and to refresh my spirit with writing I have written for my self Haec mihi cecini Musis si nemo Alius Audierit I have sung these things to my self and the Muses tho no body else should hear them Sure and Honest Means TO CONVERT ALL HERETICKS CHAP. I. That the Papacy hath no Divine Title The vanity and nullity of those which it draws from the Gospel WHosoever shall read the New Testament will there find that Jesus Christ alone is established as Head of the Church and that it is not said of any other that she should be his Body or Believers his Members that belonging to none but Jesus Christ who is also the only Spouse of the Church which would be adulterous should she submit to another and this other could not be but an evil person and a reprobate since that in taking the quality of Spouse of the Church he must renounce that of Son of the Church and so could not have God for his Father according to the Maxim That he who hath not the Church for his Mother hath not God for his Father Now no one person can be the Head the Spouse and Son of the Church at the same time Nevertheless it is certain that the Popes do assume these Titles to themselves by a vanity which exceeds all folly and without being able to produce any reason for it Divine or Humane But let us see what they say to maintain their pretensions They say that among the Jews one man only viz. Aaron had the conduct of Divine Service and was Head of the Levites and that by consequence there ought to be in the Christian Church an Authority like unto this Established over the whole Church and that the Bishops of Rome perform the Functions of this charge Whereupon there are many things to be said First of all it was not difficult for Aaron to acquit himself of this in so little a State as Judea and in one only City of this State which was Jerusalem and in one only Tâ—mple of that City for it was not allowed to perform Divine Service nor to Sacrifice elsewhere whereas Christianity is at this time spread over the whole world and therefore one single person only cannot perform these Functions every where It is as if a man should say that because France is well governed by one King he might as well govern all the States of the habitable Earth and yet it would be much more easie for him to do it than for one Bishop to govern the whole Church because as it is well known the Ecclesiastical Ministry cannot inflict Corporal punishments upon Delinquents as the Civil Government may and does Besides Aaron was no way the Figure of the Bishops of Rome for then the Type would have been more excellent than the Original but he was the Figure of our Great and Soveraign High Priest Jesus Christ. Furthermore Aaron was not the Monarch of the Levites but as the Doge is at Venice for according to all the Talmudists he was subject to the Jurisdiction of the Great Sanhedrim and to their Censure whereas the Popes pretend to be not only the Monarchs of the whole Earth but particularly of all the Clergy And besides all this there was an express institution of God for this charge and for the person of Aaron and of his Successors Whereas there is nothing like it for the Papacy nor for the persons of those who exercise it We see in the Old Testament the Institution of Aaron's Charge with many Ceremonies for his Installment and for his anointing many Ordinances for the Exercise of this Charge and for the Succession many Chapters which speak of the Subordination of Priests and Levites But on the contrary we find not one word in the Gospel of this pretended charge of Universal Head of the Church of Vicar-General of Jesus Christ and Successor of St. Peter nor any thing that hath any relation to it and yet it ought to have been there clear and evident since that this Ministry was to be of an extent a thousand times greater and the thing in it self is prodigious and appears quite contrary to the nature of the Messias his Kingdom and to the Gospel We see several Orders of Ministers of the Gospel there often spoken of but not one word that can any ways relate to the Pope when surely that was the place to have spoken of it especially if it be necessary to Salvation to be subject to him as they would have it and if he hath the power as they would perswade us as well over the Temporality as the Spirituality of the whole world St. Paul who without question was of as great ability as the Pope was not of these peoples humour who pretend to govern the whole Church since he who had not the thousandth part of Christians to take care of as the Pope would have according to their supposition declares that no Mortal man was sufficient to perform every thing that was necessary to be done in it and that he was himself overwhelmed with the care he took for all the Churches Nor had St. Peter the courage of our good Popes who believe themselves capable of governing the whole Church and they might do it without difficulty after the method they take since he agreed with St. Paul that St. Paul should go toward the Gentiles and he towards the Jews and so they parted the Ministry between them At least the Popes after Aarons example ought to meddle only in Ecclesiastical and not in Secular affairs as they do pretending to Lord it over the whole world for we see that Aaron applied himself only to the Functions of his Charge and that in things Temporal and Civil he was subject to Moses and left the Absolute direction of them to him Instead of imitating Aaron the Head of the Levites in his Modesty the Popes pretend to be Lords not only of the Temporality but of the Spirituality of all the States of the world and will in this be Vicars of Jesus Christ tho he declared that his Kingdom was not of this world tho he taught his Disciples that he among them who would be the first should be the last though he fled away when they would have made him a King tho he payed Tribute to the Princes of the world when he was himself Lord both of Heaven and Earth tho he expresly forbad his Disciples to bear rule over any one whatsoever The Popes notwithstanding this will govern and pretend that our Saviour did amiss when he spoke thus and that they know better than he how to improve the rights of his Prerogative For my part I believe that such a King as Jesus Christ who holds the Earth in his hand according to the Prophet's expression who upholds all things by the power of his word as St. Paul says who knows the hearts of all men and governs the motions of all the creatures who is Almighty who knows and sees
that is to say We read that the three first Patriarchs who sat in the Chair of Peter were he of Rome he of Alexandria and he of Antioch and with them all the Bishops who were under them Let a man read the Writings of Gregory of Gelasius and of Leo who were all Popes and he shall see that they all acknowledg that all good Bishops are Successors of St. Peter and altho they sometimes failed not to demonstrate suffiently their Ambition and the desire they had to make the other Bishops their subjects yet it was not in quality of Heads of the Church much less by vertue of any Text of Scripture And we find not that for the first six Centuries any man dared to bring so much as one passage of Scripture to establish the Primacy of the Bishoprick of Rome St. Ambrose is not at all favourable to them when he says Primatus Petri Confessionis erat non Honoris fidei non ordinis That the Primacy of Peter was a Primacy of Confession and not of Honourâ— of Faith and not of place St. Cyprian whom we have already mention'd says farthermore in another place Neque enim quisquam nostrum se Episcopum Episcoporum constituit ut Tyrannico tâ—rrore ad Obsequendi necessitatem collegas suos adigat cum habeat omnis Episcopus pro licentia libertatis Potestatis suae Arbitrium proprium tanquam judicari ab alio non possit cum nec ipse possit Alterum judicare sed expectamus Vniversi Judicium Dâ—mini nostri Jesu Christi qui unus solus habet potestatem praeponendi nos in Ecclesiae suae Gubernatione de Acâ—u nostro judicandi There is nâ—ne among us who pretendeth to be a Bishop of Bishops that by a Tyrannical power he may oblige any of his Colleagues to the necessity of being subject to him since that every Bishop being his own Master and independent on any other cannot be judged by another nor can he judg another but we ought all to expect the judgment of our Lord Jesus Christ who only hath the power of establishing us over his Church and of judging of our behaviour in it The same St. Cyprian calleth Stephen Bishop of Rome his Colleague Stephanum Collegam nostrum ut Cornelium nostrum co-Episcopum And Cornelius our Fellow-Bishop He speaks of two Bishops of Rome And in another place he shews that he thought he had as great a share in the Government of the whole Church as the Bishop of Rome Omnes enim says he deâ—et pro corpore totius Ecclesiae cujus per varias quasque Provincias membra digesta sunt excubare And in another place Divina Paterna Pietas in nobis Apostolatus ducatum contulit Vicariam Domini sedem coelesti dignatione ornavit That is to say The Goodness of God hath conferred upon us the conduct of the Apostleship and hath adorned by his Heavenly Grace the deputed See of the Lord which we hold And furthermore Christus dicit ad Apostolos ac per hos ad omnes praepositos qui Apostolis Vicaria Ordinatione succedunt Qui vos audit me audit Jesus Christ saith to all the Apostles and in the persons of them to all Bishops who succeed the Apostles being their Substitutes by Ordination Whosoever heareth you heareth me He shews in these places that he pretended that his Church was an Apostolick See and that he was the Vicar of Jesus Christ as well as the other Bishops In his 55 Epistle he says that a man must be a fool or a mad man to believe that the Authority of the Bishops of Africa was less than that of the Bishop of Rome to whom abundance of profligate wretches did resort that so they might avoid the giving an account of their actions to the Bishops of Africa and the being punisht for their crimes After his death a Council assembled at Carthage did ordain Vt prima sedis Episcopus non appelletur princeps Sacerdotum aut primus Sacerdos sed tantum primae sedis Episcopus That the Bishop of the first See ought not to be called Prince or chief of the Priests or any thing of this kind but only the Bishop of the first See. And the Council of Nice marking out the bounds of the extent of each Patriarchal See says thus There is an ancient custom whereby the Bishop of Alexandria doth govern all the Diocesses of Egypt of Lybia and of Pentapolis as also it is a long time since that the Bishop of Rome hath presided over those which he now governeth and so likewise the Bishop of Antioch Upon which Cardinal Cusan makes this reflexion We see says he hâ—w much the Bishop â—f Rome haâ—h gotten against the Holy Constitutions by the long use of a submission which hath been given him and which was not due to him This Decree of the Council of Nice was since confirmed by the Councils of Antioch of Calcedon and of Constantinople Theodoret produceth a Letter of the Council of Constantinople which sufficiently shews the place which the Bishops of Rome held at that time it begins thus To our most Reverend and dear Brethren and Colleagues Damasus Ambrose Brillo Valerian and all the other Holy Bishops assembled together in the Great City Eusebius also relates to us another Letter which the Council of Antioch assembled against the Heresie of Paulus of Samosatenus writes to the Bishop of Rome which begins thus To Dionysius to Maximus and to all those who are Ministers with us Com-Ministris nostris throughout the whole world Bishops Priests Deacons and all the Church under Heaven Would a man now in good earnest in this corrupt age write thus to our Holy Father the Pope Theodoret relates to us in his Ecclesiastical History that the Emperour Constantius was very urgent with the Bishop of Rome Liberius to embrace the Communion of the other Churches which shews that he also knew not that Rome was the Mother of the other Churches The Emperors Gratian Valentinian and Theodosius in the year 380 proposed Rome and Alexandria for Models of the Orthodox Faith. Ordaining that all the world should follow the Faith of Damasus Bishop of Rome and of Peter Bishop of Alexandria And after the first Council of Constantinople as tho they would have the Center of Christian Communion in the East only they order without mentioning Rome that all Churches should be conferred upon those who joyned in Communion with Nectarius Bishop of Laodicea and Diodorus Bishop of Tarsus in the Diocess of the East with Amphilochus Bishop of Iconium c. If the Bishops of Asia of Cilicia and of Mesopotamia had believed that the Communion of the Bishop of Rome had been necessary for their Churches they would never all have been excluded from its Communion during 140 years as they were after that Victor Bishop of Rome had Excommunicated them for a Trifle for if they
upon them In St. Hilaries days they endeavoured to bring under the Bishops of France in such sort that St. Hilary opposed their Ambition which made Leo have the Impudence to write of it to the Bishops of the Province of Vienne However that did not hinder him from continually attacking him and his successors who found opposition enough from time to time they always gaining the Victory And we have a Letter which the Churches of France and Germany wrote together in the time of King Clouis to Anastasius the second Bishop of Rome where we see that they were not satisfy'd with the Ambition of that Bishop It is not say they without reason that the Bishops it being grounded upon many Authorities affirm that the Authority of Councils is above that of a Pope St. Paul the Apostle who tells us that we should be his followers resisted Peter the first of the Apostles to his face because he dâ—served reproof For our parts we understand not this new compassion which the Italian Physicians have for our Mâ—ladies of France They would cure our Bishops and are themselves sick of a continued Fever They are themsâ—lves blind and yet thâ—y offâ—r us light They forsake their own Flock suffering it to wander and pretend to lead our Pastors in the right way Thâ—y would make us believe that the Cure for Spiritual Diseases that is to say Absolution is to be found at Rome c. But if the Ark of the Covenant should fall in France it must be our Bishops and not theirs that must take it up again But if they be so rash as to pretend to touch the Ark of our Church they only draw evil upon themselves as well as Uzzah the Levite Let thâ—m fairly undeâ—stand this Sylâ—ogism If thâ—râ— be but one â—nly power in all Bishops it is also in one person alone Now there is one and the same power in all Bishops therefore it resides also in one single person But let us here observe by the by how much the Germans and French are degenerated from that Piety and Love for the Liberty which Jesus Christ hath acquired for his Church It is certain that Bishops were always equal in the first Ages of the Church It was some time after the Death of St. Cyprian before they thought of establishing in every Province one Bishop above the rest They thought it would be advantagious for removing the disorder that sprung up sometimes among them for concurrence and presidency He resided in the Capital City and was called the Metropolitan At first he had no Authority over the others but only the place but afterwards they conferred upon them the power of consecrating Bishops of the Province because they dwelt in the Capital Ciiy where every body came about their Affairs And it is from thence that Bishops became subject to their Metropolitans and have been distinguished from them by the Ordination which they receive from them These Metropolitans were called in the West Arch-bishops After this there was given them the power of calling Provincial Synods who for that Reason were assembled always in the Capital City That was brought in at first only as a Custom and because it looked as though the state of the Civil Government did require it But at length this Custom was confirmed by the Decrees of the Council of Nice and became a Law. After that for the maintenance of Unity among the Churches of divers Provinces it was further thought requisite to establish Exarchs or Primates over these Arch-bishops according to the Idea of the Civil Government These Primates were the Bishops of the chief City of some great Province or of a Diocess that comprehended many Provinces At first they acknowledged no Superior but by little and little they of Constantinople of Antioch of Alexandria and lastly he of Rome did first attempt their Rights and after came the Council of Calcedon who established over these Metropolitans four Patriarchs of Rome of Alexandria of Antioch and of Constantinople to whom afterwards he of Jerusalem was also added for the Honour of that City but he lasted not long The two principal were he of Rome and he of Constantinople because those were two Seats of the Empire and at last they took upon them the Quality of Oecumenical Bishops against all Reason Divine or Humane and against the Decrees of many Councils Since those times every thing hath gone worse and worse It is no hard matter to prove that the Presidence of the Bishop of Rome was purely in consideration of the Dignity of that City The Second Canon of the Council of Constantinople shews it sufficiently where it is said That the Bishops who are established over a Diocess shall not go beyond the bounds which have been set them but that the Bishop of Constantinople shall have the Honour of the Primacy after the Bishop of Rome and not before him because that City is not so ancient as that of Rome After the same manner the 9 th Canon of the Council of Antioch ordains That the Bishops of great Cities shall have the pre-eminence because all men of business repair to the Capital City 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. And the Council of Calcedon in its 16 th Act gives no other Reason for the City of Rome's having the first place The Fathers says this Council have also given these Priviledges to the See of Old Rome by reason of the Empire of that City c. And for this very reason they have given the same priviledges to the most Holy See of New Rome judging very ratiâ—nally that a City honoured by the Senaâ—e and the Empire ought to enjoy the same priviledges as the Ancient Rome and have the same pre-eminence in Ecclâ—siastical Affairs and be the second after her And the Council of Turin in its first Chapter hath these words That Bishop who can prove that his City is the Capital of the whâ—le Province let him have the honour of the Primacy and the Faculty of conferring Orders upon others And we must not judge of this matter by what we now see For Example That Paris and London which are the Capital Cities of two great States have not the Primacy over the other Bishops of these Kingdoms for besides that they here received the Christian Faith later than the others did the Court of Rome and its Favourers have managed this very politickly not suffering that any great City shoulâ— have this Honour lest the Bishop of it should become their Rival and should cast off their yoke as we see they had all the difficulty in the World to subdue the great City of Milan For in the year 1059. Nicholas the Second having sent thither Peter Damien Bishop of Ostia to make them lay aside the Ambrâ—sian Service and take up the Roman both the Clergy and People answered vigorously That they had never been subject to the Roman Laws and that the Bishop of Rome had
Popes but I demand what Good they do us Are there not Clergy-men enough to perform the Service without them Are there not People enough to be maintained who are really poor without the begging Monks who are the most ridiculous and the most vicious Wretches upon Earth If they are necessary to the Church as some say how comes it to pass that in the Primitive Church where there was so much Piety there were none of them or at least very few and they too quite of a contrary Character to those now a days but that now in this languishing State of the Church every place swarms with them How comes it to pass that their numbers are much less in France Flanders Germany and Poland where Christianity flourishes a thousand times more than in Italy Spain and Portugal where it is almost extinguished For tho there be Canonizations and Beatifications oftentimes performed for People of these Countries it signifies nothing else but that the Pope hath finger'd their Mony or that these Saints were in their Life-time greatly devoted to the Holy See. This is done upon false-accounts given of the Lives of these Persons by some Monks of their Order and it is very easy to impose upon People in these Countries by reason of the extream Ignorance among them and of the Inquisition which would burn those who should dare to contradict it In France where People are much more understanding and where there is greater Liberty it is not so easy to impose upon and delude the World. Besides the Protestants would not fail to discover the Cheat and to lay it open from whence also it comes to pass that there are but very few Miracles wrought in France and fewer at Paris than in any other City in the Kingdom because People are not there so easy to be deceived I do maintain and every Man that hath observed it must agree with me that there is incomparably more Vertue and solid Piety in the honest People of the World than among the Monks Converse with them and you shall find nothing but Grimace and false appearances of a Devotion that signifies nothing a base Devotion that hath nothing of true Piety applying themselves to the outward parts of Religion neglecting or else not knowing the true form of Piety and upon this they are puffed up with a value of themselves they are presumptuous full of Contempt one of another ambitious worldly and voluptuous which we see in them where they have a little Liberty as in Spain Portugal and Italy there is nothing so unruly as their Behaviour their Lives are most licentious there is no Villany nor Abomination which they do not commit In France our own Country where they are Saints in comparison there is no roguish Story of a Debauchery and Villany but they are at one end of it Compare them with our Fathers of the Oratory who are Seculars and who yet trouble themselves with Secular Affairs less than they and for Knowledg for Humility Purity and lofty Sentiments of Religion there is as great a difference as can be between a worthy and a judicious Person and a superstitious soft-pated Fellow or rather between an honest Woman and a Whore. I acknowledg that here and there you may find a Man of a great worth among the Monks but it is one among ten thousand and he must have a great deal of Strength and Courage to keep himself innocent in these places where there is so much Corruption I believe that it is much more difficult to obtain Salvation there than in the World tho to those who have not narrowly enquired into their Lives it appears otherwise They among them who are ingenious do own it tho they are ordinarily Hypocrites and would deceive and make us believe that they all agree that Men must have extraordinary measures of Grace and would perswade the World that they themselves have them The most unsufferable of them as I have already said are the Mendicants those Pharisees who act wholly contrary to what St. Paul taught and practised who would have all Christians apply themselves to labour yet they pretend to be of a better sort than the others St. Paul whom St. Augustin calls the first of all Saints says in the 20 th Chapter of the Acts ver 33. that he had coveted no Mans Silver Gold or Apparel and that his Hands had ministred to his Necessities and to those who were with him and makes his Glory to consist in this that he had been a charge to no Man He I say orders all People to labour and repeats what our Saviour had said that it is better to give than to receive Yet our lazy Monks have at this day Maxims that are quite contrary They had rather have nothing at all of their own that they may eat the Bread out of poor Peoples Mouths upon whose Sweat and Blood they live and grow fat Of all the Monks that ever I yet heard of I have a value for no Order of them but those of La Trape by the account the World gives of them First they are all kept to work they trouble not themselves with Confessions no more than the first Monks in the Primitive Times They study they haunt neither Courts nor Cities they are not covetous of Legacies nor do they pry into Peoples Wills they are not Beggars they sell not holy things they live frugally upon a wholsom Diet to keep themselves in Health which makes their Minds more fit for the Service of God they are not desirous of News nor of the Secrets of Families to make advantage by it they read the word of God carefully making holy things their ordinary Entertainment and have no Commerce at all with Women Provided that this could continue without Vanity and without Discontent it is a School of Holiness For the others I find that instead of being advantagious to the Church they dishonour it and give the Protestants just reason to despise us With People that have any Understanding these Fellows Habits make so strongly against them that Men are apt to believe that there is both extravagancy and weakness of Mind in those that wear them these are marks of Distinction which shew them not to be French Men but that they belong to another Prince What good do these ridiculous Singularities do If this Habit be necessary to make a Man really better we ought all to take it if not they are to be laughed at thus that dress up themselves and so much the more when they think they merit by it These People ought all to be reduced to one and the same Habâ—t and this ridiculous variety of diverse Habits and monstrous Fashions ought to be taken away as well as the variety of Institutions that warâ—ant some to beg and allow others to be rich and to be continually â—eâ—ping up oâ— Wealth and others to eat and drink till they buâ—st It is reasonable that they should be well clothed and fed