reasonably be doubted but that in all times those have been Examin'd in the Church which were to Labour for her Instruction and Edification and which were to serve in Preaching the Word and Administring the Sacraments I grant this Examination may differ according to the diversity of Places and Persons which were to do the Office of Examiners some doing it with more Exactness and Severity and others with more Mildness and Charity and I can't tell if ever there has been seen on this Subject a more strict and exact establishment than that which our Discipline doth prescribe Whatever it is it is most certain that is That the Examination of Life and Doctrine however 't was perform'd always preceded Ordination The 19th Canon of the 1st Council of Nice the 12th of that of Laodicea and the 1st and 4th of Carthage ordaining it should be so although the latter makes it more ample than the two others and declares distinctly the Questions which were to be made and the Articles upon which those were to be Interrogated which were to be called to be Bishops and I make no question but 't was with regard to this Examination That Gregory the first condemn'd in his Pastoral Part. 1. c. 1. T. 1. Paris 1586. The temerity of those which being ignorant and destitute of knowledg would presume to take on them the Office of Pastors never considering that the Conduct of Souls is the Art of Arts That is to say the Noblest and most Excellent of all the Sciences and withal the most Difficult the most Intricate and most Laborious and by consequence requires more Study and Care than any other whatsoever What a shame would it be for a Pastor to speak yet with the same St. Gregory Part. 2. cap. 11. in the same Treatise If he should go about to learn in the time that he should resolve the difficulties should be propos'd to him Whereas he ought always to be ready to give to Believers the satisfaction which they desire upon things which concern Conscience and Salvation This laudable Custom continued a long while after the Death of Gregory but since the Ninth Century the Examination of Pastors was insensibly brought to so mean a State that there needed not much Learning to Answer the Questions that were propos'd And to conclude The greatest part of the Vocation and Consecration of those to whom the Care and Conduct of Souls was committed consisted only in Shew and Ceremony or at least so little heed was taken of their Judgment and Capacity that there was seen to grow in a little time from a practise so different from that of the Primitive Christians that gross Ignorance which was the Spring and Cause of most part of the Evils and Disorders which have befaln the Western Church Not but that several Rules have been made to redress this great Mischief but it had got too deep root Besides Favour and Authority had a greater share in these promotions than the Glory of God and the Instruction of the People especially the Power of the Bishops of Rome who by degrees had gain'd to themselves the greatest part of Ecclesiastical Power bethought themselves about the XI Century to cause to be demanded or demanded themselves of the Bishops which were Examined and in the very moment of their Examination if they did not promise subjection and fealty in all things to St. Peter Tom. 10. Probl. Pat. p. 107. and to his Church to his Viear and to his Successors as appears by the Roman Order which in all likelihood was writ about that time and where is to be seen at this day amongst the Questions made to the Bishop which was Examin'd those which regard the Obedience and Fidellity which I but now mentioned and there is to be seen in the Roman Pontifical Printed at Venice in the Year 1582. Page 25. the Form of the Oath they were made to take and whereunto they ingaged themselves in doing it which are things quite different from the Discipline of the Primitive Christians I know very well that about the year 722. Boniface Archbishop of Mayence made an Oath to Pope Gregory the II. at the time of his Ordination and Promotion to the Prelacy but this Oath did properly contain no more but a Profession of Faith and the Essential Duty of an Apostollical Legat and of a Vicar of the Holy See as they express it which is to make Bishops observe the Canons and to give the Pope Information of the great difficulties which is therein I know also this Prelat Assembled a Council as he recites it in his 105. Letter to the Bishop Cuthbert wherein he made alike profession to the Bishops which there assisted but besides that all this was done but only by Order of the Princes and Bishops of the Kingdom as may be gathered from the very Letter of Boniface and from the 1st Canon of the Synod of Leptines where Prince Carloman protests That by advice of the Bishops and Nobles of the Kingdom he setled Bishops in all Cities and gave them for Chief and Superiour the Archbishop Boniface Legat of the Holy See Besides this I say these Examples now alledged went no farther if my memory fail me not before the time I mention VI. Him whose Ordination shall be signified to the Church shall Preach the Word Three several Sundays in publick but not Administer the Sacraments nor Celebrate Marriage in presence of all the People that they may observe his manner of Teaching The said People being expresly warn'd That if there be any one that know any just cause wherefore the Election of him so signified may not be fully ratified or that he be not liked of they may come and make it known to the Consistory who will patiently hear any one's Reasons to judge of the whole The silence of the People shall be look'd upon as a full consent But if there be murmuring and that the Party named is liked of the Consistory and not of the People or the major part of them his admission shall be deferred and the whole shall be reported to the Colloqui or the Provincial Synod to discern as well the Justification of the Person named as of his Reception and altho' the Person named was there justified yet he shall not be impos'd as a Pastor on the People contrary to their desire nor so much as to the dislike of the greatest part of them nor the Pastor in like manner against his will to the People and the difference shall be clear'd by order as abovesaid at the Charge and Expence of the Church which shall demand it CONFORMITY Although a Minister might be judged capable by the Synod or the Colloqui which have Examin'd him That is not sufficient to Establish him It is moreover requisite that the Flock that is appointed for him be satisfied with his Preaching therefore he is obliged to Preach Three several times before he receives the Imposition of Hands to the
endeavoured to be inspir'd in Believers amongst us by the directions which has been made about the administration of Baptism and the Celebration of the Lord's Supper There has no less care been had in preserving the Holiness of Matrimony from whence has been removed all manner of filthiness and impurity and all imaginable precaution used to render it legitimate To conclude As for the Advertisements which regard particular persons it has been made known to all the world that nothing else was intended but to dispose Christians to Piety and Holiness and generally to all Virtues which are worthy the name they bear and of the Religion they profess Behold here the substance of our Discipline which how innocent soever it be nevertheless has found adversaries who being animated with a spirit contrary to that of Christianity have traduc'd it and still daily rail against it declaiming against it in their Pulpits endeavour to render it odious by the calumnies they accuse it of and by the unjust reproaches they load it with as if those which composed it and which have reduced it to the form wherein we find it had no other design but to open the door to Licentiousness to foment Vice and to incourage Debauchery and Excess but let them say what they list God which bringeth to light the secrets of all hearts will be the Judge of our Innocence and will one day cover with confusion and shame those which so cruelly censure and injure us Nevertheless I trust with the blessing of his Grace that the reading of this Treatise will better inform them and that finding therein an intire Conformity betwixt our Discipline and that of the Primitive Christians they shall be forc'd to change their notes lest that condemning the one they also condemn the other they resemble one another too much not to approve and like of both 'T is true that the better to discern this resemblance Conscience must be consulted silence must be imposed on the Passions and all prejudice which blinds our sight and darkens our judgment must be laid aside by this means the Conformity here proposed will be easily discerned and having discovered it they will declare for us for there would be no reason to make that pass for blasphemy in our mouths which was esteemed Oracles in the mouth of the ancient Fathers neither to reject this rule of our conduct seeing it is the same that theirs was It is what I undertake to prove in this Book and to make the thing the more evident I have examined from first to last all the Articles one after another that none might think I had a design to cast a mist over the Eyes of the Readers in establishing a Conformity in too large and general a way and that to save the credit of our Discipline I would not descend to a particular search and examination In effect the first thing I do is to produce the Text of each Article then I cite the Decrees of Councils and Testimonies of Fathers as much as may be necessary to justifie the resemblance which is in dispute from this Article I pass to another and so go on unto the last and I can say with a safe Conscience that in this work I have not used fraud nor artifice that there will be seen throughout the whole Book a great deal or plainness and if in some parts more of art and skill be required I am perswaded that there never will be cause to desire more of fidelity because I had so particular a view of resembling these two Disciplines and to represent so plainly the features and lineaments that the one might easily be taken for the other as it often happens to two Twins and to find in ours a true Copy of the Prototype and of the true Original Moreover I warn the Reader that having done as I have now mention'd nevertheless I have dispensed my self in reciting at large all that I alledg of Antiquity fearing to deform the Edition because the whole Work is but a continued tissue of Canons and Testimonies therefore I have only done it when I thought it necessary and in those places which absolutely requir'd it Secondly The Reader may take notice I do not always write the whole Decrees but just what relates to the matter I examine reserving the rest for clearing some other Article if it be proper for it And to conclude In the things which are evident and approv'd of all I have not oblig'd my self exactly in all places to cite the proper terms of Authors but just the sense and substance which nevertheless I have done in such a way that none will have cause to blame my Conduct if they will please to compare with the Originals what I have transcribed Although what I have hitherto writ be more than sufficient to stop the mouth of Calumny and to justifie our Ecclesiastical Government nevertheless there are some such untoward and cross spirits and withal so full of prejudice against us that they make pass for Criminal the things which are most innocent and easily condemn what is well worthy the Esteem and Love of the best of Men For instance If we forbid Dancing Comedies the Play of Hazard Mummeries the liberties of Shrovetide Carnivals and other Follies of this kind They say we are Leaders of the blind and they injuriously compare us to those Hypocrites in the Gospel to whom our Saviour says They strain at a Gnat and swallow a Camel never considering that in acting after this manner they lessen the Glory of the Fathers which have so highly reproved the same things and pronounced severe Censures against all those which allowed themselves in these worldly pleasures were they not blinded with prejudice they would speak after another manner and they would infer from the severity of these Laws That those which made them were guided by the Spirit of God which inspir'd them with so great a Love to Virtue and so great a Hatred to Vice That they forbid those which lived under their Authority and Conduct the use of those things which were capable to infect the purity of their Lives and to stop the course of their Piety and Sanctification But the Censurers of our Discipline stop not there they pretend it favours Libertinisme because it permits those which separate for the cause of Adultery to Marry some other person and it may be said That this sole Article opens to the Preachers of the Roman Church a wide Field to declaim against us and that they take occasion or rather a pretext to accuse us as if we were favourers of Vice and enemies of Virtue There are also amongst them persons considerable for the Rank they bear which treat us with no less injustice for that having but little or no knowledg of the Ancient Discipline of Christians they imagine it was no way different from that which they at this time follow and on this wrong ground they look on them as Libertines which teach
one else in his name teaches in the Homily that there is but one Legislator of the Old and New Testament he teaches I say that the reason wherefore this Ceremony was practis'd in the Ordination of Bishops was to mind them that to be Rulers over others they were subject nevertheless themselves to these Divine Laws and oblig'd to observe its Commands Moreover it appears by all I have said that the Author of the Book of Divine Offices which is falsly attributed to Alcuin Tutor to Charlemaign and to Amalarius Fortunatus who liv'd in the time of Lewis le Debonair it appears they were deceiv'd when they said the former in the 37th Chap. and the other in Chap. 14. of the Book of Fcclesiastical Offices that this Ceremony which I have touched was not countenanc'd by the authority of the Ancients The second Consideration regards the Imposition of hands which the Apostles used in Establishing of Deacons Acts 6.6 and in that of Pastors and Ministers under the name of Elders Acts 14.23 for the Greek word which may be referr'd to the suffrages of the people does commonly signifie the Imposition of Hands whereof express mention is made 1 Tim. 4.14 5.22 a Ceremony which the ancient Christians always practis'd in these Occasions I should be over-tedious should I cite all the passages which confirm this truth wherefore I shall only instance some places of Antiquity where mention is made of this imposition of hands St. Cyprian makes mention of it in his 68 Epist the last Edition Cornelius Bishop of Rome in the same St. Cyprian Ep. 46. Eusein the 8 23 and 43. of the sixth Book of his Ecclesiastical History and in the 32. and 7. Book St. Basil in the first Canon of his first Canonical Epistle to Amphilokius and in the 192. to the Priests of Nicopolis The Great Council of Nice in the ninth Canon that of Antioch in the 10. and 17. and the fourth of Carthage in the second I pass in silence a great number of other passages which favour the use of this Holy Ceremony to observe That in the very time when they added a great many other things to this Imposition of hands yet it was nevertheless consider'd as the chief of all the rest Insomuch that in the Theses that were maintain'd at Paris in the year 1633 June 7. it was taught That in Orders where Imposition of hands was us'd it suffic'd Antir 2. Part 2. c. 8. p. 72. Paris 1634. Ad valorem firmitatunque Sacramenti which also is the judgment of many Learned Divines saith the Jesuit Sirniond We are indeed of another opinion for we do not believe that Orders is a Sacrament but I have alledged this Example to shew that those it self which have accompanied the Ordination of Pastors with several Ceremonies which are not of the first nor purest Antiquity do nevertheless give the chiefest place to the Imposition of hands The third thing observable is That Prayer was joyn'd to the laying on of Hands as appears by the passages in the Holy Scriptures cited in the foregoing Section which was Religiously practis'd by those which succeeded those first Ministers of Jesus Christ the second Canon of the fourth Council of Carthage represents to us one of its Bishops imploring the Blessing of God upon him on whom they laid their hands St. Basil in his Morals saith To. 2. Reg. 70. C. 1. p. 476. To. 4. pag. 383. T. 5. p. 326. Paris 1632. That that ought to be done with Prayer and Supplications St. Ambrose saith the same in his Book of the Dignity of Priesthood and in the 60 Epist Thence it is that the Deacon Hilary in the third Tome of the Works of the same St. Ambrose expounding the 14 verse of the 4th Chap. of the 1st to Tim. he looks on the Imposition of hands as so many mystical words whereby him that is Ordain'd is confirm'd for the work of the Ministry Tom. 4. p. 192. Paris 1623. St. Jerome saith positively on the 58th Chap. of Isaiah That Ordination is compleated not only by Prayer but also by the laying on of hands Theodoret in the 19th Chap. of his Religious History in the third Volume of his Works Printed at Paris Anno 1642 Theodoret joyns these two actions together to wit Imposition of Hands and Prayer as things which should not be separated in the Ordination of Pastors Twenty five years ago the Letters of Photius Patriarch of Constantinople in the Eleventh Century were Printed at London and at the end of these Letters five more of this same Patriarch were subjoyn'd which were taken out of an ancient Eastern Manuscript in the fourth of which Letters he declares that Hands were not impos'd on a Bishop But to implore the Grace of the Holy Spirit which is needful for a Minister Tom. 4. Conc. 525 Ibid. pag. 531 To 1. Conc. Gal. It is doubtless upon this account that the Council of Sarragosa in the year 592 Can. 9 calls this the Benediction as also the fourth of Carthage and the first of Barcelona in the year 599. Can. 3. The Blessing of Consecration The first of Orleans Anno 511. Can. 10. speaks of the Benediction of the laying on of hands This third Consideration opens the way to us for a fourth which regards the posture of him which is Consecrated and of him which Consecrates It may easily be observ'd from what has been said that him which Consecrates is standing and him which is Consecrated kneeling otherwise it had been hard and almost impossible to lay his hands on him and to pray to God holding them on his head to the end he would be pleas'd liberally to bestow on him the Gifts and Graces necessary duly to discharge the Office wherewith he is honour'd But were it so that the truth of this practice which is very just could not be gather'd from this Discourse Theodoret gives us no cause to doubt of it for he observes in the 15th Chap. of the fourth Book of his Ecclesiastical History that when there was need of appointing a Successor to Eusebius Bishop of Samosatia the Synod of the Province cast their Eye on Antiochus his Nephew and that after his Election he was led towards the Communion Table and there he was made to kneel down to receive the Imposition of Hands It remains now to say something of the Number of the Pastors which are to be present at this Holy Ceremony The 4th Canon of the 1st Council of Nice appoints this should be done by all the Bishops of the Province or if that cannot be that there should be three at the least the others by their Letters approving of the Ordination The 19th of that of Antioch prescribes partly the same thing that is to say it declares That 't were to be wished that all the Bishops of the Province could be present but when there is any hindrance it doth not specify as that of Nice the number of those which ought to be
it known abroad CONFORMITY Those whom we call Students are young Men which study Divinity and which resolve one day to exercise the Ministry of the Gospel and because this Office don't consist alone in Preaching the Word but generally in all things which one ought to do wisely to Govern the Flocks It is with great reason that under certain Conditions we suffer them to enter into the Consistories to the end they may there learn after what way they are to act when it shall please Almighty God to commit the care of some Church unto them VII A Magistrate may be called to the Office of an Elder in the Consistory provided that the Exercise of the one Office doth not interfere with the other and may not be prejudicial to the Church CONFORMITY What I have said to the 5th Article may very well be applied to this VIII The Government of the Church shall be regulated according to the Discipline as it hath been order'd by the National Synods and no Church nor Province shall make any Law but what in substance shall be conformable to the general Articles of the Discipline To this purpose the Articles of the said Discipline shall be read in the Consistories at least at the time of celebrating the Lord's Supper and the Elders and Deacons shall be exhorted to have a Copy thereof each of them to read and study it at home at leisure CONFORMITY In the Ancient Church It was not permitted to a Province much less to a particular Church to make any Constitution which was not conformable to the Canons which were the Discipline of those times contrary to which nothing was to be Establish'd especially after the Canons which compos'd this Discipline had been Authoriz'd by any Oecumenical Council as the Code of the Canons of the Universal Church was by that of Chalcedon This also shall be farther cleared by the remarks I will make on the 2d Article of the following Chapter IX The cognisance of Scandals and the censure of them appertains to the Company of Pastors and Elders and whole Consistories cannot be impeach'd nor above half However Accusations shall be of force against particular persons of the said Consistories as well Pastors as Elders admitted by the said Consistory and they being adjudg'd shall proceed on notwithstanding Appeal on admission or rejection of the said accusations CONFORMITY What I have writ on the 3d Article of the 3d Chap. serves as a Commentary on this without being necessary to say any more X. The Custom which is found to be us'd in some places of making inquest and a general censure of misdemeanours in the publick Assembly of the People and in presence both of Men and Women being condemn'd by the Word of God the Churches are advertis'd to abstain from it and to be satisfied with the Order contain'd in the Discipline as to what regards Censures CONFORMITY See what has been observ'd on the 51. Article of the 1st Chapter XI The Elders may be advertis'd not to report misdemeanors to the Consistory without great reasons for it neither shall any one be call'd to the Consistory without good cause or reason CONFORMITY The Elders having been Established to watch over the Life and Coversation of those which are Members of the Church as I have made appear there 's no question to be made but they should do it with Prudence and Charity XII In the Exercise of Ecclesiastical Discipline one shall forbear as much as possible may be as well from all formalities as from the terms commonly used in Courts of Justice CONFORMITY The Tribunal of the Church being of a very different Nature from Common-Law-Courts it is convenient the proceeding should be quite different and that in the Exercise of Ecclesiastical Discipline one should avoid as much as may be the formalities of the Bar Read the Discipline of the Primitive Christians for Example the Code of Canons of the Universal Church of which I spake just now and I am well assur'd they shall there find proceedings very different from the conduct and stile of what 's done in the Common-Law-Courts I know that the Tribunal of Bishops at this time have too great correspondence with that of Secular Courts but I know also 't was not so in the beginning and that the Ancient Christians Govern'd themselves quite otherwise XIII Believers shall be Exhorted by the Consistories yea requir'd in the Name of God to speak truth for as much as that don 't at all derogate from the Magistrates Authority as also the usual formalities in making Oath practis'd before Magistrates shall not be used CONFORMITY This Establishment has nothing in it but what is very agreeable to the use and practise of the Primitive Christians as I may prove by sundry testimonies I shall only instance in two which the Oecumenical Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon give us seeing that in one and the other Conc. Ephes p. 2. Act. 1. Tom. 2. Con. p. 264 265 Catch Acts. Tom. 3. p. 131. They Exhort and Conjure the Bishops by the Holy Gospels to speak the truth If these two Councils have made no difficulty to do so towards Bishops Wherefore should not the Ecclesiastical Synod as Origen speaks have power to do so to particular persons as occasion shall require XIV In differences which shall happen the Parties shall be Exhorted by the Consistories to be reconcil'd by all friendly means but the Consistories shall not appoint Arbitrators nor shall do the Office of Arbitrators If any of the said body are called to be Arbitrators it shall be only as a particular person and in their own name only CONFORMITY This Article is taken from the Doctrine of St. Paul 1 Cor. 6. which Exhorts Believers to compose their differences and Law-Suits in an amicable manner and to chuse out some amongst their Brethren to whose Judgments they might refer the Decision of all those things which causes debates and strife amongst them St. Chrysostom and Theodoret explaining the words of the Apostle do fully confirm what is ordain'd by our Discipline XV. Besides the Admonitions which are made by the Consistories to those as have done amiss if it so happens that greater Censure and Punishment must be us'd it shall be either Suspension or Deprivation for a time from the Holy Sacrament or Excommunication and Retrenchment from the Church And the Consistories shall be advertis'd to proceed warily and to distinguish betwixt the one and the other as also prudently to weigh and examine the faults and scandals which they shall be inform'd of together with all circumstances the better to judge what Censure it shall require CONFORMITY There is nothing more frequent nor better Established in the ancient Discipline than what ours doth here prescribe so that 't is not necessary long to insist on a matter the truth whereof it were easie to prove by a great number of testimonies were it not to spare the Reader a trouble The Primitive Christians did just as
Vsher a Letter of Cummin a Priest to the Abbot Seguinus touching the keeping Easter Ep. 11. p. 28. wherein he wrote to him above a 1000 years ago That the Council of Arles composed of 600 Bishops confirm'd in the First Cannon what had been concluded upon for the observing of Easter that is to say that it should be Celebrated all over the World at one time and one day Ado Bishop of Vienna in the Ninth Century writes in the Sixth Age of his Chronicle That in the time that Marin was Bishop of Arles there met a Council of 600 Bishops In the 10th Spicilegium of Dom Luke D' Achery and in the Additions there is to be seen an observation touching Synods which was taken from an Antient Collection writ above 800 years ago wherein mention is made of the Council we speak of Tom 10. p 633. and of the number of 600 Bishops there present and apparently it was in reference to this great number of Prelates Tom. 1. Conc. Gall. p. 105. Tom. 1. Conc. Gall. p. 6. that the Fathers of the Second Council assembled in the same City in the year 542 said in the Eighteenth Cannon That the first was assembled from all parts of the World However it be the Tenth Cannon of the First Council which concerns the business we treat of is expressed in these terms As to young Men that are Believers which surprize their Wifes in Adultery and who are forbidden to marry others It has seem'd good to us that they should be advis'd as much as may be not to marry again during their Wifes life time although Adulteresses I gather two things from this Cannon First Before the holding this Council there were those which prohibited them which left their Wifes for Adultery to marry again Secondly That the Fathers of the Council to the number of 600 amongst which there are Two Priests and Two Deacons of the Church of Rome which held the place of Silvester its Bishop these Prelates having maturely examined the business changed the Prohibition into an Advice which they desired might be followed but no farther than Mans weakness could bear which shews that they did not believe as now a days in the Romish Communion That the Band of Marriage is indissolvable though Adultery should intervene In the year of our Lord 465 there was held a Council at Vannes in Brittany see here its Second Cannon As for those who forsake their Wifes Tom. 1. Gall. p. 138. unless it be in case of Adultery as is expressed in the Gospel and do Marry others without having proved the Adultery we ordain they shall be deprived of the Lords Supper that is to say Excommunicated lest through our remissness Sins unpunished may incline others to licentiousness It appears by this Cannon that when the Adultery was proved it was permitted to conclude another Marriage it was so 't was understood by Father Sirmond on the Letter of Auitus above-mentioned wherein he was followed by his Nephew Mr. De la Lande Treasurer of the Church of St. Framburg of Senlis for in the Supplement of French Councils pag. 349. he explains this Cannon in the same manner as I have explained it and this ought not to be regarded as a private interpretation seeing this Supplement was approved by the Clergy of France assembled at Paris in the years 1655 and 56. The Synod of Agde in Languedoc in the year 506 Tom. 1. Conc. Gall. p. 166. marches in the same steps of that of Vannes in the 25th Cannon which Excommunicate those which put away their Wifes to marry themselves to others before they represent to the Bishops of the Province the causes of their Separation and before their Wifes have been condemn'd that is for Adultery for when they were once convicted Husbands were permitted to Marry others it is what is lawfully inferr'd from this Cannon Theodore Arch-Bishop of Canterbury held a Synod in the year 670 as Beda writes in his Ecclesiastical History of England wherein he made these Cannons relating to Marriage Lib. 4. c. 5. Let no Man forsake his Wife unless it be for Fornication as the Gospel does direct If any one puts away his Wife whom he has lawfully marryed let him not marry another if he will be a good Christian but let him continue as he is or let him be reconcil'd to his own Wife That is If he puts her away for any other cause than for Adultery And it can't be question'd but this is the true meaning of the words of Theodore especially if one considers that in Dom Luke D' Achery's Ninth Spicilegium There are a certain number of Cannons chosen out of all those of the said Theodores the 116th of which formally contains this Decree pag. 62. It is permitted to him whose Wife has committed Adultery to put her away and to take another Gratian attributes this Decree to Pope Zachary who liv'd in the Eighth Century ca. 32. c. 7. Conc. Concnbaiâ—ii You have layn with your Wifes Sister if it be so you cannot have to Wife neither the one nor the other but as for her that was your Wife if she consented not to this crime and that she cannot contain she may marry in the Lord to whom she thinks sit The Antient Copies Manuscripts and Old Editions of Gratian produce this Decree as being Pope Zachary's yet there are Compilers of Decrees which have cited it as having taken it out of the Roman Penitential Binchard lib. 19. c. 5. Enq. but 't is nothing the less considerable seeing 't was the Penitential whereof Zachary was the Compiler The Author of the Gloss explains the last words of the Cannon in this manner Let her marry to whom she will He explains them in adding these others after the Death of her Husband As if a Woman whose Husband was Dead was not in full liberty to re-marry without having any permission for so doing whereas here there is question of a Man convicted of Adultery whereby Marriage is dissolv'd therefore the Woman which is Innocent and has no share in the Husbands Crime she is permitted to re-marry Erasmus on the 7th chap. of the 1. Ep. to the Cor. where he examins the Question Whether Divorce is sometimes permitted amongst Christians Erasmus reproves and condemns the Gloss I but just now cited as being contrary to the words of the Decree and to the intention of Pope Zachary to whom 't is attributed and he does so against the Master of Sentences Lib. 4. dist 34. who had interpreted the Cannon with this addition that is to say after the Death of the Husband The Council of Verberie in Vallois assembled in the year 752 Tom. 2. Conc. Gall. p. 2. made several Decrees the Second whereof is compriz'd in these terms If any one carnally knows his Wifes Daughter he cannot have the Mother nor Daughter and neither she nor him cannot never after marry any others but as for the
Superstitions of the Church of Rome And as for private Actions and the corrections proper thereunto it shall be what the Consistory shall judge convenient CONFORMITY The same may be said almost of this as I said of the Third and add withal That after our Separation from the Church of Rome for things which we do not approve we cannot with safe Conscience practice any of those things which have been the motive and cause of our Separation V. Notaries Secretaries and others who by their Offices are obliged to Sign and Seal things indifferently which are presented to them shall not be blamed for receiving Testaments passing Contracts and dispatching Letters of things which concern Idolatry nor Judges for judging causes concerning Ecclesiastical Matters and the Execution of Edicts CONFORMITY The Authors of our Discipline have prudently permitted those of our Communion in preferrence to those of the Church of Rome to do all things as may be done without prejudicing ones Conscience or indangering Salvation VI. Arbitrators shall not meddle with any Matters that concern Idolatry directly nor Indirectly CONFORMITY There needs no other Commentary on this Establishment then what I have remarked on the Tenth and Eleventh VII Advocates and Attorneys may not plead in causes which tend to taking away Preaching and setting up Mass and generally they shall not be suffered to give Council to the Romish Clergy in causes which tend directly or indirectly to the oppression of the Church and true Religion CONFORMITY There can be nothing more just than to forbid all Persons of our Religion to Establish what we do condemn and to destroy what we set up VIII Neither Bishops nor Officials nor Arch-Deacons such as they are at present have by right any Jurisdiction Ecclesiastical nor Civil Nevertheless because Believers are sometimes constrain'd to appear before them to gain their Right which otherwise were not to be obtain'd they may thither make their address being referr'd by the Magistrate to whom they are first to apply themselves CONFORMITY One may and ought also submit to all the Jurisdictions Established in a Country by Consent and Authority of the Sovereign especially when one is appointed so to do by Order of the Magistrate under this condition nevertheless That the Service of God be not thereby injur'd nor the Conscience concern'd IX Advocates that are Believers ought not to plead on any account whatsoever before Officials but only in cases for which one may prosecute their Right before them according to the precedent Article CONFORMITY This Article depending of the former its needless to look for any other Explication X. It is not a thing unlawful in it self to exercise Civil Jurisdictions and Procurations under Ecclesiastical Persons which do not at all concern that which they call the Spirituality CONFORMITY Seeing it is permitted to acknowledge the Jurisdictions of Ecclesiastical Persons on certain occasions and in the manner above established it may also be permitted to Exercise them XI Believers may not obtain nor publish Monitories nor Excommunications of the Roman Church CONFORMITY The Protestants not acknowledging the Popes Authority to be Legitimate they ought not to have recourse to it Directly nor Indirectly XII Inasmuch as it is not lawful nor expedient to go hear the Preachers of the Church of Rome or others that intrude themselves without being lawfully called the Flocks shall be hinder'd by the Ministers from going thither and those that will go shall be summon'd before the Consistory and sensur'd as the case shall require CONFORMITY It 's above Thirteen Hundred years ago that the Council of Laodicea made this Decree Those which are Members of the Church shall not be permitted to go to Church yards nor to Oratories of any Hereticks whatsoever either to Pray or to obtain the healing of any Sickness but the Believers that have so done shall for a time be deprived of the Holy Communion and upon confessing and repenting their fault shall afterwards be restor'd again XIII Lords Gentlemen and others shall be advertised not to entertain in their Houses scandalous and incorrigible Persons and especially if they suffer Priests singing Mass or discoursing to debauch their Servants or if they do anew take and receive such into their Service CONFORMITY This Establishment tends only to the purity of Life and preservation of true Religion which are things to which every body ought diligently to apply themselves XIV Fathers and Mothers shall be Exhorted to take great care in Teaching and Educating their Children which are the Seed and Nursery of the Church And those which send them to the Schools of Priests Friers Jesuits and Nuns shall be prosecuted by the severest Church Sensures Those also which put their Children to be Pages or otherwise to Lords and Gentlemen of the contrary Religion shall be advis'd how they do so CONFORMITY This proceeds from the same principle the other did and was made by the same Motives which are Motives very reasonable and very conformable to the practice of the Antient Church XV. Those who have Brothers Sisters and other Relations who having quitted Monasteries to serve God with a pure and good Conscience shall be Exhorted to assist them and to do according to the Laws of Humanity and Affinity CONFORMITY If Christians are obliged and they are obliged by the word of God and by the Ancient Cannons to exercise towards all Men Works of Charity of greater Reason should they do them to their near Friends and Relations especially when they are reduc'd to necessity for serving God with a good Conscience in departing from a Communion wherein they were fully perswaded they could not be saved XVI Ministers nor any else in the Church cannot Print Books made by themselves or others touching Religion nor any way publish them without communicating them to the Colloque or if need be to the Provincial Synod and if the matter require hast to the Accademies or to two Pastors which shall be nominated by the Synod and shall attest the Examination by them made of the said Writings CONFORMITY This Ordinance is very necessary to prevent all the evil consequences as may sometimes ensue without the Examination therein prescribed the same thing is done amongst the Papists whose works are commonly approved by some Doctors and at Rome by the Master of the Sacred Pallace See what I have said on the Fifteenth Article of the First Chapter XVII Those which take Pen in hand to treat the Histories of the Holy Scriptures in Meter are advertis'd not to mix therein any Poetical Fables and not to attribute to God the Name of false Gods and not to add nor diminish to the Holy Scriptures but to keep as near as may be to the Stile of it CONFORMITY This Article will find it self sufficiently explain'd by the things I have remarked on the Twelfth Article of the First Chapter whether I refer the Reader XVIII The Books of the Bible whether Cannonical or Appocriphal shall not be transformed into Comedies nor