his Province do it The reason then of this prohibition is from the place and not the Ordainers altho' it might be more necessary to apply it to Foreigners than Provincials who would take greater care to preserve ancient bounds So that if this be not an absolute Prohibition it will be hard to know what is The reason is general and holds alike whoever may be the Ordainers But (b) Prim. Ep. p. 34 35. they except such places where there had been Bishops already and forbid it to none for the future but such for which one Presbyter is sufficient and so there is room enough for Bishops in large and populous Villages What our Author mincingly calls places where there had been Bishops already the Canon both in the Greek and Latin Edition calls Cities and when he says there is room left by this Canon for Bishops in populous Villages he knew the contrary to be true For the Canon (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Si qua talis aut tam populosa civitas mentions only the case of a City if a City shall be found very populous and worthy of a Bishop let it have one So that this Synod neither leaves room for Bishops in any Villages nor signifies that it was usual before this to have Bishops in small places unless such places were Cities What our Author has in his margin that this Synod decreed that where there were twelve families there was to be a Rector is a mistake (d) Vid. Crab. T. 1. p. 331. for in this Synod there was no such Decree (e) Prim. Ep. p. 35. In Creet they tell us more than once that there were a hundred Bishops yet Pliny and Ptolomy found but forty Cities there So that the far greatest part of Titus 's Suffragans must have their Thrones in Country-Villages He seemeth to take it for granted on all hands that Crete had indeed an hundred Bishops in Titus's time On the contrary I know some (f) Thorndike Prim. Goverm c. 4. who make Titus the sole Bishop of the Island and conceive the Churches of that place governed by Presbyters under that one Bishop This is indeed contradicted by several ancient Writers And some (g) Chrysost Oecum Theophil Theodoret. say expresly that the Apostle would not commit so great an Island to one man Eusebius (h) H. E. l. 3. c. 4 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seems to favour Mr. Thorndike's opinion and makes Titus Bishop of the Churches of Crete In the third Century we find two Bishops of this Island mentioned and each said (i) Ego consacerdotes mei to be a Bishop of Churches There might be many more though they are no where mention'd But in Leo the first 's Reign there seem to have been no more than eight for so many subscribe the Synodical Epistle (l) Epistola Synod ad Leon. Imp. apud Car. a S. Paulo Not. Ant. of that Island In an old Notitia of the Patriarchat of C. P. Crete has one and twenty Bishops and in Hierocles his civil Notitia this Island has twenty three In the Notitia of Nilus Doxopatrius (m) Leo Allat de consens Ecc. Orient c. l. 1. c. 24. Simon Hist Crit. de Levant Moine Adv. Sacra Crete has ten Bishops This Island according to Pliny l. 4. c. 12. was 270 miles in length and fifty in breadth and therefore the Dioceses one with another must be competent when the Bishops were most numerous and very large in old time when they were but few We are at last come to Italy and one would scarce imagine that any thing very Primitive should be found there and especially in the Pope's own Province Here our Author observes (n) Prim. ep p. 36. that every petit Town has a Bishop and he cannot discover that there are more Bishops now than of old nay in that call'd in special the Roman Province there are now fewer by many than anciently as Miraeus tells us is evident by comparing the old Provincial Code with the new l. 4. p. 160. This Roman Province of which our Author has taken upon him to speak without understanding the matter consists now of such Churches as were under the Bishop of Rome's immediate Jurisdiction a great part of which were in the Country that lay next to Rome but many are remote and situated in other Provinces Now these Churches our Author observes are now fewer than anciently If he speaks of all those under the peculiar Jurisdiction of the Pope it is a mistake for they are now more numerous than heretofore But if he mean only those Bishopricks that lie near Rome in the next adjoyning Provinces of those there are fewer indeed belonging to the Pope than did formerly not because the Bishopricks were sunk but many of them were made Archbishopricks and others thrown under another Jurisdiction Florence which was in the old Roman Province was made (o) Anno. 1421. an Arch-Episcopal See by Martin the fifth and had four suburbicary Bishopricks given to it for Suffragans besides as many more of newer erection Siena belonging to Rome anciently was made (p) Anno 1459. an Arch-Bishoprick by Pius II. and had Grosseto and Soano for two of its Suffragans which also belong'd to the Roman Province Vrbin was made (p) Anno 1459. an Arch-Bishoprick but in the last Century by Paul the third and had six Bishopricks out of the Roman Province annexed to it Fermo was made an Arch-Bishoprick by Sixtus the fifth and had five Suffragans given it all of new Erection So that in the two ages next preceding this within the Roman Province there were ten new Bishopricks made and fifteen taken from the immediate Jurisdiction of the Pope and subjected to new Arch-Bishopricks So that the Bishopricks remain tho' they are not in the same Province There were indeed about five old Bishopricks united to others in the Roman Province since the writing of the old Provincial but we have seen ten new rais'd to make amends and there are more yet unaccounted for if there were occasion But after all it signifies little to the present question whether the Roman Province at this time have fewer Bishops than it had when that old Provincial was made For that which our Author calls old is indeed but new in respect of Ecclesiastical Antiquity Baronius places it in the eleventh Century and that is (q) Ughell Ital. Sacr. Miraei Not. l 4. at least an age too high for there are several Bishopricks even in the oldest Copies of it that were not rais'd till the twelfth Century Viterbo was not made an Episcopal seat till the latter end (r) Anno 1189 or 1191. of that age and yet it is in all the Copies of that Provincial and Italy affords many instances of Bishopricks raised in that age which are all to be found there In England it has Ely and Carlile both made (s) Anno 1109 1133.
these therefore (b) D. D. l. 2. c. 7. Tayl. op Assert p. 304. tell their opponents That the most learned of them have not been able with great labour and hard study to produce above five instances thereof And yet more have been and may be produc'd for Bishops in Villages than some are willing to take notice of Altho' I profess my self concern'd for Diocesan Episcopacy because I believe it to be Apostolical and Primitive yet I do not find in my self any aversion to these instances of Village-Bishops nor can I find that they ever had any quarrel with or were irreconcilable to Diocesans Before the Conquest this Country (c) Malms l. 3. vil 1. had several Bishops seated in Villages who were afterwards translated to Cities but they were no less Diocesans before than after their translations And at this time in Wales there are four Bishops who are content with Villages for their Sees and yet have large Dioceses to govern Of old the Chorepiscopi who seem to have been rather Presbyters than Bishops had their residence in Villages but each of them had many Villages under his visitation What hurt then can these instances of Bishops in Villages do to the Diocesan way Or why are they represented so formidable to Episcopal Writers that they will not endure to hear of them Had every Village that might furnish a Congregation a Bishop residing it it Or those Bishops who were Seated in Villages were they only Parish-Pastors and confin'd within the bounds of their respective Villages If our Author had prov'd this there had been some ground to set Village-Bishops against Diocesan but since he has not thought fit to do this I may take leave to say that he has left his Argument imperfect and far short of the purpose for which it is produced To make this general Answer yet more plain let us suppose the bounds of our English Dioceses to become as much unknown to after-ages as those of the old Egyptian or Syrian Dioceses are now to us and that the Books of Mr. Baxter Mr. Clerkson and others against Diocesan Bishops in this Country should be lost for the Genius does not promise immortality Under this suppos'd ignorance of the present distribution of our Bishopricks if a dabler in antiquity finding that St. Davids Landaf and St. Asaph had been Bishops seats some ages before and that in elder times Dorchester and Selsea and Kirton and Elmham and Hexham and some other Villages in England had been honoured with Episcopal Chairs should upon this discovery entertain a conceit that our Episcopacy was parochial and that a Bishop in our time and many ages before us was no more than a Parish-Minister and write a Book to maintain this vainfancy Such an undertaking and such a work would be the exact copy of this Chapter of Village-Bishops It may perhaps seem a needless labour to examine the instances he has collected of Villages that were Episcopal seats since they reach not the point in question nor make the least colour of proof that the Bishops residing in Villages were but Pastors of a single Congregation But since he pleased himself so much with this performance that he seems to triumph and say That the instances of Bishops in Villages were more than some are willing to take notice of he has laid a sort of a necessity upon his Answerer not to pass them by lest his Disciples might mistake a just neglect of impertinence for a despair or diffidence of being able to reply I will therefore take notice of every instance he has produc'd upon this head tho' I may have just reason to apprehend the censure or contempt of my Readers for insisting so minutely upon the examination of things which to the first view sufficiently appear to be beside the purpose But I hope the defiance and importunity of my Adversary may excuse this digression tho' a matter of curiosity rather than of argument or of weight To begin then In the Diocese of Egypt we are told (d) Prim. Ep. p. 19. Hydrax and Palaebisca two Villages had their Bishops He should have said Bishop for they had but one as appears from the Epistle of Synesius (e) Synes Ep. 67. who had orders from the Bishop of Alexandria to ordein a Pastor for those Villages But from the account which was put into his hands by the people of that place we find that these †〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Synes ep 67. Villages were far from being Primitive Bishopricks for at the time of which we are speaking which was about the year of Christ 400 thy had but one Bishop For by Apostolick authority as well as by the Law of the Country those Churches had ever belong'd to Erythros and were Parishes of that Diocese The people further declare That they were not divided from the Diocese of Erythros until the time of Valens the Emperor when all things were in confusion and that then one Syderius who came from Valens his Army was made Bishop there in a very unusual manner without the knowledg or approbation of the Bishop of Alexandria by the hands of one Bishop only i. e. Philo of Cyrene and all this done to engage the protection of Syderius who by the Commission he had from Court had it in his power to do much good or hurt to that Country (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Synes Ep. 67. Before this they had no Bishop nor did any succeed him Wherefore they beseech Synesius in the most earnest and importunate manner in the world that he would not force them to chuse another but that they might be allow'd to continue in their former condition as Parishes and dependences (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Synes ibid. of Erythros for they had put themselves already under Paul the Bishop of that City and prayed they might not be made Orphans in their Father's life time nor be violently torn from their mother-Church Especially since they had returned to their first estate by the approbation of Theophilus of Alexandria Judge then by this instance which was the Primitive Episcopacy of this place By Apostolick Authority and Prescription they were members of a Diocese and depended on a City but to have a Bishop of their own did in their opinion agree neither with the Apostles rule nor the usage of their Country It is pity some Independent had not liv'd in those days to have informed this people better concerning their Christian Priviledges and to let them know that every Parish not only might but ought to have a Bishop of their own Olbium (h) Prim. Ep. p. 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Synes Ep. 76. a Village in the same region had a Bishop After the death of Athamas Bishop there the election of a Bishop was needful and Antonius was chosen There is no mention either of this place or people any where else that I can find and from this (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
he was only a Monk but our Author in his haste was pleas'd to create him a Bishop But if he does too much honour to his person by one mistake he does as much disgrace his seat by another For though Stephanus make Hypselis a Village yet was it not so when Arsenius was Bishop there for this Arsenius the Meletian Bishop so famous in the story of Athanasius (s) Athan. Ap. 2. p. 786. T. 1. styles himself Bishop of the City of Hypselis Socrates speaking of the same person says (t) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Socr. l. 1. c. 32. that he subscrib'd the condemnation of Athanasius as Bishop of the City of Hypselis with the same right hand which was pretended to have been cut off by Athanasius and Epiphanius (u) Epiph. Haer. 66. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 speaking of this place gives it the same title For giving an account of Scythianus the Father of the Manichean doctrin he says that he came to Thebais to a City call'd Hypselis And to conclude Ptolomy (x) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 makes it the Metropolis of the Country call'd from it Hypseliotes (y) Prim. Ep. p. 21. Dracontius being made a Bishop in the territory of Alexandria could have no City for his seat (z) Athan. Ep. ad Drac Our Author pronounces too rashly from this passage for the Territory of Alexandria is the same with its Nomus or Prefecture and in the same Nomus there may be more Cities than one otherwise all Egypt must have but six and thirty Cities for into so many Nomi it was divided But that this Dracontius had a City for his seat our Author might have learnt from Athanasius (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athan. Ep. ad Antioch in a place which is often cited in this chapter It was Hermopolis the lesser which Ptolomy (b) Ptol. l 4. Steph. places in the Alexandrian Region and the only place he mentions there besides Alexandria (c) Prim. Ep. p. 21. Secontaurus was a very small and contemptible Village that Ischyras was made Bishop of containing so few Inhabitants that there was never Church there before And is this then to be a model of Primitive Episcopacy But this place deserves a more particular consideration This Ischyras who pretended to be a Presbyter of Meletius or Colluthus his Ordination accus'd Athanasius of forcing his Church overthrowing his Communion-Table and breaking the Chalice although it was prov'd he never was a Presbyter nor had any Church for there never had been any in his Village For a reward of calumny this Hamlet was erected into a Bishop's seat by Constantius in opposition to the Catholick faith to the rules of the Church and to (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athan. Ap. p. 802. p. 793. ancient tradition and usage of that Country Athanasius (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Athan. Ap. 2. p. 802. Socr. l. 1. c. 27. is very particular in his Description of this place which was made the scene of his Accusation and tells us that Mareotis the Region in which this Village was had always belong'd to the Bishop of Alexandria as part of his Diocese that here never had been a Bishop nor so much as a Chorepiscopus before Ischyras but the Villages were distributed to Presbyters some having ten some more of them to make up one Parish In this Region there were fourteen Parish Presbyters and thirteen Deacons as appears by their subscriptions to the Letter they sent to the Synod of Tyre on the behalf of their Bishop This was the state of that place and since our Author was not asham'd of urging this instance to countenance his notion I am content the whole cause should be try'd upon this issue and that it may be judg'd by this instance which Episcopacy was the primitive Diocesan or Congregational Here was a large Region that had many Churches and many more Villages so near Alexandria that they could not want Christians in the earliest times yet we are assur'd by a (f) Athan. Ap. 2. p. 792. competent Judge of this matter that this Region never had a Bishop of its own but was always under the Bishop of Alexandria who at certain times visited it in person But about three hundred years after St. Mark had planted the Church of Alexandria Constantius upon the Instigation of the Arians made one of the least of these Villages a Bishop's seat against all Rule and Prescription as Athanasius contends Judge then which is most ancient or most primitive in this place the Diocesan or the Parish Bishop And since the council of Sardica is obliquely tax'd by Mr. Clerkson as guilty of Innovation upon the account of forbidding Bishops to be made in Villages excepting such where Bishops had been formerly made This passage is sufficient to clear and justifie that Canon against frivolous reflections since it appears from hence that there was too much reason to put a check to the innovations of the Arians who for the encouragement and strengthning of the party took upon them to multiply Bishopricks contrary to the ancient tradition and practice of the Church (g) Prim. Ep. p. 21. That was little better where the (h) Gro. Alex. p. 110. Anon. 345. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 writers of the life of Chrysostom tell us Theophilus of Alexandria setled a Bishop How long shall we have Innovations urg'd upon us for proof of Primitive Episcopacy Theophilus is justly blam'd by all the writers of Chrysostom's life for erecting new Bishopricks against the Canons of the Church in places unseemly and where there had been no Bishop before And such wâ—â— this place which our Author has produc'd for an Episcopal seat it never had any Bishop before Theophilus ordain'd one there A happy place where primitive Episcopacy began about four hundred years after Christ when from the days of St. Mark to that time it had lain under the yoke of Diocesan Usurpation Having travell'd through Egypt not with the usual curiosity to see great Cities and Pyramids but with an humble inquisitiveness to look for Villages and the obscurest places that had been the seats of Bishops let us now sit down and recollect what we have observ'd We have found after great search that two Villages in Lybia where Cities are not very frequent once in distracted times had a Bishop though they had been Parishes belonging to Erythros for near four hundred years after Christ One Village we find had a succession of two Bishops but the circumstances of the place or people are altogether unknown Another Village we observ'd in Lybia that gave name to a people and had a considerable territory Four Cities we mistook for Villages not because they were small but for want of skill One Village wanted nothing of a City but the name and to make amends for this defect a large Country was joyn'd to it One was made a Bishops seat for private ends about the beginning of the
Rome and Constantinople Luitprandus (f) Luitpr Leg. ad Niceph. Phoc. in Acerentilas Acherunte Turrico Gravina Maceria Tricarico relates that Nicephorus Phocas ordered Polyectius Patriarch of Constantinople to raise Otranto to the dignity of an Arch-Bishoprick and that he would not permit the Latin service to be any longer us'd in Appulia and Calabria Whereupon the Patriarch sent the Bishop of Otranto a priviledge to consecrate Bishops in six Towns of that Country which are there named and are said to belong to the Bishop of Rome When the Western Emperours and at last the Normans got footing in the Greek Territories the Greeks were soon shut up in their Towns And thence it seems to come to pass that several Episcopal Towns there have no Diocese or Territory at all Not that it was always so while the Country was in the hands of the Greek Emperours but because this was the expiring condition of the Greek Churches in those parts the open Country being in possession of their Enemies and thrown into the neighbouring Latin Dioceses But Bishopricks were much thinner in Calabria an age or two before For in the Notitia publish'd by Goar (g) Hist Byz ad calc Codini and afterwards by Dr. Beveridge (h) Synodic T. 2. Calabria has but eight Bishops In the North of Italy the Dioceses are still large but have been much greater in ancient times For the Province of Milan though it was much larger than it is now in the middle (i) Anno 452. of the fifth Century had but nineteen Suffragans as appears from the subscriptions (l) Inter opera Leonis Pap. Ep. 52. of the Synod of that Province under Eusebius Bishop of Milan Among these is the Bishop of Regium and Brixellum and Placentia which belonged afterwards to Ravenna and are now under the new (m) Bologna Erected 1583. Metropolis of Bologna The Bishop of Turin was then a Suffragan but is since made a Metropolitan by Sixtus IV. and borrowed some Suffragans from the old Province Augusta now Aosta was then a Suffragan of Milan but now belongs to Tarantaise Genua was then a Suffragan but is since (n) Anno 1132. a Metropolis and took away Albingaunum along with it and Como that then belong'd to the Synod of Milan is now under Aquileia besides many new Bishopricks raised within this Province and taken out of the old Dioceses As Alexandria de Capaglia raised (o) Anno 1175. by Alexander the III. And Cazale raised (p) Anno 1474. by Sixtus the fourth who gave it sixty Castles or Burgs taken from the Jurisdiction of Aste and Vercelli yet Vercelli after this diminution has (q) Ughel Ital. Sac. T. 4. a very large Diocese remaining for it is forty miles in length and thirty-five in breadth In the Province of Aquileia there were but fifteen Bishopricks in the time of Gregory the Great when the controversie of the three points was so hot in Istria and they are all nam'd by Paulus Diaconus (r) Paul Diac. de Gest Long. l. 3. c. 12. l. 18. Cont. Eutrop. in t Rom. Script Many of the old Sees are still remaining several are chang'd but the number is still the same and the Dioceses are large To conclude the ancient Dioceses of Italy were large and not half so numerous as they are now For they have been increasing every age since the writing of the Provincial and even then they were exceedingly multiplied beyond what they had been in the first six or seven Centuries There are now in Italy 31 Arch-Bishops and 281 Bishops which makes up 312. Now if we look back but two ages we shall find the number much less for in Biondi's time who died in the year 1463 there were but 264 Cities or Episcopal seats in all Italy And Leandro Alberti (s) Leand. Alberti Descritt d' Ital. Praefat. who liv'd in the beginning of the fifteenth Century could not make out above 300. And since that time it seems there were twelve added The more ancient Copies of the Provincial fall short of Biondi's reckoning some having but 250 and the oldest of all not above 200. So much is the number of the Italian Bishopricks increased within five hundred years But if we go a little back we shall find yet fewer Bishopricks in Italy For in the Notitia publish'd by Dr. Beveridge (t) Notae in Synodic out of the Oxford Copy there are in all but fourscore Episcopal Sees Carolus a S. Paulo Bishop of Aurenches u had suppress'd this part in his edition giving notice that every thing was so corrupt and confused that he could make nothing of it He is tax'd by Dr. Beveridge as if this omission had proceeded from want of sincerity But whatever cause that French Bishop had to leave out this part yet the Notitia had been published (x) Goar ad Codin Int. Hist Byz Anno 1644. entire twenty years before the Dr's Edition and much more correctly for the Oxford Copy having fallen into the hands of a raw Transcriber came out with many more faults than its own In this Notitia the Suburbicary Province has but two and twenty Bishops Campania just so many Annonaria under Ravenna has one more than those and Aemylia has only three The Provinces of Milan and Aquileia are wholly left out It cannot be denied that this Notitia is imperfect and very confused and Salmasius (y) Salm. Prim. Pap. who had seen it before Goar's Edition gives that account of it And therefore let us examine yet ancienter Records to come to a more certain computation of the old Italian Bishopricks In a Roman Council (z) Conc. Rom. sub Agath Anno 689. apud Conc. Gen. 6. Act. 4. under Pope Agatho we have the subscriptions of the Italian Bishops by their Provinces and we may judge by the subscriptions of such Provinces as are best known as to the number of their old Dioceses such as Milan and Aquileia that this was a plenary Synod and all the Bishops of Italy present in it but such as age or necessity did excuse And the Pope calls (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it the Generality of the Synod yet all the Italian Bishops here were but about an hundred and twelve The first Roman Synod (a) Conc. Rom. 1. sub Sym. Anno 499. under Symmachus was of the Roman Province properly so called For no Metropolitan subscribed besides Symmachus nor any Bishop of any known Italick Province no Suffragan of Milan Aquileia or Ravenna In this there were 72 Bishops whose names and titles remain These subscriptions do sufficiently shew that the Roman Province at that time was much wider than the Jurisdiction of the City Prefect and reach'd a great way farther than a hundred miles from Rome For there were most of the Bishops of Campania Felix which was all of it beyond the Lapis Centesimus as Salmasius (b) Salm. Ep. de Reg. Suburb does allow Beyond this
then but few Bishops because Christianity was not much advanced and their Churches were but few but the contrary is affirmed of this very time by Writers who lived then And Cyprian does expresly say (t) Jampridem per omnes Provincias per Urbes singulas ordinati sunt Episcopi Cypr. Ep. 55. that Bishops had long before this been setled in all the Provinces and in every City And how extraordinary this Synod must be esteemed at that time may be observed from another passage of the same Epistle where it is remark'd as no inconsiderable thing that sixteen or seventeen Bishops were present at the Consecration of Cornelius A poor business to be taken notice of if the Roman Province had then been so well stocked with Bishops as it is now And now we are taking our leave of Italy let us look back and from what has been observ'd make this General Conclusion that the number of Bishops has been increasing there in every age ever since the Primitive times excepting times of extraordinary desolation And what Vghellus observes of Clusium and some other Bishopricks is true of most of them that from one large Diocese it was crumbl'd into many small ones This City says he (u) Vghel Ital. Sal. T. 3. in old time was possessed of a very large Diocese which the Popes by degrees have dissipated and convey'd to other Cathedrals which they erected Nay some after the lopping off of several Branches still remain considerable as the same Author observes (x) Vghel Ital. 5. T. 1. of Asculum The Diocese that now remains though much diminish'd by the Erections of new Cathedrals is not very small for after all this it has retain'd 156 Parish Churches From Italy we are returning home by the way of Spain where notwithstanding the Inquisition and great Bishops who have very large Dioceses and take themselves under those Circumstances to be jure Divino as their Predecessors did at Trent our Author ventures to prosecute his design and makes enquiry after Village-Bishops (y) Prim. Ep. p. 37. In Spain the twelfth Council of Toledo (z) Anno 681. takes notice of one made a Bishop in Monasterio Villulae and another in Suburbio Toletano c. and of others in aliis vicis villulis It is true he adds that the Bishops there allow it not but order it otherwise for the future But for the satisfaction of the Reader it may not be amiss to add the Reasons of that Synod against this matter 1. (a) Res nobis novellae praesumptionis Usurpatione sese intulit pertractanda That it was an Innovation or a Novel Presumption 2. It was against the received Laws of the Church and Canonical Constitutions Canonica Constitutio id fieri omnimoda ratione refellit 3. That it was against Scripture and the order of St. Paul to Titus to make Bishops in Cities and then cites several Canons (b) Oportet in nullo Monasterio quemlibet Episcopum Cathedram collocare Conc. Carth. Frag. apd Mabillon Anal. p. 1. of Councils against it as that of Sardica and two African Canons and Concilium Tauritanum Title the second And in conclusion they null such Ordinations But what sort of Bishopricks they had anciently in Spain shall appear in due place To bring Episcopacy yet one step lower our Author (c) Prim. Ep. p. 38. finds Bishops not only in Villages but in Monasteries generally less then Villages and this he thinks will be a proof of the Question in hand What will these Bishops of Monasteries be proof of the Primitive way And are Monasteries of such Primitive foundation There could be surely no Bishop in the Monasteries before there were such places And we read not of any such till the fourth Century and of no Bishops in them till afterwards and those too as rare and extraordinary in ancient times as simplicity in Courts or sincerity and candor among Dissenters But let us consider what he brings (d) Prim. Ep. p. 38. Barses and Eulogius had (e) Soz. l. 6. c. 34 32. Ed. Val. a Monastery for their Diocese no City nor Territory and one Lazarus also If our Author had transcrib'd but two words more out of Sozomen he had spoiled all his his Argument But because nothing goes more against the Conscience of a Dissenter than Ingenuity out of tenderness to that Infirmity I will supply the omission Sozomen does indeed say (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that these were not made Bishops of any City but only for honour's sake and as it were by way of recompence for what they had done These then were Titular or Honorary Bishops according to this Historian and therefore of little use to prove what was the measure of Primitive Dioceses To these our Author says we may add those Monasticks which Epiphanius (g) Epiph. Expos Fid. p. 1095. speaks of one of them a Bishop in the Desart of Egypt the other in mount Sinai who having received Episcopal Consecration took upon them to do Episcopal Acts and to sit as Bishops He might if he had pleased have taken some notice that this reading is not only suspected but plainly faulty And Petavius has noted in the Margin that it should be read with a negative that these Monks having not received Ordination as Bishops did yet presume to act as such This is plain from what goes before for Epiphanius shewing the Extravagance of some Monks and men of severe lives says (h) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that one Zacchaeus being a Lay-man presumed to administer the Sacrament and then follow the two above-mentioned who took upon them the office of Bishops without being ordained For what extravagance or fault could it appear for persons who had been consecrated Bishops to administer the office committed to them But they are here censured (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as men who presum'd rashly and insolently to act as Bishops from I know not what dreams and as the sense must be without ordination I wonder our Author should think fit to dissemble this since it is more for the service of his party than any thing he has produced to have some ancient instance to countenance the practice of assuming the Pastoral office without Ordination The next instance (l) P. 38. of a Bishop of a Monastery is from the subscriptions of the Council of Chalcedon where we have Helpidius Bishop Thermensis Monasterij We own this Monastery to be a mistake not of our Author indeed but of the old Translator of those subscriptions who finding 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek subscriptions render'd it Monastery whereas it signifies a Mansion or a Stage-Town in the publick Course or Post-road as we now speak In some Manuscripts we have both words Mansio and Monasterium some have Mansio only as that of Paris and Dijon which Baluzius (m) Baluz Nov. Coll. Conc. p. 1031. mentions and Berterius (n) Mansio Thermensis Berter Pithan
were in Spain 71 Bishops and 7 Metropolitans In a Controversy between the Arch-bishops of Toledo and Valentia it is said that Constantine had divided the Country into Provinces and Dioceses much to the same effect with what has been already produc'd with this agrees the observations of Luitprandus which are taken from the same Books For speaking of the 13th Council of Toledo he saith the number of the Bishops there were 76 of whom 27 subscrib'd by Proxies And in his Chronicon he gives notice of several new Bishopricks erected in Spain in the later end of the seventh Century The Dioceses of Spain must be very large then when so great a Country was divided between 70 or 80 Bishops and especially considering the Province of Narbon was then reckon'd to Spain At the time of the Council of Illiberis Spain seems to have but few Bishops For tho' we find by the Subscriptions that the Bishops had met there from all the Provinces of Spain yet were there in all but 19. And long before this (g) Anno. 254. in St. Cyprians time two Cities in Spain seem'd to belong to one Bishop as may be gather'd from the Inscription of St. Cyprians (h) Ep. 67. Epistle Foelici Presbytero plebibus consistentibus ad Legionem Asturicae Upon which Vasaeus (i) Vasaeus in Chron. Hisp Anno. 256. has this Remark Colligi videtur Legionenses atque Asturicenses eo tempore eidem Episcopo fuisse subjectos licet postea divisi Episcopatus fuerint Our Author (l) Prim. ep p. 40. cites Rabanus Maurus to very little purpose when he makes him to say that there were fewer Bishops at first but in process of time they were Ordain'd not only in Cities but in places where there was no need Which then is the most Primitive way the first or that which comes after After a tedious peregrination our Author (f) Anno. 305. Conc. Illib (m) Prim. ep p. 40. is very kind to let us come nearer home I need not tell you how few Cities there are in Ireland yet Primat Usher tells us out of Nennius that St. Patrick founded there 365 Churches and as many Bishops I hope no reasonable man will blame me as too difficult of belief if I refuse this fable for evidence The authority of Nennius may be question'd without imputation of scepticism and can never pass as long as men have judgment enough to distinguish between History and Legend But I take Nennius his way of writing to be a degree even below Legend But since this fabulous Calendar of Irish Bishops has pass'd without contradiction not that any body ever believ'd it but because it is too gross to be refuted and since it has been and is still urg'd for History in the behalf of Primitive Episcopacy I will endeavour to trace it to its Original and when the ground of the Story is understood it will do the Congregational way but very slender service Arch-Bishop Vsher (n) Antiquit. Eccl. Brit. p. 473. ult Ed. publish'd a Catalogue of old Irish Saints which is divided into three ranks which are distinguish'd one from another as well by time as by merit The first is the best they consisted all of Bishops and their number was 350 they were founders of Churches c. This Order of Saints lasted for four Reigns the last of which was Tuathail but they were not all Irish but Romans and Franks and Britans Now according to Arch bishop Vshers (o) Antiquit. p. 490. Ed. ult Chronology of those Reigns there is above a hundred years from the beginning of St. Patrick's Apostleship to the end of Tuathail only there is one King before him in that Chronological Table which the old Catalogue does not mention That these were the Bishops of St. Patrick's ordination we may find in Jocelin (p) Usher Antiq. p. 492. who says that St. Patrick ordain'd just so many with his own hand and founded 700 Churches To compleat the Irish Calendar Nennius increas'd their number to 365 a singular complement to a lazy Nation to make it holiday for them all the year round Now whether all these liv'd in Ireland or were all ordained by Patrick the Catalogue does not say But it says expresly That they were of several other Nations besides Irish So that this may rather represent the Communion of Patrick and the number of Bishops in Britain and France that kept Easter on the fourteenth of the Moon than his Suffragans of Ireland And the fewness of Bishops in succeeding times and under the second order seems to represent a great change not in the lives of the Bishops for if I mistake not it is the cause that is in the bottom of that Catalogue but in the observances which are there mention'd For whether the Franks by this time had taken another way and the Brittish Churches were under great calamities or Augustin the Monk had introduc'd the Roman customs there are but few Bishops in the second order But supposing these holy Bishops had been all of Ireland yet there is no need of so many Cathedrals for them for they lasted four Reigns which makes up a hundred years And though all the Bishops seats in Ireland had not been above fifty they might easily have afforded 350 Saints in the compass of a hundred years But because there are but sixty years allow'd for St. Patrick's Government in Ireland even in that and the surviving generation this number of Bishops might easily rise from fifty I mention this number because sometimes Ireland has had so many Dioceses or more as we may see in a copy of the Provincial publish'd by (q) Geogr. Sacr. S. Paulo which hath more Seats in it than that of which Cambden speaks After all I am not well satisfi'd but all St. Patrick's Bishops may be a fable and he himself only a Saint of imagination For who can tell but Patricius Arvernensis may have sunk a day lower in the Calendar and made the Irish a Patricius Hibernensis Or the Spanish Patrick (r) Luitpr Advers of Malaga who according to Luitprandus lays claim to that day might appear to the Irish in a Dream as St. George did to our Country-men and become their Protector and at last their Apostle For the Calendar is the ground upon which the Legendaries run divisions and as barren as it seems to be it has produced a world of devout Fables For in old time give a Monk but a name and he would quickly write a life Our Author taking S. Patrick's (s) Prim. Ep. p. 40. 365 fabulous Bishopricks for effective is not content but would increase their number about the twelfth Century Afterwards says he the number of Bishops increased in Ireland so that when Malachias went into Ireland near 600 years after S. Patrick Anno 1150. (t) Bern. vit Malach. Vnus Episcopatus non esset contentus uno Episcopo sed singulae paene Ecclesiae singulos haberent
about limits the Apostles made no new distributions but followed the form of the Empire planting in every City a compleat and entire Church that consisted not only of the Inhabitants of the City but of the Region belonging to it If any were converted and if their distance or number made them incapable of repairing to the City-Church upon all their Religious occasions they had Congregations apart and subordinate Officers to attend them as it was in the civil disposition our Saviour having appointed several Orders in his Church and the Apostles propagating those and appointing some new as occasion required Only as in greater causes the Country people sued in the City Courts so likewise in such causes of Religion that concerned the whole community such as that of receiving in and turning out of the communion the Christians of the Territory were under the authority of the City-Church Hence it is that the Canons of ancient Councils mention a Territory belonging to every City Bishop The thirty fourth Canon (u) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Can. Ap. 34. of those called Apostolick forbids a Bishop to do any thing without the concurrence of his Metropolitan but what related to his own Diocese and the Territories under it And the ninth of Nice that provides so favourably for the Puritans when they should return to the communion of the Church supposeth Bishops to have a considerable Diocese besides their City For by this it is ordered that if a Bishop of the Puritans should embrace Catholick Communion and there were another Bishop of the Catholick Church in the same City that then (x) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Can. Nicen. 8. the Puritan should either retain the title of a Bishop in the same City if the other did think fit or else be received as a Presbyter But least this may have the appearance of two Bishops in the same Town some place is to be provided for him that he may be either a Chorepiscopus or a Presbyter in the Country The Synod of Antioch forbids the Presbyters of the Territories to send Canonical letters and in another gives the Bishop of the City full authority (y) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Can. Antioch 9. to order Ecclesiastical affairs not only in his City but in the whole Territory that belongs to it to ordain Presbyters and Deacons to exercise Jurisdiction within the extent of his Diocese And in the next Canon forbids (z) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Can. Antioch 10. the Chorepiscopi to ordain Presbyters or Deacons in the Country without the consent of the Bishop of the City to which they and the Territory did belong The Council of Elvira speaks of Deacons (a) Diaconus regens plebem Can. Eliber 77. that had Country cures and that the Bishop to whom they belonged was to perfect those who were baptized by these Curees by confirmation Basil (b) Basil ep 192. salutes the Country Clergy of the Diocese of Nicopolis distinct from those of the City and Theodoret who had a Diocese forty miles square reckoned (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theod. ep 42. his Episcopacy of divine institution and that his large Territory as well as his City was committed into his hands by God Theodosius Bishop of Synnada is said to drive the Macedonian Hereticks not only out of his City but (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Socr. l. 7. c. 3. out of all his Territories And Eustathius (e) Basil ep 73. overthrew all the Altars of Basilides in all the Territory of Gangrae And Synesius writing to the whole Church of Ptolemais addresseth to the people of the City and to those of the Country Parishes that belonged to it It would be an endless labour to alledge all the instances of this nature since nothing is more obvious and occurs more frequently in Ecclesiastical Writers I have shewed how great Territories belonged anciently to the Greek and Roman Cities how unlike their constitution was to ours and especially in this respect I have also shewed that the civil and Ecclesiastical Territories were the same and Mr. Clerkson confesses it His demands therefore concerning this matter receive a full answer and the proof which he (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Synes ep 11. required not without intimation of despair made good and beyond all reasonable exception To make this matter yet more clear I will instance in some Bishopricks whose extent are known or so much at leastwise as discovers them to be Dioceses consisting of many Country Parishes besides the City Churches I will begin with the Bishoprick of Theodoret because the limits of it have been described with greatest exactness and particularity The Diocese of Cyrus was forty miles in length and as much in breadth And Theodoret (h) Theod. ep 42. proceeds to describe it so minutely that he sets down the number of acres together with the condition and tenure of the land There were fifty thousand free from any service ten thousand belonging to the Fisc about fifteen thousand more subject to taxes but unable to pay according to the proportion then set So that this instance seems clear beyond all exception And as to the Ecclesiastical state of this Territory in his Epistle to Leo he says (i) Theod. ep 113. there were eight hundred Churches in it all belonging to his care Yet some have endeavoured to take off the evidence of this Epistle to Leo when it was urged by the learned Bishop of Worcester Mr. Baxter suspects it because it came from the Vatican Library and Mr. Clerkson (l) No evid of Dioc. Ep. p. 39. suggests the same suspition But this frivolous cavil hath been answered by the same hand that alledged the instance I will take the liberty to add only this that it happens fortunately to this Epistle that it hath an ancient voucher and a clear testimony in the next age after it was written For Liberatus (m) Quos secutus Theodoretus Papae suggessit quanta mala pertulerit rogans ut tali causae subveniretur Liber Brev. c. 12. makes mention of it and informs us that Theodoret wrote to Leo suggesting how much he had suffered of Dioscorus and desiring that for the remedy of these evils another Council might be called And (n) Constat ex ep p. 113 116. Garner in Liber p. 83. Garnerius in his observation upon this place directs us to this Epistle to Leo. Mr. Clerkson instead of eight hundred Churches constantly reads eighty without so much as giving notice that it is only his conjecture But be the number how it will we must lay aside all thoughts of Congregational Episcopacy in this Region Another exception against this instance is offered by Mr. Clerkson (o) No evid of Dioc. p. 39. that this was not a Diocese but a Province and that Theodoret was a Metropolitan And for this he quotes the learned Author whose testimonies he pretended to answer although he expresly says that this is not to be
analogy to the nature of the Office of which they are spoken but the measure of the Office cannot be taken from those expressions A General must go the Rounds and so must a Bishop too But it follows not therefore that a General ought not to command more Men than a private Captain or that a Bishop ought to have no more Parishes than a Presbyter may supply What inferences are to be drawn out of this topick concerning the great ness of the Episcopal charge and the dreadful condition of those who do not faithfully discharge it may better be learned from Chrysostom (b) Chrys in Heb. Hom. 34. than Mr. Clerkson Now since the account to be given of that Administration is so dreadful He wonders that any should be so forward to desire it It is strange that Men should be so ambitious of a high station indeed but withall so hazardous that they should sollicite nay intrude upon such a charge and reckon it a desirable promotion to be raised to a Precipice where without the greatest care and circumspection in the World they must fall head-long And certainly what he says to that effect with a heat and eloquence inimitable is sufficient one would think to mortify the most impotent Ambition in the World Another inference which Chrysostom draws from the consideration of the danger to which the Bishop's Office does expose him is that therefore the People under his charge ought to respect and to love him Knowing then says he (c) Chrys in Joh. Hom. 86. the greatness of his danger upon your account You on your part ought proportionably to love and to observe him While the Pilot is encouraged all is safe but if he be reproached and hated and hindred all is in danger to be lost So a Bishop if respected can go on in the business of his high and necessary Office with chearfulness and comfort But when he is discouraged with the frowardness and evil disposition of those under his Direction his hands are weakned the People are exposed to the mercy of the waves He proceeds farther to shew the respect due to that Office even under the supposition of Mal-Administration For our Saviour advised the Jews to observe the Scribes because they sate in Moses his Chair tho their actions were not suitable to the dignity of their Station But the Bishops have a more honourable Chair for they sit in the Chair of Christ Had the notion of Congregational Episcopacy ever come into the thoughts of Chrysostom these inferences had been very unsuitable For then instead of advising the People to reverence and obey their Bishop who exposed his Soul to so much danger by taking upon himself the care of them all he must have advised as Mr. Clerkson and his Brethren would have done that they would separate from him for they were too many for the oversight of one Bishop He could not Preach to them all He could not Visit nor Comfort them all There were Men of as great gifts willing to receive them in elect Congregations these should look into the inward state of the Soul and the secrets of their Families As for the Bishop he had more than he could look well after and it was not fit that they should swell his accounts too high by adding to his charge If Chrysostom had the same thoughts of a large Bishoprick with Mr. Clerkson such must have been his Discourse But he was far from changing the ancient bounds or desiring Bishops in consideration of the danger of so great a charge to divide their Dioceses till they should be reduced to the Congregational Model much less did he suggest to the People that they should subdivide since their Bishops would not restore the pretended Primitive Episcopacy I cannot omit one passage out of Chrysostom which Mr. Clerkson either mistook or was willing to pervert to his purpose But as it is cited it is directly contrary to the sense and words of the Author (d) Chrys in Tit. Or. 1. p. 384. He that hath the charge of a great City see how great a flame he exposes himself too For all the things that are not acted by him he shall be responsible Now Chrysostom among other dangers to which the Episcopal Function is exposed reckons it none of the least that he is to Ordein other Bishops And therefore if for friendship or other reasons he shall promote an unworthy person and commit to him the care of a great City how great a flame does he expose himself to He is guilty of all the Souls the other shall destroy and shall be responsible for all the things that are acted by him Mr. Clerkson has added here a small word that makes great alteration of the sense it is not and hath perverted the whole passage from the Ordeiners to the persons Ordeined and to make all fit he is forced to change the words Had he been to represent the danger of those Ordeiners he would not only have made them responsible for the miscarriages of unworthy Bishops but charged upon them as an unpardonable neglect that they did not Ordein many Bishops for every great City since one tho never so diligent must be insufficient for the charge But this Chrysostom could not think of For tho he is said to have foretold some things yet the notions of the Independents as well as the Sect were at too great a distance from him to be foreseen It seems to me matter of great astonishment to see Men pretending to a Conscience so nice and scrupulous in Religion to deal with so little Faith and to abuse the most moving and lively eloquence of ancient Preachers and words as it were of fire only to make a little false light to abuse the ignorant and simple into a belief that Novelty is ancient that Schism is Catholick Unity and that Chrysostom the great Patriarch of the Imperial City was in his Principles and desires an Independent Lord How long shall mean delusions be permitted to have so powerful and prevailing influence How long shall the Wolf possess the Sheep against their Shepherds and break into the Folds under the disguise of Sheeps-cloathing How long shall the deluded People have eys and not see and the Souls for which Christ died be under the power of Deceivers How long will it be ere the Hypocrite be disrobed and the People see through the disguise of those who abuse them Surely there will come a time when God will hear the Prayers and Expostulations of his Servants When the faithful Shepherd shall gather together those that are scattered and bring back those that are gone astray When he shall carry them on his shoulders rejoycing and triumphing in the disappointment of the beasts of prey But who shall live when this comes to pass Blessed surely shall their Eys be who enjoy the sight a joyful and pleasant thing beyond expression it will be to see brethren dwell together in Unity I should have concluded here