for them either in the Sacrifices of the Altar or of praier or almes-deedes Though yet they profit not euerie one they are made for but those alone who obtaine in their life time that they may profit them De Haeresibus haer 53. The Aerians tooke their names for à certaine Aerius who being Priest was said to be troubled he could not be made Bishop and falling into the Arrians heresie added some of his owne tenets affirming that it was not lawfull to pray or offer Sacrifice for the Dead De cura pro mortuis c. 1. In the bookes of the Machabees we reade that a sacrifice was offered for the dead Howbeit though it were not at all read in the ancient Scriptures the authoritie of the vniuersall Church which is euident in point of this custome is uo small matter where the commendation of the dead hath its proper place in the prayers of the priest which are powred out to God at his Altar Here you will marke two things The first is that saint Augustine esteemed the Machabees to be Scripture since he argues for Purgatorie from it and indeed he confirmes the same both in his seconde booke of Christian Doctrine the eight Chapter and also in his 18. booke of the Cittie of God 36. Chap. in these words The bookes to witt two of the Machabees are held to be Canonicall not by the Iewes but by the Church The seconde that though there were no scripture for it yet ought the authoritie of the vniuersall Church to preuayle at it doth in many other things of greater cō sesequence Witnesse the said Saint in diuers passages which both the Catholike and Protestant doe admitt of For first Epist fundamen moued by the authoritie of the Church we beleeue the Gospell it selfe which without it we should not beleeue I would not saith he beleeue the Gospell vnlesse the authoritie of the Catholike Church did moue me to it Secondly we beleeue many things which are not in the Scripture as that the sonne is consubstantiall with the Father It is not found written in holy writt saith he and yet that it is said is defended in the assertion of faith That the Father is vnbegotten We read not in those bookes the scriptures that the Father is vnbegotten Epist 174. and yet we make good that we ought to say so in the same place That the Holy Ghost is to be adored Giue me say you he meanes Maximinus an Arrian some testimonies where the Holy Ghost is adored as though forsooth replyes saint Augustine out of these things which we reade we vnderstoode not also some things which we reade not That it was written when the Apostle saint Paul was baptised no mention being made of the rest of the Apostles It is written when the Apostle saint Paul was baptised and it is not written when the rest of the Apostles were baptised and yet we must vnderstand that they also were baptised Finally that a child which cannot yet speake is said to beleeue and may be baptised Be it farre from me to affirme that children beleeue not c. he beleeues in another who offended in another It is answered dicitur he beleeues and it is of force and he is numbred among the faithfull baptised See what a necessitie is imposed vpon all Christians to haue some other infallible ground besides Scripture to stand vpon both to make good Scripture it selfe to witt that it is the true word of God that there are so many bookes of it and no more that we haue the true sense of it c. and many other maine grounds of Christianitie which you see we dare not denye while yet we can produce no formall scripture for them Now what ground that is let the same Saint Augustine deliuer Saint Cyprian faith he doth admonish vs that we should run backe to the fountaine that is to the Apostolicall Tradition and so bring downe the chanells to our tymes It is the best way l 5. cap 26. contra Donatistas and to be done without doubt And againe it is manifest that in a thing doubtfull the authoritie of the Catholike Church confirmed by the order of Bishops succeeding one another and the consent of people Ex libro cōtra Manichaos Dist 11.6 Palam from the verie foundation of the seas of the Apostles till this present tyme is of force to faith valet ad fidem And to know which is an Apostolicall Tradition which not De Bap. con Don. l. 4. c. 24. and l. 2. c 7. and Epist 118. c. 1. the same saint Augustine leaues vs another Rule thrice ouer for fayling What the VNIVERSALL CHVRCH holds and is not yet established in Councells but is alwayes obserued is most rightly beleeued to haue bene deliuered by no other then by Apostolicall authoritie Whence he concludes that it is a most insolent madnesse to dispute whether that ought to be done which the whole Church frequents all ouer the world But the whole Church all ouer the world in the yeare 1517. frequented as all our aduersaries confesse and condemne in vs an vnblouddy sacrifice prayer almes c. for the dead that they might be freed from their sinnes c. therfore it was following saint Augustins phrase and is a most insolent madnesse to deny it In conclusion either hath the proposition and practice of the VNIVERSALL CHVRCH auhoritie to conuince the beleife of a thing not otherwise written yea or no If not It were but meete that the simpler sorte should be instructed clearely and fairely vpon what infallible warranty they beleeue these ensuing points which they meete not with in their Bible 1. That Christians haue indeed the whole reuealed word of God 2. That it is contayned in so many bookes neither more nor fewer 3. That the Epistle to the Hebrewes is a part of it how euer it was some tymes doubted of 4. That there is a certaine number of Sacraments c. as aboue out of saint Augustine BVt if you graunt me that the vniversall Church hath such an infallible authoritie and that vpon it you depend for the certaintie of the precedent articles I may say with S. Augustine you obserue by this of what importance the authoritie of the Cathol Church is but you must also answer me why Catholikes may not with equall confidence depend vpon the same authoritie in point of assurance of purgatorie I am not able to discouer a disparitie or apprehend how being held credible in the deliuerie of those she should not also be credible in this since both are equally proposed both relye vpon the same veracitie or credit Be pleased to ponder this part well and afford the world a cleare and satisfactorie answer The grounds of Christianitie seeme to me to be shaken if the Churches veracitie herein beviolated and great pittie it were that the animositie to make good our priuate opinions should betray Gods knowen truthes An erring Disputant saith saint Augustine is
Angels receiue man cōuerted from his old errour againe they the Angels holy soules and blessed spirits endeauour saith he to reconcile God to such as shall serue him and pray iointly with vs contra Celsum l. 8. pag. 432. Againe infinite millions of Angels make intercession for maukind Againe who doubts but all the holy Fathers assiste vs with their prayers in Num. c. 32. hom 26. Now make him blow hot and cold with the same breath and speake for you saying all prayers are to be offered to God c. nor will our religion permitt vs to supplicate or pray to any other whomsoeuer Loe you haue made him quarrell with himselfe but what haue you gotten saue onely by contradicting himselfe you haue destroyed the credit of the Authour you depend vpon while you hurt not vs who want not a number of others to relye vpon Were it not better to saue his credit saying with S. Hierome Origene Methodius Euscbius and Apollinaris write against Celsus and Porphyrius Consider with what arguments and with how many gliding problemes they dissolue the things which were wouen by the spirit of the Diuel and because sometymes they are compelled to speake they speake not what they thinke but what they are forced by necessitie to oppose to the Doctrine of the Gentils For saith he not in the same booke that had he discourered that Celsus had by Angells vnderstood true Angells as Gab. Mich. c. he would then according to his abilitie haue said something to the matter by reiecting the word Adoration and the actions of the Adorer that is offerings and Sacrifices and the giuing of the worship of Latria so that it is manifest that he denies not the prayer to the Saints absolutely but onely in the sense in which they held their false Gods were to be prayed to and adored which according to Plato they tearmed Angells and gaue them soueraigne honour as is cleare from S. Aug. in his 10. booke of the Gitty and is partly cited aboue where they are tearmed lesser Gods For saith he of the Angells in the same place though they doe descend c. and offer the prayers of men yet are they not at all so called Gods as that we are commanded to adore them or to worship them with diuine honour And to this we all say so be it contenting our selues to afford them an inferiour honour sortable to seruants which beares no proportion to that soueraigne and diuine honour which we reserue for the Great Master alone Cos. Tertullian in his booke of Prayer chap. 12. THese prayers are vaine and deseruedly farelted which are made without the authoritie and precept of Christ or his Apostles For such prayers be not for religion but superstition Car. Sinceritie is still desired The authours words are still either so indirectly or sparingly put downe that it is impossible they should beare out his sense and make it intelligible to the Reader Tertull. in this place speakes not one word of Prayer to Angels or Saints either in expresse tearmes or can the exigencie or scope of his meaning be wrested to it He speakes onely of certaine friuolous formes which he points out in particular leauing no place to mistake what he meant or obseruations in prayer which he saith rather conduce to superstition then to religion as is saith he the custome of some to put of their cloakes to pray c. Marke his owne words as they lye and then indge what reason you haue to make vse of them Hauing described some manner of praying he goes on saying But sith we haue touched one certaine point or part of an idle obseruation I will not fayle to marke out the rest caetera to which vanitie is deseruedly exprobrated because they are done without the authoritie of any precept either of our Lord or his Apostles What was it then which was reputed vaine as being done without authoritie c. what but the rest caetera And what was the rest was it happily prayer to Saints No not any syllable intimating that but the rest was such as was the vnum aliquod to witt emptie obseruation such then and not prayer to Saints must the rest be in good consequence nor dare any deny it since not I but the Authour himselfe a lyne after concludes it saying as is that of certaine persons putting of their cloakes to pray this clause cleares the doubt and yet is left out and not looked vpon Let vs now examine whether any fairer dealing or more sinceritie be vsed in the next allegation out of the same Authour In his Apologet. ch 30. Cos. THese things I can aske and pray for of no other but of him who I know is able alone to giue them to me and whom alone I serue Car. Nor here againe is there any mention made of Angels in tearmes nor doth the subiect oblige to any thought of them Nor are indeed the Authours words putt downe fairely as they lye though the sense is almost the same These things saith he I can pray for of no other then of whom I know I shall obtayne them because euen he it is who alone doth giue and I am he whose part it is to impetrate being his seruant who obserue him alone Marke onely what these things were which he prayed for in whose person he spake and to whom and you will easily discouer this place conteynes no difficulty at all The things he prays for are as himselfe declares in the precedent lyne Long life to all Emperours asecure raigne a safe Pallace stronge armies a faithfull Senate an honest people a peaceable world c. He speakes it in the person of Christians who were accused by the Ethnicks that they prayed not to their Gods for the Emperour Where vpō he makes an Apologie for them to the Emperour shewing that though they pray not to their false Gods who were but indeed dead men and therfore lesse powerfull then himselfe yet he retorts vpon the Ethnicks in these tearmes but you are irreligious who seeke safetie to witt by the meanes of false Gods where it is not you demand it of those that are not able to giue it ouerpassing him in whose power it is and so concludes that Christians haue not recourse to their Gods as they haue but to the true God in these words But we call vpon the eternall God the true God the liuing God because he alone is able to giue it He I say not the false Gods whom alone he excludes from that power of helping the Emperour without hauing any thought or making any relation to the Angels or Saints at all which yet he should haue done to haue made this place vsefull for your purpose as you must needs confesse Cos. S. Athanasius l. 4. against the Arrians NO man should pray to God and the Angels to receaue any thing but ought to petition the Father and the sonne c. Car. Still is the Authour surprised as it were and forced to speake
pardonable in other questions which are not yet maturely digested De verbis Apost Serm. 14. nor confirmed by the full authoritie of the Church their errour is to be borne with but it must not aduance so farre as to endeauour to shake the verie foundation of the Church Of the Popes supremacie Against the Popes supremacie Mr Cosen 's vsed 4. or fiue arguments which I will put downe as they past The first Cos S. Gregorie being demanded certaine questiōs of Augustine Achb. of Canterburie answered him that he was to learne of neighbour Churches how he was to behaue himselfe seeming thereby to say in effect why doest thou aske me who haue noe such authoritie learne of the neerest Churches c. Carre To this it was answered that this obiection was nothing to the purpose because S. Augustins demaund was in matter of ceremonie not of Faith of particular obseruance of a small part of the Church not of the generall gouernment of the whole wherein the Popes supreme power is especially and properly exercised and knowne For these are the words of his third demaund Why there being but one faith are the customes of Churches so diuers And there is one custome of Masses in the Romane Church and another is obserued in the Churches of France So that it appeares euidently that saint Augustins demand to saint Gregorie was onely about the diuers customes of saying Masse the verie word will hardly now be welcome and was indeed like to that of Ianuarius to the great saint Augustine Doctor of the Church Epist 209. and saint Gregories answer againe entirely consonant to the great S. Augustines speaking of an indifferent no necessarie obseruation Le ts heare them both Saint Gregory Your brotherhood is acquainted with the custome of the Church wherein you will remember you were bred But it pleaseth me that if you haue found any thing either in the holy Romane Church that of France or in what other soeuer which may be more agreeable to Almightie God you carefully make choyce of it and powre out by speciall institution in the English Church which is as yet young in faith the choycest things which you can cull out of diuers Churches for the things ought not to be loued in respect of the places but the places by reason of good things Cull therfore what is religious pious and right out of what Church soeuer and hauing gathered them as it were into a bundle settle them as a custome in the heart of the English Saint Augustine vpon the like occasion But other things which are diuersified in diuers places and regions as is that that some fast saturday some not some dayly communicate the body and bloud of our Lord others receiue certaine dayes onely in some place no day is omitted wherein it is not offered in others on saturday and sunday onely in others againe on sunday alone or what euer may be obserued of this nature the whole kind of them haue free obseruances nor can a graue and prudent Christian obserue any better rule or discipline herein then to behaue himselfe according to the Church where he chanceth for the time to light for what is neither enioyned against faith nor good manners may be indifferently obserued and may be kept for their societie amongst whom we liue Now how out of these premises of Saint Gregorie this conclusion which was in question Ergo saint Gregorie did not acknowledge himselfe the Head of the Church can be inferred I confesse I am not able to diuine It will belong to him who made vse of it to make it appeare or els to cease with his to bragge of a victorie when the weakest may discouer he falls so farre short of all shew of a proofe and consequenly as was replyed in his presence that passage alleadged made nothing at all to the purpose pretended which was to conclude against the Popes supremacie For the rest how truly saint Gregorie did acknowledge vindicate and exercise the supreme authoritie of the Church of Rome shall be made manifestly and plentifully appeare vpon occasions of answer to Mr Doctors other obiections as they occurre Though the same might be partly obserued too euen out of his said replyes to saint Augustins questions as when he saith to the 9th quest We giue thee no authoritie ouer the Bishops of France because the Bishop of Arles receiued the Pall from ancient tymes of my predecessours whom we ought not to depriue of the authoritie receiued Againe in the same place But we committ the care of all the Brittain Bishops to thy brotherhood that the vnlearned may be taught the infirme strengthened by persuasion the peruerse corrected by authoritie Againe in the answer to the 8. quest We will haue thy Brotherhood so to order Bishops in England c. OBSERVATION Marke how he giues him authoritie ouer the Bishops of Britanie denyes him authoritie ouer the Bishops of France as hauing formerly receiued authoritie from the same sea by the gift of a pall which is practised by the Romane Church till this day finally how he expresses himselfe by Volumus we will c. all which are the words of a master and speake his power to the life at least if we make him the iudge of the Controuersie as Mr Cosens his argument will haue it Cos Againe the same saint Gregorie cryed out against Iohn Patriar of Constantinople for proudly assuming to himselfe the pompous name of vniuersall Bishop c. ergo he did not allow the supremacie of Rome Carre This was his seconde medium and I confesse it were specious enough had it neuer before bene heard of but being too obuious and euen worne thread-bare with euery ones frequent handling it is transparent to vulgar eyes and he walkes but in a nett who makes vse of it for a cloke To this my answer was that therfore saint Gregorie exclaimed against the proud and pompous title of VNIVERSALL BISHOP vhich Iohn Patriarke of Constantinople assumed to himselfe because he apprchended that thereby all the office or dignitie of Bishop was absorpt or exhausted so as none should be Bishop but himselfe Now whether this apprehension was true we labour not it is sufficiēt to shew that saint Gregorie at least made such a conceipt or feared so much Which is euident by these passages drawen out of his owne Epistles 1. l. 4. Epist 32. If therfore saith he that name of vniuersall Bishop be assumed by any to himselfe in that Church c. the vniuersall Church therfore which God forbid doth fall from its state when he falls which is called vniuersall But may that name of blasphemy be farre from the hearts of Christians wherein the honour of all priests is taken away while one doth madly arrogate it wholly to himselfe 2. And it is very hard to be patiently endured in so much as despising all Epist 34. l. 4. Indict 13. my said Brother fellow Bishop should only endeauour to be called The Bishop
3 Because if one be called an vniuersall Patriarch Epist 36. ibid. the name of Patriarch is taken from the rest 4. Least some priuate thing being giuen to one l. 4. Epist 32. all the priests might be depriued of their due honour Hence it is manifest that sainct Gregorie vnderstood Iohn the Patriarch of Constantinople so to arrogate the name of vniuersall Bishop as that he did derogate thereby frō all other Bishops that he did madly arrogate that power wholly to himselfe that with the contempt of his brethren he alone would be called Bishop that the name of Patriarch would be taken from the rest c. As though forsooth he alone were properly the only true Bishop all the rest being but as his Deputyes or Delegates Which were indeed an intolerable sacrilegious abominable attempt altogether repugnant to the sense practice of the Catholike Apostolike Roman Church which holds the least lowest of Bishops to be as absolute proper perfect in genere Episcopi as the greatest in place dignitie For the rest it is so euident that vniuersall Bishop or vniuersall Patriarch may be taken in some other tolerable though not in this pompous odious sense that none cā with any apparāce of reason deny it For reade we not in the 1. Act. of the Councell of Constantinople vnder Menas an addresse to Pope Agapetus in these words To our most holy most blessed Lord Archbishop of the Ancient Rome Oecumenicall or vniuersall Bishop Agapetus Yea doth not euen saint Gregorie himselfe often deliuer In his Epist 32 34. of his 4. book 30. of his 7. that the same Title of vniuersall Bishop was giuen to his Predecessours howeuer out of humility or feare of scandall they refused it in the Councell of Chalcedon one of those 4. Generall Councells which he professed to receiue honour as the 4. Gospells affirming in particular of that of Chalcedon that he embraced it with his whole heart obserued it with a most entire approbation and therfore could not conceiue that any thing was there attributed to the Sea Apostolike which had no good sense at all So farre must he needes be from crying against it in all senses But to loose no more time about a Title or in a question de nomine the worst of questions which I discouer not to be so important to the Catholique cause that it should stand or fall by the Presence or Absence of it Seruus Seruorum Dei being without controuersy the most Christian most vsuall with all our Popes hauing been left them by the same saint Gregorie l. 12. Ep. 32. I thus answer M Cosens his Argument in forme Saint Gregorie cryed out against the proud title of vniuersal Bishop c. In that odious sense whereby he conceiued or feared that Iohn of Constantinople so pretended to be Bishop as that he would not be content to be vnus è multis one amongst many but vnus solus the onely one vt despectis fratribus Episcopus appetas solus vocari excluding all others from that dignitie which out of his words I haue shewed to be his doubt aboue Page 123. I graunt it most willingly as he did it most worthily He cryed out against it in all senses imaginable in particular as it signifies Bishop Head of the vniuersall Church or imports the Supremacy which is the only thing now in question I deny it vndertake to conuince the said Denyall to be rationall good out of the same Saint by many euident titles omitting for breuities sake the multitude of authorities out of others which with ease I could produce THE FIRST TITLE BY WHICH Saint Gregorie makes good the Supremacie is his owne words FIRST l. 11.6.54 by his owne formall words in many places of his workes As in the 11th booke 54. Chapt. where he saith If answer be made that there was neither Metropolitane nor Patriarch one must reply that the cause ought to be heard and iudged by the Sea Apostolike which is the head of all the Churches 2. l. 7. Ep. 63. Whereas he to witt the Primate of Bizacium in Afrique saith he is subiect to the Sea Apostolique if any fault be found in a Bishop I know not what Bishop is not subiect to it Marry when faults exact it not all are equall in the way of humility 3. Hom. 21. vpon the Gospell Why God all mighty permitted him Peter whom he had appointed to be ouer all the Church to be affrayd at the word of à maide to deny himselfe 4. 5. Pauit Psalm v. 9. And the temerity of his madnesse he speakes of a certain Heretique goes so farre that he does challenge to himselfe the Roman Church the head of all the Churches 5. l. 6. Ep. 48. When I knew that Maximus was made Bishop against reason custome I dispatched away letters that he should not presume to celebrate the solemnity of Masses Which letters of mine being published in the Citty c. he caused publikely to be torne did publikely insult in contempt of the Sea Apostolike which how I endure you know who am readyer to dye then that the Church of Blessed Peter the Apostle should degenerate in my dayes 6. l. 6. Ep. 48. I earnestly beseech exhort you with the affection of a Father that euery one would suspend himselfe from an vnlawfull communion and that he would vtterly auoid such as the Sea Apostolique admitts not into the fellowship of her Communion least that he thence stand guiltie in the sight of the eternall iudge whence he might haue been saued 7. l. 4. Ep. 34. Though Gregory's sinnes saith he himselfe to Constantina Augusta be so great as to deserue to suffer such things yet the sinnes of Peter the Apostle are none that he should merit to endure them in your reigne Therfore I beseech you again again for God Allmighty's sake that as the precedent Princes your Parents sought for the fauour of saint Peter the Apostle so also you would endeauour to seeke conserue the same not permitting that his honour may in any sort be diminished with you by reason of our Sinnes who serue him vnworthily who may both now be a helper to you in all things hereafter may be able to absolue your sinnes 8. l 7. Ep. 64 Whence haue they the Grecians till this day that the subdeacons goe in Linnen-Coates tunicis but that they receiued it from their mother the Roman Church 9. Ibid. As for that which they say of the Church of Constantinople who doubts but it is subiect to the Sea Apostolique 10. l. 7 Ep 54 Peruerse men c. will not be subiect to the precepts of the Sea Apostolique they reprehend vs as it were in point of faith l. 4. Ep. 32. which they know not Lastly in his Epistle to Mauritius the Emperour being the very place which is worthy to be
and bloud of our Lord God Iesus Christ our Redeemer and be lyable to a strict punishment at the day of Doome If vpon the 4. booke 34. Chap. there he excommunicates or suspends from Masse the Bishop of Salonitane who was made without his knowledge against custome as he complaynes The Bishop of the Cittie of Salonitane was ordered without my owne or my Nuncius his knowledge wherein a thing was done which neuer happened vnder the reigne of any the preceeding Princes And concludes with a couered reflection or reprehension against the Emperours themselues And saith he if the causes of Bishops who are committed to me are carried with my most pious Lords by syding and the supportation of others what doe I vnhappie man in this Church But I giue thankes to God and impute it to myne owne sinnes that my Bishops should contemne me and flie to secular Iudges for refuge against me In conclusion fearing to trespasse vpon the patience of my gentle Reader I omitt a number of other cleare passages and appeale to euery Christian heart whether it be not euen industriously to endeauour ones owne losse to dwell vpon the words of an Authour which manifestly contayne some doubtfull and odious sense and thence force the conclusion to what our passion aymes at without going on with the same Authour to heare him out and to take along with vs what he plainely positiuely and frequently deliuers vpon the same subiect It is true sainct Gregorie cryes out against the proud title of vniuersall Bishop yet speakes he not in a limited sense and points he not particularly at what he feares in it saying Least all priests should be thereby depriued of due honour Least he should endeauour to be called Bishop alone c. as I haue intimated from himselfe aboue pag. 123. But is it not also true that he more then any such is God's prouidence preaches proclaimes practises the power of supreme Head of the vniuersall Church Tearming the Sea of Rome THE HEAD OF ALL THE CHVRCHES NOT KNOWING WHAT BISHOP IS NOT SVBIECT TO IT WHERE PETER WAS APPOINTED BY ALMIGHTY GOD TO BE OVER ALL THE CHVRCH THAT NO COMMVNION IS LAWFVLL WHICH THAT CHVRCH ADMITTS NOT. THAT IT IS THE MOTHER CHVRCH THAT THEY ARE PERVERSE MEN WHO WILL NOT BE SVBIECT TO IT Will you heare these propositions secōded and confirmed by his publique practices which suffer no glosse Is it not he who gouernes and giues lawes to Europe Afrique and Asia Doth he not order all the Bishops of England to be vnder saint Augustine Doth he not sende the Pall to Auston in France and by the fauour of his authoritie rancke it next to Lions Doth he not in Spayne depriue a Bishop ordered against the Canons of Priesthoode and all Ecclesiasticall ministerie depriuing the Bishops too who consecrated him of the body and blood of Christ c. Doth he not in Afrique command Columbus to vse canonicall rigour against Bishop Victor if Donadeus Deacon whom he Victor had degraded had right on his side Doth he not in Greece by the authoritie of Blessed Peter prince of the Apostles disannulle what the Bishop of Iustiniana Prima had done and depriue him of the holy Communion for thirtie dayes Doth he not professe openly that the cause of the Patriarch of Constantinople though the Emperour resided there was according to the Canons deuolued to the Sea of Rome and was ended by his SENTENCE If we will then heare Gregorie le ts heare him throughly If we fly to his authoritie let vs stand to his verdict Let not his word be taken where it pleases you and reiected where it displeases you for so I shall haue cause to make vse of a passage of saint Augustine against the Manichees in in Ep. Fundam and say Doe you conceiue me a foole in such a measure that without giuing any reason at all I should beleeue what you please and what you please not I should not beleeue Noe that were not to deale fairely and ingenuously If Gregorie must be our vmpire LET ROME BE TEARMED THE HEAD OF ALL THE CHVRCHES as he stiles it and exercise iurisdiction ouer all the Churches as we haue seene him practise and let not VNIVERSALL BISHOP which we cannot or will not vnderstand aright stand betwixt vs as a wall of diuision a seed-plott of irreconcileable discorde The fortunes of Greece depend not vpon it nor Christian Beatitude If it signifie head or chiefe-bishop of the VNIVERSALL CHVRCH it is but ROMES DVE if it would entayle the whole right power and dignitie of Bishop vpon Rome alone Rome reiects it as sacrilegious and blasphemous and so doe we Mr Cosens his third Mediū or argument was that appeales to Rome were prohibited in the Mileuitane and 6th Carthaginean Councell and that vnder paine of excommunication Ergo the Africans did not acknowledge the Supremacie of Rome Carre My answer was that for minor or lesser persons or minor and lesser causes appeales were prohibited I granted it That Appeales were forbidden for Maior or greater persons at least in maior or greater Causes I denyed it And consequently I denyed the Conclusion intended to witt Ergo the Africans did not acknowledge the Supremacie of Rome And the reason is because the Supremacie of Rome is discerned and exercised in greater causes as in matter of faith or the generall gouernment of the vniuersall Church For such they precisely are which Rome did alwayes challenge as properly belonging to her owne iurisdiction Heare in confirmation of this what saint Gregorie writes to the Bishop of Iustiniana prima l. 2. ep 46. If any cause of faith or crime or Money-matter be commenced against our fellow-Bishop Adrian Bishop of Thebes if it be a thing of little importance let it be iudged by our Nuncio'es Responsales who are or shall be in the Royall Cittie Constantinople but if it be a matter of weight let it be referred hither to the Sea Apostolique And such Africa neuer denyed to Rome to witt aknowledgment of iurisdiction and subiection in GREATER CAVSES but contrarily had frequent recourse to the Popes of Rome with due submission and aknowledgment Yea the verie Fathers to the nūber of 61. of the Mileuitane Councell wrote to Pope Innocētius in these tearmes Wheras God by his speciall grace hath placed thee in the Sea Apostolique and hath giuen vs thee such an one talē one so qualified or so good in our dayes that it would rather be imputed to our negligence if we should conceale from thy veneration what we iudge ought to be represented for the Churches aduantage then that we neede to apprehend that thou wouldst esteeme it importune or otherwise slight the same we beseech thee daigne to employe thy pastorall care in the great dangers of the infirme members of Christ for a new and most pernicious heresie c. Againe in the same place while we intimate these things to thy Apostolicall heart we neede not vse many words to exaggerate so great
Popes owne Secretary and you doe it either to no purpose or else to insinuate that therfore hee was more knowing in the truth of the story or the more faithfull historian or both For the former it had indeed beene likely if hee had beene Secretary to the Pope vnder whom this Councell assembled as any one would thinke you meant when you added this note in such a weighty parenthesis But certaine it is that Platina was borne many yeares after the celebration of this Councell and died in the yeare 1481. which was aboue 260. yeares after this Councell as saith Trithemius de scriptorib Eccles as hee is cited in the workes of Platina the page before the Epistle This therfore is but a deceiptfull insinuation of yours Or if you did not say this with intent to deceiue others but were your selfe deceiued surely your care to informe your selfe well before you write is very small Besides if it were true that hee had beene the Popes owne Secretary as for greater emphasis you expresse it yet his authority cannot counterpoyse the authority of all that are of a contrary mind to that you thinke Platina was of whom I shall by and by produce And lastly Platina doth not affirme to the preiudice of this Councell that which you erroneously imagine hee doth as I shall presently shew As for his faithfullnesse I doe not thinke you will make his being the Popes owne Secretary an argument therof men of your coate are not such honourers of the Pope Now for the words themselues of Platina you misvnderstand them for you apply those words nec decerni tamen quicquam aperte potuit generally to the whole businesse of the Councell whereas the intent of them at the most is but particular concerning the Holy Land as the fore-going words doe shew which are these At Pontifex vbi videret Saracenorum potentiam in Asia concrescere apud Lateranum maximum Concilium celebrat Venere multa tum quidem in consultationem nec decerni tamen quicquam apertè potuit quod Pisani Genuenses maritimo Cisalpini terrestri bello interse certabant These words then nec decerni tamen quicquam apertè potuit are at the most to bee referred to the buisinesse of the Holy Land of sending ayde thither and making resistance against the Turkes in Asia and to nothing else And the reason why nothing could bee decreed in that matter was the warres hee mentions which could not bee a hindrance from their making of other Canons in that Councell And as it is apparent enough that this at most was the meà ning of Platina to wit that nothing was decreed concerning the Holy warre and that therfore this place makes nothing to your purpose who hereby would make voyde all the Canons of this Councell soe it is also apparent that Platina if soe much was his meaning was deceiued euen in that and that there was something decreed concerning the sending of assistance to the Holy Land as appeareth by the decree of the Expedition which is at the end of the Canons whose truth I shall further proue by and by Yea and that Platina did not soe much as deny the decree of the Expedition in his words nec decerni quicquam apertè potuit is very probable for then hee would rather haue said nec decerni quicquam potuit absolutely but his qualisication of it by the word apertè seemes to grant that something was done though not apertè And that something was decreed is manifest by that which I shall say hereafter what then hee meanes by these words nec apertè in that which was decreed is not manifest Perhaps by Decree hee meanes the execution of the Decree in actuall warring against the Turkes wherein there was nothing openly done whatsoeuer might bee secretly done rending to their preiudice If this bee his meaning as no other can bee with truth in the thing then though his words bee obscure and improper to signifie thus much yet his meaning is true but nothing to your purpose But Nauclerus doth open this obscurity and makes it cleere against you for hee speaking of the same buisinesse and vsing the same words with Platina in the rest insteed of Platina's apertè hee saith aptè b Vel. 2. p. 914. nec decerni tamen quicquam aptè potuit quod Pisani Genuenses c. There could nothing bee fitly conueniently and to the purpose decreed in regard of the tyme because of the warres in Europe And immediatly after hee saith to confute that which you say that there was nothing done heere Editae tamen nonnullae constitutiones referuntur but there are diuers constitutions declared to bee made As for Matthew Paris his Historia minor I cannot meet with it and in the volume of his whole workes both maior and minor set forth lately by Dr Wats of London I can finde no such words as you cite And if you had beene willing that your quotation should haue beene examined you would haue giuen a man a neerer ayme than a whole history whether maior or minor to finde it in especially in a quotation so important to your mayne designe vnlesse you meant to giue a man more trouble than is faire in one that writes a controuersie The like you haue also done in some of your following authorities But if these words Et cum nihil geri in tanto negotio cernerent which are all that concerne your purpose bee to bee found in him hee speakes of the same expedition of the Holy Land and of the execution therof not of the Decree it selfe as the word geri will aswell beare in its signification and if hee meāt otherwise hee had no good intelligence in the buisinesse as I shall presently proue for though hee liued in the same time of this Councell yet hee liued in a farre distāt place And his words in tāto negotio doe surely poynt at some one particular matter which though it haue beene the occasion of calling many Councells yet when the Prelats were met they discussed and decreed many other things for the good of the Church Soe that though it bee true that nothing was executed in the great businesse of the Holy warres by reasō of the warres in christēdome yet it is farre frō prouing that which you soe boldly affirme that neither the Decree of the expedition for the Holy Land nor any one Canon was made in this Councell They met say you but did nothing nor haue you I am sure done any thing against them And that you may further see the integrity of this your Author in matters concerning the person of this Pope which is the purport of all the other words by you all eadged out of him reade c Baronius in his last tome anno 1197. who telleth vs that this Matthew Paris seemeth to haue writ his history of purpose to take occasion to sclander the Popes and then reciting a story concludeth thus Vidisti Lector Paris ingenium
animique male compositi malam sententiam res fingere verbáque formare indigna Romano Pontifice ab hoc vno tampatenti mendacio caetera discas caueas videasque qua tunc sit homo fide dignus cuÌ„ totus sit in carpendis Rom. Eccles Pontificibus And therfore his accusation of the Pope for exacting a great summe of mony of the Councell first as it is impertinent to your buisinesse for his couetounsesse could not nullifie the Canons of the Councell so also is it most vnlikely to be true because Paris is recorded for a slanderer and Pope Innocent III. for a worthy and excellent man d Nauclerus vol. 2. p. 876. Nauclerus calleth him vir doctrina moribus insignis And Platina in his life saith constat cum in quouis genere vitae probatissimum fuisse dignumque qui inter Sanctos Pontifices censeatur And againe in the next words to those you cite cuius vita adeo probata fuit vt post eius mortem nihil eorum quae in vita egerit laudauerit improbaueritque immutatum est The same also saith Nauclerus and adds quin religionis apprimè studiosus But you are glad to cite any thing to the disparagement of à Pope though there be no colour of truth for it Now that nothing at all was done in this Councell which is the mayne matter you driue at e Vol. 2. p. â—15 for which you haue misinterpreted the meaning of Platina and Paris is very vntrue Which I proue first by the authority of Gregory IX who liued in the time of this Councell and was created Pope but about eleuen yeares after and commanded the Decrees should be put in the body of the Canon law wherein hee vsed the seruice of Raymundus of whom Platina thus writeth e In vita Greg. IX fine Raymundum autem Barchino nensem quo adiutore in compilando libro Decretalium Gregorius vsus est ita quidam tà m laudant vt maiori commendatione laudari nemo possit So say the Annal Eeâ—lEs post Bason tom 13. p 459 XV. And Binius in the life of the sayd Gregory IX saith that this Raymundus was Canonized by Clement VIII Secondly S Thom. 4. sent dist 17. q 3. art 1 ad tertiam I proue it by the testimony of the greatest DIuines of that age S. Thomas and S. Bonauenture who speaking of the precept of yearly confession S Bonau 4. sent dist 17. q. 2. arg 3. say that the Church did institute it and the Fathers command it in this Councell Thirdly by the testimony of the Councell of Trent which speaking of the same Decree calls it Conc Trid sess 14 can 8. the constitution of the great Lateran Councell And that the Acts of this Councell were alwayes extant and are not counterfait appeares in that they now are and haue beene in the body of the Canon law euer since the time of Greg. IX who commanded them to be inserted and f Annal. Eecles post Baron tom 13. anno 1234. XV. anno 1234. which were but nineteene yeares after the Councell approued the collection Neither could any man haue meanes to know the truth of the Canons better than hee the Councell hauing beene held not long before by his vncle in that citty where hee being Pope could command the sight of all the monuments and many were still aliue who had beene present in the Councell celebrated but nineteene yeares before the publishing of these Canons knew therfore what was done in it better than those who were further remoued either in time as Platina was or in place as was Matthew Paris if they had as you suppose said any thing against it Nor was it likely that Pope Gregory either would or could haue obtruded them before the eyes of such great Prelats and Princes for decrees made in Councell had they not beene so indeed Nor would the Church the things there determined soe much concerning her nor they who did soe much emulate her proceedings haue beene silent had such a thing beene attempted Lastly I proue that there were Canons made in this Councell yea and that those Canons were receiued in England a thing which you deny towards the end of your discourse by a f Matth. Paris hist ma. anno 1222. generall CouÌ„cell so it is stiled of England held at Oxford by Stephen Archbishop of Canterbury in the yeare 1222. which was but seuen yeares after this of Lateran and about 12. yeares before the Canons therof were put into the Decretalls by Gregory IX where towards the end it is said g Binij CoÌ„oil tom 7. part 2.2 fol. 833. Vt autem omnia fine bono concludantur Lateranense Concilium sub sanctae recordationis Papa Innocentio celebratum in praestatione decimarum in aliis capitulis praecipimus obseruari But this is not all you haue to say against this Councell C. There be many things besides which may make vs iustly to suspect the authority of this pretended great Councell For first before Cochlaeus put 〈◊〉 forth it was neuer extant and it was but lately neither that hee put it forth in the yeare 1538. Three yeares before wheÌ„ Merlin put forth the Councells there was no such Councell that hee met withall to set out it is not in his edition But Cochlaeus a man not so well to be trusted who feigned many things in writing Luthers life tells vs that hee had the Decrees of this Councell out of an antient booke but where hee got that booke or who first compiled it or of what authority it was hee tells vs nothing at all It is most likely that antient booke was no other but the booke of the Popes Decretalls where those things that are said by him to be decreed in this Councell are heere and there scattered in seuerall places Those scatterings I belieue did Cochlaeus or some other collect together and made vp one body of them in manner and forme of a Councell But so illfauored a forme hath hee giuen it that often it betrayeth it selfe not to be genuine and taken out of any authenticke coppy ANSWER You further say that there are many things besides which may make you iustly suspect the authority of this pretended great Councell as you are pleased to call it I easily belieue that there are many things that make you not only to suspect but flatly to reiect the authority of this and many other Generall Councells but none iustly But it is not the authority of this Generall Councell which is the same in all but the verity of the Canons and Decrees therof you would haue sayd and the authority of theÌ„ that affirme those Decrees that you with so much sagacity suspect And if you thinke the Councell and the Canons thereof but pretended which are acknowledged true by the voyce of all the Catholiques of the world what shall make them to be accounted reall or shall the voyce of one pretended Deane
time they might haue beene let alone till this present yeare or not printed at all would that haue made you suspect the truth of them all it would then haue made the world suspect you for à very weake man or rather haue put you below all suspition But it so falling out that the Councells were printed at senerall times by the care of seuerall men the later they were printed the more meanes had the publisher to make further search and to enforme himselfe out of the Manuscripts more fully as wee find that in all editions of bookes the latest if the publisher apply due diligence are most full most pure and most correct I hope you will not say that the late edition of S. Chrysostome by Sr. Henry Sauill is therfore the more suspitious So that heere is neither truth in the grounds of your suspition nor reason that this last should be any ground though it were true You say moreouer that Cochlaeus sayes that hee had the Decrees of this Councell out of an antient booke but where hee got that booke or who first compiled it or of what authority it was hee tells vs nothing at all And you adde your coniecture as weake as your former suspition that it is most likely that that booke was the Popes Decretalls where the supposed Canons of This Councell are scattered in seuerall places Concerning Cochlaeus I can say nothing seeing I cannot meet as I said before with this his worke that you cite but I will fauour you so farre as to suppose you say true thē cōsider the purpose of it which indeed is none at all But for that hee had it out of an ancient booke is much to his purpose which booke I will be bold to coniecture seeing you are so for your liking was the very Originall of the Councell it selfe and where hee got it is impertinent for you to demand And for this my coniecture I will giue you good ground this that in Crabs edition of the Councells I finde an Epistle to the Reader before the beginning of this Councell the title wherof is this Bartholomens Laurens Nouimagensis Lectorl the beginning of the Epistle this Haec sunt quae ex Archetypo illo cuius supra mentio sit lectu adeo difficili summo labore descripsimus quae sicui grata vtilia fuerint primum gratias agat Deo qui horum qualecunque exemplar hucusque seruauit deinde F. Petro Crab qui hoc ipsum vt inter Cōcilia ederetur procurauit And this perhaps is the preface which you mention hereafter and ascribe to Cochlaeus for other I finde not But whose soeuer it was it proues thus much that this Councell which was first published that I can find by Peter Crab was taken out of the Original Record than which there can be no better authority and so hee saith againe in the body of his Epistle certè in editione hac scdulo curatum est ne quicquam ei ab Archetypo alienum ingeri possei And in this edition is the Decree of the expeditiō and the others which in particular you hereafter seeke to nullifie wherby those obiections are before hand answered yet I will say more when I come to them But suppose the Decrees of this Councell had beene taken out of the Popes Decretalls the originall being lost as were the Canons of the first Councell of Nice which makes so much vncertainty about the number of thē into which they were inserted as I shewed before by Gregory the ninth but a few year es after they were made in seuerall places according to the seuerall titles to which they were to be referred which you disgracefully call scattering what impeachment is this vnto their credit The Popes Decretalls are a testimony of no small reputation amongst all learned Christians And why I pray scatterings the Decretalls are not a collection of the Councells that so you should expect euery Canon in his order but à digestion of the Canons of all the Councells that pertayne to one matter vnder one head like the collection of the Statutes of England by Rastall and others out of which if one would vndertake to extract all the lawes made in Queene Elizabeths raigne hee must looke perhaps in a hundred seuerall places which yet I thinke you will not call scattering but methodicall digestion But these are the reproaches throwne vpon the chiefe spirituall father of the Christian world by those whom God hath like Symeon and Leui for the cruell schisme they haue made in the Church diuided in Iaacob and scattered in Israel But from whence soeuer the first publisher of this Councell tooke the Canōs thereof certaine it is that they were acknowledged and ascribed to this Councell by a testimony aboue all exception namely of the whole clergy of England in a Councell at Oxford as I haue shewed before that 12. yeares before the booke of the Decretalls was compiled So that from the Decretalls is not the first view that wee haue of the Canons of this Councell You againe repeat and say Those scatterings you belieue Cochlaeus or some other did collect together and made vp one body of them in manner and forme of a Councell But so ill fauoured a forme hee hath giuen it that it often betrayeth it selfe not to be genuine and taken out of any authentique coppie Euen now you sayd without doubt that it was Cochlaeus that set forth this Councell now it was hee or some other and this I must needs grant is very true for if it be set forth certainly it was either by one or another And if it were not Cochlaeus then haue you lost much labour in seeking to poyson his credit herein And if it were some other then is your decrying this Councell by reason of this edition of Cochlaeus of no force for then I affirme that this some other was a man of the greatest credit of all other and so the case is cleere against you out of your owne words and you say nothing heere to impeach the credit of this other which I wonder at for you may aswell speake against you know not whom as say you know not what as you doe in all this discourse You tooke it ill of Cochlaeus that hee did not tell you where hee had that antient booke and haue not wee much more reason to take it ill of you that will not tell vs who it was that first put forth this Coūcell you so much finde fault with nor giue vs any ayme to finde out this editiō you meane written by you know not whom from any other but although you heere fayle vs yet you thinke you come home to vs in that which followes and although you know not who first put forth this Councell and that wee know that both first and last haue done it in the same manner yet without relation to the publisher the very forme of this Councell you say is so ill fauouted that it often
scornefully and boldly call pretâ—nded shall be really accounted Generall by the best and noblest part of the world the Catholique Church when all other pretended Churches Councells and their Canons their Bishops Deanes and Chapters shall haue no being nor memory but of dishonour You further say according to your manner without proofe that this Councell vas not Generall for want of the personall presence of two of the Patriarchs wherein you are much mistaken for otherwise the first fower commonly stiled Generall and for such acknowledged by very many Protestants cannot be truly such because the Chiefe Patriarch the Bishop of Rome was not present in any of them but by his Legats Vnlesse you will say that though two may not be absent yet one may especially when that one is the Pope a man whoÌ„ you I know can very well spare not only out of the Councell but out of the world And yet I wonder that you that haue had the fortune to be the pretended Deane of S. Peters Borough and the pretended Master of S. Peters house should yet be such an enemy to S. Peters chayre But if you desire to know what makes a Councell generall and what are the insufficiencies thereof which you ought to haue expressed and proued before you had shot your hasty bolt of condemnation against this Councell reade Turrecremata and Canus vpon this subiect You at last conclude thus Howsoeuer nihil ibi actum quod quidem constet and so was it neither any generall Councell nor so much as any Councell at all Wherein first your proposition is false and hath no authority that I know of but the worst in the world your owne Yet you set it downe in Latin as if they were the words of some author but neither expresse the place nor so much as his name and therfore I take it for yours and reiect it Secondly if it were true that nothing as done there yet your inference from thence is incoÌ„sequent to wit that therfore it was neither any generall Councell nor so much as any Councell at all concerning the nullities of a Councell or of the generality therof I need say no more than I haue done seeing it rests on you to proue that doing nothing is one And for your affirmation that nothing was done I haue fully disproued it through this whole discourse I will therfore only adde the testimony of Matth. Paris who though he were no friend to this Pope as I haue shewed before yet speaking of this Councell in the place aboue cited saith thus His omnibus congregatis in suo loco praefato iuxta morem Conciliorum Generalium in suis ordinibus singulis collocatis facto prius ab ipso Papa exhortationis sermone recitata sunt in pleno Concilio capitula 60. Wherein is a mistake in the figure it should be 70. quae aliis placabilia aliis videbantur onerosa Tandem de negotio Crucifixi subiectione terrae sanctae verbum praedicationis exorsus subiunxit dicens Ad haec ne quid in negotio Iesu Christi de contingentibus omittatatur volumus mandamus c. And so repeats at large the substance of the Decree of the Expedition for the recouery of the Holy land So that it is manifest by this and that which hath beene sayd before that there were many things done in this Councell yea all that are affirmed to bee And it is called a Councell and a generall Councell by Vrspergensis Paris Platina Grantzius Nauclerus BeluaceÌ„sis and all that I can finde that haue any way written therof except your vncontrowlable selfe Besides it hath the allowance of the Holy Catholique Church the awfull spouse of Christ more true more wise more vigilant and infinitly more reuerend then all the sects Synagogues of Schismatiques Heretiques therfore their obiectioÌ„s against her whom they ought to belieue and reuerence aboue all things on the earth especially when they are propounded peremptorily as these are are fitter to be reiected than to be answered I conclude with the words of Surius a Nemo sanae mentis ambigere potest hanc quae sequitur Synodum Lateranensem cum primis insignem vere oecumenicam fuisse quippe in qua de negotiis religionis summa Latinae Graecae Ecclesiae concordiâ tractatum est cuique interfuere Patriarcha Constantinopolitanus Hierosolymitanus Archiepiscopi tum Lani tum Graeci 70. Episcopi 412. Abbates Priores plus 800. simul omnes Praelati 1215. aut eo plures Nec defuere Legati Graeci Romani Imperatoris Regum Hierusalem Galliae Hispaniae Angliae aliorum Quodsi verò ea cuiquam propterea minus ponderis habere videatur quod recentior sit ille certè Christum mendacem facere velle videtur qui perennem praesentiam suam promisit Ecclesiae suae Spiritum sanctum suum Spiritum veritatis qui cum illa maneat in aeternum Manet sua semper Catholicae Ecclesiae authoritas quam quisquis contemnere ausus est non ille efficit vt ea minor sit sed se dignum reddit qui eius pondere penitus opprimatur No man well in his wits can doubt that this Councell of Lateran was very famous and truly generall because therein were handled the matters of ReligioÌ„ with very great agreement of the Greeke and Latine Churches wherin were present the Patriarch of Constantinople and Ierusalem and 70. Archbishops Greeke and Latin Bishops 412. Abbots and Priors aboue 800. all the Prelats together were one thousand two hundred and fifteene or more Neither were there absent the Ambassadours of the Greeke and Roman Emperours of the kings of Ierusalem France Spayne England and others But if this Councell seeme to any to haue lesse weight because it is later hee truly seemes to be willing to make Christ a lyar who hath promised his perpetuall presence to his Church and his Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth which remayneth with her for euer The authority of the Catholique Church doth alwayes abide here which who soeuer presumes to despise he doth not lessen her but renders himselfe worthy to be crusshed to pieces with her weight And now insteed of your prouing the Catholique writers lyars and forgers and the Catholique Church credulous negligent and ignorant which you endeauoured you haue proued your selfe vnwise vnlearned and audacious and I belieue will loose all credit and reputation of integrity or capacity in the iudgement of all prudent men of what religion soeuer they be that shall reade these your vnworthy workes But suppose the thing it selfe were true that you haue laboured for abstracting the authority to the contrary to wit that there had beene no Canons made in this Councell yea suppose there had neuer beene any such thing as this Councell what is it to your purpose What article of our Catholique Faith is therby cancelled how is your inuisible Church of England or your Chappell in France where God hath his Church defended
the Councell of Nice and not otherwise being acquainted with the Councell of Sardis saue onely whith a spurious one made neere Sardis by the Arrians as S. Aug. giues testimonie and fauoured by the Donatists And on the other side being wearied out with frequent costly and disorderly appeales as in the present with that of Apiarius a simple priest for the second tyme were willing doubtlesse to haue lighted vpon some lawfull redresse in that behalfe yet marke I beseech you with what humilitie and respect to the Sea of Rome it is sought for They sue they supplicate they protest in the interim to obserue what was enjoyned them by the Popes Legates which certainly they had had no reason to doe had they apprehended no authoritie in the Pope to command We professe saith Alypius Bishop of Tagaste that we are willing to obserue what is established in the Councell of Nice In the 6. Councell of Carthage and a little after but we finde it not as our brother Faustinus brought it And therevpon he applyes himselfe to Aurelius Bishop of Carthage that the Acts of the Councell of Nice should be sent for into Greece that all ambiguitie might be remoued saith he and concludes Howbeit We professe as I said before that in the meane while we will obserue these things till the entire Coppies exemplaria concilij Niceni shall come With which the Popes Legate Faustinus was so fully satisfied that he pronounced vpoÌ„ it Nor doth your sanctitie fore-iudge or doe a preiudice to the Church of Rome c. in that our brother and fellow-Bishop Alypius daigned to say the Canons were doubtfull but onely please to write these verie things to our holy and most Blessed Pope c. To which Aurelius Archb. of Carth. replyed Besides these things which we haue promised in the Acts we must of necessitie withall most fully intimate by the letters of our Townes euery thing we treate of to our holy brother and fellow Priest Boniface Which the whole Councell seconded with Placet And we professe adds Aug. Bishop of Hippon we will obserue this sauing a more diligent inquisition about the Councell of Nice Finally the whole Councell resolues to expect the Actes of the Councell of Nice authenticated vnder the three Patriarches hands whereby say they the chapters which are contayned in the present instructions commonitorio of Faustinus c. being there found shall be strengthened by vs or not being found shall be more fully handled in a subsequent Synode collected to that effect Let now indifferent persons iudge what could euer be spoken with more submission and indifferencie and lesse entrench vpon the Popes knowen authoritie which euen by this their proceeding clearely discouers it selfe and shines as it were through this seeming miste of the Africane opposition Otherwise 1. In Ep ad Celâ—st Gone Afric c. 15. Why is a Councell expressely called in obedience to Pope Celestine 2. And why doth the same Pope giue this honorable testimonie of S. Aug. who was one of the cheife supposed Antiappellants that for his life and merits they alwayes had him in their communion and that he was neuer touhed with so much as a rumour of any sinister suspition 3. Why did the same S. August in cause of an Appeale made by Bishop Anthonie of Fussal to Pope Celestine haue free recourse to him as to caompetent Iudge instructing and commending the cause vnto him acknowledging that some for certaine faults the verie Sea Apostolike as he saith ep 261. iudging or confirming the iudgements or sentences of others were neither depriued of Episcopall dignitie nor yet left altogether vnpunished desiring him to command all the things directed to him to wit the Processe to be read before c. It was neither for want of witt vertue nor learning sure for in that qualitie what Pope might not rather haue had recourse to him 4. Why is Faustinus admitted into their Councell and permitted to propose the Popes pleasure which they promise to obserue till farther inquirie be made in a matter ministring iust cause of doubt 5. Why is Apiarius a turbulent and wicked priest in vertue of the Popes release by prouision as it is called and by his order admitted to a second hearing in Afrike after he had bene twice cast out by the votes of the Bishops there 6. Why doth Faustinus himselfe pronounce in the full assembly that by this their proceeding no preiudice was done to the Sea of Rome 7. Why did Aurelius esteeme it a point of necessitie to impart all the particulars of their treatie to Pope Boniface 8. Finally why is it concluded by the vnanimous consent of the whole Councell that if the things which Faustinus had in his instructions be found in the Actes of Nice they will confirme it If not they doe not say they will forthwith cast of obedience to the Church of Rome they will call another Councell and treate the busines more fully But I will yet goe on and say Fourthly put case I would giue what can neuer be proued nay what is contrarie to the knowen truth of the Fact That the Africans opposition had bene against the right of Appeales to Rome not against the maÌ„ner onely and that in maior persons and causes too in a word that what they proposed onely had bene decreed also and that conciliariter too yet how would this conclusion be made good by Mr. C. Ergo the Pope of Rome is not supreame head of the Church Certainely in a Protestant sense it could not sith they affirme that euen Generall Councells c. both may erre and haue somtymes erred in the 21. article of the 39. Ergo a fortiori this of Africa which was but a Prouinciall Councell may haue erred and consequently one should be conuinced of rashnes to conclude any thing out of it especially in matter of faith till mens consciences were assured that though it might yet indeede it did not erre here in which how it should he made good I am not wise enough to guesse Nor yet can it be made an argument ad hominem and conclude against a Catholike for he doth not place the infallibilitie of the Church in the decree of a prouinciall but in the Definition of a Generall Councell Ergo nothing followes hence neither Ergo to be short I will conclude this part with these fewe testimonies of the African Fathers as well before as after this 6. Councell of Carth. in point of the Popes Supremacie omitting a number of most pregnant places out of other Fathers partly for breuities sake and pratly because the Africans are most concerned herein Tertull. l. de Pudicitia c. 1. n. 5. He styles the Pope of Rome the High priest and Bishop of Bishops and tearmes the Church of Rome In Praesc â— 36. n. 212. Happie Church to whom the Apostles powred out all their doctrine together with their bloud S. Cyprian The Primacie or chiefe place rule and authoritie In l de vnitate
Ecclesiae the word Primatus being so Englished by the best Grammarians is giuen to Peter c. They dare sayle to the Chaire of Peter and to the Principall or chiefe Church Epis 55. ad Cornelium Papam And writing to Stephen Pope of Rome he saith Let thy letters be dispatched into the Prouince of Arles and to the people there residing whereby Marciane who being Bishop of Arles fauoured the Nouatian heresie being excommunicated another may be substituted in his place and the flocke of Christ may be gathered together which to this day is contemned being dispersed and wounded by him Optatus Mileuitanus A Bishops chaire was first conferred vpon Peter in the Cittie of Rome In l. 2. cont Parmenianum wherein the HEAD of all the Apostles Peter sate c. Victor Vticensis And especially the Romane Church which is the HEAD of all the Churches In l. 2. de Persec Van. S. Augustine l. 2. de Bap. contra Donat. Peter the Apostle in whom the Primacie of the Apostles had the preeminencie with so exceellent a grace or aduantage Againe Like as all the causes of Mastership were in our Sauiour In quaest Noui Test q. 75. so after our Sauiour they are all conteyned in Peter for he constituted him to be the HEAD of them the Apostles that he might be the Pastor of our Lords flocke Eugenius who was one of Aurelius his Successours in the Archbishopricke of Carthage The Roman Church is the HEAD of all the Churches Fulgentius de Incarn Gratia c. 11. That which the Roman Church which is the HEAD or toppe of the world holds and teaches and which the whole Christian world together with it both beleeues without hesitation to Iustice and doubts not to confesse to faluation I conclude then that since it is most euident that the Africans were for vs Catholikes both in their words and practices as well before and in the fore said Councells as after the same it is altogether in vaine for the Protestants thence to hope for any helpe or support to their Cause Now Mr. C. hauing returned you a faire full and satisfactorie answer to each of your obiectioÌ„s permit me the fauour of one of your setled answers to that one onely demand which I then made and often iterated and still iterate as being the verie summe and abridgement of all controuersies to witt where was your Church in the yeare 1500. c. till the yeare 1517. when Luther began to storme This is the rule I haue bene taught by the ancient Fathers First by Irenaeus who had the happinesse to haue seene Policarpe S Iohns scholler We saith he can number those who were instituted Bishops in the Churches by the Apostles and their successâ—urs euen vnto vs who taught or knew noe such thing as these doe madly fancie to themselues And a little after But whereas it is too long to nuÌ„ber the successions of all the Churches in such a volume as this we coÌ„found all those who by any meanes gather more then they ought either by their wicked self-complacencie or vaine glorie or els by their owne blindnes and erroneous sense by pointing out that tradition which that greatest most ancient and most knowne Church to all men founded and established at Rome by the two most glorious Apostles Peter and Paul and by faith announced to men brought downe euen vnto vs by the successions of Bishops for vnto this Church by reason of its more powerfull principalitie euery Church ought to resort that is all the faithfull all ouer the world wherein that TraditioÌ„ which is from the Apostles is conserued by those which are all ouer vndique And so names the Popes from Linus who succeeded S. Peter c. till Eleutherius who was in his tyme of whome he saith Now Eleutherius in the twelueth place hath the Bishopricke from the Apostles and he adds By this ordination and succession the TRADITION which is in the Church from the Apostles and the proclamation of Truth is brought downe vnto vs And this is a most absolute demonstration plenissima ostensio that it is conserued in the Church from the Apostles till this day and is deliuered ouer in truth Behold the succession of Bishops is esteemed by him and deliuered vnto vs for a certaine demonstration that those who haue it on their side haue the same liuely faith conserued euen from the Apostles tyme till this day Secondly by the learned Tertullian in the same age saying In Praescri p. c. 32. Let them produce the origin's of their Churches let them declare the row or processe of their Bishops so running downe from the beginning by successioÌ„s that that first Bishop may haue had some one of the Apostles or Apostolicall men which yet perseuered with the Apostles for his Authour and Predecessour Let the Heretikes saith he a little after euen forge any such thing if they can And he counts Peter Linus Cletus Clemens Anacetus Auarestus Alexander Sixtus c. Thirdly Optatus Mileuitanus In 4 Tom. carm contra Marcion saying In that singular vnica Chaire Peter first sate to whom Linus did succeede c. to Iulius Liberius to Liberius Damasus to Damasus Siricius at this day who is our fellow with whom or in whom all the world agrees with vs in one societie of Communion by the commerce of letters formed to witt a kind of circular or communicatorie letters vsed in those tymes to discouer them to be of the same coÌ„manion Produce the origine of your chaire you who will needs challenge the Holy Church to your selues Fourthly S. Augustine In his Ep. 165. thus If the order or processe of Bishops who succeede one another be considerable how much more certainly and indeed sauingly doe we count from Peter himselfe c. For Linus succeeded Peter c. and so counting downe to Anastasius who then was Pope he coÌ„cludes in these words in this ranke or lyne of succession no Donatist Protestant Bishop is found c. Now to know of what consideration and weight the succession is with the same S. Augustine le ts take it from himselfe in his Ep. Fundamenti cap 4. where he professeth that the succession of priests from the verie Sea of Peter the Apostle till this present Bishop-pricke most iustly retaynes him in the bosome of the Catholike Church That this is a reasonable demand in it selfe I am most confident because Fathers so learned and able prouoked to it in their tymes with so much confidence and taught others to doe the same It is necessarie saith Tertullian Praescrip c. 20. that euery familie should be brought backe and reduced to its origine And that it is reasonable in particular from vs it seemes no lesse euident because what we demand we are readie to exhibite to discerne whether you or we are true successours to S. Peter we name our men immediatly from him who haue succeeded one another till this day till this present