the Matter of Fact was then so Notorious as to be undeniable He Reason'd from it as from an acknowledged Postulate 2. I observe that the Presbyters who in these Times were contra-distinguished from the Bishop and Deacons were Priests in the Language which was then current Pastors in the present Presbyterian Dialect i. e. not Ruling Elders but such as laboured in the Word and Sacraments They were such as were honoured with the Divine Priesthâ—od such as were Constituted in the Clerical Ministery such as whose Work it was to attend the Altar and the Sacrifices and offer up the Publick Prayâ—rs c. as we find in the Instance of Geminius Faustinus Such as God in his merciful Providence was pleased to raise to the Glorious Station of the Priesthood as in the Case of Numidicus Such as in the time of Persecution went to the Prisons and gave the Holy Eucharist to the Confessors Such as at Carthage as St. Cyprian complains to Cornelius presumed to curtail the Pennances of the Lapsers and gave them the Holy Sacrament while their Idolatry was so very recent that as it were their Hands and Mouths were still a smoaking with the warm Nidors of the Sacrifices that had been offered upon the Devils Altars Such as contrary to all Rule and Order absolved the Lapsers and gave them the Communion without the Bishops Licence Such as were joyned with the Bishop in the Sacerdotal Honour In a word They were such Presbyters as St. Cyprian describes to Stephen Bishop of Rome such as sometimes raised Altar against Altar and out of the Communion with the Church offered False and Sacrilegious Sacrifices Such as were to be Deposed when they did so such as thô they should return to the Communion of the Church were only to be admited to LAY-COMMUNION and not to be allowed thereafter to act as Men in Holy Orders seeing it became the PRIESTS and Ministers of God those who attend the Altar and Sacrifices to be Men of Integrity and Blameless Such Presbyters they were I say who were then contra-distinguished from the Bishop For as for your Lay-Elders your Ruling contra-distinct from Teaching Presbyters now so much in vogue there is as profound a Silence of them in St. Cyprian's Works and Time as there is of the Solemn League and Covenant or The Sanquhar Declaration And yet considering how much he has left upon Record about the Governours the Government and the Discipline of the Church if there had been such Presbyters then it is next to a Miracle that he should not so much as once have mentioned them 3. I observe that the Bishops Power his Authority his Pastoral Relation call it as you will extended to all the Christians within his District E. g. Cornelius was immediately and directly Superiour to all the Christians in Rome and they were his Subjects So it was also with Fabius and the Christians of Antioch Dionysius and the Christians of Alexandria Cyprian and the Christians of Carthage c. The Bishops prelation whatever it was related not solely to the Clergy or solely to the Laity but to both equally and formally How fully might this Point be proved if it were needful Indeed St. Cyprian defines a Church to be A People united to their Priest and A Flock adhering to their Pastor And that by the Terms Priest and Pastoâ— he meant the Bishop is plain from what immediately follows for he tells Florentius Pupianus there That from that common and received Notion of a Church he ought to have learned That the Bishop is in the Church and the Church in the Bishop and that whoso is not with the Bishop is not in the Church And in that same Epistle chastising the same Florentius for calling his Title to his Bishoprick in question and speaking bitter Things against him he Reasons thus What Swelling of Pride What Arrogance of Spirit What Haughtiness is this That thou shouldest arraign Bishops before thy Tribunal And unless we be Purged by thee and Absolved by thy Sentence Lo these Six Years The BROTHERHOOD has had no BISHOP The PEOPLE no RULER The FLOCK no PASTOR The CHURCH no GOVERNOUR CHRIST no PRELATE And GOD no PRIEST In short He that bore the high Character of Bishop in St. Cyprian's time was called the Ruler of the Church by way of Eminence The Church was compared to a Ship and the Bishop was the Master He was the Father and all the Christians within his District were his Children He was the Governour the Rector the Captain the Head the Iudge of all within his Diocess He was the chief Pastor and thô Presbyters were also sometimes called Pastors yet it was but seldom and at best they were but such in Subordination Indeed the Presbyters of the Church of Rome during the Vacancy between Fabianus his Death and Cornelius his Promotion look'd only on themselves as Vice-Pastors saying That in such a juncture they kept the Flock in STEAD of the Pastor the Bishop I could give you even a Surfeit of Evidence I say for the Truth of this Proposition if it were needful Whoso reads St. Cyprian's Epistles may find it in almost every Page And I shall have occasion hereafter to insist on many Arguments in the Probation of other Things which may further clear this also Indeed there is no more in all this than Ignatius said frequently near 150 Years before St. Cyprian And now Sir thô the Monuments of the Cyprianic Age could afford us no more than these three Things which I have proved from them they would be of sufficient force to overthrow our Author's Definition of a Bishop in St. Cyprian's time as to both Parts of it and demonstrate to every thinking Man's conviction That he was neither The Pastor of the Flâ—ck nor The Moderator of a Presbytery in our Author's sense of the Terms 1. Not the Pastor of a Flock i. e. a single Presbyter having the Charge of a single Parish after the Presbyterian Model For a Bishop in those Times had many such Presbyters under him Cyprian himself whatever he had more had no sewer than Eight under him in the City of Carthage besides the adjacent Villages Cornelius was over Forty six in the City of Rome I know not how many Dionysius was over at Alexandria or Polycarpus at 〈◊〉 but it is certain they were in the Plâ—ral Number So it was all the Christian World over as I have proved A Bishop then in St. Cyprian's time was a Pastor indeed but it was of a Diocess i. e all the Christians within such a District were his Flock and he had a direct formal and immediate Pastoral Relation to them all thô at the same time within the same District there were many inferior Pastors who were subordinate and subject to him 2. He was as little a meer Moderator of a Presbytery in our Author's sense of the Terms A Presbyterian Moderator 〈◊〉
Might they not have chosen one at every Meeting according to the Principles of Parity Farther What need of so much Parade about the Election of a Moderator of a Presbytery as was then about the Election of a Bishop Why the People chose him according to the Principles of those who think that St. Cyprian was for Popular Elections What was the People's Interest How was it their Concern who was Moderator of the Presbytery What was his Influence De jure at least in the Government of the Church more than the Influence of any other Member of the Presbytery Nay is it not confessed that as Moderator he was no Church-Governour at all That he had no Iurisdiction over his Brethren That his Power was only Ordinative not Decisive To be the Mouth of the Meeting not to be their Will or Commanding Faculty To keep Order in the Manner and Managing of what came before them not to determine what was Debated amongst them Why then were the People so much concern'd about him What Benefits or what Harm could redound to them by ones being Moderator of the Presbytery whatever he was Besides as I have shewed before as Moderator of the Presbytery he had relation only to the Presbytery At least he had none directly immediately and formally to the People What pretence then could the People have to Interest themselves in his Election Nay say as I am apt to think it ought to be said I am sure the contrary cannot be made appear from St. Cyprian that he was not chosen by the People but only in their Presence and the same Argument will take place as is obvious to any body Farther yet What need of Convocating so many from the Neighbourhood for managing the Election of a Moderator E. g. for the Presbytery of Rome If a Bishop in St. Cyprian's time was nothing but a Presbyterian Moderator then the Bishops convocated for managing the Election of a Moderator were Moderators too And so by consequence Sixteen Moderators of other Presbyteries met at Rome to constitute a Moderator for the Roman Presbytery And might not the Presbytery of Rome have chosen their own Moderator without the Trouble or the Inspection of so many Moderators of other Presbyteries Once more What Necessity nay what Congruity of a new Imposition of Hands of a new Ordination a new Mission for constituting One a Moderator of a Presbytery And this too to be performed by none but Moderators of other Presbyteries Thus e. g. it behoved Six Moderators to meet at Capsis to Ordain a Moderator for the Presbytery of Capsis and Sixteen at Rome to Ordain a Moderator for the Presbytery of Rome And after he was Ordained it behoved Novatianus to be at so much pains to get together Three Moderators to Ordain himself an Anti-Moderator Who can think on these Things without smiling But perhaps you may think I have insisted on this Argument more than enough and therefore I shall leave it and proceed to other Considerations To go on then A Bishop in St. Cyprian's time thus Elected Ordained and Possessed of his Chair did bear a double Relation One to the particular Church over which he was set and another to the Church Catholick an integrant part whereof the particular Church was of which he was Bishop The consideration of each of these Relations will furnish us with fresh Arguments against our Author's Hypothesis I shall begin with the Relation he bore to his own particular Church And FIRST The first Thing I observe about him in that regard shall be That he was the Principle of Unity to Her Whosoever adhered to him and lived in his Communion was in the Church a Catholick Christian. Whosoever separated from him was out of the Church and a Schismatick He was the Head of all the Christians living within his District and they were One Body One Society One Church by depending upon him by being subject to him by keeping to his Communion He was the Sun and they were the Beams he was the Root and they were the Branches he was the Fountain and they were the Streams As St. Cyprian explains the Matter This is a Point of great Consequence especially considering that it is the Foundation of the Apologist's Argument our Author's Answer to which I am examining and therefore give me leave to handle it somewhat fully And I proceed by these Steps I. There was nothing St. Cyprian and the Catholick Bishops his Contemporaries valued more reckoned of higher Importance or laid greater Stress upon than the Unity of the Church And there was no Sin they represented at more Heinous or more Criminal than the Sin of Schism In their reckoning Unity was the great Badge of Christianity God heard the Prayers that were put up in Unity but not those that were performed in Schism Christian Peace Brotherly Concord and the Unity of People in the true Faith and Worship of God was accounted of greater value by them than all other imaginable Sacrifices Nothing afforded greater Pleasure to the Angels in Heaven than Harmony amongst Christians on Earth It were easie to collect a thousand such Testimonies concerning the Excellency of Unity But as for Schism and Schismaticks how may it make Men's Hearts to tremble when they hear what hard Names and what horrid Notions these Primitive Worthies gave them and had of them Schism to them was the Devil's Device for subverting the Faith corrupting the Truth and cutting Unity Christ instituted the Church and the Devil Heresie or Schism for both then went commonly under one Name Schism was reckoned a greater Crime than Idolatry it self And St. Cyprian proves it by several Arguments Firmilian affirms it also So doth Dionysius of Alexandria in his notable Epistle to Novatianus He tells him He ought to have suffered the greatest Miseries rather than divide the Church of God That Martyrdom for the Preservation of Unity was as Glorious as Martyrdom for not Sacrificing to Idols Nay more Because he who Suffers rather than he will Sacrifice Suffers only for saving his own Soul But he that Suffers for Unity Suffers for the whole Church Schismaticks had not the Spirit Were forsaken of the Spirit Held not the Faith Had neither Father Son nor Holy-Ghost They were Renegadoes Apostates Malignants Parricides Anti-Christs False Christs Christ's Enemies Blasphemers The Devil's Priests Retainers to Corah Retainers to Iudas Villainous and Perfidious Aliens Profane Enemies Were without Hope Had no Right to the Promises Could not be saved Were Infidels Worse than Heathens Self-Condemned were no more Christians than the Devil Could but belong to Christ Could not go to Heaven The hottest part of Hell their Portion Their Society the Synagogue of Satan Their Conventicles Dens of Thieves They were Destroyers of Souls Their Preaching was poysonous Their
Baptism pestiferous and profane Their Sacrifices abominable They could not be Martyrs Their Company was to be avoided Whoso befriended them were Persecutors of the Truth Were Betrayers of Christ's Spouse to Adulterers Were Betrayers of Unity Were involved in the some Guilt with them In short Schismaticks by being such were Ipso facto Persecutors of the Church Enemies of Mercy Infatuated Salt and Cursed of God Such I say were the Notions the Holy Fathers in those early Times of the Church had of Schismaticks and such were the Names they gave them And certainly whoso seriously considers how much Schism is condemned in Holy Writ what an Enemy it is to the Peace the Power and the Propagation of Christianity and how much it stands in opposition to the Holy Humble Peaceable Patient Meek and Charitable Spirit of the Gospel Whoso considers that our Blessed Savious's great Errand into the World was to Unite all his Disciples here into one Body and one Communion that they might Eternally be Blessed in the full Enjoyment of one Communion with the Father Son and Holy-Ghost in Heaven hereafter Whoso I say considers these Things cannot but confess that Schism and Schismaticks deserve all these hard Names and answer all these terrible Notions Now 2. That for the Preservation of Unity and the Preventing of Schism in every particular Church all were bound by the Principles of St. Cyprian's Age to live in the Bishops Communion and to own and look upon him as the Principle of Unity to that Church of which he was Head and Ruler might be made appear from a vast Train of Testimonies But I shall content myself with a few Thus for Example when some of the Lapsed presumed to write to St. Cyprian and design themselves without a Bishop by the Name of a Church How did the Holy Man resent it Consider how he begins his Answer to them Our Lord says he whose Precepts we ought to Honour and Obey Instituting the Honour of a Bishop and the Contexture of a Church saith thus to Peter in the Gospel I say unto thee thou art Peter and upon this Rock will I build my Church and the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it And I will give unto thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven c. From thence by the Vicissitudes of Times and Successions the Ordination of Bishops and the Frame of the Church are transmitted so as that the Church is built upon the Bishops and all her Affairs are ordered by them as the chief Rulers And therefore seeing this is God's appointment I cannot but admire the bold Temerity of some who writing to me call themselves a Church when a Church is only to be found in the Bishop the Clergy and the faithful Christians God forbid that a number of Lapsed should be called a Church c. Consider how he Reasons By Divine Institution there cannot be a Church without a Bishop The Church is founded on the Bishop The Bishop as Chief Ruler orders all the Affairs of the Church Therefore those Lapsed ought not to have called themselves a Church seeing they had no Bishop no Principle of Unity We have another notable Reasoning as well as Testimony of his in his 43d Epistle written to his People of Carthage upon the breaking out of Felicissimus his Schism God is One says he and Christ is One and the Church is One and the Chair is One be our Lord 's own Voice founded on St. Peter Another Altar cannot be reared another Priesthood cannot be erected besides the One Altar and the One Priesthood Whoso gathereth elsewhere scattereth Whatever Human Fury institutes against God's Appointment is Adulterous is Impious is Sacrilegious And a little after O Brethren Let no Man make you wander from the Ways of the Lord O Christians Let no Man rend you from the Gospel of Christ Let no Man tear the Sons of the Church from the Church Let them perish alone who will needs perish Let them abide alone out of the Church who have departed from the Church Let them alone not be with the Bishops who have Rebelled against the Bishops c. And as I observed before in his Epistle to Florentinus Pupianus he defines a Church to be a People united to their Priest and a Flock adhering to their Pastor c. and from thence tells Pupianus That he ought to consider that the Bishop is in the Church and the Church in the Bishop So that if any are not with the Bishop they are not in the Church And how concernedly doth he Reason the Case in his Book of the Unity of the Church Can he seem to himself says he to be with Christ who is against Christ's Priests Who separates himself from the Society of Christ's Clergy and People That Man bears Arms against the Church He fights against God's Ordinance He is an Enemy of the Altar A Rebel against Christ's Sacrifice He is Perfidious and not Faithful Sacrilegious and not Religious He is an Undutiful Servant and Impious Son an Hostile Brother who can contemn God's Bishops and forsake his Priests and dares to set up another Altar and offer up unlawful Prayers c. Indeed in that same Book he calls the Bishop The Glue that cements Christians into the solid Unity of the Church And hence it is 3. That St. Cyprian every where makes the Contempt of the one Bishop or Undutifulness to him the Origine of Schisms and Heresies Thus Epist. 3. he makes this Observation upon the Undutifulness of a certain Deacon to Rogatianus his Bishop That such are the first Efforts of Hereticks and the Out-breaking and Presumptions of illâ—advised Schismaticks They follow their own Fancies and in the Pride of their Hearts contemn their Superiours So Men separate from the Church So they Erect profane Altars without the Church So they Rebel against Christian Peace and Divine Order and Unity And Ep. 59. he tells Cornelius That Heresies and Schisms spring from this only Fountain That God's Priest the Bishop is not obeyed And Men don't consider that at the same time there ought to be only One Bishop only One Iudge as Christ's Vicar in a Church And Ep. 66. to Florentius Pupianus That from hence Heresies and Schisms have hitherto sprung and do daily spring That the Bishop who is One and is set over the Church is contemned by the proud Presumption of some And he that is honoured of God is dishonoured by Men And a little after he tells him alluding clearly to the Monarchical Power of Bishops That Bees have a King and Beasts have a Captain and Robbers with all humility obey their Commander And from thence he concludes how unreasonable it must be for Christians not to pay suitable Regards to their Bishops And in another place Then is the Bond of our Lord's Peace broken then is Brotherly Charity violated then is the Truth
those Times the Bishop was called the Praepositus the Ruler the Governour the Superiour of all the Christians within his District Clergy as well as Laity And they without Distinction or Exception were called His People his Flock his Subjects c. This may be seen almost in every one of his Epistles Thus Ep. 3. he says That Deacons ought to remember that our Lord chose his Apostles that is Bishops and Governours But the Apostles chose Deacons to be the Bishop's and the Churches Ministers And therefore a Deacon ought with all Humility to give Satisfaction to the Bishop his Superiour And Ep. 9. He praises the Roman Clergy for having the Memory of Fabianus who had been their Superiour in so great Honour And Ep. 13. writing to Rogatianus his Presbyter and the rest of the Confessors and praising God for their Faith and Patience he says That as all Christians were bound to Rejoyce when Christ's Flock was illuminated by the Examples of Confessors so he himsâ—lf in a special manner as being the Bishop seeing the Churches Glory was the Ruler's Glory And in that famous Passage which I have cited already from Ep. 16. he complains of it as an unexampled Petulancy that Presbyters should so contemn the Bishop their Sâ—periour And in another place We Bishops who have the Chief Power in the Church And Ep. 62. I who by the Divine Mercy Govern the Church have sent to you Januarius Maximus Proculus c. 100000 Sestercâ—s as the Charitable Contribution of my Clergy and People And Ep. 66. Hence spring Heresies and Schisms c. That the Bishop who is one and is set over the Church is Contemned c. Such was the Dialect of those Times I say and thus Bishops were called Rulers Governours Superiours c. and that in regard of all within their Districts making no Discrimination betwixt Clergy-men and Laicks and not only so but more particularly 2. It was as comon in that Dialect to call the Clergy The BISHOP'S CLERGY Thus for Example Ep. 14. It was my Wish that I might have saluted all my Clâ—â—gy safe and sound c. My Presbyters and Deacons ought to have taught you c. Because I cannot send Letters but by Clergy-men and I know that many of mine are absent Numidicus was preserved alive by God that he might joyn him my Clergy Urbanus and Sidonius came to my Presbyters If any of my Presbyters or Deacons shall turn precipitant I have sent you Copies of the Letters which I wrote to my Clergy and People concerning Felicissimus and his Presbytery And as I observed before when Maximâ—s a Presbyter and Urbanus c. returned from the Novatian Schism to Cornelius's Communion We are Reconciled say they to Cyprian to Cornelius OUR BISHOP and to all the Clergy Such was the Language of those Times Now I say by what Propriety of Speech could a Bishop have been called Praepositus Superiour to his Clergy Could they have been called HIS Clergy Could he have been said to have been Their Bishop Their Ruler Their Governour By what Rule of either Grammar or Rhetorick Logick or Politick could he have been said to have been set over them or they to have been his Subjects or Inferiours if he had no Power nor Iurisdiction over them If they were not Subjected to his Authority nor Obnoxious to his Discipline But let all this pass for meer Prolusion if you will I am not pinch'd for want of Arguments For 3. The three great Principles which I proved so fully before viz. That a Bishop in St. Cyprian's time was the Principle of Unity to the Church which he Govern'd that he had a Supreme Power in it and that by the Principles which then prevailed he was the same in the Christian Church which the High Priest was in the Iewish and the last Thing I proved also viz. That he had a Negative over his Presbyters Each of these is demonstration for the present Conclusion and you need not Artificial Natural Logick is enough to let you see the Consequences Indeed 4. We find Cyprian all along both Reasoning and Practising to this purpose Thus he told Bishop Rogatianus Ep. 3. That the Case was plain between him and his Deacon Hâ— might punish him forthwith by his Episcopal Power and his Câ—thedral Authority He might make him sensible of his Episcopâ— Honour He might Exert the Power of his Honour against him either by Deposing or by Excommunicating him Nay He mighâ— Excommunicate all such as should Rebel against him For all these Censures his Sovereign Authority was competent Thus he praises Pomponius another Bishop for Excommunicating another Scandalous Deacon Ep. 4. p. 9. And did not he himself Suspend Philumenus and Fortunatus two Subdeacons and Favorinus an Acolyth from their Livings As we learn from his 34th Epistle But you may say These Instances extend no further than to Deacons or more inferiour Clergy-men but What is this to Presbyters Why Sir indeed the Instances are pat and home and you must acknowledge so much if you consider that by the Principles of those Times there was no Disparity between Prebyters and Inferiour Orders in this respect But the Bishop's Power extended equally to all just as a King can censure his Chancellor as well as a Sub-Collector of his Customs a Justice-General as well as a Justice of Peace Nothing clearer from the above-mentioned Principles But that I may leave you no imaginable Scruple I shall even account to you about Prebyters also 5. Then I have told you already how some of the Carthaginian Presbyters conspired against St. Cyprian and used their utmost Arts to hinder his Preâ—erment to the Bishoprick Now if we may believe either himself or Pontius in his Life whatever it was they did on that Occasion he might have punish'd them for it punish'd them not only with Deposition but with Excommunication had he pleased Take first his own Account in Ep. 43. there he tells his People That through the Malignity and Perfidiousness of some of his Presbyters he durst not adventure to return to Carthage so soon as he would And he describes those Presbyters thus That being mindful of their Conspiracy and retaining their old Grudges against his Promotion they reinforced their ancient Machinations and renewed their Attempts for Undermining him by siding with Felicissâ—mus in his Schism And then he proceeds thus I neither willed nor wished their Punishment for their Opposition to my Promotion yea I Pardon'd them and kept my Peace And yet now they have suffered Condign Punishment Thô I did not Excommunicate them then their own Guilty Consciences have done it now They have Excommunicated themselves c. Take it next from Pontius his Deacon Thô I am unwilling says he yet I must speak it out Some resisted his Promotion but how Gently how Patiently how Generously how Mercifully did he forgive them Did
Letters concerning the Publick Affairs of the Catholick Church or the Sacred College that Ruled the Catholick Church should have been Râ—ceived As that to him and to him alone all such Letters have been directed As that by the Circulation and Reciprocation of Letters betwixt him and his Collegues and their General Agreement upon any Thing by that Circulation and Râ—ciprocation Laws should have been given to the whole Catholick Church Canons as Binding and Obligatory as the Supreme Ecclesiastical Power on Earth could make them How could one raised to such a Post I say have been no other than a Single Presbyter or a Presbyterian Moderator Doth not his very bearing such a Part his having such a Trust his being Cloath'd with such an Eminence argue him Demonstratively to have been something other something Greater something Higher and more Honourable than either Thus I have considered a Bishop in St. Cyprian's time as he stood related to his own Particular and to the Church Catholick and in both respects have discovered a vast Discrepance betwixt him as he was really and our Author's Notion or Definition of him Let me only add one Consideration more and that is What Character he bore what Figure he made in the Eye of those who were without of the Heathen World especially the Roman Emperours and Magistrates And here I need not be at much Pains the Thing is Obvious The Christian Bishops as being the Chief Rulers the Supreme Governours the Heads of their respective Churches were the Chief Butts of all the Heathen Rage and Malice Take these few of many Evidences After St. Cyprian had retired from Carthage in the time of the Decian Persecution he wrote to his Presbyters and Deacons and told them how earnest he was to return to the City but Prudence would not let him When he considered the Publick Peace of the Church and how much he as Bishop was concerned to Provide for it and for the Quiet and Safety of the Brethren he found it necessary for him thô with mighty Grief to forbear returning for a time lest HIS PRESENCE should provoke the Rage and Fury of the Gentiles So he wrote I say in his 7th Epistle And in the 12th directed also to his Presbyters and Deacons I wish says he that my Station and Character would allow me to be present with you In his 20th Epistle directed for the Roman Presbyters and Deacons he Apologizes for his Retirement after this manner In compliance with our Lord's Commands pointing no doubt at Matth. 10. 23. so soon as the Persecution began and the Rabble with mighty Clamour pursued me I retired for a time not so much to save my self as for the publick Quiet of the Church and that the Tumult which was already kindled might not be the more inflam'd by MY OBSTINATE PRESENCE And to the same purpose he Apologizes to his own People for his so long Absence Ep. 43. Thô he had been long away yet he durst not return because of the Threats and Snares of these perfidious Men Felicissimus and his Fellow-Schismaticks Lest says he upon MY COMING there should be a greater Uproar and while as a Bishop ought in all Things to provide for Peace and Tranquillity I should seem to have added Fewel to the Sedition and to have imbittered the Persecution Here I think is clear Demonstration of the Episcopal Eminence in the Eye of the Heathen Persecutors It was a Grief a Burden a Torment a very Crucifixion to St. Cyprian's Soul to be separated from his Flock as himself words it But he was bound by the Laws of his EPSICOPAL PROVIDENCE by all means to study the Peace the Quiet the Tranquillity of the Church and his LOCUS and GRADUS his Station and Dignity were so Conspicuous and Eminent that HIS PRESENCE would have provoked the Gentiles and increased the Persecution and therefore he durst not return And yet this is not all Consider if what follows is not yet clearer In his 14th Epistle written to his Presbyters and Deacons he tells them That tho he had strong and pressing Reasons to hasten his return yet he found it more expedient and useful for the publick Peace to continue longer in his Lurking Places and Tertullus one whom they knew and could not but value had seriously advised him to be Calm and Cautious and not to commit himself rashly to the publick View especially of that Place where he had been so often lain in wait and made search for and therefore he Exhorts and Commands them his Presbyters and Deacons That THEY whose PRESENCE was nâ—ither so INVIDIOUS nor by far so DANGEROUS might perform the part of Vicars to him Here I think we have a full Evidence of a fair Discrimination was made betwixt him and his Presbyters by the Heathen Persecutors And not only so but. He tells Cornelius Bishop of Rome Ep. 59. That he was Proscribed in the Days of the Decian Persecution and that by Name as Bishop of the Christians in Carthage and that he was destin'd for the Lions c And again Ep. 66. he tells Florentius Pupianus That his Proscription ran in this Form If any Man holds or possesses any of the Goods of CAECILIUS CYPRIANUS BISHOP OF THE CHRISTIANS c. And thereby makes an Argument that it was Unaccountable in Florentius not to own him as a Bishop And Pontiuâ— his Deacon tells us That when he at last commenced Martyr in tâ—e Valerian Persecution in the very Sentence that was given out against him he was called SECTAE SIGNIFER the Ring-leader the Head the Chiftain of the Sect of the Christians in Carthage Would you have yet more Then Take it not about St. Cyprian's Person for I think we have enough of him already but in St. Cyprian's Words You have them Ep. 55. there he tells Antonianus That the Emperous Decâ—us from a Sense no doubt that as Heads of their respective Churches they were under God the great Supporters and Promoters of our Most Holy Faith had such a Spite such a Pique at the Christian Bishops that for Example He could have heard with greater Patience and Composure 〈◊〉 another â—mulous Prince should have Rival'd it with him for the Roman Empire than that a Bishop should have been settled in the City of Rome And doth not Eusebius tell us That the Emperour Maximinus in that Persecution of which he was the Author some 22 or 23 Years before St. Cyprian's Martyrdom Ordered that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the chief Governours of the Christian Churches should only be put to Death as being the Authors of the Propagation of the Gospel So Eminent in those Times was the Episcopal Character such a Sense had the very Heathens of their being Bishops indeed so much as Bishops were they Obnoxious to the Fury and Malice of Persecutors and so much Reason had St. Cyprian to say That it mattered not whence whether from Heathens without or Schismaticks