of the highest concernment Whatever you intend to raise and build upon it cannot be but weak and ruinous and till the Pope be pleased to do us justice in that point we do well to stop our ears to all others XI But should we set aside all these considerations and grant that the Pope could both call and preside in this Council we maintain he ought not to do it How came he to be judg of those whose adversary he was to sentence his own accusers and to rule in a Council demanded with so many tears and obtained after five and twenty years delay only to reform him The heats of Leo the 10 th against Luther are very well known That Pope who had for so many years trampled upon the neck of Europe was almost distracted to see a despicable Frier rebel against him and attack indulgences of which his predecessors had alwaies bin most tender So considerable an adversary gave more credit to Luther than either his own merit or the justice of his cause could have done Nor was he to be accounted an ordinary man that had answered Pope Leo so briskly and stoutly received all the Vatican thunders He made his appeal to a future Council and was the more easily induced to defer till then his condemnation or justification because â—e never imagin'd Pope Leo his public â—nd profess'd Enemy would become his â—udg The German Princes went further and â—fter their accusation brought against â—he Pope for Heresie and Simony they 〈◊〉 appeal'd to a lawful Council T was at least the Popes duty to purge himself of so many accusations and to â—cknowledge according to the rule of the 〈◊〉 Canonists his most famous oracles that â—n such occasions he was depriv'd of all power The Arch-Bishop of Colen having been excommunicated by Paul the Third refused the Pope for his Judg as having bin attainted of Heresie and Idolatry long before and protested that as soon as a free Council should be opened he would appear there to accuse him according to the ancient Canons King Henry the Eighth declared in his Manifesto that the Roman Bishops orders did not concern him at all that the Pope had conceived a deadly hatred against him and that he sought after all occasions to be revenged of him for having shaken off his tyranny and withstood the intolerable contributions exacted of his Kingdoms by that See These different appeals had been made in all requisite terms and were not intended as a pretence to annul the Council but were offer'd before it was commenc'd without ever being recall'd What ever slighâ— pretences the Pope had against Luther and the Princes of Germany he had none at all against Henry the Eight and the Arch-Bishop of Colen The one was a Prelate who demanded to be ruled by the Canons the other a great King never suspected of any Heresie one that was honoured with the glorious name of Defender of the Faith and tho we don't pretend to canonize all the actions of that incomparable Monarch it is well known his greatest guilt was the following the examples of his Predecessors in converting to the good of the State those immense riches which the Roman Luxury and idleness was maintained with and taking away those Monasteries whose People were become abominable and scandalous to the Church XII For these very reasons in former ages â—he Catholic Bishops defenders of Athaâ—asius his person and faith rejected the Council of Tyre because said they Theognis and Eusebius were his judges â—nd that Gods Law Inimicum neque teâ—em neque judicem esse vult St. Crysostome â—efus'd to appear before Theophilus only â—ecause he stil seem'd guilty of the crimes â—id to his charge and was his enemy â—uod contra omnes Canones leges est And â—his is so equitable that Pope Nicholas â—he First and Celestine the Third acâ—nowledged that ipsa ratio dictat â—uia suspecti inimici judices esse non deâ—cant Cardinal Bellarmine is so embarass'd by the laws which those two Popes conâ—ess to be of natural equity that he admits of them except when it concerns â—he supream judge I pity that great defender of the Popes for giving so miseâ—able an answer For if it be true how â—ame it to pass that Pope Vigilius's constitution which he certainly pronounceâ— ex Cathedra was condemn'd in the Fiftâ— general Council Why does the Sixth aâ—â—so excommunicate Pope Honorius for bâ—â—ing an Heretique Exclamaverunt oâ—â—nes Honorio haeretico anathema And thâ— Seventh Detestamur Sergium Honoriumâ— c. What means the Eight in forbidâ—ing Popes ever to be judged but wheâ— they are Heretiques Why did theâ— Basilean and Constantian make it an aâ—â—ticle of Faith that the Popes are subjeâ—â— to a superior Judg when they becomâ— Hereticks Schismaticks or scandalous Why were Pope Anastasius John thâ— Thirteenth and a 100 others depos'd â—oâ— must needs either condemn this shininâ— cloud of witnesses and with them all thâ— ages of the Church or confess that Popâ— Paul the third had no reasons to presidâ— at Trent XIII T is no new thing to appeal from the Popes judgment Saint Austin writing 〈◊〉 the Donatists and speaking of the sentence given against them at Rome uses these words Let us suppose saies he that the Bishops who judged their cause at Rome had not judged aright there yet remained a Council of the Universal Church wherein your cause with your judges might have been judged again and their sentence annul'd had it been unjust But without looking back to the Primitive times the histories of our age afford us a thousand examples of this kind Nothing is more frequent in the English French and German records Nay the Monks themselves claim'd right to such appeals Luther was not the first who attempted to make use of them and we read in Paul Langius his Chronicles that Cesano a Frier appeal'd from the sentence of Pope Martin the fifth as being Heretical tho in a matter of very little concernment it being only to know to whom belong'd the propriety of the Franciscans's bread XIV But laying aside all these reasons how could the Pope be president in a Council call'd only for his reformation There is none but know that the disorders of the Church had no other Origin then the Court of Rome Nor did Protestants only think so but those also of the Church of Rome And tho both were extreamly opposite in their opinions concerning the remedies for so great a disease yet they all agreed in their apprehensions of its cause Pope Adrian the sixth and the Councellors of Paul the third acknowledg'd it with much sincerity This was the sentiment of Princes as well as Doctors Their publique Ministers did alwaies touch upon that string Pope Marcellus the second did not apprehend how his Predecessors could abhor the very name of reformation And it is like that had God bin pleas'd to
prolong his life he would have done great things The reformation of Popes was a wound never searched without making them fall into dreadful fits All Christians desired the primitive times in matters both of Doctrine and discipline should be brought again But they were afraid at that word and the only representation of such a Council as those four which Pope Gregory the Great reverenced as the four Gospels was a phantôme which all the exorcisms in the World could not drive away We need but read Onuphrius their historian to be acquainted with their fears Cardinal Pallavicini could not conceal them Cardinal Bellai represents in his memoires how much Pope Paul the Fourth was frighted And all the World was so far perswaded that this only thing hindred them from proceeding that Monsieur de Ferrieres Embassadour of his most Christian Majesty to the Council told them not only in his Masters name but also of all the Gallican Church that more than an hundred and fifty years since a reformation of the head and members had bin expected in the Church that it had bin required in the Constantian Basilean and Ferrarian Councils but could never be obtained that t was no hard matter to guess at the reason of so many delaies XV. The truth on 't was the Popes wounds were grown altogether incurable There had bin a kind of prescription against all their abuses Many holy men had inveigh'd against them on all occasions but in vain and thus usurpation had lasted so long that they did account it a lawful authority T was so pleasing to them to thunder at all the World upon the smallest occasion that they could not renounce it without thinking themselves undone In a word they were not taken so much with the humble and penitent lives of the Popes Adrian and Marcellus as with the audacious and voluptuous ones of Boniface Leo and Hildebrand Nevertheless this sick and languishing person is allow'd to govern his own Physitians The general complaint of the World is that the Popes swelling ambition has made him break through all laws that the Court of Rome is become a sink of wickedness that the vices of the head infected the members that without the reforming of this head there is no hope left for laying of any solid foundation And yet he presides in his Council He calls directs and transports it by his â—ull and sole authority tho the 400 Preâ—ates met at Basil had made it a point of the Catholic Faith that 't was not in his power his Spirit fits the mouth of his Legats and the fear of him strikes the hearts of the Bishops XVI Paul the third being afraid of nothing so much as of a free Council where Protestants should be heard provided so well against these two inconveniences that the Conventicles of Tyre of Antioch or of Ephesuâ— in comparison of that would have bin thought freedom it self Peace being the source of all freedom in an Ecclesiastical assembly where all the members of it are stil'd by Scripture Evangelists of peace that Pope was extreamly diligent in fomenting War thro all Europe This we are assur'd of by the speech of Cardinal de Monte that of Cardinal de Lorraine the letters of the Lantgrave de Hesse of the Duke of Saxony and of that Pope himself to the Switzers wherein he acquaints them he has made a league with the Emperor to underminâ— Protestants and intends for that purpose to raise all the forces of the Ecclesiastical state What name shall we give a Council which has such a Pope for its president Do's he deal out of charity or ambition Do's he design to convert Souls by force of Arms What can they think of the Church who are suppos'd to be separated from her How long is it since Councils were taught to War with any other weapon then Scriptures then tears and Praiers Is that Pope to be trusted who at the same time he offers to receive his Children into his bosome can lift up his hand to strike them Julius the Third was of a greater sincerity and scorn'd to deal deceitfully When he call'd the Fathers to Trent he openly agreed with the Emperor to make War against France about the Dukedom of Parma and to speak as Onuphrius who is more his Panegyrist than his Historian set Italy and the rest of Europe in a flame What peace then or freedome could a Council enjoy when all Europe was emâ—roil'd and groan'd under a bloody War and what designs of reunion and charity could a Pope entertain who sought nothing but confusion and trouble Pius the Fourth seem'd to be asham'd of it He was so little convinc'd of the validity of what ever had bin done at Trent that when he recall'd again his Synod the third time he was at a loss how to term it whether it should be considered as a new one or but a continuation of the first French-men claim'd the one Spaniards pretended the other The Pope saies his Panegyrist met with an expedient to make them agree and he did so contrive his Bull that all were equally satisfied that is to say he daub'd up the business he flatter'd each one with a fancy they had bin victorious but he gave occasion at the same time to all clear-sighted men to wonder at a conduct so far distant from the candor and ingenuity of the first Ages and so full of carnal wisdom which the Apostle stiles Death and to beleive that he never intended to heal the wounds of the Church but only to cover them and create her new ones XVII What is the reason the Pope is so earnest for the Council to be held in Italy and stops his ears to the cries of Germany the complaints of Protestants and the entreaties of so many Princes and Bishops Did France where the eldest Son of the Church commands give him any cause to fear Did Germany where Charles 5 th commanded Did Spain where people were grown adorers of his Grandeur Was this Council for being had in any of these Kingdoms under the subjection of most Christian and Catholic Princes in danger of becoming either less free or less Orthodox Had the Pope bin inflam'd with the zeal of that faithful Shepherd of whom it is written do's he not leave the ninety nine go into the Mountains seeks that which is gone astray how great joy should have possessed his Soul for having the place shown him where to find his wandring Sheep where all European Bishops might have met together and England Sweden Denmark Poland and Germany sent their Prelates Should he not have bin ravish'd at the occasion given him of rendring the Protestants inexcusable of reproaching them as Christ did Jerusalem how often would I have gathered thy Children together even as a hen gathereth her chicken and ye would not Matth. 23. 37. of accusing them of Schism and applying to them all Saint Austin's arguments against the Donatists
it appears that nothing was done therein but by his Orders Theodosius junior sent Count Candidian to preside in his stead And some contestation happening to be amongst the Bishops he writes to them in these terms Our Majesty cannot approve of own as lawful what has bin done hitherto And these very Bishops that had a great veneration for their Emperor tell him in their Synodical Epistle They have done nothing but â—y his motions and that they have made use â—f his Letter as a Light to conduct them The fourth General Council hath no â—ess evident Testimonies for it The resistance which was made to Pope Leo's Legats requiring Dioscorus to be put of the Assembly the affair of Juvenalis and Thalassius that of the ten Egyptian Bishops that of Bassianus and Stephen which were all determined by the Emperors Judges leave us no ground to doubt of this truth Justinian was President at the Fifth as is clear from all the Acts of that Council And that great Prince whom Baronius abus'd so unworthily declares in his Letter written to the Synod That he considered the Bishops reunion as the foundation and beginning of all the happiness of hiâ— Reign The Sixth is so clear and its Session were so many characters of such a presidency that an adorer of the Popes new Power endeavored to discredit the Actâ— of it because saies he The Emperor with his Judges plena autoritate praesidet presides with full autority Anastasius did whatever he could to deprive us of the Seventh but Pope Adrian did repair abundantly that defect We offer these things saies he in his Letter to Constantine to the end they may be carefully examined for we have not exactly gather'd these testimonies we present to your Imperiâ—â— Majesty We received these Letters from Adrianus B P of Rome saies the Emperor directed to us by his Legats who also sit with us in the Synod We commanded them to be publicly read There is no Italian whom these word would not stagger The Eighth expresly saies Praesidentibus Imperatoribus and because the Popes Legats pretended that the Bishops who were defenders of Photius having bin â—ondemned by the Pope ought not to be â—eard any more as sentenc'd by their last â—udge the Emperors Envoies to the Council answer'd That the Prince comâ—ands them to be heard the second time Imâ—erator vult jubet Who after so many Presidents clearer â—han the light will not wonder to hear Leo the Tenth in his Lateran Council â—ay imperiously and in such a manner as gives a truer Character of him than all â—is Historians The Pope of Rome only as â—eing above all Councils is fully impowered to â—all to transport and to dissolve them And who after a particular account of 100 Provincial Councils for 1000 Years where the Pope was never spoken of but â—or the condemning of his pretences who I say will not confess with Cardinal 〈◊〉 Zabarella That the Pope has so generally â—nvaded the Rights of particular Churches â—hat other Bishops signifie almost nothing and 〈◊〉 God be not merciful to his Church Vehementer periclitatur IX Nor does their pretended Power oâ— confirming Councils stand upon betteâ— grounds than the other two For if by thâ— word Confirmatioâ— they understand an external engagement whereby all faithful People are to obey the holy Constitution of these Divine Assemblies such an Authority belongs so properly to Princes and makes so considerable a part of theâ— Dignity that no man can appropriate 〈◊〉 to himself without a manifest Usurpation and violation of the Sacred Majesty oâ— Kings 'T is in that sense Eusebius said of Constantine Quae ab Episcopis erant saâ—citae regulae suû confirmâ—bat consignabâ—â— autoritate And to the same purpose Jâ—stinian speaking of the Canons of the first Ages saies Sancimus vicem legum obtineâ—â— sanctas regulas But if by Confirmation they understand the internal obligatioâ— laid upon all Christians of hearing those whom God has made their guides anâ— especially when they speak in Councilâ— where the Holy Ghost has promised to bâ— with them to reduce it to the Pope 〈◊〉 the greatest Chimera in the World Thâ—â— is to make these Venerable Assemblies aâ— object of scorn and derision to give occasion of disbeleiving the certainty of the truth they set forth or the justice of the laws they impose and turn all Christendome into a club of Independents given up to the guidance of their own reason Is it probable that the Holy Ghost should be absent from a meeting of 300. Bishops among whom we find Athanasius Osius Maximus c. and be present to Liberius a Subscriber of the Arian Heresie That he should not be in the Ephesin Chalcedonian and Constantinopolitan Councils where you have Cyril Leo Proclus Flavian c. and yet in Vigilius a defender of the three Chapters That he should not vouchsafe his presence to three hundred Bishops met at the sixth general Counci and yet inspire Honorius a patron of the Monothelites Is not this to include the Universal Church in the Pope which is a dangerous heresie To acknowledg him to be above Councils which the Basilian Council the Popes's Carthage as well as the famous Sorbon stile an other heresie and in fine to open the door to a thousand inconveniences the renown'd distinction excathedra cannot help X. These weighty reasons induc'd the German Princes to protest against that Council Many Kings of France had done the same before and Francis the First whose name alone in a World of of great Men was so fully perswaded of its being no Council much less a General one that the subscription of the Letters he directed to them was only this Conventui Tridentino But above all Henry the Eighth King of England a cleer-sighted Prince and extreamly well learned in the true concernments of Princes oppos'd it with a greater constancy T was not out of any motion of Heresie or Schism he dealt thus for he lived yet in the Roman communion Nor out of any ambition since all the historians nay those themselves who endeavoured most to defame him acknowledg he had been all his life-time the general Arbiter of Europe Nor yet out of any fear of or aversion to Councils since at the same time that he protested against the Council of Trent he declared he was ready to submit to any other lawfully call'd and to send thither the Bishops of his Realms But the true and only cause was that he perceived of how great importance an attempt of that matter would be for all succeeding ages and what slavery all Christian Princes would be reduced to if he should let it pass So that if the Council of Trent were as orthodox as the Nicene and we had no other reasons of rejecting it this we have alledged is sufficient to satisfy all unprejudic'd persons T is an essential defect and a fundamental one at the beginning of an affair
experienc'd Physitians draw infinite advantages from that universal Crisis of the World Nothing was ever better contriv'd for that purpose then the Council of Trent And he that will survey it without being blinded with any preposterous Zeal will easily be convinc'd that Paul the Third the Promoter of it was a Man of great abilities and that his Predecessors trepidaverunt timore ubi non erat timor Psal 53. 6. IV. The Pope passes his word to call a Council against the express promise that Adrian the 6th had made of having it in Germany according to the constant maxime of the Canons To end Causes where their occasion began he calls it at Trent This Council summoned at Trent is so afraid not to be accounted a General and a Lawful one that it entitles it self at the beginning of all its Sessions Sancta oecumenica Synodus in Spiritu Sancto legitime congregata Who now would not think after such big words that from all places where our Blessed Saviors name is known Bishops did flock to Trent Who would not have expected to meet there with some Eastern Patriarchs or African Prelates Who would not have promised himself in reading the Subscriptions of this Council to â—ind more than 300 Witnesses of his Faith as at Nice 600. as at Chalcedon and in our very times 300 as at Constance or 400 as at Basil Who would not have â—ntertain'd hopes of hearing there many Athanasius's Cyril's Eusebius's Spiridio's Paphnutius's c In a word Who would not have flatter'd himself that our holy Faith had now bin made most clear and manifest and that Gods Spirit a Spirit of liberty and peace 2 Cor. 3. 17. had animated that great Body Nevertheless what must we say when we see appear there not any of those remote Bishops nay scarce any of the nearest not so much as one of Germany Poland England Denmark Sueden or France That grand oecumenical holy admir'd Council is reduc'd to three Cardinals five Arch-Bishops 36 Bishops for the most part without Churches some Mendicant Divines headed by Lainez and Salmero two stars of the Firmament worthy sons of the grand holy oecumenical company of Jesus The Sermons which were made at every Session and their manner of discussing the controverted Points are an evident proof of the mean parts not to say any thing sharper and truer of all these Divines Nay and to supply so remarkable a defect we hear of no extraordinary qualities nor eminent and surpassing Virtue nor gift of Tongues nor working of Miracles nor Spirit of Prophecy Notwithstanding this small handful 〈◊〉 People take upon them to explain the most obscure and intricate matters to give them after a slight and precipitatâ— survey a final determination and to make more Canons in one Session of four hours then the four first General Councils all put together had done in four hundred Years V. The Pope claims to himself the power of calling that Council He does not consider it as a privilege or an usurpation which the silence of those that are interested therein seem to render lawful but as an inseparable and inherent right to his See Nos saith Julius the Third ad quos ut summos pro tempore Pontifices spectat Concili a generalia indicere dirigere c. Who could imagine Christs Vicar to be a man of so small sincerity Eusebius Socrates and Theodoret affirm that the Nicene Council was call'd by the great Constantine The first Constantinopolitan which is the second General was called by Theodosius that of Ephesus by Theodosiue junior that of Chalcedon by Marcianus the fifth General by Justinian the sixth by Constantine the Fourth the seventh pretended General Council by Constantine and Irene his Mother the eighth by the Emperor Basil All these are accounted General in the Roman Church and full of so evident proofs that the Cardinals Cusan Jacobatius and Zabarella confess that in the Primitive Times the right of calling Councils belonged to the Emperors but so many that were assembled in Germany England France Spain Italy c. that of Constantia by Sigismundus that of Pisa by Maximilian gather'd for the most part to depose Popes make it appear that so great a Truth was not wholly worn out in the last Ages VI. It is pleasant to consider how different the stile of Popes in former times is from that of the present We were in hopes saies Pope Leo to the Emperor Marcianus Epist 44. that your clemency would condescend so far as to defer the Council but since you resolve it should be kept I have sent thither Paschasin Has not the Roman Church saies Pope Stephen to another Emperor sent her Legats to the Council when you commanded it We do offer these things to your Piety saies Pope Adrian to the Emperor Basil with all humility veluti praesentes genibus advoluti coram vestigia pedum volutando But Pope Paul the Third speaks quite in another manner Nulli hominum liceat hanc paginam infringere vel ei ausu temerario contraire The Bull of Julius the Third is yet more bold and ill becomes the humility of one that writes himself The Servant of Servants So that it must needs be that either former Popes were extremely ignorant of the extent of their Power or that the ambition of the later is grown too exorbitant VII The Author of the Considerations upon the Council of Trent seems to be perswaded of this want of Jurisdiction in the Pope and he is at such a loss to excuse it that he has nothing to say but that in the Troubles that Europe had bin engaged in this right was devolv'd to the Pope But was not Europe more disturb'd when Frederick the First gathered a Council at Pavia where the German English French Italian Hungarian and Danish Bishops met together When Charles the Sixth King of France call'd one at Rhemes whither the Emperor being pleased to be present the King of England and many other Princes sent their Ambassadors Or when both the Pisan and Constantian Councils were indicted by the Emperors with so great applause of all Christians VIII Nor is it more difficult to prove that the Pope has no right of presiding in Councils nor ought we to recur for that to many subtil distinctions or deep Ratiocinations We need not put our selves upon the rack as the Cardinals Baronius and Bellarmine frequently do to render that probable which is evidently false and to make people wavering in things which are undoubtedly true We need but open those Books wherein lie the precious and everlasting Monuments of Antiquity and the precedent conduct of so many holy Bishops Constantine the Great presided at the first General Council as Pope Stephen doth acknowledge in his Letter to the Emperor Basil Theodosius senior did the same at the second and from the small remains that we have of this Council
a contempt of Episcopal dignity XXVI And indeed the most holy Father us'd them all ut creaturas mancipia James of Clodia Fossa saying he could not suffer tradition to be parallel'd with the Scripture was expell'd the Council Peter of Justinianople being but suspected of what they call'd Lutheranism was forbidden to come there and take place amongst the Bishops Another was proclaim'd Schismatical and threatned to be rejected for affirming there had bin many lawful Bishops never call'd or confirm'd by the Pope Nay another was depos'd because he said the Pope should be contented with the title of Holy which God is satisfied with without affecting that of most Holy So that t was not without reason the Cardinal of Lorrain complains the Council was not free since nothing could be propos'd or resolv'd but what was the Legats pleasure nor could they propose any thing but what was the Popes XXVI But to convince all unprejudic'd persons we need but consider the safe conduct granted to Protestants Tho the Fathers of Trent were engaged in honour to blot out the memory of the Constantian Council whose wounds continued still bleeding by testifying to their adversaries all imaginable sincerity and Candour yet they gave them greater occasions then ever to distrust Protestants require nothing but what had bin accorded to the Bohemians by the Fathers at Basil but they are plainly denied They beg at least a safe conduct which they many confide in but t is doubted whether it may be granted them and they are told it shall be given in the Congregation viz. in the Friers meeting and not in the Session viz. in the Council At last after having bin thus baited they oâ—tain safe conduct which has respect only to the Germans worded in such captious terms that thereby the Pope had reserved to himself the power of burning all the English Swedes Danes and French that should come to the Council nay the Germans themselves tho they could blame nothing but their own simplicity Notwithstanding whatever reasons Protestants had of declining such a Council after the example of the Holy Fathers and the judgment of the wisest men then living they trusting the justice of their cause and seeing in that noble and magnificent safe conduct hope was given them of disputing and proposing their difficulties sent their Divines to Trent and exposed them to all dangers without any other defence then the truth which is call'd in the Scriture the shield of the just These Divines thus authoriz'd by their Nation being arriv'd at Trent conceal not themselves They avoid not the sight of men The whole Councill is acquainted with their coming They speak to the Ambassadors make their addresses to the Popes Legats conjure them to pitty the calamities of Germany and after having presented them with the confession of their Faith they beg no other favour from them but to have it read in the Council for its being either approv'd of or condemn'd The Legats do not burden them with Irons or tumble them into Dungeons they are so far from being murdered that their life could not be more secure in the Prince of Saxonies or the Landgraves Chamber But they receive no answer their confession of Faith remains buried the Legats keep it in Petto nor are the most entire submissions and ardent entreaties able to bring it forth Thinking perhaps that the quality of a Priest or of a Divine had no great influence upon an Apostolic Legat they made use of the Emperours Ambassadors That Prince was the Soul of the Pope as the Pope was of the Council But all these endeavours are frustrated there is somwhat unknown and unperceiv'd which strikes dumb their Eminences Who ever heard of any such dealings If Protestants decline the Council grounded upon a thousand unanswerable reasons all the World rises against them nor are the names of Heretics Schismatics nay Atheists sufficient to express their imputed perfidiousness But tho they come and strike Heaven and Earth with their complaints an ignorance is pretended of their being there The Fathers have neither ears nor hearts nor mouths to hear their praiers feel their grievances and answer their proposals and they are forced to beg and expect from God that justice which men deny them XXVII T is evident from so many instances that Protestants did never reject Councils There is no Christian whom the Authority of the Church do's not overcome he deserving to be debar'd from the quality advantages and hopes of a Son who hearkens not unto his Mothers voice The Church has a true jurisdiction a real and effective authority All contrary Doctrines flow from independency and Enthusiasm two blind and furious Monsters every where to be profligated But the very same Protestants so great admirers and defenders of the Church require she should speak in lawful assemblies When they shall be condemned in Councils like that of Nice and Chalcedon then they will receive their sentence with as much joy as respect But when a new and unlawful meeting guilty of essential aver'd and incontestable defects nay acknowledg'd to be such by the most learned and disinterested men of the Roman Communion shall claim the same authority as these Divine assemblies they will be very careful to keep their ancient waies and far from being deterr'd by the threats of that proud and uncharitable Church which excludes from heaven all those she cannot keep blindfold in her bosom they will augment the glorious company of many holy Fathers whom the overpowring number of unjust Councils could never bend to betray the cause of Christ Such an one was St. Athanasius who rejected the Council of Tyre Maximus Patriarch of Jerusalem that of Antioch Cyril that of Syrmium Paulinus that of Milan and Chrysostome an example of Christian constancy that ad quercum In a word they will receive those curses pronounc'd against them as so many blessings and without going any further into the discussion of the Tridentine Councils decrees they will conclude with the words of Cardinal Bellarmine Si legitima Synodus non fuit planum est nullam authoritatem potuisse habere nullius roboris sunt illius Canones REFLEXIONS On the Council of TRENT DISCOURSE II. That the Doctrine of the Council of Trent is contrary to the ancient Doctrine of the Catholic Church I. WHOEVER peruses the Council of Trent cannot but be strangely amazed to find its stile so altogether unlike that of the ancient writings of the Church There is in those I know not what characters of holiness and Christian majesty which command reverence from all but in this we meet with a sort of so unusual and dubious expressions that shew the Authors of it were incomparably better versed in political practices or Books of School-men then in the Works of the Fathers They never intended in many of their Canons to fix a true and uniform sense which all People might rely upon but a double and captious one apt to receive