of their ingenuity in Defence of the Popes Authority and that I saw not well what Advantage they could draw from the Infallibility of the Church which they maintained with so much ardor that doubled my attention to sound the depth of the matter and I found that by the help of this Infallibility they would conceal every thing so as to save the Popes Authority and all the Temporal Advantages which flow from it and I made no further doubt of it when I saw they applied it particularly to the Clergy excluding all the people and many men to the Pope alone excluding all other Bishops Since these Discoveries I have always held it as a Maxim wherein I have never been deceived which is That when any practice or Custom in the Church brings profit or honour to the Ecclesiasticks I presently suspect and examine it At length having a long time reflected upon all the abuses of this Papal Authority and having observed the Deplorable condition to which it hath reduced the Christian Religion as well without as within the Church and seeing it was that which having driven the Greeks and Protestants out of the Church is still the cause why they return not again unto its Communion and that it even draws strange Persecutions upon the Church from these scattered sheep by reason of the attempts of the Court of Rome and its favourers I at last resolved to publish this little Treatise to disabuse mankind in respect of the unjust and criminal Devotion which they have for the Papacy and also to purge the Church of it as well as of all other vices and misfortunes it hath there caused being perswaded that an Infallible fruit of this Reformation would be the Conversion of the Greeks Protestants Pagans Jews and Mahometans not to mention the Honour it would do to all the Catholick Princes whose Majesty and Greatness are vilified by this shameful subjection to and dependance on the Popes which make them to be despised by other Princes who have freed themselves from their Tyranny A Senator of Sweden told me one day a very good saying of Tacitus to this purpose Viri muliebria patiuntur Men act the parts of women which is as much as to say they are the Catamites of the Popes However since it is in their power to treat those as Hereticks and Enemies of the Church who oppose their Ambition and Interest I prepare my self against it and that doth not at all discourage me It is more Honourable to be hated by such people than loved Illi maledicent at tu Domine Benedices I know the Reader will in this Work of mine presently look after the Caracters of either Jansenist Calvinist or Lutheran or lastly of a man who could not be promoted to Benefices and many times he will think he hath found me As for Benefices I might perhaps have had one if I had had a mind to it but by the Grace of God I will have none nor have I need of any nor was I ever designed for it The Jansenists are as yet too much Papists to speak ill of the Papacy As for the Calvinists and Lutherans I wish they could be brought to own the opinions which I do and which I have no mind to betray in this my Book It is true they have both written often against this power but not with design that the Catholick Religion should be the better for it to which this Work wholly tends Whatever men will judg I think I ought not to renounce any truth because the Hereticks know it nor to put my eyes out rather than see the Injustice of the Papacy because the Hereticks see it If I had not here drawn the Picture of the Jesuits Religion it may be those they call the Jansenists would have suspected them to have been the authors of it as the present times go and for the Calvinists I am sure that in many places they will say that I do but gild over the Pill that they may the more easily swallow down the poyson as some people have said of the Book of Mr. de Condom they may judg of it what they please I have followed the sentiments which the reading of the Holy Scripture hath inspired me with and in which I am confirmed the more by reading the Fathers and the Ecclesiastical History and by making reflection upon all that I have seen in foreign Countries and upon what I see every day here If the Romanists hear this Work spoken of they will say without doubt as heretofore at the Council of Trent when Mr. de Faber made Remonstrances on the Kings behalf concerning the disorders of the Church Gallus Cantat they cried I have no better answer than what he made them Vtinam ad Galli cantum Petrus resipisceret let them come and renounce the Dominion and Tyranny they exercise over the Church and over the World and let our Bishops for time to come behave themselves like worthy Successors of this Apostle This Work shall be divided into Three Parts which will contain so many Chapters In the first I shall prove that the Papacy hath no foundation in the Word of God and shall shew the vanity folly of those arguments which they pretend to draw from the Gospel In the second I shall make it appear that the Primitive Church never knew it and that in the darkest Ages there were ever some who opposed it and I shall confute many human reasons which for want of the Scripture and of the Fathers are made use of for its defence And in the third and last I shall examine all the pretended advantages which this Authority procures to the Church or to States and I shall shew that 't is so far from bringing any real good to the Church or to Catholick States that it is the cause of the Desolations of the Church and of the greatest part of the Disorders among all Christians of Ignorance Heresies Schisms and Irreligion that reign No man ought to be surprised that I conceal who I am in so perverse an age as we live in where Truth and Honesty as well as those who profess it are exposed to cruel Persecutions and wherein I shall have as many mortal enemies as there are worldly Catholicks and Papists and people in possession of Benefices without mentioning the Monks I have no reason to flatter my self with any great success this Book may have by reason of the extream disorder and irreligion of the Age and I do it more to discharge my self of the load lying upon me and for the consolation of my own mind than for any other thing as heretofore Petrarch said upon a like occasion Haec scribo non tam ùt saeculo meo prosim cujus tam desperata miseria est quam ut me conceptis onerem Animum scriptis soler I write these things not so much to profit the age I live in whose misery is so desperate as to unburthen my self of my own thoughts
that is to say We read that the three first Patriarchs who sat in the Chair of Peter were he of Rome he of Alexandria and he of Antioch and with them all the Bishops who were under them Let a man read the Writings of Gregory of Gelasius and of Leo who were all Popes and he shall see that they all acknowledg that all good Bishops are Successors of St. Peter and altho they sometimes failed not to demonstrate suffiently their Ambition and the desire they had to make the other Bishops their subjects yet it was not in quality of Heads of the Church much less by vertue of any Text of Scripture And we find not that for the first six Centuries any man dared to bring so much as one passage of Scripture to establish the Primacy of the Bishoprick of Rome St. Ambrose is not at all favourable to them when he says Primatus Petri Confessionis erat non Honoris fidei non ordinis That the Primacy of Peter was a Primacy of Confession and not of Honourâ— of Faith and not of place St. Cyprian whom we have already mention'd says farthermore in another place Neque enim quisquam nostrum se Episcopum Episcoporum constituit ut Tyrannico tâ—rrore ad Obsequendi necessitatem collegas suos adigat cum habeat omnis Episcopus pro licentia libertatis Potestatis suae Arbitrium proprium tanquam judicari ab alio non possit cum nec ipse possit Alterum judicare sed expectamus Vniversi Judicium Dâ—mini nostri Jesu Christi qui unus solus habet potestatem praeponendi nos in Ecclesiae suae Gubernatione de Acâ—u nostro judicandi There is nâ—ne among us who pretendeth to be a Bishop of Bishops that by a Tyrannical power he may oblige any of his Colleagues to the necessity of being subject to him since that every Bishop being his own Master and independent on any other cannot be judged by another nor can he judg another but we ought all to expect the judgment of our Lord Jesus Christ who only hath the power of establishing us over his Church and of judging of our behaviour in it The same St. Cyprian calleth Stephen Bishop of Rome his Colleague Stephanum Collegam nostrum ut Cornelium nostrum co-Episcopum And Cornelius our Fellow-Bishop He speaks of two Bishops of Rome And in another place he shews that he thought he had as great a share in the Government of the whole Church as the Bishop of Rome Omnes enim says he deâ—et pro corpore totius Ecclesiae cujus per varias quasque Provincias membra digesta sunt excubare And in another place Divina Paterna Pietas in nobis Apostolatus ducatum contulit Vicariam Domini sedem coelesti dignatione ornavit That is to say The Goodness of God hath conferred upon us the conduct of the Apostleship and hath adorned by his Heavenly Grace the deputed See of the Lord which we hold And furthermore Christus dicit ad Apostolos ac per hos ad omnes praepositos qui Apostolis Vicaria Ordinatione succedunt Qui vos audit me audit Jesus Christ saith to all the Apostles and in the persons of them to all Bishops who succeed the Apostles being their Substitutes by Ordination Whosoever heareth you heareth me He shews in these places that he pretended that his Church was an Apostolick See and that he was the Vicar of Jesus Christ as well as the other Bishops In his 55 Epistle he says that a man must be a fool or a mad man to believe that the Authority of the Bishops of Africa was less than that of the Bishop of Rome to whom abundance of profligate wretches did resort that so they might avoid the giving an account of their actions to the Bishops of Africa and the being punisht for their crimes After his death a Council assembled at Carthage did ordain Vt prima sedis Episcopus non appelletur princeps Sacerdotum aut primus Sacerdos sed tantum primae sedis Episcopus That the Bishop of the first See ought not to be called Prince or chief of the Priests or any thing of this kind but only the Bishop of the first See. And the Council of Nice marking out the bounds of the extent of each Patriarchal See says thus There is an ancient custom whereby the Bishop of Alexandria doth govern all the Diocesses of Egypt of Lybia and of Pentapolis as also it is a long time since that the Bishop of Rome hath presided over those which he now governeth and so likewise the Bishop of Antioch Upon which Cardinal Cusan makes this reflexion We see says he hâ—w much the Bishop â—f Rome haâ—h gotten against the Holy Constitutions by the long use of a submission which hath been given him and which was not due to him This Decree of the Council of Nice was since confirmed by the Councils of Antioch of Calcedon and of Constantinople Theodoret produceth a Letter of the Council of Constantinople which sufficiently shews the place which the Bishops of Rome held at that time it begins thus To our most Reverend and dear Brethren and Colleagues Damasus Ambrose Brillo Valerian and all the other Holy Bishops assembled together in the Great City Eusebius also relates to us another Letter which the Council of Antioch assembled against the Heresie of Paulus of Samosatenus writes to the Bishop of Rome which begins thus To Dionysius to Maximus and to all those who are Ministers with us Com-Ministris nostris throughout the whole world Bishops Priests Deacons and all the Church under Heaven Would a man now in good earnest in this corrupt age write thus to our Holy Father the Pope Theodoret relates to us in his Ecclesiastical History that the Emperour Constantius was very urgent with the Bishop of Rome Liberius to embrace the Communion of the other Churches which shews that he also knew not that Rome was the Mother of the other Churches The Emperors Gratian Valentinian and Theodosius in the year 380 proposed Rome and Alexandria for Models of the Orthodox Faith. Ordaining that all the world should follow the Faith of Damasus Bishop of Rome and of Peter Bishop of Alexandria And after the first Council of Constantinople as tho they would have the Center of Christian Communion in the East only they order without mentioning Rome that all Churches should be conferred upon those who joyned in Communion with Nectarius Bishop of Laodicea and Diodorus Bishop of Tarsus in the Diocess of the East with Amphilochus Bishop of Iconium c. If the Bishops of Asia of Cilicia and of Mesopotamia had believed that the Communion of the Bishop of Rome had been necessary for their Churches they would never all have been excluded from its Communion during 140 years as they were after that Victor Bishop of Rome had Excommunicated them for a Trifle for if they
upon them In St. Hilaries days they endeavoured to bring under the Bishops of France in such sort that St. Hilary opposed their Ambition which made Leo have the Impudence to write of it to the Bishops of the Province of Vienne However that did not hinder him from continually attacking him and his successors who found opposition enough from time to time they always gaining the Victory And we have a Letter which the Churches of France and Germany wrote together in the time of King Clouis to Anastasius the second Bishop of Rome where we see that they were not satisfy'd with the Ambition of that Bishop It is not say they without reason that the Bishops it being grounded upon many Authorities affirm that the Authority of Councils is above that of a Pope St. Paul the Apostle who tells us that we should be his followers resisted Peter the first of the Apostles to his face because he dâ—served reproof For our parts we understand not this new compassion which the Italian Physicians have for our Mâ—ladies of France They would cure our Bishops and are themselves sick of a continued Fever They are themsâ—lves blind and yet thâ—y offâ—r us light They forsake their own Flock suffering it to wander and pretend to lead our Pastors in the right way Thâ—y would make us believe that the Cure for Spiritual Diseases that is to say Absolution is to be found at Rome c. But if the Ark of the Covenant should fall in France it must be our Bishops and not theirs that must take it up again But if they be so rash as to pretend to touch the Ark of our Church they only draw evil upon themselves as well as Uzzah the Levite Let thâ—m fairly undeâ—stand this Sylâ—ogism If thâ—râ— be but one â—nly power in all Bishops it is also in one person alone Now there is one and the same power in all Bishops therefore it resides also in one single person But let us here observe by the by how much the Germans and French are degenerated from that Piety and Love for the Liberty which Jesus Christ hath acquired for his Church It is certain that Bishops were always equal in the first Ages of the Church It was some time after the Death of St. Cyprian before they thought of establishing in every Province one Bishop above the rest They thought it would be advantagious for removing the disorder that sprung up sometimes among them for concurrence and presidency He resided in the Capital City and was called the Metropolitan At first he had no Authority over the others but only the place but afterwards they conferred upon them the power of consecrating Bishops of the Province because they dwelt in the Capital Ciiy where every body came about their Affairs And it is from thence that Bishops became subject to their Metropolitans and have been distinguished from them by the Ordination which they receive from them These Metropolitans were called in the West Arch-bishops After this there was given them the power of calling Provincial Synods who for that Reason were assembled always in the Capital City That was brought in at first only as a Custom and because it looked as though the state of the Civil Government did require it But at length this Custom was confirmed by the Decrees of the Council of Nice and became a Law. After that for the maintenance of Unity among the Churches of divers Provinces it was further thought requisite to establish Exarchs or Primates over these Arch-bishops according to the Idea of the Civil Government These Primates were the Bishops of the chief City of some great Province or of a Diocess that comprehended many Provinces At first they acknowledged no Superior but by little and little they of Constantinople of Antioch of Alexandria and lastly he of Rome did first attempt their Rights and after came the Council of Calcedon who established over these Metropolitans four Patriarchs of Rome of Alexandria of Antioch and of Constantinople to whom afterwards he of Jerusalem was also added for the Honour of that City but he lasted not long The two principal were he of Rome and he of Constantinople because those were two Seats of the Empire and at last they took upon them the Quality of Oecumenical Bishops against all Reason Divine or Humane and against the Decrees of many Councils Since those times every thing hath gone worse and worse It is no hard matter to prove that the Presidence of the Bishop of Rome was purely in consideration of the Dignity of that City The Second Canon of the Council of Constantinople shews it sufficiently where it is said That the Bishops who are established over a Diocess shall not go beyond the bounds which have been set them but that the Bishop of Constantinople shall have the Honour of the Primacy after the Bishop of Rome and not before him because that City is not so ancient as that of Rome After the same manner the 9 th Canon of the Council of Antioch ordains That the Bishops of great Cities shall have the pre-eminence because all men of business repair to the Capital City 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. And the Council of Calcedon in its 16 th Act gives no other Reason for the City of Rome's having the first place The Fathers says this Council have also given these Priviledges to the See of Old Rome by reason of the Empire of that City c. And for this very reason they have given the same priviledges to the most Holy See of New Rome judging very ratiâ—nally that a City honoured by the Senaâ—e and the Empire ought to enjoy the same priviledges as the Ancient Rome and have the same pre-eminence in Ecclâ—siastical Affairs and be the second after her And the Council of Turin in its first Chapter hath these words That Bishop who can prove that his City is the Capital of the whâ—le Province let him have the honour of the Primacy and the Faculty of conferring Orders upon others And we must not judge of this matter by what we now see For Example That Paris and London which are the Capital Cities of two great States have not the Primacy over the other Bishops of these Kingdoms for besides that they here received the Christian Faith later than the others did the Court of Rome and its Favourers have managed this very politickly not suffering that any great City shoulâ— have this Honour lest the Bishop of it should become their Rival and should cast off their yoke as we see they had all the difficulty in the World to subdue the great City of Milan For in the year 1059. Nicholas the Second having sent thither Peter Damien Bishop of Ostia to make them lay aside the Ambrâ—sian Service and take up the Roman both the Clergy and People answered vigorously That they had never been subject to the Roman Laws and that the Bishop of Rome had
ejusdem loci mihi de more Archidiacono de Cura Parochianorum reddat rationem That is to say That the Cardinal-Priest of this Parish ought according to the custom to give an account of his Parishioners to me and to the Arch-Deacon The same Author called Le Gris a Canon Regular of St. Augustin says That there were Twelve Curates at Soissons who time out of mind had been called Cardinals and it was the same thing in many other places of France And we read in Pasquier that in a Council held at Metz under Charlemagne it was ordained Vt Titulos Cardinales in Vrbibus vel Suburbiis constitutos honestissime Canonice retractatione ordinent disponant That the Bishops should ordain and dispose the Title of Cardinals Honestly and Canonically in Cities and Suburbs If this name and dignity be to be esteemed so highly in the Church it would be very easie to make as many as one would in France without the Bishop of Rome his consent since that evâ—ry Bishop hath the power of making them and without being Reordained there is no Priest who doth now officiate who may not be a Cardinal when you please Thus this signifies nothing no more than the other things which have been already confuted to prove that the Popes Authority is Divine since the Sâ—ripture and the whole Primitive Church are against it But I must here also answer one Humane Reason which they make use of to throw dust in our eyes they take it from an Author whom they esteem as much as St. Paul nay more for they pretend that without him we should fail in many Articles of our Faith this is Aristotle I scarce believe so much can be said of St. Paul who wrote the clearest of all the Apostles Senza Aristotele noi mancarono di molti Articoli di Fide says Cardinal Palavicini Bellarmine also another Cardinal and a Jesuit doth object to us that Aristotle demonstrated Monarchy to be the most excellent of all Governments and by consequence God would have his Church so governed and that this Monarchy belongs to the Pope It is certain that the Spiritual Government of the Church is Monarchical It is Jesus Christ who governs it a Monarch all-wise and Almighty but the external Government of the visible and Universal Church cannot be so and their principle it self is contested by the greatest part of Politicians Aristotle himself their Apostle says in some places that a mixed or compounded Government be it Aristocratical or Democratical is better Quae ex Pluribus constat Respublica melior est And tho a Kingdom may be very well governed by one single person yet it doth not follow that this one person can as well govern all the States and Kingdoms of the World. And he says in another place Huc enim sunt omnia reducenda ut ii â—ui in Imperio sunt non Tyrannum sed patrem Familias agere videantur rem non quasi Dominus sed quasi Procurator Praefectus administrare nec quod nimium est sectari Do the Popes govern after this manner Reason and Experience both convince us of the contrary We see by History that the Empires of the World when they were of too great an extent could not subsist and have been torn in pieces and we have the example of some wise Emperors who made Decrees to hinder the enlargement of their Empire as Augustus made one De Coercendo intra limites Imperio It is a Proverb That he who takes too much into his arms can't hug it close And this is so much the truer in Ecclesiastical Government which cannot inflict Corporal punishments upon Delinquents for St. Paul says expresly that the Arms of the Evangelick Ministry are not according to the Flesh. And the Fathers as well as the Councils do teach us that the Arms of a Bishop ought to be Prayers and Tears The example which they bring of one single Bishop who by Divine Institution governs a Diocess or of a Curate who governs one Church only can signifie to them nothing at all bâ—cause first of all there is a Divine Institution for that but none for this Besides a man may easily manage a Boat upon a little River who knows not how alone to manage a great Vessel upon the Ocean much less a Fleet of Ships And the Example of a Bishop or Curate makes against them for they are not Soveraigns the one presides only among the other Priests and the other in a Parish I foresee that it will be said that though this Authority of the Pope was not Instituted by Jesus Christ that the Church for the first five Centuries knew it not that it hath been since opposed from time to time by many people perhaps of a turbulent or discontented mind yet it must be believed that the Church which did establish it since did it for good Reasons that Jesus Christ and his Apostles have not so precisely Regulated every thing that concerns the Discipline of the Church but that she may according to her own Prudence alter some things according to the times and places or as others say that every time hath its customs or as Cardinal Palavicini Altri tempi Altri costumi That the Church was at that time in its Infancy and that the mature age to which it is now arrived is not to be governed as its tender Infancy I acknowledg that the Church may sometimes vary in its Discipline and in its policy without any great crime but this must be always by a principle of charity and according to the Fathers Quod propter charitatem fit non debet contra Charitatem militare That which is done by a Principle of Charity ought not to militate against Charity It must tend to Edification the Church ought to do nothing against the Commandments of God. Now I have shewn that the Papacy is against the Maxims of the Gospel and is altogether contrary to the Genius of Christianity and more contrary than light is to darkness Furthermore it is not true that the Church hath established the Papacy only some few Councils held in Italy about two or three hundred years since or thereabouts as that at Florence Lateran Bolonia and Trent But we speak not of these dark Ages for those with whom I dispute believe that the Church hath established this power in the Sixth or Seventh Century In this respect the Cardinal Cusan mistakes himself when he says Pâ—patus est de jure Positivo The Papacy is of Positive Right For the Church hath not established it in any Council unless you call that Rabble of Ecclesiasticks and Seculars the Church who assembled themselves together at the desire of Boniface the Third to confirm upon him the Title of Universal Bishop which he got by the Parricide Phocas for the assistance he had given him He himself acknowledgeth that this Authority came to them ex usu Consuetudine
Subjectionalis Obedientiae And he maintains with good reason in another place Si per possibile Treverinus Archiepiscopus per Ecclesiam Congregatam pro Praeside Capite Eligeretur Ille proprie plus Successor esset Beati Petri in Principatu quam Romanus Episcopus That if it were possible that the Arch Bishop of Treves could be chosen Head of the Church by a General Council he would be a more lawful Successor of St. Peter than the Bishop of Rome which shews that in his time no Council had declared the Bishop of Rome as such Besides these words if it were possible shew that he belioved not that the Church could dispose of such a thing Gerson was also of this Opinion for he acknowledgeth very ingeniously that the Papal Authority cannot be conferred by the Church Papalis Authoritas si non a Deo esset immediate instituta a tota Ecclesia institui non poterat If the Papal Authority were not from God immediately it could not be instituted by the whole Church And though it were true that the Church had established it as Pope Innocent the Third pretends when he says Ecclesia non nupsit vacua sed Dotem mihi tribuit absque pretio pretiâ—sam spiritualium plenitudinem latitudinem temporalium illius me constituit vicarium qui habet in vestimento suo scriptum Rex Regum Dominus Dominantium The Church hath not married me without a Fortune but hath given me the invaluable dowry of God the fulness of Spirituals and the latitude of Temporals hath made me the Vicar of him who hath written on his garment King of Kings and Lord of Lords Although that I say were true it would not be less necessary to abolish this power which is the cause of so many disorders because the Church in those days might have created it for the good of the Church as she then thought And having found out that it is to her ruine she ought to destroy it for the Chair of Peter is for the Church and not the Church for the Chair of Peter Petri Cathedra propter Ecclesiam non Ecclesia propter Petri Cathedram Quod propter Charitatem fit non debet contra Charitatem Militare And since that our Faith according to Thomas Aquinas ought to be founded upon the Word of God only and not upon the Eshablishments of the Church as he says Fides nostra innititur Revelationibus Prophetis Apostolis Factis Ecclesia non statuit nisi de non necessariis ad Salutem According to this Truth we are not obliged to believe the Extravagant of Pope Boniface who says That it is necessary to Salvation to submit to the Pope And if the Church according to these People dared to change the Aristocratical Government instituted by Jesus Christ under which the Kingdom of God spread it self so far Piety flourished Idolatry was confounded shall it not be allowable for the Church and for Princes who are its natural Protectors to redeem it out of that Slavery into which the Enemy of Mankind hath reduced it to its first Purity and Simplicity Methinks if Men had any sense of Religion they ought to sigh continually for the deplorable condition of the Church and of the Greeks and Protestants whom we have cast headlong into the Evil they now labour under Some people will have it That because the Greek Patriarchs among themselves hold that Place which the Council of Nice and the Emperor Constantine gave to all Patriarchs he of Rome who had the first Place ought still to keep it and as in Place he was the first Bishop and the only Patriarch in the West he ought still to enjoy these Prerogatives But first of all none of the Greek Patriarchs unless it were that John of Constantinople against whom St. Gregory wrote so vehemently ever pretended to bear Rule over the other Bishops nor over the Church much less over Christian Princes as the Popes do and the Patriarch of Rome for above Three Hundred Years after his Institution never attempted it Secondly The Place which the Bishop of Rome held was Propter Principalitatem Vrbis in regard of the Dignity of the City which now hath no weight at all Rome being no longer the Seat of the Empire but the Sink and Common-shore of all filthy Iniquity a Den of Thieves and a Nest of Satan Nido di Satanazzo and the very Habitation of Sloth Laziness and Beggary Paris or London do at this time deserve this Honour a thousand times better Besides it was in a time when there were but very few Christians in the West These great States were not yet converted to the Faith France Germany Poland part of Spain and all the Northern Countries knew not what Christianity was so that one Patriarch might more easily have the inspection of this small number of Christians who resorted also to Rome for their civil Affairs as to the capital City where the Emperor resided How are they now able to govern all the Churches they who cannot govern that at Rome and which is worse that trouble not their Heads about it Add to this a fourth Reason which is That in those days they were not Temporal Princes as they are become since and had not innumerable Legions of Monks and Beneficiaries at their command as now they have which renders this Power the most formidable of any upon Earth among the Catholicks If because Rome had heretofore the first Place for the Spirituality before other Cities she should pretend still to have it it will thence follow that she hath it for the Temporality over these same Cities since the Spiritual Authority of this City as I have already proved was founded upon the Temporal and Civil which she enjoyed as the Seat of the Empire and so in pretending to the Regency of Religion in France Flanders and other Catholick Countries they pretend also to have a Right of treating these States as they please and they have effectually made them their Subjects and Tributaries even to the disposing 〈◊〉 the Crowns of Kings as their fancy leads them There are others who believe they have hit on the right when they say that the Pope is Primus inter Pares and that so he is the first of all Bishops But I ask by what Authority It is true he was so among the Patriarchs whilst that Rome as I have said already was the Seat of the Empire but now I maintain that he is Vltimus inter Pares and unworthy of the Name of either Priest or Bishop being the Tyrant of the Church and of Christian Princes and a Temporal Prince himself Were he not a Temporal Prince all he could lawfully pretend to would be to be the first Bishop of Italy I know it will be said That I ask too much to obtain any thing and I know that it will be neither better nor worse but I will discharge my mind and tell the Truth God Almighty may raise up Princes
every thing without whom no man can have neither life motion nor being such a King I say hath no need of a Vicar-General for the Spiritual Government of the Church because he is present in all places no more than an Husband needs a Vicar for his Wife or a living Father for his Children and that he himself assureth us that where two or three are gathered together in his name there will he be in the midst of them If he hath a Vicar-General he can be no other than the Holy Ghost We also see that when he was upon the point of leaving his poor Disciples who were afflicted by reason of his approaching departure from them he tells them not I will leave you the Pope to guide and govern you which had been but a poor consolation But I will send you the Comforter who shall lead you in all truth And if we consider in what the administration of this Spiritual Kingdom doth consist we shall clearly see that no one mortal man can be the Vicar-General of it Can one only man preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments all the world over They tell you that he will make it be done by others would to God the Popes would do so but these Delegated Preachers would be thus the Popes Vicars who pretends to be the Vicar of Jesus Christ and sometimes of St. Peter which cannot be according to all the Canonists who maintain that one Vicar cannot make another besides that the Ecclesiastical Ministry properly speaking cannot be subdelegated to Vicars for whosoever discharges it ought always to perform it in Preaching or Exâ—rcising the other Episcopal Functions in the name of Jesus Christ and not in the name of any creature and a man must be a fool or a seducer to do otherwise A meer man as the Pope is can he fill the souls of men with peace and joy in the Holy Ghost which is the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Can he defâ—nd the Church against all its enemies visible and invisible Can he give the Crown of Righteousness to those who shall be victorious and faithful to God to the death Can he raise them up again These are Acts of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ over his Church What relation hath the Dominion of the Pope to that of Jesus Christ What resemblance between light and darkness between Jesus Christ and Belial Thus it is evident that it is without any foundation that the Bishops of Rome boast of being Vicars of Jesus Christ thâ—y are no more so then the meanest Priest of the Church and it was with reason that the Council of Basil maintained to them that they were not Vicars of Jesus Christ but of the Church as every Curate is in his Parish Pontifex Vicarius Ecclesiae non Christi Nevertheless they maintain that St. Peter had this Employ of Universal Vicar that he was Head of the Apostles and of the whole Church Bishop of Bishops Soveraign both of Spirituality and Temporality Monarch of the Church and of the World. In a word that he had all the Prerogatives that the Popes at this present time enjoy in quality of Successors of St. Peter And that as I have said without being able to produce so much as one word of the Creation and Institution of this Charge so important to the Church if you will believe them nor of the Rights of this Charge nor of the Succession nor of the manner of the Election nor how so marvellous a Charge ought to be Exercised nor of the respect and obedience due to this Vicar nor of the use of his Office. They affirm boldly that St. Peter was at Rome that he was Bishop there That he founded that Church That he died there and left a Successor who was called Clement or Linus or Anacletus of which things tho they make the Salvation of all men to depend upon them they are not able to prove one tittle And they do affirm that this Successor entered into the full possession of all the Priviledges of St. Peter to which all the Bishops of that City have ever since equally succeeded both good and bad unto the present Pope Innocent the Eleventh It must be readily acknowledged that these Gentlemen must have very penetrating understandings to make these discoveries from the Gospel for it is certain that they are wholly imperceptible there I have sometimes read it without ever finding any thing that was at all like it and I think I saw clearly that St. Peter never knew he had this Authority but that on the contrary he believed that no Christian whatever much less a Bishop ought to have it in the Church nor did the other Aâ—ostles know it any more than he for somewhat of it would then appear and they who protest they have made known to us the whole will of God would have been extreamly to blame not only to have declared nothing of it to us but also to have always spoken and acted with their Soveraign Head and Master as with an Equal And St. Paul would have lost all manner of respect for him when he so warmly reproved him It seems probable also that our Saviour was obliged to have given them notice of it for naturally they could not know it and the Modesty Charity and Humility of St. Peter might have hindred him from declaring and exercising this Empire over them yet it is certain that there is nothing like this to be found Nevertheless this doth not hinder but that the Pope and Cardinals whose eyes their own interest opens as it blinds other peoples have in their own opinions found very strong proofs of it in the New Testament They say for example that our Saviour changed only St. Peter's name the reason as you see is without reply for it follows very necessarily from thence that St. Peter was the Head and King of the Church But unluckily he also changed the names of the Children of Zebedee They say also that he is sometimes named the first but if he be not so always this will signifie nothing to them but tho he had been always so this would not prove that he had authority over the others as the Pope hath over the other Bishops Amongst the Presidents the first hath no power over the others nor amongst the Electors of the Empire the Elector of Mentz who hath the first place hath no authority over the other Electors and so in all Societies the Primacy carries no dominion along with it But besides if that reason should take place the Holy Virgin who is sometimes named the last in Scripture would be greatly degraded from the place that belongs to her If St. Peter were always named the first that might have been given to his Age as the Fathers say and in truth we ought to attribute it to this that our Saviour spoke so often to him as well as to the fervency of his zeal which as we ought to admire and commend so also may
the truth is that he said that for all and that he received also this power for all because that he represented the person of them all and the union that there ought to be amongst them One spoke for all because the unity was in all The same Father also says in another place Manifesta est Sententia Domini nostri Apostolos mittentis ipsis solis potestatem a patre sibi datam promittentis quibus nos successimus eadem potestate Ecclesiam regentes That is to say We see clearly the intention of our Lord when he sent out his Apostles and promised them the same power which his Father had given him and we have succeeded them governing the Church with the same power And so in other places Quando Petro dictum est Tibi dabo claves c. Typum Ecclesiae gerebat unus pro omnibus respondit When it was said to Peter I will give thee the Keys c. he represented the Church one single person answered for all And in another place Ecclesiae dictum est Tibi dabo claves c. It was said to the Church I will give thee the Keys c. Theophylactalso Habent potestatem remittendi ligandi quicunque sicut Petrus Episcopatus gratiam assecuti sunt quamvis autem Petro soli dictum sit Dabo tibi omnibus tamen Apostolis concessae sunt That is to say All they have the power of remitting and unloosing who as St. Peter have obtained the Honour of being Bishops for tho it were said to Peter alone I will give c. yet the Keys were given to all the Apostles And Leo the first Transivit etiam in alios Apostolos vis potestatis istius ad omnes Ecclesiae Principes Decreti hujus constitutio commeavit sed non frustra uni commendavit quod omnibus intimetur Petro idem ideo hoc singulariter creditur quia cunctis Ecclesiae rectoribus Petri forma proponitur manet ergo Petri privilegium ubicunque fertur ex ipsius aequitate Judicium That is to say That the power of the Keys was given also to all the Apostles and not only to them but to all Bishops and that it was not without design that our Lord committed to one what he intimated to all For thereby the example of Peter is proposed to all them who have a share in the Government of the Church Where-ever then any one judges as Peter did there is the priviledg of Peter also to be found And it is to be observed that Leo said this in a time when the Bishop of Constantinople would have had the Primacy I think these Evidences are sufficient to shew the injustice of the Popes who attribute to St. Peter alone those things which he had in common with all the other Apostles and all good Pastors and that to usurp an authority which neither St. Peter nor any other Creature ever could have and though it were possible that St. Peter or any other might have had it the Popes have less right to pretend to it than any other Priest because that they are but Temporal Princes For under the Gospel men derogate both from Episcopacy and Priesthood when they become Temporal Princes and it is certain that according to the Scripture and the Holy Canons these two things are inconsistent They ought to consider which they will stand to I am perswaded they would not contradict themselves in the matter but would always hold to the Temporal which they call the solid thing as Cardinal Palavicini very well observes that they desire the Popedom only for the vast quantities of Money which they get by it with the means of Obliging and doing Courtesies Due beni per cui soli appar Desiderable il Pontificato il Principiato dell Oro e del Obligo And in the Age we live in they would be in danger of not making so much of their Episcopacy as Boniface the third did by Phocas and if they should let their Beast but once get loose they would find it a hard matter to get up again But besides I think I ought here to put you in mind of one thing which is that the power of binding and loosing is not what the Popes and many evil minded Priests would make us believe for I do maintain not only that the Pope cannot free a man from the guilt of his Crimes and from the punishment due to them no more than the meanest Priest as Marsilius of Padua heretofore said but also that neither one nor other of them hath any power of pardoning Sins but as far as it doth appear to them that God doth pardon them and that properly it belongs not to them but to God. I shall be asked how the Priest or the Pope knows when God pardons any mans Sins And I ask them by what Authority they can dispence with the punishments a man hath deserved for having offended God without there be some appearance of Contrition in this Man I know very well there are many who affirm that the Pope can do it and others who pretend that attrition is sufficient but it will be no hard matter for me to prove that these Opinions are both foolish and Impious It is God only that can truly pardon Sins and he never does it but to the Contrite Heart that is to say to those who have a real sorrow within themselves for having offended so good and so merciful a God and who make a firm Resolution to forsake their Sins and to punish themselves by Repentance and by the Mortification of their Flesh and of their Passions and who will as much as in them lies in reference to men repair their crimes by making Satisfaction to all those they have wronged and Lastly who have made a Vow to endeavour all their Life-time to root up all their evil habits When these Dispositions do not appear in a Penitent the Pastor cannot pardon his Sins and when they do appear he cannot refuse to give him Absolution The Holy Scripture mentions no other power of binding and loosing Sinners but doth detest the use which the Popes make of it who Excommunicated whomsoever they please even Kings themselves and whole Nations for no other reason that their Fantasy St. Hierom made light enough of these Excommunications when he said Apud Deum non Sententia Sacerdotum sed reorum vita quaeritur And in an other place Solvunt Apostoli Sermone Dei testimoniis Scripturarum Exhortatione virtutum That is to say that God enquires not after the Priests Opinion but what sort of life a Sinner hath led It is the word of God the Evidences of Holy Scripture and Exhortations to vertue by which the Apostles do Absolve St. Ambrose also Verbum Dei says he dimittit peccata sacerdos est Judex sacerdos officium suum exhibet nullius autem potestatis jura exercet It is the word of God says he that pardons Sins the Priest
is the Judge who doth his Duty in judging according to this Word but exerciseth no Authority And St. Augustin Claves sunt discernendi scientia potentia qua dignos recipere indignos excludere debet Sacerdos a Regno Dei. The Keys saith he signifie no other thing than the Knowledge and Skill of discerning those who are Worthy and those who are Vnworthy that the Priest may Exclude them from the Kingdom of God. It is now time to examine the third passage which they alledge for the Primacy of St. Peter which you find in the 21 of St. John. Peter lovest thou me Feed my Sheep From whence they draw this Consequence that St. Peter was the Head of the Universal Church It is certain that he was one of the most excellent Pastors of the Church but notwithstanding that he was not a Pastor to any of the Apostles nor to any other Christians but as the other Apostles were For our Lord says to them all in common As my Father hath sent me so send I you and in another place Go then and teach all Nations c. Which is the same thing as if he had said to them all Feed my Sheep What is to Feed but to Teach Instruct and Edify as well by Speaking as Writing by Preaching and Explaining to men the word of God and its Truth accompanying that with a life conformable to that Holiness the Gospel requires Which is called pascere Exemplo verbo But they ask why our Lord repeated three times Peter lovest thou me Feed my Sheep St. Augustin answers that Redditur Negationi Trime Trina Confessio c. St. Cyril understands it also in the same sense Jure nunc ab eo Trina dilectionis Confessio petitur ut trina negatio aequali Confessionis numero Compensetur Ita quod verbis commissum fuit verbis curatur c. Dixit autem pasce Agnos meos Apostolatus ipsi Renovans dignitatem ne propter Negationem quae Humana infirmitate accidit labefacta videretur c. That is to say Our Saviour had reason to demand a three-fold Confession of his love towards him to Recompence in some measure Peters thrice denying him c. And he says unto him Feed my Sheep to renew unto him the Dignity of his Apostle-ship from which he might seem to have fallen by denying his Master St. Cyprian Pastores sunt omnes says he Sed grex unus ostenditur qui ab Apostolis omnibus unanimi Confessione pascatur Episcopatus unus est cujus a singulis in solidum pars tenetur They were all Pastors but he shewed them but one Flock which all the Apostles were to feed with an Vnanimous consent St. Augustin In Petro unitatem Commendavit multi erant Apostoli uni dicitur pasce oves meas c. Sed omnes boni pastores in uno sunt unum sunt Illi pascunt Christus pascit c. He recommended the unity in the person of Peter there were many Apostles he said nevertheless but to one of them Feed my Sheep c. But all good Pastors are in one and are but one They feed Christ feedeth c. The same Father says in another place In uno Petro figurabatur unitas omnium Pastorum sed Bonorum In Peter only was represented the unity of all Pastors but that is to say of all good Pastors Chrysostom tum ostensuâ—us es eximiam tuam Dilectionem in Christum cum paveris ejus gregem cum scriptum sit si diligis me pasce Oves meas Then said he to St. Basil thou wilt shew thy love towards Jesus Christ if thou feedest his Flock as it is written Lovest thou me feed my Sheep St. Peter himself explains to us these words and shews that he was himself far from pretending to the quality of Universal Pastor Excluding the other Apostles because he doth acknowledge that even the Priests are Pastors as well as himself and that the Flock of Christ is committed to their charge as well as to his which they ought to feed not out of a â—hameful desire of gain but by a disinterested Charity not in lording it over the Heritage or over the Clâ—rgy of the Lord But by giving themselves a good example to their Flock How many râ—proofs are â—ere in a fâ—w words agâ—inst the Pope and evil Priests These are the places of Scripture which they cite with the greatest colour for the papacy of St. Peter which as they explain them are I think sufficiently confuted One may say of them as heretofore the Council of Basil said to the Creatures of Pope Eugenius who also corrupted the Sence of these Passages Sunt Interpretationes Paparum fimbrias suas extendentium These are Interpretations of Popes that stretch out the Skirts of their Garments To these which I have already given I shall yet add some reasons drawn from the Gospel it self against this pretended Primacy and Rule of St. Peter I shall not repeat that we see nothing in the Gospel but Precepts of Humility of Charity of renouncing the World its Grandures Pleasures and Riches But I shall say that we read in the Acts of the Apostles that St. Peter was sent to Samaria by the other Apostles A Prince is not usually treated thus by his Subjects We see also that in another place having been accused by the others for misbehaving himself he justifies himself This looks not like a Soveraign Would the Pope endure this from the Bishops or from any other We see not that he gave Laws to others that he established any thing by his own private Authority without the other Bishops St. Paul says expresly that he was not inferior to the greatest of the Apostles In St. Matthew and St. John it is manifest that Jesus Christ gave to all his Apostles the same power And in the Epistle to the Galatians that Peter James and John gave their hands to each other as a mark of the Society that was between them Would the Pope give his in this manner to the other Bishops We see that at the Council of Jerusalem it was not St. Peter but St. James who presided and concluded We read in the Epistle to the Galatians that St. Paul and he agreed together that St. Paul should go and Preach to the Gentiles and St. Peter to the Jews If St. Peter had known that he had been the Head of the Church he would not in all likelihood have suffered that his Ministry should have been thus limited or that the Ministry or Power of St. Paul should have been of an extent an hundred times greater than his especially if he had been of the humour of our good Popes If any Bishop should pretend to govern the Church of France or Spain without them it is to be believed that it would not be very pleasing to them and from hence by the way one may judge that Saint Peter had nothing
had pleased they might have been reconciled to the Church of Rome by submitting to the Laws of that Bishop St. Gregory of Nazianzen writing to the Clergy of the Church of Caesarea in Cappadocia speaks to them thus It is just that care should be taken of the whole Church as of the Body of Jesus Christ chiefly of yours which hath been from the beginning the Mother of almost all the Churches which is so at this time and is so esteemed and to which the whole body of the Church relates as a Circle does to the Center round which it is formed c. This holy man thought not the Church of Rome was the Center of all the Churches In the Milevitan Council where St. Augustine was present it was Ordained That those of Africk who should Appeal to Rome should be Excommunicated These are the words We have adjudged that all Priests Deacons and other Inferior Ecclesiasticks who shall complain of their Bishops Administration shall apply themselves to the Neighbouring Bishops who by the consent of their own Bishops shall decide the Controversie between them And if they will Appeal from their Opinions let them not do it but to the Councils of Africa And if any man makes his Appeal to any place beyond the Seas here Rome must be understood let him be looked upon as an Excommunicated person by all Africa And since that time the same thing was Ordained in the Council of Africa and this they give for their reason That no Council hath taken away this Authority from the African Councils and that the Decrees of the Council of Nice have committed as well Priests as the Bishops to the direction of their Metropolitans Most prudently and justly providing that affairs should be determined upon the place where they had their first beginnings and that no Province would ever want the assistance of the Holy Ghost to discern equity that any injured person might procure a Council of his own Province yea and appeal from that to a General one and a man must be a fool to think that God would not rather inspire with the love and knowledg of Justice a great number of Prelates assembled in Council than a single person be he who he will. What stupidity and dulness is it that hinders Christians in these times from carrying it in the same manner towards Rome And the Council of Constantinople after having limited the bounds of each Patriarchal See says that the Affairs of every Diocess ought to be Regulated by the Synods of the Diocess and that in Confirmation of the Fourth Canon of the Council of Nice And in the sixth Canon it doth Enact That if any man hath been vexed by the Bishop let him complain of this Bishop to all the other Bishops of the Province and if these Bishops cannot determine the affair he ought to apply himself to a greater Synod of Bishops of that Diocess whereby we see that the Bishop of Rome had in those days no Authority over other Bishops but that every thing was then Regulated by Councils and by Synods If an Archbishop or a Metropolitan were accused the Affair was determined by an Assembly of the Synod of the Diocess and if any man appealed from thence it was not to the Bishop of Rome but to a Synod composed of many Diocesses which may be seen in the case of Bagadius Bishop of Bostra Metropolitan of Arabia who having been Deposed by some Bishops of his Province appealed from them not to Rome but to Constantinople where quickly afterwards was assembled a Synod of many of the Eastern Diocesses at which Nectarius of Constantinople Flavian of Antioch and Theophilus of Alexandria all three Patriarches assisted and the case was determined in the year 394 and Bagadius Reestablished in his place It was the opinion of St. Hierom tho a Roman and very zealous for his own Patriarch That if there be any question concerning Authority that of the whole world is greater than that of one single City For what end shall a man alledg the Customs of one only Town Wheresoever there is a Bishop there is always the same Dignity Neither Riches nor Poverty making them Superiors or Inferiors They are all Successors of the Apostles St. Chrysostom was also of this opinion when he spoke thus If any Bishop affecteth Supremacy on Earth he shall find confusion in Heaven And whosoever shall be ambitious of raising himself above others shall not be reckoned among the servants of Jesus Christ. Thus are all the Popes Inclusively Excommunicated by St. Chrysostome since Boniface the Third and not only by him but by the Milevitan Council by the Council of Sardis the third Council of Carthage and another Council held at Carthage at the Instance of Gregory the First under the Emperor Maurice all these Councils do Excommunicate and declare him a forerunner of Antichrist who shall call himself Universal Bishop St. Grâ—gory doth himself abominate the Pride and Impiety of our Popes of these last Ages when he says That whosoever shall make himself be called Vniversal Bishop shall be the forerunner of Antichrist because he will by his Insolence raise himself above others And in another place speaking to Anastasius Bishop of Antiâ—ch he says That without mâ—ntioning the dishonâ—ur that the pride of such a man would do you If a Bishop should mâ—ke himself be called Vniversal Head of the Churâ—h the whole Church must run to ruin if this Vniversal Head shâ—uld fall For my pâ—rt I prâ—y God keep me from hearkening to any such folâ—ies and from bâ—ing capable of so greâ—t â—â—anity c. I should never have done if I should pretend here to relate all the Evidences of Antiquity which are contrary to the pretences of the Bishops of Rome for some Ages past St. Austin tells us a story which I cannot lâ—t pass which shews things pretty clearly He says that Donâ—â—us had accused Ceciliâ—n Arch-bishop of Carthage of a great Crime and that the Emperor Constantine chose the Bishop of Rome and several other bishops for Judges of the Affair Donatus was condemned by them and made his Appeal to the Emperor who referred the Judgment of his Appeal to Arles At this Judgment the Bishop of Arles presided and the Affair was by him determined in favour of Cecilian and the Judgment given at Rome confirmed It would be a fine thing now to see the Emperor in an Affair purâ—ly Ecclesiastical as that was establish the Pope as his Commissary with other Bishops and an Appeal made from their sentence before the Emperor and he should send the cause before another Bishop to judge definitively of it I know not after this what Evidenâ—es I further need to prove the Usurpations which the Popes have made since those times Christians ought to die in confusion who want Proofs for a thing as clear as the day considering the enormity and exorbitance of the power which these people take
relates In the year 654 the Emperor Constantine bound the Pope Martin in Chains and sent him away in Exile to Chersona where he died In the year 963 the Emperor Otbo deposed Pope John the 12 th In the the year 1007 Henry the Second deposed Three Popes Benet the Ninth Sylvester the Third and Gregory the Sixth We see by the Authentick of Justinian that the Popes paid to the Emperors as to their Soveraigns Twenty Pounds of Gold for their Investiture And Pope Adrian himself and also Leo the Eighth do confess that the Emperor Charlemayne had the Authority of Electing Popes Why is it not so now It is because the Popes have by a thousand Cheats ruined the Roman Emperors and are become more mighty then they as well by the desolation of the Empire which they have rent in pieces as by the Conquests which they have made in Italy and by the Usurpations which they yet make upon what remains to the Emperor in debauching part of his Subjects who swear Fidelity and Obedience to them even against the Emperor himself and by holding in Captivity their Consciences by means of the Monks to make them do what they please in favour of the Pope not to mention how they drain his Country as well as others trafficking with Princes and their Subjects in almost the same manner as is usual with some people of the Indâ—es to whom they give Pins and pieces of Glass for their Pearls and Gold. After this manner they draw to them all our Substance and we are at least as simple as these poor people Some body in Tacitus complains That the Money went out of Rome for Diamonds and that â—trangers and Enemies made advantage by it Pecuniae nostrae lapidum causa ad Exteras Hostiles Gentes transeunt We have now so much more reason to make this Complaint as Diamonds are better worth than Bulls and Dispensations of our Most Holy Father the Pope Bonifâ—ce the Third as I have already said having been made Universal Head of the Church by Phocas this power increased prodigiously in a little time This good Pope presently called together some Ecclesiasticks of his Faction in a Synod who confirmed to him the Title of Head of the Church After him his Successors taking advantage of the weakness of the Greek Emperors and of the distractions of Italy they established and augmented their Authority more and more and the Exarchat of Ravenna having been ruined by the Lombards the Spiritual Power of that City fell as a prey into the hands of the Bishops of Rome who seeing none in Italy but the Lombards who could disturb him plaid a cunning trick to draw to them out of France Pepin Son of Charles Martel it was by sending him Letters brought from Heaven to the Holy Father which promised Pepin an assured Victory over the Lombards Pepin gave credit to this Letter came and defeated the Lombards pursuant to which His Holiness Pope Zachary the worthy Successor of Boniface the Third very honestly dispenced with Pepin's Oath of Allegiance which he owed to King Chilperic and crowned him King of France and at the same time dispenced with all the French for their Obedience due to their lawful Prince Pepin then in acknowledgment of this gave them the Exarchat of Ravenna with many Cities and Priviledges reserving to himself only the Soveraignty and the Right of Electing Popes which as History testifieth his Successors enjoyed long after him Nor had any of their Bishops any need of Bulls or to pay Tribute to the Popes being elected by the Clergy and the People invested by the Prince who alone assembled Councils and made Regulations in Ecclesiastical things And when the Popes encroached farther than they had to do we see that the Churches of Germany and of France had yet courage enough to oppose their Enterprises And we find that in the year 991. the Councâ—â— assembled at Reimes under Hugh Capet deposed one Arnoulph Arch-bishop of Rheimes in spite of the Pope and when he complained of it they asked him for what â—eason they should prefer his Apostleship before others Vt sciamus intelligamus cur inter caeteros Apostolatum vestrum praeferre debeamus And in the 28 th Chapter of the same Council What would Laws signifie if all were to be governed by one Man's Humour In the greatest prosperity of Rome when it was the Seat of the Empire and Bishops were men of Merit the Gelasiuses the Gregories and the Leoes the Afrâ—cans would not give them the Priviledge of Appeals how much less ought we to do it now Compare our times with theirs It is true that notwithstanding the Protestations which were every where made against the Ambition of the Bishops of Rome yet they still gained ground and at length having gotten either by some trick or by open violence not only the Exarchat of Ravenna but Benevento and Ferrara and what they call the Patrimony of St. Peter having made themselves absolute Masters of the Town of Rome they were no longer afraid to declare open War against the Emperours And this it was which made Guicciardin say in two places Jam ita se gerunt ut Authoritatis pontiâ—iciae videatur Leges dare potius quam accipere Terrorem armoâ—um Coelestium in res caducas vertunt Tandem non erga Deum Homines Charitas sed Exercitus sed bella in Christianos horum Curae Ludicra jam per multos annos beliorum Authores incendiorum Faces c. Now they behave themselves as though it were a part of the Popes Authority to give Laws not to receive them They turn the Terror of Heavenly Weapons on Worldly Affairs now not love to God and Man but Armies and Wars against Christians are their care and sport For many years they have been Authors of Wars c. Aventin gives us an account of a Letter which the Empâ—ror Barberossa wrote in the year 1150. to the Princes of Germany which saith expresly That the Popes being increased in Wealth and Dignity by means of him and his Predecessors apply themselves with all diligence to dethrone Kings and Princes and cannot suffer an Equal That they were busied both Night and Day not so much to destroy him as the Sacred Empire After they had oppressed the Head of it they affect not only Domination but Divinity it self and will not be feared and adored less than God And that the Christian Religion hath no greater Enemies than they But he who of all the Popes gave the most mortal blow to the Church and to the Authority of Christian Princes was Gregory the Seventh and that by three Devilish means First of all by Deposing the Emperor Henry the Fourth which caused the ruin of the Western Empire for since that time it hath been torn into many little States and weak Principalities which the Popes have played with at their pleasure as well in Germâ—ny as in Italy Only our Country
when he pleases who may restore that happy Equality among the Bishops under which the Church was heretofore so flourishing and Christianity made so great Progress which would also re-establish Peace among all Christians much better than the Equality of Turkish Politicks of which they say Ittichat Khoga Kopatmas Equality produceth no Wars They mean the Equality of Poverty that is to say that great men are not to be suffered in a Nation and that being all miserable they would make no commotions Whereas the Equality which I speak of would produce not only a firm and lasting Peace but also the abundance of all Spiritual and Temporal Goods There are also some People who pretended that if we acknowledg a necessity of having Arch-bishops and Primates who take their Places above Bishops instituted by Jesus Christ tho the Dignity of Arch-bishops or Primates is not so in like manner for Orders sake we may have a Pope That might pass if the Popes did not pretend to be of another Order if they exercised no Authority over their fellow-brethren if they were not Temporal and Mighty Princes if the Clergy did not absolutely depend upon them if they had nothing but a Pre-eminence of Place over the other Bishops in Assemblies and in Councils if there were One of them in every Christian State who should solicite the Prince for the assembling of Provincial Synods every year to whom he should be subject as the other Bishops and should entertain Communion with the other Patriarchs or Catholick Popes and with whom he should keep Correspondence that they might altogether by the Consent of their Respective Princes cause General Councils to be assembled when they should be necessary which should be held sometimes in one State and sometimes in another and wherein should preside men of the greatest Understanding and the greatest Merit without exception of Persons or else every Patriarch in his turn Thus was the Church anciently governed without Tyranny by this means did Religion spread it self abroad with great success in all Countries and not by a pretended Bishop who is a Worldly Prince and hath ruined the Church We see that heretofore among the Pagans Kings have been Sacrificers and Ministers of Religion Amongst the Jews also at the beginning we find that the Heads of Families who were Soveraigns did take upon them the offering of Sacrifices and performed Divine Service but before these latter times which is the Sink of all Ages it was never seen that Priests plaid the Princes and that People who ought to employ themselves only in Prayers and Sacrifices and whom Jesus Christ and all the most pure Canons of the Church do forbid to meddle in Secular Affairs should compare themselves with and raise themselves above Kings Is it not a comely sight to behold a Temporal Prince wearing Three Crowns one above the other sitting in a throne covered with Gold and precious Stones having the Arms both of Sea and Land many Attendants following him who are equal to other Princes Such a Prince as this I say to be the Vicar of Jesus Christ He is then a Carnal Messias and such a one as the Jews do at this day look for He is then a King of Concupiscence and of Iniquity If it be so the Jews had reason to accuse him for endeavouring to supplant Caesar the Romans would have been in the right to put him to Death and so he would not have been the Redeemer of Mankind This Pretension of the Popes as we see is a horrible Blasphemy and which yields the Cause over to the Jews against us and tends to justifie every thing they did against our Lord Jesus and utterly to overturn Christianity The pretence also which they have that Ecclesiasticks ought not to be subject to their Natural Prince and are freed from Obedience to him by Jesus Christ This is to renew against our great Saviour the impious Accusation which the Jews brought against him That he would have made himself a King and perswaded others to Rebellion There are others who pretend that the evil is not so great that there is a Pope as that General Councils are no more assembled and so they say that we should rather speak of assembling a Council than talk of exterminating the Papacy because they think that a Council would limit the Pope and hold the Reins shorter over him But this Papacy subsisting how shall a General Council be called but that they 'le have a hand in 't And if they have what will this Council tend to The End of it will be like that of Trent sad and miserable And put the case there might be found a Prince zealous strong and prudent enough to cause a General Council to be assembled by an agreement of other Christian Princes in spight of the Pope what would this Council do against the Pope who would have all the Bishops for him both by the Oath which they have taken to him and by Twenty Millions of Revenue which he hath and which he would employ to corrupt all the World What would you do with the Monks who would be all for him it being their Interest to maintain the Authority and Infallibility of the Pope because the Priviledges which he hath given to many of them which are as ancient as their first Institution are not confirmed by any Lawful Council and so are null And how long should the good condition of this Prince's Affairs last or his good Correspondence with other Princes to make the Laws of this Council be obeyed and that the Pope who will be all or nothing shall not hinder the Execution of his Decrees and continue his Tyranny And how will you in the mean time keep the Papacy with its hands tied and what will this signifie It is certainly better to cast off the Yoke all at once than to let it continue without being sure that it shall do no more mischief Tutius est perire non posse quam juxta periculum non periisse says a certain Author We have the sad Example of the Councils of Trent and Constance from that of Trent we could not hope for any great matters but even that of Constance which seemed well inclined to a Reformation as well as that of Basil found such horrible resistance in the Court of Rome and among the Ecclesiasticks that it never could re-establish the ancient Discipline And that shews us that we must wholly eradicate this Papacy and that it is not enough to assemble a free Oecumenical Council but that it must be some powerful zealous and resolute Prince who fears nothing but God and not the Court of Rome who must begin continue and vigorously end the thing without hearkening to pretended moderate Councils which tend only to the Churches ruin The Proverb here signifies nothing That it is better to preserve the Commonwealth as it is than to have none at all For I maintain that here is no Common-wealth but a perfect Anarchy and that
the Laws of God and makes others of his own head He defiles all things he robbâ—th he deceives and murthers Honorius Bishop of Autun speaks of him after the same manner Turn says he toward these Citizens of Babylon and behold what thâ—y are c They contrive at all times to do evil c. and instruct others to do the same They sell Holy things and buy off Crimes that they may not go alone into Hell They defile the Priesthood by their Impurity they seduce the People by their Hypocrisie they reject all the Scriptures whereby we obtain Salvation Consider also the Monks they deceive men by their Habits despising God and provoking his Wrath by their Hypocrisie Behold also the Convents of Nuns they learn Immodesty from their Childhood c. And Peter of Blois Take away Lord the Idol from thine House and bruise the Hâ—rns of this man of sin They pervert every thing at Rome and give all sorts of liberty to the Monks who give themselves over to all the Excesses of Sensuality for which they have Absolution for a yearly Pension which they pay Thus doth the Prince of Sodom govâ—rn himself as well as his Disciples who are sate in the Seat of Pestilence c. And St. Bernard who cries out speaking of Popish Tyranny O misâ—rable Spouse says he who art committed to such kâ—epers They are not thine Husband's Friends but Rivals We see all Hâ—nours heaped up upon them and they are loaden with the Riches of the Lord and yet they do him no Hâ—nour From hence come all these Ornaments of the Whore these Actors Hâ—bits this Royal Equipage c. The Plague of the Church is within its Bowels and incurable A shameful Traffick hath been also made of Ecclesiastical Offices and Dignities nor doth any body value thâ—m but for their profit It is not the Salvation of Souls that they look after but how to enrich themselves 'T is for that they are shaved frequent the Churches and say Masses And in another place It looks Lord Jesus as tho all the Christians had conspired against thee and they themselves are the first to persecute thee that seem to have the Primacy in the Church And the like in many other places He observes in his 91 st Epistle that the Popes did already spoil every thing that was done in the Councils which made him say That he passionately wished to see a Council where Traditions were not defended with so much Obstinacy nor obsâ—rved with Superstition because the Popes brought in great Abuses under the Pretext of Tradition Ad illud Concilium toto dâ—sidâ—rio feror in quo Traditiones non obstinatius defensentur aut superstitiâ—sius obsâ—rventur Recedant a mâ— cui dicunt nolumus esse meliores quam Patres nostri These were not Oecumenical Councils but such as Leo the Tenth assembled from which the Sorbon appealed by reason of the Abuses which were there established and wrote to him That his Council was not assembled in the Spirit of God in the Name of the Lord. See what our Probus says who was Bishop of Toul under Honorius the Fourth He cries out Alas how long shall these Vultures of Romulus abuse our Patience or rather Dullness And the Great Petrarque Who I pray is there that ought not to detest this Babylon which is the miserable Habitation of all sorts of Vice and Wickedness c I know it by Experience that in it there is no Piety nor Charity nor Faith nor Fear of God nothing Holy nothing Just c. It is now above a thousand years since that Isidore Pelusiota commended a Priest for having refused to be made a Bishop by reason of the great difference between the Bishops of his own time and those of former Ages because says he the Dignity of sweetness of Humour and of Civility was changed into Tyranny For in former times they suffered Death for the Salvation of all now they cause the Death of their Flocks not by cutting their Throats which would be a less heinous Crime but by giving Scandal to the destruction of Souls They then gave their Goods to the Poor but now they turn to their own profit the very Portion of the Poor They then mortified their Bodies by fasting now they soften them by Luxury Then they honoured Virtue now they persecute the Lovers of Piety They then spoke greatly in commendation of Chastity but now I will not say any thing of the odious c. He here holds his peace and gives you the liberty to think what he cannot with modesty express Alvarez Pelagius a Portugal Bishop after having made an honourable mention of the first Bishops of Rome complains thus of their Successors It is now a long time since their Successors have raised themselves in Authority but they are very different in Hâ—liness getting themselves in to be Bishops of Rome would to God that this intrusion were made without a Devillish Agreement before-hand enriching and raising their Neighbours living themselves deliciously conferring Dignities upon their Friends building of Towers and Palaces in Babylon that is to say Rome according to St. Hierom kindling of Wars keeping up of Parties in Italy tho there be but one Church embezelling the Goods of the Church putting unworthy Men into Offices vaunting themselves in their Chariots Elephants Horses Costly Apparel and their great Train of Guards and Worldly Power invading many times the Power of Temporal Princes taking no care for the Salvation of Souls and what not wholly minding the desires of the Flesh. Besides these Subjects of Complaint which are of great importance there is yet another which cries more loud to God for Vengeance which is That the Papacy is an Obstacle unto the Piety of those Christians who are subject to its Yoke We are not of our own Nature virtuous but on the contrary we are born in sin and without the particular Grace of God there is in us always a strong Disposition to do evil If then men are not furnished with means to resist these ill Inclinations it is evident that they will let themselves be carried away by them But if instead of furnishing them with these means they have greater occasion given them to do evil there is no doubt but we shall be so far from inspiring them with the love of Virtue that we shall engage them in sin Now the Papacy according to the state wherein it now is and for many Ages hath been hath such ill qualities that it takes away from Christians the Occasions of doing good and offereth them others of doing evil It is one of the Properties of our Mind to be led very much by Example especially by those who make a figure in the World and have Authority over others Thus the behaviour of the Monks and of the Priests savouring scarce of any thing but Covetousness and Ambition the Natural Dispositions which we have to these Vices are by this
means strengthned I acknowledg that Preachers do instruct the people That to make themselves acceptable unto God and to have a share in the Kingdom of Heaven they must refrain from these evil Passions and they build this Obligation upon the Precepts of the Gospel but men acting exceedingly more by the hope and fear of present good or evil than of that which is future the efficacy of all the loveliness of a God who gave this Precept of the hope of Paradice and fear of Hell becomes extreamly weakened in them by the ill Example of those who by their Habit and Condition seem and ought to make profession of a Life more pure and disengaged from the Interests of this World. For altho they embrace not formally this Opinion That there is neither God nor Heaven nor Hell and that on the contrary they hold these Doctrines to be very true yet nevertheless this ill Example makes them act as if they did wholly reject them this damnable Example having so mortal a poison in it that it makes them believe that their Teachers being able men would themselves live conformable to these Instructions if they thought them Divine and they themselves leading not this life 't is probable that they do not believe what they preach and teach The Scripture also in many places highly enveigheth against Pastors of an ill Life the disorder of their manners being a stumbling-block to those whom they have the care of But tho the Irregularities of Pastors did not make so ill an impression upon the minds of the people whilst persons who desire to be saved and are humbled when they perceive within themselves a repugnancy to follow those ways which the Gospel hath marked out hear speak of able men and of almost whole Orders whom for instance the Gospel enjoyns to be charitable know that no more is employed that way than what remains to him who spares no cost to appear Great and to keep up his Port according to the Custom of the World and other such like Interpretations of all the Precepts of Jesus Christ do not they find themselves inclined to embrace these Explications thereby satisfying their desires and thinking to quiet their Consciences Those who favour the Papacy shall tell you That the Pope is so far from ordering such pernicious Maxims to be taught that he doth abhor them and wish with all his heart that they would teach and promote contrary ones Besides that many Popes have themselves entertained ill Opinions I will grant it for the present but the Pope who pretendeth to be the only Head of the Church and that it belongs to him alone to judge absolutely of Eâ—clesiastical things and persons not reproving them nay oftentimes shutting the mouths of those who would oppose them who sow and spread abroad such dangerous Maxims doth uphold these pernicious Opinâ—ons which we have the greater reason to believe because he withdraws the Monks and many of the Clergy from the Jurisdiction of the Bishops If it be said That he cannot silence them by reason of their too great Authority it is then manifest that the Papacy such as it is doth suffer the ill Example and these pernicious Opinions and is not able to hinder them unless it be in matters of very small importance And thus far it is an Obstacle unto Piety since no body can apply a Remedy whilst the Pope shall be acknowledged the Head and Master of the Church The Second Argument which sheweth That the Papacy is an Obstacle unto true Virtue is that it makes use of such practices as promote a false and only seeming instead of true Piety Some Catholicks do teach That Contrition is necessary to make Confession valid But this Doctrine is not much followed That which hath the Vogue and reigns most in the World is that Attrition is sufficient which is only a simple Sorrow for having sinned and that too occasioned but by the fear of Hell. The people who are instructed in this Opinion believe readily that it is an easie matter to be justified before God and so think that after having sinned a great while they shall at their Death receive Absolution of their sins by saying a Peccavi For what man is there who is not afraid of being Damned The great multitude of Plenary Indulgences and others which are as common as Water doth also marvellously contribute to the casting men into Impenitence and to make them at the same time believe that their Consciences are in safety under pretence of observing those Exercises which pass for Pious tho they are not so I could produce many other Reasons to demonstrate the Truth of what I say but let these suffice The Pope pretending to be the only Soveraign Judge of Religion not silencing these false and pernicious Teachers nay not being able to do it if he would Is not then the Papacy an Obstacle unto true Piety since it introduces a false one in its place There are good people among the Catholicks I confess but the Papacy contributes nothing to that On the contrary those who believe and live well it is God and not the Pope who is the Author of their Piety as well as of their Profession which is rather destroyed than maintained by the usual Pride and Impiety of the Popes from whence it comes that no man now a days believes but what he will so that the whole World is full of Deists Socinians Libertines and impious persons But they say That at least the Papacy doth maintain the External Vnity and that is a great Advantage Yet I deny that For what does it contribute to this outward Unity But besides that it serves only to cheat the World whilst there is no inward Unity If they mean the Unity in Ceremonies First of all this would be no great matter for Ceremonies make not the Essence of Religion but are only the out-side of it and besides they are very different according to the several Countries and the Popes are not the Authors of them If they were it were enough to condemn them Besides all this there are fewer Sects and Factions less Divisions and by consequence more Unity among the Greeks who have many Patriarchs than among us I acknowledge indeed that it is rather Ignorance that unites them than Reason or Piety Bâ—t they tell us that the Popes spare nothing for the Conversion of the Greeks and Protestants they bestow on them both Money and Benefices To that may be added That they have not spared even the Blood of Hereticks for their Conversion as History informs us But if it be their Conversion which they do heartily desire why do not they renounce the Authority which they have usurped in the Church and in the World Why do not they re-establish things in a Christian manner in the same State they were in in the days of the Apostles and of the Primitive Church Why do not they condemn the Blasphemies which are spoken in favour of
their Government and destroy the Maxims by which they have managed themselves so long They answer That then their lives would be in danger and that the Court of Rome would destroy them as they did Adrian the Sixth who thought to have reformed the Church of whom Cardinal Palavicini gives this Account That he was Ottimo Ecclesiastico Pontefice Mediocre a Good Priest but an Indifferent Pope But if the Popes cannot find a Remedy for the Disorders which are so prevalent because as they say their Authority is not sufficient what are they then good for and why shall we any longer suffer this Tyranny in the Church If they can find a Remedy and will not they are then not only unprofitable but detestable Creatures It is certainly one or other or both together for we see that every thing is overturned in the Church And what If they are the Vicars of Jesus Christ and Successors of St. Peter ought they not to think themselves happy to die for the Glory of God and Good of the Church Is it better to be the Object of Mens Worship to provoke the Jealousie of God and to do so much mischief in the Church Where is the Zeal of Moses or of St. Paul who would have died for their Brethren and have been even accursed and of the first Bishops of Rome who suffered Martyrdom so Couragiously They love rather to give them Money and Benefices because that thus they put out all to great Usury they sow that they may reap they give what is none of their own or else what signifies nothing to them If it be true that they are careful of the Salvation of these People why are they not so of their own Why do they not labour for the Salvation of Catholicks That would cost them no Money There needs nothing but to allow the Reading of the Holy Scripture every where and recommend it as God hath recommended it to us to suffer Divine Service to be read in a Language which every body understands For it cannot be denied but that the want of these things doth produce among us great Ignorance with which Piety is never to be found But to give Money to convert People it is the mark of a very prophane Spirit and a very dishonest method and an Example for Mahometans and Hereticks to make use of even towards Christians And to give Benefices it is yet worse for by this the Clergy is filled up more and more with Hypocrites and People of no Religion who spend the Goods of the Poor upon Debauchery and Luxury and most commonly are of no use at all to the Church They say That they make Religion to be respected But how Is it by their own Piety or Sanctity or that of their Court or by their Humility No truly these Vertues are wholly there unknown and the contrary Vices have ruled the Rost long since but their fine Court and the Greatness and Magnificence of the Cardinals are the things we hear of But are these the things that ought to make men love Religion Is it Gold and Silver costly Furniture Riches Carnal Pleasures which the Prelates glut themselves withal Is it their Cavalcades to Montecavallo their Horse and Foot-Guards their Armies and their Fleets which make Religion to be respected If it be so both Jesus Christ and his Apostles deserved to be despised in comparison of their Vicars and the Christian Religion also was very contemptible in their days Is it to Excommunicate all the World when they please without Authority without Cause and against the Nature of the Gospel which is Charity it self But wise men are so far from respecting them for this that they look upon them as Fools Is it to hold a Chappel or Consistory where they treat only of prophane things and of promoting of Cardinals What doth this signifie or what Relation hath it to the Glory of God or the Salvation of Men And what is there in all this which the Patriarch of Venice or the Archbishop of Lyons might not do as well as the Pope if he had a mind to it We must not dissemble All the Respect which men have for the Papacy at least they who hope for no advantage by it comes only from the Respect or from the Fear which they see Princes have of it And this respect of Princes if it be voluntary proceedeth from great Ignorance of Religion in which they have been brought up for that purpose or from the ill Council of some Ambitious Clergy-man who compasses his Designs at the Prince's Expence If this Respect be forced as ordinarily it is it is then out of the fear which men have of the Popes Power whereby he rules the vast Numbers of the Ecclesiasticks and especially the Monks who govern the meaner People who as Palavicini says are the disposers of the Religion of Countries It is said That they have the Power of making the Laws of God to be observed If so they ought themselves to give an Example they ought to apply to themselves what our Saviour said to St. Peter not to draw his Sword. It is a thing both ridiculous and horrible that these People should have Armies and make War. They do it in Germany after the Bishop of Rome his Example But where is it that they make the Laws of God to be observed Is there any place where they are violated more than where they have most Authority Is Rome at this day better than Sodom Do not they on the contrary favour as much as in them lies the very Crime by the Example of their Court by their Expences by their pretending to exempt all Clergy-men from the Jurisdiction of the Civil Magistrate that so they may commit all sorts of Crimes and go unpunished But they say furthermore That they make Kings stand in Awe and hinder them from professing Heresie On the contrary it is they who made them become Hereticks as in England Sweden and Denmark and who by their Tyranny hinder them from returning into the bosom of the Church It is also pretended That they are very useful for the composing of Differences between Princes being looked upon as common Fathers to them all On the contrary their Artifices and Ambition are so well known that thâ—re is no Prince whom they are more distrustful of They never carried on their own Interest better than during the Wars of Italy Germany France and Spain which either they always began or kept on foot They are also constant Enemies to Great Princes What is alledged might take place if the Popes were not thâ—mselves become Temporal Princes at the Expence of the Emperoâ—â— and other Princes whom they have robbed And it is kâ—own that they have Pretensions over all Christian Kingdoms That there is no Court more refined in Policy than theirs or that makes less Conscience of taking to themselves what belongs to another In truth they think it not taken wrongfully because they pretend that it is
Bishops if they preached the word of God if they instructed their Diocess in the knowledg of God if they applied themselves to their Prayers without being ambitious without desiring Command and Authority and playing the Princes at Rome without abusing the World with their Dispensations Induglences false Reliques Agnus Dei's and other Fooleries without drawing of Annates giving of Bulls and comparing themselves to Kings and Princes If I say they behaved themselves like the first Bishops of Rome I should honour and admire them as a Souldier said heretofore to Nero I loved thee dum amari meruisti sed postquam Parricida Histrio incendiarius extitisti c. whilst thou didst deserve it but since thou wert a Parricide a Stage-player and destroyer of thy Country I have abhorred thee They say furthermore that were it not for the Pope there would be no Missions to the Indies and that those People would never be converted On the contrary by the Ambition Pride and carnal Pleasures which they keep up in the Church Zeal and Charity are almost wholly extinguished But what do the Popes do for these Missions If they contribute any thing towards them it must be as in all other things for their own Interest But there were Missions to the Indies before ever the Bishops of Rome undertook to govern the Church those who are now sent thither go only for Gain and Traffick and by the Relations we have of them they are the strangest Conversions in the World they take no care at all to instruct these poor People nor to teach them any thing they baptize them only without explaining to them the Virtue of that Sacrament or what it signifies nay without turning them from their former Idolatry They are contented instead of instructing them to tell them that in worshipping their Idols and doing all as they did before it is sufficient if they direct the Intention to Jesus Christ or to the Saints and so they are no less Idolaters than they were before These now are their Conversions But say they does not the Pope create a great many Bishops in partibus Infidelium in the Countries of Infidels That may be done without the Pope Metropolitans and Primates did heretofore create them and Bishops may do so still This tends to nothing but to flatter the Vanity of the Popes who not being able to establish themselves effectually in those Countries will however satisfy their Fancies by this imaginary Empire which they attribute to themselves in disposing of fantastick Bishopricks in those Countries This is all but Farce My Lord the new Bishop makes wry Faces as if he were going to his pretended Diocess where the People shall be Greeks Pagans or Mahometans he prepares his Equipage to be gone and whilst he is just ready to depart his Holiness hath a tender Affection for his dear Son commends his Zeal and his Piety to go to hazard himself among the Infidels dispences with him as to his Journey and for a recompence of his Devotion he gives him good Pensions and Benefices wherewith the good Prelate lives jollily at Rome in Pleasures and in Honours They have by this Principle of Vanity created four Patriarchs at Rome to make themselves amends because they could not make the four Greek Patriarchs submit to them There are some People also who pretend that the necessity of a visible Head of the Christian Church is proved by this that the Mahometans have one and the Pagans also had one And they say that the Mahometans who have a Musti and had heretofore their Caliphes the Pagans their Pontifex Maximus as the ancient Romans had will have less Aversion for Christianity when they see in it a Head of Religion like their own But there is a great deal of difference for these never did usurp the Temporal Power of Princes like the Popes they never exacted Oathes of Allegiance from their Clergy nor pretended to a share of the Princes Authority as the Popes do in Catholick Countries The Ambition of the Popes will ever keep them back more than this Conformity will induce them to embrace Christianity But Men must not form to themselves such carnal Ideas of the Religion of Jesus Christ who is all Spirit Truth and Holiness it is a sort of Idolatry to believe that Jesus Christ hath such Vicars It is to be wholly ignorant of God and to make Jesus Christ the Minister of Sin. It may be yet said that the Popes keep Princes and great Men in the Catholick Religion by the conveniency of Dispensations which they many times gives them very opportunely and such as they could not find in other Religions as Cardinal Palavicini maintains that if the Pope did not give these Dispensations to those who possess and change many Benefices they who enjoyed them would offend God and be uneasy in their Consciences and that it is because that God should not be offended that the Popes have found out the Secret of Dispensations But these Dispensations are either against the Law of God or they are not If they are then Princes are so much the more to be blamed to address themselves to the Pope for this is manifestly to mock both God and Men. I know very well as I have already observed that there are some good People who maintain that the Popes can make that a Sin which is not a Sin and that not a Sin which is a Sin but I do not think that any Prince was ever so simple as to believe so thus the Action of a Prince who hath recourse to the Popes for Dispensations authorizeth this abominable Impiety and by his Example makes it pass for an Article of Faith making himself the shameful Instrument to establish the most pernicious and the most infamous of all Impostures If the thing be not contrary to the Law of God there is no need of a Dispensation for any whatsoever And furthermore be they necessary or unnecessary the meanest Bishop hath as much right to grant them as the Pope nay more since that as I have already said the Popes being Temporal Princes can not be in the Christian Religion either Bishops or Priests they have forfeited this Character and have no calling under God since God hath not instituted this monstrous Authority Besides these Dispensations are only for the Popes advantage for by them he raiseth and maintains himself in Credit not only other above Bishops his fellow Brethren but even above God himself abrogating his Laws and fastning Princes with his whole Families indispensably more and more to their Service it being their Interest to maintain this pretended Authority of the Pope without which their Actions would appear shameful and scandalous and as many times it is for their Marriages which they are dispensed with their Children would be illegimate which would confound the order of the Succession Thus does every thing turn to the Popes advantage who are always of his opinion who said
the beginning had no other Original than the Tyranny of the Pope for without these Novelties the Church would in all likelihood have joyned with them because that many People saw clearly the Cheat of the Papacy and that it had no Foundation neither in the Scripture nor in Reason but the Opâ—nions which they began then to spread abroad to which from time to time they added somewhat or other new ut nemo fit repente turpissimus put the Catholicks out of all hope and made them continue as they were and it were now foolish enough to think our selves in the wrong to acknowledg that the Protestants are right in this Article and that we have not courage enough to get off this Abuse and to detest it as well as they wherein we do great Prejudice to our selves to Religion and likewise to the Protestants whom we destroy by it for they seeing that they have Reason on their side in this Point cannot believe that we have it in others and so remain obstinante For my part as I am assured that their Religion is contrary to the Gospel so I cannot but confess and I think my self indispencibly bound in Conscience to do it that concerning the Article of the Papacy they have more Reason on their side than can be imagined But if we find that we have too little Courage or Strength to undertake to abolish and utterly destroy this Monster we ought at least to endeavour to send him home to Rome and secure our selves from all the Mischief he is able to do us and not to endure any more his Approaches I say this only to prevent the Objection which People make that it is extream difficult to bring about such an Enterprise that this great Machine is so well joyned together this Babel hath so many Props and Arches that they who should undertake to pull it down would be in danger of being swallowed up in its Ruins Mille annorum fortunâ disciplinâque compages haec coaluit quae convelli sine convellentium exitio non potest It would ever be a glorious thing both before God and Men to undertake so great a thing tho it were without success But I do not think the danger so great as People imagine for I am perswaded that this work doth not exceed the Strength of any great vigorous and zealous Prince who would manage the thing with Prudence I own that no Prince can undertake such a Work who is not assured that his Neighbours shall not oppose him and that his Clergy and People shall not be against him As for his Neighbours he may easily know their Disposition both as to their Will and the Means they have either to assist or hurt him And for the Clergy the Contrivance should be to let them peaceably enjoy their Benefices and to make them understand their Rights that according to the Gospel all Bishops are equal and that they owe to the Pope no more than to any other of their fellow Brethren that the Popes have usurped over them the Authority which they assume to themselves of giving Bulls and the Oath of Fidelity which they exact from them and that these things overturn the Gospel and that for the Oath if they have taken it to the Pope it is null in it self being against the Law of God as St. Austin says si ad peccatum admittendum fides adhibeatur mirum est si fides appelletur And for the People they must be gently used and made to understand if they are capable of Reason that all the Popes of Rome as well as other Bishops have Authority only in their Diocess according to the Gospel and ancient Canons that the Authority which they exercise serves for nothing else but to make them Masters of the whole Earth and turns to nothing but their particular Profit They must also be shewed the Disorders which this Power hath caused both in the Church and in the World as I have represented it in some places of this Work. If once the People were made to comprehend this the Monks could never do any Mischief for they are dangerous only among the People whom they govern provided they do not come nigh Princes This being done a potent and prudent Prince would easily perswade other Princes all that I have said of the Papacy of its uselesness of the Mischiefs it hath caused in the Church and in the World of the Shame which it draweth upon them by keeping them always under the Yoak of the damage which it causeth to their Estates of the Danger they are continually in depending upon the Popes Humour who can excommunicatâ— them when he pleaseth of the Account they will have to give to God for so many Souls that perish as well Catholicks as Hereticks the one by Ignorance and the others by the Obstinacy which the Papacy causeth and that Religion hath no Connection with the Papacy that we should be more Catholicks than we are if there were no Pope and that the Church would be Aristocratically governed as in the first Centuries by the way of Councils There is no Prince who hath common Sense but would joyn with another truly Catholik Prince that would propose this and by this means we should soon see the Prophecy of the Revelation fulfilled which says that the Kingdoms of the World are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign for ever and ever But say they the King and the Bishops have sworn Fidelity to the Holy See. I answer with St. Ambrose That it is ever unjust to observe an Oath made against God or our Neighbour And St. Augustin said above that if an Oath tends to a Crime it is contrary to Faith to keep it I have proved that the Papacy is a Mystery of Iniquity and that so Princes as well as others would make themselves the Instruments of the Popes Crimes of their Sin against God and of the Ruine which they draw upon the Church Seneca says very well Si in omnibus obediendum est patri in eo non est obediendum in quo efficitur ne pater sit Tho we ought in all things to obey our Father yet he is not to be obeyed in those things wherein he ceaseth to be a Father The reason then is much stronger that we ought not to obey a common High-way-man who hath deceived and seduced us to make us Complices of his Crimes When a Vow or an Oath is lawfully made yet where the thing vowed or the Oath taken doth hinder a greater Moral Good Orthodox Divines are of Opinion that the Oath is null because that we owe to God a Progrâ—â— in well doing so that we cannot deprive our selves of the Liberty of making this Progress Besides every Oath of a Christian hath this understood Provided that this be to the greater Glory of God Edification of our Neighbour and our own Salvation So that quod proptâ—r Charitatem fit non debet