Agents The Monks at this day think it an Honor to acquaint us with the Combats and the Travels which the Men of their Order have sustained to hinder the Worship of Images from falling 'T was in the Convent of Corbie and in the Brains of Paschasius the Monk that the Opinion of Transubstantiation had its Birth When that new sort of Monks which are called Mendicants came into the World a Man cannot tell the Evils which they caused there the Superstitions that they brought and the Corruptions which they introduced into it It is from them that those Excesses whereof the honest Men of the Church of Rome themselves at this day have an abhorrence took their Original These Excesses say I which respect the Worship of the blessed Virgin the Invocation of Saints and the Adoration of Images and Relicks Excesses which are gone so high by the assistance of the Monks that all which is most odious in Pagan Idolatry did never go beyond it 'T is that whereof your Converters themselves are at an Agreement with us 't is of that which they tell you that we ought to make no use that we ought not to impute those things to the Church which were the foolish imaginations of the Friers of the last Ages and the Devotions of Monks as they themselves call them and that honest Men did never approve 'T is a thing far enough from Truth that the Church of Rome never approved these Excesses But it is not a thing upon which we have any pâ—rpose to stay at present It is sufficient for you that it is evil by the confession of your Converters and that this Corruption took its original from Monks They are the same Men which have dishonored Christianity by a an Historical Theology more shameful and fabulous than was that of the Pagans and Poets 'T is to them that we owe the Legends the Lives of Saints the Châ—onicles and Annals the Orders of S. Francis the Jacobites and the Carmelites in which Works the least trace of Truth and Purity is not to be seen but a heap of ridiculous Fictions impertinent Miracles and filthy Fables whereof at this day Men of the Character of Canus Bishop of the Canaries and de Launoy are ashamed and make no scruple to confute them in all their Shapes and Forms Do not these Gentlemen also confess that the Monks have been always the Instruments of the Violence of Popes and the Incendiaries of Christendom They were the Men that preached the Croisades against pretended Hereticks 'T was they that kindled the Fires and committed the Massacres They were those that mutinied the People against those Kings and Emperors that would not obey the Pope They were they that seized on the Rights of Bishops and favoured the Pope in all those ways whereof he served himself to oppress the other Bishops They have withdrawn themselves from the Authority of their Ordinances by Immunities obtained in the Court of Rome They have withdrawn Confessions from the ordinary Pastors They were the Masters of the Chairs and publick Teachers during the space of four Hundred or five Hundred Years To conclude 't is certain they have always been the most potent Supports of that Throne of Iniquity which hath raised it self in the Church For their Manners I can make it appear by Testimonies that cannot be reproached that never were Lives so debauched as those of the Monks that during more than seven or eight Hundred Years they were the Sinks of all the Impurities that could be imagined and we have the Confession of the Arnolds the Maimbourghs and other famous Defenders of Popery in this Age concerning it They add that it is not so now and that the Convents at this day are well governed and the Monastick Life very clean and innocent He must be very bold to advance a matter of Fact so little known If there be some Convents reformed there are a great many others that are not so I have a little enlarged my self on this Article concerning the original of Monks their History their Spirit and their Conduct because I know 't is a Snare in which many Persons shut up in Convents have unhappily fall'n They have written to us from thence that they have been much moved with the great Piety which they have found in these Houses with the Mortification of the Nuns with their constancy in Prayer with their Humility with the continual elevation of their Hearts to God and with their entire renunciation of the World. And they have given us to understand that this hath been the principal Motive of their Conversion And even very devout and pious persons who thanks be to God do yet persevere in the Truth have not been able to escape some surprize by these fair Appearances and Formalities God is witness that we have no intention to lessen the Reputation of any Person in particular and yet much less of these Nuns of whom so much good is spoken we wish that there were more of truth therein And if it be so that there is so much virtue in Some of them we hope that God will not suffer them to die in the sad estate wherein they are But we do advise our Brethren and Sisters to be on their guard and beware of this Temptation and to consider First That these Mortifications wherewith they seem to be so much charmed are human Devotions upon which God doth not pour down his Blessing It may be seen by that which we have reported concerning the Mortifications of the first Monks how far this miserable Spirit of superstition and false Devotion may go That kind of Life observed by the Monks of Attrappe for example doth not find its Original or Model in the Gospel and they are those Worships of which it will be said Who hath required these things at your hands We must not make it a thing of Merit to be more wise than God than Jesus Christ and his Apostles and do more than they have done It is a folly and madness to believe that a Man is more acceptable to God by shutting himself up in a place where he may see no body where he speaks to no body where he renounces his Friends and Relations where he deprives himself of the society of good Men whose conversation might assist his piety 2. I do intreat them to consider that in these kind of things the false Religions go farther than that which is true Ask your Converters and they will not deny that the Mortifications of the Mahometan Monks and those of the penitent Indians and Mexicans are infinitely more cruel to the Body than are those of our most mortified Europeans so they are at least equivocal things with respect to which we must be extreamly upon our guards 3. In the third place it must be known That there are depths in the conduct of God which cannot be fathomed 't is his pleasure that we walk always in the midst of Thorns and among Snares 't is for
valid and even to extend these Canons very far beyond their intention They have been willing to perswade First That they have right to receive Appeals whereas the Council of Sardis grants them nothing but the right of appointing a review which is very much different from it Secondly And above all they would make us believe that they have this Power by Divine Right and from the Apostles whereas they have it not but by the Canons of this Council of Sardis In the Year 383 that is to say about Sixty Years after the Council of Nice and Thirty six after that of Sardis was held the first Council of Constantinople which is reckoned for the second of those which are called General altho it were made up of an Hundred and fifty Fathers and no more and tho there were none at all of all the West This Council enlarges and confirms the Hierarchy But it did not yet establish the Patriarchs i. e. the four Seats which pretend to have Dominion over all the Churches of the World On the contrary in the second Canon it ordains 1. That the Bishops of one Diocess i. e. of one Province for then a Diocess did not signifie the particular Church of one Bishop 't was a Collection of many Bishops under one Exarch It appoints say I That the Bishops of one Province should not intermeddle in the Affairs of another and this without excepting the Bishop of Rome 2. It appoints That the Bishop of Alexandria administer only the Affairs of Egypt 3. That the Bishops of the East i. e. of Syria govern their Churches preserving to the Bishop of Antioch the Preheminence that had been given him by the Council of Nice 4. That the Bishop of Asia whereof Ephesus was the Head govern the Diocess of Asia without being subject to Antioch Constantinople or Rome 5. That the Churches of Thrace be governed by the Bishops and Synods of the Province without any other Superior 6. That the Churches amongst the barbarous Nations govern themselves according to the custom of their Fathers without Patriarchs and without Pope There is no footstep of any Papal Authority nor even of any Patriarchal and Universal In the following Canon we read these words That the Bishop of the City of Constantinople hath the Privileges of Honor after the Bishop of Rome because it is new Rome A Canon which gives to the Bishop of Rome nothing but Privileges of Honor and Presidence and grants them to be enjoyed by New Rome in the second Place For this reason the Bishops of Constantinople would no longer sit below the Bishops of Antioch and Alexandria because the City of their Seat was the Imperial City This makes it appear that the Bishops had no Preheminence one before another but by reason of the Cities where they had their Seats and not by any divine Right The Case is the same with the Bishop of Rome That Bishop gained nothing by all this as is evident nevertheless the truth is he always grew higher according to the measure that the Hierarchy advanced For the Exarchs assumed unjust Rights over those which were merely Bishops The Bishops of the Four first Seats Rome Constantinople Alexandria and Antioch raised themselves by little and little above the Exarchs and at last subjected and swallowed them up Particularly he of Constantinople whose Ambition was not inferior to that of the Bishop of Rome made himself Judg of the Exarchates of Pontus and Asia and that of the Barbarian Churches with that of Thrace which he had already 'T was in the Fourth Oecumenical Council held at Calcedon in the Year 451. where it was ordained that * Can. 28. The Church of Constantinople should enjoy the same Priviledges and Honours in Ecclesiastical Matters seeing the City of Constantinople in Temporal Matters did enjoy the same Priviledges and Honors with ancient Rome But if Constantinople did then exalt it self Rome did not do it less in proportion Already the Bishops of Rome began to Lord it over all the West Leo I. was placed in that Seat a Man who had great Parts but of great Pride who played the Master in the Church He declared that a Man is not of the Church when he does not obey it he proceeded so far as to say That Jesus Christ intended that all his Gifts should run down from the Chair of S. Peter as from the Head on all the Body of the Church and that he which dared to separate himself from the Chair of S. Peter ought to understand that he is excluded from the divine Mysteries i. e. from the Church This was the Leo that obtained a Law from the Emperor Valentinian by which he was established Sovereign Judg of all other Bishops for which reason we take this Episcopacy of Leo for the first Point of the birth of the Antichristian Empire This is enough for my end which is not to give you a History of the Hierarchy and after that of the Papal Tyranny in all their Progressions but only an Abridgment of the History of their birth in the Fourth and Fifth Ages That which I have to observe for the conclusion of this Article whereunto you ought to give good attention is that the brief History that I have given you is perfectly agreeable to the Spirit of the Gallican Church at this day She maintains 1. That the Church of Rome is no more but a particular Church as others are 2. That S. Peter had nothing but a Primacy of Order and Presidence above the Apostles 3. That S. Peter could give to his Successors over other Bishops no more but that Primacy which he had over the Apostles 4. That the Bishop of Rome originally and by divine Right had no power over the Universal Church 5. That he did not receive Appeals in the first Ages of the Church 6. That he had no Right to assemble General Councils 7. That he could take cognizance of the Affairs of no other Province but his own no not by Appeal 8. That he had no Right to take knowledge of Matters of Faith to make Decisions therein which should oblige the whole Church 9. That before the Council of Nice and after he had no inspection over other Churches but those which were in the Neighborhood of Rome 10. That he could no excommunicate other Bishops any otherwise than the other Bishops could excommunicate him 11. That a Man might separate himself from the Bishop of Rome without being a Schismatick and out of the Church 12. That the Pope had no Right over other Bishops 13. That the Council of Sardis is the Fountain of that Right of receiving Appeals which the Pope claims 14. That the Rights which the Pope hath at this day excepting his Primacy are by human Law and because he hath assumed them to himself or because they have been conceded to him 15. To which they add he is not Infallible nor superior to Councils nor Master of the Temporalities of Kings Behold the
separate a stream from the Channel says he 'T is true the Channel remains in the Church of Rome we agree with them in that from the first Bishop of Rome to the last we see no considerable interruption either History is not to be credited or Bishops have succeeded one to another Behold the Channel mark'd and noted But by misfortune they have separated the River from the Channel and in this Succession of Bishops there has succeeded a dirty and impoisoned River to pure water and to a clean and clear River Monsieur de Meaux is very happy therefore in his comparison in this small Paragraph but he is not so altogethet in that which follows And to vaunt says he themselves of the understanding of the Scripture when they acknowledge they have lost the stream of Tradition in their Pastors is to vaunt of having preserved the Waters after the Pipes are broken Surely if the Waters were no where but in the Channel Monsieur de Meaux and his Brethren had some reason on their side but 't is happy for us and mischievous to them that the Water is in the Fountain before it can be in the Channel The Channels may be broken the Bishops Successors of Seats may become Antichristian The Fountain of the Gospel-Doctrine continues always pure in the Holy Scripture It had been very fine if they had reason'd so at the time when Jesus Christ came into the World. The Pharisees and Doctors of the Law were in Moses's Chair and as such Jesus Christ commanded to hear them but according to the new Philosophy of our Doctors our Lord should have done otherwise for instead of thundering against the vain Ceremonies and false Glosses of these Doctors which corrupted the Law he ought to have followed them and caused his Disciples to do so to For to boast of understanding the Scripture when they acknowledge they have lost the stream of Tradition in their Pastors is to vaunt of having preserved the Waters after the Pipes are broken The Pipes that is the Doctors were broken but did not the purity of the Law remain in the Books of Moses as in his Fountain Let that be remembred therefore and never be forgotten The Gospel-Church in this regard is in no better condition than the ancient Synagogue This had its Pharisees and false Priests in the Chair of Moses that hath its false Bishops in the Chair of the Apostles and Founders of Christianity Let it be remembred also that when the Pipes are broken and the Rivers corrupt we have the Fountain Jesus Christ had recourse thither he said From the beginning it was not so Frankly therefore 't is to delude and ridiculously to delude when they speak of a Succession of Chairs at least unless it be proved that Truth hath remained in them and that Infallibility hath always been placed there and that in matters of Doctrine there have been made no Innovation And thither Monsieur de Meaux comes at last The Doctrine and understanding of Scriptures says he is come even to him without any change or alteration And it has been the pleasure of God that it should come to us from Pastor to Pastor and from hand to hand without any appearance of Innovation This is easily said but I do not understand how persons that write in an Age so knowing and illuminated as ours is should have the impudence to advance such a thing that since S. Paul to the Bishop of Meaux the Doctrine is come down without any Innovation My Brethren 't is an important point 't is an Article about which they do miserably blind you 't is a voice that founds perpetually in your ears and does almost make you deaf Antiquity Tradition constant Succession and Perpetuity of Faith and how do they prove it to you They tell you the Church is infallible therefore it can't err nor turn aside from sound Doctrine Secondly Monsieur de Meaux tells you If there had been such changes among us the Authors thereof would have been named the Spirit of Truth which is in the Church would have noted them and their Names would have been infamous as that of the Arrians and Nestorians c. So that all which has been told us concerning insensible changes in Doctrine whereof they do not produce any example in the Christian Church is nothing but a vain accusation Thirdly To conclude they take up certain Shreds of the Fathers which they set to be seen with Glosses and in a false light and afterwards tell you boldly behold the Conformity of the Fathers with us behold the Succession of the same Opinions in the same Seats There has happened no change or alteration This say I deserves that we stay on it a little for 't is the fountain of Illusions by which they have seduced and made some new Converts Concerning the first of these three Proofs which is drawn from the Infallibility of the Church we hope at some time to shew you the absurdity of that pretension We will prove that all that which M. Nicholas and M. Pelisson have advanced to prove the necessity of this infallible Authority without which according to them truth cannot be found is a Contexture of Fallacies which lead Men directly to impiety But in expectation thereof my dear Brethren we intreat you to give attention to what we are about to say concerning this sovereign and infallible Authority of the Church of Rome I will give you two general methods by which without any great difficulty you may be able to quit your selves of the Fallacies of your Converters First tell me is there any reason can hold good against experience The Church of Rome can't err I 'll prove it say they by just proofs and demonstrations because the Church can't be left without a Guide because private and particular persons can't understand the Scriptures because there is a necessity that an Interpreter which ought to guide others cannot himself be deceived Behold that which is the most stately and magnificent reasoning in the world But by blowing upon these pompous Reasons of Right I will make them vanish by one sole Proof and Demonstration of Fact. 'T is that the Roman Church hath erred an hundred times by introducing Images into Churches and establishing the Invocation of Saints in taking the Cup from the Laity and in causing a Sacrament to be adored c. Call to mind my Brethren the Man to whom the Philosopher proved by subtleties which he could not answer that there was no such thing as motion After having long labored under the weight of his Fallacies he rose up briskly and walkd about the Room You find your selves often perplexed with the Sophisms invented to support the ways of Prescription and to prove the blind submission which ought to be had for the Church of Rome I do not doubt but you are oftentimes in some perplexity in this respect But go briskly out of that perplexity and always come to this The Church of Rome
to the decisions of Bishops those which came after and above all Councils might very well correct them After which he adds * De Bapt. cont Donat. lib. 2. cap. 3. And even the Councils which are held in every Country and in every Province do without difficulty give place to full Councils which are assembled from all the Christian World and these full Councils so he calls Oecumenical Councils may be corrected by those which follow when that which was hid is discovered and by some experience men come to know what they were ignorant in Observe that the thing under debate was not a matter of Discipline only as they will tell you but to know whether the Baptism of Hereticks were of any value 'T was a Point of Doctrine if there were ever and such 7. To conclude I conjure you my Brethren give yet attention to this 't is that although the Dream of your Converters should have some foundation and that the Church Universal assembled in a Body by its Guides were Infallible the Church of Rome would have no part in this Privilege nor would it extend it self to the Councils since Berengarius which they desire you should look upon as the Rules of your Faith. For these Councils were never Assemblies of the Church Universal since the Schism of the Greeks they are at most but Councils of the Latin Church but the Latin Church say they is become the Universal and Catholick Church excluding all other Christian Communions which are separate from her and by consequence her Councils are those of the Church Universal This is the most foolish of all Pretensions That the Roman Church should be the only Church excluding all the Communions of Asia Africa and Europe We have shewn the extravagance of this Pretence in our former Letters for which reason at present we may well suppose it as indisputable viz. that the Church of Rome for 800 years past hath had no Oecumenical Councils in the sense that she her self understands the Word from whence you may conclude that she hath had no Infallible Councils Furthermore 't is necessary to oblige you to give attention to this Original of Oecumenical Councils in the fourth and fifth Ages because without doubt it was one of the means which the Devil made use of to establish the Empire and Domination of Antichrist Not that the first Councils called Oecumenical were not assembled with good intention and were not very useful at that season and in that time But it happens to this good thing as to the most part of others which have been introduced with a good intention the Devil hath taken occasion from thence to bring in either Opinions or Practices which have destroyed the Church Martyrdom is an excellent work yet from thence men have taken occasion to introduce the Opinion of Merits and Works of Supererogation Respect for the Martyrs is very just and very reasonable yet that hath made way for Indulgences the Invocation of Saints Adoration of Relicks and Images The use of Oecumenical Councils hath been found good upon several occasions The Bishops coming from all Parts have appeared not as Judges but as Witnesses of the Faith of their Churches and this unanimous consent in the Faith hath produced a very good effect for the establishing of Points fundamental But the Spirit of Lies hath nevertheless made use thereof afterwards as a means to build that Universal Empire over the Church an Empire which is one of the characters of Antichrist At the beginning it was the Emperors which assembled these Councils These Assemblies were made by their Authority the Bishops of Rome were of the number of those called to them he must have renounced all Sincerity that doth not agree unto it after he hath read Eusebius Socrates Zozomon and Theodoret. When the Roman Empire was ruined in the West the Emperors having no Authority and longer to call Assemblies of the whole Church because they were no longer Masters of it the Popes who advanced according to the measure that the Emperors declined were willing to lay hold of this Right They endeavoured to re-unite under their Authority all the Provinces which had formerly been united under the Emperors in which they were successful and thereby formed the second Roman Empire which is the Empire of the Boast and of Antichrist These Oecumenical Assemblies were of great use to them in this at the head of which Assemblies they placed themselves in the quality of the first Patriarchs The custom which the Councils took in the Fourth Age of adding Anathema's to their Decisions did also serve them afterwards to possess men with a Chimera of their Infallibility I have not been able to find that Councils did anathematize any one before the Council of Nice We have the Council of Carthage reckoned for the third in the Collection of Father Labbeus held under Cyprian in the year 258. Zonarus holds it for the most ancient of all the Councils he means whose Decisions we have It seems to me we have therein the form of the ancient Councils Every one there speaks his Opinion modestly that which had the plurality of Voices passed but they there made no Decrees nor Anathema's We do not see that in the first two Ages they held Councils for the deciding matters of Faith and Doctrine There was one held about the Controversie concerning Easter that is to say Whether they ought to celebrate the Fourteenth of the Month of March but this was a Point of Discipline There was in those times an infinite number of Hereticks as appears by the Book of Irenaeus but I have not observed that they did assemble Councils against them before the third Age nevertheless if they had look'd upon Councils as Infallible it would have been necessary to prevent Seduction and to secure the Faith of Christians An Article of Controversie The true Idea of Schism That those which are called Schismaticks are not out of the Church AFter having spoken of Vnity and confuted the Sophism which they draw from this Vnity in the preceding Letters we must answer the Sophism which is drawn from the Schism which ruines this Unity 'T is a Point which your Converters do continually repeat and beat upon you Schism say they is a hideous crime Schismaticks are out of the Church there is no Salvation for them and although the Church of Rome it self were corrupt you ought not to break with her Their modern Writers which seem willing to soften the Maxims of the Roman Church do nevertheless observe no measure on this Subject and on this Point They proceed so far as to maintain That although it should be true that even the Church of Rome should be fallen into Idolatry we ought not to forsake her and could not justly set up Altar against Altar We must return to these Gentlemen not Paradox for Paradox but Truth for Lies but a Truth which is opposite to their Falshood as our Antipodes are opposite to us They say
same place or in another 'T is a matter of Fact which our Adversaries cannot deny In the 20th of the Acts the Apostle speaking to the Presbyters or Elders of the Church of Ephesus calls them Bishops and in his Epistles to Timothy and Titus where he speaks sometimes of a Bishop he speaks more frequently of Elders and by Elders he understands the very same which he had called Bishops In the Cities where the Churches were great there were many Presbyters one of them did preside over the rest not by turn but by a privilege which did always appertain to him St. Paul speaks of this President The Elder which rules well is worthy of double honor This presiding Presbyter in the beginning of the second Age arrogates to himself the name of Bishop which before was common to his Collegues so that there was no other but the President of the Presbytery who call'd himself Bishop He attributed to himself also the right of imposing hands as well on those which were received as Pastors as on the Penitents and those which were received to the Communion of the Mysteries In all this there was as yet no Hierarchy no Dependence no Appeals no Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Every Bishop with his College of Presbyters was Sovereign in his District and in his Church and this Church was not dependent of any other You may remember how S. Cyprian in our Eleventh Pastoral Letter hath told us in express words * Epist 74. Every Bishop may use his Authority in the Government of his Church according to his own Will being under no obligation to give an account thereof to any but the Lord. And elsewhere †Concil Carth. Anno 258. That every Bishop is Master of himself and cannot be judged by another Bishop as he also cannot judge other Bishops All honest men are agreed at this day therein The Divines themselves of the Gallican Church maintain it and at this time they lend us their Studies and Illuminations to refute the Flatterers of the Papal Tyranny who would find in the three first Ages of the Church Proofs of the Primacy i. e. of the Principality of the Bishop of Rome over all the Churches of the World. The Defenders of this Antichristian Power quote to us the Action of Victor Bishop of Rome who about the end of the Second Age excommunicated the Churches of Asia because they would not keep Easter precisely the same day that he did and from thence they conclude That the Pope was even then the Prince of all Churches But to this your own Converters do answer for us that in this Victor exercised no Right but what was common to all Bishops and that the Bishops of Asia might exercise it on Victor as he had exercised it on them that this Excommunication of Victor was a separation from his Communion that the Bishops did communicate one with another by Letters which they called Letters of Communion formed Letters c. When they were angry or discontented one with another they did no longer write these Letters of Communion to those of whom they believed the Church had reason to complain and they received no more from them that this is it which Victor then did and that all Bishops have Right by custom to do the same thing The Flatterers of Popes quote to us also the Words of Irenaeus who speaking of the Church of Rome says * Lib. 3. cap. 3. That it was necessary all other Churches should have recourse to this Church because it was the principal and the most potent But the French Roman Catholick Doctors answer for us that the sense is That the Roman Church because the City of Rome was the Capital City of the Empire and because of its grandeur might be a sufficient Witness of Apostolical Tradition because Christians came thither upon business from all Parts of the World and that coming thither they might there be Witnesses of the Faith of all Churches scattered throughout all the Empire and that so the Roman Church made up and formed of all Nations might be a Witness of the Faith of all the Churches in the World. They object to us also That it appears by the Works of St. Cyprian that Bishops condemned and deposed in Africa had recourse to the Bishop of Rome for their re-establishment But the French Doctors answer with us That by the same Letters of St. Cyprian it appears also that these Attempts were disallowed and condemned and that they gave the Bishop of Rome to understand that he had nothing to do to receive the Complaints of any of the Ecclesiasticks of the African Church So that these Gentlemen acknowledge with us that in the three first Ages of Christianity there was no Principality no subordinate Jurisdiction nor no dependence of one Church upon another not excepting the Church of Rome it self But we do also maintain unto them That from the Third Age the Churches that had their Seats in those Cities which are called Metropoles i. e. Heads of the Provinces did obtain a certain Superiority upon the lesser Churches that were in the little Villages of the Neighbourhood because of the need they had of them The Metropolitan Cities were the dwelling places of the Governors of the Provinces the Courts of Justice were there 't was thither they carried their Tributes so that all the Provinces had business there besides the Bishops of these Cities were ordinarily more able than those of little Cities for it has always been the ordinary custom to choose the ablest men for the conduct of the most important Churches and such as were most exposed to the Temptations of human Authority Besides this there were in these Cities many Presbyters which assisted the Bishop and who with him made a Senate able and knowing in matters of Faith and Discipline For these Reasons the Churches of the Country and such as were Provincial addressed themselves to the Churches of the Metropolitan Cities in all their doubts and in all their necessities sometimes to obtain Pastors sometimes to know how they should suppress Hereticks and those which were scandalous and sometimes in other cases and on other occasions This was the reason that the Churches of the Metropolitan Cities obtained by consent a kind of Superintendence over others They confirmed by imposition of hands Pastors in vacant Churches after the People of those Churches had made an Election of them This is the estate in which the Government was found in the beginning of the Fourth Age. Before that time the Names of Arch-Bishops Primates Exarchs Patriarchs and every other Name of Power and Dignity were wholly unknown in the Church But the Emperors becoming Christians Pride introduced it self into the Ecclesiastical Government and in the space of an 150 years or thereabout that Hierarchy was seen to be born and to establish it self which certainly made way for the birth of the Antichristian Empire of Rome and behold how it came to pass Constantine the Great
the first Christian Emperor assembled a Council in the City of Nice to determine the Controversie which Arrius had unhappily raised about the Divinity of the Son of God. The Council after it had determined those matters which respected Faith were willing also to regulate matters of Discipline and made twenty Canons concerning it in which they caused those Practices which were then in use to pass into Laws supposing it may be that they were much more ancient than indeed they were For example it found that the Churches had yet preserved this mark of mutual Dependence that is to say not to make void the judicial Sentences of one the other and not to suffer that a person excommunicated in one Church should have recourse to another to be re-established in its Communion It made a Law thereof in the fifth Canon As to those that are separated from the Communion be it that they are Layicks be it that they are of the body of the Clergy let the Bishops of every Province observe this agreeably to the Canon that says Let those that are rejected by one not be received by others But finding also that it was a custom that in difficult matters respecting Faith or Discipline when it happened that any Persons were excommunicated or deposed the neighbouring Churches were wont to assemble to judge thereof of that also it made a Law in the same Canon and ordained that for the examination of Causes determined by particular Churches a Synod should assemble twice a year in every Province to the end that the Bishop of the Province being assembled might examine these sort of Questions As the Chymera of the Sovereign Authority of General Councils was not yet born so the Fathers of the Council of Nice contented themselves to ordain That Provincial Councils should be held but gave no advice for the appointing General Councils from ten Years to ten as lately the Council of Constance did The Bishops assembled at Nice also found that by custom the Churches that had their Seats in Metropolitick Cities and entertained some superintendency over the Churches of the lesser Cities of the Province they confirmed this usage and made a Law thereof in the sixth Canon Let the ancient Customs say they be observed that is that the Bishop of Alexandria have power over the Churches of Egypt of Lybia and Pentapolis because t is so also that the Bishop of Rome has been accustomed to have In like manner at Antioch and in the other Provinces let the Priviledges of other Provinces be preserved There is nothing that has less foundation than the pretence of most part of the Doctors of the Roman Church who imagin that here is the establishment of those Seats which were afterwards called Patriarchal Neither the Name nor Power of Patriarchs were known at that time And the Council of Nice had no other design but to confirm by a Law that which it found established by custom that is to say that the greater Churches should have some superintendency over the lesser There were then three great Governments in the Roman Empire Rome for Italy Alexandria for the South and Antioch for the East The Churches which were in these three principal Cities of the Empire had arrogated some preheminence over the neighbouring Churches The Council confirms to them this preheminence But we may not imagin as the Roman Doctors would perswade us that the Council did then divide the whole Church into three Patriarchates Rome Alexandria and Antioch as if all the other Churches had been subjected to these three These three Churches are named but for example because they were the principal Besides it is added Likewise let the Priviledges be preserved to other Churches that is to say let the Churches which by custom have obtained a superintendency over their Neighbours as lesser Churches preserve that Preheminence So the Church of Asia which is not named in this Canon is one of those which had Preheminence over her Neighbours to whom this Priviledge was preserved for some time At that time therefore by custom and by the Law of the Council of Nice Alexandria had inspection over the Churches of Egypt Lybia and Pentapolis the Bishop of Rome had inspection over the suburbicarian Churches that is to say the Cities which were either of the Government of the Vicarship of the City of Rome and no more Now the Vicarship of Rome was so far from extending it self to the whole Empire that it extended to but about half Italy on the side of Naples the other part of Italy which is on the side of Milan was of another Vicarship that is to say of another Government whereof the City of Milan was Capital and the Bishop of Rome had nothing to do there The Bishop of Antioch had inspection over the Churches of Syria and no more The other Churches in the Roman Empire were independent of these three Seats and had their Metropolitan Churches under which they ranged themselves for the assembling of their Synods so that in the Canon of Nice nothing is found of the Institution of Patriarchs but only a Confirmation of the Priviledges that the Churches of the Metropolitan Cities had obtained by consent from the lesser Churches round about them It is nevertheless true that soon after the Metropolitan Bishops of these three Cities Rome Antioch and Alexandria began to play the Masters and to claim Right over the neighbouring Churches much beyond the ancient use and intentions of the Council of Nice They took advantage from this that these three Cities were the three great Cities of the Empire and because they alone were named in the Canon of the Council they made use thereof say I to extend their Jurisdiction as we see But it must be observed that this Council of Nice having found that by custom the Metropolitan Bishops had inspection over other less considerable Cities by contributing their assistance and their Care to establish Bishops there did confirm also this Priviledge by the same sixth Canon This must remain certain says the Council that he who hath been made Bishop without the Advice of the Metropolitan the Great Synod declares that he ought to be no Bishop but if Two or Three through Obstinacy and a Spirit of contradiction oppose themselves to an Establishment made by a reasonable common consent and according to the Ecclesiastical Canons let the plurality of Voices prevail against them This second part of the Canon makes it appear sufficiently plain that in the first part thereof nothing is handled concerning the Establishment of the pretended Rights of Patriarchs but only of the Priviledges of the Metropolitan Cities without which the Council will not suffer that any Ordination of Bishops be made in the Cities of the Province The Bishops of these three Cities Rome Alexandria and Antioch making use of the Canon of the Council began to raise themselves above all others In the same time Byzantium which had not been hitherto any other than a very
obscure Church subject to the Metropolitan of Heraclea a City of Thrace sees her self honored by the presence of the Emperors Constantine carried thither the Sâ—at of the Empire and called it Constantinople after his own Name and obtained for it the Name of New Rome Then the Bishop of Constantinople began also to make use of an Advantage by the Dignity of the City where he was So that instead of three Tyrants in the Church which aspired to make themselves Masters of the Flocks there are found four the Bishop of Rome he of Alexandria he of Antioch and he of Constantinople But as Rome always preserved a Character of Greatness and Preheminence over other Cities because it was the stock and root of the Empire they allowed a Primacy of Order to the Bishop of that city without contradiction And this by so much the more easily as the Spirit which built the Mystery of Iniquity had universally established the Opinion that S. Peter accounted the chief of the Apostles had placed his Episcopal Seat at Rome where he established Successors in such a manner that all Bishops in the World did silently consent to grant this Primacy of Order and of Presidence to the Church of Rome for these two Reasons the first that the City of Rome was the Capital of the Universe the second that the chief of the Apostles had had his Seat there so the Bishop of Rome was acknowledged for the first in order in their Assemblies but without any kind of Power or Jurisdiction over others In the mean time the rest of the Hierarchy was formed after the Model of the Government of the Empire The Rome Empire in the East was divided into Five principal Governments 1. That of the East whereof the Metropolis was Antioch and which extending it self over Syria is called East by distinction from the other Oriental Provinces 2. That of Egypt whose Head was Alexandria 3. That of Pontus whereof the Capital was Caesarea 4. That of Asia whereof the Capital was Ephesus 5. That of Thrace whereof the Metropolis was Constantinople So that these five Cities Antioch Alexandria Caesarea Ephesus and Constantinople were the places where the five great Governors of the Oriental part of the Roman Empire had their abode The Bishops of the same Cities advanced themselves also above the other Bishops of the Provinces and formed five Exarchates i. e. five sorts of Patriarchates independent the one from the other in every one of these Exarchates or Patriarchates there were many Bishops and even many Metropolitans in the sense that the Word is taken at this day The Exarchs of Antioch of Alexandria of Ephesus of Caesarea and of Constantineple every one in his Exarchate was above the Bishops in Government whether they were Metropolitans or simple Bishops so it was in the West also There was in Italy two principal Governments under the Name of Vicarships the Government of Rome and that of Milan for which reason the Bishops of these two Cities imitating the Civil Government advanced themselves also in the Ecclesiastick above the other Bishops of Italy The Bishop of Rome had therefore at that time a Primacy of Order and Presidence as we have observed because of the Preheminence of the City and the false Opinion that had obtained that S. Peter had been Bishop there But he exercised no Act of Jurisdiction or Superiority over others It was not permitted him to receive Appeals nor to make void the Decisions of other Bishops They were not the Bishops of Rome that called General Councils they were the Emperors it was not they that determined Controversies of Faith they were the Councils they could not send out their Interdicts nor Excommunications against other Churches or constrain them to Obedience by any Censure If the Bishops of Rome did separate other Churches from their Communion other Churches also kept themselves separate from their Communion adherence to the Bishop of Rome was of no necessity to obtain the esteem of an Orthodox and Catholick Church and there were Churches in those Ages which continued many Years in separation and without any Communion with the Church of Rome without ever being esteemed either Hereticks or Schismaticks Nevertheless it was in the Fourth Age that the Bishop of Rome did sow the Seeds of his Tyranny and took upon himself to judg those which other Bishops had already censured And this happened chiefly on the occasion of the Troubles which the Heresie of Arrius raised in the Church The Arrians became Masters in the East and drave the Orthodox Bishops from their Seats as Athanasius Bishop of Alexandria Paul Bishop of Constantinople c. These Bishops unjustly deposed and driven away retired themselves into the West where Arrianism had made far less Ravages The Bishops of Milan Rome and the principal Seats of Italy continued Orthodox S. Athanasius and others came into Italy and to Rome to implore the Succour of the Bishop thereof and other Bishops of the West to the end that by their Credit and Authority as well with other Bishops as principally with the Emperors they might be re-established in their Seats The Bishop of Rome receives them treats them as Bishops and declares that he had no regard for the unjust and violent Decisions of the Arrians yea he did all that was in his power to re-place them in their Seats At this time i. e. in the heat of these Controversies stirred up by the Arrians the Bishops of the West which were Orthodox held a Council at Sardis in the Year 347. there to judge the Cause of Athanasius and Paul Bishop of Constantinople In this Council the Bishops of the West observing that the Violences which the Orthodox Bishops of the East had suffered from the hands of Heretick Bishops were without remedy whilst these Heretical Bishops should be absolute Masters they thought fit to make three Canons or Ecclesiastical Rules according to which when a Bishop found himself oppressed by unjust Judgment he might have recourse to Rome that the Bishop of Rome should have power to appoint a review of the Process and for that reason send Deputies on his part which should cause a Synod of the Province to assemble and re-judg the matter a second time that in expectation of this second Judgment the Affairs should remain in suspence and the place of the deposed Bishop should not be filled Behold exactly the fatal Point of the first conception of this tyrannical Power which hath since swallowed up the Church The truth is that the Council of Sardis was made up of Western Bishops which had no power to make Laws for the Eastern Church It is also true that the Churches of the East have always scoffed at the Canons of Sardis and never would receive them It is also true that in the West it self these Canons were not received but very lately and a long time after But 't is also true that since that time the Bishops of Rome have never ceased to make
Church be he Priest Bishop or Guide thereof Make Reflections in this place on the monstrous Doctrines of your Converters of whom the most part will tell you that to be a true Member of the Church it suffices to make profession of the Faith and to adhere to lawful Pastors So that Priests that are Sorcerers and Sodomites which you have oftentimes seen burnt at Paris were the true Members of Jesus Christ This is capable of making a man tremble with horrour They will say to you thereon if they were not true Members of the Church and of the Body of Jesus Christ they could not be the Guides thereof Such a one is an evil Man he is nevertheless a true Bishop he must therefore be a true Member of Jesus Christ and of his Body Answer to this that which one of the Writers of Port Royal says somewhere That oftentimes those which Build Jerusalem and Guide it are the Citizens of Babylon Tell them that to be a lawful Pastor and Guide of the Church to be able to administer the Word and Sacraments with Authority it s enough to be a Member of the external and visible Society it is not necessary to be a Member of the true Church to be in the hand of God an Instrument of his Work. A King may administer Justice and administer it very well by a wicked man who hath inwardly all sorts of inclinations to Injustice It will be said a man cannot be the Head and Guide of a Body without being a Member thereof for the Head is one of its principal Members It must be answered That false Pastors are true Members of the visible Society of the Church and that they are also true Heads of that Society whereof they are true Members but they are neither Heads nor Members of the principal and invisible part of the Church who are true Believers and truly righteous persons They are not therefore true Heads but of that part whereof they are true Members and that sufficeth them for the external Administration of the Word and Sacraments for the truely Righteous receive the Word and Sacraments in quality of the Members of the external Society They will press you further and tell you You do confess the Church is visible because she hath a Body which is an external Society But is it always visible Although you should answer That it is not necessary that the Church be always visible they would not be able to convince you of the contrary by reason For a man who is visible by his body may be sometimes hidden and by that means be invisible May not the external Society of the Church which is visible have been at sometimes and in some seasons hidden through the Persecution of Pagans or Hereticks But confess to them that the Church hath been always visible and will be to the end of the World. 'T is true that the Persecutions under the Pagan-Emperours were very great but they never proceeded so far as utterly to destroy all Assemblies of the Church to that degree that there were no visible Society of Christians the Christians were well known under the Persecutions seeing they knew where to find them to make Martyrs of them the Church was visible in the midst of the flames She remained visible in the Heretical Assemblies of the Arrians for those that held the Truth in those Assemblies themselves were more numerous than those that erred concerning it If there were any place where the Church were become invisible it was in the Papism for never was there a Church so corrupt and drowned in Superstitions as that Nevertheless the Church continued there visible because that Christianity and the Fundamentals of the Christian Religion did abide there I do not say that they did remain there in their Integrity but the contrary nevertheless it sufficeth that they did continue there 't is necessary therefore that you know that where-ever Christianity fore that you know that where-ever Christianity remains sensible and visible the Church remains visible for it is Christianity that makes the Church If a Sect become so corrupt that Christianity is no longer visible in it such are the Mahumetans and the Socinians who have rejected the Foundations the Church is no longer visible among them unless it be as a dead man remains visible but it is also visible that he is dead without life and without soul so in the Sects which have rejected the Foundations the Church remains visible but it 's also visible that such Churches are without life without soul without salvation In the Sects which preserve Christianity although they have added very many things thereunto and even such things as overturns the Foundations thereof the Church doth not fail to remain visible because Christianity both is there and is seen there If therefore they do inquire of you Where was your Church before Luther and Calvin Answer them She was in the Christian Societies that were in Aethiopia in those which were in Aegypt and in Africa in those which are and were in Asia in the Greek Church that was at Constantinople and Antioch in Muscovy and the Churches of Russia and she was even in the Church of Rome itself If they ask of you Was the Church visible in these Societies or were the Members thereof hidden Answer them That the Church was visible in these Societies forasmuch as Christianity and the Creed of the Apostles in the true sence thereof explained in the first six General Councils were visibly preserved there Add you that the true Members of Jesus Christ and of the Church were hidden and not visible because those that sincerely and truly adhered to this true Christianity contained in the Creeds of the Christian Church were not known by name but that these Believers were hidden was not at all peculiar to these corrupt Churches because of their Corruption for the case is the same in the purest Churches the true Members of Jesus Christ and of his body are hidden because we do not certainly know those which adhere to the Christian Faith in sincerity and with the heart Behold a pure and native Explication of the true Visibility of the Church and of the Perpetuity of that Visibility The Bishop of Meaux and your other Converters will seem to you very well pleased in this that you confess the Church is visible and always visible Behold they will say one point gained For if the Church be always visible 't is of necessity that there be a Succession in the Ministry a train of legitimate Pastours There will always be Teachers with whom Jesus Christ will teach and the true Teaching will never cease in the Church These are Monsieur de Meaux that great Converter's own words That is to say from the perpetual Visibility of the Church he draws these three conclusions 1. That pure and true Teaching hath never ceased in the Church 2. That there will always be a series and train of legitimate Pastours 3. That Jesus Christ
not invocate Saints in the three first Ages of the Church I find afterwards the Invocation of Saints about the end of the fourth Age. Is not this to observe the point of its birth what does the name of the first Author signifie in this case Besides superstitious and idolatrous Practices had not one single Author they had many 't is the sottish and ill instructed people who introduce Superstitions and who introduce them insensibly and by little and little But for speculative Heresies 't is the learned which give them birth for which reason 't is easie to mark both their Authors and the precise time of their original Fifthly To conclude I observe in this light which Mr. Nicholas forms to us to make the Church of Rome visible there is no more of sound judgment than of honesty For although even all that he says were solid and his method would prove the Invocation of Saints the Adoration of Reliques Lent c. were Apostolical Traditions this would not prove that which ought to be proved here viz. that the Church of Rome is the only true Church For it must be known that the Greek Church which according to the Papists is schismatical and which a man cannot secure his salvation do also invocate Saints worship Images and observe Lent. 'T is therefore necessary to find in Tradition a proof which makes it evident that the Church of Rome is the true Church with exclusion to all other Sects and this is it which the reasoning of Mr. Nicholas doth not prove neither directly nor indirectly The other Source from whence Mr. Nicholas will draw a light by Tradition to make the Church of Rome visible to the weak is yet more dark and obscure 'T is a ratiocination which supposes 1. That Tradition teaches that there hath been a visible and infallible Church in the World. Tradition doth not teach it and although it should teach it a plain weak man which cannot read the Greek and Latin Fathers the Councils and the Opinions of the Doctors would not be in a condition to assure himself thereof 2. This reasoning supposes in its second Proposition that the Church of Rome is this only visible infallible Church And this is that which must be proved that is that which is obscure and must be made plain to the eyes of the weak Is it not therefore very absurd to pretend to make a light for the weak to render the Roman Church visible of that which is denied and contested by all the World yea although it should be true that there is one visible and infallible Church it would not follow that this were the Church of Rome for three fourth parts of Christians dispute this priviledge with her Mr. Nicholas hath found an admirable secret to draw the weak out of this difficulty It is not needful as he insinuates to make known to the weak that there be other Sects as ancient as the Church of Rome who pretend to be the Church Nothing more is necessary than to make them see the new Sects of Lutherans and Calvinists in opposition to the Church of Rome For they will easily see that this visible Church which ought always to be in the World cannot be that of Luther and Calvin and they will not be so much as tempted to search any other Church but that of Rome I think I have pressed Mr. Nicholas thereon after such a manner as to cover him with a confusion out of which he will never escape For I have made him see that it is properly to cheat the weak to let them believe there is no other Church in the World but the Roman and the Protestant The Protestant Church not having the marks of perpetual visibility since she was not till about two hundred years ago the weak without inquiring further believe that the Roman Church is the only true Church on supposition that she is the only ancient Church Mr. Nicholas confesses that this supposition is false for he acknowledges the Greek Church is as ancient as the Roman But nevertheless according to him 't is expedient to permit the weak to believe this false supposition as if it were true that they be not tempted to search any other Church but the Roman On this matter of fact and about all the rest of the Book against Mr. Nicholas we do declare to him that his silence is look'd upon as a conviction They write that he prepares an Answer to the first Part of the System of the Church where the Nature of the Church is spoken to If it be so we declare to him that that is not the capital Controversie between him and me 'T is about the impossibility of examination of particular Controversies 't is about the Authority of the Church which he ought to answer and to which he will never answer the 2d light which Mr. Nicholas forms to make the Church of Rome visible is drawn from the external marks which make her known for the true Church to the weak and ignorant These external marks according to him may be reduced to two they are Miracles and Sanctity Now this Sanctity and these Miracles which must make the Roma Church visible are either those of the present or those of past Ages Mr. Nicholas searches the visibility of the Church of Rome more in the Miracles of the first Ages than in those of this And behold how he reasons the Church of the two or three first Ages had marks sufficiently evident of the Divine Spirit wherewithal she was animated the miraculous Holiness of her Members and the Miracles which were done there made her sufficiently visible and sufficiently supported her authority If the Church of the three first Ages had this character both of authority and evidence we cannot refuse it to the Church of the fourth Age for 't was the same Church She possessed all the advantages of the three first Ages That is to say her Miracles and her Prodigies of Sanctity which appertained to her by right of succession and she had those which were her own and which were not inferiour to them For she had her Martyrs her Prodigies of Sanctity and her Miracles and these Miracles were done in that same Church where by the confession of the Ministers they prayed to Saints and worshipped Reliques These Prodigies of Sanctity and these Miracles did yet continue in those Ages in which the Ministers do confess that they had Images and believed Transubstantiation For example in the Age of St. Bernard which is the 12th This St. Bernard wrought Miracles and taught all that which is believed in the Church of Rome Follow on from Age to Age and you will come even to the Church of the present Age who hath right to attribute to her self not only the Miracles of the Apostles but all those which have been wrought since and above all those which were done by the Reliques of Saints in the fourth and fifth Ages As the Miracles which St. Austin reports
't is that for which we ought to pour out tears of bloud that Christians should fall into so prodigious a Stupidity and into so great a want of Reason that if the Mahometans should fall into one like it and would prove their Religion after this manner by their Alcoran we should take them for mad men They ought not to tell you I dissemble their principal proofs drawn from Scripture for those points whereof we speak unto you for they have no other and the case is the same in all other Articles of Popery without excepting their Faith concerning the Eucharist For these words this is my Body although they should signifie a real Presence do not signifie Transubstantiation by any means in the World. 'T is a truth so evident that Cajetan and many other Doctors after him have confessed it Is it not a shame that on an Article so important as is the Adoration of the Sacrament when they should produce proofs from Scripture they cannot produce so much as one but these words this is my Body which do not speak one word concerning Adoration When they ought to prove the Power which is given to the Church to take away the Cup again they quote this is my Body This is in propriety of speech to mock men being not willing to confess plainly that which is truth i. e. our Religion hath no conformity to the Holy Scripture My Brethren that I may compleatly possess you of this truth that Popery hath no kind of Bond Union or Conformity with the Scripture observe these two things First That Popery treats the Scripture as a declared Enemy It disputes against its perfection its clearness its sufficiency and its authority It makes vast Volumes to prove it is obscure that 't is a Nose of Wax that 't is a Sword with two edges that it hath been an occasion by its obscurity of all Heresies that it contains not half the things that are necessary for salvation that it hath no authority without the testimony of the Church that it must be interpreted according to the Voice of the Church and her Practices that she contains a hundred things capable of raising scruple and giving scandal You have heard of the famous Cardinal Perron who collected together all that seems ridiculous to the profane in the Scripture as the Jaw-bone of Sampson's Ass and other like things to make it lose its authority They add that the Scripture is maimed and half lost corrupted by the Jews or Hereticks and as the top of all the Popes the Councils the Doctors the Inquisitors and the Parliaments have even forbidden the reading of it to the People as a dangerous Book Is not this to declare themselves and to act as enemies to the Scripture The other Reflection which I wish you would make is that the Church of Rome looks on the Scripture as her Enemy Popery is always on its guard against the Holy Scripture always prepared to give a Push always drawing back and recoiling always answering always distinguishing sometimes distinguishing Sacrifice into bloudy and unbloudy sometimes Adoration into Dulia and Latria sometimes the Head of the Church into Principal and Ministerial sometimes the Essence of the Body of Jesus Christ into natural and sacramental sometimes Mediators into Mediators of Intercession and of Redemption always to repel the Scripture and always to serve themselves of it Is it not therefore very clear that Popery is at a perfect opposition with the Scripture It attacks it as an Enemy by a hundred false Accusations it defends it self against it as against an Enemy by a hundred and a hundred imaginary distinctions to ward off the blows the Scripture gives it To attack and defend is all that Enemies do to one another Observe well my Brethren in the Instructions which your Converters give you in these late times the Scripture doth not enter among them They are ashamed of the proof which their Doctors have heretofore drawn from the Scripture to support their Doctrines At this day they beat and press upon you by nothing but the pretended Authority of the Church and Passages of the Fathers which you never read From all this I conclude that Popery in the quality of true Religion and the Church of Rome in quality of the true Church are by no means visible seeing they are destitute of that Light which alone can make the true Church visible viz. Conformity with the Holy Scripture An INDEX for the first Year OF THE PASTORAL LETTERS 1 LEtter A Refutation of what M. de Meaux says in his Pastoral Letter concerning the Manner of Conversions A Letter of M. de Meaux to M. D. V. 2 Letter Concerning the Right of Persecutors A Letter of Queen Christiana about Persecution The Use of the Sword of Princes extends not itself over the Conscience They do all that is necessary to assure themselves of the Damnation of the New Converts A Letter of M. P. M. a Confessour condemned to the Gallies 3 Letter Against the Necessity of a living and speaking Authority Against Successions of Seats Assemblies in Gevennes 4 Letter Advice to those which frequent the Sermons of Papists A History of many Assemblies in Cevennes The Martyrdom of the Blessed Teyssier of Burfort and Fulcran Rey in Languedoc 5 Letter The Form of Christianity in the first Age. A Letter to M. de M. a Confessour and his Answer 6. Letter What was the Form of Christianity in the second Age. 7 Letter Concerning Singing and Voices heard in divers places 8 Letter The Christianity of the third Age. M. de Monceaux Doctor in Physick of La Ferte Au-Coll his Confession M. de Juigne of Villiers a Confessour his Death in Prison M. Palmentier of Ville Dieu l'Aunay his Martyrdom Mademoiselle Carquett Vicountess of Novion and M. Chenevix drawn to the Dung-hill 9 Letter The Christianity of the third Age. M. de Voutron with two Damsels of Laon their Confession The Massacre of the Christians in Cevennes M. de Toumeyrol his Martyrdom M. le Feure a Confessor of Niuernois Mademoiselle de Chalmot indured the burning of her hand her Confession 10 Letter The Christianity of the third Age. Concerning the Unity of the Church we are not gone out of that Unity 11 Letter The Christianity of the third Age. A Continuation of the matter concerning Unity 12 Letter Concerning the Original of Monks Advice to persons which are in Convents Concerning the Unity of the Ministry A Letter from Geneva concerning the Christians of Piedmont 13 Letter Concerning the Original of Oecumenical Councils Seven Reasons against their Infallibility The true Idea of Schism 14 Letter Concerning the Original of the Tyranny of the Popes and the Hierarchy Concerning Schism Although the Corruption of the Church of Rome were not extream it would not be allowed us to return thither 15 Letter Concerning the Original of the Invocation of Saints in the fourth Age Three Proofs of its Novelty An Answer to a New Convert about Schism The
Words of Tertullian ill understood learn from the Example of St. Cyprian who lived in the same Age That Tradition was at that time a proof whereof Men made use according to the diversity of their Apprehensions and their Interests Tertullian seems to make great account of it and St. Cyprian laughs at it when on the subject of Hereticks which he would re-baptize contrary to the Practice of the Church they objected to him Tradition Custom ancient Usage and antique Practice he rejected these Proofs with Contempt and Scorn Stephen had written to him Let nothing be innovated in Tradition Where is this Tradition answers he ‖ Epist 74. is it in the Gospels in the Acts or in the Epistles An ancient Custom without truth is nothing but an old Error And in another Epistle he saith * Epist 63. Since we must hear none but Jesus Christ we need not examine what those that went before us have done but that which Jesus Christ hath done before all for we must not follow the Custom of Men but the Truth of God. To conclude they endeavour to put Scruples in your minds on the Question of the pretended Primacy of the Bishop of Rome and the Roman Church by certain Passages of Tertullian and St. Cyprian either corrupted or ill expounded But that is a business the discussion whereof is too long to be handled at this time yea 't is above the capacity of most of you only know that 't is so far from truth that they did acknowledge the Sovereign Authority of the Pope in that Age that Tertullian makes no scruple to scoff at the Pretensions of the Bishop of Rome and to call him in Raillery the Bishop of Bishops because of some kind of Primacy which he began to pretend to For even in that time the Mystery of Iniquity began to work St. Cyprian despises the Excommunications of Stephen Bishop of Rome and opposes himself to the attempt of those who would appeal to Rome about matters determined in the Provinces of Africa This is that St. Cyprian to whom some Persons attribute the Acknowledgment of the Primacy of the Bishop of Rome who said on the Question of the Baptism of Hereticks and of the Admission of Bishops which had lapsed and fallen †Epist 72. In which case we will do violence to no man nor will we give Law to others observing that every Bishop may use the Power given him according to his Will in the Government of the Church being under no Obligation to give an account thereof to any one but the Lord. 'T was to Stephen Bishop of Rome that he spake thus Judge you whether he acknowledged him for his Superior Hear how the same Cyprian speaks in the face of a Council assembled at Carthage in the Year 258. Let none of us call himself Bishop of Bishops or endeavour to force his Collegues to a necessity of Obedience by a tyrannical fear and terror seeeng every Bishop is Master of himself and cannot be judged by another Bishop nor can he judge other Bishops 'T was also with respect to Stephen Bishop of Rome that he spake thus Has any one the front to say That speaking thus he acknowledged him for his Superior Observe that it was no small Affair that was now under debate 't was about the Baptism of Hereticks a Question which had made a great noise and which Stephen would have decided with too much Authority The Bishop of Meaux after a hundred others of his Communion to prove the Primacy of the Pope by S. Cyprian quotes a Passage from his fifty second Epistle which proves that these Gentlemen do not fear to make themselves ridiculous provided they may seem to say somewhat 'T is a Passage where he pretends S. Cyprian says That the Roman Emperor did suffer in Rome a Priest which was his Rival with more impatience than he suffer'd a Caefar in his Armies which disputed the Empire with him That is to say that the Roman Emperors did impatiently suffer that the Bishop of Rome should be called High Priest to the prejudice of that Dignity which the Emperors assumed unto themselves So that according to this reckoning they were jealous of the Bishops of Rome and look'd upon them as their Rivals in the High Priesthood In truth this is more ridiculous than if one should say The King of England who calls himself Head of the English Church were jealous of the Curate of the Parish of St. Martin in London The Christians certainly were not above one in a hundred in Rome and the Bishops of Rome at that time made less Figure in the World than an Incumbent of five hundred Crowns per annum makes at this day for besides that they were Poor they were also humble What Agreement could the Emperor in quality of a Pagan High-Priest have with this pretended High-Priest of the Christians To be his Rival he must aspire to the same thing I should rather have chosen to have said That the Mufâ—i looks on the Patriarch of Constantinople as his Rival The meanest Scholar knows that the Word Aemulus which signifies Rival signifies also Enemy and 't is clear that S. Cyprian means that that cruel Persecutor the Emperor Decius beheld with more Indignation a Priest that opposed his Religion than he would have look'd upon an Enemy that had disputed the Empire with him To conclude although St. Cyprian should have intended to compare the Bishop of Rome with the Pagan High-Priest it would not follow that the Bishop of Rome was Head of all the Christians in the World for the Roman Priest was not Head but of the Religion of the City of Rome and not of the whole Empire 'T is true that St. Cyprian corrupted the Idea of the Church and opened a door to the most cruel Doctrine that ever was advanced he made a false Idea of the Unity of the Church which he encloses in one only external Communion And because the Unity of one visible Head was not yet invented he imagined I know not what Unity of Episcopacy which all the Bishops did individually possess whereof nevertheless they all administred but a part This inconsistent Imagination gave place afterwards for the Substitution of one single Head to the end that a visible Head might be given to the Unity of the visible Communion which might be the centre thereof This suffices to give you an Idea of the Christianity of the Third Age and by this History you may observe what was altered in Doctrine or Worship 1. They introduced the use of the Sign of the Cross at least in private for we find it not as yet in the publick Acts of Religion We have said nothing to you concerning it as yet because it is a little thing about which we should never make Complaints against any one provided they be not superstitious in the use of it 2. The Liturgy of the Sacrament of the Eucharist was augmented and increased exceedingly by many Prayers
of the Hospital where they said Mass every day they would have obliged our Martyr to have assisted at the Mass by this entry but they could never effect it All these evil treatments not being able to vanquish this illustrious Confessor Rapine comes to his last Remedies he caused Monsieur Menurett to descend into the Court where there was a Mulberry-tree and fastned his arms on high thereto his feet scarce touching the ground he rent off his Cloaths to his very Shirt and caused him to receive an infinite number of blows with a Bull 's pisle this treatment was continued for the space of fifteen days with so much violence that our Martyr voided blood by his Urine and by all the parts of his body In the midst of these horrible Torments without ceasing he beg'd mercy and grace from God for himself and for his Persecutors and implored the compassion of his Hangmen in so moving a manner that two Capuchines who heard his cries exhorted Rapine to cease his cruel punishment he did so and was content to employ our Martyr to carry stones for a building which they were making at the Hospital The first day of April last the Bishop of Valence went to visit him in this stinking Sink but gained no more upon him at this time than at others In conclusion Rapine inraged with his long opposition entred like a Devil into the Prison of this holy man accompanied with two Lacques or Serjeants and gave him so many blows with a Bull 's pisle and for so long a time that the cries of the Martyr did even rend the Air all round about This Monster about two hours after after he had been wearied with the pains that he had taken to martarize this Saint return'd with his Searjeants to repeat the punishment but he found our Martyr expired in the midst of these cruel torments He was put into the hands of Rapine in the month of June 1686 and died in the beginning of April 1687. I cannot tell whether after this they will have the impudence to maintain that all these Cruelties which have been exercised have not been authorized by the Ministers of his Majesty and the Judges nor by the commandment of the Dragoons but that they are the Violences of the Souldiery which have been condemned and punished when they have been known Rapine is neither Souldier nor Dragoon he has no Commission to exercise these Cruelties but such as he receives every day He is Guardian of the Hospital of Valence The Parliament of Greenoble have sent him twenty five or twenty six persons at a time as I said but just now to be converted by these cruel Methods The Bishop and the Jesuites put into his hands all those upon whom they cannot prevail But to the end that they may not say any more that Authority does not interpose in these Cruelties they ought to be informed of a memorable story happening at Uzes and which I think has been attested by twenty Letters of different persons all which agree in the thing There is at Uzes a House of Propagation governed by four Creatures called the Daughters of the Propagation in this House are many Gentlewomen of the Reformed Religion imprisoned who have resisted preceeding Violences and Temptations One of these four Daughters of the Propagation went to complain to the Intendant of the rough answers which these poor persecuted Gentlewomen gave and of the small disposition they had to be converted The Intendant Monsieur d' Bauille whose name for his conduct in Languedock deserves to live to all future Ages this Intendant I say immediately appointed Scourging against ten of the most intractable In the execution of this command four Souldiers were set at the Gate with Musquets charged and lighted Matches ready to give fire Two Priests went in with the Major of Viuon and the Judge Larnac Sub-delegate to the Intendant in their presence these Creatures of the Propagation stript these Gentlewomen from the Girdle upward and doing the Office of Hangman scourged them after the most cruel manner with straps made of Coards at the end of which hung Bullets of Lead afterwards they were thrown into a dark Prison During the time of this punishment they uttered cries which were heard into the street but they encouraged each other to suffer these Tryals for the Name of Jesus Christ. I will at this time tell you no more sad News but on the contrary I will comfort you by giving you to understand that in this general Misfortune wherein the Reformed Church of France sees so many persons in some sort fall under the Temptation we have the joy to know that scarce one falls in love with this wicked Religion We have taken care to enquire concerning it of those which came from all parts and we have caused enquiries to be made upon the places as much as is possible for us but we can assure you my Brethren as a thing certain that the hatred of the Roman Religion increases every day insomuch that the Persecutors are farther every day from accomplishing their designs than ever We may say without fear of lying or hyperbole of expression that this Persecution has not gained to the Church of Rome two hundred hearty Converts and although I know a vast number of persons have been prevailed withal to make their Subscriptions yet the number of those which have with a satisfied Judgment embraced their Religion is so small that it does not deserve to be computed But on the contrary by a surprizing marvel of Divine Providence this Persecution has opened the eyes of a great number of ancient Catholicks as they are called That which we tell you is no Conjecture or Fiction 't is that which we know upon good Testimony So that it is certain that the Church of GOD has gained more Souls than it has lost These Seeds will bring forth in their time Every day we see persons arrive here who Abjure the Roman Religion and amongst them there are such as are eminent by their Merit by their Birth by their Parts and by their Learning When we know that they will not take it ill if we name them we will do it for 't is necessary that all the World know it that the depths of Divine Providence and His Judgments may be admired thereby June 15. 1687. The Twenty first PASTORAL LETTER An Article of Antiquity The Fathers of the Fourth and Fifth Ages said that the Sacrament of the Eucharist is the Figure and Image of the Body of Jesus Christ. An Article of Controversie An Answer to the Prejudices that have been drawn against our Separation from the Authors of it Dear Brethren in our Lord Grace and Peace be given to you from our God and Saviour Jesus Christ WE have already seen one essential thing in which the Fourth and Fifth Ages had introduced no alteration 't is the Opinion concerning the Nature of the Sacrifice of the Eucharist We shall now see that the Faith