he describes St. Paul's labours Transit Oceanum vel quà facit Insula Portum Quásque Britannus habet terras quásque ultima Thule But because this may look onely like a Poetical Expression 3. To make this out more fully I shall consider the concurrent probability of Circumstances together with these Testimonies And I shall make it appear 1. From
They had then a Patriarchal Power within certain bounds No Metropolitans under the Jurisdiction of the Bishops of Rome and Alexandria The just Rights of the British Churches clear'd No evidence that they were under the Roman Patriarchate The Cyprian Privilege vindicated from all late Exceptions The Patriarchal Rights examin'd And from them the Pope's Patriarchal Power over the Western Churches at large disputed and overthrown Pope Leo's Arguments against the Patriarch of Constantinople held for the Western Churches against him The British Bishops present in the Council of Sardica What Authority granted by them to the Bishop of Rome and how far it extends HAving deduced the Succession of the British Churches down to the Appearance of the British Bishops at the first Council of Arles I now come to the famous Council of Nice And although the Subscriptions still remaining which are very imperfect and confused in the best Copies do not discover any of the British Bishops to have been there present yet there are many Probabilities to induce us to believe that they were For 1. Constantine declares that his Design was to have as full an Appearance of Bishops there from all parts as he could well get together To that end he sent forth an universal Summons for the Bishops to come out of all Provinces 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is the word used by Eusebius And presently after he saith Constantine's Edict was divulged 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in all Provinces of the Empire How can this be if there were no Summons in the Provinces of Gaul and Britain And to prevent all Objections as to difficulty and charges of Passage Eusebius adds That he had given order to have the publick Carriages ready and all Expences to be defrayed for them To this purpose Tractoriae were to be given them by the Emperour's Order which secured their Passage and Provision in all Places The form of which is exstant in Baronius And the Classis Britannica lying near to Britain to secure these Coasts from the Franks and Saxons who were then troublesome and over which Carausius so lately was appointed Admiral to clear these Seas the Bishops here could not want conveniency to transport them 2. Constantine expressed great satisfaction in the Numbers that did appear from all parts So that there is no reason to question That they did answer his expectation For in his Epistle to the Church of Alexandria he saith He had brought together a great number of Bishops But more fully in his Epistle to the Churches That to the Settlement of the Christian Faith it was then necessary that all the Bishops should meet together or at least the greatest part Therefore he had assembled as many as he could But when it appears by the Council of Arles what numbers of Bishops there were in these Western Provinces how could Constantine use such Expressions as these if they were not summoned to appear And Eusebius saith Those that were summon'd did come according to appointment with great readiness not onely for the sake of the Council but of the Emperour And he after saith That the most eminent Bishops of all Churches as well those of Europe as Asia and Africa did come to Nice Did not Eusebius know of the Churches of Britain Yes most certainly For he mentions their early conversion to Christianity as I have already shew'd And in that very Book of the Life of Constantine he mentions the Churches of Britain as well as those of Gaul and Spain And there Constantine insists upon the consent of the Western and Northern Churches about Easter as well as the Southern and some of the Eastern Now if their Consent were so considerable as to add weight in this matter It is not to be supposed they should be left out when he designed an Oecumenical Council as far as it was in his power to make it so which certainly extended to all the Provinces within the Empire 3. It is not probable the Churches of Britain should be left out considering Constantine's relation to Britain For he was not onely proclaimed Emperour here on the death of his Father But if the Panegyrist who lived in that time may be believed He was born here For comparing Constantius and him together he saith That his Father deliver'd Britain from Slavery Tu etiam Nobiles illic oriendo fecisti The question now is Whether these words relate to his Birth or to his being proclaimed Caesar here Livineius is for the latter after Lipsius But I see no reason to decline the most natural and proper sense viz. That he brought a great honour to Britain by being born in it Eumenius in another Panegyrick applauds the happiness of Britain That had the first sight of Constantine Caesar. This is likewise capable of both senses But he immediately falls into a high commendation of Britain for its Temper Fertility Riches and Length of days If this were Constantine's own Countrey this was done like an Oratour If not to what purpose is all this And then he parallels Britain with Egypt where Mercury was born Which shews that he spake of the Place of Nativity Besides the former Panegyrist made his Oration to Maximianus and Constantine together upon his Marriage of Theodora his Daughter But it is not so probable that he would to him so much own Constantine's being made Caesar in Britain For that was not according to the Rules of Government in the Court of Maximianus and Dioclesian for as Galerius told Dioclesian when he would have had four Augusti No saith he That is against your own Maxim which is to have onely two Augusti and for them to name two Caesars Therefore it is not likely That the Oratour should to Maximianus his face own him to be made Caesar without the consent of those who were then Augusti But if he speaks of his being made Caesar by Galerius it is very doubtfull whether he were then in Britain For Lactantius saith he took time to consider about it and was very hardly brought to it But Nazarius and Praxagoras both say That Constantine went into Gaul soon after his Father's death And therefore Gaul first saw him Caesar according to the constitution of the Empire at that time So that this one Testimony of the Panegyrist weighs more with me than ten Cedrenus's or Nicephorus's who say he was born in the East But I produce this onely as an argument of the improbability That the British Churches should be omitted by Constantine in the Summons to his Oecumenical Council or That they being summon'd should neglect to go 4. They were certainly summon'd and did go to the Councils of Sardica and Ariminum after and to that of Arles before and why should we believe them left out in that of Nice This argument alone prevailed with Mr. Selden to believe them present at the Council of Nice And we are now forced to make use of the best Probabilities
the foreign Provinces and the Emperour's Court where ever it was So that I see no reason to question London's being the chief Metropolis among the Romans The Argument from York's being a Colony signifies nothing after Antoninus gave the Jus Civitatis to the whole Empire and London was a Colony before York as I may shew elsewhere and of a higher nature when it was called Augusta which shews that it was then the Imperial City of Britain that name being given to no other City in Britain besides And it is observed by the learned Marc. Velserus That those Cities which had the Title of Augusta conferred upon them were the Capita Gentium the chief Metropoles of the Provinces And since by the general Rule of the Church the Ecclesiastical Government did follow the Civil There is no reason to question but if Fastidius were then Bishop of London he was the chief Metropolitane over the Churches of Britain But whether Fastidius were Metropolitane or onely a British Bishop his Doctrine is of late charged to be inclinable to Pelagianism For Holstenius found in ancient MS. the Book Fastidius wrote De Vita Christiana with his name to it and so published it but it is not directed ad Fatalem but to a certain Widow In this Book a late Augustinian hath discovered as he thinks some Tincture of Pelagianism but to any candid Reader his Exceptions will appear very frivolous and there is so much of true Primitive Christianity in the rest of it as makes good the Character which Gennadius and Trithemius give of him Out of which Book and no great one Bale hath made four one De Vita Christiana a second De Doctrina Spiritûs a third De Viduitate servanda a fourth Admonitiones Piae Pits keeps the same number but lest he should seem to take all out of Bale he alters the Title of one of them And because Gennadius saith his Doctrine was Deo digna therefore Pits very artificially makes the Title of his second Book to be De Doctrina Deo digna vel spirituali Boston of Bury makes him the Authour of two Books by mistaking Gennadius but as far as we can find there is but one exstant Dempster hath found Fastidius to have been born upon the Mountains of the Western parts of Scotland and he makes him Authour of a fifth Book called Chronicon Scotorum which is a Strain beyond Pits He possitively affirms that he lived An. Dom. 440. Trithemius saith about An. Dom. 420. As to Faustus his Case is much harder That he was originally a Britain I find not denied by any For although Facundus calls him a Gaul yet that was because of his being a Bishop so long there as Sirmondus observes he being Ortu Britannus habitaculo Regiensis as Alcimus Avitus saith in his Epistle to Gundobadus King of the Burgundians to whom he saith Faustus was known In his Epistles to Ruricius Faustus speaks of his living in a State of Banishment and the Comforts he found in it This our Learned Primate understood of his living out of his own Countrey But Hen. de Noris of a Banishment by Euaricus an Arian King then in Gaul which he supposes he underwent for writing against the Arians If he had produced any Testimony of such Banishment there might have been Reason to have understood his Expression so But since there is none and his Words are general as to his Countrey I see no cause to take them in any other sense For Men do not use to call that their Countrey where they live as Strangers and he speaks of the kindness of Ruricius so to him that he did Patriam in peregrinatione facere which cannot well bear any other sense than that he made up the want of his own Countrey to him Sirmondus grants he was a Britain but he adds he was one of those Britains who dwelt upon the Loir i. e. in the parts of Aremorica There is no question but in the time of Faustus there were great numbers of Britains there for Jornandes saith That Riothamus their King or General went with 12000 Britains against Euricus King of the Visigoths Which Riothamus Sidonius Apollinaris writes to and mentions the Britains with him But it may be justly a question whether there were any Colonies of Britains on the Continent before Faustus his birth For Faustus was made Abbat of Lerins before the Saxons came first into Britain For he was Abbat when St. Caprasius died as the Authour of his Life affirms which was about Anno Domini 430. But their coming was not till Anno Domini 449. and it will be hard to make out any Settlement of the Britains on the Loir before It is then most probable that Faustus went at first out of Britain into Gaul where he attained to a wonderfull Reputation both for Piety and Learning He was worshipped as a Saint saith Noris in the Church of Riez and his Name was preserved in the Calendar of the Gallican Church Molanus was the first who durst adventure to strike out his name Baronius follow'd him but upon admonition restored it as Bollandus observes who likewise takes notice that he was called a Saint by Cl. Robertus by Ferrarius and by Pet. Galesinius in his Martyrology who adds that his Books are piously and learnedly written and that Miracles are said to be wrought by him It is certain he was a Person in mighty esteem in his own time as appears by the Passages of Sidonius Apollinaris of Ruricius and others concerning both his Eloquence Learning and Piety Of whom Sidonius Apollinaris gives that excellent Character that he had learnt to speak better than he was taught and to live better than he spake He was Bishop of Riez Anno Domini 462. for at that time he was joined with Auxanius in determining the Controversie between Leontius of Arles and Mamertus of Vienna But nothing can more manifest the esteem he was then in among the Gallican Bishops than that in the Council of Arles he was pitched upon as the fittest Person to draw up their sense in the great Points then so much agitated about Predestination and Grace as appears by his Preface to Leontius At this Council thirty Bishops were present and there Lucidus presented his Recantation of the Errours he held about Predestination and after this Faustus wrote his Books of Grace and Free-will to which he saith another Council at Lyons caused some things to be added In these Books it is thought that under a Pretence of confuting those Errours he sets himself against St. Augustine's Doctrine as seems clear by one Expression in his first Book That if it be true that some are predestinated to Life and others to Destruction ut quidam Sanctorum dixit non judicandi nascimur sed judicati But these words may refer to what follows as well as to what went before As a certain holy Man
shall after all find the Life of St. David not much clearer than that of his Nephew Arthur for he is supposed to have been Uncle to him by the Mother's side whose Name is said to be Nonnita in Capgrave Nonna in the Utrecht MS. Nemata in Colganus Melari in the Life of St. Kenna so Colganus and Bollandus say But in Capgrave I find Melari said to be the Mother to the Father of St. David i. e. to Xantus King of the Provincia Ceretica i. e. Cardiganshire so called from Ceretus Father to Xanctus say some from Caraticus who ruled here as Camden seems inclinable to believe That Melari was one of the 12 Daughters of Braghanus King of Brecknock from whom Giraldus saith the County took its Name And he said from the British Histories that he had 24 Daughters but Capgrave saith he had 12 Sons and 12 Daughters D. Powell in his Notes on Giraldus saith this Brachanus his Father was Haulaphus King of Ireland and his Mother a Britain viz. Marcella Daughter to Theodoric Son of Tethwaltus King of Garthmathrin afterwards called Brecknock Another Daughter of Brachanus he saith was Wife to Congenus Son to Cadel King of Powisland and Mother of Brochmiel who killed Etheldred King of Northumberland and routed his Army about Anno Dom. 603. By this we see what a Number of Petty Princes there was about that time among the Britains but whether St. David were Vncle by the Mother to King Arthur or not we have not light enough to discover I shall pass over all the Legendary parts of his Life and consider onely what relates to the Church-History of those times His Domestick Education is said to have been under Pauleus or Paulinus a Disciple of St. German with whom he continued ten years in the Isle of Wight saith Giraldus but it seems more probable to have been Whiteland in Caermardenshire the School of Iltutus being not far off in Glamorganshire at Lantwitt i. e. Fanum Iltuti and in his Life it is said that he came to the King of Glamorgan and after that Sampson Paulinus Gildas and David were his Scholars But Bollandus shews that there must be a mistake as to David and that instead of him it should be read Daniel who was a Disciple of Iltutus and consecrated first Bishop of Bangor by Dubricius After this it is said that David and Eliud or Teliaus and Paternus went to Jerusalem and David was there consecrated Bishop by the Patriarch And it is not to be wondred that in such a distracted time at home they should go to Jerusalem when Saint Jerome in his time mentions the Britains going thither especially such as were more inclined to Devotion which humour spread so much that Gregory Nyssen wrote against it as a thing very much tending to Superstition if not arising from it But it was most excusable in such a troublesome time at home Not long after his return the famous Synod at Brevy was held at a place called Lhandewy-brevy the Church of Saint David at Brevy Here the Vtrecht MS. saith was a Synod assembled of all the Bishops of Britain upon the account of the Pelagian Controversie then revived Giraldus saith It was a general Convention of Clergy and Laity But the former MS. saith there were present 118. Bishops besides Abbats and others One would think it hard to find so many Bishops in Britain at that time And Bollandus startles at it but Colganus undertakes to defend it having premised that Giraldus and Capgrave leave it out But he saith there were more Bishops at that time than afterwards and more Bishops than Bishopricks Dioceses not being then so limitted as afterwards And every Monastery almost having a Bishop its Superiour By which means he justifies Saint Patrick 's consecrating as Jocelin saith 350 Bishops with his own hands But after all this Giraldus did much better to omit such a number in such a time unless there were better Testimony concerning it However there was a considerable number there present yet St. David was absent and first Paulinus was sent to him but he prevailed not then Daniel and Dubricius went upon whose intreaty he came and by his Authority and Eloquence put an effectual stop to Pelagianism And before the end of the Synod it is said That by general Consent he was chosen Archbishop of Caerleon Dubricius desiring to retire on the account of his Age. But here we meet with a considerable difficulty concerning the Succession to Dubricius viz. That Teliaus is said to succeed Dubricius at Landaff and to have power over all the Churches of the Western parts of Britain How can this be consistent with St. David's succeeding Dubricius in the See of Caerleon which had the Metropolitan Power over those Churches Bishop Godwin out of Bale and as he supposeth out of Leland saith That St. Dubricius was first Bishop of Landaff being there consecrated by Germanus and Lupus and that afterwards he was removed by a Synod to Caerleon and Teliaus placed in Landaff But this by no means clears the difficulty for although Bale doth there exactly follow Leland yet Leland himself did not seem to have consulted the Book of Landaff Where it is said That when Dubricius was made Archbishop he had the See of Landaff conferr'd upon him by the Gift of Mouricus then King and the three Estates i. e. the Nobles Clergy and People and all the Land between the Taff and Elei And Leland himself out of another Authour saith That when Dubricius was made Archbishop Landaff was made his Cathedral Church After Dubricius his time Teliaus is said to be Archbishop several times in the Book of Landaff and after him Oudoceus is called Summus Episcopus and the Bishop of Landaff in 〈◊〉 Sermon to Calixtus 2. Anno Dom. 1109. saith That it appears by the hand writing of St. Teliaus That the Church of Landaff was superiour in dignity to all other Churches in Wales That which seems to me the most probable account of this matter is That when Landaff was given to Dubricius then Archbishop he fixed his See there and so Landaff was the Seat of the Archbishop of Caerleon But afterwards when St. David removed the Archiepiscopal See to Menevia a remote barren and inconvenient place as Giraldus himself confesseth The Bishops of Landaff assumed the Archiepiscopal Power which had been in that See and would not submit to the Bishops of St. Davids This is apparent from that passage of Oùdocëus who succeeded Theliaus in the Book of Landaff that he would not receive Consecration from the Bishop of St. Davids as his Metropolitan but had it from the Archbishop of Canterbury This is a very improbable thing at that time considering the hatred the Britains did bear to the Saxons and their Bishops to Augustin the Monk It is far more likely that they received it from the Archbishop of Dole in Britany or from the Archbishop of London then resident in those parts