were not only acknowledged to have the same right with their own Members but also to lie under the same Obligations And if very satisfactory Reasons were not given of their forbearance if they did not then actually Communicate they were Treated as Schismaticks so that that Schismatical Distinction of such an Occasional Communion as leaves Men at liberty where and when to Communicate and that even in separate and opposite Communions was altogether unknown to the primitive Church or if it had been started would never have heen endured XII From what hath been said it may Appear That in the Practical Notion Unity Uniformity and Communion are words much of the same Importance The two latter only more clearly Explaining the Nature and Manner of the former And if it be true that our Unity consists in our Communion in the Solemn Acts of Worship and publick Offices and Duties the Christian Church it will then unavoidably follow that we must be United and firmly adhere to the True and Lawful Pastors of the Church without whom those Offices cannot be Lawfully discharged and for want of whose Support and Ministry the Solemn Worship and daily Sacrifice would fail And the greater Reason have all Christians to take Heed to this good Order of Men both because our Saviour hath Invested them with his own Authority so far forth as is necessary for the Officiating in and Governing of his Church and also because he hath made them a special Promise of his Assistance in the discharge of their Offices in Relation to the first he thus Commissionates his Disciples As my Father hath sent Me even so send I You John 20. 21. In Respect to the latter he hath said I am with you alway even unto the End of the World Matt 28. 20. So that if not under the Law much less under the Gospel may any Man take this Honour to himself but he that is Caâ—â—ed of God And he that intrudes into this Office without a derivation of just Authority comes not in by the Door but climbs up another way And for that Reason ought to be Esteemed a Thief and a Robber This Authority of theirs is indeed of a spiritual Nature They have no power of Coeroion they cannot by force lay a Restraint upon any Mans Person but yet their Authority is real and in some sense higher then theirs who by Gods Commission carry the Temporal Sword for the terrour of evil Doers and Defence of those who do well For the same God who gave Authority to the Pastors of his Church hath Commanded the people to obey them Heb. 13. 17. And doth interpret the disâ—bedience or neglect of them to be an Affront to Himself For thus our Saviour Teacheth us Luke 10 16. He that heareth you heareth me And he that despiseâ—h you despiseth me And he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me And therefore though such Despisers may not seem to suffer any tâ—ing here yet they stand Accountable to a higher Tribunal and do run a greater hazard then any temporal punishment when their Cause is forejudged by their Spiritual Governours Hence saith Tertullian Apol. Summum futuri Judicii Praejudicium est si quis ita deliquerit ut à Communicatione Orationis Conventû◠Omnis Sancti Commercii Relegetur The Wickedness indeed of Spiritual Governours is of very dangerous Consequence the Influence of it makes many bad and will not suffer others to be so good as they would And as we read that the Lâ—wdness of Eli's Sons made the People even to Abhor the Offering of the Lord So by Moses Law the Offering for the Sin of the Priest was the same as the Offering for the Sin of the whole People and much exceeded the Offering for the Sin of the Civil Ruler Levit. 4 It is sad with Gods Church when the Complaint lies at that Door But yet even this will not Absolve Christians from their Obedience to them in Matters which are within the just Bounds of their Authority and properly belong to their Office Even our Saviour himself who so often warns his disciples to Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisces yet Commands them to obey the same Men so far forth as they satt in Moses Chair And doubtless he doth not Require less Observance of those who Sit in his own Chair And though People are very apt to begin the Quarrel here yet methinks they should be more fearful of breaking Communion with their Pastors if they did Consider That this is the Door by which always Schism enters for it is not Conceiveable how they should forsake Christian Communion but by deserting their Pastors in their Pastoral Office Hence the Fathers especially St. Cyprian then whom no man better understood or wrote of this Case upon all Occasions as they usually describe a particular Church by the Union of the Flock to their Pastor so they define Schism by a Separation from the Bishop Not that they meant it is no more but that that is the Act which makes the Schismatick and that by leaving his proper Bishop he forsakes not only the Communion of that particular Church but of all other Churches of whose Communion that Bishop is And Consequently the Communion of the Catholick Church if he be truly a Catholick Bishop And hence I think it may Appear that for Maintaining Christian Communion in Christs Body the People must be United to their Pastors and that not only with Respect to Preaching the Word publick Prayers and the Use of the Sacraments but also with Regard to Matters of Discipline and Government without which Order and Regular Proceedings in the Church it cannot be upheld Upon this Score the primitive Christians were so Observant of the Rules Orders and Censures of their Bishop That if any Man fell under the Sentence of Excommunication they for so much as Related to them vigorously put it in Execution and not only would not suffer such a One to joyn in Communion but would not so much as Eat Drink Converse or ordinarily Traffick with Him Which Practice seems to have had its Foundation from that of St. Paul 2 Thes 3. 14. If any Man obey not our Word by this Epistle Note that Man and have no Company with him that he may be Ashamed As also from that 1 Cor. 5. 11. Now I have written unto you not to keep Company if any Man that is called a Brother be a Fornicator or Covetous or an Idolater or a Railer or a Drunkard or an Extortioner with such an One No not to Eat XIII But that a Firm Christian Unity may be in the Church of God it is not sufficient that the Flock continue in a due Subjection to and steddy Communion with their Pastor unless the Pastors themselves Maintain a fair Correspondence and keep due Order one amongst another For if the Trumpet give an uncertain sound who shall Prepare himself to the Battel as the Apostle saith 1 Cor. 14. 8. how is it possible that an
must observe that this did not take in all places For in some Cities where the Vicars of the Empire Resided were not of Strength Interest and Power sufficient to Mount their Bishops into Patriarchs Besides the Bishops of the Church were exceeding jealous of this new start-up Power as savouring more of Worldly Pride then Episcopal Care and therefore kept it out wherever they could And the wary African Bishops made a Decree against so much as the Use of the Name And great Reason they had for it for it would be no hard Matter to prove that by this means crept in those Abuses and Corruptions into the Church which are now Maintained with a Pretence of Authority and therefore the more Remediless Moreover as this new Honour was dangerous so it was needless for the Diocesses though they seemed to swallow up yet they did not destroy the Provinces So that the Metropolitical Authority remained still Suited to the Government of the State and was much more safe and botter Fitted to keep out Secular Pride Vanity and Worldly Pomp out of the Church And though it was thought requisite that the Ecclesiastical should Comply with the Civil Government so far as to be useful in the State yet it was never thought needful to run oâ—t into all Divisions of Civil Government so as to be prejudicial to the Church But however if those Laws of the Church which Erected or Confirmed Metropolitical or Patriarchal Power proceed upon this Grand Reason That the Government of the Church might be Agreeable to the State then it is Apparent that they never did immoveably Fix such Authority to any particular places for Alteratioâ—s often happening in States that might be clear contrary to their deâ—â—gnes Bùt the End Sense and Meaning of those Laws must be this that the Governours of the Church should always be careful that the Limits of Church mens Jurisdiction should be made to Comply with the Divisions and Limits of the Civil Government under which they live that both may Sit easie and be useful to each other And doubtless the God of Order never intâ—nded that his Church should Fill the World with Disturbance and Confusion which will be unavoidable if those two Powers be always Clashing If then such Civil Divisions are abolishâ—d and the Government ceased or altered for whose sake such Metropolitical or Patriarchal Power was Erected then those very Laws themselves which first Erected it do in their professed Design Reason and Intention not only disannul it but direct the Governours of the Church to establish or procure the Establishment of such other Limits of Jurisdiction as may be more satisfactory to the State and beneficial to the Church Indeed all these Supereminent dignities whereby one Bishop was raised above another were Erected either for he better Management of Affaires in the Roman Empire or for the Grandeur of it Or else sprang up by degrees for the benefit of those Cities which were of greatest Power and Interest in which thing Rome had the most advantage as being the Imperial City and giving Denomination to the whole Empire But now that Empire being broken and Resolved into several absolute and independent Principalities other Measures ought to be taken and for the same Reason that such Authority was set up it ought now to be taken down or Restrained And the Limits of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Confined within the Extent of the Civil Power and Exercised for its Ease Safety and Benefit And it seems to Me to be a Matter not to be despised that though the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament were written under the Government of the Roman Empire and in the time of its greatest Height and Glory yet the word Emperour so far as I can Call to mind is no where to be found there Indeed there is a Precept Relating to Caesar by Reason of a particular Question which determined it to that Name and the word Augustus and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Answers it are Historically mentioned But these what use soever After-times made of them were then Gentilitial or Honourary Titles But the Name Emperour was that by which they then Ruled and which Held all along whatever other Titles or Distinctions were devised And that I think is no where to be found in the New Testament at least not in that sense Perhaps the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which mostly Answers it was thought too presumptuous However it is the Security the New Testament gives them is only by Commanding Obedience to the Higher Powers or in the like Phrases never mentioning their distinct Title But though the Name of Kings was odious to the Romans yet most of the Evangelical Precepts which Require Obedience to the Civil Power expressly direct it to Kings so that they seem to be given not only with a Spirit of Prophesie that that great unweldy Body should fall in pieces and be divided into several Kingdomes but also with a special design to secure and oblige all Christians to Obedience and Submission to such Kings And if we further consider that our Blessed Saviour hath told us That his Kingdom is not of this World And that the Christian Religion teacheth Self denial and Renunciation of the World and Requires all Christians especially the Governours of the Church to be of a most Humble peaceable and exemplary Behaviour This kind of Proceedings in its Covernment will seem most agreeable and natural to it For the Business of Church-Governours is to promote the Interest and Power of the Gospel not pertinaciously to strive for Jurisdiction to its prejudice and dishonour If each Changes happen in Mundane Affairs that by Alteration of the Bounds of Temporal Principalities one Bishop gain and another lose yet the Church of God loseth nothing but hereby gains its Peace and a good opinion amongst the Princes of the Earth And Church-Governours have the greater freedom and more Advantage to do good But the insisting upon Jurisdiction in another Christian Princes Dominion is to take his Subjects from him It ever causeth Disturbances Creates Jealousies in Princes and makes them think those who should be the best Christians to be the worst Subjects And for that cause to have the meaner opinion of Religion it self It would therefore certainly be best with the Church of God and most conduce to its happy Government if this Rule were observed in all Christian Kingdoms that the Jurisdictions of Bishops should Comply with and Conform to the Divisions Boundaries of the Civil Power This was the true primitive Practice and this the Bishops have ever been inclinable to when they have been able to withstand that everlasting Encroacher the Bishop of Rome Of which take this one Instance Immediately after the Synod at Constantinople against Photius a Controversie arose to whose Diocess the Bulgarians then newly Converted to the Faith should belong The Bishop of Rome who never lost any thing for want of demanding it made strong Claim by his Legats Upon this
very inconveniently and indiscreetly enjoyned in another And therefore though such Apostolical Constitutions deserve Veneration as being unquestionably bâ—st Fitted to the then present Churches yet it remains in the Power of Church-Governours to lay them aside upon just Occasion and Constitute Others in their Room as may be most for the good of the Churches Again some Traditions concern the Practice of the Universal Church which obtained in all places and these have their Ground and Warrant from Scripture but their particular Determination from Church-Authority which is still preserved to us by Tradition Of this we have a clear Instance in the Fasts and Feasts of the Church as Gods Signal Mercies require our Solemn Thanksgiving so our own Sins especially the publick Call on us openly to Humble our Souls before God and to give manifest Testimony of our Repentance Besides to tame our unruly Affections and Fit us for the discharge of our 〈◊〉 Acts of Mortification are very requisite To this the Scriptures direct us and thereof gives us many Instances But when this shall be done I mean publickly for as to private Thanksgiving or Mortification relating to Mâ—ns private Concerns they may usâ— their â—â—scretion provided that they thwart not the Orders of the Church is partly pointed out to us by the times when such Mercies were received or Evil done and partly determined by Ecclesiastical Authority And this even Natural Reason it self doth so fully teach that there never were any Men of any Religion how barbarous soever but they had their Solemn Fasts and Feasts Upon this Account I was very sorry to find a Relation in Mr. Ricaut St. of Turk to this Effect That certain Fanatical Merchants of ours Residing at Sâ—â—…rna and some other parts of the Turks Domiâ—ionâ— being observed to keep neither Fast nor Feast but to use every day alike all Persons presently esteemed them as Men of no Religion and â—ook'd on them as Persons who thought they had no God against whom they could offend nor from whom they had or might hope to receive Favours But though these Men were of our Countrey they were not of our Communion And we are not to Answer for thâ—ir ill Examples who have forsaken us chiefly for this Reason that they might take their full swinge in Running a Whoring after their own Inventions The most Ancient â—eaâ—ts and Fasts are Appointed by the Constitutions of our Church and 〈◊〉 by the Laws of the Land If we regard not some in the Roman Church it is because they are Apparently of later date and introduced by their own Authority which obligeth not us Besides we much doubt of the Popes Skill in discerning these later Saints but more of his power to make them such If it be observed that our own Fasts and Feasts are ill observed among us I grant it to be true but I say it is not our fault Ill Men and ill Times have been and still are too hard for us and not to Complain of the too many Obstructions of Discipline without which no Church can long stand much less flourish which is the Reason that all Parties whatsoever have unanimously combined to hinder the Exercise of our Discipline that by that means they might have opportunity upon all Occasions to make their full blow at the Church it self though our Church hath had the Laws on her side yet she hath ever had the Lawyers without whom the rest could have done nothing her Enemies who have made even the Laws themselves either insignificant or hurtful to Her I speak not of the whole Body of them for there are many Honest and Honourable Persons amongst them But there want not enough who are sworn Enemies of Church-Discipline and all Ecclesiastical Authority who lay Trains and Snares for the Governours of the Church if they execute it And if any Man be Constrained to defend the Sanctions or Rights of the Church they will encourage Parties and make Interests against Him lead him thorough all the Courts in the Kingdom till they have undone him And expose Him as if he were the vilest Man living They will neither suffer the Censures of the Church to take place nor her Rights to be gotten Nay more I will be bold to say that partly by quite discharging some Tithes and by Erecting lewd Modâ—s's and upstart Customes and other Sly Tricks they have deprived the Clergy of one fourth of what the Bare-faced Church-Robbers left And if they be suffered to go on at this Rate they will in some few Generations insensibly Begger all the Livings in the Kingdom Now what can we do against these and many other powerful and inveterate Opponents whom I will not Name Our Constitutions are good We wish and endeavour what we fairly can that they may be kept They must Answer it to God Almighty who will not suffer it But to leave Complaining where we are like to have no Remedy and return to our Matter As to Traditions of Matters of Practice distinction must be made between the Matter of the Tradition and the Circumstances of it Tradition as to Circumstances may differ in different places and may be Altered by the Power of the Church Thus as to the Feast of Easter all Agreed in the Tradition that it was to be observed But divers Churches disagreed about the time of its Observation so that whilest some were Fasting and had not Compleated their Lent others had Entred upon the Feast of Easter Here the Church interposed her Authority and to prevent Disorder and Confusion reduced the Observation to a certain time though it did not take place without a great deal of trouble so tenacious are people of Ancient Usages and therefore ought Governouâ—s to be very tender of disturbing them without wâ—ighty Reasons But then as for the Matter of such Traditions which are genuine and truly primitive as of the Observation of Easter and the first day of the Week commonly called The Lords Day c I cannot perswade my self that even the whole Church hatb Power to Alter or Abrogate them What may be done in Plenitudine Potestaâ—ts I will not dispute because it is a thing I have no kindness for For when Persons will be judges of the Extent of their own Authority they will be sure to Câ—rve liberaâ—ly for themselves And when they will be Acting to the utmost Sounds of it the odds is ten to one that they go beyond them Lastly other Tradâ—tions there may be whiâ—h relate to Doctrine but this could be nothing but what the Apostles taught and therefore must be fetch'd from those they taught it to And so must be derived from the first primitive Churches If it stâ—rted up after it was an Innovation not a Tradition though older then Augustine or Ambrose for there could be no Tradition but from the Apostles and wherein the Churches immediately following them unanimously Agree as to their Doctrine It serves well for the Explanation of the Sense of Scripture as hath been
Army should be Unanimous in it self or Employ its full force against the Enemy if the Commanders Agree not but give out contrary Orders Nor is it possible That the Unity of the Church should be preserved if the Pastors Govern their Flocks not in Conjunction but Opposition to each other and set up such termes of Communion as other Churches cannot approve but must withdraw from It is indeed true That every Bishop in his particular Church hath a kind of Sovereign Authority and is to Govern his Flock Rationem Actûs sui Domino rediturus as St. Cyprian more then once phraseth it Hence it is That in some things a Christian Man is bound to Observe the Orders of his own Church and obey his own Bishop before any if not all the Bishops in the Christian World But then this Authority must not be stretch'd beyond the Bounds of his own particular Church And hence arose those several different and often contrary Usages and Customes in several Churches which were not excepted against because they belonged to the Power of each particular Church and consisted in such things That he that Communicated after the one Manner in one Church might Lawfully Communicate after the contrary in another Of this Nature was that known different Usage of old between the Churches of Rome and Millan In the former they Fasted on Saturdays in the latter not And therefore St. Ambrose who was truly as stout a Bishop as ever the Church had though he strictly Required Obedience to the Orders of his own Church yet at Rome was as Observant of theirs and Advised St. Augustine's Mother Monica to do the same The Reason must be fetch'd from the Nature of the Things which being indifferent in themselves might be Lawfully practised either Way and therefore were in the Power of every Church to determine or not determine as She found most for her good and Advantage But when these Things are determined Obedience put on the Nature of Duty and Disobedience of Sin But though every Bishop in Respect of his particular Church or Flock hath according to the Old Ecclesiastical Language his Throne yet in Relation to the Catholick Church he is but a principal Member who in Conjunction with Others of the same Authority is to Share in care of the whole And therefore in Matters which have an Influence on Catholick Communion he is Accountable to his Colleagues or Fellow Bishops and for any Misdemeanour herein may by them be Suspended Deposed or Censured as they or a convenient part of them shall judge Meet for the preservation of the Churches Peace And in this Case the Bishops of other Churches did not only Exhort but Require both the subordinate Clergy and the People to Refuse Communion with their Bishop though in all other Cases the separating from the Communion of their Bishops and the Erecting another Altar or setting up a Conventicle against him was Accounted the peculiar Signature of Schism And the Reason is plain for though they could not hold Communion with the Church but by Maintaining Communion with their Bishop yet they did Communicate in that Church as a part of the whole And if he did break off from the whole or was Injurious to the whole if they should Adhere to him therein they must follow his Fate And therefore here they might desert him and cleave to some other sound part and joyn in Communion Approved by Orthodox Bishops The Reason of the Bishops absolute Power in one respect and his Subjection in another seems to be briefly Couched in that short Saying of St. Cyprian Episcopatus unus est cujus à singulis in solidum par̄s tenetur do un for though he held but part of that Episcopacy by which the whole Church Concordi multorum Episcoporum numerositate was Governed yet holding that Parte in solidum he had the full Episcopal Authority and was a Catholick Bishop and his Orders according to their Nature ought to be Heeded by all Bishops But then what he held in solidum being but Pars Episcopatûs unius he was Bound to Exercise his Office in Conjunction with them who were equal Sharers with him And herein was Answerable to his Fellow-Bishops sor any detriment or injury done by him to their Common Office and Common Charge Hence a Bishop was in some things Obnoxious even to the delebility and loss of his Character as Spalato hath proved against the fond device of the Schools lib. 2. cap. 4. and was bound at his peril not only to Preach the same Faith but to Walk and Act according to the Cannons of the Church And yet in other Things his Act was sufficient to Tye up all the Bishops in the Christian World Both which Things are an invincible Evidence of the Sense of Antiquity of their Participation of the same Office and of their Obligation to and dependance upon each other in the discharge of it Hence it was that when a Bishop was placed in any Vacant See though he was never so Canonically Ordained yet he was bound to send abroad his Circular Epistles to other Bishops to Signifie his due Admission to that great dignity and withal to give in a Summary of his Faith that they might Admit him to Catholick Communion and upon occasion might Communicate with him and Assist him in the just discharge of his place If he afterwards fell into Heresie or did any irregular Act he was Tryable by his Peers and might be Censured according to his demerits On the other Hand what wholesome Orders he made for the good of his own particular Church those who came from any other Church thither were bound to observe them And if he justly put any Person under the Sentence of Excommunication upon his Certifying thereof with the Cause all other Bishops and all other Churches were bound to take that Person for Excommunicate wherever he came and to Reject him from their Communion For in Cases of this Nature every Regular Act of Authority in one Church was Regarded as the Act of the whole Church And thus in all things particular Churches Acted in Relation to and Communion with the Catholick and Maintained their Unity Firm and Inviolable XIV My Design hath been to Write a Chapter not a Treatise of Christian Unity and therefore I may be excuseable if I have not Hit every thing though I perswade my self that had we these the rest would not be wanting But my fear is that my Accusation will rather Lye on the other Hand That I have Iaid the Platform of such a Unity as in all its parts is no where on Earth to be found And though the more is the pity yet possibly it is too true But then this Objection Amounts to no more though that God knows is too much then to shew the deplorable state of the Church and the woful degeneracy of Christians For the Religion we profess Requires such an Unity And de facto it has been had and practised in the
such turn away Actual Separation therefore may sometimes be a Duty when it is a Departure from those who have before departed from the Right and violated the Unity and corrupted the Communion of the Church But being there ought to be no Separation but upon the score of Avoiding Obligations to Sin and no further then may secure us in that matter there can be no Separation but there will be Sin on the one side or the other And being the bare Separation may not only be lawful but duty the Sin of Schism must Lie where the cause and evil is found and they are the Schismaticks who unjustly cause the Breach And indeed simple Separation doth not include the whole Nature of Schism in an Ecclâ—siastical Sense For though those who depart from any true Church of God as it is a part of the Catholick Church do break off from the Body yet those who depart upon just and warrantable Grounds though they depart from the Schismaticks yet they do not fo sake the Church of God but continue in its Communion and are Members of that Body and therefore cannot be Schismaticks But I need not Discourse this any further because I think it is Agreed on all Hands that the Sin of Schism follows the Cause Now from all that hath been said this or the like Definition of Schism may be Gathered That it is an unjust Violation Breach or Solution of the Unity of the Church Or to express it more plainly a Causeless Separation from Ecclesiastical Communion XI How far some more moderate Person in the Church of Rome may be willing to go along with Me in these Considerations I cannot tell the Generality of them I know go further but that will not be the least part of that Controversie However here we must part But because I do prosess my self a Person who doth deeply Mourn over that dismal state of the Church to which these Divisions have brought it and that God who knows the Secrets of all Hearts knows that I say true and do wish an End of their Broils and would Contribute the utmost of my Endeavors to Repair the Breaches And do moreover freely confess That Schism is a Sin of a very dangerous Nature it will therefore Concern Me to discharge my self from being either a Partner in or an Abettor of that Mischievous Evil of which I Complain And therefore now I shall endeavour to prove not only that the Cause of the Schism between the Church of England and the Church of Rome lyes at the Church of Rome's door But further that let them pretend what they will that Schism was first made and still Maintained and Upheld for such Reasons as ought to be Strangers to the Christian Religion and do drive on and keep up such an unwarrantable and fulsom Interest as is not Consistent with the true state of Gods Church If any Man shall give me better Information upon due Consideration I shall be willing to receive it and thankful for it But if any Man shall please to set himself against Me I would desire him to deal with Me as a Man who is of the Communion of the Chuâ—ch of England in sense of duty who never gave uâ— my self to any particular Party of Men and who in all my Studies have had a Special Eye to the Advancement of the Peace of Gods Church and the Satisfaction of my own Conscience CHAP. IV. Of the Liberties and Priviledges of the Britannick Churches And of the Actual Separation HE who would Build true will first clear the Ground And therefore I must crave leave to Remove some old Rubbish out of my way before I can descend to some such particular Matters for I pretend not to take in all as I think may Justifie that Separation which we now Maintain for we are not the Men who made it but defend that Church which we found and were born and bred in and therefore ought not to desert it without just Cause Two things with no lack of Confidence are Urged as a Prejudice against our whole Cause First That these Churches and even all their Bishops did owe a particular Subjection to the Bishop of Rome either as Sole Vâ—câ—r and Plenipotâ—ntiary of Christ Jesus on Earth or at least as the Western Patâ—iarch Secondly that supposing this to be otherwise yet since the Separation Matters have been decided by a General Council viz. That of Trent to which all ought to submit I shall Endeavor to give a fair Answer to both these Objections But first must premise That supposing not granting the truth of either or both these Objections yet of themselves they do â—ot overthrow our Cause for no Plea of any exorbitant Authority or Conciliar Determination can oblige us to a Sinful Communion And if that Plea be made good against them all their other Arguments Vanish into Air For the Holy Ghost never Assisted any Council to make wicked Determinations Nor did the Ancients know of any such Exotick Power in the Pope as that he might be Obeyed in every thing for though several Matters contributed to gain him an extraordinary Respect in and Influence on the Church yet they held him to the Canons And if he deviated from them or the Truth they without scruple opposed him When Basilides and Martialis two Spanish Bishops justly deposed fled to Stephen Bishop of Rome And by Lyes and Flattery so prevailed with him that he not only admitted them to Communion but endeavored to restore them St. Cyprian smartly opposeth it writes not only to the Bishops but even to the People there to refuse Communion with them Commends the Substituting two other Bishops in their Room and says That the Faults of Basilides in Endeavoring his Restitution by Stephen's means were Non tam abobita quà m cumulata Epist 68. dd Pam. I could bring Instances enough of this kind but this being a by-matter in this place I will leave it and Return to the Objections II. Two Titles are set up the better to secure us But the one is purely forged and the other is crackt weak and bad and not able to support the Claim which is Founded on it It is hard to say what Authority the Bishop of Rome doth not Challenge under the Notion of Christs Vicar His Flatterers will scarce allow any Bounds to be Set to it and Examine his Actions and you will find that he Sets himself none On this score not only we but all the Christian Churches in the World which are not of the Roman Communion are stigmatized for Schismaticks On the contrary I think that there is no one thing that doth better Justify our Separation then the Challenge and what in him lies Exercise of such an Arbitrary and boundless Authority over all the Churches of God Upon this Account this Matter will fall under a particular Consideration as one of the principal Grounds and Reasons of our Separation And therefore at present I will leave this great Vicar-General and
This much troubled the good Pope who by all Circumstances seems to have Set his Heart on this Work And he had the greater Reason for it because it was already half done to his Hands And therefore he gently Reproves these faint-hearted Souldiers but takes greater pains to encourage them And that they might want nothing to Fit them for the Work he Sends and Recommends them to Etherius Archbishop of Aâ—les who furnisheth them with Interpreters de Gente Francorum Bed Eccl. Hist lib. 1. cap. 24. 25. And now away they go for good and Land in the Isle of Thanet and perhaps there was no great difficulty in Converting King Ethelbert for it was now about 150 Years since the Coming in of the Saxons And though their Quarrel was with the Britons yet they could not in all that time but understand somewhat of the Christian Religion from them Besides Ethelberts Queen was a Christian and de Gente Francorum Regiâ as Beda phraseth it And it was Conditioned at her Marriage That She should have the free Use of her Religion And the Condition was duely kept for whereas the King had his Court in Canterbury the Queen had for her Use the then Ancient Church of St. Martin standing at the Towns-End and her Bishop Lindhaâ—dus who Officiated And any Body will suppose That both She and her Bishop would do all they could to Influence and perswade the King Furthâ—r Beda Eccl. Hist lib. 1. cap. 25. saith expressly though somewhat mincingly That Antea fama ad eum Christianae Religionis pervenerat And Gregory the Great in one of his Letters saith They were desirous of it And whosoever shall duely Consider the whole Behaviour of King Ethelbert will find in him no Aversion to the Christian Religion but that like a wise Prince he only took care so to manage the Matter that he might Receive it with the Satisfaction of his Subjects and draw them to it after him Well in a short time the King is Converted and Aâ—gustine becomes his Favourite And yet before this with the true Industry of a Monck he Lends the Honest Bishop Linhardus a Lift who had prepared Matters for him and by the Kings Favour gets Possession of St. Martins Church And here I know not well how to excuse Beda from Partiality For he saith as little as could be beâ—ore but henceforward not a word of the endeavors of the Queen or her Bishop nor a tittle of all the labor and pains of the French Intetpreters without whom this our English Apostle could have done nothing But Augustine like a true Son of the Roman Church goes away both with all the Honour and all the profit And now being grown too great for a Monck he makes a Journey to Arles and by the Arch-bishop of that place at the Motion of Pope Gregory is Ordained no less then Archiepiscopus Genti Anglorum Bed Eccl. Hist lib. 1. cap. 27. a pretty Fetch before New Converts understood themselves to secure the whole Authority of the Nation to a Roman Missionary and consequently to the Pope whoever should be afterwards at the pains to convert them However after his Return he seems to have Laboured in the business and after the Death of Pope Gregory which Beda Eccl. Hist lsb. 2. cap 1. Refers to the Year 605 he obtains a Conference with the Brittish Bishops with a design to get their Assistance in converting the Saxons and withal to Advance Himself by drawing them under his Jurisdiction But whether in Hatred to the Saxons their Mortal and indeed unjust Enemies or through offence at Augustines pride and taking too much upon him or in love to their old Customes which Augustine unseasonably would not allow the main Business miscarried and then first Arose the Paschal Controversie in Britain so that at first dash here Ariseth a Prescription of about 600 Yeares for the British Usage XI The Grounds whereon the Britons proceeded seem to be Chiefely these That they would not give up their Ancient Liberties and Customes nor depart from the Canons of the Church And here Beda shews himself little favourable to their Affaires as at other times he appears very ignorant in them for though he studiously Conceals Augustines Ambition yet the Britons Answers plainly discover it For their first Answer is this Non se posse absque suorum consensâ— ac Licentiâ Priscis abdicare Moribus And in the second Meeting or Synod their Answer is plainly this That they will not Receive Him for their Arch-bishop Bed Ecc. Hist lib. 2. cap. 2. But the Answer of the Abbot of Bangor shews the Reason why they neither could nor ought to do it and is so pat to the purpose that I shall set it down as Sir Henry Spelman hath Translated it from the Brittish Co. pag. 108. Be it known and without doubt unto you That we all are and every one of us Obedient and Subjects to the Church of God and to the Pope of Rome and to every godly Christian and to love every One in his degree in perfect Charity and to keep every One of them by word and dâ—ed to be the Children of God And other Obedience than this I do not know due 〈◊〉 Him whom you Name to be Pope nor to be the Father of Fathers to be Claimed and to be Demanded And this Obedience we are ready to give and to pay to him and to every Christian continually Besides we are under the Government of the Bishop of Kaerleon upon Uske who is to Oversee under God over us to Cause us to keep the Way Spiritual This Answer throughout savours the temper of the most early Primitive times and shews That the Afflictions of the Britons had kept their Churches from that Corruption and secular Pride which had then too much invaded Others And from it I will only observe three things First That with a tender Care to express their Communion with the Catholick Church and their duty to all Christians they own no other Obedience to the Bishop of Rome then as Christians they owe to any other Foreign Bishops and their Churches And so the Bishop of Rome owed as much to Them as they to Him Secondly That the Authority which Augustine demanded and the Power of any Foreign Bishop to place him over them was a thing utterly unknown and unheard of to them so little were they Acquainted with the Patriarchate which is now so Confidently Asserted Thirdly that they were so subject to the Arch-bishop of Caerleon That they did not think him subject to the Jurisdiction of any other particular Bishop whatsoever but that he was over them next under God And accordingly we never hear of any Appeals from him to any Superiour See But if any thing concerned them in Common or was too weighty for him it was Transacted Synodically And it is Observeable That though the Brittish Bishops and Clergy Flockt to this Synod with their main strength yet the Arch-bishop of Caerleon absented himself
and freedom and therefore may still Challenge the Benefit of the Ephesine Canon against Usurpations XXX But now let us for once suppose what can never be proved viz. That the Patriarchate of the Bishop of Râ—me was Legally and Canonically extended over these Isles yet what Feats will this do for him even under Patriarchates sor they did not obtain in all places of the Empire the power of Metropolitans was still Reserved they still Ordained the Bishops of their Provinces they did Convene and hold Provincial Synods and determined Matters as formerly Only whereas the Metropolitan was before Ordained in his Province by his Suffragans now he was to be Ordained by the Patriarch or at least with his Consent and there lay an Appeal from him and his Synod In short the Power of a Patriarch Consisted in certain known Instances but chiefly in Conjunction with the Bishops of his Diocess or Exarchate Now what a pitiful shrivel'd thing would the Pope think this if it were offered him How would he fret and storm if we should thus Admit Him and Tye his Hands behind Him And yet as Patriarch this is all he can Claim But to Claim that and ten times more where he hath not so much as a Patriarchal Right is such a Piece of Impudence as none would be guilty of but those who can blush at nothing And therefore it will be best not to trust him but hold our own as long as we can XXXI Upon the same Supposition we may still proceed further and Enquire whether a Patriarchal Power do Entitle a Man to all he can Grasp or lay his Hands on Are we so fast bound that there is no getting quit of Him though he Command such Matters as dishonour God disturb the Church mislead Christians out of the true Way and does Actually Tyrannize over Mens Souls Bodies and Estates Patriarchal Authority was first Instituted for the good of the Church that Order might be preserved Purity of Religion secured all Persons contained in and held to their Duties and Heresies and Schisms prevented But now if this Power be made use of against all these Ends must the good of the Church give way to it or it to the good of the Church That it has been and is abused by the Bishop of Roms contrary to all these Ends might be fully proved by an Induction of Particulars but that would lead Me into too large a Field And I shall therefore Omit here because it will be done hereafter when I shall insist on those particular Heads which prove the Romanists guilty of the Schism Besides a Patriarch is only a Bishop with an extended Jurisdiction The Bishop is the highest Oâ—der in Gods Church the Patriarchate is only an Ecclesiastical Gift or Institution whereby the Bishop of a certain place is Entrusted with the oversight of more Churches for the Enlarging Communion and securing Religion Now if any Bishop go against the Canons or teach false doctrine or encourage lewd Practices and preach up ill Manners his Flock might desert Him and joyn in Communion with such as were Orthodox If a Metropolitan took such Courses the Bishops of his Province might cast Him off and Govern their Churches by themselves independently of Him And if a Patriarch who hath somewhat a greater trust shall at the same Rate abuse it he ought the more speediâ—y to be Renounced to Avoid the greater Mischief and Detriment which will otherwise befal the Church of God Ecclesiastical Constitutions must give way to Divine and when instead of serving them they overthrow or frustrate them they are ipso facto void and null Let us suppose that a Person were Recommended to the Pope to be Consecrated or Instituted Archbishop of Canterbury besides the tedious Waiting and large Feeing that must be in the Case his Holiness will have for First-Fruits 10000 Florens and for the Pall 5000 for these were the old Rates And besides all this to secure the New Archbishep to be at his devotion at all times for the future will force Him to take an Oath not of Canonical Obedience but of Fealty for that they have brought it to Now perhaps the King may not be willing that such great Summs of Money should from time to time be dreyned out of the Nation And as much more Averse that his Subjects should Swear Allegiance to another Prince as thinking it prejudicial to his absolute Sovereignty and inconsistent with the safety and peace of his Kingdoms What shall be the Issue of â—his Either the Person Recommended and King too must yield or we must have no Metropoliâ—an and the King shall be Excommunicated And if he continue stubborn and obstinate in the Right perhaps the whole Kingdom shall be put under an Interdict And so if your Purses be not at the Popes service and your Persons his Slaves you shall not be suffered so much as to Worship God Now is not this a fine Patriarch And would it not be a great Sin to cast Him off and serve God whether he will or no This Power the Pope has used this Power he still pretends to and he that Claims an Authority against God and his Worship who was only Entrusted for it hath Forfeited his Trust and fallen from the Honour of it XXXII I shall now only Advance one step higher and then leave this mighty Patriarch tiâ—l we Meet him again in another disguise Let us still suppose the Roman Patriarchate to have extended over these Isles Nay more be it supposed that the Pope is his Holiness indeed and that he could be accused of no ill Management yet I doubt not but his Patriarchate hath of it self in course failed ceased and become void at least so far as Relates to their Churches And that too by these very Laws and Canons of the Anciâ—nt Church which may sâ—em to have Erected or Countenanced it The Motives Reasons and Ends of a Law ought to be well Considered because It is not the Words and Phrases but the Sense and Meaning which is the Law And therefore we commonly say That Ratio Legis Lex est Now nothing can be more plain then that the Bounds of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction were Framed on purpose that they might not interfere with the Civil Power And as hereby the Church maniâ—ested her Tenderness and Regard to it and the Subjection of her Members so She Reaped no small Benesit by it Hence the Limits of Jurisdiction in the Church followed the Divisions of the State Where the Governour of the Province had his Residence there of course the Metropolitical Authority placed it self and the Bishop of that City was he whom the Apostles Canons Can. 35. call the First to whom all the other Bishops of the Province are to have such a peculiar Regard that they are to Act nothing of Common Concern without his Concurrence And so after the Division of the Empire into Diocesses suddenly rose up that Rank of Men since called Patriarchs But by the way we
Henry's Marriage with her Mother part 5. cap. 2. But for my part I am not of their Humour who take a pleasure in bespattering Princes and to do it by our own can be no Honour to our selves I do not see that any thing Alledged can be any real Prejudice either to Mary or Elizabetâ— for the Succession to our Crown depends neither upon Canons nor Councels much less upon Popes Bulls and Decretals but upon the Constitutions of our Kingdom And it was never yet doubted but that King Henry was Married as well to Katherine as Anue Bolen And if the Marriage was Solemnized the Children are Legitimate by our Laws which abhor all thoughts of any such thing as Bastards in Matrimony 'T is true our Laws permit and Authorize Ecclesiasticks to divorce such Persons who Marry within the degrees prohibited but yet suffer no prejudice to be done to their Issue And if the Parents though too near of Kin were Legally Married their Children shall succeed to their Estates and Rights in the same manner that other Persons Children do where the Marriage was without Exception And it is very hard Measure to deprive a King oâ— that privilege which belongs to the meanest of his Subjects especially in this Case which may endanger to involve a Nation in Confusion and Ruine Let King Henry therefore Answer for his own faults what iniquity soever there might be in his Marrages yet being Married his 〈◊〉 are Legitimated And I doubt not but that Mary and Elizabeth were both in their Turns our Lawâ—ul Sovereigns I will therefore prosecute this no further save with a Request to the Romanists that henceforward they would cease to set the Childrens Teeth on Edge with the soure Grapes the Father Eat and be as ready to Acknowâ—edge Queen Elizabeth a Lawful Sovereign as we are Queen Mary XXXVIII I did once Intend to have thoroughly Examined the Matter of the Reformation but I find that it would oblige Me rather to Write a Volume then a Chapter And after all perhaps I should be accused of needless pains for it hath been often and sufficiently done already And all Answers contain only the Crambe centies cocta or some bold Fictions or tedious Triflings Nor do I think that I can be Constrained to Answer for all that went before me In this Church I was Born Baptized and Bred I had no Hand in the Making Modelling or Altering it Gods Providence cast Me into it and I take it as I found it And if as such it be defensible I need concern my self no further And therefore without troubling my self to Rake the Dead out of their Graves I shall Consider our Church under her present Constitution for if that will not Hold we are gone without more ado But if that be good it is not ten thousand faults of Men who are dead and rotten that can overthrow it XXXIX I have alâ—eady proved that the Romanists themselves made the Breach And it may be more fully proved if need Require But two Schismaticks may fall out and both be in the wrong And therefore that we may Appear to be in the right something must be said to clear up the Justice of our own Cause To this End I shall briefly Examine these two things The Government and the Doctrine of our Church Government will of course take in Discipline as the Fruits of it And Doctrine will include Worship because there is no Abuse or ill Practice in Worship but it is Founded upon some Errour in Doctrine Government seems to Me therefore to belong even to the Essence of every particular Constituted Church because without it Ordinances cannot be discharged Sacraments Celebrated nor those things Performed which they are obliged to do in joynt Communion and as a Body of Men. That this Government be lawful and warrantable it is to be wished that the Governours might be always good but it is absolutely necessary that they have Lawful Authority and are rightly empowered to do some things which other Men may not do He who â—â—ith otherwise must with Corah and his Company lay all in Common which the most Heathenish and Brâ—itish Religions have ever abhorred to do For this perhaps the Romanists will not much quarrel Me But if it were for my present purpose I could accuâ—e him for being false to these Principles by allowing the contrary in Practice But to return to the Business That Authority be lawful it is requisite that it be derived from such who were truly invested with such Authority for Nâ—l dat quod non habet And further thâ—t they have likâ—wise a Power or Authorâ—ty to convey and derive it to others for it is often Personally Lodg'd in Mâ—n and Incommunicable as Knights cannot make Knights nor Lords Lords And therefore a Lawful church-Church-Authority must be such as descends from those who received it from Châ—ist with a Power to transmit it Now I find not that our Saviour said to any but his Apostles As my Father hath sent me even so send I you John 20. 21. And therefore from those Hands wherein they left it with the like power to transfer it to others must all Lawful ecclesâ—â—stical Authoâ—ity come The Way to Avoid this is either with Erastus and Hâ—bbs who learnt their Politicks from Jeroboams Practice to place all Authority in the Civil Magistrate or else with the Fanaticks to set up the extraordinary Call and Plea of an Authority immediately from God Now though too many of late have put in Practice M. Hobs his doctrine whilst they Rail against his Person â—nd others are drunk with their pretended Visions Revelations thereby Filling Mens Brains with Enthusiasm and in many places making a Nullity of all Ordinances yet these are not the Men I have now to do with and therefore I will not here engage against them And as for the Romanists I think I need not dispute it with them for though they strangely doat on Miracles yet I could never observe them either very fond of exeraordinary Missions or very free in allowing any Ecclesiastical Authority to the Civil Magistrate Now if they will take us at this Lock we are ready to Joyn Issue with them And to prove that we have a good Succession of Lawful Authority They cannot fairly Refuse us here becausâ— this is one of the Prescriptions which Tertullian lays down against Hereticks Edant ergo saith he Origines Ecclesiarum suarum evolvant Ordinem Episcoporum suorum ita per Successiones ab initâ—o decurrentem ut primus ille Episcopus aliquem ex Apostolis vel Apostolicis viris qui tamen cum Apostolis Perseveraverint habuit Auctorem Antecessorcm de Praescrip Now as for a Succession possibly there is not any in the Christian World so strongly Twisted as that of the English Churches If some of the Apostles and other Apostolical Persons being present in this Isle and planting Churches If Ordination from the British Irish French or Roman Bishops or any or all of these
in this Matter are such as may with equal if not more advantage be â—eturned upon themselves 'T is true we are not desirous to Molest others we wish Peace to the Churches Reasonable things would Content us and therefore we generally keep on the defensive part and stand all their Attacks and Opposition But if by such foul dealing they will continually provoke us till we change the state of this Scribling War and bring it into their own Countrey what Work will this make For if they will Vouch those Arguments to be good against our Orders And we prove that they are of no less force against their own or that we have other stronger Reasons against them whither will they then go for Ecclesiastical Authority their pride and stomach is too great to Truckle to the Greek or any other Church or to Borrow any Authority from them But if they should they ought to Consider whether the same Arguments will not follow them yea more whether divers of their Hot-spurs have not Carried them thither already If so all their Labour is in vain And if their Arguments be good all Church power and Succession is lost This indeed doth not so fatally affect us as it doth them because we for good Reasons deny those Arguments to be good and so keep up our Succession and Ecclesiastical Authority But what will become of that Church or what Remedy is left for it which obstinately maintains the Validity of such Arguments when they are proved as valid against her self especially it being a Church of that pride and ambition as to scorn to own any Authority in any other Church which she hath not more fully in her self Now if rather then not destroy our Orders they will what in them Lies overthrow all Ecclesiastical Authority and Succession though thanks be to God they cannot do it yet it is Apparent that they will hazard the very Worship of God and shake the very Foundations of Religion rather then be frustrated in their malicious Purposes and ambitious Designes And this I take not to be any strong Temptation to prefer their Communion before all Others XL. As for our Doctrine we are willing it should come to the Trial And I know no better Way to Try it then by its Agreement with what was Taught by our Saviour and his Apostles This is the Way Tertulliaen prescribes us both for the Security of the Church and Exclusion of Hereticks For after some things premised he makes this Inference Const aâ— proinde omnem Doctrinam quae cum illis Ecclesiis Apostolicis Matricibus Origiualibus Fidei conspiret Veritati deputandam id sine dubio tenentem quod Ecclesiae aeb Apostolis Aposto'i à Christo Christus à Deo suscepit Roliquam vero omnem doctrinam de Mendaâ—io praejudicandum quae sapiat contra Veritatem Ecclesiarum Apostolorâ—â— Christi Dâ—i And again speaking of Hereticks in general Ipsa 〈◊〉 doctrina â—orum cum Apostolicâ comparata ex diversitate contrarietate sâ—a Pronunciabit negue Apostoli alicujus Autoris esse neque Apostolici And then shewing how later Churches or such which shou'd at any time after be Constituted might defend themselves against Hereticks He saith thus Ad hanc itaque formam Provocabuntur ab illis Ecclesiis quae licèt nullum ex Apostolis vel Apostoliciâ— Aâ—ctoâ—em sâ—am proserant ut mulâ—ò Posteriores quae denique quotidie instituuntur â—amen in eâdem fide Conspirantes non minùs Apostolicae deputantur pro Consanguinitate doâ—trinae de Praescrip Now let this be the Test and in our Defence we say with Tertullian Postcrior nostrares non est immò omnibus Prior est Hoc crit Testimonium Veritaetis ubique occupantis Principatum de Praescrip Now let them Charge us if they can with Maintaining any Doctrine as of necessity to Salvation which came not from Christ or his Apostles and when they can prove that all these did they shall make Me believe any thing Only by the Way I cannot but take Notice of the difference between this good Old Father and the present Romanists in their Resolution of Faith or in the last Result Standard and Trial of Faith The One Refers us to what our Saviour taught by Commission from the Father and the Apostles by Authority from Him and to Examine Matters by their Agreement herewith The other without more ado Resolves all into the Authority of the present Roman Church The One saith It is the Way of Truth because the same that Christ and his Apostles Taught The Other saith We cannot be deceived because the Present Roman Church Voucheth it to be Right Now though for my own part I Adhere to the Opinion of the Father and therein of the Ancient Church yet I must Confess that the Romanists whether right or wrong have laid their Plot well for if they can once bring a Man to swallow this Proposition That the Roman Church is the only certain Rule and Judge of Truth Or That all thinge must give Way to their Determinations Then as for Particulars his Work is done and he is bound with an implicit Faith to swallow them all without any scruple or the least Examination Now this is sure and quick Work but too quick for Me who as a Christian lying under an Obligation upon occasion to Render a Reason of the Faith that is in Me would be willing to know a Reason that I may be able to do so That the Roman Church saith so will be no Reason till she produce a better Charter for her Authority then she hath yet done And till I and Oâ—hers can be satisfied by good Reason or Evidence of such Authority For if a Reason be Required of Me my Answer that Others say so will be none unless I can convince them by good Evidence that their Say-so is of sufficient Authority and indubitable the Plea indeed of Indefectibility were good if it were true But they rather urge that because it serves their Turns then that they have any good Evidence of it And the Father who directs us to trace Truth to the Apostolical Churches supposes that particular Churches may fall from it Sicut saith he Apostoli non diversa inter se docuissent ita Apostolici non contrarià Apostolis edidissent nisi illi qui ab Apostolis desciverant aliter praedicaverunt de Praescrip The Romanists indeed lay their Scene wisely they understand well enough what would do their Business and accordingly fail not to plead what must do it with those who Admit their Plea without proof The Consequence or Building would be good if the Antecedent or Foundation were sound But you must not narrowly Examine that lest a Rotten Bottom tumble all the stately Pageant down again If the Roman Church be indefectible by Vertue of any Promise made to St. Peter then other Churches may use the same Arguments and lay Claim to the same Privileges as well as they And our own Church
as much as any For their own Authors and particularly our Sworn Enemy Father Parsons say that St. Peter Preached the Gospel in Britany so that here we are equal unless it make any thing for their Advantage that he was so well used here as to Go off safely hence But after his Return was Martyred there And so Rome may Value her self for that which our Blessed Saviour upbraids Jerusalem for Killing the Prophets and Stoning those that were sent unto Her Matt. 23. 37. XLI This Matter will fall hereafter under a more particular Consideration And therefore to Return to Doctrine it may be Considered either as Positive or Negative It is true that all Doctrine Resolves it self into positive Truth That we Maintain any thing in the Negative is Accidental and Ariseth from the Difference and Quarrels amongst Men for when Parties cannot Agree if One Affirm the Other of course denies In this Case the Matter in Controversie being either Falshood or Wrong if any Man Assert that which is contrary either to Truth or Justice we are forced to go somthing the further about in defending them by first denying and rejecting what is either false or unjust but then this will terminate in something positive which is the Foundation and Summary of all As for Example if in Opposition to the Practices or Affirmations of Others I deny That Divine Worship can be Given either to Angels or Saints The Reason and Ground of that Denial must be this or the like positive Assertion That Divine Worship is Gods Propriety and to Him only to be directed And therefore that we Maintain some things in the Negative is not our but their fault in Asserting that which is either false or unlawful And whether they do so or not must be Tried by Particulars which I shall come to hereafter XLII As to positive Doctrines perhaps the Difference is not very great the Quarrel lies more in what we do not hold then in what we do It is not to be denied that we have much Truth but not enough as they think And we are afraid of more lest it should make us have less for many Matters which they would thrust upon us for Truth are far remote from it And should we receive them it were the way to corrupt the Truth we have There was a time when some of their Priests set themselves to Reconcile and without Allowance and Encouragement they durst not have Attempted such a thing the very Articles of our Religion to a Catholick Sense as they call it though many of them were purposely framed in opposition to several of their Opinions and Practices The Author of Church-Government Part 5. page 206. hath diâ—covered a Sense wherein that great Grievance of the Roinanists The Oath of Supremacy may be lawfully taken and that to no other Sense then what he fetcheth from the 37th of our Articles of Religion And why then all that Labyrinth of Discourse which follows after upon it and serves to no other purpose but to Confound Himself and his Reader For can it be imagined that we our selves should take it in a sense contrary to our Articles of Religion From our Book of Common Prayer might be Extracted a wholesom Body of Divinity And it shews to the World both what our Worship is and how our Worship and Doctrine Agree And if this may be Allowed of methinks we should not be Hereticks Now what Vincentius Parapalia the Pope's Legat proposed to Queen Elizabeth I am apt to think was known to few For on the one Hand the Honour of the Pope was concerned if he suffered an open Râ—pulse On the Other the Queen rhough she Admitted not his Proposals was unwilling to irritate his Person he being then very Kind and Civil to Her contrary to the Petitions and Endeavors of many powerful Adversaries But that some such Considerable Matters were proposed that he was Jealous the Queen would think they would never be performed or at least not long kept we have some Reason to Guess from the Conclusion of his Letter which is one of the Kindest that ever any Pope wrote to one He Accounted a Heretick For thus He Courts Her Sed hâc de re pluribus verbis idem Vincentius tecum aget nostrum tibi Paternum animum declaâ—abit quem ut benignè excipias diligentérque audias eandémque ut ejus Orationi Fidem habeas quam haberes Nobis ipsis Sâ—râ—nitatem tuam rogamus Annal. Eliz. part 1. p. 48 Mr. Cambden Confesseth That he could not upon his own Knowledge say what these Proposals were and he believes they would never trust them in Writing but as secret as they were kept it seems they took Air for he subjoyns this following Account Fama obtinet Pâ—ntificem Fidem dedisse sententiam contra matris â—uptias tanquam injustam rescissurum Liturgiam Anglicam suâ Anthoritate confirmaturum usum Sacramenti sub utrâque Specie Anglis permissurum dummodo illa Romanae Ecclesiae se aggregaret Romanaeque Cathedrae Primatum agnosceret imò haec curantibus aliquo aâ—â— eorum miliia fuisse promlssa id ibid. I cannot imagine with what Hopes Pius the 4th fed Himself Or whether he were better Natured then usually Popes are But though after this the Queen would not suffer his Nunâ—io the Abbot of Martinego to come on English Shore yet he continued the same Mildness towards Her which being insuccessful Pius the 5th instigated by the King of Spain and being angry enough Himself tryes a severer Course and Thunders out his Excommunication against Her But that succeeded worse then the other For it not only altogether Alienated the Queens Mind but Compleated the Breach and made a total Separation in Communion which had not been till that time And it is probable this might make some succeeding Popes milder for Bishop Babington though he Refer it to a Pope after both the former yet whence-soever he had it he saith plainly That the Pope Offered to Allow the Book i. e of Common-Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments c. to Queen Elizabeth of Eternal Memory if she would have taken it of Him as so Allowed of Him or Nâ—mb 7 But what need of that For as for the Use of the Sacrament in both Kinds It is Christs own Institution And as for ouâ— Prayers being in the Vulgar or known Tongue it is according to St. Pauls Direction And if thesâ— two be not Authority enough without the Pope's Licence then have we not the Liberty so much as to serve God even according to his own Appointment and Institution but how and when the Pope pleaseth And so if the Devil at any time should be big enough in Him it will be in his power and at his pleasure whether God shall be openly Worshipped in the World or not As for the Matter of the Book it is such that except some few which all Men of any sober Communion never esteemed otherwise then as Mad Men Persons
of any Communion in the Christian World may safely joyn in it When any bring their particular Objections whether Romanists or Others they shall receive their Answers As for the Romanists I am apt to think that they would rather adde to it But because we think those to be such Matters as would corrupt it That must be Tried by the Examination of Particulars which is not the business of this place XLIII As for the Ways or Means of Coming to the Knowledge of the Catholicism of any Doctrine I know but two whereon the Ancients laid any Stress Scripture and Tradition The Sufficiency of the Scriptures as a Rule of Faith or that they contain all Matters in themselves necessary to Salvation we not only Maintain but further say That since God hath been pleasâ—d for the securing us from the scailtic of Mens Memories the Mâ—â—guidance of Mistakes the Cheat of Imposâ—ures and the like dangers to Cause his Will to be put in Writing and Compleat the Canon of Scripture The Scriptures are the only sure and infallible Rule of our Faith And whatsoever is fetch'd from those Fountains cannot but be Oâ—thodox and Right Here is our sure Ancho-Hold and in this the Fathers go along with us Nobis saith Teâ—tuâ— de Praescrip Curiositate opus non est post Christâ—â—n Jesâ—m nec Inquisitiâ—ne post Evangeluâ—m And Salviâ—n de Guber Dei lib. 3. p. 67. Si scire vis quid â—â—nendum est habes Literas sacras Perfecta Ratio est hoc tâ—nere quâ—d legeris He that Affects Citations may heap up enough to this purpose Nor doth it do the Romanists Cause any Service That many of their Authors speak so meanly and disgracefully of the Holy Scriptures for 〈…〉 do not well â—ear to Hear the Confessed Word of God 〈◊〉 â—reâ—ted And Mr. 〈◊〉 seems to Me to have been very impâ—â—dent in Entitling Part of his Answer to Dr. Tenison A Conâ—â—tation of 〈◊〉 â—octors Rule of Faith for the Doctors Rule of Faith was no other then thâ— Scriptures And a Conâ—utation of them would of all others be the Work for a Christiâ—n If a difference Arise Who shall Interpret this Râ—le I Answer First That whosoever Interpreteth he is bound to his 〈◊〉 And it is not therefore the sense of the Rule because he saith it but he is therefore in the Right because he gives the true Meaning of it If he speak his own and not the Rules Meaning he doth not Interpret but deprave Secondly I Answer That if the Priests Lips ought to preserve Knowledge and the People to seek the Law at his Mouth then we have a Succession of Lawful Pastors duely Authorized who no more depend on the Romanists then the Romanists on them And so we stand seized of as good Authority to interpret Scripture as any they can justly pretend to And that we use it more duely and rightly may appear hence That we not only diligently use all lawful Means to come to the Knowledge of Truth but Condemn all those ill Arts which obscure or coâ—rupt it We have no Index Expurgatorius to Expunge or Alter any Passages in the primitive Fathers or any other honest Authors if they do not please us yet by this one base unpardonable Artifice the Romanists whilst they have been undermining the sufficiency of the Scriptures have shaken the Authority and weakned the Evidence of Tradition and so disarmed the Church of her best Weapons of Defence for certainly a Tradition is best proved by those who lived in or near those times when it was delivered But how shall we believe their Testimony when their Writings are daily Curtail'd Changed and Falsified at pleasure And had not that God who takes Care of his Church caused the Cheat to be discovered it would have done more Mischief then all the diligence and pains of all the Romanists in the World could ever have made a just satisfaction for But this it is for a particular Church to set up for Infallibility which is a point that can never be gained without putting out the Eyes of all at present living and stopping the Mouths of all that went before them For though I beleeve that God will never desert his Church in all parts of it in Matters necessary to Salvation yet he has not given her any Power over the Faith but She is Tied to that and that alone which was at first delivered to the Saints And if the Roman or any other Church or an Angel from Heaven should teach any other doctrine then what we have received they ought to be so far from being regarded that if we follow St. Paul they ought to be Accursed That we Adhere to the Scriptures the Romanists cannot justly blame us because they themselves Acknowledge their divine Authority For see the Council of Trent doth Sess 4. decret de Caen Script ' but they accuse us as too strict Scripturists upon two Accounts First because we Admit not Tradition to be of equal Authority with the Holy Scriptures Secondly because we receive not several Books as Canonical or of unquestionable divine Authority which they have thrust into the Canon As for Tradition and its Authority I shall Treat of it more distinctly in the next Paragraph and there answer this Accusation As for the Canon of Scripture we own the very same and no other which the Church of God hath Handed down to us after the Canon of Scripture was Compleated As for those Books Called Apocrypha which the Council of Trent first made Canonical it is Apparent That we do not by that Title utterly Condemn them but rather Repute them of an Inferiour or Ecclesiastical Authority because we Read them in our Churches for Instruction of Manners and inciting to good Living And sometimes use them for the Illustration of Doctrine but never to Introduce or Found any Doctrine upon and this is as much as the Ancients allowed them The Jewish Church was the Keeper and Preserver of the Canon of the Old Testament as much as the Christian is of the Old and New now But they had none of those Books in their Canon And therefore if any Assert that those Books do belong to the Canon the Consequence will be That the Jewish Church did not preserve the Canon of Scripture entire and true and for the same Reason any one may suspect the Christian and so render the Authority of the whole dubious So injurious are the Romanists to the Faith it self whilest they set up their own Authority against the whole Church of God Besides if they will not own that we received the entire Canon of the Old Testament from the Jewish Church they ought to tell us from whom we did receive it and to whose Custody it was Committed till the time of Christ and his Apostles But whoever will be at the pains to read the Scholastical History of the Canon of Scripture Written by our Learned Dr. Cosins Bishop of Duresme will be abundantly satisfied that the