of Bishops should be continually present 2. The disorders caused by the Calvinists in France and by the Lutherans in Germany required their Bishops residence to secure Catholick Religion at home otherwise they would not have been absent from the Synod 3. The dissentions that hapned betwixt the Pope the Emperour King of France and the civil wars betwixt Catholicks Protestants hindred the Bishops sometimes of one Nation sometimes of another from attending the Council 4. All this was fully recompenc'd in the third last Convocation of the Council under Pius IV. XVII In the end of the Council we find 187. Italian Bishops and all the rest make only 83. A. 1. All these Italians were not of the Pope's Territory but a great many of them subject to the Emperour the King of Spain the Duke of Florence the State of Venice In several matters they had different instructions adhered to their divers interests even in opposition to the Pope when the Ambassadors of their Princes craved their assistance Soave tells us * p. â—22 it was publickly said by the Papalins so he is pleas'd to call them that France had ever pretended to limit the Pope's power subject it to the Canons Canons and that this opinion would be follow'd by many Italians who because they cannot or know not how to make use of the preferments of the Court do envy those that do besides those who are desirous of novity they know not why of whom there seem'd to be a considerable number 2. 'T is no great matter as to our present purpose whether the Pope had all the Italian suffrages at his beck or no because 't is certain he had no need at all of any such assistance in deciding the Protestant controversies in which the Bishops of all nations unanimously agreed See what Soave says concerning the following points Apostolical Traditions p. 145. It was approv'd by all that they should be receiv'd as of equal authority with the Scriptures Vulgar Edition of Scripture p. 150. It was approved almost by a general consent p. 152. the Congregation being ended the Cardinal Santa Croce assembled those that had opposed the Vulgar Edition shew'd they had no reason to complain because it was not prohibited but left free to correct it to have recourse to the Original but that only it was forbid to say there were in it Errors of Faith for which it ought to be corrected Original Sin p. 164. No man resisted the condemnation of the Articles Justification Merit p. 215. In condemning the Lutheran opinions all did agree with exquisite Unity Sacraments p. 219. All the Divines agreed in affirming the number seven condemning the contrary opinion as heretical Baptism Confirmation p. 232. All parties were satisfied Worship of Christ in the Eucharist p. 306. All agreed Communion under one kind p. 306. All made use of long discourses but all to the same purpose p. 485. They all agreed that there was no necessity or precept of the Cup. Transubstantiation p. 309. There was a contention between the two Schools Dominican and Franciscan which troubled the Fathers with the subtility small fruit thereof The Dominicans said the one substance is made of the other The Franciscans said the one doth succeed the other Both agreed that it is properly truly called Transubstantiation p. 310 it was determin'd in the General Congregation to use an expression so universal as might be accommodated to the meaning of both parties without approving or condemning either the one or the other Sacrifice of Mass p. 508. In the discussions of the Divines all were uniform in condemning the Protestant opinions although there was some contention whether or no Christ at supper offered himself p. 538. some saying that in regard of the three twenty contradictors it was not lawfully decided and others answering that an eighth part could not be called considerable Auricular Confession p. 328. 329. 330. No disagreement appears among the Prelates or Divines concerning the 6.7 8. can of the 14. Session Extreme Unction p. 330. The Divines spoke with some prolixity but without any difference among themselves Promotion of married persons to holy Orders p. 698. The Fathers did uniformly without difficulty agree upon the negative Matrimony p. 730. The doctrine anathematisms were read to which all consented Purgatory Invocation of Saints p. 749. The Decrees were read all approved with great brevity little contradiction Indulgences p 757. The Decrees were read approved by all XVIII Proxies were not allowed to have decisive votes A. 1. There were but seven in the Council 2. They had votes in consultations among the rest 3. They had no right to a decisive vote 4. Were it indifferently allowed it would encourage Bishops to pretend necessity of their absence XIX All the Bishops were sworn to the Pope before they sate in Council A. 1. They never swore to vote against their judgment They only swore Canonical obedience fidelity to him that is such obedience fidelity as the Canons of former Councils require * Bellarmin De Concil lib. 1 cap. 21. as long as he is Pope and so long as he commands those things which according to God according to the Canons he can command but they do not swear that they will not in Council say what they think or that they will not depose him if they convict him of being a Heretick 2. An Oath taken in general terms to defend his Canonical rights leaves the Council in perfect liberty to examine what is Canonical what not 3. Without the Oath they are strictly bound by the Canons to the same obedience fidelity so that it induces no new obligation but only confirms what was their duty before 4. Parliament-men swearing fidelity to their King according to the Laws do not loose the freedom of their Vote nor the power of changing many Laws making others with the King's consent 5. Every Bishop in the English Church at his consecration swears due obedience to his Archbishop his Successors Why may not Catholick Bishops swear as much obedience to the Pope And what harm is there if they take the very same Oath again before they sit in Council XX. In one of the Congregations the Bishop of Guadice was interrupted affronted and the Cardinal of Lorain complain'd the Council was not free A. This hapned only once satisfaction was presently given Soave relates it thus * p. 593. The Bishop of Guadice speaking of the last * Seff 23. Canon where it was determin'd that Bishops call'd by the Pope are true lawfull said that there were also Bishops not call'd by the Pope nor confirm'd by him which nevertheless were true lawfull For example he brought four Suffragans elected ordain'd by the Archbishop of Salzburg who take no confirmation from the Pope Cardinal Simoneta did not suffer him to proceed saying that
avoid but the Judge must be a Party For this must be the first controversy whether he be a Judge or no and in that he must be a Party Such is the Pope's Case in the Definition of his Supremacy The same necessity is found in supreme Civil power Inferiour Courts are liable to Appeals But if some of the King's subjects rebell against him oppose his prerogatives or laws 't is evidently necessary that the King must judge his own case or the Offence must not be judg'd at all What must the King do Substitute an equal number of Royalists Rebells This can never be an effectual provision for the Common Peace of Government Or must he remit the arbitration to a neighbouring State 1. This state is always interess'd therefore partial 2. This does not leave within the compass of any Kingdom upon earth sufficient power to procure the common good 3. Were it allow'd in Civil Power it cannot be applied to our present case unless Controversies in Religion could be decided out of the Church by men of no Religion at all In the National Synod of Dort in the year 1618. the Low-country Remonstrants seeing themselves like to be over-voted by the Protestants made the same excuses saying that the major part of the Synod was declar'd of a contrary party that they were already excommunicated by them and therefore they ought not to be Judges To this the Synod replied that if this exception were admitted it would subvert the whole frame of Ecclesiastical Government that Pastors would be discourag'd from their duty of opposing the first beginnings of Heresy if therefore they must forfeit their right of giving suffrages or being Judges afterwards that the Arians other Hereticks might ever have pleaded the same exception against the Orthodox Fathers that Divines neither are nor ought to be indifferent in matters of Religion so that if only Neuters may be judges there will be none left in the Church and we must go abroad no body knows where to look for ' em This was the substance of their Answer which I here set down in the Latin to satisfie your curiosity Nunquam praxim hanc Ecclesiarum fuisse ut Pastores quoties exorientibus erroribus ex officio se opponerent propterea jure suffragiorum aut de illis ipsis erroribus judicandipotestate exciderent Ita enim omnem everti judiciorum Ecclesiasticorum ordinem efficique ne Pastores officio suo fideliter fungi queant .... Eos qui in doctrinâ aut moribus scandalorum autores sunt semper Censores suoge Consistoria Classes Synodos ceu partem adversam rejicere .... ad eum modum Arianis aliisque olim hereticis adversus Orthodoxos Pastores semper licuisset excipere The English Divines deliver'd their opinion in these terms 1. Huic sententiae refragatur perpetua praxis omnium Ecclesiarum Nam in Synodis Oecumenicis Nicaeno c. ii qui antiquitus receptam doctrinam oppugnarunt ab illis qui eandem sibi traditam admiserunt approbarunt examinati judicati damnati sunt 2. Ipsius rei necessitas huc cogit Theologi enim in negotio religionis neque esse solent tanquam abrasae tabulae neque esse debent Si igitur soli neutrales possent esse judices extra Ecclesiam in quâ lites enatae sunt quaerendi essent 3. Ipsa aequitas suadere videtur Nam quae ratio reddi potest ut suffragiorum jure priventur omnes illi Pastores qui ex officio receptam Ecclesia Doctrinam propugnantes secus docentibus adversati sunt Si hoc obtinuerit nova dogmata spargentibus nemo obsisteret ne ipso facto jus omne postmodum de illis controversiis judicandi amitteret Pray give me leave now to ask Why might not the Parties be Judges in the Council of Trent as well as in the Synod of Dort If in one case the Remonstrants were oblig'd to submit to the Protestants Why were not the Protestants oblig'd to submit to the Catholicks in the other The Synod was forc'd to pretend some disparity and for want of a better alledg'd this that the Protestants and Remonstrants were under the same Magistracy And what if if they were We are not now talking of Civil Assemblies but of Ecclesiastical Dos the division of Civil Power destroy the Unity of the Catholick Church which we believe in our Creed Or if there be any reason why when any Schisme arises the Authority of the Whole is devolved to the major part does not the same Reason conclude as evidently in favour of a General as of a National Council IX To make it better appear which was the major part the Protestants ought to have had a decisive voice in Council A. 1. Binius says that the Council premitted this caution that if the Protestants were allow'd for once to give a Placet it should be no prejudice to the right honour of the present future Councils which looks as if the Council were not fully resolv'd to deny this to them if much insisted upon 2. They who openly maintain such doctrines as have been formerly condemn'd in General Councils are cutt of from the Catholick Church they are not Members of it therefore can have no right to a decisive voice 3. If it had been permitted they were still certain to be over-voted by 270. Bishops to whom if you add the Catholick Divines by the same rule as the Protestants there remain'd no ground for any hopes This the Protestants saw well enough therefore were willing to wave all Ecclesiastical Judges Soave tells you how they shuffled in this point One time they proposed a Decision by Laicks indifferently chosen in an equal number on both sides Another time they appeal'd to * p. 73. a godly free Council which is not the Tribunal of Pope Priests only but of all the Orders of the Church not excluding the Seculars Here indeed the Clergy were admitted to this godly free Council but it was only by way of spectators to see what the Laity would please to do there for * ibid. the Pope making himself a party to the cause it was just that the manner and form of the proceeding should be determin'd by the Princes This was the * ib. Answer of 15. Princes 30 Cities assembled in Smalcalda 1535. Again about two years after when the * p. 76. Emperour sent his Vice Chancellor to exhort them to receive the Council they answerd that they had always demanded a free Christian Council that every man may freely speak Turks Infidels being excluded Here you see that every man who call'd himself a Christian no matter how otherwise qualified was to have a free Vote in Council only Turks Infidels were to be excluded Judge you what a free godly Council this was like to be Mean time all this was only a copy of their countenance They clearly foresaw that the much greater part of those to whom
cutting them up by the Roots I had almost quite forgot to tell you that in the end of the General Reformation the Council has taken particular care that no Dispensing power may obstruct the force benefit of the Decrees Be it known to all men says the Council * p. 756. n. 18. that the Canons shall be observed exactly indistinctly by all shall not be dispensed but for an urgent and just cause heard with great maturity without cost by whosoere they are to whom it appertains Otherwise the Dispensation shall be judg'd Surreptitious If the Cause be not only just but urgent if the justice and urgency be well known before the grant of it if nothing be given to any whosoever for it Such a Dispensation is unquestionably blameless And now I desire to know How was it possible for the Council to provide more effectually for the punctual observance of all these three conditions than by declaring that otherwise the Dispensation is shall be surreptitious of no effect XXXI In the end of the Council there was great joy in Rome for having cheated the world and advanced their interest where they fear'd to have their wings clipp'd A. Here I know not how you 'l be able to make the two ends of Soave's History meet In his first book he talks much at this rate and in his last he largely contradicts it He tells us in the end how the Pope and Cardinals deliberated upon the matter whether or no the Decrees of Reformation were to be confirmed And says that * p. 759. the Court understanding that the Pope was resolved upon the Confirmation chang'd their joy into grief All the Officers complain'd of the losses they should receive in their offices if that Reformation were executed ... Supplications also Memorials were given to the Pope by those who having bought their Offices foreseeing this loss demanded restitution ... The Pope having diligently consider'd thereof deputed eight Cardinals to consult upon the Confirmation to think upon some remedies for the complaints of the Court ... He concludes It is certain that they who did procure the Council had no aim but to pull down the Pope's Authority And while the Council did last every one did speak as if it had power to give Laws to him After all you think to mortifie me with objecting that the corruptions of the Court the abuses tolerated in the Church are as great as ever But you must give me leave to tell you 1. I am not obliged to take your bare word for 't 2. Whether it be true or false 't is nothing to my present purpose If false you are to blame for saying so If true 't is none of the Council's fault Having proceeded legally having made good Laws the Council has done its part 't is ours to do the rest My business is to defend the Council I have nothing to do to rake the dunghill of the Church Has the Decalogue less Authority because the greatest part of mankind are so disobedient Or is the Ghospel less Sacred because there are so few who live according to the maxims of it If this be the onely reason why you Protest against the Council of Trent because the Decrees of Reformation are not every where in all things punctually observ'd I see no reason why you may not with as good a grace Protest against the Ghospel the Ten Commandments I have now done with your Objections And although I am not of the Poet's mind that Brevity is always good be it or be it not understood Yet I have endeavour'd to be as short as possibly I could because when I deal with a man of your parts a word is enough to the wise few words are best As for Soave whom you so much admire I desire to ask you a few questions before I tell you what I think of him Suppose a mortal enemy of yours should Libel you by the way of History call you Rogue Rascal in the very Preface and at the same time perswade his Reader that he follows exactly the truth Would you have me take this Author for an Oracle Would you not think me reasonable if I suspected almost every word he said And ought not I to do the Council as much Justice as I would my Friend T is certain that Soave was a mortal enemy of the Council In the very beginning he declares it He says * p. 2. it has caused the greatest deformation that ever was calls it the Iliad of the Age which is as kind a compliment to the Fathers as if he had call'd them a pack of Villains He tells us indeed in the same place that he is not possess'd with any passion which may make him erre and this was well enough said But how shall a body do to believe him If it were your own case I 'm sure you would not like my being credulous And how do I know but that an Enemy of the Council may deserve as little credit as an Enemy of yours Another reason why I do not like him is because he takes upon him to write men's private thoughts with as much assurance as he writes their words and actions He hardly ever speaks of any intelligence coming to Rome but he entertains his Reader with a pleasant Scene in which he brings the Pope alone upon the Stage discoursing with himself his secret apprehensions deliberations upon every matter such thoughts as no wise man would trust his neighbour with although he were the best surest friend he had in the world How Soave could possibly come to any certain knowledg of such things I am not able to comprehend And truly if a man in one case will tell me more than he can know I have just reason to be afraid that in another he 'l tell me more than he dos know A third reason which weighs more with me than all the rest is this You tell me on the one side He was a Popish Frier And on the other I cannot believe but that although perhaps for some reasons he did not openly profess it He was really a Protestant It appears so plainly by his censuring the Decrees of Doctrine as well as those of Reformation by the severe reflections of his own which he intermixes with those of the Lutheran Criticks that I do not conceive how any man of sense who reads him with attention can be of another opinion Had he been a barefaced Protestant I should be more inclined to believe him There is something of integrity honour in a man that openly professes what he is And although passion prejudice may blind him yet I am apt to think that such a person will never deceive me more than he deceives himself But a Protestant that lives dies in the profession of a Popish Frier How can I believe his words when the most serious of his actions are only so many lies For my own part I would as soon make choice of a Catholick Jew to comment upon the Ghospel to write the life of Christ as I would choose a Protestant Frier to write the History of a General Council Before I end my Letter give me leave once more to mind you of the Discourse we had when we saw one another last We both agreed that * C. II. p. 1. it were a very irrational thing to make Laws for a Country leave it to the inhabitants to be the Interpreters Judges of those Laws for then every man will be his own Judge by consequence no such thing as either Right or Wrong that * ibid. therefore we cannot suppose that God Almighty would leave us at those Uncertainties as to give us a Rule to go by leave every man to be his own Judge that * ib. Christ left his Spirit Power to his Church by which they were the Judges even of the Scripture it self many years after the Apostles-which Books were Canonical which were not that * ibid. p. 2. the Judgment of the Church is without Appeal otherwise what they decide would be no farther to be follow'd than it agrees with every man's private Judgment that because in the Apostles Creed we believe in the Holy Catholick Church therefore we ought to believe in the first four General Councils which were true legal Representatives of it And lastly that if the Council of Trent were prov'd to be as General as free as legal in all it's circumstances as any of the first four Councils were then you must needs own your self obliged in Conscience to submit to it to leave of Protesting against it This last part I have here endeavour'd to prove out of Soave himself your own Historian who always makes the worst of things never speaks a favourable word but when the Power of Truth constrains him to it If I have not perform'd according to expectation 't is your own fault who are to blame for having a better opinion of me than I deserve I am no Doctor nor Graduate but every way unfit to be a Champion of the Cause Yet having receiv'd your Commands I have just reason to expect that you will easily pardon a man who in this occasion is guilty of no other crime than being ready to shew himself Sept. 22. 1686. Your Obedient Servant N. N. Page 70. line 1. read rewarded p. 75. * 4. r. ch 14. p. 76. l. 8. r. his 9. book p. 85. l. 26. r. many p. 86. l. 29. r. the year 831. p. 89. l. 8. dele de p. 114. l. 21. r. his 2. book p. 152. l. 27. r. shut out p. 161. l. 6. r. it has p. 165. l. 1. r. your p. 168. l. 5. r. haereticis p. 172. l. 3. dele an p. 176. l. 26. r. in this p. 189. l. 22. r. to Basil p. 190. l. 9. r. the case ibid. l. 13. r. HAERETICIS p. 194. l. 1. r. another p. 225 l. 3. r. Charles II. p. 240. * 2. r. 590. FINIS