IMPRIMATUR Liber cui Titulus A Short Defence of the Orders of the Church of England c. H. Maurice Rmo in X to P.D. Willielmo Archep Cant. a Sacris Oct. 24. 1687. A Short Defence OF THE ORDERS OF THE Church of England As by Law Establish'd Against some scatter'd Objections of Mr. Webster of Linne By a Presbyter of the Diocess of Norwich LONDON Printed and are to be Sold by Randal Taylor near Stationers-hall MDCLXXXVIII The Objection against our Ordination in the Church of England as establish'd by Law according to my best Apprehension is this THat whereas our first Liturgies after the Reformation in the Form prescrib'd for the Ordination of Bishops Priests and Deacons appointed not the Bishop ordaining to signifie in the words of Ordination for the sake of what Office the Persons ordained were to receive the Holy Ghost that Particular being since added as it seems to acknowledge a former Omission so it leaves a large Chasme between those Rightly and Canonically ordain'd and those who were not so to the utter Nullity of our Orders that Addition made to our late Rituals not being sufficient to repair the former defect For Instance Tho Arch-bishop Cranmer might be Canonically ordain'd himself and so might rightly ordain others yet those so ordain'd by him or his fellow Bishops ordaining Dr. Matthew Parker only by the defective Reform'd Service-Book Parker was really no Bishop and so those afterwards ordain'd by him were no true Bishops Priests or Deacons Because none can confer that power on another which he never had really in himself which if true the whole English Hierarchy falls to the ground Answer THis Objection looks somewhat plausibly at first and had it any thing of real Weight in it would be much more pertinent than the so often alledg'd and baffled Romance of the Nags-head Ordination but if duly considered has nothing of Solidity in it For 1. It takes for granted what we deny and what those of the Roman Church upon their own Principles can never prove viz. That Orders are a Sacrament Three things says Merbesius a late and well approv'd Writer of that Communion ought to concur to the Being of a true Sacrament Tria ad veri Sacramenti essentiam concurrere debent 1. Nempe Promissio Gratiae ex eo derivandae 2. Signum aliquod sensibile cum praescriptâ verborum formâ quod veluti Medium seu Organum ad applicandum Promissionem adhibeatur 3. Denique Divinum Mandatum quo Christus hujusmodi Sacramentum fidelibus vel omnibus vel aliquibus administrari jusserit Ben. Merhes Sum. Christ p. 3. q. 4. First a Promise of Grace to be deriv'd from it Secondly some sensible Sign with a prescrib'd form of Words which should be made use of as a Mean or Instrument whereby to apply the Promise and Thirdly some Divine Command by which Christ has enjoyn'd the administration of such a Sacrament either to the whole Body or some particular member of the Faithful Now it will be extream difficult to discover all these Circumstances in that which they call the Sacrament of Orders For should we grant that by them Grace is deriv'd to the Person Ordain'd or should we own a Command of Christ for the Collation of Orders yet where 's that set Form of words appointed by Christ himself for the Administration of this Sacrament In Baptism we have the words of Institution indeed and those retain'd throughout the Universal Church without any considerable Variation In the Eucharist we have the same general Agreement But here we have a vast unaccountable difference between the Greeks and those of the Roman Church and again between the Ancient and Modern Church of Rome Where yet we may reasonably suppose they could not have differ'd so much had our Saviour left any particular form of words for that Solemnity If there were no form of words prescrib'd then according to the Rule before-cited Orders can be no Sacrament and the Church of England is as much at liberty to depart from the present Example of the Roman Church as that was to quit its own Ancient Rituals or to vary from the Eastern or any other Christian Churches Besides That Indelible Character which is said to be given in Orders is a principal proof of their being a Sacrament but it would be a very hard task to reconcile that Decree of Gregory the Seventh Bishop of Rome of that name with this notion of an Indelible Character We following the steps of the holy Fathers Ordinationes iliorum qui ab Excommunicatis sunt ordinati Sanctorum Patrum sequentes vestigia irritas fieri censemus Conc. Rom. 4. A. 1078. Lab. Coss T. 10. p. 370. declare the Orders of those who are ordain'd by Excommunicate Persons to be void and of no effect For if the Character of Orders be indelible Excommunication cannot obliterate it nor make Orders conferr'd by the Excommunicate invalid Nor will that fore-mention'd Character agree very well with that Rule of Pope Coelestine the First given to the Bishops of Vienne and Narbonne Let no meer Lay-man no Man that has been twice Married Nullus ex Laicis nullus Bigamus nullus qui sit viduae maritus aut fuerit ordinetur siquae factae sint ordinationes illicitae removeantur quonium stare non possunt Concil gen T. 2. p. 1621. none who is or has been the Husband of a Widdow be put into holy Orders or if any such unlawful Ordinations have been made let them be taken away as such which cannot stand good Here again it 's plain enough That if the Character be as suppos'd Marrying twice or marrying a Widdow which can scarcely be proved Sins cannot possibly expunge it to which I might add the Answer of Leo the First to the Enquiries of Rusticus Bishop of Narbonne concerning such as only pretended to be Bishops and those ordain'd by them Only this I conclude That if the Judgment of a Bishop of Rome be so August and Sacred as some would perswade us Orders imprint no Indelible Character upon the Soul and consequently are no Sacrament Signa quum ad res divinas pertinent Sacramenta appellantur Aug. Ep. 138. ad Marcellinum 2. Edit Par. 1679. For should the Assertors of this Sacrament fly to that trite Saying of St. Augustine That Signs when they are apply'd to Sacred Rites are called Sacraments that would weaken not secure their Cause But if Orders must be a Sacrament in the strictest sense I desire that passage of Aquinas may be remembred That since the Matter of Sacraments in the sensible parts or outward signs of Sacraments are determined Cúm determinata sit Sacramentorum materia determinatae scilicet sensibiles res multó magis determinata esse debet verborum in Sacramentis forma Aquin. Sum. p. 3. q. 60. a. 7. Si mutatio materiae aut Formae Essentialis seu Substantialis sit nullum efficitur Sacramentum Suar. p. 3. T. 3. D. 2.
us to several Texts of Scripture several determinations of Councils and sayings of the Greek Fathers but there 's nothing more remarkable than what he alledges out of that learned Jesuite Maldonate who plainly and without any hesitancy determines That in conferring Orders Imposition of hands is not to be look'd on as an unnecessary Ceremony Impositio manuum non est habenda tanquam Caeremonia non necessaria sed tanquam pars essentialis Sacramenti idque tenendum videtur fide Catholica 1. Quia in Scripturâ ubicunque fit mentio de ordinatione declaratur per manuum Impositionem videtur mihi esse temerarium Scripturam deserere consectari Chimaeias i. e. rationes naturales 2. Quia veterem Ecclesiam nunquam ordinasse sine Impositione manuum ex omnibus Authoribus antiquis perspicuum est de Traditione autem Calicis Hostiae nulla est apud eos mentio 3. Quia videtur nimis durum esse Caeremoniam quam nobis perspicuè tradent Apostoli excludere à naturâ Sacramenti inducere illam de quâ nulla mentio fit in Scripturâ 4. Quia hoc est labefacere totum Sacramentum victoriam concedere Haereticis nam si Impositio manuum non est essentialis Caeremonia per quam hoc Sacramentum exhiberi debeat non potest probari ex Scripturis Ordinem esse Sacramentum Merb. Sum. Christ de Sacram Ord. Disp 6. but as an Essential part of that Sacrament and that to him this seems a necessary point of the Catholick Faith for which he gives these Reasons 1. Because whereever Scripture mentions Ordination it expresses it by Laying on of Hands and it seem'd to him a Rash thing to Desert Scripture and pursue Chimera's i. e. meer Natural Reasons 2. Because it 's evident by all Ancient Writers that the Primitive Church Ordained none but by Imposition of Hands but there is no mention at all made by any of them of touching the Chalice and Patten 3. Because it seems very absurd to exclude that Ceremony which was unquestionably deliver'd down to us by the Apostles from the Essence of the Sacrament and to introduce another never so much as mention'd in Scripture 4. Because this were to ruine the whole Sacrament and to give up the Victory to Hereticks for if Imposition of Hands be not the Essential Ceremony whereby this Sacrament is to be exhibited Orders can never be prov'd a Sacrament by Scripture For whereas he seems to take it for granted That the matter of every Sacrament ought to be determin'd in Scripture He urges it well enough That the Chalice and Patten not being taken notice of there that Ordinance to which such unscriptural Circumstances are Essential can be no Sacrament And this Merbesius takes to be more Ancient and Catholick though he acknowledges the other at present to be the more Common and Prevailing Opinion Habertus makes Dominicus a Soto a Spaniard Confessor to Charles the 5th and present at the Council of Trent to be the first Inventer of it but without Reason since as I have proved before both Aquinas and the Florentine Council espous'd the same Absurdity long before Against it Merbesius urges this Argument If the Sacerdotal Grace be given by Imposition of Hands Si per manuum Impositionem datur gratia Sacerdotalis illa ipsa Manuum Impositio Presbyteratus essentiam proculdubio constituit Atqui per manuum Impositionem datur Ergo. then certainly that Imposition of Hands must constitute the Essence of the Sacerdotal Order but the first is true therefore the last This he proves from that of the Apostle to Timothy Ep. 2. c. 1. v. 6. and from the discourses of Moring to that purpose from the general silence of all Ancient Ritualists and from the particular silence of some of latter date who indeed mention that Adjectitious Ceremony but yet only as Accidental and not Essential to Ordination Nay he draws in the Council of Trent it self as an Abettour of his Opinion by that passage concerning Extreme Vnction where they tell us That Bishops or Priests Regularly Ordain'd by them with the Imposition of the Hands of the Presbytery Legitimi istius Sacramenti Ministri sunt aut Episcopi aut Sacerdotes ab ipsis rite ordinati per Impositionem Manuum Presbyterii Sess 14. c. 3. are the only lawful Ministers of that Sacrament Thus we see the Division of those of the Roman Church among themselves concerning this Matter by which according to their own Writers they reduce themselves to this Dilemma Either to determine the touch of the Vessels to be the Essence of Orders and consequently Orders no Sacrament or else to allow it's Essence to be Imposition of Hands which Imposition of Hands the Church of England according to the Custom of the Ancient Vniversal Church has ever us'd since the Reformation though not believing Holy Orders so conferr'd to be a Sacrament I might here take notice of that Conceipt of some of their Parasitical Canonists That the Bishop of Rome has that Plerophory of Power in himself that his bare word can make a compleat Priest or Bishop without any Ceremony at all which is fairly expos'd by the learned Arch-Bishop of Spalato as which Spalat de Republ Eccles l. 2. c. 4. s 19. among other things sufficiently proves Orders no Sacrament unless we can have a Sacrament without either Matter or Form. To proceed then 3. Seeing our Ordination is thus far Regular we are to consider Whether those words made use of in our eldest Reform'd Rituals are not significant enough Or Whether that Form of conferring Orders was not sufficient to impart Sacerdotal Power to the Persons Ordain'd Now that it may not be left undetermin'd by the Ordainers what particular Offices any Persons are Ordain'd to the Arch-Deacon as in the case of Deacons so in that of Priests speaks thus openly to the Bishop Reverend Father in God I present to You these Persons to be admitted to the Order of Priesthood After several Intercurrent Questions the Bishop declares to the People Good People these be they whom we purpose God willing to receive this day to the Holy Office of Priesthood c. After which words methinks there needs no plainer a designation to any Ecclesiastical Employ Publick notice is given likewise in the Ordination of a Bishop that all there present may know what Character he is to bear After these things and some particular Questions propos'd to the Parties and some Prayers put up to God For a Priest the Bishop with the Priests then present lay their hands upon every particular Mans Head The Bishop using these words Receive thou the Holy Ghost whose sins thou dost remit they are remitted and whose sins thou dost retain they are retained be thou a Faithful Dispencer of the word of God and of his holy Sacraments in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost As for a Bishop the words whereby Matthew Parker
quam Sacerdotes efficiuntur cum neque per secundam Manuum Impositionem fiant Presbyteri ut vidimus nec per tertiam cum illa in fine ordinationis factitari solet Merb. de Sacr. Ord. D. 6. g. 52. since it 's certain they are neither made so by the second laying on of Hands the Exhortation annex'd to which as I observ'd before supposes the Priestly power already given nor yet by the third which is only us'd in the Conclusion of Ordination From all which it seems very probable That let our Ordination be never so Imperfect since we really use some Words at the instant of Imposition of hands and those very pertinent and authentick that Ordinance is at least more compleat in our Church than in theirs who lay on hands indeed but declare nothing at all either of their Reason for it or their Meaning in it 4. The greatest Bigots of the Roman Communion never charge the Greeks tho they account them Schismaticks for the most part with want of a lawful Priesthood yet their Rituals are certainly by Roman rules as defective as ours can be imagin'd In that Church He who was a Deacon before and now to be ordained Priest being brought according to prescription before the Bishop or Patriarch 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Pontific Gr. de Consecr Presbyt the Patriarch makes the sign of the Cross three times upon his Head when he fixing his eyes upon the Holy Table and kneeling on both knees on the step the Chancellor calls aloud Silence Then the Patriarch holding his right hand upon his Head speaks aloud so that all may hear The Divine Grace which always makes sound those things that are weak and compleats what 's imperfect promotes N. N. the most reverend Deacon to be a Priest Let us therefore pray for him that the grace of the All-Holy Spirit may descend upon him Then again signing him three times and laying his hand upon his head when the Deacon has said Let us pray the Patriarch repeats that Prayer softly O God who art without beginning and without end c. After this follow the general Intercessions which when they are ended or while they are repeating the Patriarch laying his hand again upon his head as before Prays to God to fill him with the gifts of his Holy Spirit that He may be capable of doing all things belonging to his Function I need not insist upon other Ceremonies the Person ordain'd having receiv'd his Character before Where it 's observable that as the Greek Church assigns the Office no otherwise but as the Church of England does viz. by giving notice to the People what Order the Person is Consecrated to so the Greek Church differs much from that of Râ—me in the form of the Words used which argues their opinion of the no necessity of such a set Form and consequently that Orders are no Sacrament as that word Sacrament is understood in the strictest Sense by Ecclesiastical Writers Yet Habertus is so far from supposing any deficiency in the Greek Church that in Effect He charges the Church of Rome with Innovation for he tells us Traditionis potius quam Scriptorum Authoritate constat Pont. Gr. obs Hab. 1. That the words us'd upon touching the Vessels are rather built upon Oral Tradition than upon the Authority of any good Writers He refers us to several Testimonies of the Greek Fathers of greatest Reputation given to this Form Originally us'd in their Church He observes that the Church of Rome objected nothing to the Greek Rituals in the Florentine Council He shews that Ordination and Laying on of hands when apply'd to Men set apart for the Service of the Church are the same thing That therefore in their Ecclesiastical Writers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all signifying Laying on of hands are all indifferently us'd for Ordination He alledges that of the Writer De Ecclesiastica Hierarchia That the Imposition of the Bishops hands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 5. gives both the Character and Authority of a Priest and gives us withal such an Instance of the Indulgence of the Roman See to those of the Greek Communion in Italy as must either prove their full satisfaction with the Grecian Priesthood or else that the Roman Bishops have very little care of their good It 's the Decree of Vrban the Eighth Let the Protector of the Greek Nation provide that some Eastern Bishop consecrated after the Greek manner reside at Rome to perform Divine Offices Caret Protector ut Graecus aliquis ex Oriente ritu Graeco consecratus Episcopus Romae sit ad Divina Officia atque Ordinationes ritu Graeco peragendas qui quae ad Caeremonias ritus Orientalis Ecclesiae faciunt docere alumnos possit ipse per omnia fervet Jurent queque Italo Graeci statum Ecclesiasticum ac sacros Ordines usque ad Presbyteratum ritu Graeco suscepturos quandoque ubi Superioribus visum fuerit Ibid. and to Ordain according to the Graecian Rites who may be able to teach Novices those things which belong to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Eastern Church and may observe them exactly himself and let the Greeks living in Italy give Oath to take the Ecclesiastical Life and Holy as Orders upon them according to the manner of the Greeks as far as the Order of Priesthood when and where their Superiours shall think fit Which is not only a fair attestation to the validity of the Grecian Orders but seems to imply the Greeks dissatisfaction with the Roman Hierarchy and a strange kind of Condescension in the Universal Bishop to recede from his own Rights and to give leave to a suppos'd Schismatical Clergy to increase and thrive within his Jurisdiction And Romanists have sufficient reason to acquiesce in this Liberty of theirs if what Father Goar in his Notes upon the Euchology informs us be true That Imposition of Hands is not only an Adjunct of Holy Orders Neque enim Comes est solùm adventitia non Integrans tantum ex decentia requisita sed intrinseca omnino necessaria essentialis Materia quâ adhibitâ sicut olim Apostoli prout in eorum Actis Scriptis legimus Diaconos Presbyteros Episcopos creârunt absque illâ pariter nullum in sublimiores Hierarchiae Ecclesiasticae gradus successores Episcopi possunt evehere Goar in Euch. p. 256. or meerly adventitious not only an Integral part or a thing requir'd for Decencies sake but that it 's wholly the Intrinsical necessary and Essential Matter of them by which as the Apostles of old created Deacons Presbyters and Bishops as appears by their Writings and the History of their Acts so without that the Bishops who succeed them can raise no Man to Superior Orders in the Sacred Hierarchy And as he tells us afterwards If we examine the Euchology never so strictly we shall find no other matter of Orders so much
as once mention'd Cum in Universâ Ecclesiâ unam Sacramentorum administrandorum rationem essentialem materiam nimirum formam statuere necesse est nec in Graeca illius portione alia quam manus Impositio queat assignari Indubie sequitur in Latinâ eandem quoque essentialem esse reputandam ibid. but Imposition of Hands and his Inference from all is very remarkable and much against the now prevailing Tenet of the Roman Church That since it 's necessary there should be some one Essential Rule or Method of dispensing Holy Orders in the Vniversal Church and that there can be no other Matter of Orders assign'd in the Eastern parts of that Church but only Imposition of Hands it must follow without Dispute that even in the Latine Church the same exclusive of all other Ceremonies is Essential to them And to this Opinion of his methinks that of St. Chrysostome agrees very well who tells us in plain terms This is Ordination The Hand is laid upon the Man but God Operates the whole 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chrys in Act. Ap. Hom 14. and it 's Gods Hand which touches the Head of the Person Ordained if he be Ordained Regularly If then all this be true if we have indeed the concurrence of so large a part of the Catholick Church as the Greek is and that the Form of words us'd by them is no more Demonstrative of the Order to be conferr'd than ours in the Church of England was at the beginning of the Reformation we can be no more deny'd to have a Regular Succession of Church Officers than they And we may suppose such Considerations mov'd St. Clara P. Walsh and others of the Roman Communion to allow our Orders as full and valid to all intents and purposes But that we want a Power to offer other Sacrifices than those of Praise and Thanksgiving is a Want no more intolerable in our Priests or Presbyters than it was in the Apostles themselves And I have not yet heard of any Catholick Tradition that either our Saviour us'd those words Receive thou Power to offer Sacrifices c. to any Apostle or that the Apostles us'd it to any of those whom they afterwards Commission'd to Preach the Gospel 5. Our Orders then being valid as to to their Essentials notwithstanding that great Pretended defect it will follow that all that Charge laid upon our Church of Heresy and Schism can no way render them imperfect or ineffectual And if the Roman Doctrine of the Indelible Character be true those who assert that must for their own sake defend our Church especially since it 's apprehended by some as we observ'd before that a denial of the Indelible Character would irrecoverably ruine the Sacrament And such indeed was the Doctrine of the Ancient Church in which the Hereticks and Schismaticks are with all Severity prohibited to ordain any or to Administer Sacraments yet if they would still without fear of Ecclesiastical Censure presume to do such things their Actions were good and in full force Antiquity so concurring with that Common Law Maxime Quod fieri non debet factum valet That which of it self or so and so circumstatiated ought not to be done yet when it is once done stands good and irreversible I wonder not indeed that Baptism tho given by Hereticks should be approv'd in the Church of Rome since they allow Lay-men Women Persons unbaptiz'd nay Jews or Turks to baptize in cases of necessity But in so doing they seem much to forget a standing Rule of their own That none can give that to another which he never had himself For as I remember they tell us That Baptism is one of those Sacraments which imprint an indelible Character Yet such is the Doctrine of their great Aquinas They deny indeed that any can give Holy Orders except Bishops but He who is once made a Bishop must continue so to his lifes end nor can the Irregularity of his Conversation nor any Schism created by him in the Church nor any Heresy invested or propagated by him take away that Episcopal Power personally invested in him howsoever the Exercise of that Power may be restrain'd by Civil or Ecclesiastical Constitutions and consequently those capable of Orders who are consecrated by such Bishops are really Deacons Priests or Bishops according to the particular Character impress'd on them So we may find Arrian Bishops Ordaining others of equally Heretical Sentiments with themselves which Persons so Ordain'd if at any time they abjur'd their Heretical Pravity were receiv'd into the Orthodox Church and admitted to exercise the same Offices they were formerly assign'd to without Re-ordination To this purpose we read in the Answers to the Orthodox publish'd among the works of Justin Martyr That the Crime of an Heretick returning to the true Faith if it had been only some false Opinion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Resp ad Orthod 14. was to be rectified by a change of Judgment if it were an Error in Baptism by Confirmation if in Orders by laying on of Hands which laying on of Hands was no Reordination but only a particular Ceremony whereby the laps'd in time of Persecution as well as those who had fallen into Heresie Laymen as well as Clergy Men were readmitted into Catholick Communion So Dionysius of Alexandria in Eusebius tells us That it was an Ancient Custom 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb Hist Eccl. l. 7. c. 2. that such should be receiv'd into the Church by Prayer with laying on of hands and Aurelius Bishop of Carthage determining concerning the Schismatical Dotanists orders That seeing it was not lawful to iterate that which was to be given but once 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Conc. gen T. 2. p. 1083. if they heartily renounced that Error they may be receiv'd into that one Church the Mother of all Christians by laying on of hands And the same care is taken in the Eighth Canon of the first Council of Nice which is plain it self and so interpreted by Balsamon Zonaras and Aristenus and farther illustrated by our Learned Beverege The same is attested on the part of the Latin Church August cont Epist Par. l. 2. c. 13. Anastasii 2. Epistola ad Anast Imp. de Acacio Acacianis Conc. gen T. 4. c. 7. 8. by St. Austin in his answer to the Epistle of Parmenian the Donatist and by Anastasius the Second of that Name Bishop of Rome in an Epistle to Anastasius Emperour of Constantinople The care taken was only this That the persons should be qualified according to the Canons of the Church in that case provided and that the Persons ordaining should be really Bishops which things being secured the Ordain'd upon Readmission to Catholick Communion retain'd their Offices and Powers still To conclude this then If Orders be no Sacrament in a strict sense if the Essence of them consist only in Imposition of the hands of Bishops if the Greek and Antient Latin Church and the most
learned persons of the Latin Communion now agree in that Doctrine if the Church of England in her first reform'd Rituals gave as clear an Assignation to his particular Office to the Person ordain'd as either the Greek or Roman Church do at present and finally if real Heresy or Schism cannot annihilate Episcopal Sacerdotal power The consequence of all must be That our Orders are still good and valid and the Establish'd Church of England so far at least a true and sound Member of the Catholick Church of Christ And now it were no difficult Matter to retort the Objection against our Adversaries and prove the invalidity of their Orders upon the Principles and Practices of their own Church For 1. They tell us That it 's the Intention of the Priest not the Form or Matter of Institution that makes the Sacrament So that tho a Man be ordain'd a Priest or a Bishop with all the Ceremonies of the Pontifical and by a Bishop with those very words now made use of in the Exhibition of the Vessels yet if the Bishop minds not what he 's about or intend not to do what the Church intends the Ordain'd remains still without either Character or Power by which means if one Bishop has but once fail'd in the Collation of Orders they run down for ought they know in infinitum without any due Consecration and since humane Frailties are so many and the Artifices of Hell so incessant and prevailing as we must needs have a great many Doubts naturally grow upon us concerning the Intentions of those whole lives we see Extravagant and Impious so from thence we necessarily deduce an Infinity of Uncertaintys If this Conceipt were only the Caprice of some wild Head it were the less considerable But it 's the determination of their oraculous Council of Trent Si quis dixerit in Ministris dum Sacramenta conficiunt conferunt non requiri intentionem saltem faciendi quod facit Ecclesia Anathema sit Sessio 7. Can. 11. that If any shall say there is not required in Ministers while they Consecrate and dispence the Sacraments an Intention at least of doing what the Church does Let that Person so saying be accurs'd And the Annotators upon the Plantin Edition of that Council refers us to the Decrees of Eugenius the 4th in the Florentine Council where we are taught That the Sacraments are perfected by three things By outward Signs Omnia Sacramenta tribus persiciuntur videlicet Rebus tanquam Materia Verbis tanquam Forma Persona Ministri conferentis Sacramentum cum intentione faciendi quod facit Ecclesia quorum si aliquod desit non perficit Sacramentum Instruct ad Armenos Conc. gen T. 13. p. 535. as the Matter by Words as the Form and by the Person of the Minister dispensing the Sacrament with an intention of doing that which the Church does of which three things if any one be wanting there can be no Sacrament It were an easie work to confute this Opinion as being both Unscriptural and Irrational Sacramenta ministrari possunt à bonis à malis à fidelibus infidelibus infra Ecclesiam extra quia si dispensari possint tantum à bonis nullus esset certus de susceptione Sacramenti cum nullus fit certus de bonitate Ministri sicut nec de propria ita oporteret semper iterari malitia unius praejudicaret alienae saluti Lindwood Constit prov l. 1. tit 7. gl pro quibus citat B. Thom. Edit Oxon. 1679. Intra Catholicam Ecclesiam in Mysterio Corporis Sanguinis Domini nihil à bono majus nihil à malo minus perficitur Sacerdote quia non in merito Consecratis sed in verbo perficitur Creatoris virtute Spiritus Sancti Decreti p. 2. c. 1. Qu. 1. citat ex Augustino contra Epist Parmen l. 2. and how it thwarts the Doctrine of some great Men of your own may be seen by those Passages in the Margin but as they assert it it is Argumentum ad Homines the consequence of which we know well enough the Truth we shall leave them to make good as well as they can But if we look upon Consecration to Church Offices only as an Holy Ordinance but no Sacrament We may then challenge the Church of Rome as introducing a Nullity in their Orders by so notorious a deviation from the Examples of Christ and his Apostles from the Methods of the Ancient Vniversal Church and from their own Authentick Constitutions to prove which Crime of theirs we may recur to those Authorities before insisted on From which we learn That Imposition of Hands was the only Essence of Orders that their modern Ceremonies are meer Innovations and as by them us'd shameful Corruptions of the first Institution For tho' we allow that Power to the Governors of every true Christian Church to add some significant Ceremonies to a Divine Ordinance provided they are neither Indecent Superstitious nor Troublesome and therefore might pass by that addition of touching the Consecrated Vessels among other little Fooleries of that Church Yet since they have fixt the Essence of that Ordinance in that touching of those Vessels and have made Imposition of Hands rather an impertinent Formality than a matter of Necessity as may appear from that of Gregory the Ninth In fragmentis Decretalium we cannot but conclude that they have gone beyond all bounds of Just Ecclesiastical Authority For in that Decree as it 's plain that Imposition of Hands is made a meer non-essential Circumstance so it infers a Power in persons Ordain'd to execute their Functions in all parts Presbyter Diaconus cum ordinantur Manus impositionem tactu corporali â—itu ab Apostolis introducto recipiunt Quod si omissum fuerit non est aliquatenus iterandum sed statuto tempore ad hujusmodi Ordines conferendos cautè supplendum quod per errorem extitit praetermissum Concil general T. 11. p. 384. c. 52. Epist ad Archiepiesc Lond. In margine vero decretalium melius legitur Lugdunensem as occasion requires without it for it lays no prohibition on them and yet orders the supplying of all defects only at Canonical times the Interstices of which are long enough to admit various exertions of Diaconal or Sacerdotal Power Nor does the Gloss upon this part of the Canon Law help the matter at all though it be clog'd with a Superfaetation of Notes For tho' the first be That a Deacon and Presbyter ought to be Ordain'd by Imposition of Hands the second that that manner of Ordination is deduc'd from Apostolical example Nota 1. Quòd Presbyter Diaconus per manus Impositionem debet Ordinari Item Nota. Quòd Ordinatio Sacerdotis Diaconi introducta est exemplo Apostolorum Item nota quòd idem est in parte quod in toto Item Quòd duo imperfecta faciunt unum perfectum Decretal Greg. l. 1. Tit. 16. c. 3. gl p. 282.