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 sidelity 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 sweare 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 * Sess 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 confim'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 whatsoever the Arthbishop of Salzburg or other Primates did was all by the Pope's authority The Bishop of Cava and two more call'd him Schismatick and said he ought to be put out of the Council Immediatly there follow'd a great noise among the Prelates as well of whispering as of feet partly in offence of the Prelate that gave his voice partly in defence The Legates did hardly appease the stir by making others proceed who were to speak in that Congregation which being ended Lorain said the Bishop had not spoken ill .... indeed it was found that the Bishop had not spoken ill and the Canon was corrected for whereas it said the Bishops call'd by the Pope of Rome it was altered thus the Bishops assumed by the authority of the Pope of Rome ..... Mantua did also reprehend the noise made with feet words saying that if hereafter they did not speak with respect They the Legates would go out of the Congregation .... Lorain commended the admonition said that as the Legates ought not to go out of the Congregation for any occasion whatsoever so it was most just that the perturbers of it should be punish'd Here you have a full account of the whole matter It was only a suddain heat soon over The publick reprehension of those who made a noise was satisfaction abundantly sufficient for what was past And the altering of the Canon according to the Bishop's advice was a very extraordinary encouragement for him every body else to speak freely for the future The Cardinal complain'd before the satisfaction was given the Canon alter'd but not after Besides it is not impossible for great men to find fault when there is but little reason for it They are used to be humour'd when they
He liked well enough to be meddling with State-Affairs the Senators consulted him as an Oracle which unusual honour was enough to make him proud factious and whether it did or not He only knows who sees men's hearts However all this put together is enough to make me suspect him Pallavicini you 'l say being of the Court-party deserves to be suspected too But if that be all you have to say against him we will not quarrel about preliminaries nor loose time in disputing what grains of allowance are due to each of them Upon condition you 'l believe your friend Soave when he speaks well of the Council I am content to believe Pallavicini whensoever he speaks ill of it You remember how easily when I saw you last you agreed with me that if the Council of Trent were as General as free and as legal in all it's circumstances as the first four Councils were you must needs own your self obliged in conscience to submit to it to leave of Protesting against it 'T was fair reasonable what I might expect from a Son of the Church of England I desired no more in hand but was willing to give credit for the rest I might have told you that if the Council had been only Patriarchal it would have bound the English Reformers to the obedience of non-contradiction Three Brittish Bishops sate in the 1. Council of Arles S. Athanasius in his 2. Apol. says that they were present in the Council of Sardice which ratified the Pope's power in decision of Appeals From whence you may conclude that the Brittish Clergy were subject to the canons of Arles Sardice consequently to the Western Patriarch We find them also afterwards in the Council of Constance where voting by Nations the English were one of the four in condemning these doctrines of Huss Wickliff that The Pope is not the immediate Vicar of Christ that The chief Bishop of the Roman Church has no Priâ—nacy over other particular Churches I might have added the testimony of your own Dr. Field who in his book of the Church freely confesses that The Decrees of Popes made with the consent joynt concurrence of the other Western Bishops do bind the Western Provinces that are subject to him as Patriarch of the West But this is not the case the Council of Trent is truly General and if the Reformers cannot manifestly prove the contrary they remain without excuse The Objections which you sent me in your Letter I have considerd at leasure and according to promise have sent you here my Answers but before I set them down I must beg your pardon if I try your patience with some few remarks which follow Ch. Gov. P. IV. 1. A General Council requires either the presence of all the Catholick Patriarchs or their Legates with the Bishops of so many Provinces as can well convene or their Delegates or else in their necessary absence it requires that the Acts Decrees be approved either by all or by the major part of the absent Prelates 2. As for such a General Council as comprehends all the Bishops of the Catholick Universe there never was yet any We find always a greater or lesser number according to divers circumstances propinquity of place peace of Princes numerosity of Sects c. The first four Councils of Nice Constantinople Ephesus Chalcedon by reason of the Oriental Heresies were held in the East consisted principally of Oriental Bishops In the I. were present only the Pope's two Legates three Western Bishops The II. had no Western Bishop at all but only was afterward confirm'd by the Pope his Council The III. had only three Delegates sent by the Pope his Occidental Council They transacted most of their business condemn'd Nestorius without the presence of the Antiochian Patriarch The IV. had only four Legates sent by the Bishop of Rome two African Bishops one Sicilian They acted without Dioscorus the Alexandrian Patriarch They deposed him for favouring Hereticks for his contumacy against the See of Rome 3. If all Catholick Prelates or the much greater part be personally present in the Council there 's no need of farther acceptation to confirm it But this wanting 't is supplied by the after-acceptation of such persons as are capable of a vote and so many as if they had been present would have made it the much greater part of Catholick Prelates that is of such as were not before shut of the Church by Heresie or Schisme The II. V. General Councils became such by the confirmation after acceptation of Damasus Vigilius with their Western Bishops and 't is a fundamental principle of Government not simply Monarchicall that No Laws can be promulgated no Unity preserv'd if of their Governours the lesser part be not regulated by the greater 4. The Council remains General notwithstanding the absence of some considerable Churches 1. if they cannot conveniently come 2. if they refuse without just hindrance 3. if they were formerly cut of by Heresie or Schisme The Catholick Church is narrower than Christianity and a Council may be General though the Church were reduced to one Patriarchate 5. All that were capable of a voice in any General Council were summon'd to Trent The Eastern Bishops in the Turks Dominions could not conveniently come there being war betwixt Christians Turks The Division which occasion'd the Assembly arose only in the West therefore there was less need of their presence Moreover six Greek Bishops sate in the Council And ten years after the Wittenberg Divines sent the Augustan Confession to Hieremy Patriarch of Constantinople whose Answer to them differs very little from the Decrees of Trent T is true Cyril Lucar * 1629. publish'd a Calvinistical Contession But his immediate Successor Cyril of Iberia assembled at Constantinople a Synod of 23. Bishops besides the Patriarchs of Alexandria Hierusalem And again his Successor Parthenius assembled another of 25. Bishops amongst them the Metropolitan of Moscovy Both these Synods anathematiz'd Lucar with his Adherents and also justified these Tenets of the Council the Corporal Presence of Christ's Body Blood with the Symboles Invocation of Saints Veneration of sacred Images Prayer Almes for the Faithfull deceas'd with repentance as betterable in their present condition by them Free will seven Sacraments Church Infallibility c. See Leo Allatius De perpetuo Consensu c. l. 3. See Monsieur Arnauld's Answer to Claude l. 4 ch 7. 6. The absence of the Protestant Clergy from the Council did not hinder it's being General 1. They who are not Bishops have no right to sit there 2. When Bishops contumaciously absent themselves for fear of Censure their presence is not requisite otherwise farewell the Power of all General Councils 3. There is no place due to them whose Doctrines have been anathematiz'd in former General Councils Veneration of Images was declared lawfull in the II. of
Nice Our Canon of Scripture Purgatory Seven Sacraments Pope's Supremacy were defined in the Council of Florence Auricular Confession Transubstantiation in that of Lateran 7. Although in the first Sessions under Paul III. there were only about 48. Bishops 3. Benedictine Abbots 5. Generals of Religious Orders with about 40. able Divines by way of Counsellors This paucity under Paul or Julius was amply recompenc'd by a greater number of Prelates under Pius IV who all unanimously received ratified the former Acts of the Council If you count them you 'l find in the Catalogue 270. to which if you add the learned Divines who assisted the whole number amounts to about 450. persons 8. A General Council requires that the Pope either preside in it or approve the Acts of it as in the case of the II. V. General Council In the IV. VI. VII VIII the Protestants allow that he presided To the III. he deputed S. Cyril To the I. he sent his Legates Osius you 'l say subscrib'd before them 1. T is thought he presided in the Pope's name with them 2. If not it was a pure indulgence of honour to him The Legates subscribed before all the Patriarchs 3. The subscriptions were manifestly irregular because the Bishop of Antioch who was the III. Patriarch suscribed after the Bishops of Aegypt also those of Palestine which were subject to him I have now done with my remarks shall make what hast I can with your objections setting them down in the same order you sent them I. The Eastern Bishops were absent the Protestants would not go to the Council A. 1. There were six Greek Bishops present Afterwards three Eastern Patriarchs two Assemblies of their Prelates approv'd the chief points The Protestants had no right to a decisive voice Their opinions had been censur'd in former Councils and were like to be condemn'd again in this If for these reasons they absented 't was their own fault The Council was never the worse for 't 2. Read the Bulls of Convocation you will find that all every one who either by law by custom or by priviledge have any right to be present or to deliver their opinion in General Councils were summon'd to appear in Trent 3. Soave himself relates how there was a deliberation of sending granting safe-conduct to the Greek Churches under the Turk * p. 451. but it was presently seen says he that these poor men afflicted in servitude could not without danger assisiance of money think of Councils He says also that * p. 408. although the Pope was put in mind that to send Nuncio's into England to Princes elsewhere who do profess open Separation from the See of Rome would be a disreputation to him yet he answer'd that he would humble himself to Heresy in regard that whatsoever was done to gain souls to Christ did become that See. II. In some of the first Sessions there were not above fifty Bishops A. The difficulties disturbances of the Times bear all that blame All was fully recompenc'd in the end by a numerous unanimous ratification of all by the acceptation of the absent Prelates afterward Soave says that under Pius IV. * p. 504. the Actions of this Council were in greater expectation than in former times in regard the number of the Prelates were assembled four times as many as before He says * p. 757. All the Decrees made in this Council under Paul and Julius as well of Faith as Reformation were recited And the Secretary going into the midst did interrogate whether the Fathers were pleas'd that Confirmation should be demanded of Pope â—ius IV. of all things decreed under Paul Julius his Holiness and they answer'd not one by one but all together Placet Pallavicini says the same only he proves that * l. 24. c. 8. the votes were given as usually one by one III. Many of the Bishops were only Titular And many made during the Council that the Papalins might over-vote the Ultramontans A. As to the first part Soave takes notice only of two Titular Bishops the Archbishop of Armagh in Ireland and Upsal in Sweden both driven from their Sees by persecution of Protestants both true Bishops by their Ordination and both sent by the Pope in the beginning of the Council The second part being barely asserted locks like a groundless calumny may justly be suppos'd such till some proof appear IV. The Popes of those times major part of the Prelates would never allow this Title of the Council Representing the Universal Church Therefore they themselves did not look upon it as a General Council A. Here I must beg your pardon if I think you very much mistaken in your inference This Title was usurp'd by the Councils of Constance Basil but never assum'd by any Council which was totally approv'd You know very well that Catholick Divines are divided upon the point whether the Pope be superior to a General Council or whether a General Council without him be so compleat a Representati e of the Univerial Church as to be superior to the Pope They who maintain'd the superiority of a General Council were zealous for this Title and the others constantly oppos'd it But both parties always agreed that the Council of Trent was as truly General as the first four Councils were or any have been since V. It was never receiv'd by the Protestants Nor by the French Catholicks A. 1. The Council of Nice was never receiv'd by the Arians 2 It was universally receiv'd by both Ecclesiastical Civil State of France in point of Doctrine 3. The Decrees of Reformation were approv'd by all the Catholick Clergy of that Kingdom In the Assembly at Blois in the year 1576. The Archbi hop of Lions in the name of all the Ecclesiastical State of France begg'd the assistance of the King's Authority to put this Reformation in execution In the Assembly of Melun 1579. the Bishop of Bazas in their name made the same request to the King chiefly because they are tied bound to all Laws so made by the Catholick Church upon pain of being reputed Schismatical of incurring the curse of Eternal Damnation At Fontainebleau in the year 1582. The Archbishop of Bourges tells the King The stain reproach of Schism rests upon your Kingdom amongst other Countries And this is the cause why the Clergy doth now again most humbly desire c. In the General Assembly of the States at Paris in the year 1614. Cardinal Perron Cardinal Richelieu then Bishop of Luson prosecuted in vain the same request Thus you see the Catholick Clergy of France unanimously receiving approving the Council of Trent in matter of Discipline The Civil State as it has no share in the Votes of the Council so their non-approbation cannot diminish the Authority of it You may guess at the reasons of excepting against it by what the Queen Regent