6th and not his Antagonist Clement was duely chosen Pope and ought to be accepted and obeyed in this Realm I never saw the Original but shall set down the Abridgment of it out of Sir R. Cotton's Exact Abridgment of the Records in the following words An Act that Pope Urban was true and lawful Pope and that the Livings of all Cardinals and other Rebels to the said Pope shall be seized in the King's hands and the King to be answered by the Profits thereof and that whosoever within this Realm shall procure or obtain any Provision or other Instrument from any other Pope then the said Urban shall be out of the King's protection Serjeant Rastall hath another Abridgment of this Act somewhat different in one passage but in all the rest to the same effect An. 2 R. 2. c. 7. It was agreed that Urban was duely elected Pope and ought to be obey'd as Head of the Church and that all Benefices and Possessions of Cardinals and other the King's Enemies should be seized And it was enacted Râ—slalâ—'s Statutes Tit. Provision and Praemunire p. 356. 8. that if any purchased by provision any Benesice or Grace by any other named Pope then of Pope Urban or be obedient to any other Person as Pope he should be out of the King's protection and his Goods seized I should not have brought this Act upon the Stage but that the Gentlemen of the Roman Communion are so apt to miscall our Church a Parliamentary Church and our Religion a Parliamentary Religion only because our Laws confirm and establish the Sanctions of the Church of England as the Imperial Laws and Edicts formerly did the Decrees of general Councils particularly as * The external Bishop of the Church Constantine the Great who sate in the Nicene Council confirmed the Nicene Creed and all other things that were ordained by the Council of Nice when he was but a Catechumenus or Learner of the Christian Religion He said of himself that he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ' E 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and after his death the Fathers surnamed him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Equal to the Apostles and whosoever will take the pains to run over but with a cursory eye the Novels of Justinian the Nomocanons and Basilicks the Capitularia of the old French Spelm. concil vol. 1 and the Laws of our Ancient Saxon Kings will find that our religious Princes since the Reformation have intermedled no more with the Affairs of the Church then Christian Princes formerly did But to return thither where I broke off I desire the Reader to take notice That of 29 or * Onuphrius reckons so many 30 Schisms in the Church of Rome I have taken notice but of nine and that if it were requisite to say more of the Roman Schisms and Differences I could add another Account of Anti Cardinals and Anti-Councils to this short one of the Anti-Popes CHAP. II. Shewing That Schisms and Divisions and the consummation of them in opposite Communions are no good Argument against the Truth or Goodness or Reputation of a Church II. HAving in the former Chapter I hope clearly demonstrated that the universal Church and all the particular Members of it are subject to Heresies and Schisms I proceed in this to shew that they are no Argument against the Trueness or Goodness or Reputation of any Church because what is incident to the whole Church and all the parts of it cannot be a good Argument against any one If the Body may lose an Arm it can be no disparagement to the Hand to have a Finger drop off or if a Tree to which St. Cyprian compares the Catholick Church may have a Bough rent off from its Body it can be no disgrace to a Bough to lose a rotten Branch or to a Branch to lose a rotten Twig If the Hand cannot in reason or prudence upbraid the Foot with the loss of a Toe because it may lose a Finger then certainly nothing ought to be concluded from a common Affection of all Churches to the prejudice or dishonour of this or that particular Church When our Saviour was told of the Galileans whose bloud Pilate mingled with their Sacrifices Suppose ye saith he unto those that told him of it that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things I tell you nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish or those eighteen upon whom the Tower in Siloe fell think ye that they were sinners above all the men that dwelt in Jerusalem I tell you nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish Our blessed Redeemer teacheth us from these Examples how unreasonable and uncharitable it is to censure particular Persons when the common Misfortunes of Mankind fall upon them For the Galileans who were murdered by Herod at their Devotion were no greater Sinners then other men and those upon whom the Tower in Siloe fell were it seems as good as their Neighbour tho' the Jews were so apt to think and speak hardly of them for their Misfortune contrary to the Doctrine of their own Scriptures which taught them that there is one Event unto all and that no man can know the Love or Hatred of God by all that is before him All things saith the Preacher come alike to all there is one event to the righteous and to the wicked to the clean and to the unclean to him that sacrificeth and to him that sacrificeth not And as it is with particular men in reference to the common Misfortunes of Mankind so it is with particular Churches in reference to Divisions and Separations which are common Accidents to all Churches good or bad true or false pure or corrupt Catholick or un-Catholick that are called by the Name of Christ They are all alike subject to Divisions and sub Divisions in Religion and therefore those who argue against any Church upon that score treat her in the time of her Calamity as Job's Friends treated him who turned his Misfortunes which might have fallen upon themselves into Arguments against him to prove that he was an Hypocrite and not pure and upright as he pretended to be But in the primitive Times men were not such miserable comforters of Churches afflicted with Divisions Then they were better Logicians and better Christians than to think a Church was not Catholick or in the favour of God because Heresies and Schisms arose in it as appears from the Salutations which St. Paul gave unto the Church of Corinth when it abounded with Heresie Faction and Dissentions as I shewed in the former Chapter In the beginning of both his Epistles he salutes them in this manner Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ unto the Church of God which is at Corinth It was still the Church of God tho' there were Hereticks and factious Parties of men in it nay so far was he in his infallible judgement from unchurching the Flock of Christ there upon
damnable nature in the judgement of the Catholicks neither indeed is the obliquity of Schism alterable by humane Laws and Constitutions as being a transgression of a divine positive Law which God hath made for the preservation of the Body politick of his Church to which Schism is as destructive in its nature as Rebellion is to the State. The being and well-being of the Church are incompatible with it and it is not only evil because God hath forbid it but God hath forbid it because he knew it was evil and pernicious in its nature to his one Catholick Church The Roman Catholicks themselves will joyn with us in this Principle and acknowledge this Doctrine to be true and if our Dissenters are either afraid or convinced of the truth of it it concerns them as they tender their own Salvation to enquire into the nature of their respective Separations whether they the Schisms or no They all profess great tenderness of Conscience and they will but act according to their pretensions to be very scrupulous in embracing those Communions which if they be not yet look so like Schism Methinks they should be as much afraid of sinning one way as another methinks their Consciences should boggle as much at a suspected Communion as at a suspected Ceremony and be very much afraid of making damnable Separations as they will assuredly do if the Church of England from which they do or shall separate be a true and sound Member of Christ I entreat them for the sake of their own Souls to set the Terror of this Consequence before their eyes especially I desire those among them to consider it who by their occasional Communion as they call it with the Church of England have declared to all the World that they think if such a Church to which men may joyn themselves without sin Shall the expectation of a little temporary Preferment or the fear of a little temporal Punishment bring them to Church and perhaps to the highest act of Communion in it and shall not the fear of Damnation and the foresight of the dismal Events which are like to happen upon their Separations not make them do the same If it be sinful to communicate with the Church of England in her Ordinances why did they ever do it And if it be not why do they not do it always according to the Doctrine of the Apostle who beseeched the Corinthians by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that they should all speak the same thing and be perfectly joyned together in the same mind and judgement that there should be no Schisms nor Divisions among them I beseech our dissenting Brethren by the same saving Name and for the sake of the Gospel for which they pretend to have so much zeal not to divide Christ any longer among us nor grieve the holy Spirit of Union by their causless Separations but to return to the Fold from which they have wandred as lost Sheep that so we may become one Fold under one Shepherd and one Building framed together into an holy Temple unto the Lord. They know there is nothing wanting to any Christian man's Salvation in the Church of England they may be as holy and unblamable in the Communion of it as the most holy Saint or Martyr if it be not their own fault and certainly Jacob would rejoyce and Israel would be glad may I dare say there would be joy among the very Angels in Heaven to see them return to their Mother whom they have forsaken and compass her Altars in Sincerity and Truth This would be the way for them to atone for their former Mascarriages and undo all the Injuries they have formerly done the Church which upon their Return would be beautiful as Tirzah comely as Jerusalem and terrible as an Army with Banners and provoke her Adversaries who now insuit over her Divisions to confess that she is the very Beauty of Holiness and that God was in us and among us of a truth In the last place I address my self to my Brethren of the Church of England for whose Satisfaction I have written this Apology That seeing how Heresies Divisions and Schisms have been incident to the best Churches in the best and purest Ages the Age of the Apostles and the Age next unto them they should neither be offended nor discouraged to see so many Altars erected in this little Isle all opposite to one another and to the Church I have shewed them that her condition is neither new nor singular and that as many and great Divisions have been made from the Churches of Jerusalem Antioch Alexandria Constantinople Rome Carthage and all the famous Churches in the World. Nay I have shewed more particularly of the Church of Rome that very shameful and scandalous Schisms have formerly arisen in her and that not withstanding her pretended present Union the Church of England in the midst of all the English Divisions hath more potential and actual Union then she I have had good success in private with a shorter Discourse of this nature in confirming of some who began to have mean and despicable thoughts of the Church of England upon the score of our English Schisms and to suspect whether or no the were a true and good Church They were made believe of all Churches she was most deserted by God and that he seemed to have very little savour for her and then while they were casting about for Reasons why God should seem as they were taught to have so little care of her it was easily suggested that he was displeased at her and left her to her self because she had left the Church of Rome And as I have known some so I have heard of others who have been just so affected and it is for curing such Fears and Suspicions where they are and preventing them where they are not that I have made this Apology which I hope my Brethren will accept as a Work well intended with all its imperfections and defects I know it is but a very indifferent Performance in comparison to what others have done and are a doing but such as it is I offer it with all submission to the whole Houshold of God in the Church of England which as it now stands without any farther emendation is I verily believe as sound and pure a Church both for Doctrine and Worship as ever was established in any Province or Nation of the World I heartily thank Almighty God by whose good providence I have been bred up in her Communion and am called to the great Honour of being one of her Priests and I beseech him of his infinite goodness to give all her Clergy and People Grace to live up strictly to her Principles to her Principles of Piety towards God of Loyalty to the King of Justice and Charity to others and of Temperance and Sobriety towards themselves I am sure it must be ours and not her fault if we be not the best Christians the best Subjects and the best Friends and Neighbours in the Worlds and I shall confirm my own Opinion of her with the Testimony which a late * S. L. J. great and good and learned Man gave of her in his last Will and Testament saith he I do declare That by the grace of God I die a Christian in the Communion of the Church of England as it is now established by God's Providence and the Laws in force I do believe this Church to be a true and sound Member of Christ's Catholick Church which he hath purchased with his Bloud Cloath her O Lord with a strict and examplary Holiness in her Priests and People and maintain her in her Truths Peace and Patrimony unto the Worlds end Amen FINIS
First then It is not bare Vnion but the things in which a Church is united that must truly recommend and justifie it to the Christian World and prove it to be the Church of God. This is a self-evident Proposition which all the Churches in the World will admit at first hearing and the very Test by which when Disputes arise they must be content to be tryed For as to this Particular it is just in Ecclesiastical as it is in Civil Law and Government where it is not the Union but the Things or Cause in which men are united that distinguish lawful from unlawful Societies and Meetings otherwise if bare Union and Agreement how strict soever were a Sign of or a good Argument for the true and Catholick Church then Aaron the high Priest at the Head of that Congregation which worshipped the golden Calf was the true Church of the Jews He was their supream and lawful Pastor and they were very unanimous in making the Calf after his direction and in building an Altar before it and in oftering up Burnt-offerings and Peace-offerings to use the new phrase in the presence of it They sate down to eat and drink before it and said with one unanimous Acclamation These be thy Gods O Israel which brought thee out of the Land of Egypt I believe there never was a more perfect Union and Agreement in the Church of Rome then among the Communicants of this sinful Congregation nevertheless it was no Schism to divide from them because they united in a sin Their Union was their Crime because the object of it was highly criminal and God was provoked to consume them because they agreed in a thing that was so abominable in his eyes So the Corahites were as firmly united under Corah as the true Church was under Moses and Aaron Two hundred Princes of the Assembly with a great number of People were firmly united together in a Cause wherein they stuck together to the death even till the Earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up and they went down alive into Hell. So likewise the ten Tribes were as firmly united at Bethel as the two were at Hierusalem they had number as well as union to plead but notwithstanding both their number and union they were but a great Schism because they united in Innovations contrary to the will of God. So to pass from the Jews to the Christians there hath been at several times as strict an Union among Hereticks and Schismaticks as among the Catholicks The Novatians in particular were remarkable for their Concord Unity and Unanimity So were the Arians generally all of one Communion and very unanimous against the Homousian Doctrine and yet they were but a great prevailing Schism when they were at the highest and had almost gained the whole Christian World. From these Examples it is plain that in passing judgement upon Churches we are not to look at the Union so much as the Cause in which they are united We are to consider if their Doctrine and Discipline be Apostolical and their terms of Communion truly Catholick and if they be so then their Union in them is holy and laudable and such as makes them true Churches of God. A concurrence of these things is the genuine badge of a * Ad bane it aque for mam probabuntur ab illis Ecclesiis quae licet nullum ex Apostolis vet Apostolicis Autorem suum proserant ut multò posteriores quae denique quotidie instituuntur tamen in câdem fide conspirantes non minùs Apostolicae deputantur pro consanguinitate doctrinae Tertull. de praescript Haeres truly Catholick and Apostolical Church and if those of the Roman Communion would have us admire their Union and be made Converts by it they must first make it appear to us that they are united in these things Otherwise their Unity instead of being an Argument for their Church is a strong Argument against it to prove that it is but a Conspiracy and an over-grown Schism from the one Catholick and Apostolical Church But secondly Church-unity may be the effect of culpable Causes and by culpable Causes I mean only such as in a great measure make the embracing of any Religion an inspontaneous or unwilling action and these are only two Ignorance and Compulsion when men either are of a Religion which they would not be of if they knew the faults of it or when knowing the faults of it they would certainly forsake it were they not under force but left to their own free choice First then Church-unity may be the effect of Ignorance which was one great cause of the Unity and Agreement of almost all Mankind in Paganism and therefore their ignorance of the Gentiles is called darkness in the New Testament as where our Lord is compared to the Day-spring or Sun-rising which gave light to them that sate in darkness and in the shadow of death So the Apostle of the Gentiles told them It was their duty to shew forth the Praises of him who had called them out of darkness into his marvellous light and truly their spiritual darkness was so great that God did in some measure excuse their gross error in thinking that the Godhead could be like unto Gold or Silver or Stone graven by Art or man's device Tho' men who were worthy and absurd Idaea's of him yet as the Apostle told the Athenians The times of their former ignorance God winked at but then commanded all the Gentiles every where at their utmost peril to repent There never was a more strict and general Union among the Jews or Christians then there was among the Greeks For Paganism was become the Catholick Religion or Superstition as Catholick signifies universal and was spread far and wide upon the Earth and yet as the Apologetical Writers replied to the Greeks when they argued from the extent of their Religion and the consent of Mankind in it their great agreement in Idolatry was the effect of their Ignorance as plainly appeared from the preaching of the Gospel upon which they forsook those dumb Idols unto which they were carried even as they were led and turned from their former Vanities and Superstition unto the living God. They worshipped the Gods and observed their impure Rites because they knew no better but when their Understandings came to be well informed then they made a new and manly choice such as proceeded from all the Principles of humane Actions and plainly shewed that Ignorance had hitherto been the Mother of their Idol-devotion and by consequence that the choice of their former Religion wanted a sufficient measure of knowledge to make it a rational and truly willing choice I wish those who pride themselves so much in the Unity of the Roman Catholicks would consider how far the Sons and Daughters of the Church of England may use this Plea in their own defence against their so much celebrated Union It is certain that upon the Preaching and Writing of the
for the Catholick Faith fearing the Displeasure of the Emperor did set his Hand to the Arian Confession and in the Reign of Valentinian when the ‖ Socrat. H. E. l. 4. c. 15 16 17. Catholicks were so contumeliously used by the Arians and were afflicted with most insufferable Evils they turned Arians apace to avoid the violence of the Persecution tho' they ought to have endured it to the end When Complaints signified nothing but to end in the ruine of the Complainers and the most eminent of the orthodox Clergy were burnt alive for presenting a Petition to the Emperor then all the World almost became Arian on the sudden and was externally united in the Arian Faith. But as he is not a Jew which is one outwardly neither is that Circumcision which is outward in the flesh so in this forced Conformity all were not Arians that seemed to be Arians but many were so in external Communion who hated Arianism in their hearts And the like success that the Arians had against the Catholicks by methods of Severity have some * Eò enim nostris temporibus redactares est ut Ecclesiasticae controversiae non Theologis ampliùs non Conciliis sed tortoribus sed carnificibus sed sicariis sed sanguinarris sed parricidis defendendae Romae an t Româ committantur Anton de Dominis in Consilio severe Popes and Princes had against those that have divided or attempted to divide the Roman Church which made Cardinal Soderinus tell Adrian †Hist Council Trent l. 1. the 6th That the best way of rooting out Hereticks was by Crusâ—â—â—… and by exciting Princes and People to root them out and to that end he bid him remember that by these means Innocent the 3d. and his Successors happily subdued the Alhigenses of Languedoc the Waldenses Picards poor men of Lyons Arnoldists Speronists and Pâ—â—vines of whom there remained nothing but the very Names And it should seem that Pope ‖ P. P. Vergerius in Secret. Pont. Act. 2. Tamen scio cum Paulus III. anti paucos annos literas gravissimas Breve appellamus ad Caesarem Rom. Regem dedisset in quibus erat scriptum illos consultiùs esse facturos si bello contra Turcas omisso bellum adornarent contra Lutheranos quippe qui essent Turcis ipsis lange perniciosiores deteriores c. Paul the 3d. was of that Cardinal's opinion who in a Brief to the Emperor Charles the 5th and his Brother Ferdinand King of the Romans tells them That it were more advisedly done if they would clap up a Peace with the Turks and bend all their Force against the Lutherans who were far worse and more pernicious than the very Turks * Hist Council Trent l. 5. So Paul the 4th importuned the Kings of France and Spain to settle the Inquisition in their Dominions as the only means to extirpate Heresies and at his Death he recommended nothing to the Cardinals but the Office of the holy Inquisition which he said was the only Expedient to preserve the Church exhorting them to employ all their Endeavours to get it established in Italy and wheresoever else they could He used to say It was the principal Secret and Mystery of the Papacy but whether it were so or no it cannot be denied but that the Union of the Roman Church is in a great measure beholding to it where it is most entire †Id. l. 4. After the Death of that Pope Philip the 2d King of Spain rooted out Lutheranism which had taken happy Root in that Kingdom by extream Severity He no sooner arrived from Flanders at Sevill Id. l. 5. on the 24th day of September 1559. but he caused Johannes Pontius Count of Bayleno with a Preacher and some others of the Colledge of St. Isidore where the Religion was entred together with some Ladies of Quality in all 13 Persons to be burnt for Lutherans as also the Statue of Constantinus Pontius Confessor to his Father Charles who served him in his Retirement and held him in his Arms when he expired Afterwards at Valladolid he caused 28 of the prime Nobility of the Countrey to be burned in his presence The Spaniards especially the Nobility had at that time a great aversion to the See of Rome but this extream Severity of Philip made them conceal their inward Resentments and every one who knows that piece of History must confess that the Church of Rome is obliged for its Unity in Spain to the memory of that Prince and the continuance of the Inquisition from his Time till now The Heresie as 't is mis-called was rooted out of the Low-Countreys by the destruction of 50000 Persons And we know by what Methods it hath been since extirpated in other Places where thousands of Souls who would have counted Death a mercy have been brought to subscribe a Confession contrary to their former Religion which they still believe in their hearts P. P. Vergerius saith That in that Age the Age of the Reformation * Quantus est numerus nostrâ aetate non modâ—â—orum qui mortis carcerum atque triremium sed etiam qui exitiorum tulerunt serunt etiamnum martyria Qui jam migrârunt ad dominum deum nostrum per vestra inquam martyria sunt fermè millia centum Cum his vero conjunguntur voces circiter 15000 exulum qui desertâ patriâ desertis parentibus desertis amicis atque bonis alibi vivunt P. P. Vergerius Annot in Catalog Haeret. almost 100000 Souls had been put to death for refusing Communion with the Roman Church besides those that were condemned to Prisons Gallies and Banishment And these Instances are enough without any more to make it appear That the Unity of the Roman Church is in great part the effect of Force and Compulsion which much diminishes the Reputation of it and might prevail with our Neighbours of the Roman Communion if they considered it aright not to admire it and talk of it so much and ring us in the Ears with it in all Places as if it came not at all from Violence but altogether by Inspiration from the Spirit of God. But in the last place Bare Unity or want of Divisions is so far from being an Argument for the Trueness or Honour of any Church that it is a common Affection which belongs to all Churches true or false good or bad Catholick or un-Catholick small or great as they are Societies of men and besides the Church of England hath more Union both potential and actual in it then the Church of Rome To prove the first Part of this Assertion we need but remember That it is Union and Agreement under certain Laws and Rules of Government which makes all Societies among Men and Angels and wicked Societies are many times as well formed and as firmly united as the pure the holy and the good Lucifer and his angels are a Guild or Colledge of Spirits as well as Michael
hath been done may be done again and upon supposition this should happen I would fain know of from the Roman Communion would be a good Argument against the Trueness or Goodness of the Church of Rome Wherefore methinks is point of Prudence they should not take up Arguments against us which they do not know how soon we may have occasion to retort upon themselves They should remember that they cannot secure their Church against Contigencies that are common to all Churches and that to flesh should glory in the presence of God who sometimes chooses the weak things of the World to confound the mighty and things that are not to bring to nought things that are It is his Prerogative to do whatsoever he pleaseth in Heaven and Earth and who knows his Counsels who knows what secrets of Providence are in the Wombs of their Causes ready for the birth In the next place I address my self to our dissenting Brethren whose Divisions and Separations from the Church of England and from one another are now become popular and plausible Arguments in the mouths of the R. Cs. to unsettle weaker judgments among us and bring them over to theirs which they call the one Catholick Church I beseech them therefore by the Sacred Names of Vnity and Charity to consider ho'w different the Church of England and her Children now appear from what they mis-apprehended them to be Great numbers of them took up an Aversion to the Church because they thought her Popish in her Constitution and her Children especially the Clergy Popish in their Affections but now seeing by Experience how much they were mistaken methinks they should be willing to make Reparation methinks the sense of their former mistake should help to overcome their present prejudice and make them willing to be better informed and bring their old Scruples with Minds desirous of satisfaction to the Test to see if indeed they are such as will justifie their separation from a Church which they acknowledge to be Orthodox in her Doctrine and which they could never yet prove enjoyned any one thing in her Worship which God and forbidden or to have forbidden any thing in it which he had enjoyned Is not this the time for them to peruse the Books that have been lately written with the greatest Candor and meekness for their better Information And doth not the Zeal which they have always professed against Popery oblige them to have a good opinion of her Divines who have all along been contending earnestly for the Faith which was once delivered to the Saints Doth not God by the Voice of his Providence call upon them as plainly as if it were by a Voice from Heaven to consider whither their Divisions tend and should not the serious consideration of the dismal Effects that may follow upon them if they continue in them make them doubly afraid of the sinfulness of Schism What a dreadful account will they have to make at the Day of Judgment if it should then appear that the Church gave them no just occasion to separate from her They must then answer to God for all the direful Consequences of their Separation and therefore it concerns them all to look upon her whom they have pierced it concerns them all as they would not die in so fatal a Mistake and be responsable for the downfal of the Church to examine impartially if the Communion of the Church of England be not truly Catholick and whether she is not such a Church as hath fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ If she be such a Church as the Divines of all reformed Churches abroad will tell them she is then they must be guilty of Schism which is a separation without a just cause from the Church as a Church without any regard unto the State. For Schism or Separation without a just cause is a pure spiritual Crime and was reckoned a damnable Sin before the Church Christian was united to the Empire as also in those unhappy Intervals of Persecution when the Church and Empire were dis-united again For example it was a damnable Sin when St. Paul charged the Ephesians to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace because there was but one God and one Lord and one Faith and one Baptism and one Body of Christ It was a damnable Sin when he told the Corinthians That we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body and that as the natural body was made one by the union of many members in it so also was the body meaning the Body politick of Christ It was a damnable Sin when St. Ignatius taught the Churches That nothing should be done without the leave of the Bishop or in opposition to him and that that was only a valid Eucharist which was administred by him or by one licensed and appointed by him and that makers of Schism could not inherit the Kingdom of God. It was a damnable Sin when St. Cyprian called private Meetings in opposition to the publick Conventicles of the Devil and said that private Altars were no Altars and that if a Schismatick should die for Christ he could be no Martyr nor have any right to the Crown of Martyrdom for which he alledges the words of the Apostle Tho' I give my body to be burned and have not charity it prositeth nothing Dionysius Alexandrinus in his Ep. to the Arch-Schismatick Novatus writes unto him in this manner If thou wast constraind as thou saist against thy will to separate from the Church thou oughtest to declare the same by returning willingly to it again Thou shouldst have suffered any thing rather then rend the Church of God neither is that Martyrdom which a man shall suffer for refusing to rend the Church less glorious then that which Christians daily suffer for denying to sacrifice unto Devils Yea in my judgement it is a more glorious sort of Martyrdom for in the one a man suffers Martyrdom only for his own Soul but in the other for the Vniversal Church Wherefore perswade the Brethren or constrain them to return to Vnion such a meritorious act would be greater then the crime of seducing them and thou wouldest be more commended for that then ever thou wert censured for this However if thou canst not perswade the rebellious and disobedient to return to the Church at least save thine own soul by embracing Peace and Vnity thy self So great a Sin did the ancient Fathers account Schism before the happy union of the Church and Empire when the Meetings of the Schismaticks were as much tolerated by the State as the Meeting of the Catholicks and upon the same Principle Donatism and Arianism were counted as damnable Schism every jot under the Reigns of those Emperors who granted toleration to them as under the Reigns of those who made Laws against them Nay all the Laws which Constantius and Valens made in favour of Arianism and for the establishment of it did not alter its