but it is 〈◊〉 that they should beg at least if it be voluntary and for that 〈◊〉 their number ought to be diminished and they of them that aâ—e â—ich should keep them that are poor let them all apply themselves to work and to study as heretofore they did It would be very well done abâ—olutely to retrench some of these Orders that are so chargeable to the People Pope Alexander the Seventh did very well in suppressing two Orders that were as good as those that are now remaining the one was called the Order of the Cross and the other of â—he Holy Ghost And in Spain they have done very well never to endure among them the Capucins The Council of Toledo did heretofore ordain that no new Religious Order should be suffered to be established in the Church ne nimia Religionum diversitas gravem in Ecclesia Dei confusionem parturiat There are no People that hate or destroy one another more than the different Orders of the Mendicants because they hinder one anothers Trade and there are no People in the World that debauch the Women more than they the Secular Priests are Angels in comparison they are in so good Credit and Esteem that they are not endured in the Court of our Kings and they have no access to it Their Principle of blind Obedience is both foolish and impious which may cause and many times hath been the occasion of horrible Disorders in the Estates and Families of our Kings It is a Principle which makes the Pope whom their Superiors implicitly obey Master of our Lives and of the State for these Superiors are always as ready to inspire the Monks with all sorts of Opinions how horrible soever they be provided they serve the Pope his Designs for this reason I have often wondered that some Law hath not been made in the State against the perfidiousness of the Monks and Jesuits from the example of two of our French Kings whom they have murthered and that it hath not been declared that if any such thing shall happen for time to come all these People should be driven out of the Kingdom There is no other means to hinder the Court of Rome from doing the same things hereafter The Parliament of England hath lately enacted somewhat like this to secure the Life of their King against the Monks No Clergy-man ought to be received without subscribing the Condemnation of the impious Bull de Coenâ Domini which is a bottomless Gulf of Impieties Heresies and Inhumanities And till the Monks and Jesuits shall solemnly renounce and condemn this accursed Bull it will be no great Injustice done them to accuse them of attempting against the Lives of Kings If any Man did suspect me to be an Arrian and I knew it and could justify my self from such cursed Opinions and did it not the World would have reason to impute to me all the Consequences of thâ—s pernicious Heresy It is well known that all the Monks and particularly the Jesuits have by their fourth Vow obliged themselves to the Execution of this infernal Bull. It was the Monks who living in Idleness corrupted and falsified many Ecclesiastical Books they have counterfeited many other Books full of Lies and set them out under the Names of good Authors They are every where known for People who by their Artifices under pretext of Religion are the ruine of most Families whose Substance they cunningly suck in themselves It is they who have vilified and discredited the true Orthodox Priests drawing the People after themselves by false appearances of Mortifications They are good for nothing but to move Seditions and to bring People to Disobedienee and when ever the Interest of their Monarch the Pâ—pe is concerned they think the Blood of their Enemies as meritorious as that of the Cross. The Humility they boast of is a very pleasant thing when at the same time they take place of their Elders and of People of Quality They pretend to have renounced Vanity more strictly than the Secular Priests and yet these Asses are called Father Father as heretofore the Pharisees Rabbi Rabbi they cause themselves also to be stiled Reverend Fathers and pretend to have Merit enough besides to obtain their own Salvation and to impart the overplus to others They call themselves Father Raphaels Father Cherubims and Father Seraphims with such like Names which are Marks of Vanity and Folly with which there can be neither Humility nor Piety Their Generals also manage the matter fairly to have the same Respect shewed them in the Courts of Princes as the Ambassadours of the greatest Kings These Gentlemen are all sworn Enemies to the Holy Scripture as well as to the Court and they do all they can to render the reading of it suspicious they heretofore did what they could to abolish it because it made as much against them as the Popes In the Year 1192. they made a new Gospel upon the Dreams of a Carmelite named Cyrill this was to suppress the Gospel of Jesus Christ and their own they called the Eternal Gospel wherein they taught that God the Father reigned under the Law God the Son under Grace and that the Holy Ghost was now going to reign by the Establishment of four Orders of Mendicants and that for the future Men could not be saved but by this Gospel that that of Jesus Christ was imperfect and that the Sacraments were of no great use This Gospel was preached almost all Europe over by the Jacobines and Franciscans and it was very near being received in the University of Paris but there remained yet some worthy Men who opposed and made it be condemned but seeing these new Evangelists had the favour of the Holy Father the Doctors of the University were forced to go to Rome where at length they obtained that this Book should be condemned and burned but privately for fear of decrying the four Orders of Mendicants and also that the Book of the University of Paris should be burned much after the same manner as heretofore at Bezancon at the beginning of Luther's Revolt which drew many Towns after it the Magistraâ—e of Bezancon fearing that this Fire should reach thither forbad all sorts of People to speak of God either Good or Evil. And there falling out lately a Dispute between some Divines of the Sorbonne at Paris some of whom do hold with the Jesuits that we may be saved without loving God and others on the contrary that we ought to love God whereupon both the one and the other were forbidden to speak of it so that the matter yet remains undecided whither we ought to love God or no or whither the Gospel of the Monks or of Jesus Christ be the true one The Author of the Book against this new Gospel is called William de St. Amour de periculis novissimorum Temporum See in Matthew Paris At length the Monks had Credit enough having procured several Bulls to be given out against the Book to
every thing without whom no man can have neither life motion nor being such a King I say hath no need of a Vicar-General for the Spiritual Government of the Church because he is present in all places no more than an Husband needs a Vicar for his Wife or a living Father for his Children and that he himself assureth us that where two or three are gathered together in his name there will he be in the midst of them If he hath a Vicar-General he can be no other than the Holy Ghost We also see that when he was upon the point of leaving his poor Disciples who were afflicted by reason of his approaching departure from them he tells them not I will leave you the Pope to guide and govern you which had been but a poor consolation But I will send you the Comforter who shall lead you in all truth And if we consider in what the administration of this Spiritual Kingdom doth consist we shall clearly see that no one mortal man can be the Vicar-General of it Can one only man preach the Gospel and administer the Sacraments all the world over They tell you that he will make it be done by others would to God the Popes would do so but these Delegated Preachers would be thus the Popes Vicars who pretends to be the Vicar of Jesus Christ and sometimes of St. Peter which cannot be according to all the Canonists who maintain that one Vicar cannot make another besides that the Ecclesiastical Ministry properly speaking cannot be subdelegated to Vicars for whosoever discharges it ought always to perform it in Preaching or Exâ—rcising the other Episcopal Functions in the name of Jesus Christ and not in the name of any creature and a man must be a fool or a seducer to do otherwise A meer man as the Pope is can he fill the souls of men with peace and joy in the Holy Ghost which is the Kingdom of Jesus Christ Can he defâ—nd the Church against all its enemies visible and invisible Can he give the Crown of Righteousness to those who shall be victorious and faithful to God to the death Can he raise them up again These are Acts of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ over his Church What relation hath the Dominion of the Pope to that of Jesus Christ What resemblance between light and darkness between Jesus Christ and Belial Thus it is evident that it is without any foundation that the Bishops of Rome boast of being Vicars of Jesus Christ thâ—y are no more so then the meanest Priest of the Church and it was with reason that the Council of Basil maintained to them that they were not Vicars of Jesus Christ but of the Church as every Curate is in his Parish Pontifex Vicarius Ecclesiae non Christi Nevertheless they maintain that St. Peter had this Employ of Universal Vicar that he was Head of the Apostles and of the whole Church Bishop of Bishops Soveraign both of Spirituality and Temporality Monarch of the Church and of the World. In a word that he had all the Prerogatives that the Popes at this present time enjoy in quality of Successors of St. Peter And that as I have said without being able to produce so much as one word of the Creation and Institution of this Charge so important to the Church if you will believe them nor of the Rights of this Charge nor of the Succession nor of the manner of the Election nor how so marvellous a Charge ought to be Exercised nor of the respect and obedience due to this Vicar nor of the use of his Office. They affirm boldly that St. Peter was at Rome that he was Bishop there That he founded that Church That he died there and left a Successor who was called Clement or Linus or Anacletus of which things tho they make the Salvation of all men to depend upon them they are not able to prove one tittle And they do affirm that this Successor entered into the full possession of all the Priviledges of St. Peter to which all the Bishops of that City have ever since equally succeeded both good and bad unto the present Pope Innocent the Eleventh It must be readily acknowledged that these Gentlemen must have very penetrating understandings to make these discoveries from the Gospel for it is certain that they are wholly imperceptible there I have sometimes read it without ever finding any thing that was at all like it and I think I saw clearly that St. Peter never knew he had this Authority but that on the contrary he believed that no Christian whatever much less a Bishop ought to have it in the Church nor did the other Aâ—ostles know it any more than he for somewhat of it would then appear and they who protest they have made known to us the whole will of God would have been extreamly to blame not only to have declared nothing of it to us but also to have always spoken and acted with their Soveraign Head and Master as with an Equal And St. Paul would have lost all manner of respect for him when he so warmly reproved him It seems probable also that our Saviour was obliged to have given them notice of it for naturally they could not know it and the Modesty Charity and Humility of St. Peter might have hindred him from declaring and exercising this Empire over them yet it is certain that there is nothing like this to be found Nevertheless this doth not hinder but that the Pope and Cardinals whose eyes their own interest opens as it blinds other peoples have in their own opinions found very strong proofs of it in the New Testament They say for example that our Saviour changed only St. Peter's name the reason as you see is without reply for it follows very necessarily from thence that St. Peter was the Head and King of the Church But unluckily he also changed the names of the Children of Zebedee They say also that he is sometimes named the first but if he be not so always this will signifie nothing to them but tho he had been always so this would not prove that he had authority over the others as the Pope hath over the other Bishops Amongst the Presidents the first hath no power over the others nor amongst the Electors of the Empire the Elector of Mentz who hath the first place hath no authority over the other Electors and so in all Societies the Primacy carries no dominion along with it But besides if that reason should take place the Holy Virgin who is sometimes named the last in Scripture would be greatly degraded from the place that belongs to her If St. Peter were always named the first that might have been given to his Age as the Fathers say and in truth we ought to attribute it to this that our Saviour spoke so often to him as well as to the fervency of his zeal which as we ought to admire and commend so also may
that Jesus Christ was the true Messias the Son of the Living God. And the Fathers understood it no otherwise I do not pretend here to relate all that they have said upon this subject but only some clear passages Origen upon St. Matthew tells us That if we say as Peter did Thou art the Christ c. we are also what St. Peter was and that it shall be also said unto us what follows Thou art Peter For whosoever is the Disciple of Christ the same is also Peter And St. Cyprian shews very well that he did not believe that St. Peter was priviledged beyond the other Apostles when he says that the other Apostles were as considerable as Saint Peter and that they were all equal in authority and power but that our Lord to shew the Unity there ought to be in his Church speaks but to one and that the first place was given to Peter And in another place Our Lord says he gave to all his Apostles the same power after his Resurrection and said to them As the Father hath sent me so send I you And Saint Ambrose Our Lord said to Peter Vpon this Rock c. that is to say upon this Confession of the Catholick Church I ordain that Believers shall have life And in another place What was said to Peter was said to the other Apostles And St. Hierom The Church is the House built upon the firm Rock which is Christ. And in another place She was founded upon a Rock that is to say Christ for this is the only foundation which the Apostle as a good Architect hath laid viz. our Lord Jesus Christ. St. Augustine Our Lord said Vpon this Rock c. because that Peter had said Thou art the Christ c. Vpon this Rock then which thou hast confessed will I build my Church The Rock was Christ upon whose fâ—undation Peter himself was builded for no man can lay any other foundation than that which hath been laid viz. Jesus Christ. Ideo ait Dominus super hanc Petram c. Quia dixerat Petrus tu es Christus c. Super hanc ergo Petram quam confessus es aedificabo Ecclesiam meam Petra erat Christus super quod fundamentum ipse aediâ—icatus est Petrus nam nemo potest ponere aliud fundamentum quam id quod positum est a Christo. The same Author speaks in another place thus Quid est super hanc Petram super id quod dictum est Tu es Christus super Petram quam confessus es super hanc Petram quam agnovisti dicens Tu es Christus super me aedificabo te non me super te Nam volentes homines super homines aedificare dicebant Ego quidem sum Pauli ego autem Apollo ego autem Cephae ipse est Petrus sed alii qui nolebant aedificare super Petrum sed super Petram dicebant Ego sum Christi c. What is this saying Vpon this Rock That is upon this Faith upon what was said That thou art the Christ upon this Rock which thou hast acknowledged saying Thou art the Christ Vpon me will I build thee and not thee upon me for they who would build upon men said I am of Paul and I of Apollos and I of Cephas who is Peter but those who would not build upon Peter but upon the Rock said I am the Disciple of Christ. This Holy Doctor hath a thousand such like sayings which I cannot relate to avoid being tedious Chrysostome says also Vpon this Rock c. That is to say upon this Faith and Confession Super hanc Petram hoc est super hanc fidem confessionem And in another place Super hanc Petram non dixit super Petrum non enim super hominem sed super fidem aedificavit Ecclesiam suam Quae autem erat fides Tu es Christus filius Dei viventis Vpon this Rock he did not say upon Peter for he hath not built his Church upon a man but upon Faith. What then was this Faith Thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God. Gregory Nyssen Non Petrus Johannes Jacobus tantum sunt Ecclesiae columnae sed omnes qui Ecclesiam sustentant Peter James and John are not the only Pillars of the Church but all they who support the Church Methinks there needs no more to perswade every honest minded man that the Fathers did not believe that Jesus Christ founded his Church upon St. Peter in particular much less upon the Popes I could easily produce a thousand other Evidenâ—es from the ancient Fathers and even from many Doctors that lived within the last four or five hundred years tho the truth hath been almost wholly stifled and that by men perfectly sold to the Court of Rome as well as to Iniquity But I must not tire out my Reader The Jesuit Salermont alone is worth a thousand of them for he doth own that the Popes Authority hath no foundation in the Scripture and he placeth it among Traditions not written I demand only the liberty of confuting the abuse of two other places of Scripture whereof we have spoken One would think they were already sufficiently confuted by the passages which I have alledged which prove that the Fathers did not believe that St. Peter had any Prerogative above the other Apostles and here a Reflection may be made which I think necessary to prevent the Cheat which may be put upon us in this matter by producing some passages of the Fathers falsified or maimed or else some Testimonies of the Doctors of the later times who have been for the most part vile slaves to the Popes and the Court of Rome It must be considered that when upon such a subject as this a man shall pretend to alledg any thing of Antiquity which seems to favour the opinion of St. Peter's Primacy that cannot counter-ballance what I have produced in short against that Primacy not only because I can produce an hundred places against one which they shall alledg but principally for this reason that it is never allowable for any man to oppose the Institutions of God nor to misunderstand deny change or diminish them So that if St. Peter had had the Authority over the Apostles and over the whole Church which they pretend and which the Popes at this time do exercise over Bishops Kings and the whole Church the Fathers never could deny it without a crime nor could they ever equal him to the other Apostles without being guilty of Heresie and heinous offence against God. Whereas we may very lawfully speak advantageously of the Ordinances and Institutions of God of Holy things and every thing that conduceth to the true Worship of God and consequently of the Holy Apostles also who were the admirable Organs of his Grace for the conversion of the World. We may I say speak of them with praise and with wonder with respect
to do at Rome nor was he ever there as they imagine There is yet somewhat of greater weight then all this That is that St. Paul tells us he withstood St. Peter to his face because he deserved reproof This looks as if St. Paul had had some Authority over St. Peter We hear not that he reproached him for his Arrogance nor that he Excommunicated him It must be acknowledged that here is a great difference between the proceedings of the Pope and those of St. Peter For it is certain that if a Bishop should at this day dare to displease the Majesty of the Pope he should be soon swallowed up and destroyed by his glory I believe that Origen might have an eye to St. Paul's thus correcting St. Peter when he said that St. Paul was the greatest of all the Apostles Paulus Apostolorum maximus or else he might also have regard to the great extent of St. Pauls Ministry or to what he himself says that he took more pains than all the other Apostles And all the Fatheâ—s looked upon him as he who among all the Apostles wrote the most profoundly and with the greatest light This is what St. Augustin says of him St. Chrysostom looks upon him as the first of all the Saints and if there had been any Preheminence among the Apostles he should have been preferred before any other We may say then that the Popes in that Authority which they usuâ—p have nothing common with St. Peter nor can they be compared together but in one thing which is that as St. Peter being come into Pilates-Hall denyed Christ three times the Popes since they have taken upon themselves the Authority of Pilate and of worldly Princes have denyed him not three times but once for all Vna sol volta in Corte di Pilato entro est Petro e tra rinego Christo. Thus we see that in the Holy Scripture there is not one word that can in the least authorize the Popes Supremacy And we may compare those who establish it there to poor Heralds who to get a little money do very frequently make people meanly descended to derive from the Ancient Greek and Roman Emperors because the Cullyes havâ— gotten an Estate and are become rich tho most usually 't is only by Rogueries and Robberies And it is not difficult thus to deceive people who always admire those that are rich and able to do them a kindness They never enquire how they came by it as the Spaniard says Alcansados los honores quedam Borrados los passos pordende se subio a ellos Since then that the new Testament doth not acknowledg this Authority of the Popes but absolutely condemn it it hath no lawful Institution for a Doctrine of that Importance as the Primacy of the Pope is whereon they make the whole Government of the Church Religion it self and the Salvation of all Christians to depend being not to be found in Scripture cannot be but false For though it be true that there are some Customs and Ceremonies in the Church which are not to be found in Scripture and which the Protestants are greatly in the wrong obstinately to reject because that Tradition and the use or practise of the Church have so long since given them sufficient Authority as they themselves acknowledg yet that cannot be said of this Article which according to the Popes and the greatest part of the Doctors is Capital and so Capital they would willingly perswade us that without it the rest signifies nothing It was very impiously said of Cardinal Palavicim in his Third Book of his History of the Council of Trent Chap. the 15. That the Christian Religion hath no more sure and immediate certainty than the Popes Authority Quella Religione i cui Articoli Vnitamente considerati non hanno Altera Certezza prossima immediata che l' Autorita del Pontifice We see clearly that if this Authority were laid aside they would renounce the profession of Christianity as piety hath been already renounced by them CHAP. II. That the Primitive Church knew not the Papacy The Vanity of some Humane Reasons by which for want of the Scriptures and the Fathers they would establish it LET us now see if the Primitive Church did acknowledg a power in the Church like to that of the Popes Altho that which hath been already alledged from the Holy Fathers proves sufficiently that they knew not the Papacy let us however examine the thing a little more particularly We are told then that St. Peter was Head of the Church that he was at Rome that he was a Bishop there that he died there that he resigned that Charge of Head of the Church and of Bishop but not that of an Apostle to a Successor which Successor he either chose or the Church of Rome did it after his death by the power which he had given her which things are all of them very difficult to prove and certainly very false for a thing of this consequence ought not to be founded upon conjectures of meer probabilities but we ought to have as certain and as exact a knowledg of it as of any other Article of our Religion And yet we see that they who have spoken of St. Peter's coming to Rome and of his Death there have said it upon such miserable grounds and say so many contradictory things as well of it as of his pretended Successor that there is nothing more uncertain in all Antiquity But besides this none of them ever believed no nor so much as suspected that St. Petâ—r was Head of the Universal Church And the contradiction and little certainty that is in these Authors shews sufficiently that in the Primitive times it was not believed that this was necessary to be known nor did they in the least suspect that ever any body would endeavour to lay upon it the foundation of that horrible Authoâ—ity which the Popes do Exercise To give you some Instances of their Contradictions I need only to shew you that some say it was Linus who succeeded Peter others Clement and lastly others say it was Anacletus some will have it that St. Peter founded this Church and was the first that Preached at Rome Others maintain namely Dorotheus that it was Barnabas Barnabas primus Romae praedicavit And St. Paul shews us clearly that it was he himself who founded that Church for he complains that coming to Rome he found that the Jews there who had embraced Christianity were but very little instructed in the Doctrine of the Christian Religion Who can believe that if St. Peter had been there and had founded this Church he would not have instructed them better And what is yet more St. Paul says expresly in another plaâ—e that he would not go and preach whâ—re others had preached before him because he would not build upon the Foundation of others As for the manner of his Death some say he was Crucified with St. Paul Others that he was
upon them In St. Hilaries days they endeavoured to bring under the Bishops of France in such sort that St. Hilary opposed their Ambition which made Leo have the Impudence to write of it to the Bishops of the Province of Vienne However that did not hinder him from continually attacking him and his successors who found opposition enough from time to time they always gaining the Victory And we have a Letter which the Churches of France and Germany wrote together in the time of King Clouis to Anastasius the second Bishop of Rome where we see that they were not satisfy'd with the Ambition of that Bishop It is not say they without reason that the Bishops it being grounded upon many Authorities affirm that the Authority of Councils is above that of a Pope St. Paul the Apostle who tells us that we should be his followers resisted Peter the first of the Apostles to his face because he dâ—served reproof For our parts we understand not this new compassion which the Italian Physicians have for our Mâ—ladies of France They would cure our Bishops and are themselves sick of a continued Fever They are themsâ—lves blind and yet thâ—y offâ—r us light They forsake their own Flock suffering it to wander and pretend to lead our Pastors in the right way Thâ—y would make us believe that the Cure for Spiritual Diseases that is to say Absolution is to be found at Rome c. But if the Ark of the Covenant should fall in France it must be our Bishops and not theirs that must take it up again But if they be so rash as to pretend to touch the Ark of our Church they only draw evil upon themselves as well as Uzzah the Levite Let thâ—m fairly undeâ—stand this Sylâ—ogism If thâ—râ— be but one â—nly power in all Bishops it is also in one person alone Now there is one and the same power in all Bishops therefore it resides also in one single person But let us here observe by the by how much the Germans and French are degenerated from that Piety and Love for the Liberty which Jesus Christ hath acquired for his Church It is certain that Bishops were always equal in the first Ages of the Church It was some time after the Death of St. Cyprian before they thought of establishing in every Province one Bishop above the rest They thought it would be advantagious for removing the disorder that sprung up sometimes among them for concurrence and presidency He resided in the Capital City and was called the Metropolitan At first he had no Authority over the others but only the place but afterwards they conferred upon them the power of consecrating Bishops of the Province because they dwelt in the Capital Ciiy where every body came about their Affairs And it is from thence that Bishops became subject to their Metropolitans and have been distinguished from them by the Ordination which they receive from them These Metropolitans were called in the West Arch-bishops After this there was given them the power of calling Provincial Synods who for that Reason were assembled always in the Capital City That was brought in at first only as a Custom and because it looked as though the state of the Civil Government did require it But at length this Custom was confirmed by the Decrees of the Council of Nice and became a Law. After that for the maintenance of Unity among the Churches of divers Provinces it was further thought requisite to establish Exarchs or Primates over these Arch-bishops according to the Idea of the Civil Government These Primates were the Bishops of the chief City of some great Province or of a Diocess that comprehended many Provinces At first they acknowledged no Superior but by little and little they of Constantinople of Antioch of Alexandria and lastly he of Rome did first attempt their Rights and after came the Council of Calcedon who established over these Metropolitans four Patriarchs of Rome of Alexandria of Antioch and of Constantinople to whom afterwards he of Jerusalem was also added for the Honour of that City but he lasted not long The two principal were he of Rome and he of Constantinople because those were two Seats of the Empire and at last they took upon them the Quality of Oecumenical Bishops against all Reason Divine or Humane and against the Decrees of many Councils Since those times every thing hath gone worse and worse It is no hard matter to prove that the Presidence of the Bishop of Rome was purely in consideration of the Dignity of that City The Second Canon of the Council of Constantinople shews it sufficiently where it is said That the Bishops who are established over a Diocess shall not go beyond the bounds which have been set them but that the Bishop of Constantinople shall have the Honour of the Primacy after the Bishop of Rome and not before him because that City is not so ancient as that of Rome After the same manner the 9 th Canon of the Council of Antioch ordains That the Bishops of great Cities shall have the pre-eminence because all men of business repair to the Capital City 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. And the Council of Calcedon in its 16 th Act gives no other Reason for the City of Rome's having the first place The Fathers says this Council have also given these Priviledges to the See of Old Rome by reason of the Empire of that City c. And for this very reason they have given the same priviledges to the most Holy See of New Rome judging very ratiâ—nally that a City honoured by the Senaâ—e and the Empire ought to enjoy the same priviledges as the Ancient Rome and have the same pre-eminence in Ecclâ—siastical Affairs and be the second after her And the Council of Turin in its first Chapter hath these words That Bishop who can prove that his City is the Capital of the whâ—le Province let him have the honour of the Primacy and the Faculty of conferring Orders upon others And we must not judge of this matter by what we now see For Example That Paris and London which are the Capital Cities of two great States have not the Primacy over the other Bishops of these Kingdoms for besides that they here received the Christian Faith later than the others did the Court of Rome and its Favourers have managed this very politickly not suffering that any great City shoulâ— have this Honour lest the Bishop of it should become their Rival and should cast off their yoke as we see they had all the difficulty in the World to subdue the great City of Milan For in the year 1059. Nicholas the Second having sent thither Peter Damien Bishop of Ostia to make them lay aside the Ambrâ—sian Service and take up the Roman both the Clergy and People answered vigorously That they had never been subject to the Roman Laws and that the Bishop of Rome had