and Tyrannie of the Romane Church or in the Romane Church whereas the ground it selfe or the secession is justlie denyable Now non entis nulla sunt accidentia XIIII MELETEMA WHereas our Adversaries suffer not that to bee called Rebaptization whilst they superadde de suo their toyish assumentes to that Baptisme conferred by our men as hereby acknowledging the Baptisme in it selfe to be valide and lawfull quòd viz. simus in ministerio si non ministri as the matter and quaestion was cleared and decided about BARBARIUS PHILIPPUS his acts of Praetorship that they were to bee holden rata grata and not to bee rescinded quòd fuerit in praetura licet non praetor nay and as the case I hope holdeth de Ioanna Papista who was in Papatu though not Papa and semblablie whilst it falleth out that an Hereticke nay a Magitian or Necromancier possesseth the Chaire which cases haue proven possible as the Councels can beare vs heere record Now that I may reason hence by way of Analogie vsing the lyke libertie Why may they not suffer the vocation and ordination obtaining with vs goe for current Cum nostri ordinatores fuerint saltem in ministerio si non ministri Or I pray you is Ordination of greater weight and importance than Baptisme Or may Baptisme bee conferred and administred by anie not instructed with commission May these but suffer the least divorce which CHRIST Himselfe hath thus coupled MATTHEW the last Ite Doâ—â—te Baptizate Certes mee thinkes it strange how our Adversaries so farre foorth miscarrie heere as to permit to Laickes the administration of this blessed Sacrament yea farther acknowledge it lawfull whilst conferred but in sporte and merriment and that not in the ordinarie element thereof appointed by CHRIST but in sand yea and but by Children Truelie horret animus yea tremunt artus whilst I but shew quà m impiè hîc ludant in re tam seria To make collection to the errande in hande If our men may baptize Or if the Baptisme conferred by them bee valide and effectuall then they may teach haue the warrand of Ite are instructed with commission and so from the first to the last viget inter nostros vocatio vel ipsis hic Adversariis nobis suffragantibus astipulantibus c. XV. MELETEMA IN that Vocation or Calling obtayning with our Adversaries and which our men brought from thence with them giving wee had our Calling of them these three acts are distinctlie to bee considered GODS owne act penes quem summum vocandi jus ac mittendi imperium and from whome is that inward Calling next The Church her act from which as GODS Instrument in this worke is that externall or outward Calling The third is of the Church popishlie affected or of the Pope his act and of his Bond-slaues from whence is vitium Vocationis or that faultinesse and vitiositie in the Calling Nowe this last cannot 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or make devoyde and of null effect and force the two 〈◊〉 so that there remayneth still a Calling amongst our Adversaries though well vitious Thus whereas our men came as it were foorth from amongst them they but renounced this latter parte constantlie retayning quod DEI erat quod Ecclesiae It is to bee adverted heere That wee traduce not even those Ordinations obtayning to daye with our Adversaries pro nullis sed pro vitiosis as wee acknowledge a Church with them whiles the matrimoniall Tables are not rent or repeated nor a Bill of divorce given ubi libellus repudii as it fared with the adulterous ISRAELITES they continued GODS people even after their manie adulteries and spirituall whoredomes I say that wee acknowledge their Church as veram Ecclesiam though not veracem as a true Church in regard of a Physicall veritie though not of an Ethicall veracitie Alwayes it is to bee considered headilie howe the case heere altereth whilst their ordinations are not so much as warrandable by their owne Canons as whereas they deferred orders to Idiots and Children for heere non habemus hujusinodi ordinationes pro vitiosis sed pro nullis for the lawfulnesse of the Cheirothesie dependeth from the lawfulnesse of the praeceeding Cheirotonie and not on the contrarie this from that other the signe beeing suspended from the matter and not the matter from the signe XVI MELETEMA WHere-as there concurre and occurre some three actes even in that Vocation obtayning with our Adversaries and so in that Calling which our first men brought from thence so the concurrence and occurrence of the same are necessarie to a lawfull deposition for the same must occurre and concurre to a lawfull destitution which to the prior institution For exemple Where Kingdomes come by election the same consentes are required to a Kings destitutione which to his prior institution in Regem and else to meddle with the sacred person of a King is to touch and meddle with the LORDS anoynted yea and to faile and fault even against the Law of Nations These are hitherto to meete heere with our Adversaries excepting that wee haue losed by excommunication what right wee had from amongst them formerlie by anie vocation Certes the Pope heere cannot 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or make of no force neither quod DEI est nor yet quod Ecclesiae Nay in common and promiscuous marriages multa quae impediunt contrahendum non dirimunt contractum Againe without the concurrence and occurrence of the whole actes in the destitution which occurred and concurred to the prior institution the proceedure is well summarie and vnformall as I hope is cleare from the instanced exemple I leaue to speake of the ground of the excommunication according wherevnto judgement must bee given of the excommunication it selfe where it feareth mee the matter hath proceeded clave errante As lykewyse quod non statim rumpatur interius illud spiritus coagulum vbi rumpitur exterius illud vinculum giving that a sister-sister-Church to wit the Romane Church could haue lawfullie sentenced vs where-about sub judice lis est XVII MELETEMA WHereas out of the common Colledge of Presbyters or Elders one began to bee praefected over the rest and bee singularlie so called by the name of BISHOP I dispute not heere whether this Bee ju ris divini or positivi 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or the act of Ordination or matter it selfe remained common solâ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or ritu ordinandi manente penes Episcopum singulariter the sole Rite or externall signe of ordination being appropriated to the BISHOP singularlie But no not even then whereas this custome first obtained and was in its greatest vigour 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was the Rite or the externall signe 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 scilicet solelie proper to the Bishops so called in opposition as that it was not administred and peracted by Presbyters as the Fathers heere Sainct AMBROSE and AUGUSTINE beare vs recorde and ALEXANDRIA and AEGYPT can beare witnesse where
Ordination which our Adversaries so praeciselie vrge XVIII MELETEMA LEst there might seeme heere justlie not the least part of this worke wanting if I should over-passe by silence that point of Succession which our Adversaries esteeme to bee of such poyse and weight as if without it there could bee no lawfull Church nor Ministrie it standeth vs vpon to speake so farre foorth of it as the praesent necessitie requireth Wherefore seeing nullum apud eos sonorius crepitaculum quo vehementius nos obtundant I shall touch it a little en passant if it were but to silence their so clamorous cryes here though it may bee if GOD shall giue grace and leaue I speake more properlie and fuselie of this argument in its proper place Of the notes of the Church In the entrie heere I pray you alwayes to remember that it was the doctrinall and not personall succession which those Ancientes so highlie regarded and that they mentioned but this last because of the first as which is the verie soule and lyfe thereof Againe it would bee headilie remēbred here that those Haeretiks against whō those Ancients instituted their Disputations by alleadging to the persons professing and not to the doctrine professed as wee see TERTULLIANE to reason against the MARCIONITES and GNOSTICKS Edant Origines Episcoporum suorum evolvant seriem antistitum it a per successionem ab initio decurrentem vt primus ille Episcopus aliquem ex Apostolis vel Apostolicis viris habuerit auctorem antecessorem hoc enim modo Romanorum Ecclesia CLEMENTEM à PETRO ordinatum refert confingant tale aliquid haeretici c. that those Haereticks I say denyed eyther in whole or in part the Scriptures wherethrough the Dispute could not bee instituted from hence against such So then thus the Ancientes adorted those Haeretickes and improoved their doctrine because they could not show anie constant profession of the same they could not point at those Bishops who professed with them where the ROMANE Church is well often exemplarlie alleadged vnto But it is to bee observed howe Tertulliane in the alleadged place alleadgeth the exemple of the Church of SMYRNA as a Transmarine Church as hee doth the exemple of the Church of ROME as a Cismarine Church that so hee might shew evidentlie doctrinam Novati Marcionis novam inauditam prorsus fuisse as which was not acknowledged or believed by anie Church at all whether on this side of the Sea or beyonde the Sea Thus then it was to this sense that the Ancients vrged the argument from succession from whence it is cleare that the personall succession was still alleadged vnto because of the doctrinall onlie But to speake conciselie and sinewishlie of this matter first wee shall show GOD willing That there is no necessitie of this succession which our Adversaries solelie and singularlie require Next that this sort of succession is not findable with themselues Last That we haue that succession which is necessarie penes nos or with vs. That I may borrow mine empledged worde let mee as to the first packe vp the matter by forme of Argument If so bee that personall and locall succession suffered even then and there interruption where it was of greater necessitie it followeth that it may suffer the lyke with the lesse danger where it is of lesser necessitie But so it is the first holdeth and proveth true Ergo the same judgement must bee given in this latter case For probation of the minor the Priesthood of AARON may serue to the full from whence wee thus binde vp the Argument Whereas the Priesthood vnder the Law was tyed to AARONS carnall descent truelie then this personall succession behooved to bee of greater necessitie than it can bee now vnder Grace where the matter goeth by free election But so it is that even then this personall succession suffered diverslie interruption Ergo it may admit yet the lyke interruption without the least danger c. For probation of the minor were not NADAE and ABIHU stricken with fire from Heaven who should haue succeeded by Line Next whereas it came to ELEAZAR I would enquire if it continued still in him and his race Was it not vpon their abuse translated to the stocke of ITHAMAR Now rested it in the stocke of ITHAMAR Was it not broken off because of the wickednesse of ELIES sonnes HOPHNI and PHINEHAS albeit it had well long continued in the house of ELI Was not ABIATHAR the last Priest of that stocke deposed by SALOMON and ZADOK substituted and suffected in his vice and place Thus I hope it may appeare most evidentlie to anie who shutteth not his eyes wilfullie against this so cleare a light from this my so long deduction of the matter That the Church is not tyed to anie personall succession suite or traine of Bishops which were heere indeede to lay a false reckoning and compt as if filii ABRAHAE omnes secundum carnem censendi essent in semine and not these onlie who are Children after the Promise In the next roome I would haue you with all diligence and headinesse to advert heere that the place gaue the praeheminence to the persons and not the persons the dignitie or primacie to the Seage or Seate That is that it was not whether the residence or death of an Apostle in this or that Seage or Seate which gaue the procathedrie and praeseance heere to the after succeeding Bishops in that Seage or in that Sea from whence our Adversaries collect and conclude the Procathedrie nay that generall Prostasie of the Pope of Rome as Sainct Peters Successour forsooth in sedem Apostolicam but that the Seages or Seas received this praeheminence according to that ranke they helde and obtained as Cities of the Empyre for else I hope it could not bee well denyed but that the first place heere were due to Hierusalem before Rome if succession can make ought to the praeheminenee or primacie of place for did not CHRIST Himselfe preach yea and suffer at Hierusalem Nay did Hee not accomplish there all the mysteries of our Salvation Did not all the Apostles issue as it were from thence Preach yea and reside there for a goodlie space Doe not the Ancients here agree as it were in common That Iames turned the ordinarie Bishop of Hierusalem whereas the matter of Peters beeing at Rome and Bishopricke there is at least so doubtfull I would pose our Adversaries heere a little How is it heere that the Bishop of HIERVSALEM was not reputed and holden for the first Bishop if the persons gaue the primacie or praeheminence to the place Nay wee see it especiallie provided Concil Nie. 1. Can. 6. that honour should bee deferred to the Bishop of HIERVSALEM without the least praejudice to that honour and regarde due by him to the Bishop of CAESARIA his Metrapolitane Thus it is cleare from hence That this sort of praeheminence in those Apostolicke Seages or Seas was vnknowne then in those olde tymes and
to those holie Fathers gathered at that Councell Thirdlie giving heere liberallie for the tyme That a constant and vninterrupted succession of Bishops were an infallible note of a true Church wherefore should not this militate aswell for the three other Seages of ALEXANDRIA ANTIOCHIA HIERVSALEM as for the Sea of ROME seeing as EVSEBIVS witnesseth in his Ecclesiasticall Historie Lib. 3. that they haue this succession Why then should the Church of ROME bee more instyled by the name of the true sole Catholicke and Apostolicke Church than the Church of ALEXANDRIA ANTIOCH c What can this succession to PETER in sedem Romanam import and rapport beyond the succession to anie Apostle else into anie other Seage or Seat I would bee glad to bee instructed heere where I promise to follow the light as docilem me praebere Fourthlie If this sorte of Succession to wit personall and locall which is the onelie Succession vrged and requyred by our Adversaries were simplie necessarie to the constitution of a true Church and lawfull Ministrie and were an infallible if not constitutiue at least oftensiue note of a true Church then wee behooved to acknowledge that Church straight for a true Church where this were to bee found For nota debet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or retrocommeat with the subject noted as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 risibile doeth cum homine but I hope our Adversaries shall not stande heerevnto for then they behooved to acknowledge the GREEKE Church for a true and lawfull Church which they most pertinaciouslie heere denye for haec bâc Successione gaudet possent hi longam seriem texere Catalogum instituere EPISCOPORVM Nay then the ARRIANS should haue made vp a true Church because of this Succession obtayning lykewyse with them Our Adversaries heere finding themselues strayted are driven to seeke to some posture whitherto they affirme That the Argument proceedeth heere but negatiuelie that is That it serveth not so much to showe vvhere the Church is or What is the true Church as Where shee is not Where-vpon it followeth That this Succession shall bee nota non nota or nota non notificans a note not notifying or poynting foorth the subject which is to convell the fundaments of all true and sound Philosophie But to trace them yet heere and deject them from this refuge Thus there shoulde not haue beene a Church in the beginning neyther shoulde there bee one at the consummation of the worlde as where utrobique hic defectus comparet haec successio desideratur this Succession is vvanting Wherefore the Argument proceedeth not so much as by way of negation Fiftlie The practise of the Primitiue Church standeth heere to the contrarie where wee finde a double sorte of Vocation where-of una fiebat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alia 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nowe I woulde vnderstande of our Adversaries their judgement of and about those Ordinations vsed by those olde ancient Fathers which were called absolutelie If they bee to them or with them eyther for null or for vitious But so it is This Succession which they presse to wit personall and locall was heere wanting where-in they place the verie essence of Succession c. Sixtlie I would inquyre of our Adversaries Whereas CONSTANTINOPLE vvas made a Patriarchall Seate tempore THEODOSII Magni which Citie before was still subject HERACLENSI Episcopo tantum abest ut CONSTANTINOPOLITANVS Episcopus fuerit Patriarcha ut ne Metropolites quidem Whether or not they vvill take vpon them heere to condemne this because of this defect of a personall and locall Succession in Caput although else it was a cooptation in commune corpus tagma Collegium systema reliquorum Patriarcharum according to those absolute Ordinations vsed of olde by those auncient Fathers c. Seaventhlie If this Succession personall and locall were simplie heere necessarie then it shoulde followe to their great praejudice heere quòd nulli novi Episcopatus possent condi institui That no newe Bishoprickes could bee erected so that heere they praejudge through imprudencie and inconsideration their so due and just deserved prayse of their so fruitfull labours amongst the INDIANS where they haue builded and created so manie newe CHURCHES c. Last of all Where-as our verie Adversaries conclude this poynt from that Succession of the Iudges of ISRAEL vvhy may they not admit heere That this Succession may fuffer interruption as wee see that to haue beene reapse diverselie and eft-soones interrupted vnder their diverse enemies MOABITES CANANITES AMORITES and so foorth and that nowe for longer and nowe for shorter space as nowe for the space of twentie yeares nowe of seaven yea nowe of whole fourtie Truelie this Argument heere militateth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thus I hope I haue improven to the verie full the necessitie of this Succession to wit personall and locall vvhich our Adversaries heere vrge and presse so much As to the second I promised to prooue that is That this Succession is not to bee found with our verie Adversaries I shall GOD vvilling prooue this by infallible demonstrations No Haereticke hath jus ordinandi or power of Ordination even according to some of their owne Canons Thus I argue not by position but of supposition onelie ad hominem vvhere I denye not lykewyse BABEL to bee confounded c. But so it is that manie and diverse of their Popes haue proven such Ergo for the least during this space this Succession hath suffered interruption nay it followeth from hence That there hath beene no lawfull Church or Ministrie vvith them since so much as vvarrandable by their owne Canons For probation of the minor Our probation shall not stay it selfe heere in the Scriptures which were indeede sufficient but of surplussge and for the clearer conviction of our Adversaries and to take from them all effuge means to escape heere I offer mee to prooue That diverse Haeretickes haue possessed that Chaire and occupied the same even according to that way which themselues call Haeresie where I may reckon foorth a great traine of them as were LIBERIVS FOELIX the second LEO the first GELASIVS the first VIGILIVS GREGORIE the second ZACHARIE the first ADRIAN the first NICOLAS the first IOHN the eight NICOLAS the second COELESTINE the third INNOCENT the third IOHN the twentie-two and INNOCENT the eight all which haue erred in that which concerneth the Fayth else our Moderne Doctours prooue heterodoxe as who holde not nor maintaine the same doctrine with them But for shortnesse sake I will content mee to poynt at those who haue beene condemned for such by lawfull Councels First then I would pose our Adversaries what they can say to HONORIVS the first condemned in two generall Councels the sixt and the seaventh and anathematized as an Haereticke for a Monothelite Our Seraphicke Doctor BELLARMINE can tell vs heere that HONORIVS erred but as a private man heere and not as Pope A braue eschappatoire forsooth ficulneum ADAMI praesidium a fine
Coate of figge-tree leaues to cover his nakednesse I pray you if HONORIVS beeing consulted as Pope in a matter of Fayth controverted vpon for the time answered not to the point as Pope but as a private Doctor or man in what posterne shall wee seeke his Holinesse forsooth whereas his person speaketh to vs that wee bee no farther heere deceived Nay truelie if so bee hee may erre whereas advised and consulted in a matter of Fayth I see not what profite his pretended priviledge of not erring 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 can rapport heere to the Church But this cannot helpe our Adversarie heere for HONORIVS was anathematized as Bishop of ROME and not as a private man or Doctor Nay which is yet farther LEO the second his owne successour confesseth of HONORIVS that hee polluted that holie Seage or Sea wherevpon it followeth by an inevitable consequence that hee erred as Pope for else his private souilleurs or pollutions could not haue polluted this sacred Seage Last for my selfe I would not bee heere curious for the second person of the Pope his Holinesse but would bee content to take order with his private person for his miscarriage forbearing his Holinesse or the second person hee sustaineth out of pure and meere religion for-sooth Next I would learne what our Adversaries can say to IOHN the twelft condemned for most enormious crymes in a Councell holden at ROME as for carowsing of Wyne for loue of the Devill for directing his devotion at least in sport and merriment to IVPITER and MARS I to IVPITER and VENVS their Proprogoddesse What will they saye to IOHN the three and twentieth or foure and twentieth denying the Resurrection condemned in the Councell of CONSTANCE Last what can they except against EVGENIVS the fourth deposed in the Councell of BASIL and condemned for Haereticke Now quicquid hâ—die Episcoporum aut ordinis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 superest in Ecclesia Romana ad hoc fonte profluxit and so it followeth that these two hundreth yeares since or there-abouts there hath beene no lawfull Vocation with our Adversaries which they can warrand by their owne Canons Now quis dabit mundum ex immundo who can bring a cleane thing out of filthinesse It is worthie our best observation that BELLARMINE having acknowledged even by the force of the Trueth That this Councell was lawfullie indicted wherevpon it followth after their owne Canons that so it could not erre sayeth That it turned vitious and whereas hee poynteth at the faultinesse thereof it is heere forsooth quod pronunciarit secundum Concilium Truelie it is well heere that they may authorize or exauthorize at their pleasure as they finde ought to make for them or against them I should but miss-spende good tyme if I should reckon foorth all those vitious and monstrous heads the haue adapted to this bodie some Infidels some Magitians some Necromancers as SYLVESTER the second some attayning to the Popedome by brigandise by Armes some by one finesse and some by another scarce one amongst numbers entering in at the Doore so much as of an externall Vocation warrandable by their owne Canons Nay I might heere arcesse them all in common of Simonie for if all came not thus by the place at least all to one thus carrie themselues in the place for they expose to sale the Graces and Giftes of GOD and holde them get-able by Money as their Nundination of Indulgences Soule-Masses and their other Wares of this Note may instruct to the full where-thorow they approoue themselues to haue succeeded indeede to SIMON but SIMON MAGVS and not SIMON PETER to bee his singular Successours Vendit Alexander Claves Altaria Christum Vendere jure potest emerat ipse prius And BAPTISTA MANTVANVS to this same sense venalia nobis Templa Sacerdotes Altaria Sacra Coronae Ignis Thura Preces Coelum est venale Deusque I would vnderstand of our Adversaries If their election was canonicall who came thus by the Popedome as by Simonie Brigandise Armes c. Pope LEO telleth vs that those foure are required to a canonicall and lawfull Election vota civium testimonia populorum arbitri a honoratorum electio cleri Now I would demand our Adversaries heere If the free suffrages of the people bee so much as required to the election of a Pope to day And yet BELLARMINE himselfe Lib. de Clericis Cap. 7. is forced to confesse That of olde none was holden for lawfull Bishop who wanted the suffiages of the people to his election wherevpon it followeth that they walke not in the olde waye but they haue declyned in the latter dayes I would faine learne of our Adversaries Whether this Succession was free from suffering interruption whereas the ROMISH Bishops were divided amongst themselues by Schismes for manie yeares together I remit the Reader heere to that great papist ONUPHRIUS in Chronico where hee reckoneth foorth roundlie some thirtie Schismes in the Church of ROME as the first betweene CORNELIUS and NOVATUS the second betwixt LIBERIUS and FOELIX the third betwixt DAMASUS and VRCISINUS which prooved a well bloodie Schisme and so foorth of the rest of that note I would in like manner inquire heere Where one Pope disanulled the Actes of another and reordained those who formerlie had received orders of his Decessour as thus not acknowledging that prior Ordination for lawfull and valide as for instance Pope SERGIUS the third carried him towardes his decessour Pope FORMOSUS besides diverse other instances whether of those contesting Fathers shall wee acknowledge for his Holinesse and from whether shall wee deriue and aestimate the succession Truelie dignus hic vindice nodus I hope those may suffice heere ad gustum yea and to bring in distaste this their so much boasted-of Succession with those whose sensorie is not altogether distempered yea who are not devoide of the sense of tasting Certes the providence of GOD is singularlie to bee admired heere in that Hee hath not suffered those probations and Monumentes of the turpitude of this holie Seage for-sooth to bee so farre foorth suppressed as that we haue not sufficiencie of proofe for cleare conviction of the ADVERSARIE and yet questionlesse hî non defuerant sibi c. But to arcesse this matter from on high and deduce it vel à capite from PETER'S beeing at ROME if wee shewe but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that PETER was never there the after-substruction falleth of will wherefore thus I argue If Sainct PETER was never at ROME then this Succession to him into that Seate or Seage ceaseth But so it is Sainct PETER was never there Ergo this Succession ceaseth and falleth of will For probation of the minor I purpose not no treate of this ad longum but onelie so farre foorth as the necessitie of the praesent errand requireth so that I will content my selfe heere but to poynt at some few thinges exerto vel intento demum digito In the entrie heere I would haue you to obserue
joyntlie considered serue to prooue That PETER was not at ROME now with PAVL except wee would brand him with this foule not of Apostasie or deserting of PAVL in the common cause of CHRIST and the Gospell Againe mee thinketh it strange how PETER writing two Epistles to the dispersed IEWES in diverse Countreyes could so deeplie forget those at ROME as not the least to mention them if so bee they were his chiefe charge and ROME it selfe the Seate of his Popedome Last were not this flat against that compact betwixt him and Sainct PAVL That hee should goe to the IEWES and PAVL to the GENTILES which the Father 's acknowledged as singularlie administred by GOD as you may see out of Sainct HIEROME on the second Chapter to the GALATIANS and which wee see done with vniforme consent of the rest of the Apostles Howe could wee free Sainct PETER heere of faedifragie if contrarie to that covenant thus solemnlie made hee should not onelie haue preached vpon occasion to the GENTILES and as it were extraordinarlie or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or by the way but turned their ordinarie Apostle yea not Apostle but Bishop to the great praejudice of his Apostolicall authoritie as who is reckoned with them Apostolorum primus as who perhaps was first called to the Apostleship though ANDREW was called prior to the Discipleship But to winde vp this point lest I might seeme forgetfull of my promise in the beginning of this Treatise and so seeme too deeplie drowned in this Meditation let mee thus argue for the generall That Religion whose foundation and maine ground is purus putus stochasmus a meere stochasme cannot bee but stochasticke and conjecturall But such is the Popish Religion to day for Sainct PETER'S Bishopricke at ROME and his beeing there which is rei summa caput is but an ylde forgerie and foolish conjecture as I hope is cleare to the full from this my deduction of the matter Ergo the Popish Religion is but stochasticke and conjecturall Wherefore seeing this point non cadit sub fidem immo ne sub sensum quidem there can bee no certainlie in their Religion to settle mens consciences Truelie there is great neede heere of a well implicite Fayth Last I offer mee ne quid desit to prooue this point by that constant and ordinarie practise with our Adversaries even vnto this day Is not this the nature and qualitie of their suffragant Bishops as that their ordinations are absolute absolutae or solutae forte dissolutae Those who vnderstand but the least into this matter know that heere for common both these Successions are found wanting personall and locall for ex trivio nomen arripitur inditur non scrupulosè inquiritur in statum Ecclesiae from whence my L. receiveth his name Truelie the institution of these is but a meere histrionicall and dramaticall action Alwayes lest I should seeme to father an vntrueth vpon them I must entreate your patience heere a little that I may snew the forme and manner of the creation of these suffragant Bishops wherefore thus take the matter REVEREND D. BOGVINTINVS HOSTIENSIS or COLONIENSIS standeth in neede of a suffragant as who cannot doe all by himselfe nay as with whose dignitie it cannot stand omnium vertices contrectare inungere Nowe this Suffragant can not doe those thinges which my L. should haue done by himselfe except hee bee instructed with power and so created Bishop for non potest quis in alium conferre transferre quod ipse prior non habeat wherefore hee is created Bishoppe of some Transmarine Church or other from whence hee may receiue the denomination whereas in the whilst they are altogether ignorant of the state of that Church yea doe not so much as vnderstand of the Vacancie of the Seate as wee had with our selues in SCOT-LAND some Bishops of ATHENS for-sooth The Suffragant beeing thus created least hee shoulde seeme a non resident dat se in viam hee betaketh him to his journey to his Station for-sooth but ad tertium aut quartum ab urbe lapidem some three or foure myles off of the Towne one is summitted and so per lucida intervalla another to shew him of the danger of the journey of the great losse and pert the Church shoulde sustayne thorowe his departure in a word and in effect to recall him to my L. where-vpon hee returneth and vpon his returne is praefected over some of his Churches as his Vicar and Suffragant where hee attendeth my L. Mandements Nowe vvho seeth not except a Borne-blinde that there is neyther personall nor locall Succession heere And yet these are the Fathers of all those other Bishoppes with our Adversaries to day these are they qui generant tot Episcoporum examina c. Thus I hope nisi mea me hic destituat spes I haue showne to the full That this so much noysed Succession is not to bee found with our Adversaries Now I come to the last thing I promised to prooue to wit That wee haue such Succession as is necessarie and requisite here For the clearing of this point you must heere headilie distinguish betwixt those things which are essentiall in and to Succession and so are altogether or simplie necessarie and these which are but accidentarie and so may bee praesent or absent without destruction of the subject Nowe there bee two of each sort of the first are Successio Doctrinae and Successio Vocationis for it is heere simplie and altogether necessarie vt succedatur in doctrinam Apostolicam And the second is no lesse necessarie successio Vocationis for quomodo praedicabunt nisi mittantur nemo sibi hunc honorem assumit c. It hath still proven a matter full of danger to vsurpe sacred Functions But as to those other two personall and locall Succession that is that a person succeede to a person in and to a certaine place these are not essentiall and simplie necessarie as without which a Church and ministrie may bee yea and are de facto amongst themselues as their new built and instituted Churches amongst the INDIANS may instruct to the full and as I haue proven alreadie at large yea and besides other probations from the practise of the primitiue Church where fiebat vocati◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Last giving that there were such personall and locall Succession with our Adversaries it were no lesse ours Communes enim fuimus possessores licet deturbarint nos de communi possessione adeoque non excidimus jure ad rem licet soli vsurpare velint jus in rem siquidem non magis haec sunt Papae quam Templum DEI illius Idoli fuisse censendum est quod in eo collocârat ANTIOCHVS Epiphanes rectius Epimanes XIX MELETEMA HIERVSALEM vvhich is Aboue is Mother of vs all Gal. Chap. 4. Vers 26 as to the Church of ROME shee was for the best but a Sister-Church and collaterall but nowe wee affirme her