the Party From him that will never be Vnfaithful to the K. c. To suspend is a Judicial Act which cannot be done without Bp. Londons Council hearing the Cause When the King commands a Judge he commands him to Act as a Judge The Ecclesiastical Commissioners would not declare the Bishop of London suspended till he had been fully heard The Prince of Orange in his Declaration represents the proceedings P. O. Declaration against the Bishop of London as one of the great Grievances he came to redress The Commissioners says he suspended the Bishop of London only because he refus'd to obey an Order that was sent to him to suspend a worthy Divine without so much as Citing him before him to make his own Defence or observing the Common forms of Process The substance of what is said in answer to this Query is 1. That a Clergyman cannot be regularly depriv'd but by Bishops 2. That a Clergyman cannot be suspended but by a Legal Process 3. That a Bishop cannot be try'd or depriv'd but by his Collegues that is Bishops 4. That those that are depriv'd without a Hearing or by Incompetent Judges cannot be so properly said to be Depriv'd as violently Thrust from their Places and therefore it will follow 5. That a Bishop being not Regularly Depriv'd is to all intents and purposes the Canonical Bishop of his See and a Priest the True and Lawful Pastor of his Flock and the people consequently owe obedience to Them and cannot forsake their Communion without incurring the guilt of Schism Q. Were not the Protestants in Q. Mary's days guilty of Schism in making Separate Meetings under the then Depriv'd Bishops A. I willingly grant that in times of manifest Corruptions and Long 's An. to Hales of Schism p. 147. Reform justify'd p. 6. Persecutions such as the Roman and Marian were Private Meetings are Lawful and Necessary Duties because if men do forbid what God has Commanded it is better to obey God than Man 'T is plain that the Schism is on the side of the Papists who upon pretence of Papal Authority did withdraw themselves from the Communion of their own Bishops after an Universal agreement and concurrence in the Communion of the Church of England for ten or eleven years together and make a formal division in the Church which was before united in Peace and Truth The Popish Bishops that were set aside in Q. Elizabeth's Reign Id. p. 14. did possess the places of Lawful Bishops yet living or United themselves to such as did possess them therefore they were Schismatical and no Lawful Bishops of the Church of England For as soon as these Lawful Bishops were turn'd out others were put into their places and not only so but contrary to all rule and orderly Government in the Church For the most certain fundamental Constitution of the Church in all Ages and the constant Order of all Societies which is always tacitly suppos'd tho' not formally observ'd is That while Particular Churches keep to the Faith and Vnity of the Catholick Church as ours had done all things ought to be managed by the Arch-Bishop and Bishops of the Province and so by the Chief Governors and main Body of the Society or else things cannot regularly be done 'T is confess'd that 14 or 15 Bishops were turn'd out or went Id. p. 17. away in Q. Elizabeth's days but according to our Author 's own Argument they were Schismaticks and no Lawful Bishops because they came into the places of Lawful Bishops while they were alive or else were Ordain'd by and Communicated with such Schismaticks I add they Vsurp'd their places by turning out the Metropolitans and Major part of the Bishops of each Province and so could have no Lawful Authority or Jurisdiction The true Right and Authority of the Church was in those Id. p. 18. Lawful Bishops that were made in K. Edward's days and that was the True Church of England which did adhere to their Constitutions They Q. Mary's Bps. were no Lawful Bishops because they Id. p. 20. either did Schismatically invade the places of the Lawful Bishops or else were willingly Consecrated and did joyn in Communion with those Schismatical Bishops When the Queen Eliz. therefore did set them aside she did but dispossess men who had no just Right and remove those by her Civil Authority who had no Power but what they had by Force and the Secular Constitution All else but Thirlby were ordain'd by or Communicated with Id. p. 25. them during their Schism and Usurpation and therefore neither the Ordainers nor Ordained had any Right or Jurisdiction in the Church of England That which is Essential and the Authority and Power to execute Id. p. 27. the sacred office of a Bishop or Priest in their respective Charges is deriv'd from the Bishops of the Province and after great violence and disorder from as many or the major part of them which survive Every Bishop and Priest orderly constituted in his place do's Id. ibid. act by the Power and appointment of the Catholick Church and they contemn the Catholick Church that desert and disturb them in the performance of their Office Hence we may understand our Saviours meaning when he says If he neglects to hear the Church let him be unto thee as an Heathen man and a Publican which in the first place do's require us to hear our own particular Parish Priest and Bishop whilst they are constituted and live in the Unity of the Church but principally it does oblige us to hearken to the Catholick Church So that if our own Pastors turn Hereticks or set themselves up by undue means and not according to the Order of the Church they are not to be hearkned to but we must according to our Saviour's Command Hear the Church and not those Pastors that will not themselves Hear and Obey the Church The Popes Usurp'd Authority and his Prohibition of joyning Saywel of Vnity p. 307. with our English Bishops made the first Schism and is the hindrance to keep them from now joyning in Communion with us For the first 10 years of Q. Elizabeth the Papists did Communicate Faith and Pract. Ch. of Eng. man c. 1. with us till the Bull of Pope Pius IV. An. 1569 70. tho' our Reformation was then fully setled So that they are bound to answer it why they joyn not still in Communion with us We can say the Pope never had any setled and quiet Possession Faith and Pract Ch. Eng. man Chap. 1. and exercise of Power here at least for any considerable time together as is at large evident from what Mr. Prynn and others have Collected and all our Statutes of Provisors and Premunire's do show how little hold here the Pope was by our Government allow'd or own'd to have And tho' many did Appeal to Rome it was against Law and therefore that gives the Pope no more Right here than many Peoples
Momentous particulars 1. It was a Primitive and Fundamental Power and Duty of See Municipium Ecclesiasticum printed 1697. Bishops to convene in Synods without restriction 2ly All Ecclesiastical Rights are so Spiritual that they cannot be by Allowance and Approbation of God or his Church vested in any one in form of a Temporal Right but only on this Condition that the parties intrusted with them continue in the Unity of the Catholick Church and their own Provincial Bishops as Prelates of it having immediate care of their Souls What Princes have no Rightful Authority to do that they may Municipium Eccl. p. 100. irresistibly do upon an uncontroulable Domination and Impunity Upon which when they presume to repress our Rights and Liberties if it be in matters Necessary they are to be disobeyed in Fact and submitted to as to their Legal Processes without resistance The Church is Subject to all Common-Wealths where it is Thornd prim Ch. gov p. 89. maintain'd in Temporal matters In those which concern the Soul whom shall we think our Lord leaveth her in charge with but those whom he trusteth with the Keys of his House Our Church acknowledges the King to be Supreme in all Causes Ans to several Capt. Qu. p. 36. and over all Persons Ecclesiastical viz. that no Quality in the Church nor Cause of the Church exempts a Subject from the Secular Laws and the Sword of Justice which may be very true as it undoubtedly is yet all manner of Obedience in Religious matters shall not presently become due to the King For when Sovereigns require the Subjects to do things contrary to Religion if their Subjects give but one manner of Obedience to their Laws which goes with us under the Name of Passive Obedience it saves at once their Acknowledgment of the Sovereigns Supremacy over them and of Gods Supremacy over all So that we are not oblig'd by our Oath to become Calvinists c. nor in a word to be of the King's Religion but to submit to his Authority let his Religion be what it will c. If by the Parliaments changing the Church of England you mean Id. p. 25. that Parliaments can make the Religion profess'd by the Church of England to become a false Religion when their Inclinations are once vary'd from us then I tell you that the Church of England is not changeable by English Parliaments nor by all the Powers of the Earth for this matter is fix'd to their hands and can never be unfixt to the end of the World No Ordinance of Secular State can deprive our Church of its Hill's Cath. Bal. p. 99. essential Rights given us from God but only lay Temporal Punishments on us for the use of them without their permission Which if it be absolutely necessary for us at any time to do in Opposition to the State Our Ecclesiastical Acts are not Null but valid to all effects Purely Ecclesiastical and we can but suffer and despise the Penalty The Romanists triumph that we have no Power to meet in Id. p. 122 Convocation without Royal Licence nor at Liberty when there to dispute one Question without the Kings Allowance nor are our Conclusions valid without the King's Ratification whether Catholick Heretick Heathen Turk or Jew on pain of hampering by Praemunire's c. But here it is to be remember'd that these are Impositions of the State for which the Church is not bound to advocate if they are Persecutions but if men would be just they would pass the most favourable interpretations on publick Sanctions and herein conclude that these Statutes were intended not for Persecution but for Caution only against those extravagancies which the Church had abus'd its freedom to the Kings always graciously promising us on request opportunity to Convene and discuss our Matters as to us shall seem Convenient that we might have no cause to think that their Laws are intended for Persecution And for the Kings Ratification it is justly necessary not meerly to an Ecclesiastical effect but that our Censures for breach of these Canons may be seconded upon the Contumacious by the Writ De Excommunicato Capiendo c. It being no reason that the King should be the Churches Hackney without any consent of his own But if any Prince should Pervert these advantages to a Persecution we must then do our duty and fear no Sufferings We hold our Benefices by humane Right our Offices of Priests Bramhal Vindic. Ord. p. 77. and Bishops by Divine Right and Humane Right But put the case we did hold our Bishopricks only by Humane Right is it one of your cases of Conscience that a Sovereign Prince may justly take away from his Subjects any thing which they hold by Humane Right If one man take from another that which he holds justly by the Law of Man he is a Thief and a Robber by the Law of God The substance of what has been said upon these two last Queries amounts to this 1. That Toleration may excuse a Schismatick from the Penalty but not from the guilt of Schism 2. That Communicating with Schismaticks because Tolerated makes the crime less dangerous but not less sinful 3. That tho' Persecution or extreme Severity in Governours may make some men thro' humane frailty to comply with a Schismatical Church yet that will not excuse them from Schism in the sight of God because they ought to obey God rather than Man 4. That tho' the Prince be Supreme in Ecclesiastical Causes yet he cannot alter Religion at his pleasure or injoyn a Sinful Worship and if he do's 't is no Sin but a duty to disobey him 5. The Bishops and Governors of the Church in such a case are bound to defend the Rights of the Church against him as the Primitive Christians did against the Heathen Emperours 6. That all even Kings are liable to Church Censures Q. Whether a Prince being Excommunicated by the Church may be Resisted Depos'd or Murder'd by his Subjects A. It is contrary to the nature of Excommunication tho' in the Falkner Christian Loyalty p. 316. highest degree that any person and especially a Sovereign Prince should thereby lose those Temporal Rights which are not founded in their relation to the Church Indeed in Christian Kingdoms there are ordinarily some Temporal Penalties and abatement of Legal Privileges inflicted upon the persons Excommunicate But this is not the natural Effect of that sentence but is added thereto by the Civil Government and Sovereignty under which such persons do live And therefore no such thing can take place with respect to Sovereign Princes who have no Temporal Superiour to annex this as a Penalty Sovereign Princes are not liable to the Sentence of Excommunication Id. 318. in the same manner with Christian Subjects A Sovereign is capable of losing and forfeiting his relation to the Society of the Christian Church as well as other persons because as Mr. Thorndike Rt. of the Ch.
separate from them is a damnable Sin and a pernicious Schism 'T is a denying of Christ himself who appointed them to rule the Church in his stead But if they are either not Lawful Bishops but Intruders or not Orthodox but Heritical then they that Separate are not only not Schismaticks but the true Church and they that cause the Separation the Schismaticks To confirm what is said I have subjoyned some few Testimonies by which it will plainly appear 1st That tho' Seperation he sometimes a duty yet if the Faith be sound and the Worship pure and uncorrupt Separation is sinful 2ly That Separation from the Communion of Lawful and Canonical Bishops is Schismatical 1st That tho' Separation be sometimes a duty yet if the Faith be sound and the Worship pure and uncorrupt Separation is sinful Violation of the Unity of the Church where there is no sufficient Vnreason Separ p. 209. reason to justifie it is a sin as much as Murder is and is as plainly forbidden My Judgment being that a causeless breaking the peace of Pref. to Vnreas of Separ Shâ—rl Vird. of Def. p. 39â— Doct. of Sch. p. 66. Id. p. 1â—2 the Church we live in is really as great and as dangerous a sin as Murder and in some cases aggravated beyond it To Separate where no sinful terms of Communion are impos'd is a causeless Separation Separation is unwarrantable if Communion with the Church may be without Sin Renouncing Communion or denying to Communicate with any Church upon any dislike or for any cause except sin is properly Separation and Schism it is not actually not communicating with a True Chruch but renouncing Communion that we think makes the Schismatick Schism is directly a Breach of Unity as that is a Breach of Id. ibid. Charity Refusing to Communicate with a true Church when I have opportunity especially my own Church is a plain breach of both whatever my reason be short of Sin There may be an Actual Criminous separation of Churches Bramhal Just Vind. p. 10. which formerly did joyn in one and the same Communion and yet the separaters be Innocent and the persons from whom the Separation is made be Nocent and Guilty of Schism because they gave just Cause of Separation from them it is not the separation but the Cause that makes the Schism Wherever there is no necessity of Separating there the Norris Charg Sch. p. 93. Church has a Right to Communion which to withold from her is Schism or else there is no such thing as Schism in the World A part of the Catholick Church may have so many errors Ans to the Kings Pap. p. 106. and corruptions mix'd with it as may make it necessary to Salvation to leave it There are three Cases wherein the Scripture allows of Separation Vnreason of Separ p. 213. 1st In Case of Idolatrous worship 2ly In Case of false Doctrine impos'd instead of true 3ly In Case men make things indifferent necessary to Salvation and divide the Church upon that account I do not charge those with Separation who under Idolatrous Id. p. 148. or Arian Princes did keep up the exercise of true Religion against the will of the Magistrate There are many false Teachers that transform themselves into Long 's Pref. to 2d pt unreas Sep. Angels of Light But if they teach any thing for Doctrine contrary to the word of God any Doctrine that tends to Impiety Disobedience or Divisions it is our duty to reject and withhold Communion from them It is beyond question that there may be such Corruptions in Id. Ep. to the Char. of a Sepa Doctrines and such Idolatrous practices requir'd in Worship as may justifie a Separation The Divines of the Church of England first prov'd that the Apologet vindic of Ch. E p. 44 Communion of the Romish Church was not Pure and Apostolical and thence justifi'd the Separation of the Church of England from it as necessary c. And on the Contrary They have prov'd that the Communion of the Church of England is Pure and Apostolical and thence condemn the Separation of the Dissenters from it as Needless God only bids me obey the Church in such Cases as are not Faith and practise of Ch. Eng. c. 3. Long 's Char. of Sep. p. 6. defin'd by the Law of God but doth not give the Church leave to Command any thing contrary to God's Law nor oblige me to attend to it or Obey it if it should so Command We do still hold and teach that the Condition of our Communion with the Church of Rome was made sinful by professing False Doctrine Believing Lyes and joyning in Idolatrous Worship and so it was unlawful and intolerable and they who practise such things themselves and would impose them on others are actually in Separation from the true Church Schism indeed we do say is a Damning Sin but there may be Sherl Serm. Nov. 4. 1680. Id. vind of the Def. p. 323. Divisions where there is not always the guilt and formality of Schism c. The principal Acts of Christian Communion consist in Christian Worship and if any Church have so corrupted Divine Worship that a good Christian must not joyn in it we must of necessity abstain from their Communion No Church can oblige a man to believe what is False or do Vind. Kings pap p. 106. what is Vnlawful and rather than do either he must forsake the Communion of that Church If you ask by what Authority we Separate from the R. C. Id. p. 68. I answer by the same Authority which makes it Unlawful for us to Profess what we do not believe and to Practise what we believe God has forbidden Neither abroad nor at home can we purchase Unity of Communion Difference of the Case p. 9. at so dear a rate as to break God's Commandments for it We do Unanimously acknowledge that if this Church makes Id. p. 44. the Profession of false Doctrine or the breaking of God's Commandments a condition of her Communion They that upon this account Separate from her Communion are before God clear of the guilt of Schism in so doing When it is a Sin to Communicate it is not a Sin to Separate Vind of Ch. E. from Sch. p. 34. Doctr. of Sch. p. 66. Separation from a true Church is sometimes Lawful if one cannot remain in its Communion without Communicating in her Sins Suppose a particular Church tho' Lawfully Constituted and Vind. of Ch. E. from Sch. p. 10. Establisht under Lawful Governours should make the Terms of her Communion such as Her Neighbour Churches could not without Sin and Danger hold Communion with her would Separation in this case be adjudg'd a Schism Or would it not rather be lookt upon as their Duty and Interest to withdraw from her If Schism be consider'd as a Separation from the Communion Id. p. 25. of some particular Church then 't
obstinate refusal to obey the Imposition of Lawful Bishops Id. p. 381. and Pastors makes Men Schismaticks Whosoever is a Member of any particular Church and refuses Vind. Ch. of Eng. from Sch. p. 22. Thorndike of forbear p. 15. all due Obedience to the Pastors and Governors thereof doth thereby contract the guilt of Schism As it is Heresy to depart from the Faith which they The Apostles Preached so is it Schism to depart from the Authority which they left in the Church till the Worlds end Whoever by virtue of any Authority under Heaven shall Usurp Ecclesiastical Id. Rights of the Ch. p. 278. Power shall Usurp the Succession of the Apostles and take it from them that Rightfully stand possest of it upon pretence of Governing the Church by such Laws as he is really perswaded but falsely to be commanded the Church by our Lord and his Apostles this whosoever shall do or be accessary to is guilty of Schism Suppose a Prosperous Usurper in this Kingdom had gain'd Vind. Ans to the Kings Papers p. 23. a considerable interest in it and challeng'd a Title to the whole and therefore requir'd of all the Kings Subjects within his power to own him to be Rightful King Upon this many of them are forc'd to withdraw because they will not own his Title Is this an Act of Rebellion and not rather of true Loyalty Schism in the Church is like Rebellion in the State There are some things immediately necessary to the Salvation Thorndike's Right of the Church p. 276. of particular Christians whether concerning Faith or Good Manners and there are other things necessary to the publick Order and Peace of the Church that by it Christians may be edify'd in all matters of the first kind The denying any point of the first kind may for distinction sake be call'd Heresie when a man is resolute and obstinate in it But in the other kind it is not false opinion that makes a man a Schismatick till he agree to destroy the Unity of the Church for it It can scarce fall out indeed that any man proceed to destroy the Unity of the Church without some false opinion in Christianity Yet it is not the opinion but the Destroying of a true or erecting of a false Power in the Church that makes Schism Whatever discouragments the Clergy have found they still Faith and Pract. Ch. Eng. Man c. 7. Preach up and perswade Loyalty to the King and by the Doctrine of Passive Obedience to Temporal Authority keep People from Rebellion notwithstanding they have been so often jeer'd and abus'd with it But yet out of modesty seldom insist on the Obedience that is due to the Church and Ecclesiastical Authority tho' there is as much obedience due to Her as even to the Church of Rome from her members Cath. Bal. p. 62. As the Faith which we have in the Principles of Christianity is the foundation of all Christian Graces in the Soul and the inner dispensation of Eternal life so is Episcopacy the Foundation of all visible Union and Government in the Ecclesiastical Body insomuch that were there no one Bishop left in the world the Integrity at least if not the very Essence of the Church would be destroy'd The summ of what has been cited upon this Query amounts to this viz. 1st That if any Church makes the terms of Her Communion sinful by framing new Articles of Faith or by imposing false Doctrines for true or by corrupting Divine Worship by Wicked Idolatrous or Blasphemous Prayers then she is Schismatical and those that Separate from her truly Catholick But if she imposes no false Doctrines nor no new Articles of Faith and enjoyns nothing in the service of God but what is innocent decent and tending to Edification then those that Separate from her are a Schismatical and she a Catholick Church 2ly If any Church disobey the Lawful Commands of their Spiritual Governors or throw off their Rightful and Canonical Bishops and Communicate with the Vsurpers and Intruders into their Sees they are Schismaticks 3ly If any wholly reject Episcopacy they destroy the very Foundation of Christian Vnity Q. Suppose there be more Bishops than one in a Diocess with which of them must the People Communicate A. Almost all Heresies and Schisms that have distracted the Vindic. of Prim. Ch. p. 308. Church have been no other than so many Defections of the discontented part of the Clergy and the more Pragmatical part of the Layety from their Rightful Bishop Non aliunde Haereses obortae Cypr. Ep. 55. sunt aut nata sunt Schismata quam inde quod Sacerdoti non obtemperatur Schisms and Heresies spring from no other cause than Disobedience to the Bishop Inde Haereses obortae sunt dum Episcopus Ep. 69. qui unus est Contemnitur All the disturbance of the Church is purely for want of observing that Precept of the Apostle Obey them that have the rule over you and submit your selves for they watch for your Souls as they that must give account i. e. Obey those that are Rightfully over you and submit to them not choosing your selves new Teachers and running after your own fancy which Ignatius seems to paraphrase as he is cited by Antiochus Let Ep. ad Smyrn the People assemble where the Bishop is present the Sheep ought not to go wandring whither they please but as the Shepherd leads them The People ought to follow the Directions of their Bishop and conclude what he orders to be most pleasing to God No City how great soever had more than one Bishop This Id. p. 502 is so well known that it would be great impertinence to go about to prove it by Instances and besides the Bishops of most Cities if not all had a considerable Territory belonging to their Jurisdiction which was commonly the Country lying round about their City In great Cities there was one chief Ecclesiastical Governor called Saywel of Vnits p. 43. Bishop to which all both Priests and People were subject and 't was Schism and no Communion to do any thing without his Allowance and Direction It was an inviolable Rule among them the Africans that Vnreason Separ p. 245. there was to be but one Bishop in a City tho' the City were never so large or the Christians never so many One of the greatest and most pernicious Schisms that ever Id. p. 240. happen'd might have been prevented if they had yielded to more Bishops than one in a City and that was the Schism of the Donatists The Novatian Schism began at Rome upon the like occasion To set up one Bishop against another is to set up Altar against Id. 249. Altar as that Phrase is commonly us'd in St. Cyprian and St. Austin Our Author Mr. Hales proves the Donatists in two lines to Long 's Ans to Hales of Sch. p. 107. be compleat Schismaticks 1st For choosing a Bishop in Opposition
the Execution of which they abridge themselves is such as has Influence on the Civil Rights of the Subject and therefore necessarily requir'd the Concurrence of the Supreme Civil Power It is confest that the extream of Raising the Ecclesiastical Id. p. 31. Power too high in the times of Popery had now produc'd another of Depressing it too much But this was the Infelicity of the Clergy not their Crime It is certain that before the Empire was Christian the Church Burscough Episc p. 12. Saywel of Vnity p. 138. was govern'd by its proper officers as a Society distinct from the State and Independent on it Who ever did account it Schism in the Gospel sense and as the word is now used amongst Christians to disobey the unjust Commands of the Civil Magistrate Were Christ and his Apostles Schismaticks Were all the Primitive Christians Schismaticks till Constantine's time Nay were there not Schismaticks all that while the Church was a Society that had Laws and Government contrary to the Laws of the Secular Princes For does not St. Paul tell the Corinthians that there were Schisms among them and do we not find the Novatians accounted Schismaticks and many others long before Constantine's time Nay moreover were not the Arians Schismaticks under the Reign of Constantius and Valens tho they had the Edicts of the Emperour to favour them which were then of as good Authority as our Acts of Parliament are now with us Or if we should ever have a Popish Parliament that should command us to go to Mass and abolish our present Constitutions should we be Schismaticks for not obeying them I hope not there 's no such matter Christ has Pastors and Teachers in his Church and has promis'd to be with them to the end of the World and commanded all good Christians to obey them The Church did subsist before the Magistrates favour'd it and may continue again tho Kings and Parliaments should leave of to protect it We only are the Poor Tame Dispirited Drowsy Body that Municip Eccles p. 119. are in love with our Fetters and this is the only Scandalous part of our Passive Obedience to be not only Silent but Content with an Oc n of our P rs which are not Forfeited nor forfeitable to any Worldly Power whatsoever The Sovereign Power of the Church consisting in the Sword Thornd Rt. of the Ch. p. 40. of Excommunication upon which the Society thereof is founded it is Necessarily manifest that this power is not lost to the Church nor Forfeit to the State that Professeth Christianity and undertakes the Protection of the Church For the Church and Civil Societies must needs remain Distinct Bodies when the Church is ingrafted into the State and the same Christian Members of both in regard of the Relations Rights and Obligations which is the same Persons remain Distinct according to the Distinct Societies and Qualities of several Persons in the same Therefore as no Christian as a Christian can challenge any Temporal Right by his Christianity which the State wherein he is call'd to be a Christian gives him not So on the other side no Man by his Rank in any State is invested with any Power proceeding from the foundation of the Church as it is the Church So far as Excommunication concerns barely the Society of the Id. p. 237. Vid. Falkner's Chr. Loyal p. 319. Church any Person Capable of Sovereign Power is liable to it upon the same terms as other Christians are because coming into the Communion of the Church upon the same Condition as other Christians the failing of this Condition must needs render the Effect void But if we consider either the Temporal force by which it Vid. Cath. Bal. p. 110 c. comes to Effect or the Temporal Penalties which attend on it to These which cannot proceed but by the will of the Sovereign it is not possible that he should be liable Princes as well as any other Persons must Submit themselves to Falkner's Chr. Loyal p. 321. the Power of the Keys in the Undertaking the Rules of Repentance so far as they are needful for procuring the favour of God and obtaining the benefit of the Keys by Absolution The Pastoral Office of the Guides of the Church doth extend Id. 225. Vid. Cath. Bal. p. 118. it self even to Kings with respect to the conduct of their Souls but yet this doth not exempt them from being under the Regal Sovereignty The Habitual Jurisdiction of Bishops flows we confess from Animadv on 8 Thes p. 41. their Ordination but the Actual Exercise thereof in publick Courts after a Coercive manner is from the gracious Concessions of Sovereign Princes As for Causes purely Ecclesiastical the Bishop being Supreme in Vind. of some Prot. prin p. 88. and Vind. Def. p. 183. his own Diocess there can be no Original Right of appeal from him for there is no appeal from the Supreme He has a free power in the Government of his own Diocess and must render an account of his Actions to Christ who is the supreme Lord of the Church as St. Cyprian tells us While the Clergy Faithfully discharge their office the Prince Animadv on 8 Thes p. 52. ought to Protect them and if for this they suffer no doubt but they are Martyrs When the Civil Power will not own the Church The Ecclesiastical Falkner Chr. Loyal p. 45. Governors by their own Authority may establish necessary Rules for Order as in the Primitive times Bishop Taylor tells us from Fulgentius that when Frazamund King of Bisac in Africa had made an Edict under pain of Death that no more Bishops should be Consecrated designing by that device to have the Catholick Faith rooted out of his Dominions the Bishops of the Province no way affrighted at the Edict met together and Consecrated as many as were wanting considering that those who were worthy of a Mitre need not fear to do their Duty when by so doing they are sure to receive a Crown of Martyrdom If any such Heretical or Infidel Prince should design to dissolve Hill's Cath Ballance p. 127. our Succession we have a Canonical right to preserve our Orders and can but suffer Penalties which may Oppress but not Null or Vacate the Validity of our Ordination No Temporal Christian Powers have any Authority in themselves Id. p. 121. to Vsurp Extinguish Pervert Alter or Retard but only to Inspect and Assist the regular operations of the Powers Hierarchical within its own bounds So that whatsoever Offices thereof are Fundamental to the Catholick Faith Charity Union and Government of the Universal and each particular Church and were receiv'd and practised for such in all Ages before the Empire became Christian are not to be violated by any Acts of State For if such violations were accounted Persecutions in Heathen Emperours and Princes what can they be accounted in Christian ones Of these Fundamental Rights therefore I shall subjoyn some
to a former 2ly For erecting new places for the dividing party to meet in publickly He Mr. Hales says truly that all Meetings upon unnecessary Id. p. 180. occasions of Separation are to be stil'd Conventicles so that in this sense a Conventicle is nothing else but a Congregation of Schismaticks and he had before determin'd them to be Schismaticks that do choose a Bishop in Opposition to the former and that do erect a New Church and Oratory for the dividing party to meet in publickly The Laws and Customs of all Churches do condemn it for Saywel of Vn 193. Schismatical for a man to come into another Ministers charge c. The summ of what is cited on this Query is this that there ought to be but one Bishop in a Diocess or City that they that set up a Bishop in opposition to the Rightful Bishop and make separate Meetings setting up Altar against Altar are Schismaticks and therefore those that would avoid the guilt of Schism must constantly Communicate with the First and Rightful Bishop but never with the Intruder or his Adherents Q. Are the People that Communicate with Schismatical Bishops and Presbyters guilty of Schism A. A Schismatick is an impious Son which having contemn'd Ham. of Schism out of Ignatius the Bishops and forsaken the Priests of God dares constitute another Altar The Schismaticks are they that having left their Bishop set Doctr. of Schism p. 45. up for themselves abroad another false Bishop and all their Adherents are involv'd in the same guilt who joyn with the Schismaticks against their Bishops An essential part of our Communion with our Bishop Def. of Dr. St. p. 471. is to live in Communion only of those Presbyters who live in Communion of their Bishop that is who officiate by his Authority and are subject to his Directions and Orders This was a standing rule in Ignatius his time as is evident from his Epistles that Presbyters must do nothing in the Church but by the Bishop's consent or order and those who do are Schismaticks and those people who adhere to them in it partake in the guilt of their Schism c. 'T is notorious in all the Histories and Canons of the Church Saywel of Vnity p. 393. that never any more than One Bishop at a time was allowed in any of those great Cities Jerusalem Alexandria c. And if a Schismatick did sometimes creep in as the Novatians and Donatists did in troublesome times they were always condemn'd by the Church which did constantly maintain There ought to be but One Bishop in a City or Diocess and all Priests and Lay Persons ought to be govern'd by him To assemble and celebrate the Eucharist besides the Bishop's Thornd Prim. Gov. Ch. p. 117. appointment was then in St. Ignatius his time the due mark of a Schismatick If the Church unites upon Schismatical Principles whatever Sherl Ans to Anonym the Bishop does in pursuance of such Principles is the Act of the Church and if the Bishops be Schismaticks the Church is so too The Church is by St. Cyprian defin'd to be a People united to St. Cyprian their own Bishop and a Flock adhering to their own Pastor whence you may know the Bishop always to be in the Church and the Church to go along with the Bishop if therefore the Bishop be a Schismatick so must all the Flock that Communicate with him If any Presbyter contemning his own Bishop shall make a Long 's Ch. Sep. p. 85. Separate Congregation and erect another Altar his own Bishop not being condemn'd of any Irreligion or Injustice let him be depos'd as one that is Ambitious and a Tyrannical person and in like manner all that Adhere to him and let the Lay People be Excommunicated after the Bishops third Admonition He who submits to or complies with the manager of a Schism Falkner's Christian Loyalty p. 272. in his prosecution thereof doth involve himself in the same crime Q. If a Bishop or other Clergy man be guilty of any Offence by whom is he to be Try'd and Punish'd A. Touching the Depriving or Degrading of Bishops Presbyters Field of the Ch. p. 512. and Deacons the ancient Canon requires the Concurrence and consent of 3 Bishops for the Censuring and Depriving of a Deacon of 6 for the Depriving of a Presbyter and of 12 for the Censuring Judging and Deposing of a Bishop If a Bishop be Convicted of Heresy or Schism or some great Vind. of Def. p. 128. Wickedness and Injustice his Colleagues that is Bishops may Depose him and forbid his People to Communicate with him and Ordain another in his stead For one particular Primate or Metropolitan to censure any Hills Cath. Balance p. 86. Bishop by himself or to be uncapable of censure in his own Provincial Synods hath no Precedent in the primest and purest Antiquity The Canon Apostolical 33 directing That every Bishop of every Nation give deference to him that is Chief among them and to esteem him as their Head and to do nothing extraordinary without his Cognisance but every one only to do those things which are expedient to his own Diocess and to the Country under him And so neither must the Capital Bishop do any thing without the consent of them all for thus there will be an Vnanimity and God will be glorify'd thro' the Lord in the Holy Spirit Bishops had over their Presbyters and People Supreme Power Faith and Pract. Ch. Eng. m. cap. 1. under Christ as to Church affairs and Accountable only to Christ and to a Council of their fellow Bishops often Meeting and Consulting together for the good of the whole A Bishop of the Church of England by all the Law in the Christian Bishop of Lond. Tryal p. 6. Church in all ages and by the particular Law of this Land in case of offence is to be Try'd by his Metropolitan and Suffragans The Bishop of London's Council urged in behalf of the Bishop Id. for not suspending Dr. S. without a Legal process That absolute Suspension supposes a proof of the Crime c. Id. and That where there is an absolute Suspension there ought to be Citation Form of Proceeding Judgment and Decree and that to Act otherwise is contrary to the Laws of God of Nature of all Nations in all Ages and was never known in the World My Lord I Always have and shall count it my duty to obey the K. in whatever Id. Bp. of London's Letter to my Lord Sanderland he Commands me c. But in this I humbly conceive I am oblig'd to proceed according to Law and therefore 't is impossible for me to comply because tho' His Majesty Commands me only to Execute His Pleasure yet in the capacity I am to do it I must Act as a Judge and your Lordship knows no Judge Condemns any Man before he have knowledge of his Cause and have cited