THE HISTORY OF Popedom Containing the RISE PROGRESS AND DECAY Thereof c. Written in High Dutch BY SAMUEL PUFFENDORFF Translated into English by J. C. LONDON Printed for Joseph Hindmarsh at the Golden Ball over against the Royal Exchange 1691. Imprimatur C. Alston October 2 d. 1690. To the Right Reverend Father in God HENRY Lord Bishop of LONDON Dean of the Chappel Royal and one of the Lords of His Majesties most Honorable Privy Council This TREATISE is most humbly Dedicated By John Chamberlayne CONTENTS Paragraph 1. POlitic Reflections on the Spiritual Monarchy of the Pope Par. 2. Of the Blindness of the Heathens in Matters of Divinity what they proposed to themselves by choosing the Paths of Virtue wherein their Religion consisted Par. 3. Of the Jewish Religion why other Nations did not embrace the Religion of the Jews Par. 4. That the Christian Religion is adapted to the humours of all People that it admits no Respect of Persons that it is not contrary to Civil Government that there is no other sort of Religion or Philosophy that can equal it why many of our Christians live like Heathens Par. 5. Of the External Government of Religion what is here to be understood by the External Government of the Christian Religion of the Ministry of the Church of the calling of the Apostles Par. 6. The Division of this Question that this necessity does not proceed from the nature of every Religion in general how the External Government of Religion was transmitted from the Fathers of the Family to the Sovereigns of each State Par. 7. That it is not inconsistent with the Christian Religion for the Sovereign to have the direction of it as to its External Government Par. 8. The First Progress of the Christian Religion the Divine Conduct in the Establishment of this Religion how the Jesuits Preach the Gospel to the Chineses why God called the Ignorant rather than the Wise and Learned Men. Par. 9. The Persecution of the Primitive Church the New Christians Slandered and Calumniated the Romans upon Reasons of State oppose their Religion the Roman Persecution condemn'd Par. 10. Of the Ancient Government of the Christian Religion Differences arising about Religion Terminated by Assemblies why the Authority of these Assemblies ought to be permitted under Heathen Emperours Par. 11. That the External Government of the Church by being lodged in the hands of the Primitive Christians has produced strange disorders that from hence some have supposed two Powers in the State that Ecclesiastics ought to receive their Call from the Sovereign of each State Par. 12. That it was not in Constantin's Power wholly to change the State of the Church how the Bishops and other the Ecclesiastics came to Vsurp the Sovereign Power that the Sovereign may preside in the Assemblies where Controversies are treated of the abuse of Councils Par. 13. The Jurisdiction of Bishops abused other Abuses concerning Marriages Ecclesiastical Discipline abused the Popes misuse the Power of Excommunication Par. 14. The Rise of the Popes Authority that Ignorance and the Barbarity of the Age contributed much thereto the causes of this Ignorance that ignorance help'd much to the Establishing of the Popedom the Introduction of Pedantry into the Schools that the Politiques of the Greeks and Romans were contrary to Monarchy two dangerous effects of the ignorance of Politiques Par. 15. Why the Monarch of the Romish Church has chosen Rome for the place of his Residence how the Pope Establish'd his Hierarchy of the Metropolitan Bishops how the Bishops of RomeVsurp'd the Preheminence Reflections on the Popes Power Par. 16. How the Pope came to Domineer o'er all the Western Part of the World of the Confirmation of Bishops by the Pope Decisions of the Pope Dispensations of the Popes Vicar in France of the Monk Winifred the Pope makes him his Vicar he advances the Grandeur of the Popes of the Annates the Popes annul the Decisions of Provincial Synods they force the Bishops to swear Fidelity to them Par. 17. The Riches of the Church and how first gotten the Avarice of the Church-men and divers effects thereof the Institution of the Crusado a stratagem of Popes Par. 18. Of the great number of Ecclesiastics the Original of Monks and other Religious Orders of the Multitude of Monasteries of the Order of Begging Friars why they chose that sort of Life the Reasons that induce men now adays to choose a Monastic Life that Monks have been very prejudicial to other Church-men that they alone hinder the Bishops from opposing the Pope 's Authority that a great many Bishops would be glad to shake off the Yoke of Rome that it is the Interest of Bishops to submit to the Pope Par. 19. How the Church has shaken off all Temporal Jurisdiction how the Bishops of Rome slipt their Neck out of the Emperours Collar Par. 20. The Pope implores the French Kings Protection against the Lumbards the French enter Italy they bestow the Exarchat on the Pope that the Popes did heretofore hold those Countries under them of the Emperour Par. 21. The Popes Establish an Ecclesiastical Sovereignty Pope Gregory Excommunicates the Emperour Henry the Fourth the Pope endeavours to Domineer o'er the Emperour a quarrel between the King of England and his Bishops that succeeding Emperours have in vain endeavoured to regain their lost Authority Par 22. The Pope exalts himself above all Temporal Powers the use he made of his Excommunicating Power how the Pope colour'd his usurpations the Pope takes upon him the cognisance of Matrimonial Affairs that the Pope allur'd the most knowing Men into his service the unbounded Ambition of Pope Boniface the Eighth Par. 23. The Popes find their Authority oppos'd that the great Schisms in the Church have much weakened their Authority the first Schism the second Schism the third Schism the fourth and last Schism that the Pope has not been able to Lord it over Councils the Confession of several Popes concerning the Authority of Councils that Popes have been Depos'd by Councils Par. 24. The removal of the Popes Seat from Rome to Avignon that it was prejudicial to the Pope 's Authority the Pope reduces to his Obedience the City of Rome the History of Caesar Borgia natural Son of Alexander the Sixth the Ecclesiastical State reunited to the Popedom Par. 25. That the Papal Authority receiv'd a terrible blow by the Doctrine of Luther the Virtues and Vices of Leon the Tenth of Indulgences Luther Preaches against them and against the Power of the Pope Par. 26. That Luther's opposition met with a seasonable juncture of the times the miserable State of Christendom at that time the ignorance of Luther's adversaries Erasmus favours Luther that his silence alone was very prejudicial to Luther's adversaries that the Princes of Germany were unsatisfied with the Pope why Charles the Fifth was willing that Luther's Doctrine should make some progress the Popes ill conduct in the Business of Luther the imprudence of Cardinal Cajetan
the pretext of establishing the Affairs of the Church and setting them in good order to which end the Bishops began to Lord it over the ordinary Priests and to observe even a kind of Subordination amongst themselves and to such as were Bishops of the Capital Cities in each Province they appointed the Care and Inspection over the rest of the same Province and nam'd them Metropolitans who about Eight Ages afterward took upon themselves the Name and Title of Arch-Bishops amongst these there were four that had the preheminence above all the rest namely the Bishop of Rome Constantinople Antioch and Alexandria those being the most considerable Cities of the Roman Empire to which we may add Jerusalem Famous for its ancient Holiness And altho' the Emperor Phocas out of the hatred he bore to the Bishop of Constantinople who had refus'd to approve of the Murder of the Emperor Maurice had given the preheminence to Boniface the Third Bishop of Rome who thereupon took the Name of Oecumenical or Universal Bishop yet this Prerogative did only consist in a simple preference and did not carry along with it any Power or Jurisdiction which none of the other Patriarchs would ever yield to him And we read that the Bishops in Africa when he of Rome would have oblig'd them to truckle to his Power alledging to that intent a falsifi'd Canon of the Nicene Council did very vigorously resist and baffle that his design Besides in the whole frame of the Papal Supremacy we find nothing Divine but all built upon Humane Institutions and there is no more reason to be given why the Bishop of Rome has the first place than he of Antioch the third And forasmuch as one State has no power to prescribe Laws to another wholly independent of it therefore those privileges which have been granted to the Popes by the Roman Emperors and the ancient Councils which were nothing else but a Congregation of the Clergy of the Roman Empire cannot oblige any other State to obedience nor extend themselves farther than the bounds of the ancient Empire And if perhaps in succeeding times some few Christian States have given the Pope any Authority in Ecclesiastical Matters within their Dominions they did it without doubt either because they knew upon what grounds that pretended Power was founded or else they were surpriz'd and cheated into obedience If it be the first there is no other probable reason to be given for it than that it originally proceeding from some Covenant or Agreement made betwixt those States and the Bishops of Rome whilest the former imagin'd that their Churches could not be well govern'd till they abandoned the Care and Direction of 'em to the latter Now such an Agreement primarily depending on the free will and consent of any Republick according to the nature of all other obligations is ipso facto void and of no effect when it turns to the extream disadvantage of the Republick or when the Popes abuse that Power which is granted to them But if this Papal Supremacy be introduc'd dolo malo by the tricks and cheats of the knavish Priests then the abus'd and miss-led States as soon as they can discover how they have been impos'd on may lawfully cast off so unjust a yoke and have right to pursue the cheater and oblige him to refund all the Damages they have sustain'd by his usurpations Sect. 16. But it was not all at once that the Bishop of Rome was able to lay so heavy a yoke on all the Western Churches on the contrary he found himself oblig'd to insinuate this his usurp'd Authority by little and little and steal it insensibly by divers Slights and Artifices and where once he happen'd to fasten his Claws 't was impossible to make him lose his hold till he had carried away a good share of the prey Besides the Bishops of Rome never were wanting to serve themselves very advantageously of a good occasion of which the most advantageous to 'em in my opinion was the Emperours leaving Rome and chusing other Cities for their Residence whereas if they had always continued to have maintain'd their Authority in that place the Bishops thereof would have never had the confidence to have erected themselves into Soveraigns as we see that the Bishop of Constantinople who perhaps had no less vanity and itching after Gevernment than he of Rome was never able to raise his Authority to so high a flight The division of the Roman Empire into several new Kingdoms founded by the Heathen and unlearn'd People did no less contribute to the aggrandizing the Bishop of Rome for these People being all converted by the Prelates of the Romish Church thought themselves therefore very much oblig'd to honour and respect them and paid a deference to them as the most ancient and most considerable Christians of the West It is not our design here to deduce all circumstances at length 't is enough that we represent the most remarkable in haste as it were and en-passant but one thing we can't let slip unobserv'd that the Bishops beyond the Alps after the Fifth Century were us'd to go in Pilgrimage to Rome to visit there the Graves of St. Peter and St. Paul either out of Superstition and Biggottry or else in sign of their approving and following those Apostles Doctrine which voluntary piece of Devotion was afterwards chang'd into an act of necessity so that as many as afterwards neglected that Voyage were excommunicated from which Custom without doubt the Popes have pretended to oblige all Bishops to receive their Confirmation from Rome The other Bishops too and Churches had often recourse to that of Rome as Novices to their Superiours in all weighty Affairs consulting their advice in the use and explication of the Canons now when the Bishops of Rome perceiv'd that their answers were receiv'd as absolute Decisions they began to make Decrees and Orders before e'er they were desir'd to do it under the pretence that Rome being the first and chiefest Seat of Christendom it was the Right and Office of the Bishop thereof to see that the Canons and Ecclesiastical Laws were put in execution thereupon they constituted immediate Judges of the Differences amongst the other Bishops encroached upon the Jurisdiction of the Metropolitans depos'd the Bishops which were either not rightly Ordain'd or that were accused of any great Crime and forced them to come to Rome to plead their cause in person after which all such as desir'd to enjoy any prerogative or exemption from the ordinary Canons went to Rome where they were always well receiv'd and gratifi'd in their request that so the Popes might there erect a general Office of all sort of Dispensations Those also that had lost their Cause before the ordinary Magistrates were wont out of spite to appeal to Rome where they were always welcome and seldom fail'd of a good exit Thus the French Historians tell us that when the Emperor Honorius had erected the City of
proportionably augmented whilest there were not a few that were glad to be fed by a fat Kitchin and make good cheer without taking any care for the provision thereof and it was not enough that each Church had its ordain'd Priests Chaplains and other necessary Servants but the most considerable must have an addition of Canons and Prebends which places consisting of so great profit and so little pains were soon fill'd by men of all sorts and sizes and thus the inconveniences of a single life which the Popes not without a great deal of pains and opposition had introduc'd in the eleventh and following Centuries were sweetned by the Honours and large Revenues of these Charges which they so quietly enjoy'd Besides all Christendom swarm'd with a prodigious number of Monks and Nuns which springing up in the times of Persecution in the fourth and fifth Centuries have afterwards strangely increas'd These sort of people at the first were content to get their living by their own Industry many of 'em gave all their goods to the poor without being in the least oblig'd thereto and liv'd under the care and inspection of the Bishops according to the Discipline that was prescrib'd them in the Canons In the seventh Century through all the Western Empire was the Monastical way of living extreamly in fashion and all places were fill'd with Cloysters in the founding of which the Princes and Great Men did seem to vie with each other but after that their Liberality was as it were quite exhausted by the Endowments and Gifts made to so many old Monasteries and that there was not place enough for such as desir'd to be receiv'd into those Orders There was at length in the thirteenth Century form'd an Order of Mendicants or Begging Monks which made a greater show of Holiness forasmuch as they would not be thought to go into a Cloyster in hopes of a plentiful and lazy Life but renouncing all the pleasures of the World they would live by Alms and the Beggars-Basket The Fancy of a singular Merit and Supererrogative Holiness induced the People to this Austerity and Hardship of living or rather an unbounded Ambition and Pride so natural to all mankind that not contented to live up to the Commandments of God and barely to fulfil what he prescribes they had rather deserve Heav'n than accept it as a pure Gift of their Creator or purchas'd for them by the Merits of their Redeemer and the desire they have of Superiority and Preference above the rest does even extend it self to the other life To the embracing of this single and solitary Life some are carried by despair others out of a prospect of ease and laziness others are thrust into Cloysters by their Parents and Relations either out of a motive of Religion or Poverty or else for fear of ruining their Family by the division of their Goods amongst a great many Children From these Monks has the Pope form'd his Pretorian Band or Regiment of Guards whom he has not alone quarter'd as troublesome Companions upon the Laity but does make use of 'em also as spies over the actions of the Bishops and rest of the Clergy Therefore it is that the Popes have with so much zeal maintain'd the privileges of the Monks especially when in the thirteenth Century they would have forc'd themselves from the Bishops Jurisdiction and subjected themselves immediately to the Pope and the Pope has found out the way to carry himself so evenly with them that altho' there are great Jealousies betwixt their Orders as for example betwixt the Franciscans and Dominicans yet he holds the Balance always so even and dispenses his Favours so impartially that one Order cannot be oppress'd by the other nor has reason to complain of the Pope's injustice These Monks are very prejudicial to the ordinary Priests insomuch as they attract to themselves the greatest part of the Alms Legacies and Gains proceeding from the Burials of the Rich besides the Direction of Consciences and Administration of the Sacraments which has drawn upon them the immortal hatred of the Bishops and Secular Priests which those other don't much value whilest they are under the care and protection of the Pope and besides when a Bishop at any time oppos'd the Pope the Monks like so many Blood Hounds were immediately after his heels and by their bawlings and exclamations soon made him lose his Credit with the People by whom their Hypocrisy and pretended Sanctity made them much respected so that the Bishops were forced to truckle to the Pope's Authority because the People would afford them no Support or Assistance thus the Monks were set as so many spies over the Conduct of the Bishops which when they found blamable they did not fail immediately to signify to the Generals that resided always at Rome so that the Pope might make a timely opposition against their practices In short these Monks were not the least cause of the Bishops not resisting the growing Power of the Pope for finding it always in vain they were forced with the rest to yield to the mighty Torrent Tho' there were a great many of 'em likewise that were well enough contented to submit to this slavery in hopes of sharing the Prey with their Chief and because they were thereby freed from the Jurisdiction of their Temporal Princes whose power they more dreaded than that of a distant Tribunal the Judges whereof being of the same Trade as they were not so terrible to them for one Crow will not pick out its fellow's Eyes In the mean while 't is most certain that a great many Bishops especially of this side the Alps do with a great deal of impatience groan under the yoke of Rome which did appear sufficiently in the Council of Trent where the French and Spanish Bishops did with great earnestness endeavour that it might be declar'd quod Residentia Episcoporum sit Juris Divini or that by the Divine Appointment each Bishop is oblig'd to reside in his own Church as all the Jansenists of France and the Low-Countries do maintain Now the wisest could easily penetrate what lay hid under this specious Doctrine for if God has commanded that it must necessarily follow that he would afford the way and means of putting it in practice qui dat jus ad finem dat jus ad media and then by consequence it is no longer needful to run to Rome and buy the permission of exercising their charge And it cost the Pope a great deal of pains and a great deal of fears before he could oblige the Council of Trent to desist from a design which extreamly shook his usurp'd Authority and therefore we may be assur'd that that shall be the last General Council nor will the Pope ever more venture his Authority in such like Assemblies which besides will be but very useless things as long as the Jesuits and others teach That the Pope is above the Councils and That he cannot err and That the Councils themselves
Subjects of the same State And altho' among Gods People the Jews the publick Administration of Divine Service was become hereditary and tied to one certain Family yet the Soveraign inspection and care of the Priests did only belong to them who had the Soveraign Authority in the Civil Government The same thing has likewise been observ'd by almost all the other Nations Sect. 7. Nor can we perceive that such a Direction must necessarily belong to any other than the Soveraign of each State or the necessity thereof be prov'd from any Identity or particular quality of the Christian Religion as far as it does comprehend in its self something more than is suggested to us by the Light of Nature concerning the Divine Worship Whilest we always take it for granted That the Soveraign by Virtue of that external Direction neither can nor will introduce any thing contrary to God's Holy Word nor hinder the Ministers from the performance of their Office according to the Divine Precepts Besides There can no reason be given why the Supreme Powers should be incapable of ever attaining those Qualifications which are requir'd to this external Care and Direction of the Church or at least that they should not be able to commit this Direction to some of their Subjects that are beyond exception qualifi'd for such an employ After the same manner as other parts of the Soveraignty are often Administred by the Subjects So no body presumes to deprive the Soveraign of his Legislative Faculty or pretends a better Right tho' 't is certain that every Doctor and Professor of Law ought to be infinitely better vers'd therein than any King can be who as in all other Important Affairs ought also herein to make use of their Counsel and profit himself of the Fruits of their long Study and Experience For a Brave and Wise King far from making it his Interest that his Subjects should acquit themselves ill of those Offices he has entrusted 'em with may rather conformably to his Duty extract incredible Advantages from the good and faithful management of what he has committed to them For the more Diligent and Zealous he is in the Maintenance and Support of the Christian Religion the more capable his Subjects are of serving him and the more assur'd is he of God's Help and Assistance Besides caeteris paribus 't is impossible to give any Reason why God Almighty should not grant his Grace and Assistance to an Orthodox Christian King as well as to any other in the good and laudable Administration of such a Direction Lastly Whilest the Christian Religion in no other point does encroach upon the Civil Laws and Ordinances so far as they fall in with the Law of Nature we ought not to believe that it breaks its bounds in this unless we had a formal and positive assurance thereof from God himself Those therefore that will persist in the Defence of such an Absurdity are oblig'd to demonstrate where the Holy Scripture in express Terms deprives the Supreme Civil Magistrate of this Direction to bestow it on another independent and not acknowledging any Earthly Superiour In the mean while we will proceed to examine how and by what steps such a Spiritual Soveraignty has attain'd to so monstrous a Degree in the Western Churches Sect. 8. When the Apostles after our Saviour's Ascention had begun to Preach the Holy Gospel to all People being appointed thereto by their Master 's immediate Commands they did in a short time gain an incredible number of Proselytes as well amongst the Jews as Gentiles and especially of the common People then oppress'd with a miserable Ignorance and leading a wretched and beastly Life They therefore embraced this Doctrine with a great deal of Joy wherein they found unspeakable Comforts against the inconveniences and desperate Sorrows of this temporary Life Besides The Apostles being themselves of low Birth and as to outward appearance making a very inconsiderable figure found an easier Access and could better insinuate their Opinions into the minds of their equals Whereas the great Men and the most Learn'd slighted this upstart Religion in the beginning nor thought it worth their while to make any exact inquiry into the Mysteries thereof If men may presume to examine the Reasons of the Divine Wisdom and why it was pleas'd to make use of such means in the first Introduction of the Christian Religion the most probable seems to be that God forbore to make use of Power or the Authority of the Supreme Magistrate lest the Purity of the Gospel might be mistaken for a Politick Device or a Philosophical Speculation Whereas if a man compares the inconsiderable beginning with the wonderful Progress he will easily observe that there is something more than Humane in it especially considering that the most Learned among the Heathens with all their Subtilties with all their Helps of Art and Nature could but slightly and superficially penetrate into the Reason and Causes of Divine Things and that the Great Socrates amongst the rest tho' he clearly discover'd the blind Superstition and Ignorance of his Age yet had not Power enough to introduce a better but as a Reward for his good Design suffer'd Death as an Heretick and Innovator of the Establish'd Religion Whereby we are given to understand That the Wisdom of the World is but Folly with God who could perfect a work by the means of poor ignorant Fishermen which all the united Wits of the greatest Philosophers were not able to set on foot Besides The Apostles manner of acting seem'd very odd to the more rational sort of People they thought it strange to hear a Crucified Jesus the greatest Subject of their Sermons and that they should name him the Son of God and Saviour of the World who was born among a People derided and despised as the scum of the Earth and the abject of all Nations nor was this Jesus in any great Repute in the World nor had he signaliz'd himself by any Famous Heroical Actions or by a great many Years Preaching and Teaching spread his Name abroad among the People but on the contrary was cut off in the Flower of his Age by a most scandalous and shameful Death Wherefore the Jesuits in their endeavours of planting the Gospel amongst the cunning Chineses do not begin it from the Passions of Christ but do first Reason and Discourse upon Natural Religion and then after a long round about fall upon the Articles of the Christian Faith which whether they can by these devices and politick Methods better insinuate into those unbelievers than the Apostles I shall not now examine One may also add That it seem'd good to God to deliver first the most simple and the meanest of the People out of that Heathenish Blindness since they were maintain'd and kept under in a continual Superstition by the great ones who tho' they easily perceiv'd the cheat and vanity of Paganism yet with-held by their Interest and Worldly Considerations did
Bible which God has equally given to all men and not as the Oracles of the Sybils committed only to the Care of the Priests and that all other men as well as the Ecclesiasticks can understand as much thereof as is necessary for Salvation it does not therefore in the least seem unreasonable that the Soveraign should preside in all such Conventions where they debate and dispute about the apparent Contradictions and different Interpretations of the Holy Scriptures where the Presence and Authority of the Prince might serve to moderate those Heats and Passions which usually arise from disagreeing Opinions in things of that nature where he might hinder all Calumnies and Reflections upon Persons spightful and malicious Interpretation of Words and finally awe them from pronouncing Anathema's without a very just reason against innocent and well meaning Persons But whilest the first Christian Emperors neglected this their right or could not conveniently maintain it from hence it came that things were very confusedly deliberated of and determined by Councils and that afterwards the Popes usurping a Power above all the other Western Bishops and Councils themselves pretended a right of determining in all Matters of Faith and of introducing Canons or Ecclesiastical Laws wherein their own Profit and Advantage was their chiefest prospect and have at last assum'd the Supreme Jurisdiction in all Spiritual Matters and thereby have withdrawn themselves from that obedience which they ow'd to their lawful Soveraigns the Roman Emperors Sect. 13. Besides It was the Custom in the ancient Churches that the Primitive Christians according to the Advice of St. Paul would very rarely plead their causes before the Gentile Tribunals but when any Controversy arose amongst them they referr'd it to the decision of the Bishop least the Heathens should be scandaliz'd thereat and take occasion to revile the Name of Christ Besides it would have a very ill grace to see them so greedily plead for temporal things which they pretended so much to slight and contemn Now this in it self and at that time was a very laudable and useful design but at last whilest the Christian Emperors far from abolishing this Custom confirm'd it more and more and the Tribunals were fill'd with Christian Judges the Bishops usurp'd a formal Jurisdiction which did not alone encroach upon the rights of the Civil Magistrates but did also distract the Bishops themselves from the exercise of that Charge which did peculiarly belong to them 'T was likewise the Custom of the Primitive Christians when in their Marriages any scruple arose concerning the Proximity or nearness of Blood to refer themselves to the Priest and acquiesce in his Sentiments who also in all quarrels between Man and Wife interpos'd his Authority to which we may add his Assisting always in the Celebration of Marriages with his Prayers and Blessings from all which Customs tho' as we said before naturally innocent and good in themselves very pernicious Errors and Abuses have been deriv'd since the Pope has from hence taken occasion to draw all Affairs of Matrimony which occur circa statum hominum Divortia nullitates Matrimoniorum Sucessiones Haereditates and all others of the like Importance into his Forum or Tribunal and to colour his abuses the better he has made a New Sacrament of Matrimony The Primitive Christians by the Innocence and Holiness of their Lives endeavour'd to stir up a desire in the Heathens of embracing so laudable a Religion and therefore they very severely punished those Calumnies and Slanders which the Civil Laws of the Gentiles did not reach so that in their Churches when any by a notorious ill Life had given Scandal and a bad Example to the Brethren there was some publick Ecclesiastical Pennance or other enjoin'd him which never exceeded a temporal or total Exclusion from the Congregation which Custom could not but be very profitable in the present Christian States provided that the Direction thereof resided wholly in the Soveraign's hands whose Duty it would be to prevent that such Ecclesiastical Censures be not the effects of malice private passions and self-interests especially when such Censures operate so effectually in foro vita civ li as in the Eighth Century when no man would converse with an excommunicated Person Now the Soveraign Exercise of such a Power can reasonably belong to none but the Supreme Magistrate in every State without making a division in the Government But how the Popes in following times have abus'd and how far they have extended these Censures is plainly enough laid open by all Historians when they neither spar'd Emperors Kings or Common-wealths that refus'd to Dance after their Pipes but in excommunicating them they forbid them to assist at Divine Service dispens'd their Subjects of their due Allegiance gave away their Kingdoms to others and finally oblig'd them to consent to the most disadvantageous and unreasonable things in the World In the mean while these Abuses have not spread themselves so wide in the Eastern Churches whilest the Emperours of Constantinople did at least keep up their Authority so far that the Clergy there durst never incroach upon it nor had any of the Eastern Bishops that opportunity of lifting himself above his Colleagues and assuming the Title of Head of the Church for the Bishop of Constantinople himself had only the first place and privilege of preceding all those that were not of his Diocess but had no Jurisdiction over them Sect. 14. But in the Western Churches the different circumstances of things altered quite the Scene whilest the Bishops of Rome had projected and begun to exercise a peculiar sort of Government and Supremacy and which at the last they have brought to its highest point and perfection A Soveraignty that in all the World cannot finds its parallel being built upon quite different Foundations and maintained by ways extreamly disagreeing from the policy of all other States Therefore after having made an exact enquiry into its rise and constitution we will lay open its Intrigues and describe the influences it has had the Power it has usurp'd and maintain'd for so many Ages in all the Affairs of Europe and with what zeal and fierceness this up start Soveraignty has been attacked by some and defended by others to which we will add the reasons of that cruel blow was given to it in the last Age and how it has recover'd its almost lost credit in this Age and is like to keep up it self in a very good posture From which the Wise may judge what hopes there remain of any accommodation or union of the Protestants with the Papists One of the Causes tho' something remote which has not a little contributed to the monstrous growth of a Power so pernicious to all the other Soveraigns of Europe was the Barbarity and Ignorance of Sciences after the decay of the Western Empire for counterfeit Wares are best sold and put off by dim weak Lights and an ignorant man is easier impos'd on with bagatelles and