usual Sermons Those who have received the gift of Writing shall be chosen by the Provinces and if it happens any Book be Publish'd against the Orthodox Religion it shall be sent to them that they may answer it a Colloque being deputed in each Province to inspect what shall be Writ and Publish'd to dispose of the Copies as shall be thought fit CONFORMITY There was never greater Liberty of Writing than in the first Ages of the Church at which time every body writ in the manner which he thought best and most convenient without being obliged to communicate his Works to any to be Examin'd for their Approbation nevertheless seeing there has been at all times amongst Christians some Bishops and Pastors fitter for this purpose than others such were for the most part employ'd for the defence of the Truth against Schismaticks and Hereticks It was for this Cause that the Book of Phaebadius or Phaegadius Bishop of Agen in Guien written against the Arrians of the East and West holds the Degree of the Epistle of a Council of Vaison of the Year 358. P. 3. Paris 1666. and bears the Name in the Supplement of the Councils of France St. Austin even to his Death was the Pen of Africa against the Enemies of the Church particularly against the Donatists and Pelagians and St. Fulgentius in the following Age succeeded him in a manner in the same Office especially during the time that above Sixty African Bishops of which Number he was one was Exil'd into the Isle of Sardegnia for although he was the youngest of them all the Author of his Life does observe that he was the Mouth and Spirit And it may yet be said of these two famous Writers That they exactly observed the Modesty Sobriety and Decorum prescribed by our Discipline to all those who put Pen to Paper for the Defence and Vindication of Truth Examples which should be carefully imitated and in the mean time condemn the rashness of Agobard Bishop of Lyons who Writing in the 9th Century against Amalarius Fortunatus cruelly rails against him and much more that of Lucifer Bishop of Caillari against the Emperor Constantius in the Library of the Fathers Tom. 9. of the Edition of Paris 1644. XVI Ministers should not pretend Precedency one over the other CONFORMITY S. Jerom informs us in in his Commentaries upon the Epistle to Titus and in his Letter to Evagrius That at the beginning of Christianity the Churches were Govern'd by the joynt advice of the Priests or Elders and this form of Government lasted until that by the instinct of the Devil there arose Parties in Religion saith the same St. Jerom for then recourse must be had to Election so that to avoid Schisms and Divisions one of the Company was chose to whom Election gave the precedency to all the rest whereas before it was the time of promotion as is testified by the Deacon Hillary in his Commentaries upon the 4th Chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians amongst the Works of St. Ambrose for he saith That at first the Priests were called Bishops and that the one being Dead the other Succeeded that is to say That it was granted to the Ancientest Priest in promotion to bear the first rank or place this primacy being a primacy of Order and not of Power and Authority over others the only primacy forbidden by our Discipline in effect the first admitted held the first place in the Pesbytery just as the Dean amongst Councellors of Parliament or as the Dean of Prebends in a Chapter From hence it is also that after the Establishing of the Hierarchy in the Church Equality was still observed amongst the Clergy except 't was in the Power of Metropolitans over the Bishops of their Provinces and also it was a very limitted Power seeing it consisted only in the right of calling the Synods of their Provinces to preside and to take notice of all Ecclesiastical matters which passed in the compass of their District only but could not decide nor determin without the consent of their Suffragans after the manner of speaking at this time As for all the rest they had no kind of prerogative but the Order according to the time of their Reception the which is punctually observ'd amongst us and accordingly St. Austin finds it strange that in the Letter which the Primate of Numidia writ to his Brother Bishops to Assemble them in a Synod I say he thinks it strange to see himself named the third in it knowing that there were several others before him which saith he is injurious to others and exposes me to envy Ep. 207 To. 2. And in the Life of St. Fulgentius Bishop of Rusp in Africa which the Jesuit Chifflet caus'd to be Printed at Dijon An. Dom. 1649. with the Works of the Deacon Forran it is observed Chap. 20. That in the Assemblies of Exil'd Bishops in Sardignia he was seated lowest of all although he was the most considerable in Worth and Value because he had been last of all Ordain'd to be Bishop Tom. 4. Conc. p. 422. The 86th Canon of the African Code so appoints it the 24th of the first Council of Prague in the Year 563. Ordains the same thing as also the 3d of the 4th Council of Toledo in the Year 633. and the 112th Letter of Gregory I. his 7th Book to which we may add the 6th Letter of Hincmar Chap. 16. in the 16th Tome of the Library of the Fathers Ibid. p. 581. Page 408. It is the Reason that in Africa one was enjoyn'd to observe the precise day of Promotion and the Consulat African Code Can. 89. which is the 14th of Mileva Theodore Archbishop of Canterbury held a Synod Anno 679. the 8th Canon whereof is conceiv'd in these terms Apud Bedan Hist l. 4. c. 5. Let no Bishop prefer himself before another through ambition but let every one know the Time and Order of their Ordination XVII Ministers shall preside in Order in their Consistories to the end that none might pretend superiority over each other and none of them shall give testimony of any matter of importance until they have first communicated it to the Ministers his Brethren and Companions CONFORMITY This Article is only a continuance of the former for if there is to be an Equality amongst Ministers so that they cannot pretend superiority one above the other it is just that when there are several in one Church that they should preside every one in his Turn and Rank in the Consistory and that none of them should do any thing of his own head without taking along the advice of his Brethren and even of all those who have share in the conduct of the Flock especially when there is question of any thing of importance XVIII Heed shall be taken to avoid the Custom practis'd in some places of deputing certain Ministers by the Provincial Synods to visit Churches the Order hitherto used being sufficient to have cognisance
within his Jurisdiction Tom. 5. Concil p. 328. and if there shall be any one found so doing he shall be no longer Bishop and let him only perform the Functions of Priest XXVI The Minister which shall intrude himself although he were approv'd by the People is not to be approved by the Neighbour-Ministers or others but notice must be given of it to the Colloque or Provincial Synod CONFORMITY The Council of Antioch which I have several times cited absolutely authorises this Rule in the 16th Canon which is contain'd in these words If a Bishop out of employment intrudes himself into a vacant Church and usurps the place without the Authority of a full Synod let him be turn'd out although he may be approv'd of all the People which he shall have gain'd to him The 35th Canon of the African Code contains a solemn Decree against these Pastors which having by their slights insinuated into the minds of the People intrude themselves into Churches without any lawful Vocation so far that the 3d Council of Carthage which made this Decree in the year 307. appoints that they shall be driven away by publick Authority Pope Gelasius the I st enjoins almost the same in his 9th Epistle to the Bishops of Lucania Tom. 3. Concil pag. 936. XXVII Ministers shall not be sent to other Churches without Authentick Letters or other sufficient Testimonies from the places from whence they shall be sent the which shall be deliver'd into the hands of the Consistory whither they are sent to be carefully laid up CONFORMITY Besides the Canons I have mention'd upon the precedent Article and which do alike favour this there are also others which no less confirm it for Example Those which forbid to receive to the Communion in another Church an Ecclesiastical Person which cannot shew a Certificate from his Bishop and those also which enjoin Bishops to contain themselves within their Diocesses without intruding into another's as we have made appear and as may be farther proved by the 10th Canon of the Council of Carthage which is commonly called the 1st and which was assembled under Gratus in the Year of Christ 348 or 49. Tom. I. Conc. p. 566. To all which may be added the 33d Can. of the Apostles which expresly forbids to receive any Church-man without Letters of Recommendation and without due Examination and the 41st of Laodicea In the Ancient Discipline the Letters now spoken of were called Letters of Conge whereof we will speak more on the 4th Article of the 4th Chapter XXVIII No Minister for saying he is forsaken of his Church or persecuted shall thereupon be received by another Church until that by good Certificates he shall make appear to the Synod or Colloque how he shall have behav'd and govern'd himself and the whole shall be referr'd to the prudence and discretion of a Colloque or Provincial Synod CONFORMITY This Article also tends to nothing else but to restrain the Enterprises of such Ministers as shall insinuate themselves into Churches without being called or not having good Testimonies of their behaviour and of the cause wherefore they pretend to be forsaken of their Churches therefore it is that our Discipline refers the Decision of these matters to the discretion of Synods according to the Canon of Antioch in the year 34. Can. 16. XXIX When a Minister finds himself destitute of a Church having duly obtain'd leave and his discharge from that which he formerly served it belongs to the Colloque or Provincial Synod to provide for him in a months time and if in that time he be not provided for by the Synod of the Province or Colloque he shall be at his own liberty to provide for himself of a Church any where else without the Province where God shall enable him according to the Rule of the Discipline CONFORMITY This Rule intimates something more than the former for it speaks of Ministers destitute of a Church after having obtain'd License from those they served and of having for good and sufficient Causes been remov'd and who nevertheless are not suffer'd to settle in any other but by Authority of the Colloques and Synods according to the Ancient Discipline XXX Power is given to Provincial Synods to change Ministers for certain Considerations their Churches being heard and their Reasons well and duly examin'd but in case of Discord all shall be determin'd at a National Synod until which time nothing shall be innovated CONFORMITY The translating of Pastors from one Church to another has been strictly prohibited in the Ancient Church by reason of Abuses which have been therein committed and because these Translations were commonly the effect of Ambition and Covetousness for seldom any was translated from a greater to a less Church but frequently and almost always from a less to a greater the 15th Canon of the 1st Council of Nice the 21st of that at Antioch in the Year 341. the 1st of the Synod of Sardis in the year 347 and several others prohibit these sorts of changes which have no other motive as the Fathers of Sardis say but covetousness ambition and a desire to domineer Nevertheless all these Prohibitions has not hindered but several Bishops have been transferred from one Church to another Lib 7. c 35 36 37. Socrates in his Ecclesiastical History recites a great many Examples of these Translations made before and after the Council of Nice Pope Boniface at the beginning of the Fifth Century established Perigenes Bishop of Corinth Collect. Rom Part 1. p. 52. whereas before he was of Patras as appears by the Letter writ by this Pope to Rufus Bishop of Thessalonica Socrates also cites this Example But that it may not be imagin'd that all these Translations were nothing but the ill effects of the relaxation of the Discipline of the ancient Christians and that they were not countenanc'd by the Authority of some Canon it is to be observ'd there were some occasions wherein these changes were allowed as for example for the greater edifying of the Church in such a case it was permitted to translate a Pastor from one Church to another provided it was done by consent of the Synod as our Discipline doth prescribe The 14th of the Canons attributed to the Apostles explains it self after this manner It is not permittâ—â— for a Bishop to leave his Church to go to another altho he should be desired and invited thither by a great many unless there be some great reason that obliges him to it as that his Preaching might there tend to greater Edification and there cause a greater growth of Piety neither yet ought he to do it of his own accord but by the Exhortation and Judgment of several Bishops The fourth Council of Carthage assembled in the year 398 made a like Ordinance to that in the 27 Can. for having prohibited to go by ambition from one Church to another it adds That if the benefit of the Church be advanced thereby it may
To this Settlement may be referr'd the Canons which descend to receive to the Communion in a Church or Province those which have been Excommunicated in another as the 5th of the 1st Council of Nice the 6th of that of Antioch the 32 of the Apostles and divers others After all the Constitution of our Discipline which we examine gives Power to Synods to restore after due acknowledgment those which have been depos'd for lesser faults but to serve in another Church which in substance Tom. 3. Concil p. 817. c. 10. is one of the Decrees of the Council of Lerida which we have cited several times there 's something much like this in the 11th Canon of the Council in Trullo at the end of the 7th Century Tom. 5. Conc. Page 329. LIV. Vagabonds that is to say those which have no vocation and that intrude into the Ministry shall be suppressed and whatsoever the Provincial Synods do as to prohibiting the Ministry it shall have the same virtue and effect as if the National Synod had enjoin'd it CONFORMITY The 6th Canon of the first Oecumenical Council of Constantinople may well be applied to this Article seeing it was made against those which endeavour to confound and overthrow the Ecclesiastical Order In the year 752. was held a Council at Verberie in Valois Tom. 2. Conc. Gall. p. 4. it was a Royal House in the Diocess of Soissons near Champaigne The 14th Canon of which is against wandring and straying Bishops The 22d of that of Mayence in the year 813 in the same Volume pag. 281. is also against wanderers as also the 101st of the Synod of Aix la Chappelle in the year 816. the same page 376. And to conclude the 5th of the 2d Council of Toul Assembled at Tousi in the same Diocess Anno Dom. 860. by Order of Charles the Bald and of Lothaire to all these Canons may be added the 13th of the Synod of Vernon under Pepin in the Year 755. Tom. 1. Conc. Gall. pag. 3. LV. Those which are declared Vagabonds Apostates Hereticks Schismaticks shall be proclaim'd in all Churches that they might beware of them and a List of their Names shall be deliver'd to the Provincial and National Synods CONFORMITY What we have said on the 52d Article is very proper for this therefore it is needless to repeat it LVI Those who have been put in the number of Wanderers by advice of the National Synod cannot be struck out but by another National Synod CONFORMITY There 's nothing in this Establishment but what is conformable to the method of Ancient Canons which frequently remitted differences to be determin'd at Synods to the end that being decided this way every body should acquiesce to their determinations especially when it was transacted by the Synods of the whole Diocess which comprehended several Provinces and to which do answer our National Synods this appears by several Canons of the Councils of Nice of Antioch of the 1st of Constantinople and others the 22d of the Council of Mayence alledged by us on the 54th Article does expresly refer the question of wandring Church-men to the Censure of the Synod LVII Those which shall insinuate themselves into the Ministry in the Provinces and Places where the pure Ministry is already Established shall be duely advertised to desist and in case they persevere they shall be declar'd Schismaticks as also those which adhere to them if after the like warning they do not leave them CONFORMITY No one saith the Apostle ought to assume to himself the Honour of the Ministry unless he be lawfully called to it therefore 't is with great reason that the Authors of our Discipline appoint That the temerity of those should be reproved which intrude into the Ministry without Vocation both in the Country and other places where the Ministry is already Established It is on this account that the Author of the pretended Canons of the Apostles L. 3. c. 10. Paris 1608. prohibits Lay-persons to perform any Function of the Sacred Ministry of the Church as to Christen to Administer the Lord's Supper and the laying on of hands and declares That those which shall undertake it without being called shall be punished with the punishment of Vzza It is for the same reason That the Ancient Canons forbid Bishops on pain of Deposing to meddle out of their Diocesses or there to make Ordinations to the prejudice of their Brethren It is just the same as is enjoyn'd in the 35th of the Apostles to the which may also be added the 12th and the 16th of the 1st Council of Nice which say something near the same matter The 8th of the 1st Council of Ephesus in the Year 431 is more formal for upon occasion of the Incroachments which the Bishop of Antioch made on the Isle of Cyprus the Fathers appoint That each Province shall enjoy its Privileges and forbids Bishops to incroach or make themselves Masters of places which have not been always under their Conduct with Express Command to restore those they had usurped that the Authority of Ancient Canons may not be trampled under foot To all which may be added part of what I have observed on the 18th and 24th Articles and besides what Socrates has writ of one Ischyras which was of St. Athanasius his Diocess and who never having been preferr'd to the Honour of Priesthood had nevertheless the impudence to assume the Name and do the Functions of a Priest which the Historian judged worthy of several deaths It 's true this inconsiderate Person in all likelihood acted after this manner thinking he should be favour'd by the Arrians which were Enemies to Athanasius which succeeded accordingly for they advanc'd him to be Bishop as appears by the 20th Chapter of the 2d Book of the same Socrates Zozomen calls him Ischyrion in the 12th Chap. of the 3d Book of his History CHAP. II. Of SCHOOLS ARTICLE I. THE Churches shall use their best endeavour to Erect Schools and shall give Directions that Youth be instructed CONFORMITY The instruction of Youth being of the greatest importance for establishing of the Truth for advancing the Glory of God and for the Edification of his People it was great reason to procure amongst us the means of doing it wherein our Fathers have exactly followed the Example of the Primitive Christians who neglected nothing for the Educating of their Children for not to insist on Grammar or Rhetorick to which Schools they sent them until the Emperor Julian the Apostate who gain'd this Name by his falling off from the Truth forbid the Masters of those two Arts to teach them to Christians which Amianus Marcelinus though a Heathen condemns as an Action directly contrary to the Laws of Clemency and Equity not to insist I say on these things no more than on other humane Sciences the knowledg of which they were no strangers to Who don't know that their principal study was to understand the Truths of the Holy Scriptures
reasonably be doubted but that in all times those have been Examin'd in the Church which were to Labour for her Instruction and Edification and which were to serve in Preaching the Word and Administring the Sacraments I grant this Examination may differ according to the diversity of Places and Persons which were to do the Office of Examiners some doing it with more Exactness and Severity and others with more Mildness and Charity and I can't tell if ever there has been seen on this Subject a more strict and exact establishment than that which our Discipline doth prescribe Whatever it is it is most certain that is That the Examination of Life and Doctrine however 't was perform'd always preceded Ordination The 19th Canon of the 1st Council of Nice the 12th of that of Laodicea and the 1st and 4th of Carthage ordaining it should be so although the latter makes it more ample than the two others and declares distinctly the Questions which were to be made and the Articles upon which those were to be Interrogated which were to be called to be Bishops and I make no question but 't was with regard to this Examination That Gregory the first condemn'd in his Pastoral Part. 1. c. 1. T. 1. Paris 1586. The temerity of those which being ignorant and destitute of knowledg would presume to take on them the Office of Pastors never considering that the Conduct of Souls is the Art of Arts That is to say the Noblest and most Excellent of all the Sciences and withal the most Difficult the most Intricate and most Laborious and by consequence requires more Study and Care than any other whatsoever What a shame would it be for a Pastor to speak yet with the same St. Gregory Part. 2. cap. 11. in the same Treatise If he should go about to learn in the time that he should resolve the difficulties should be propos'd to him Whereas he ought always to be ready to give to Believers the satisfaction which they desire upon things which concern Conscience and Salvation This laudable Custom continued a long while after the Death of Gregory but since the Ninth Century the Examination of Pastors was insensibly brought to so mean a State that there needed not much Learning to Answer the Questions that were propos'd And to conclude The greatest part of the Vocation and Consecration of those to whom the Care and Conduct of Souls was committed consisted only in Shew and Ceremony or at least so little heed was taken of their Judgment and Capacity that there was seen to grow in a little time from a practise so different from that of the Primitive Christians that gross Ignorance which was the Spring and Cause of most part of the Evils and Disorders which have befaln the Western Church Not but that several Rules have been made to redress this great Mischief but it had got too deep root Besides Favour and Authority had a greater share in these promotions than the Glory of God and the Instruction of the People especially the Power of the Bishops of Rome who by degrees had gain'd to themselves the greatest part of Ecclesiastical Power bethought themselves about the XI Century to cause to be demanded or demanded themselves of the Bishops which were Examined and in the very moment of their Examination if they did not promise subjection and fealty in all things to St. Peter Tom. 10. Probl. Pat. p. 107. and to his Church to his Viear and to his Successors as appears by the Roman Order which in all likelihood was writ about that time and where is to be seen at this day amongst the Questions made to the Bishop which was Examin'd those which regard the Obedience and Fidellity which I but now mentioned and there is to be seen in the Roman Pontifical Printed at Venice in the Year 1582. Page 25. the Form of the Oath they were made to take and whereunto they ingaged themselves in doing it which are things quite different from the Discipline of the Primitive Christians I know very well that about the year 722. Boniface Archbishop of Mayence made an Oath to Pope Gregory the II. at the time of his Ordination and Promotion to the Prelacy but this Oath did properly contain no more but a Profession of Faith and the Essential Duty of an Apostollical Legat and of a Vicar of the Holy See as they express it which is to make Bishops observe the Canons and to give the Pope Information of the great difficulties which is therein I know also this Prelat Assembled a Council as he recites it in his 105. Letter to the Bishop Cuthbert wherein he made alike profession to the Bishops which there assisted but besides that all this was done but only by Order of the Princes and Bishops of the Kingdom as may be gathered from the very Letter of Boniface and from the 1st Canon of the Synod of Leptines where Prince Carloman protests That by advice of the Bishops and Nobles of the Kingdom he setled Bishops in all Cities and gave them for Chief and Superiour the Archbishop Boniface Legat of the Holy See Besides this I say these Examples now alledged went no farther if my memory fail me not before the time I mention VI. Him whose Ordination shall be signified to the Church shall Preach the Word Three several Sundays in publick but not Administer the Sacraments nor Celebrate Marriage in presence of all the People that they may observe his manner of Teaching The said People being expresly warn'd That if there be any one that know any just cause wherefore the Election of him so signified may not be fully ratified or that he be not liked of they may come and make it known to the Consistory who will patiently hear any one's Reasons to judge of the whole The silence of the People shall be look'd upon as a full consent But if there be murmuring and that the Party named is liked of the Consistory and not of the People or the major part of them his admission shall be deferred and the whole shall be reported to the Colloqui or the Provincial Synod to discern as well the Justification of the Person named as of his Reception and altho' the Person named was there justified yet he shall not be impos'd as a Pastor on the People contrary to their desire nor so much as to the dislike of the greatest part of them nor the Pastor in like manner against his will to the People and the difference shall be clear'd by order as abovesaid at the Charge and Expence of the Church which shall demand it CONFORMITY Although a Minister might be judged capable by the Synod or the Colloqui which have Examin'd him That is not sufficient to Establish him It is moreover requisite that the Flock that is appointed for him be satisfied with his Preaching therefore he is obliged to Preach Three several times before he receives the Imposition of Hands to the
present it only saith That 't is requisite there should several be assisting or that should consent by their Letters The 1st of the Canons attributed to the Apostles requires That a Bishop should be establish'd by two or three Bishops Thence it is that though according to the direction of most part of the Canons Three Bishops were usually employed for the Ordaining a Pastor nevertheless Examples are found different from this Custom Dioscorus Bishop of Alexandria was Ordain'd by two Bishops Tom. 3. Concil p. 539. nevertheless the Fathers of the Council of Calcedon acknowledg'd him for a Legitimate Bishop before his being depos'd and frequently term'd him the Most Reverend Bishop Hist Eccles l. 5. c. 23. Theodoret Writes that Evagrius was Consecrated Bishop of Antioch by Paulin only and by this means chose him his Successor before his death yet this did not hinder but Siricius and Innocent L. 7. c. 32. p. 288. the 1st Bishops of Rome and almost all those of the West esteemed him as a Lawful Minister Anatolius as Eusebius writes in his Ecclesiastical History received the Imposition of Hands by Theoteckna Bishop of Caesaria in Palâ—stine and in making him Bishop made him also his Coadjutor by reason of his great Age it not appearing that any other Bishop was present at this Ceremony although it had been easie to have called others to it it 's true this hapned before the 1st Council of Nice but besides that the other Examples we have alledged are after this Council it needs only to read the 4th Chapter of the 5th Book of Theodoret's Ecclesiastical History where will be seen sundry Instances of Bishops being Ordain'd by laying on of Hands of one Minister to which may be added the 19th Chapter of his Religious History and the 19th of the 8th Book of Zozomen's History which makes mention of two several Ordinations made or ready to be done without any great necessity by one sole Bishop a great while after this Council of Nice It is not then to be thought strange if our Discipline mentions but two seeing also these two do represent the Synod or Colloque which deputed them and that they do nothing but by virtue of the Power and Authority wherewith those Bodies has invested them and that moreover one alone may suffice for a due Ordination as we have just now proved But before ending this matter one difficulty which offers must be resolv'd to wit if Hands may be laid on two Ministers at once for it sometimes happens in our Churches that two are called together and some are in doubt and desire to know if one Minister can give them both Ordination at the same moment To which I answer That if one consider the Original of this Ceremony and the Nature of the thing it self one may safely agree to lay hands on two Ministers at once As for the Original and the Ceremony every body knows it comes from Jesus Christ or rather from the Patriarchs which practised it before their Children were Masters of Judea and 't is not to be doubted but Jesus Christ and the Apostles derived this Custom thence when they us'd it If it appears then that any of the Patriarchs blessed two persons at once in putting one hand on the head of the one and the other hand on the head of the other it seems to me one is sufficiently Authoris'd to give Imposition of Hands to two Ministers at the same time Now to know if the Patriarchs did so you need only read Genesis 48. where Jacob blessed the two Sons of Joseph purposely setting his right hand on the head of Ephraim which was the younger and his lest on the head of Manasseh which was the elder Brother But to remove all doubt and scruple it needs only cast an eye on the nature of the thing it self that 's to say on the Prayer which is indeed what is the essential part of these kind of Actions the imposing of the hand or hands being only a bare exterior gesture to design those for whom the Blessing of God is implor'd that it may rest upon them as one may so speak much after the same way as the hands do stay on their heads now no body does question but that one may pray for two as well as for one thence it is that in Eusebius his History there is mention made L. 1. c. 13. p. 34. to receive Prayers by the hand to signifie to receive the Blessing of God by Prayer and the laying on of Hands so that in effect 't is as if he had said To receive the Blessing of God by Prayer and the imposition of Hands as he speaks in Chap. 1. Book 2. To conclude The Ancients called this Ceremony which they practised on sundry occasions Tom. 7. l. 2. c. 26. de pecc mor. rem I say they called it Prayers by the hand or Prayers of the hand or hands Or as St. Austin explains himself in some of his Writings The Prayer of Imposition of Hands IX Those which are Elected shall subscribe the Confession of Faith settled amongst us and the Ecclesiastical Discipline as well in the Churches where they are Ordain'd as in those whither they may be sent CONFORMITY The former part of this Article which regards the Confession of Faith which those are to sign which are established in the Ministry of the Church relates in the first place to what was practised in the Primitive Church where when one received the Office of Bishop or Minister one was absolutely obliged to subscribe to the Confession of Faith of the Council of Nice and by consequence to what was determin'd in the three following Oecumenical Councils touching the Divinity of the Holy Ghost and touching the Person and two Natures of Jesus Christ Secondly It refers also to the mutual Letters which the New Bishops wrote to the others to assure them they were of the same Communion and that they had one and the same belief See here a famous instance and of the first Antiquity that is of the 3d Century whereof Eusebius has preserved us the memory in his Ecclesiastical History L. 7. c. 30. p. 282. in his preserving the Letter which the Fathers of the Council of Antioch where Paul of Samosatia was condemned wrote to all the Churches In this Letter amongst other things they give advice of the Ordination of Domnus into the Church of Antioch instead of a Heretick which they had deposed and they give this intimation That one may write to Domnus which was the lawful Bishop and that Communicatory Letters might be receiv'd from him St. Cyprian at the end of his 67th Letter to Pope Stephen Let us know saith he who has been setled at Arles instead of Marcion to the end we may know to whom to recommend our Brethren and to whom to write Theophilus Bishop of Alexandria advertises at the end of his 1st and 3d Paschal Letters all the Bishops of Egypt of the
there was need of establishing this sort of Government I have spoke of and of which the Holy Pen-men have not mentioned the time of its settlement because it may be they had no particular occasion of doing it as St. Luke had of writing the History of the Institution of Deacons which probably might also have been unknown to us if the murmuring of the Greeks against the Jews because their Widows were neglected at the ordinary Service had not oblig'd him to transmit it in writing However it be That it may not be imagin'd I only insist on meer conjectures and conjectures utterly destitute of the Authority of Tradition I 'll produce the formal Testimony of Hillary Deacon of Rome a Writer of the 4th Century who speaks in this manner In 1 Tim. 5. 1 2. apud Ambrose Tom. 3. p. 582. The Synogogue and the Church afterwards had Elders without whose advice nothing was done in the Church and I can't tell by what negligence the same has been abolish'd if it be not probably by the slothfulness of Doctors or rather through their Pride to make it be believ'd they are some-bodies It appears plainly by these words of the Deacon Hillary That the Church had her Elders as well as the Synogogue and that very early she began to make use of them when he began to write his Commentaries on St. Paul's Epistles for he complains of the abolishing this holy Custom which in all likelihood held a considerable time after its first institution and in the very place it self where it was extinct by the negligence and malice of vain and ambitious Men which doth justify as I take it what I have said of its Antiquity that is to say That the first establishing of it was by the Apostles or at least by their immediate Successors if it were so that we could not find the Footsteps in the Monuments of Ecclesiastical Writers that immediately followed the Age of the Apostles Nevertheless who knows but Claudius Ephebius Valerius Biton and Fortunatus which St. Clement Disciple of the Apostles sent to the Church of Corinth with the Excellent Letter which he wrote to appease the troubles wherewith it was agitated who I say can tell but they were of those Elders whose original Institution we seek for for he says nothing at all which may induce us to think they were either Pastors or Deacons Moreover in the third Century Firmillian Bishop of Caesaria in Cappadocia and one of the most celebrated Prelates of his time makes mention of Elders which he joyns with Pastors for the treating of affairs which concerned the good and edification of the Churches Seniores Praepositi Apud Cypri pag. 144. Optat. l. 1. p. 41. Par. 1631. We meet together saith he every year Elders and Ministers to settle and order matters committed to our care and with common consent to treat of the weightiest and most important affairs About fifty years after Mensurius Bishop of Carthage having received orders to follow the Emperor's Court he committed to the trust of certain Elders saith Optatus of Milvetan several Ornaments of Gold and Silver which appertained to the Church But afterwards he made a Note of them which he gave to an old Woman with orders to give it to his Successor if it hapned that he died in his Journey as it fell out he did so that Cecilian having been Established in the place of Mensurius the Woman failed not to give him the Note she had by vertue of which he called for those Elders to whom Mensurius had committed this trust in the belief he had that they were good honest men but these perfidious persons willing to satisfie their own covetous desires converted the Gold and Silver to their own private uses Cecillian was frustrated of his expectation and as he was going about to compel them they rent from the Communion of the Church a good part of the People and began the Schism of the Donatists which prov'd so destructive to the Churches of Africa And what invincibly proves they were Lay-Elders like ours is that Optatus expresly distinguishes them from Botrus and Celesius which were of the Clergy of the Church of Carthage and who not attaining to the Degree of Bishops to which their ambition made them aspire they herded with these corrupt Elders together with Lucilla a factious and powerful Woman who of a long time endeavoured the ruin of Cecilian See here already sufficient Arguments of the truth of the matter we examine nevertheless because many do imagin that our practise in regard of Elders is new and unknown to the ancient Church it will not be amiss to insist a little longer on this subject and to alledg farther proofs the better to establish the Antiquity of the practise which we defend I 'le begin with the Acts of Justification of Cecilian and of Foelix of Aptonge his Ordainer which are at the end of Monsieur de Laubespine Bishop of Orleans his Notes on Optatus Bishop of Mileva in Numidia In these Acts which are ancienter than the Council of Nice there are several things which directly regard our Subject as what is said on occasion of Money given by Lucilla a Woman of Quality to have made Majorinus Bishop Pag. 268. That all the Bishops the Priests the Deacons and the Elders had knowledg of it And some lines after a Bishop called Purpurius writes to Silvanus Bishop of Cirthe who was accused of several things To employ those of his Clergy and the Elders of the People which are Ecclesiastical persons to the end they might give an account of the nature of these dissentions and in the following page there is mention made of a Letter writ to the Clergy and to the Elders and six pages after one Maximus saith Pag. 276. Inst I speak in the name of the Elders and Christian People of the Catholick Law St. Tom. 7. Pag. 191. c. 56. Tom. 2. p. 250. Austin in his third Book against Cresconius speaks of a stranger Priest and the Elders of the Church of the Country of Mâ—slitan The Title of his 137th Letter is conceiv'd in these terms To my beloved Brethren the Clergy thâ— Elders and all the People of the Church of Bonne Tom 8. in Psal 36. Conc. 2. p. 119. Extr. or Hippone whom I serve in the Love of Jesus Christ There is in this same Father's Sermons on the Psalms a Synodal Letter of the Cabarsussitan Council which speaking of Primian the Donatist saith He was given to be Bishop to the People of Carthage according to the request made of the Elders of the Church by Letters And in the next Page there is again mention made of Letters and Deputies of the Elders of the Church In the Nineteenth Sermon on the words of our Lord which is the third in the Appendix of the 10th Tome he makes appear wherein consisted one part of the Duty of their Employments The 100th Canon of the African Code attributed
several places were excluded from all hope of Pardon in the bosom of the Church as is made appear by the 16th Canon of the Synod of Ancyra in the year 314. XXVI Those which in a Church shall fall into Idolatry thereupon shall come to live in another Church where the fault is not known shall confess their fault only in Consistory on condition that returning to the said Church which they had offended they also acknowledg their fault publickly in it however referring to the discretion of the Consistory to do otherwise if they shall so think expedient for the Edification of the Churches The same Judgment shall be made of all other Faults which shall require publick Confession CONFORMITY Amongst the Primitive Christians when a Sinner had been Excommunicated in a Church when he had been cut off from its body or only debar'd from the Holy Table another Church was not permitted to receive him without the consent of that which had inflicted the punishment It was by this Principle that the Clergy of the Church of Rome the See being vacant after the death of its Bishop Hygin about the year of our Lord 150. would not receive Marcion to the Communion because he had been Excommunicated by his own Father who was Bishop for having debauch'd a young Woman We cannot say they Apud Epiphan Petau Haer. 42. p. 303. do this without the Order of your venerable Father In Theodoret Alexander Bishop of Alexandria complains to Alexander Bishop of Constantinople that some Bishops had received to the Communion some persons which he had Excommunicated The 5th Canon of the great Council of Nice expresly forbids it as also several others which 't is needless to alledge But when there was no Sentence given against a Sinner that he had not appeared before the Guides to acknowledg his Sin or to be convicted of it and that by consequence he had not been Excommunicated it is very probable that if he retired into another Church where the Fault was not committed he there would be treated according to the Rules of Christian Charity without paying the satisfaction which he owed to that which he had scandaliz'd in case he return'd to it It is just what is prescribed by our Discipline whereas there is not that I know of any positive Decree in the Ancient Canons on a matter of the Nature of that which we Examine although it may be reasonably thought there is by what was practis'd in other occasions XXVII All offences confessed and reparation made for them shall be struck out of the Consistory Books except those which being join'd with Rebellion have been censur'd with Suspension from the Lord's Supper or Excommunication CONFORMITY As there were only publick Faults and scandalous Sins which were to be satisfied for in the presence of the People there is great likelihood that in the first Ages the Ecclesiastical Senate kept not a Register of others of a less quality and which deserv'd not to suffer the pain of publick Penance or at least if they were wont to be written they were carefully expung'd after the Sinners had done what was requir'd of them in presence of the Conductors and that the necessary Censures had been applied to them otherwise what the Church has ever carefully distinguished had been confounded and embroil'd XXVIII Consistories shall not give Certificates to Magistrates by Act nor otherwise nor particular Members of Consistories shall discover unto any the Confessions of Penitents which voluntarily or by admonitions given them shall have confessed their faults unto them unless it be in Case of Treason CONFORMITY There is nothing more judicious than this Rule which enjoins to keep the secret of Confession made by Sinners of their faults either to the Bodies of Consistories or to any particular person whereof they are compos'd except the crime of Treason because in effect the Seal of Confession should not be regarded when there is question of the Sacred Persons of Kings and of the safety of their Estates there being no subject of what degree or quality soever he be that in this occasion is not bound in Conscience to disclose the secret which has been revealed to him otherwise he renders himself guilty in the sight of God and deserves to be exemplarily punish'd by the Laws of Men. XXIX Proceeding shall be made by Ecclesiastical Censures even to Excommunication against those which saying they are of the Religion shall cite Pastor and Elders or all the Consistory before the Magistrate to make them give Testimony against Delinquents which shall have confessed their faults before them CONFORMITY The 11th Canon of the Council of Antioch Anno Dom. 341. expresly prohibits Bishops and Priests to address themselves to the Emperor for any business without the consent and Letters of the Bishops of the Province especially of the Metropolitan and the 12th deprives them of the liberty of defending themselves and leaves them no hope of re-establishment if after having been Depos'd by their Synod they have recourse to the Emperor instead of addressing themselves to a greater Synod for example to that of the whole Diocess composed of the Bishops of several Provinces The Oecumenical Council of Constantinople Assembled in the year of our Lord 381. appoints in the 6th Canon not to receive the testimony of those which despising the Authority of Provincial Synods and of those of the whole Diocess have the confidence to implore Justice of the Emperor or of the Civil Magistrate because say the Fathers they do injury to the Canons and they overthrow all Ecclesiastical Discipline XXX As for Crimes which shall be disclos'd to Ministers by those which demand counsel and consolation Ministers are enjoin'd not to reveal them to Magistrates fearing lest blame should be drawn on the Ministry and Sinners should be discouraged for the future to come to Repentance and make Confession of their faults which shall stand good in all crimes confessed except it be Treason CONFORMITY What I have writ on the 28th Article sufficeth for explanation of this which in substance contains the same thing XXXI If one or more of the People stir up dissention to disturb the unity of the Church upon any point of Doctrine or of Discipline or of the form of Catechism the Administration of Sacraments or of Publick Prayers and the Order of Marriage and that hereto particular admonitions are not a sufficient Remedy the Consistory of the place shall endeavour with speed to dissolve and appease the whole matter without noise and with all mildness of the Word of God And if the opposers will not acquiesce the Consistory of the place shall desire the Colloque to assemble in time and place more convenient having first of all made the said Opposers expresly promise which shall be register'd That they shall not spread abroad their Opinions in any sort or manner whatever until the Convocating of the Colloque under pain of being censur'd as Schismaticks yet they may have liberty to
business wherefore should it not permit two Provincial Synods to choose a third to judge of their differences the First and Second Cannon of the Council of Turin in the Year 397 are yet more positive in this matter XII The Synods in each Province shall represent the Widows and Children of Ministers which died in the Service of their Church to be supported and maintained at the common charge of each Province as necessity shall require And where the Province shall be Ingrateful the Deputy thereof shall report it to the National Synod to take care therein CONFORMITY This Article is not only grounded on Christian Charity but also on the acknowledgment which the Churches owe to Ministers dead in their Service whereof they should shew the marks to their Families especially when there is occasion for it XIII Deputies of Churches shall not be gone from Synods without leave and till they carry along with them the Decisions which shall there be made CONFORMITY There are two things to be consider'd in this Article First That Deputies are not suffer'd to depart from the Synod without leave The Second Council of Arles made this Decree in its 19 Cannon Anno Dom. 452 If any one thinks he may abandon the Assembly of his Brethren before the dissolution of the Council Tom. 1. Conc. Gall. p. 105. let him know that he is deprived of the Communion of his Brethren and that he cannot be thereunto received until he be first of all absolv'd in the following Synod There may be seen in the Fourth Tome of Councils certain Fragments attributed to a Council of Sevil in Spain assembled about the time of Pope Gregory the I. in the X. of which is to be found word for word the Decree of the Synod of Arles which makes me believe that Burchardus pag. 521. from whom Garsias has taken this Cannon was mistaken when he attributed it to the Council of Sevil and I the rather believe it when I consider that the compilation of Cannons made by this Writer are full of this kind of mistakes The Fourth Council of Toledo assembled in the year 633 does defend also in the Fourth Cannon to depart from the Council until all things are decided by the major Votes and Signed by all the Bishops Tom. 4. Conc. p. 583. The Sixteenth of that of Worms of the year 868 prescribes the same thing To. 6. Conc. pag. 695. The Second thing our Discipline prescribes those which are Deputies to Synods is to carry along with them the Decisions which shall be made I find the same thing practic'd in the Antient Church in Effect it may be seen by the 29th Cannon of the First Council of Orange in the year 451 that each Bishop carried away with him a Copy of the Acts and Resolutions made in the Assembly and that the like was sent even to those as were absent to advertise them of their Duty by the Ministry of the Metropolitan and in the year 431 the First Oecumenical Council of Ephesus permitted each Metropolitan to take a Copy of the Acts whereof his Brother Bishops might have Communication by his means The Eighth Cannon where this power is granted to Metropolitans saying expresly that it is for their own surety that is to say for Conservation of the Rights of their Provinces and by consequence the Rights of all the Suffragan Bishops See what shall be said on the Tenth Article of the following Chapter XIV The Authority of Provincial Synods is inferiour to that of National Synods CONFORMITY There is no difficulty at all in this Constitution especially after what we have observed on the Tenth Article where I have prov'd by the Authority of several Cannons of Constantinople of Calcedon and the African Code that Appeals were made from Provincial Synods to those of the whole Diocess to which our National ones at this time do agree XV. Colloques and Provincial Synods shall be regulated according to the several Governments so that one may not pretend to be greater than another and for the present this shall be the Distribution of Provincial Synods 1 The Isle of France Country of Chartrain Piccardy Champagne and Brie 2 Normandy 3 Brittany 4 Orleans Blesois Dunois Nivernois Berry Bourbonnois and La Marche 5 Tourain Anjou Loudunois Le Maine Vandomois and le Perche 6 Vpper and Lower Poictou 7 Zantonge Aunis City and Government of Rochell Angoulmois 8 Lower Guyen Perrigord Gascogne and Limosin 9 Vpper and Lower Vivarez with the Uclay and Forest 10 Lower Languedock viz Nimes Usez Montpelier to Beziers inclusively 11 The rest of Languedock Vpper Guyen Tholouse Carcassona Quercy Rouergue Armagnack Vpper Auvergne 12 Bourgundy Lyonnois Beaujolois Bresse Low Auvergne Gex 13 Provence 14 Dauphine and the Principality of Orange 15 The Churches of the Soveraignty of Bearn 16 The Sevennes and Givaudan If it so falls cut for the convenience of Churches that one or two should be parted or to unite several in one it may be done in the Provincial Synod whereof notice shall be given to the National Synods CONFORMITY Those who please to read the Second Cannon of the First Universal Council of Constantinople and the Eighth of that of Ephesus will easily perceive our Discipline agrees exactly with the practice of the Primitive Christians And as for the dividing one Church into two or joyning several into one when necessity requires there is Examples to be seen in Antient Records As for joyning several into one Tom. 5. Conc. p. 430. the Eighth Letter of the Second Book of Gregory the Great gives us an Example and the Fathers of the Sixteenth Council of Toledo An. 693 in the V. Cannon Authorises the joyning and dividing and declares also in what manner it must be done The Emperour Charles the Bald in his Capitularies Anno 844 gives power to the Bishops to divide a Church into two when the Necessity and Edification of the People require it and if it gives them power to divide Churches Tom. 2. capit c. 7. p. 23. Edit Balux 1677 there 's no question to be made but it gives them power also to join several in one for good and lawful causes In process of time the Popes have assumed to themselves this power of Joyning and Dividing Churches although in France they are not permitted to exercise it without the consent of our Kings as the late Mr. de Marca has well observed in the Thirteenth chap. of the Fourth Book of the Liberties of the Gallcian Church where he treats of these matters XVI A Minister deputed by a Provincial Synod to go to a Synod or Colloque of another Province for some publick Affairs may have a deliberative Vote and that not only for the business he is come about but also during the whole sitting if his particular Affair be not in agitation CONFORMITY I do not think any need question but the same thing was practis'd in the Primitive Church Tom. 1. Conc. Gall. p. 27.
that here is to be an intire Separation both from Bed and as to Obligation The Second is in the 19th chap. of the same Gospel verse 3 c. The Pharisees also came unto him tempting him and saying unto him Is it lawful for a man to put away his Wife for every cause and he answered and said unto them Have you not read that he which made them made them at the beginning Male and Female and said For this cause shall a man leave father and mother and shall cleave to his Wife and they twain shall be one flesh wherefore they are no more twain but one flesh What therefore God has joyned together let no man put asunder They say unto him Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement and to put her away He saith unto them Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffer'd you to put away your Wifes but from the beginning it was not so And I say unto you whosoever shall put away his wife except it be for fornication and shall marry another committeth Adultery And whosoever marryeth her which is put away doth commit Adultery As the Pharisees in their demand understood a total Separation it must not also be doubted but Jesus Christ meant it so also in the Answer he made them In effect amongst the Jews the term to repudiate comprehends an intire rupture with power to re-marry again Therefore in the Antient formulary of Divorces amongst the Jews the Husband spake thus to the Wife which he put away I send thee going and repudiate thee to the end thou mayest be at liberty to marry whom thou wilt Let us now see what the Witnesses do depose which I have ingaged to produce for establishing the matter in dispute I 'le begin by Chromatius Bishop of Aquilea one of the Holiest and most Learned Prelates of his time that is to say of the Fourth Century and the beginning of the Fifth This Learned Writer Interpreting the two verses of the Fifth chap. of St. Matthew above transcrib'd speaks in this manner Let them know how great the crime of condemnation is which those do incur in the sight of God Tom. 2. Biol Sal. p. 168. who being overcome with the unbridled pleasure of Lust and without cause of Adultery cast off their Wifes to pass on to another Marriage It appears by the reasoning of Chromatius that if they cast them off for Adultery they were permitted to re-marry and having shewn that though the Laws of Men suffer'd to repudiate ones Wife for other cause than Adultery those which did it were nevertheless inexcusable but their sins was so much the greater that they preferred the Laws of Men before the Law of God After this I say he adds As it is not permitted to cast off a woman that lives chastly and honestly so also 't is permitted to repudiate an Adulteress because such a one renders her self unworthy of her Husbands Company which in sinning against her own Body had the boldness to defile the Temple of God The Deacon Hillary a Writer of the Fourth Century in his Commentaries on St. Pauls Epistles in the Third Volume of St. Ambrose his Works Hillary Expounding these words of the 11th verse of the 7th chap. of the â— Ep. to the Cor. pag. 365. Neither let the Woman forsake her Husband he thus explains himself it must be understood except it be for the cause of Adultery because it is permitted for the Husband to marry after having repudiated his Wife for cause of Adultery St. Epiphanius is full in the case seeing he expresses himself in this manner Him who could not be content with one Wife whether she dyed or that he put her away for Adultery Fornication or some other Crime if he joyn himself to another Wife or if a Woman for the same cause takes a second Husband the Word of God condemns them not neither deprives them of the Communion of the Church nor of Eternal Life but it bears with them for infirmity sake not that he should have two Wifes at once the one being yet alive and in being but to the end that after having left one he may if he will take another lawfully The Jesuit Petau in his Notes on the words of St. Tom. 2. p. 255. Epiphanius does acknowledge this was the Opinion of this Antient Doctor but he adds That if at that time it was suffer'd to have it because the Church had not yet determin'd any thing in this matter it is not permitted at this time after the decision of the Council of Trent Sess 24. cap. 7. nevertheless he owns this Decree of Trent is not agreeable to some of those cited by Gratian causa 32. quaest 7. and also that Cardinal Cajetan and some other Doctors of his Communion have followed an Opinion contrary to the definition of the Fathers of Trent that is to say That they believed that 't is permitted to a Christian to put away his Wife for Adultery and to marry another in effect not only Cajetan on the 19th chap. of St. Matth. but also Ambrose Catharine in the Fifth Book of his Annotations and Erasmus on the 7th chap. of the 1 Ep. to the Corinth have been of this Judgment Auitus Bishop of Vienna at the end of the Fifth Century and beginning of the Sixth sufficiently manifests that in his time Divorcement was made for Adultery with liberty to re-marry Ep. 49. p. 110. observing in one of his Letters That 't is for that cause alone God permits a man to separate from his wife Upon which Father Sirmond who has Published the Works of Auilus makes this observation It from hence appears that in that time it was believed in France that the Husband might by the permission of Jesus Christ leave his Wife in case of Adultery and marry another Which he confirms by a Cannon of a Synod of Vannes which I will cite anon Loup Abbot of Ferriers in Gattinois was in the Ninth Century of the same Opinion with Auitus Ep. 29. pag. 54. for he says as well as him that 't is only Fornication can dissolve Marriage to which Monsieur Baluze who compleated the last Edition with Learned Notes applyes also the Jesuit Sirmond's Observation which I but now mention'd Isaac Bishop of Langres in the Third Title of his Cannons which treat of Adulterys saith plainly chap. 1. That the Husband whose Wife is an Adulteress has power to take another if he please This Prelate wrote and liv'd in the Ninth Century I now come to the Councils whose Authority may contribute to the Establishment of the matter I examin and I begin with the First Council of Arles which the Emperour Constantine assembled in the Year 314 a Council famous for the Decrees there made and for the number of Bishops which were there present for there was 600 if several Writers may be credited In effect there is in the Collection of Letters of Ireland by Bishop
and Marry another if she cannot contain This last Cannon of the Synod of Verbery in the 5th Ubi supra 42 43 44 of that of Compeign where we Read these words If a free man has taken in Marriage a woman whom he thought to be free and afterwards he found she was not let him put her away if he will and let him Marry another The 4th of the same Council of Compeign makes this ordinance If a man has marri'd his Wises Daughter being of a free state to a free man or to a slave or to a Church-man and that he married her against her will and against the will of her Mother and her relations if she will not have him for a Husband and that she leave him her Relations may give her another or if she herself has Married another after having left the first let them not be separated In the 13th we Read this if any one has left his wife and in consideration of Piety and Religion he has given her liberty to enter into a Monastery or that for the Love of God he has suffer'd her to take the vail out of a Monastery let this Man take a lawful wife and let the Woman do the same on the like occasion The 16th is contained in these words if a Leprous man has a Wife that is clean and sound and that he will suffer her to marry another let the woman marry another if she please Ib. can 2.9 and let the Husband do the same Pope Stephen the second prescribed near hand the same thing three years before from whence may be gathered that according to all appearance he would have made no difficulty to approve the re-marrying of those whom Adultery had separated Nevertheless I could produce several other proofs for Establishing the matter I Examine if I feared not to be to tedious I will therefore end this enquiry by two remarks the first concerns Ecclesiastical Writers which teach that it is lawful to separate for Adultery as Tertullian who thus explains himself Contr. Marc. l. 4. c. 34. If God has prohibited under such condition to put away ones Wife he has not absolutely forbidden it and what he has not absolutely forbidden be his permitted Lactantius saith That he is an Adulterer that forsakes his Wife Lib. 6. Divin Instit orat 31. p. 501 to marry another if he leaves her for any other cause then for the Sin of Adultery The Law saith Gregory Nazianzen gives the Bill of Divorce for all things but as for Jesus Christ he gives it not for all things but he only permits to separate from the shameless and adulterous woman This separation if we follow the Explication of Father Sirmond on the 46th Letter of Auctus imports the Power of Marrying another to which amounts also what is said by Theophilact on the 5th chap. of St. Matth That he that put away his Wife for just cause That is to say for Adultery is not subject to any condemnation I say the same of all those which have explained themselves near hand in the same manner as St. Basil in his first Cannonical Epistle to Amphilochius Can. 9th and some other In my second Remark I produce the Testimonies of two famous Doctors of the Greek Church which testifie Marriage is entirely dissolved by Adultery and that the band is quite broke the first is of St. Hom. 19. pag. 484 485. Chrysostome who in his Homilies on the 7th chap. of the first Epistle to the Cor. teaches positively That the Husband which puts away an Adulterous Wife is not culpable And if you ask him the Reason he 'll tell you it is The Marriage is already dissolved and that after the fornication the the Husband is no longer a Husband The other Witness is Theodoret who Treating of this business in his Therapeutique or manner of healing the affections of the Greeks makes this Reflection Serm. 9. Legib. l. 4 pag. 619. worthy himself The Authour of Nature in Creating human Nature made at first one Man and one Woman and forbid to dissolve Marriage having not suffer'd to dissolve it but for one only cause which indeed doth break the band And having instanced the Words of the Gospel where Jesus Christ suffers to separate for Adultery and to Marry again He adds Ib. p. 620. By these Words Jesus Christ commands to bear all other faults in a Woman her prating Drunkenness Evil speaking but if she violates the Lawes of Marriage then He commands to dissolve and break the Bands Nothing can be desir'd more positive nor more clear for proving the matter I treat of therefore I conclude in observing that St. Chrysostom and Theodoret's Depositions do no less favour the Article of our Deposition than the Testimonies I produced at first as well of Ecclesiastical Writers as of Councils by all which I have made clearly appear that in the Ancient Church they were perswaded as they are at this present amongst the Greeks and amongst the Protestants that Jesus Christ suffers Christians to separate from their Wifes for the reason of Adultery and to marry others XXX If it should happen that after Contracts and Promises made and before the accomplishing of Marriage the Bride is found to have committed fornication before or after the said promises and that 't was unknown to him that had promised her Marriage after definitive sentence as abovesaid the Consistory may proceed to a new Marriage the Bride shall have the same liberty if it be found that the Bridegroom has been guilty of fornication before the said promises CONFORMITY There is in the third Volume of the Councils of France a Letter of Pope John the 8th to Walenus Bishop of Metz An. 879. pag. 491. by which he lets him understand that he is to blame against the Authority of the Cannons to go about to constrain a Man to Marry his Sweet-heart although she be found with child by some body else before consummation of the Marriage XXXI The Wifes whose Husbands shall be absent a long while in Voyages for Merchants or otherwise shall have recourse to the Magistrate if they desire to be re-marry'd CONFORMITY St. Can. 31.36.4.3 pag. 32. Basil in his 2 Canonical Epistle puts in the Number of Adulterous Women those which re-marry before they are certain of the death of their absent Husbands yet in such a way as that he will have the Wifes of those that are in the Wars treated something more favourably than others because a long absence makes it more be believ'd they are dead than others which are absent for some other Subject Pope Leo the first Writing to Nicetas Bishop of Aquilea touching Women that have re-marry'd after a long absence of their Husbands who had been carry'd away Captives he Orders that at their return Ep. 79. c. 1 2 3 4. pag 148 149. they may be permitted to reassume their Wifes who to this purpose are to separate from their second
Superstitions of the Church of Rome And as for private Actions and the corrections proper thereunto it shall be what the Consistory shall judge convenient CONFORMITY The same may be said almost of this as I said of the Third and add withal That after our Separation from the Church of Rome for things which we do not approve we cannot with safe Conscience practice any of those things which have been the motive and cause of our Separation V. Notaries Secretaries and others who by their Offices are obliged to Sign and Seal things indifferently which are presented to them shall not be blamed for receiving Testaments passing Contracts and dispatching Letters of things which concern Idolatry nor Judges for judging causes concerning Ecclesiastical Matters and the Execution of Edicts CONFORMITY The Authors of our Discipline have prudently permitted those of our Communion in preferrence to those of the Church of Rome to do all things as may be done without prejudicing ones Conscience or indangering Salvation VI. Arbitrators shall not meddle with any Matters that concern Idolatry directly nor Indirectly CONFORMITY There needs no other Commentary on this Establishment then what I have remarked on the Tenth and Eleventh VII Advocates and Attorneys may not plead in causes which tend to taking away Preaching and setting up Mass and generally they shall not be suffered to give Council to the Romish Clergy in causes which tend directly or indirectly to the oppression of the Church and true Religion CONFORMITY There can be nothing more just than to forbid all Persons of our Religion to Establish what we do condemn and to destroy what we set up VIII Neither Bishops nor Officials nor Arch-Deacons such as they are at present have by right any Jurisdiction Ecclesiastical nor Civil Nevertheless because Believers are sometimes constrain'd to appear before them to gain their Right which otherwise were not to be obtain'd they may thither make their address being referr'd by the Magistrate to whom they are first to apply themselves CONFORMITY One may and ought also submit to all the Jurisdictions Established in a Country by Consent and Authority of the Sovereign especially when one is appointed so to do by Order of the Magistrate under this condition nevertheless That the Service of God be not thereby injur'd nor the Conscience concern'd IX Advocates that are Believers ought not to plead on any account whatsoever before Officials but only in cases for which one may prosecute their Right before them according to the precedent Article CONFORMITY This Article depending of the former its needless to look for any other Explication X. It is not a thing unlawful in it self to exercise Civil Jurisdictions and Procurations under Ecclesiastical Persons which do not at all concern that which they call the Spirituality CONFORMITY Seeing it is permitted to acknowledge the Jurisdictions of Ecclesiastical Persons on certain occasions and in the manner above established it may also be permitted to Exercise them XI Believers may not obtain nor publish Monitories nor Excommunications of the Roman Church CONFORMITY The Protestants not acknowledging the Popes Authority to be Legitimate they ought not to have recourse to it Directly nor Indirectly XII Inasmuch as it is not lawful nor expedient to go hear the Preachers of the Church of Rome or others that intrude themselves without being lawfully called the Flocks shall be hinder'd by the Ministers from going thither and those that will go shall be summon'd before the Consistory and sensur'd as the case shall require CONFORMITY It 's above Thirteen Hundred years ago that the Council of Laodicea made this Decree Those which are Members of the Church shall not be permitted to go to Church yards nor to Oratories of any Hereticks whatsoever either to Pray or to obtain the healing of any Sickness but the Believers that have so done shall for a time be deprived of the Holy Communion and upon confessing and repenting their fault shall afterwards be restor'd again XIII Lords Gentlemen and others shall be advertised not to entertain in their Houses scandalous and incorrigible Persons and especially if they suffer Priests singing Mass or discoursing to debauch their Servants or if they do anew take and receive such into their Service CONFORMITY This Establishment tends only to the purity of Life and preservation of true Religion which are things to which every body ought diligently to apply themselves XIV Fathers and Mothers shall be Exhorted to take great care in Teaching and Educating their Children which are the Seed and Nursery of the Church And those which send them to the Schools of Priests Friers Jesuits and Nuns shall be prosecuted by the severest Church Sensures Those also which put their Children to be Pages or otherwise to Lords and Gentlemen of the contrary Religion shall be advis'd how they do so CONFORMITY This proceeds from the same principle the other did and was made by the same Motives which are Motives very reasonable and very conformable to the practice of the Antient Church XV. Those who have Brothers Sisters and other Relations who having quitted Monasteries to serve God with a pure and good Conscience shall be Exhorted to assist them and to do according to the Laws of Humanity and Affinity CONFORMITY If Christians are obliged and they are obliged by the word of God and by the Ancient Cannons to exercise towards all Men Works of Charity of greater Reason should they do them to their near Friends and Relations especially when they are reduc'd to necessity for serving God with a good Conscience in departing from a Communion wherein they were fully perswaded they could not be saved XVI Ministers nor any else in the Church cannot Print Books made by themselves or others touching Religion nor any way publish them without communicating them to the Colloque or if need be to the Provincial Synod and if the matter require hast to the Accademies or to two Pastors which shall be nominated by the Synod and shall attest the Examination by them made of the said Writings CONFORMITY This Ordinance is very necessary to prevent all the evil consequences as may sometimes ensue without the Examination therein prescribed the same thing is done amongst the Papists whose works are commonly approved by some Doctors and at Rome by the Master of the Sacred Pallace See what I have said on the Fifteenth Article of the First Chapter XVII Those which take Pen in hand to treat the Histories of the Holy Scriptures in Meter are advertis'd not to mix therein any Poetical Fables and not to attribute to God the Name of false Gods and not to add nor diminish to the Holy Scriptures but to keep as near as may be to the Stile of it CONFORMITY This Article will find it self sufficiently explain'd by the things I have remarked on the Twelfth Article of the First Chapter whether I refer the Reader XVIII The Books of the Bible whether Cannonical or Appocriphal shall not be transformed into Comedies nor