despising the Church shall presume to perform the Offices of the Church * * In the Orig. It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Printed Canons have it the officiating Presbyter not being thereunto licensed by the Bishop let him be Anathema 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The 5. Canon of the Synod of Antioch If any Presbyter or Deacon despising his own Bishop hath withdrawn himself from the Church and set up an Altar in a private Meeting and shall disobey the admonitions of the Bishop and will not be persuaded by him nor submit to him exhorting of him again and again he is absolutely to be deposed and ought no longer to be treated as a curable person neither as one who can retain his honour and if he shall persevere to make tumults and disturbances in the Church he is to be turned over as a seditious person to the Secular Power 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The 15 Canon of the same Synod If any Bishop accused of any Crimes be condemned by all the Bishops of the Province who have all with one accord denounced the same sentence against him such an one by no means ought to be judged again by others but the concordant sentence of the Provincial Bishops ought to remain firm 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The 10 Canon of the Synod of Carthage If any Presbyter being puffed up against his own Bishop shall make a Schism let him be Anathema 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The 13 Canon of the Synod of Constantinople called the first and second Synod The Devil having sown the seeds of Heretical Tares in the Church of Christ seeing them cut up by the roots by the Sword of the Spirit hath betaken himself to a new way and method viz. to divide the Church by the madness of Schismaticks but the holy Synod being also willing to obviate this Stratagem of his hath decreed as followeth If any Presbyter or Deacon under pretence of accusing his own Bishop of any Crimes shall presume to withdraw from his Communion and not to mention his Name in the holy Prayers of the Liturgy according to the Tradition of the Church * * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before Synodical Judgment and Trial such a one shall be deposed and deprived of all Sacerdotal honour For he that is in the Order of a Priest and shall usurp the power of judging bâ—longing to the Metropolitanes and as much as in him lies shall condemn his own Father and Bishop before sentence pronounced by them he is worthy neither of the honour nor appellation of a Presbyter and those who are followers of such an one if they are in Holy Orders even any of them shall be degraded from his proper honour but if they are Monks or Laicks they shall by all means be excommunicated from the Church untill abhorring the conversation of Schismaticks they shall return unto their proper Bishop 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The 14 Canon of the same Synod If any Bishop pretending an accusation against his Metropolitane ††〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before Synodical Judgment shall withdraw himself from Communion with him and shall not recite his Name according to custom in Divine Service the holy Synod hath decreed that such an one shall be deposed if after private admonition he shall depart from his own Metropolitane and make a Schism For it behoves every one to know his own proper bounds and that neither the Presbyter depise his own proper Bishop nor the Bishop his own Metropolitane 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The 15 Canon of the same Synod These decrees concerning Presbyters Bishops and Metropolitanes agree also to Patriarchs So that if any Bishop or Metropolitane shall presume to depart from Communion with his own Patriarch and shall not mention his Name in the Divine Offices as is decreed and ordered but shall make a separation * * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before Synodical conviction and final condemnation of him the holy Synod hath decreed that such an one be absolutely deposed from all Sacred Orders if he offend in this kind after private admonition And these things are decreed and enacted concerning those who under pretence of any accusations revolt from their own Superiors and make a Schism ††〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the Prints only and break the Vnity of the Church But if any shall separate themselves from Communion with their Superior for any Heresie condemn'd by the holy Synods and Fathers he publickly Preaching the same Heresie to the People and teaching it bare-fac'd in the Church Such shall not be only free from Canonical censure for separating themselves from Communion with the Bishop so called ‡ ‡ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 before Synodical condemnation but shall be thought worthy of the honour that is due to the Orthâ—dox because they have not condemned a Bishop but a false Bishop and a false Teacher and have not divided the Unity of the Church by Schism but have studiously endeavoured to preserve the Church from Schism and Divisions From this Collection of Canons which speaks of no Deposition or Deprivation of Bishops but what is Synodical an unprejudiced Reader will easily perceive that the Author of the Manuscript of which this Collection is the latter part ought to be understood of the former not of Secular but of Ecclesiastical Deprivations by Synods abusing their lawfull power and unjustly depriving and deposing Bishops whom they ought not to have deprived and deposed And that the Author ought to be so understood is farther evident from his citing the Synods explication of their Canons as well as the Canons themselves with respect to which they tell us that notwithstanding what is said in those Canons the People and Priests may separate from their Bishops or the Bishops from their Metropolitane or the Metropolitane from the Patriarch before Synodical condemnation if they openly and publickly Preach any Heresie which is already condemned by the holy Synods which strongly implies that he thought that they were not upon any other account to forsake them unless they were Synodically condemned and that the unjust deposions he speaks of in his Treatise are to be understood of unjust depositions by Synods i. e. of unjust depositions by the proper and competent but erring Judge As great as the decay of ancient Discipline was in the Greek Church in the Age when Master B. thinks this Manuscript was written Synodical depositions though by most degenerate and corrupt Synods was still the common practice of it and Emperors still deprived Bishops by the old way of Synodical Authority as is plain from the deposition of Arsenius Patriarch of Constantinople by the procurement of the usurping Michael Paleologus of which I will here give a short account out of Nicephorus Gregoras because it caused the greatest Schism that ever happened at Constantinople but that upon the deposition of John Chrysostom and also
the Case before us Deprivation is declared to be an Ecclesiastical Crime inter poenas ecclesiasticis legibus constitutas and liable to Tit. de Depr c. 1. the Punishments assigned by the Ecclesiastical Laws and thereupon it orders that a Bishop in amittendi status sui periculum venit that falls under Cap. 2. the danger of being deprived be referred to the Archbishop and two other Bishops deputed thereunto by the King qui Judicium exercebunt who shall have Power and Authority to hear and determine the said Cause And in case of Appeals it is farther decreed that they may be made from Tit. de Appel c. 11. the inferior Courts to the Bishop from the Bishop to the Archbishop from the Archbishop to the King quo cum fuerit causa devoluta which if once brought thither it is then to be transmitted si gravis sit causa if it be a matter of great concern to a Provincial Synod if of a less to three or four Bishops appointed thereunto to put a final End unto it a Method purely antient and primitive and if any other were practised whilst these Constitutions were framing it was certainly contrary to the Designs of the Reformers and perhaps no more justifiable than the Sacrilege the filling of Ecclesiastical Places with Lay Persons or the Bishops taking Commissions for the Exercise of their spiritual Offices was and which I think no Clergyman that at this day wears a Cassock in England will advocate for However since the designed Book was never admitted and no Review made thereof from that time to this I cannot see but what Dr. Heylin hath asserted must hold good to wit That all Hist Edw. 6. p. 19. the said Canons and Constitutions so restrained and qualified as above must still remain in force as of old they did and so we leave the Matter for the present 28. And indeed a State Deposition whatsoever noise it makes in the World or how much soever it pleases the Ears of some is but a novel and wicked Invention If Bishops saith St. Clemens be once constituted Ep. ad Cor. 1. c. 44. and approved of by the Church and it appears that they have been faithfull in their Office constant to their Ministration and for the time past well thought of for their Episcopal Qualifications 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we cannot if such as these be laid aside but look upon it as a piece of great Injustice neither will it be a small Crime in us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if they continue piously and blamelesly to offer up their Oblations for us to turn them out of their Bishopricks A thing never heard of in the Church for many Centuries of Years But if at any time the Bishop became so irregular as that the Church would no longer endure him in his Office they deposed as well as deprived him and reduced the first Bishop into a Layman before they advanced the second to his See and probably upon this very account to prevent the Inconvenience to which a State-Deprivation is subject of having two Bishops pretending to one See at once Nay saith Chrysostome 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pallad p. 20. de Vit. Chrys if such Proceedings prevail and it once become lawfull to invade and usurp another's Bishoprick 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to cast out what Bps. they please for their own Interest and Humor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all things will speedily run to ruine and the whole Christian World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the casting out of some and the being cast out by others be turned upside down An Arian Constantius may then deprive all the Orthodox and fill the Church with that Doctrine Mahomet may pull down the Cross and its Followers and set up the Half-moon and his Musselmen in their stead The long Parliament must not be thought to have done amiss when they cast off not some but the whole Order of Bishops nor the Usurper Cromwell the C. L. Asses that were got into their room a Matter of such fatal consequâ—nce to the Church that the divine Hosius understanding that Constantius was putting it into practice against the Bishops that would not subscribe to his Arianism and in my opinion Socinianism and Aerianism are not much better steps in on the behalf of the deprived giving the Emperour to know that it belonged not to him to exercise such an Authority over the Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I beseech you says he leave off these Attemps Athan. Ep. ad solitar Vit. Edit Commet 1600. of yours and remember that though you be an Emperour you are not immortal dread the Day of Judgment and keep your self unspotted against that day 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inter meddle not with Ecclesiastical Affairs neither command us therein but rather take your Direction from us For God hath committed the Care of the Kingdom to you and to us the Care of his Church and as he who invades the Kingdom contradicts the divine Ordinance so be you carefull that you draw not into your Jurisdiction the things of the Church lest thereby you draw Guilt upon your self Give as it is written unto Caefar the things that belong unto Caesar and unto God the things that belong unto God 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for it is neither lawfull for us to meddle in the Affairs of the Empire nor for you to meddle in the more sacred Affairs of the Church A Power certainly never designed by Christ since it is so affrontive to his Institution and so destructive to his Church However I would fain know of these Latitudinarian Statesmen who are so zealous to advance it among us 1. Whether since Christ's Kingdom is not of this World the Kingdoms of the World must have such Power in and over it as to deprive it and its Bishops of a Being and Existence in the World 2. Whether a Lay-Power purely such can operate upon Spiritual Persons in Matters purely spiritual so far at least as by their secular Laws and Sanctions to dissolve that spiritual Vnion that Christ hath made between them and their Church And whether it be not as absurd in them to attempt it and as great a Nullity in itself when effected as if the States of England should make Laws and enact Penalties for the States of Holland 3. Whether if the State hath such a Power to deprive a Bishop of his Church as they have put John upon William they may not put William upon John again and at length Jack Presbyter upon both as already they have done in Scotland 4. Whether the new made Bishops be not as much to be accounted State made as the other State deprived 5. Whether the deprived Bishops remaining Bishops of the Catholick Church as they are pleased to say they do they do not remain Bishops in and of the Church of England since that is a part of the Catholick Church 6. Whether if still Bishops in England there be not
it being impossible to have two opposite Bishops in a Church without disturbing the Order and destroving the Vnity thereof For if there be two opposite Bishops there must be two opposite Altars and two opposite Communions each Bishop pretending aâ—ainst the other to be the true catholick and lawfull Bishop to which the Flock ought to adhere The first and true Bishop will doe what he can to keep the Flock from straying after the second and false one who usurps upon him and the Vsurper on the other hand will endeavour to the utmost to draw them after him and drain the Congregations of him over whom he usurps 7. Thus when that wicked and turbulent Novatianus the Author and Founder of the Schism was ordained Bp. of Rome over the head of Cornelius canonically placed there before He pretended to be the true and rightfull Bishop and to strengthen his own Interest would admit of none if formerly of Cornelius his Party to communicate with him unless they would first solemnly swear to become ever after his And therefore holding both their hands together with the bread in his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Euseb Hist lib. 6. cap. 35. swear says he to me that you will never forsake me nor go back to Cornelius and so delivering the Bread the Communicant instead of answering Amen as the Custome was was forced to say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I will never return to him And as he was thus forward and active to begin a Schism at Rome so he was no less sedulous to propagate it abroad whereupon St. Cyprian his Contemporary reports it of him That Ep. 55. Antoniano though there were Bishops already regularly ordained and canonically constituted throughout all the Provinces and the several Cities thereof venerable for Age sound in Faith approved in Trials and Perfecutions yet he super eos creare alios Pseudoepiscopos ausus est was so presumptuous and daring as to create over them Bishops False-bishops of his own as if he were able by the discord he endeavoured to foment to over-run the Church of Christ and to tear in pieces its whole ecclesiastical Frame And indeed such footing it took that Socrates speaking of the Sect tells us that in the time of Boniface l. which was full an hundred and fifty Lib. 7. c. 30. Edit Col. Allobr years after 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they mightily flourished at Rome enjoyed many Churches and had under them many great Congregations Sozomen speaking of them says That though other Sects were generally Lib. 2. cap. 30. short liv'd and soon decayed yet 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Novatians or they who had their rise from Novatus because their Bishops were for the most part good Men and they themselves held the Catholick Faith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 were numerous at first and so continued to be 8. Such a Mischief arose by Meletius of Lycus in Egypt from whom the Meletian Faction took both its Name and Rise He quarrelling with Peter his Patriarch the Bp. of Alexandria for that he admitted the Lapsi being then both in Prison together and with them many other Bishops Ecclesiasticks and Confessors the same Quarrel that Novatianus fifty years before had with Cornelius took part against him which Peter perceiving and willing to try how the rest stood affected threw his Mantle cross the Prison crying out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they that are for Epiph. ad Haeres lib. 2. T. 2 Haer. 68. me and my opinion let them come hither and they that are for Meletius let them go to him which being done 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the company saith Epiphanius was divided and the greatest number of them Loc. cit cap. 3. went to Meletius and from thenceforth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they parted Companies and in acts of divine Worship kept their separate Assemblies Nay as soon as ever released out of Prison he where-ever he went 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ordained Bishops Presbyters and Deacons of his own against the Bishops Presbyters and Deacons constituted before by Peter and thereupon erected Churches for his own Faction and so divided the Church that each Party refused to communicate with the other distinguishing their Assemblies as the aforesaid Author has it by an Inscription over their Church doors those who followed Peter taking to themselves the ancient name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Catholick Church and those who went after Meletius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Church of Martyrs Nay though many of both sides were afterwards condemned to the Mines 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they would not even there so much as communicate or pray together A breach of so ill consequence to the Church that being brought before the Nicene Fathers they disabled the Bishops which Meletius had made till confirmed by a more holy and warrantable Ordination and as for himself they confined him to his own City 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 allowing him no power for the future to elect Socr. l. 1. c. 6. or to lay hands on any declaring him to be such an Offender in the Case that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to the rigour of Justice he deserved no Favour at all 9. Such another Schism was that in Affrica begun at Carthage by Majorinus his being made Bishop there whilst Caecilian the preordained Bishop Advers Parm. lib. 1. p. 19. Aug contra Parm. lib. 1. cap. 3. Paris 1679. was living The Promoters were few as Optatus observes two baffled Competitors two or three sacrilegious Church-robbers potens factiosa Mulier a rich factious and exasperated Woman The Abetters not many more among whom Donatus who gave name to the Faction all Traditors and so uncapable of ordaining others or continuing in their own Orders But though so despicable Infects at first yet Cyp. Ep. 65. no sooner embodied and winged but like the Locusts in the Revelations they soon overspread and covered the Land filled all the Territories and places thereof insomuch that in their Council at Bagaia you shall Aug. cont Ep. Parm. l. 1. c. 4 Edit Paris 1531. Cont. Parm. lib. 1. p. 22. find no less than three hundred and odd Bishops of their brood Nay so numerous that whereas formerly men were accustomed to blush and be ashamed of their Actions there were none at that time saith Optatus to do it quia praeter paucos Catholicos peccaverunt universi forasmuch as all were become Sinners and all a few Catholicks excepted Apostates from the Vnity of the Church A Schism that lasted near an hundred years Aug. lib. 3. cont Julianum and might have continued much longer in the Church had not the pars Donati upon the death of Parmenian their Bishop put two new ones Primianus and Maximianus together in the Chair at once of whom Saint Augustine makes this Remark that for any Worth or Excellency in them Ep. 162. other than to head a Faction Maximianus might have been Minimianus and Primianus might
erat Ecclesia the Church was thronged with People the Page 21 22. Episcopal Chair crouded the Altar remained in its proper place whereat St. Cyprian Lucian and many other peaceable Bishops before had ministred but upon the unlawfull Ordination of Majorinus exitum est foras there was a going forth and Altar was set up against Altar And so manifestum est it is evident and clear exiisse de Ecclesia Ordinatores Majorinum qui ordinatus est that Majorinus and his Ordainers and not Caecilian and his Followers went out of the Church and made the Schism And therefore saith the same Optatus to Parmenian one of the Successors to Majorinus video te adhuc ignorare I perceive thou art still ignorant Lib. 1. p. 11. that the Schism was made first by your Leaders and Predecessors quare harum originem rerum look but into the first beginning of it and you will find that Caecilian did not go out from Majorinus but Majorinus from Caecilian neither did Caecilian break the Succession by departing from the Chair of St. Cyprian but Majorinus And since so it was it is evident vos Haeredes Traditorum Schismaticorum that You and Yours are the Offspring of Traditors and Schismaticks and not Caecilian and his Party 12. Nay so far did this Priority of Ordination upon a due and legitimate Succession prevail that it not onely null'd the Ordination of the super ordained but thrust both him and his Ordainers as well out of the Catholick whose Rules they had broke as out of the Particular Church whose Chair they had invaded Episcopatum tenere non posset etiamsi Episcopus Ep. 55. p. 112. Antoniano prius factus He cannot saith St. Cyprian hold a Bishoprick though he really a Bishop himself whosoever separates from the Unity of his Fellow Bishops and thereby divides the Church for in so separating he makes a Defection and can no longer retain nec Episcopi Potestatem nec Honorem either the Power or the Honour of a Bishop And again Christ Ep. 69. p. 182. Magno saith he insinuating to us his desire of Unity farther adds There shall be one Flock and one Sheepherd and if one Flock quomodo potest gregi annumerare how can he be accounted to be of that Flock who is not one of it Aut Pastor haberi quomodo potest Or how can he be a Sheepherd there who whilst the true Sheepherd is alive succeeds none but is self-created and self set up a perfect Enemy to divine Unity not of the fold in asmuch as none dwell there but who live in Unity and Concord Nay if he must be an Heathen man and a Publican who neglecteth to hear the Church much more must they be so qui falsa Altaria illicita Sacerdotia who feign to themselves false Altars unlawful Priesthoods unhallowed Sacrifices corrupt and adulterous Titles 13. It would almost amaze a man in these loose times to hear what hard language the holy Fathers bestow upon these unholy Persons their Ordinations their Altars and their Oblations As for themselves they are described to be * Opt. l. â—2 Peccatores Schismatici †Cyp. Ep. 59. Adulteri Extranei ‡ Ibid. Pseudoepiscopi ‖ Ep. 69. Fidei Praevaricatores Ecclesiae Proditores Dominicae Pacis ac divine Vnitatis inimici nemini succedentes a seipso orti nulli Sinners Schismaticks Adulterers Outliers Mockbishops Falsifiers of the Faith Betrayers of the Church Enemies to divine Peace and Unity succeeding none from themselves proceeding and in reality no Bishops at all their Ordination * Cyp. de unit Eccl. contra Ordinationem Dei †Id. Ep. 4. 43. contra Dispositionem divinam ‡ Ep. 45. contra Sacramentum semel traditum divinae Dispositionis catholicae Vnitatis ‖ Ep. 55. contra Dei Traditionem ⸪ Ep. 46. Opt. lib. 2. contra ecclesiasticam Dispositionem contra evangelicam Pacem contra Institutionis catholicae Vnitatem contrary to divine Tradition and Appointment ecclesiastical Sanction evangelical Order catholick Institution and Unity Their Chair Cathedra Pestilentiae a Chair of Pestilence that first infects then kills and sends to Hell Their Altars * Cyp. Ep. 68 69. falsa prophana false and prophane Their Sacrifices †Ep. 68. sacrilega irreligiose illicite contra jus divinae Institutionis oblata sacrilegious unlawfull and affrontive of the divine Institution The Schism occasioned thereby ‖ Aug. Ep. 162. horrendum scelus ⸪ Cyp. de unit Eccles summum malum a most horrid Sin the chiefest of Crimes pejus quam quod admisisse lapsi worse than the Sins of those that fell by offering to Idols yea and of so deep a stain nec Sanguine abluitur that it is not to be washed out with the Blood of Martyrs neither will their unity of Faith or their being Confessors for it excuse them from so foul a Charge 14. In vain do they pretend to the same Religion to the same Symbol of Faith to the same Profession what if they continue the same way of Worship the same Mysteries the same Rituals and the very same Form of Ordination What if they be chosen by the Suffrage of the greatest part of the People accepted by the Majority of the Clergy consecrated by a sufficient number of Bishops Yet this all this will not attone much less expiate for the uncanonicalness of their superordination or for the irregularity and injustice of their Vsurpation Quod vero eundem quem nos what if they believe with us saith St. Cyprian concerning the Novatian Ep. 69. p. 183. Magno Schismaticks in the same God the Father in the same Son Christ Jesus and in the same Holy Ghost Nec hoc adjuvare tales potest yet even this will not profit such Prevaricators as they for Corah Dathan and Abiram worshiped one and the same God according to one and the same Religion and Law as Aaron the High Priest did tamen quia loci sui Ministerium yet because they were disatisfied with their own Station and would have usurped the Priesthood and laid aside Aaron necpotuerunt rata esse proficere Sacrificia their Sacrifices were abhorred and their Censor's made Memorials against them that no Stranger which is not of the Seed of Aaron should ever after presume to offer Incense to the Lord. Possumus nos dicere we can say saith Optatus to Parmenian and his Donatists Pares credimus We believe alike and are sealed with the L. 3. p. 78. L. 5. p. 99. same seal as you We are no otherwise Baptized than you no otherwise Ordained We read the same Scriptures say the same Prayers have the same Ecclesiastical Discipline the same Sacraments the same Mysteries sed scissura facta but there is a Scissure made by you and that is your fault and by you it must be amended and made up 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nothing saith St.
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let no Man be Can. 19. ordained Bishop without the presence of the Metropolitan or if any shall be made 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that his Ordination be null and invalid and that not only as to himself but as to all others that shall be afterwards ordained And this was the plea that Alexius made when they would unjustly have deposed him from his Patriarchship and which in probability prevented his deposition stoutly answering as Doctor Burnet relates the matter That if his Ordination was null then all Regal cap. 3. the Metropolitans whom he had ordained and all the Bishops whom those Metropolitans had ordained during the eleven years of his Administration ought to be likewise degraded From whence it is evident that if the Ordination be at first null it conveys and entails a nullity upon all its descent and what a miserable confusion this will bring in eleven years time upon the Church of England he that hath but half an eye may foresee Nay at this rate Archbishop John totius Schismatis Primas Metropolitanus will neither be Primate nor Bishop nor can it in the least justifie him from the Crime of Schism that the present Power backs him in his Invasion and Vsurpation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if any one saith the Apostolical Canon Can. 30. shall make use of any secular Power to thrust himself irregularly into the Possession of a Bishoprick 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let him be deposed and excommunicated together with all those that take part with him The like iâ— decreed in the Council held at Paris Si quis per ordinationem regiam if any Bishop shall unduly and with two much haste ascend to the height of Episcopal Honour by the strength and interposition of Regal Power let him no ways be recieved or owned by the Bishops of the Provâ—nce or if contrary to the Canon he shall be received by any of the Comprovincials then let such be separated from the rest of his brethren 32. I here foresee that the instance of Abiathar will be produced against me not only to overthrow the position of one Bishop in a Church or of one Primate in a Province but to shew that is in the Power of Kings upon good reason to depose any of them nay the highest of them all that do or can Priest it in their Dominions God say they appâ—inted but one High Priest at a time for the whole Jewish Church nâ—ither do we read of any farther order given for the displacing of him or for the putting of others upon him And yet none can deny but that in King David's days there were two High Priests together Zadock the Son of Ahitub and Abiathar the Son of Ahimelech 2 Sam. 15. 29. and this by the sole order and pleasure of the King neither do we read that he was ever the farther from being the Man after God's own heart for his doing so And it is as evident on the other hand that Solomon his Son deposed and degraded one of them to wit Abiathar 1 Kings 2. 26. after he had continued in the Office full forty years and that by no other Authority than his own Both which actions plainly demonstrate That if reasons of State so require the King may either multiply Bishops upon a Church or depose them especially as to us in England since we give the same Prerogative to our Kings as was given by Art 37. God to all Godly Princes in holy Scriptures And this they think will be a sufficient plea and cause for what they are doing But to this I answer and first as to the being of two High Priests at once 33. I think I may say that it is the only instance to be met with in Scripture from the time that the Priesthood was setled upon Aaron and his Family to the time that the Jews became Captives and were carried out of the Land And if it had been either convenient or necessary it would have been oftner practised and if it had been oftner practised we should have oftner heard of it So that it being a particular case it must have a particular reason and foundation proper and peculiar to it self upon which it stands and without which it falls Howbeit it was at a time when the High Priesthood was got into a wrong Chanel and possessed by a Family which according to the Law of Inheritance had no present right unto it I say no present right a right it had at large as bâ—ing of the Family of Ithamar one of the Sons of Aaron to Lev. 10. 7. whom no less than the other the Priesthood at first was given but however not without a Precedency to Eleazar as being the first born And hence we read that when Aaron was to be taken away by death Numb 20. 28. Moses was commanded to strip him of his Garments the Garments of Holiness which at his Consecration he had put upon him and to put them upon Eleazar signifying thereby the divesting Aaron of his Priesthood Lev. 8. 7. to array and invest Eleazar with it From him it was conveyed to Phineas his Son to whom and to whose Seed it was farther assured and Numb 25. 13. granted to be an everlasting Priesthood but so it happened at present that the Posterity of Eleazar was put by and the Posterity of Ithamar taken into their room and so it had been and continued for four Generations even from the time of Ely to this Abiathar's days who having escaped the Massacre made at the command of Saul upon Ahimelech his 1 Sam. 22. 18. Father and Family fled unto David and bringing the Ephod with him 1 Sam. 23. 6. was constituted High Priest in the room of his deceased Father and indeed in some measure meriting the same for it was upon David's account and for entertaining him in his necessities that his Father was put to death and the whole Family besides himself destroyed But 1 Sam. 22. 13. this appearing irregular to David because against the right of Inheritance and finding that the line of Eleazar was to be restored in his days even before the Temple should be built and Israel be in its full Glory he 1 Sam. 2. 32 35. puts Zadock the principal of the line at that time into the Priesthood and gives him the Precedency to Abiathar as being regularly the Heir and the person to whom by right thereof the Priesthood belonged continuing however Abiathar as a Copartner with him in it during life the whole afterwards to devolve upon Zadock and his Posterity as it was at first ordered So that all this was but a Pious and Righteous design in David to restore the Priesthood to its rightful owner and not unreasonably to divide the Church but reasonably to make up the Breach that had been made in the Inheritance A method commended by the Bishops of Sirmium to the Clergy of Rome upon their having
two Bishops at a time occasioned by the banishment of Liberius and the Investiture of Felix during his banishment Let them say they receive Liberius Soz. Hist l. 4. cap. 14. their former Bishop since he is permitted to return and let Felix and he 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 joyntly enjoy the Apostolical Throne and do all things amicably and in conjunction together that so the irregularity of the one and the misfortune of the other may both be buried Neither can it be blame worthy when two Bishops do arise which yet Sozomen in the place before quoted says is in it self 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a certain sign of Schism and against the Rule of holy Church thus to make up the Feud and reconcile the Division persuading them like Zadock and Abiathar to go hand in hand and bear up the Ark together whilst both of 2 Sam. 15. 24 29. them do live Nay so desirable a thing is Vnity and Amity in the case that when Melâ—tius and Paulinus the two Bishops of Antioch would not be persuaded to agree the matter among themselves in their lives time the chief of the Clergy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 who were accounted the fittest to be made Bishops after them Soz. l. 7. c. 3. Socr. l. 9. c. 4. or who had the greatest expectation of being so bound themselves mutually by an Oath that they would never so much as attempt to be Bishops in either of their rooms or so much as accept if they were chosen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as long as either Paulinus or Meletius should live but that when either of them should die the Bishoprick should remain entire to the Surviver of them and from thenceforth continue undivided 33. Neither will the other part of the Objection much affect us that I mean of Solomon's deposing Abiathar For it was in a case of High Treason driven perhaps thereunto out of hopes that if Adonijah had prevailed against Solomon he might have regained the Priesthood back unto his Family which he could not but foresee was quite going from it A Crime of so high and malignant a nature that the Church will not Advocate for it Nay though she be industrious to defend her Clergy under other Accusations that they be not too much oppressed by Secular Powers yet as to a Delinquent of this nature she utterly throws him off and exposes him to all the hardships he can meet with In Matthew Blaster's Syntagma Chapter de Episcopis ob Crimina sua judicatis I find this Law or Canon 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tit. Δ. cap. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 let none of the Laity judge the Clergy unless they be accused of Treason intimating that if accused of that no Sacredness of Office no Sublimity of Honour must either indemnifie except or excuse them from punishment And yet how far this Deposition wrought is not to me altogether so plain The Scripture saith no more concerning it than that Solomon thrust out Abiathar from 1 Kiâ—gs 2. 27. being Priest unto the Lord it neither shews how far he thrust him out nor by what method he did it Nihusius as cited by Frischmuth in his Treatise de Rege eligendo deponendo would have us believe it was ex Aula solum S. 63. Edit Jenae 1653. only from appearing at Court and exercising his Office in or about Jerusalem where the King had his abode with liberty however to execute it in the Tabernacle at Gibeon as Zadock before him had done when he was Copartner with Abiathar and this perhaps may be grounded on the 1 Chron. 16. 39. relation that Josephus makes of the matter where he brings in Solomon thus speaking to Abiathar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the pains saith he that thou hast endured by accompanying Ant. l. 8. c. 1. my Father David and attending and bearing the Ark with him makes thee to escape from death yet forasmuch as thou hast taken part with Adonijah I so far condemn thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that thou depart hence and see my face no more 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for since thou hast so offended me it is not convenient that thou shouldst be in Honour with me Carthusianus goes farther than Nihusius and tells us Abiatharem de integro singulari clementia Regis pristino Officio restitutum that he was by the special Frisch Loc. cit S. 64. clemency of the King wholly restored to his Office again Gersomides brings him down to a much lower station yet makes him however to be Loc. cit Zadock's Substitute when ever he was hindered by any defect from executing the Office of the High Priest himself and such an one Josephus makes Ellem the Son of Joseph to be unto Matthias in the time of his Ant. l. 17. c. 8. uncleanness But be it as it will most certain it is from Scripture 1. That he had his life given him 2. That he had liberty to retire unto his City and to dwell quietly there 3. That he had still the Name and the Title of High Priest continued to him I will not saith Solomon 1 Kings 4. 4. at this time put thee to death because thou barest the Ark of the Lord before David my Father and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein my Father was afflicted it seems Gratitude to past Services and a Veneration to the high dignity of Priesthood was not then perished quite out of the Land nondam terras Astraea Neither are we less in the dark as to the manner how he was deposed We read of no formal procedure in the case all that is said about it is That Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being Priest unto the Lord And yet if we will credit Menochius * De rep Heb. l. 1. c. 6. S 6. he will tell us that among many other things to be transacted in the great Synedrion the punishing of the High Priest was one and so saith the †Tit. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. 1. l. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Misna 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They judged not the High Priest unless in the Sanedrim or great Consistory meaning saith Selden out of Mamonides ‡ De Synod l. 3. c. 8. S. 1. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so far as Life is concerned Nay though in other Matters not concerning Life they might judge of him in other Courts yet both ‖ l. 3. c. 6. S. 1. Selden and * De Jure Belli c. 3. S. 20. Grotius affirm that in that point ne Regi quidem ipsi permitteretur it was not lawfull for the King himself to take cognizance of him Yea the former of the two having reckoned up above an hundred and forty irregularities and defects in reference to his body besides many more incident to his mind which hindered him from being admitted at all into his Office and rendered him after liable to be turned out concludes notwithstanding dum sui juris
Hebraei that whilst the Jews were governed De Success in Pontific l. 2. c. 5 6 10. Lond. 1636. by their own Laws the Legitimate Succession where no impediments prevented ever took place and that it was high injustice to reject or expell any to whom the Priesthood belonged unless some or more of those irregularities were really to be found upon him The Crime indeed of Abiathar being no less than a Crime of High Treason could not but be animadverted upon But then the Crime being Capital and the High Priest the Criminal we may well conclude that before ever Solomon thrust him from the Priesthood the Sanedrim had previously judged and passed their Sentence upon him And so it fared with Joab one of his fellow Criminals for it is plain if Josephus says true That before Ant. l. 7 8. c. 11. Edit Gen. 1634. ever Solomon sent Bennajah to fall upon him he first sent him to fetch him from the Altar in order to bring him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the Seat of Judicature there to purge himself if he could And if this formality was used towards Joab before ever the command was given to have him slain it 's probable the like was used towards Adonijah the King's Brother before he was slain and the like also to Abiathar before he was thrust from the Priesthood Nay though it should be true as some assert That the Kings of Judah were more absolute in their Authority than the Kings of Israel and did not always so formally proceed by way of Justice as the other did and that this proceeding against Abiathar might be one of those extraordinary instances of their power yet this is certain that they had thâ—ir standing Courts of Judicature all the Land over for the right and full administration of Justice to all sorts and degrees of Men the chiefest of all which and to which the last Appeal was made was ever at Jerusalem as being most near unto the King Thus Jehosaphat having constituted Judges throughout all the fenced Cities of the Land is said to have done the same at Jerusalem setting Amariah the High Priest over all in the matters of the 2 Chron. 19. 11. Lord and Zebadiuh the Son of Ishmael for all the King's matters the Secular concerns to be transacted by the King through the assistance of his Secular Judges and the Ecclesiastical by the Ministery of his Ecclesiasticks In like manner David having set out the form of the Temple and given Solomon directions for the building and ordering of it leaves him to his Priests and Levites to be farther advised The courses saith he of the Priests and Levites shall be with thee for all the service of the House of God And I dare say this power so fixed and 1 Chron. 28. 21. managed cannot but be thought so just and reasonable that as the Church of England hath all along granted it to their Kings so there is not at this time one Church-Man of the old Foundation among us that will deny it them but wish that it were so are troubled that it is not so nay can say By the waters of Babylon we sit down and weep whilst we remember thee O Sion 34. I confess there are not instances wanting in History to shew that it hath often been the practice of Emperors and Kings by their own Authority and without concerning themselves at all with a Synod to depose Bishops and thrust them from their Bishopricks But then this hath been as Petrus de Marca observes in apertissima Canonem violati Lib. 4. cap. 6. Part 1. in such cases only where the Canons of the Church have been most notoriously and scandalously violated so notoriously that there needed no proof as to matter of fact nor any thing farther to be done but to apply the punishment And of this he gives us two instances in reference to the case in hand The one of Justinian the Emperor and the other of Zeno the first deposing Anthimus for that contrary to the Canon he had deserted his own Church and invaded the See of Constantinople the latter for doing the same thing to Peter surnamed Moggus for that contrary to the Canon he had seized upon the Patriarchship of Alexandria Timothy the lawfull Bishop thereof and under Banishment being not yet dead And referring us to the Acts of the Council held by Mena at Constantiople he farther tells us That such violations aut à Principe Loco citat aut a Synodo castigari posse may be punished either by the Prince or by a Synod But now for Emperors or Kings to take this power upon them when there is no breach of Canon nay when it is contrary and contradictory to all Canon and purely for their own Will and Pleasure or because it may serve their Interest to have others in their Places and Bishopricks that may lick their spittle and cry 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to them in all their actions This certainly must be pernicious and fatal to the Church and can bode nothing less than an utter and speedy ruine to it Of what dismal consequences this kind of dispositions have been and what sad and deplorable mischiefs they have brought along with them to the most flourishing Churches in the World I shall in a more particular manner evidence from the Jewish and Greek Churches being provoked thereunto by some of the late Treatisers 35. And because the Jewish Church offers it self first to our View I shall consider it first and shew what Success it met with whilst it was thus rid Josephus tells us that the first that ever executed this deposing Ant. l. 15. c. 3. Power was Antiochus who depriving Onias put Jason into his place a fitting Priest for so wicked a Tyrant For no sooner was he made so Lib. de Mac. cap. 4. saith the same Author but he forced all the People to Impiety and to forsake Religion Nay such saith the Author of the Book of Maccabees was the height of Greek Fashions and encrease of Heathenish Manners through 2 Mac. cap. 4. 13 14. the exceeding Prophaneness of Jason that ungodly Wretch that the Priests had no courage to serve any more at the Altar but despising the Temple and neglecting the Sacrifices hastened to be partakers of the unlawfull Allowance in the place of Exercise not setting by the Honour of their Fathers but liking the Glory of the Grecians by reason whereof sore Calamity came upon them About three years after Menelaus had Jason laid aside and himself put into the 2 Mac. 4. 24. Jos Ant. l. 12. cap. 15. High Priesthood though he was not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the race of the High Priests He saith the Book of Maccabees came with the King's Mandate having nothing worthy of the High Priesthood but having the fury 2 Mac. 4. 25. of a cruel Tyrant and the rage of a savage Beast And such an one he was for he stole certain
purg ad Optat. Bishop of Cirta one of the Ordainers of Majorinus thereby to find out which of the two were Traditors that the Controversy between the Caecilianists and the Donatists might be stated and ended unde pulsa atque exter sa infamia cum ingenti laude illo judicio recessit by which Judgment of theirs saith Optatus the infamous aspersions that were cast upon Cont. Par. l. 1. p. 30. Caecilian and Felix by the Donatists were wiped off to the eternal Honour of Caecilian and his adherents And thus also for the better management of the Conference between the Catholick and the Donatists Bishops Honorius the Emperor appointed Macellinus his Tribune for a Judge in the case before whom saith Possidonius the Donatists being convicted of De Vitâ Aug. their faults sententia Cognitoris notati sunt were by his Sentence declared guilty and thereupon condemned And thus might Tonstal of Duresme as well as Bonner of London or as Gardiner of Winchester have had their Cause heard had not Archbishop Gardiner refused to meddle because Burnet Part 2. lib. 1. p. 216. he was found to lye under a misprison of Treason And so properly might Voisy of Exeter been tried but for the same reason for he also was found saith Heylin to have fomented the Rebellion of the Devonshire Edw. 6. p. 100 Men And whether Day of Winchester was not in with them and for that reason also not tried by Cranmer to me it is doubtful for the Historian confesses he cannot tell us whether his Deprivation arose from Reform Par. 2. lib. 1. p. 203. the refusing to submit to the new Book or his falling into other transgressions However I cannot but observe 1. That the aforesaid Bishops enjoyed their Bishopricks notwithstanding an ipso facto Deprivation till a farther process was made aad a declaratory Sentence passed upon them 2. That Bonner who led the way unto the rest was not deprived till four months or more after the Act of Deprivation took Fox 1209. place Gardiner not till two years almost after Bonner Voisy not till Heylin p. 100. some months after the Sentence passed upon Gardiner Day Heath Tonstal Burnet lib. 2. p. 203. 216. not till some months after him so slowly was the Act at that time executed 3. That as they enjoyed their Bishopricks till their Deprivations so in all probability they enjoyed the Profits and Revenues thereof Gardiner's were not sequestered from him till within three Heyl. Edw. 6. p. 99. months of the time yea and then also his House and Servants were maintained out of his Bishoprick to the very instant that the declarary Fox p. 1218. Sentence was judiciously pronounced against him This was the Case of the deprived Bishops then and if this method had been taken in reference to our present Bishops that is had the matter for which they are deprived been debated in a Convocation of the Clergy and there concluded that the Allegiance they had sworn might lawfully be transferred without the Breach of Oath or guilt of Perjury had the Refusers of the said transferring been afterwards by a true and legal Parliament decreed to be deprived and had they upon that been Legally and Canonically evicted of such a refusal though no such time had been allowed them nor no such favour granted as in the interim to enjoy their Bishopricks and the Revenues of them nay though after all the Sanctions of the one and the Determinations of the other had seemed to them unjust there would not have been such cause as there is for a complaint So that I think we may cry out of the Injustice at least of the unprecedented Severity of the present Age and yet neither blemish nor expose the Reformation 44. Neither will they be assisted or screened by any thing that was done in Q. Elizabeth's Reign For though according to Stow there were Ann. 2. Eliz. p. 182. Eliz. p. 36. Ed. Lond. 1615. thirteen or fourteen deprived of their Bishopricks omnes qui tunc â—ederunt praeter unum Antonium Landevensem all says Cambden that were then Bishops which he reckons to be sixteen in number besides him of Landaff yet will their Deprivations be found of a quite different nature to those that have been made in our days And to make this out four things are necessary to be observed 45. First That all matters of Ecclesiastical concern were left at King Edward's death under a full and regular establishment consented and agreed thereunto by the King in his Convocation as well as by the King in his Parliament And so it is asserted to be in the Answer to the Lady Mary's Letter as cited out of Master Fox by the Author of Church-Government viz. that the Reformation as touching the Common-Prayer Book Part 5. p. 130. from the second year of his Reign and as touching other Articles of Religion from the fifth was Regular and Canonical as being the Act of the Clergy Thus was the Supemacy and Service Book established as is before shewn thus also were the Articles of Religion and in them the Tit. Art 1552. Art 31. St. 5. 6 Edw. 6. cap. 12. Marriage of the Clergy agreed upon own'd by the Parliament it self to have been so in the Act for adjudging such Marriages lawfull declaring therein that the Learned Clergy of the Realm had determined the same by the Law of God in their Convocations as well by the common assent as by the subscription of their hands 2. That no less Authority ought to be allowed to null the establishment than what was thought necessary by the standing Laws of the Land at first to make it and therefore since it had its Birth and Rise from the King and Convocation as well as from the King and Parliament and more properly from the first than from the latter the Queen had not power of her self no nor by the Parliament without the Convocation to destroy it And hence her own Clergy in Q. Elizabeth's days foreseeing the ill effect of such Power utterly disclaimed it and in their Convocation declared against it telling the Parliament in hopes to keep their Possessions but in the mean time forgetting the method whereby they came possessed that the Authority to handle and define such things which belong to Heyl. Q. Eliz. p. 113. Faith in the Sacraments and Discipline Ecclesiastical hath hitherto ever belonged and only ought to belong to the Pastor of the Church whom the Holy Spirit hath placed in the Church and not unto Lay-Men no though in Parliament as then they were assembled 3. That the Power whereby Q. Mary acted for dissolving the Reformation and for the laying aside the Bishops that asserted it was a less Authority than that by which at first it was established For no sooner was she come unto the Crown upon the death of K. Edw. VI. but and before ever a Heyl. Hist Q. Mary p. 22. Parliament was called she purely
to be alike but till then I must be allowed to cry out O Tempora O Mores and with the Poet conclude that Aetas Parentum pejor avis tulit Nos nequiores mox daturos Progeniem vitiosiorem Carm. Hor. L. 3. Od. 6. 50. I am sensible that there are two grand Mistakes in the World which minister to and hasten on these fatal Proceedings Some think there is no such thing as Schism others that though there be such a thing yet an Act of Parliament will authorize the Fact and justifie all insomuch that through the Midwifery of a Vote or two of theirs God's Altar may be turn'd or overturn'd Aaron and his Priests deposed or forced to comply and a new Erection like that of Jeroboam's though of the worst of Men made as sacred and divine as if it were done by 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or a Voice from Heaven And from thenceforth if the Man of God happen as his Duty binds him to oppose or gainsay their Sanctions so as their Mightinesses become disobliged though he be sent of God as Aaron was though he ruleth well and laboureth in Word and Doctrine nay though he be doing the Will and Work of his Master yet a travelling Staff and a pair of ill clouted Shoes must pass for his double Reward But how contrary this is to Practice hath already been shewn and how diametrically opposite to the genuine Constitutions of this Church and State comes now to be demonstrated 51. Populus de Republica non de Ecclesia in Parliamentis antiquitus tractare consuevit Anciently saith the Author of Antiquitates Britannicae the People never meddled with Matters of religious Concern in their Parliaments De vit Cran. p. 339. but onely with Matters purely relating to the State Nay I find by the very Act of Submission it self which was in the Year 1530. That it was customary till then for the Clergy by virtue of the Authority they had in themselves without any Ratification or Confirmation from King or Parliament to make Canons declare Heresies convict and censure Criminals and to decree and do all other Matters as seemed good to them in relation to the Church and Clergy A Power thought too great to be in the hands of the Clergy whereupon saith Heylin The House of Commons aggrieved at the inequality and supereminency of the Power Ref. just part 1. S. 1. remonstrated and complained to the King that the Clergy should be permitted to act Authoritatively and Supremely in the Convocation and they in Parliament do nothing but as it was confirmed and ratified by the Royal Assent This in all probability hastened on the Submission for the Clergy soon after being met in Convocation as it is recorded in the aforesaid Book of Antiquities promised the King in verbo sacerdotis ne ullas deinceps De Vit. Warh in Synodo ferrent Ecclesiasticas leges that they would not henceforth enact or execute any Constitutions or Canons in their Synods or Convocations unless the King should cause their assembling and by his Royal Assent approve and confirm their Canons But then this only levels them with and not puts them under the Parliament it leaves indeed their Decrees and Sanctions to them to be farther guarded and secured by the addition of their civil Penalties and Inflictions but no ways subjects them to them in reference to the Validity Authenticalness or prior Establishment of them And this the learned Heylin hath elaborately and fully made out as to the two first Reigns both in reference to the points of Doctrine that were reformed and to the forms of Worship that were then enjoyned in his Book entitled The way of the Reformation of the Church of England declared and justified to whom for your farther satisfaction I refer you and the Reader 52. But not content to bring them down to their own level their next design and work was to bring them under and of this the aforementioned Antiquary complains Ecclesiasticarum legum potestate abdicata populus in Parliamento cepit de rebus divinis inconsulto Clero sancire the Submission says he being made the People in their Parliament as if the In vitâ Cranm p. 339. Submission had been made to them began to usurp upon the Church's Right and without ever consulting the Clergy to debate and agree such things as formerly were held peculiarly to the Clergy only But these saith Heylin were only tentamenta offers and undertakings only and Lib. p. cit no more And that they were so and no better nor otherwise approved of during the whole Reign of Q. Elizabeth under whom the Reformation received its full and perfect establishment will sufficiently be evidenced from the Journals of the Paliaments in her days handed down to us by Sir Simon D'Ewes And I shall give them in the order they lye in When a Bill was presented to the House of Commons for Reformation of the Common Prayer Book it was agreed upon by them that a Petition Ann. 13. p. 167. should be made to her Majesty for her License to proceed in the Bill before it be farther dealt in and to do otherwise saith the Treasure is to Page 166. meddle with matters of her Prerogative and as the Comptroller phrased it to run before the Ball. Mr. Strickland having pressed very earnestly the Reformation of the Book Page 176. of Common-Prayer and other Ceremonies was called before her Majesty's Council and commanded to forbear coming to the said House and when Page 130. the said Articles of Religion were afterwards presented to her she answered That she would have them executed by the Bishops by direction of her Highness's Regal Authority of Supremacy of the Church of England and not to have the same dealt in by the Parliament The Lord Keeper in his Speech to the Parliament by her Majesty's Command Ann. 14. p. 193. thus utters himself Because the proceedings of matters in Discipline and Doctrine do chiefly concern my Lords the Bishops both for their Understanding and Ecclesiastical Function therefore the Queens Highness looketh that they being called together in Parliament should take the chifest care to confer and consult of these matters and if in their conference they find it behoofull to have any Temporal Acts made for the amending and reforming of any of these lacks that then they will exhibit it here in Parliament to be considered upon and so gladius gladium juvabit as before time hath been used The Speaker declared to the House of Commons That it was her Majesty's pleasure That from henceforth no Bills concerning Religion shall be Page 213. preferred or received into this House unless the same should be first considered and liked by the Clergy Upon the presenting the Petition concerning the Reformation of the Discipline of the Church her Highness answered That her Majesty before Ann. 18. p. 257. the Parliament had a care to provide in that case of her own
to say That he would as soon turn Arian as take the new Oath of Allegiance of such concern he then thought the practical Doctrines to be And well he might when the Lawgiver himself hath expresly told us That whosoever shall break one of the least of these Commandments Matth. 5. 19. and teach men so to do shall be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven so far the least say Interpreters that when the enquiry shall be made for the breakers thereof they shall not be found to have a Name there I confess Bishops the most unjustly deprived have often ceded and acquiesced under their Deprivations but then this they did foreseeing that no hurt would accrue thereby to the interest of Christianity either in the speculative or practical Doctrines thereof they considered that the loss would only be their own 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Office of teaching saith St. Chrysostom in a like case neither Pallad in vit Chrys p. 69. began from me nor will it end in me But if the Cause of God and of his Church thereby do suffer if Justice Faith common Honesty and whatsoever is pure whatsoever is lovely whatsoever is of good report or praise worthy be thrust out of the World and all sorts of Immorality and Vice brought into their room nay pass for Virtue or not be owned to be Sins If Duty to Parents must cease if Obedience to Magistrates must fail if Oaths must be no security nor any longer be counted Sacred and if that unspotted Loyalty which hitherto hath attended and made the Church of England so famous and so beloved of Princes must be deserted and abandoned as false and erroneous methinks this is such a blemish to Religion and will prove so great a scandal to the Church that it should make our deprived Bishops though otherwise studious of Peace to resume their Power and not to suffer the Church over which God hath made them Overseers to be ruined by their Cessions nay not only to resume it themselves but because they evidently see their Bishopricks supply'd by persons that already have and upon any other occasion will be ready to betray it again in these and the like particulars to take what care they can that these Doctrines and Principles be defended and propagated to Posterity Doctrines certainly the most likely of any we profess to cause a rebuilding of our Church which if I live to see and shall be thought fit to have a place in the building I pray God it may not fall to my share to be set up for the Weather-Cock And so I am come to St. Chrysostom's Case which the Introduction to the Treatise tells us ought particularly to be considered And here I cannot but observe Fifthly That whatsoever advice St. Chrysostom gave either to his Clergy or People upon his parting with them from whence Mr. Hody and his Prefacer would infer a voluntary Resignation and Cession it all issued from an apprehension of a sudden and violent death to befall him as if he were forthwith to be made a Sacrifice and taken out of the World An apprehension with which he was warmly and confidently possessed for saith the Author of his Life a Bishop then present 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Pallad in vit Chrys p. 67. John being inspired by the Holy Ghost said to his Friends 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pray for me my Brethren for I am ready now to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand and then follows the advice let none of you desert your Church 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for I evidently foresee that I must leave the World The like he enjoyned the devout Women upon the same account 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 come hither you my Daughters and hearken to what I say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all things I see are at an end with me I have finished my course and in all probability I shall see your face no more one thing however I beg of you that upon this my failure you would submit your selves no less to my Successor if fairly set over you than you have done to me Neither were his fears altogether groundless for it was every where reported 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that he was to be beheaded Nay it was not long Id. p. 68. before that his life was twice assaulted once saith Sozomen by one Lib. 8. c. 21. that personated himself distracted and at another time by a Servant of Elpidus one of Chrysostom's mortal Enemies who if Palladius saith true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 was hired for â—â—fty pieces of Gold Page 197. to dispatch him and in the attempt slew four and wounded three From whence it may rationally be presumed that the advice here given in reference to a future Submission unto the Bishop that was to follow him was purely and wholly ascribable to the perswasion he had of himself he that was no better than a dead Man willing thereupon to leave peace behind him at least not to have the Church divided upon his account when he was dead and gone without regard in the least had to an Intruder either to approve his Intrusion or to allow Communion with him And that this is the true meaning of his advice will farther appear from the after behaviour both of persons to whom the advice was given and of him who gave the advice as also of other Foreign Churches who thought fit to concern themselves in the Affair for the good of the Church and for the maintenance of the Discipline thereof And hence I find First That John was no sooner removed and Arsacius put into his Bishoprick but the People Populace and Rabble saith the Prefacer Bankers and chief Citizens 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 persons of place and dignity say the Edicts as if no such Advice had been given them or at least as if it were Pall. p. 96. never intended to take place during his Life holding it not lawful saith Sozomen to communicate or pray with their new made Bishop or with any Lib. 8. c. 23. in Communion with him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 separated themselves from them and held their Assemblies apart by themselves Nay says Olympias Pall. p. 89. who was one of the very Women to whom Chrysostome gave the Advice being first fairly sollicited and afterwards by Threats menaced to renounce John and to communicate with Arsacius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tho' you should compel me never Soz. l. 8. c. 24. so much against Law and Right to come into his Communion I will never consent to doe what no pious and good Christian can warrantably do It seems to own an Intruder in her opinion during St. Chrysostom's being alive was an unwarrantable Action and unbecoming good and pious Christians and yet she was a * Pall. p. 150. Deaconess of the Church regarded and beloved by Chrysostom †Id p. 30. for her good Deeds present as hath been
Humanity or so much as our Saviour's commands whilst the Church is under such disorder can be met with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Bishops of Europe saith Theodorit so much detested the dealings and doings against John that they withdrew themselves from the Communion Hist l. 5. c. 34. of all those that wrought that mischief against him and with them all the Bishops of Illyrium did agree Nay 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though that excellent Doctor was dead the Western Bishops notwithstanding were so far from renewing Communion with the Bishops of Egypt of the East of Bosphorus and of Thrace that they would not so much as have a correspondence with them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 till they had entered the Name of that Divine Man into the Dyptichs of the Bishops that were dead And though Atticus one of the Intruders had often sent Ambassadors to them and as often requested the Peace of the Church at their hands yet they would never grant it till John was dead nor then neither untill he inserted his Name among the dead Bishops which being done 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they from henceforth saith the same Thodorit received him into Communion and without doubt Ibid. thereby accepted and authenticated him and his Ordinations purging the Stream of Succession for the future so as that it might run pure and clean down to Posterity without taking their irregularities along with it And if so then the following instances of Maximian Proclus and the rest of Atticus his Successors will do Mr. Hody no good But grant that all which Mr. Hody and his Prefacer insâ—nuates was true that Chrysostom relinquished that Separation was contrary to his Spirit that the good Man seeing he was to be Deposed advised and charged the Bishops his Friends to keep Communion with his Deposers and not to rend and divide the Church for his sake telling them and their adherents that the Church could not be without a Bishop though it might be without him yet I pray you what would he or any other of the deprived Bishops have done under an Emperor which persecuted the Order and very Office of Bishops and would suffer no Bishops at all in the Church Put the case that the Emperor had deposed all the Bishops in one part of the Empire and had set up Schismatical Presbyters nay Pseudopresbyters who were and are professed Enemies to the Name and Order of Bishops in their place I am apt to think that John Chrysostom would not have submitted to an unjust Deprivation at such a time and by such an Emperor who had sacrificed the Order to his Interest in one part of the Empire and had no principle to keep him from doing it in the other when great and formidable numbers of all sorts would desire the deprivation and deposing of the whole Order certainly in such a case as this he would never have receded but continued his Order and Office though a thousand deaths had attended him methinks I hear him at the bare thoughts of it using the words he did when he was banished the City 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 will the Empress banish Ep. 125. me let her banish me the Earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof If she command that I be cut in pieces let me be sawn asunder the Prophet Esay was served so before me Will she throw me into the Sea I remember it was the fate of Jonas or into a fiery Furnace I shall have the three Children for my fellow Sufferers If she will cast me to wild Beasts I think how Daniel went the same way to the Lions If she command I should be stoned let it be so I have Stephen the Protomartyr on my side Will she have my Head Let her have it John the Baptist lost his Has she a mind to my Estate Let her have it naked came I out of my Mother's Womb and naked shall I return thither But as for my Office I will never forsake neither shall my Order perish as long as I have a Tongue and Hands to propogate it Thus I persuade my self his zeal would have inflamed him and how tamely soever he might otherwise have sat down when the Interest of the Church was not concerned yet at such a time as this he would have resumed his courage and his power and never have suffered the Church to have been ruined for want of his assistance And so I have done with Mr. Hody as far as I am concerned with him But how he will come off for shamming the World with part of the Manuscript for the whole I am not able to guess Mr. B. in his Preface to the English Translation tells us That there was a singular providence in the discovery of it at this juncture and if there were so then I hope the Collection of Canons which both of them have concealed may have as good a Title to that singular providence and as much 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the discovery of it as that part hath which they have thought fit to Print It is written in the same hand and follows immediately where the Printed Book concludes and Mr. Hody as I am informed having been told of it and asked the reason why he did not publish it answered That he believed it was not written by the same Author But put the case he did believe so had it not however been much the more for his honour and the interests of truth to have published it and given his reasons to the learned World why he did not believe it to be a part of the Manuscript or that it was written by the Author of it This had been fair dealing but instead of that both he and his Prefacer wholly concealed it though the Canons carry much more venerable Antiquity and Authority with them than the examples they have Printed and are indeed of that Antiquity and Authority which to use the Prefacer's words of us we profess to imitate and pretend to alledge I shall here set them down as they are translated into English from a Copy of the Original that was sent from Oxford and when the learned Reader hath perused them he will be shrewdly tempted to guess at the reason for which many learned Men suspect Mr. Hody hath concealed them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The 31 Canon of the Apostles by a mistake for the 32. If any Presbyter contemning his own Bishop shall hold a separate Meeting and erect an opposite Altar having nothing werewith to charge the Bishop in matters of Piety and Justice let him be deposed as an ambitious affector of Government for he is an Usurper In like manner as many of the Clergy as shall joyn with him shall be deposed and the Laicks excommunicated But all this ought to be done after the first the second and third admonition of the Bishop 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The 6 Canon of the Synod of Gangra If any Man hold a private Meeting out of the Church and