the Church-book if the Children are begotten in lawful Wedlock A Form of Baptism of those which shall be Converted to the Christian Faith as well Pagans Jews Mahometans and Anabaptists which have not been Baptised made at the National Synod of the Reformed Churches of France held at Charanton in the year 1644. the 26 of December and the following Days AFter that the Catechumeny has been sufficiently instructed and Catechis'd to give an account of his Faith and that the Church shall by good Testimonies have taken cognisance of the Integrity of the Persons Life and Learning they shall by the said Persons be presented to the whole assembly of believers to be baptised in their presence And the Minister shall say The first Demand Do you not confess that you are a Child of Wrath deserving death and everlasting damnation Answer Yes Demand Are you not displeased and grieved for all the the sins you have committed ever since you were born and don 't you promise for ever to forsake them Answer Yes Dem. Do you not with all your heart forsake the seducements and temptations of the Devil and his Angels of all the Pomps and Vanities of the World and of all the Affections and Lusts of the Flesh Answ Yes If it be a Pagan the Minister shall say to him Dem. Do you not believe there is one only God which made Heaven and Earth who supports all things by his powerful Word and in whom we live move and have our being Answ Yes Then the following demand shall be made which is common to all and which are to be offer'd to all Dem. Do you not believe this great God which has created Heaven and Earth is one in Fssence and distinguished into three Persons Equal and Coeternal the Father the Son begotten of the Father from all Eternity and the Holy Ghost proceeding Eternal from the Father and the Son Answ Yes If it be a Pagan the three following Questions shall be propos'd Dem. Do you not believe this great God never leaving himself without Witness has manifested himself to Men not only by his Works which from their first production continually publish his Praise and Glory but also by revealing his Will for the Salvation of Mankind contained in the Holy Scriptures called the Old and New Testament Answ Yes Dem. Do you not believe that all these Holy Scriptures are divinely inspired and continue the perfect Rule of our Faith and good Living Answ Yes Dem. Do you not protest to resist the Devil to the last minute of your Life whom you have hitherto adored serving sdols made with hands or the host of Heaven or to conclude those which by Nature are no Gods Answ Yes If it be a Jew these sive Questions shall be made omiting the four above expressed they belonging to Pagans Dem. Do you not detest the Rebellion and Obstinacy of the Jews and do not you beg pardon for having been so long time ingaged therein Answ Yes Dem. Do you not believe that what God has been pleas'd to reveal to us of his Will is contain'd not only in the Books of the Old but also in those of the New Testament Answ Yes Dem. Do you not believe that Jesus the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived in her by the ineffable Power of the Holy Ghost and after condemned to dye on the Cross through the false Accusation of the Jews by the wicked Sentence of Pontius Pilate raised from the dead the third day and now sitting in Glory is God manifest in the Flesh the Eternal Word of the Father by which he created and maintains the whole Vniverse the blessed Seed promised to Adam presently after his Fall by vertue of whom the Serpents head is broken whose coming all the Patriarchs expected with Hope and the great Prophet and true Messias foretold as well by Moses as by the other Prophets which lived after him Answ Yes Dem. Do you not believe that the Lord Jesus is the fulfilling of the Law in Righteousness to all which believe the truth of his Types and Figures the true Lamb of God which taketh away the Sins of the World and that in him dwells the fulness of the Godhead bodily Answ Yes Dem. Do you not believe that now the observation of Legal Ceremonies is not only superfluous but also wholly prejudicial to a good Conscience Answ Yes If the Catecumeny be a Mahometan the Minister shall ask these following Questions omitting the former which particularly refer to Pagans or Jews Dem. Do you not believe that the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament are inspir'd of God and conttain his whole Will for the Salvation of Mankind and the only perfect Rule of Faith and good Living Answ Yes Dem. Do you not believe that Jesus the Son of the Blessed Virgin Mary conceived in her by vertue of the Holy Ghost and made after the Flesh of her substance is God and Man blessed for ever perfect God and perfect Man Man made of a Woman in the fulness of time and God ingender'd of God the Father before all Eternity Answ Yes Dem. Do you not believe that the Lord Jesus from his first conception after the Flesh was Holy Innocent without Spot separate from Sinners and that he suffer'd not Death for his Sins but for ours¿ Answ Yes Dem. Do you not believe that his Death is the propitiation of our sins yea for the sins of the whole World and that this propitiation is of infinite Merit whereby Eternal Glory and Salvation has been acquir'd for us Answ Yes Dem. Do you not believe Mahomet was a Deceiver and that his Alcoran is a Sacrilegious heap of Dreams full of absurdities and broached a purpose to set up a false and abominable Religion Answ Yes Dem. Do you not believe that the Gospel of our Lord Jesus is the power of God to Salvation in all them which believe That the only Christian Religion is the power of God to Salvation in all them which believe that the only Christian Religion is that alone whereby God the Father has revealed his good pleasure for the Salvation of Mankind until the end of the World that since the manifestation thereof there is no other to be expected that the Lord Jesus Christ only is the great Prophet promis'd to the Believers of the Old Testament and that God having formerly spoken in divers manners to Men before and under the Law has spoke to the Church of the New Testament by the Mouth of his only Son Jesus Answ Yes Quest Repeat the summary of your Faith Answ I believe in God the Father Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth c. If the Catecumene be an Annabaptist the Minister shall say Quest Do you not believe that the Lord Jesus is and shall be true God and Man in both Natures Eternally that he was according to his Manhood like to us in all things sin only excepted so that he was the true Son of Abraham of David of the Blessed
Volume of his Works and in the 25th upon St. Matthew in the 2d Edition at Paris An. 1514. St. Basil lays down several Rules in his Morals for the Conduct of Pastors whom as he saith should be an Example unto others and do in the first place what they desire others should do Preach the Gospel with a holy freedom and bear witness to it although there might be some which forbid so doing and persecute to Death those which do it He will have them render God thanks for those which are converted and that they should pray to God for them to the end they may grow in grace dayly That they should have care not only of those which are present but also of the absent and that they should omit nothing which may tend to their Edification and Salvation desiring they would therein Exercise themselves constantly as well in publick as private He saith moreover That the Minister should be tender and full of compassion especially towards those whose Souls are mortally sick That he should charitably contribute to their bodily necessities without abusing his power to the prejudice of those under his Conduct and without exalting himself over them but rather take occasion to exercise humility towards them He adds in conclusion That he which is establish'd in the Church to be a Guide to others should neither say nor do any thing but with a great deal of prudence and circumspection to render himself acceptable in the sight of God as if he were to be approv'd by their judgment and testimony I could alledge several other Doctors of the Church to confirm the same thing but because what I have said is sufficient for establishing this Truth I proceed to the consideration of what follows in the Article which we Examine That it belongs to the Magistrate to have an Eye over Ministers and to take care they walk orderly in their Vocation c. The good Kings of Israel did so under the old Discipline obliging the Ministers of the Sanctuary to do their Offices and Religiously to perform all things which pertain'd to the Service of God under the Oeconomy of Grace the Examples of Constantius of Theodosius of Marcien's of Leo's and sundry others which have assembled several Councils for the benefit of Christian Religion and to preserve the Church from the Poison of Heresies and Schisms I say all these Examples do not in the least suffer us to doubt but that Princes and Sovereigns have right to supervise over Bishops and Pastors and are bound in Conscience to endeavour the advancement of the Glory of God and the preservation of his Worship in all purity And not to go farther than our France Who is there at this time but does know the diligence of our Kings on a great many occasions the many Councils they have Assembled and to many of them have prescribed the subject and matter of their deliberations which is an authentick proof and the Capitularies which we have still in our hands of Charlemaine of Lewis le Debonnaire and of Charles the Bald are also so many Authentick Evidences It was hereupon that Constantine saith in Eusebius â—â—b 4. de Vit. Const â— 24. l. 1. c. 44. That God had Established him Bishop that he should take care of things which passed out of the Church and in the same Treatise he is called The Common Bishop establish'd by God In the 6th Action of the Council of Chalcedon there is given to Marcien the Title of Sacerdos St. Remy calls Clovis the Bishop of the Country Tom. 1. Conc. Gall. p. 204. The Fathers of the Council of Mayence in the Year 819. calls Charlemaine The Director of the True Religion and the Defender of the Holy Church Which the 6th Synod of Paris in the Year 829. saith also of Lewis le Debonnaire and of Lothaire his Son It is also in all likelihood by the same motive that in the 98th Letter of Loup Abbot of Ferriers where there is mention of the promotion of Aeneas to the Bishoprick of Paris in the 9th Century The gift of the Prince is joyn'd to that of God As if one had been fully persuaded in France that the King was in God's stead in Establishing of Bishops Thence it is also that whereas Loup in the 29th Letter writes that Aldrich was made Bishop of Sens by the Command of Caesar the Frier Clarius in his Chronicle of St. Peter vif of Sens saith That it hapned by the Will of God To intimate that the Power whereof Princes were in possession was given them from Heaven it is the reason wherefore in the 2d Council of Thionville in the Year 844. it is said That Bishops are given of God regularly design'd by Princes they mean the Children of Lewis le Debonnaire and Consecrated by the Grace of the Holy Spirit In the Life of Nicetas who was Bishop of Lyons in the 6th Century it is observ'd That the good will of the Prince gave him by the Will of God to be Bishop to this Church XLVII Ministers that teach bad Doctrine shall be depos'd if they persist after having been several times warn'd also those which do not obey holy Admonitions given them by the Consistory taken out of the Word of God those also which shall lead Scandalous Lives those which shall be convinc'd of Heresies Schisms Rebellion against Ecclesiastical Order and manifest Blasphemies worthy of Secular punishment Simony and all corruption by Presents endeavours to have another's place forsaking their Flock without due leave and just occasion Falshood Perjury Adultery Theft Drunkenness Fighting worthy of being punish'd by the Laws Vsury Sports forbid by Laws and scandalous Dancing and other like dissolutions any crime having the mark of Infamy any Crime which should in another deserve separation from the Church and those which are insufficient to discharge their Office CONFORMITY The Truth of the Holy Trust committed to the Apostles and after them to their Successors has ever been so dear and precious to those amongst them which have been Followers of the Zeal and Piety of those first Ministers of the Son of God that they could not suffer it should be alter'd without severely punishing those which sowed Tares amongst this good Corn and especially Pastors whom they depos'd from their Office at the very instant that they taught Doctrines contrary to this Heavenly Truth When Paul of Samosatia Bishop of Antioch stir'd up by the Evil Spirit had the impudence in the 3d Century to teach That Jesus Christ was but meer Man the Ministers of the Gospel came flocking from all parts as against the Enemy and Destroyer of the Flock and Fold of the Lord but this Heretick having avoided the Sentence of his Condemnation in the first Synod held at Antioch against him in the 12th year of the Emperor Gallien and about the Year of our Lord 266. because he promis'd to change his Opinion he was at length depos'd in the Year 170. in another Assembly in the
the truth of Faith Tom. 5. Spirit pag. 203. which the forty six Cannon of Laodicea also prescribes St. Owen writes in the VIII Chap. of the 2d Book of the Life of St. Eloy Bishop of Noyon That he baptised every year at Easter those which in the compass of the year he could Convert that is to say those he could turn from the darkness of Paganism to the Light of the Gospel Paulinus Arch-bishop of York did the like in the same Century that is in the 7th as is related by Beda in his Ecclesiastical History of England Theodulph Bishop of Orleans follows the same method in his 1 chap. of his Treatise of Baptism Epist 104 105. Aleuin who approved not the Saxons should be constrained to be baptised by force alledged for a Reason that they ought first of all to be Instructed But to descend to the last Century Cardinal Borrome in the Fifth Council of Mâ—llan of which place he was Arch Bishop An 1579 Tom. 9. Conc. pag. 6.6 requires two things of Adults which are to be baptized First that they know the Rudiments of the Christian Religion Secondly That they repent of their Sins past I will add to all I have hitherto observ'd the practice of the Primitive Church which instructed the Catecumeny a long while before they Honour'd them with Holy Baptisme There is in our Discipline at the end of the Chapter we examine a Form of Baptisme of those which shall be converted to the Christian Faith And in the Thirteenth Century Nicetas Choniates composed one for Mahometans which desired to embrace Christianity Tom. 12. Bibl. Pat. p. 527. cum 531 532. The VI. Council of Paris Authorizes the Decree which it makes in the Year 829. Cannon the Sixth Book the First by the Practice of the Primitive Church To. 2. Conc. Gall. pag. 846. IV. The Children of Fathers and Mothers of the Romish Church and of Excommunicate Persons cannot be admittisme in the Reformed Churches though they were presented by believing Godfathers unless their Father and Mother consent to it and desire it and resign their Authority in quitting and yielding up to the Godfathers their right as to Instructing them with promises their Children shall be Educated in the true Religion CONFORMITY This Article is grounded on that Children depend of their Father and Mother without whose consent they cannot be disposed of nor christned against their Will into a Communion whereof they are not Members otherwise it were a Forcing People to be Baptized which the Church has ever condemn'd Hist lib. 6. cap. 17 King Chilperick as is related by Gregory of Touers commanded to Baptise the Jews that is to say he constrain'd several to be Baptiz'd which Pope Gregory the First did not approve as appears by the Letter he wrote to Virgilius and Theodorus the former being Bishop of Arles the other of Marsellia and is the Forty Fifth of the First Book So also when King Sisibute had done in Spain after the same manner as Chilperick had done in France Tom. 4. Conc. pag. 593. the Fourth Council of Toledo in the year 633 changed their violent practice in its 56 Cannon the Decree is contained in these terms As for Jews the Synod has Ordain'd that henceforwards no body shall be forced to believe for God has compassion on whom he will and harden whom he pleases and such should not be saved by force but voluntarily to the end to preserve intirely the way of Justice for as Man was ruin'd by voluntarily obeying the Serpent he is also saved by believing and converting to God when he calls him by his Grace let perswasion there be used and not violence to incline them to be converted truly and without any constraint Ib. p. 603 And 't is to be observ'd that the Ordinance of this Prince comprehended Children Hist Gothor in si se buto and Domesticks therefore St. Isidore Bishop of Sevil wrote of him having regard to this Edict That he had a Zeal for God but not according to Knowledge And we have already seen on the precedent Article that Alcuin Tutor to Charlemain did by no ways approve the force was put on the Saxons in those times Read his Letters in 104 and 105 and you 'l see the truth hereof insomuch as he deplored at the beginning of the former the misfortune of that People which as he saith often lost the Sacrament of Baptisme because they never had in their hearts the Sacrament of Faith Thence it is he teacheth in both of them that one must begin by Instruction that Faith is a thing voluntary and not forced that a Man cannot be forced to believe that which he does not believe But that it may not be thought the Subject I examin is of little importance and that it might be put amongst things indifferent to be done or left undone at pleasure it must be shewn there is nothing more contrary to the tenour of the Gospel than to constrain Men to imbrace the profession of it Jesus Christ the Author of this Heavenly Doctrine and the Soveraign Doctor of this Truth never imployed force nor violence to have it received he was content in Exhortations and Instructions which he accompanied with a hidden and secret vertue in regard of those he intended to call to his Communion and which he drew with efficacy but also at the same time with Sweetness with Cords of Love and Bands of Humanity and Charity The Apostles exactly followed his Example Exhorting Men to repent and believe the Gospel and praying them in the Name of Jesus Christ to be reconciled to God The Christians which succeeded the Apostles did just after the same manner cap. 24.28 Tertullian in his Appollogetick declares positively that the Liberty of Religion cannot be taken away nor deny Men the choice of the Divinity which they adore without rendring themselves guilty of the crime of Impiety and Irreligion because he pretends the Service of God ought to have a willing mind for its first principle And in his Book to Scapula he saith That 't is no Act of Religion to force the Religion which one should imbrace of free will and not by constraint Lactantius in the 20th chap. of the Fifth Book of his Divine Institutions saith There is nothing so voluntary as Religion which ceases to be p. 82. G. Par. 1544 at the very moment one has any aversion or hatred to it St. Hilary of Poictiers in his First Book to the Emperour Constantius Pag. 82. G Paris 1544. writes That God has taught the Knowledge Men have of him before he required it Authorising his Commandments by his Miracles not desiring a forced Obedience nor an unwilling Confession And in his Book against Auxentius Ib. p. 84. he reproaches the Arrians to have imployed Prisons and banishment to constrain Men to be of their side and to enter into their Communion St. Athanasius was of the same Opinion as he shews
Virgin proceeding from their Blood and Seed and that the substance of his Body was formed not only of the Virgin according to what the Apostle saith that he was of the Seed of David according to the Scriptures that he was made of a Woman and that he partook of Flesh and Blood like other Children Answ Yes Quest Do you not believe that the baptizing of young Infants is grounded in the Scriptures and in the continual practice of the Church Answ Yes Quest Do you not with all your heart renounce the Errors of those which deny it and are you not sorry for having hitherto slighted it Answ Yes Quest Do you not believe that the Establishing of Magistrates is an Ordnance of God to the which those which refuse to submit draw down damnation on themselves And that all manner of Obedience after the Will of God is due to them Answ Yes Quest Do you not believe that this good God which calls us all by the Preaching of his Word to Life and Salvation has instituted some Signs and Sacraments in his Church which Seal and Confirm to us the Covenant of Grace which is offer'd to us by the Preaching of the Gospel Answ Yes Quest How many Sacraments think you there are in the Christian Church Answ Two to wit Baptisme and the Lords Supper Quest Do you not desire to be instructed in the Nature and Vse of Baptisme which you desire in the Church Answ Yes Quest The Minister shall say Our Lord shews us all in what poverty and misery we were born in telling us we must be regenerated for if it be needful our Nature be renewed to have admission into the Kingdom of Heaven it is a sign 't is wholly sinful and cursed therein therefore he warns us to be humbled and cast down in our-selves and in this manner he prepares us to desire and seek his favour whereby all the perverseness and evil of our first Nature shall be abolished for we are not capable of receiving it until first we have wholly laid aside all trust in our own Strength Wisdom Righteousness even to condemning all that is in us Now when he has shewn us our misery he then comforts us by his mercy promising to regenerate us by his Holy Spirit to a Holy Life which shall be to us as the entrance into his Kingdom This Regeneration consists in two parts which is that we should deny our selves not following the way of our own reason our Pleasure and own Will but subjecting our understanding and heart to the Wisdom and Will of God mortifying all that is of us and of the Flesh afterwards we should follow the light of God to comply and submit to his Holy Will as he commands us by his Word and bads us by his Spirit The accomplishment both of the one and the other is in our Lord Jesus whose Death and Passion is of such Vertue that partaking thereof we are as it were Dead to Sin to the end that our fleshly Lusts should be mortified In like manner by vertue of his Resurrection we may be raised to a new Life which is God being Govern'd and Conducted by his Holy Spirit which worketh in us things well pleasing in his sight Nevertheless the first and principal point of our Salvation is that by his Mercy he pardon and forgives us all our sins not imputing them to us but blotting them out that they should not rise up in Judgment against us All these Graces are bestow'd on us when he is pleased to ingraff us into his Church by Baptisme for in this Sacrament he assures us of the pardon of our sins And to this end he hath appointed the Sign of Water to shew us That as by this Element Bodily filthiness is washed away he will also wash and purifie our Souls that there might be no spot in them Then he shews us our Renovation the which lyes as has been said in the Mortification of our Flesh and in a Spiritual Life which he worketh in us So shall we receive double Grace and benefit of our God in Baptisme provided we do not frustrate the vertue of this Sacrament by our ingratitude which is that we have therein certain assurance that God will be a merciful Father to us not imputing our Sins and Offences Secondly That he will assist us by his Holy Spirit to the end we may resist the Devil Sin and the Lusts of the Flesh even till we triumph over them to live in the liberty of his Kingdom which is the Kingdom of Righteousness Seeing then 't is so that these two things are accomplish'd in us by the love of Jesus Christ it follows that the vertue and substance of Baptisme is compris'd in him and indeed we have no other cleansing but his Blood nor no other renewing but in his Death and Resurrection but as he communicates to us his Riches and Blessings by his Word so also he distributes them to us by his Sacraments Now herein appears the wonderful Love of God towards us that those Graces he bestows upon us having before the coming of the Messias been restrain'd within the People of the Jews and the partition Wall which separated the Jews and Gentiles being taken away by the Death of Jesus Christ he shed abroad the Waters of his Saving Grace in such abundant manner on the Children of Men that in him there is now neither Jew nor Greek Male nor Female Circumcision nor Vncircumcision nor any other Creature else which can hinder us from this great Salvation that Jesus Christ will be preached to all Nations and the Covenant of his Love confirm'd by Baptisme according to the Commission given to his Apostles saying Go Preach to all Nations Baptizing them in the Name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost And it is this Grace Brother which you desire to partake of by Baptisme is it not true Answ Yes Quest But because entring into the House of God every one should take care of his wayes fearing to prophane the the Sanctuary in adventuring according to the saying of the Wise Man least he should offer the Sacrifice of Fools and that he should be cleansed from the Leven and Error of Malice do you not detest all the Errors which are contrary to the Holy Doctrine taught in our Churches Answ Yes Quest Seeing you are about to receive Holy Baptisme do not you promise to live and dye in the Faith of the Lord Jesus heretofore confessed by you accompanying it with a Holy Life and Conversation and to imploy all your Thoughts Words and Actions to glorifie God and edifie your Neighbours submitting your self to the Order of the Church and to the Discipline whereby this Holy Order shall inviolably be maintain'd Answ Yes This being done the Minister shall add Let us pray to God that he would be pleased to Bless this Holy Action and shall pray after this manner Lord our God infinitely Wise and Merciful we Praise and Bless thy Holy
Wife if she will and if she cannot contain if after she comes to know the Husband committed Adultery with her Daughter she has no farther carnal knowledge with him she may marry another Person unless she will voluntarily abstain and in the Tenth Cannon If a Son has committed Adultery with the Wife of his Father neither he nor she cannot marry but as for the Husband if he will he may marry another Wife yet it were better to abstain That of Compiegne made this Decree Seven years after Ib. Can. 8. p. 43. If a Man has a lawful Wife if his Brother commits Adultery with her let not the Brother nor Wife which have been guilty of Adultery never marry during life But as for the Husband of the Wife he is at his liberty to marry again if he please The Fourteen and Fifteen Cannons Establish also the same Discipline The Eighth Cannon is also found in the Fifth Book of Capitularies chap. 19. it is apparently the Eighth Cannon of the Council reported by Gratian though in something different terms Caus 32. q. 7. c. Quaedam under the Name of a Decree of a certain Council In the Roman Collection printed at Rome Fifteen years ago by Order of Cardinal Francis Barberin Vice-Chancellor and Dedicated by him to Pope Alexander the Seventh There is found Two Synods held at Rome in the Ninth Century One under Eugenius the Second the other under Leo the Fourth and by the constitutions of the one and the other one may separate for reason of Adultery with power to re-marry See here what is contained in the 36th Cannon of the former That it be not permitted to any one whatsoever to forsake his Wife and to joyn himself to another unless it be in case of Adultery otherwise the offender must take the former The same Cannon is repeated in the Second in the same Terms and under the same Number of 36. Ibid. pâ—g 92. The Council of Tribur whereof I have already spoke on the 13th Article confirms the same practise in the 41. Cannon where the Fathers require that Bishops having regard to human frailty should comfort those who have been separated for Adultery and which cannot contain in suffering them to re-marry after having fulfill'd the time of their pennance The Frier Blastares whom I have already cited several times Let. G. c. 13. pag. 73 74. testifies that the Greek Church used so in his time that is in the 14th Century for amongst the several reasons for dissolving Marriage he reckons Adultery for the which he declares Marriage may lawfully be dissolved and contract another after sentence of the Judges It was in regard to this practise of the Eastern Nations Hist of the Council of Trent by P. Saovo lib. 8. pag. 920 921. that the Ambassadors of Venice caused to be read in the Council of Trent a demand they made on the Anathema of divorces which contain'd in substance that their Republick held the Islands and Kingdoms of Cyprus Candy Corfou Zante and Cephalony inhabited by Greeks who time out of mind have been wont to put away the wife guilty of Adultery and to Marry another and that this Custom known to the whole Church Was never condemned nor blamed by any Council and therefore that the Fathers would be pleased to dispose the Cannon that treated thereof in such a way as should not be prejudicial to them to which the Council had some regard for the Opinion of the Greeks was not there directly condemn'd It appears clearly by what has been hitherto said that the Establishment of our Discipline is very judicious and very conformable to the use and practise of the Ancient Church and also to that of the present Greek Church so that the innovation is in those which have forsaken the ways of their Fathers and have taken a quite contrary course in teaching that the band of Marriage is not to be broke not even for cause of Adultery yet I cannot think Pope Vrban the second was so severe nor that he would absolutely have forbidden Marriage to a man that had left his wife after having convicted her of Adultery and what makes me think so is for that in a Synod he held An Apud Marcam de conc li. 4. c. 14. pag. 282. 1093. At Troys in Poulle it was resolved in the first Cannon to dissolve the Marriage of two persons that were nearly related on this condition however That if they separated according to the Judgment of the Bishops they were permitted to contract other Marriages because they were young what likelihood that Vrban with his Synod composed of 70 Bishops and 12 Abbots should not have judged the band of Matrimony indissoluble in regard of those and that he would have thought it so after the Adultery of one of the parties I am confident if occasion had offer'd this Pope would not have done otherwise in regard of persons which separated by reason of Adultery then the two Roman Synods I but now cited in the 9th Century and the Councils of Verbery and Compeign in the 8th who permitted as has been shewn to the innocent party to re-marry when the band of the former Marrirge is quite broke by Adultery certainly the Fathers of these two Councils intended not to forbid Marriage to those which Adultery had separated seeing they allowed separation for things of much less moment than is that of Adultery and that at the same time they grant power and liberty to re-marry anew for Example the 3d. Tom. 1. conc Gal. pag. 3. Cannon of the Synod of Verbery is conceiv'd in these terms If a Priest has Marry'd his Neece let him leave her and be deposed If another takes her to wife let him put her away also because 't is a thing blame worthy that another Man should marry her which was put away by a Priest but if the man cannot contain let him marry some other The 5th cannon contains this Decree If a Woman has contriv'd the Death of her Husband with other Men and that the Husband in his own defence kills him that comes to murder him and that he can prove it he may repudiate his Wife and marry another if he please The 9th permits him that is forced to quit his Country to go to live in another and that his Wife will not follow him it permits him to Marry another In the 6th it is permitted to a free Man that shall have Marry'd a slave thinking her to be of a free condition he is permitted to take another if the first be put again under servitude and that she cannot be ransomed the same power is given to a free woman that shall marry a slave not knowing he was so unless he had been forced by famine to sell himself by consent of his Wife and that the price of the sale of the Husband had served to preserve the Wife from Want and perishing by famine besides this the Woman might put away her Husband
the Creed proportionable to the Capacity of those whom he instructed to put them into a state fit to receive Baptism and to be plung'd in the Mystical Waters of this Sacrament of our Regeneration But to ascend higher than St. Cyril Euseb Hist l. 5. c. 10. l. 6. c. 6. Can. 3. c. 26. Can. 15 29. from the very first beginning of Christian Religion there were publick Schools at Alexandria and places appointed for this Exercise and where the rudiments of Faith was taught or as the Apostle speaks The rudiments of the first beginning of the word of God In the 2d Century Pantenus an Eminent Philopher kept this School and then exercis'd the Office of Catechist Clement of Alexandria succeeded him and he had Origen for his Successor aged but 18. years Origen left the Conduct of this School to Heraclas and Heraclas to Dennis and these two last were successively Bishops of Alexandria The Authors of our Discipline had therefore good reason to exhort the Churches to have frequent Catechising which is of great benefit and singular edification XIV Ministers with their Families shall actually reside in their Churches or Parishes under pain of being depos'd from their Office CONFORMITY In the first Ages Pastors were so full of zeal for the Glory of God and so industrious for the Edification of their Flock that 't was superfluous to exhort them to Residence seeing they had no other thoughts but to do it in the places assigned to their care and where the Families lived which were committed to their conduct neither do we find in those times any Canons which enjoyn them to this Residence because they themselves of their own free will were inclin'd to do it and that 't was not heard of that a Pastor did not dwell in the midst of the Flock to whom he owed his care and presence De Lapsis St. Cyprian complained of certain Bishops which incumbring themselves with secular affairs abandoned their Churches and the care of that holy administration whereof they were to render an account to our Saviour And in his 56 Epistle to those of Thibari he sheweth that in the present conjuncture he could not safely leave his Church and the People God had committed to his Charge St. Ambrose sufficiently testifies that he was really persuaded of the necessity of Residence when he wrote to the Emperor Theodosius that if the dread he had of the Tyrant Eugenius had oblig'd him to quit Millan for a little time yet he returned thither as soon as the storm was past over Lib. 7. Ep. 58. To. 5. p. 322. Pâ—r. 1632. I hastned saith he to return as soon as ever I heard that him whose presence I thought I was bound to shun was gone for I forsook not the Church of Millan which the Providence of God committed to my care but I desir'd not to see him that made himself guilty of Sacriledg He speaks of Eugenius who usurped the Empire after having cruelly put to death the Emperor Valentinian the younger This holy Doctor elsewhere represents the damages occasioned to the Church by the absence of its Pastor especially when he observes the People omit frequenting the Holy Exercises and not only the People but also the Clergy themselves become more remiss in things of Piety and Religion St. Austin declares plainly in the 138 and 227 Epistles that he never forsook his Church but upon indispensible necessity In a request presented by some Friers to the Emperors Theodosius the Younger and Valentinian the Third against Nestorius they accuse him amongst other things That for the executing his outrages he employed foreign Clerks which he made come from other parts that is to say other Clergy besides his own Tom. 2. Conc. pag. 222. Altho according to the Ecclesiastical Canons say they they are not permitted to live in another Diocess or in another Church but only in those places and Cities where they received Ordination by the Imposition of hands there to reside peaceably It is not easie to affirm with certainty if the Canons whereof they speak were reduced into writing or rather if they were not customs and uses setled in the Churches by long practice for this term of Canon or Rule has sometimes this signification in the writings of the Ancients and what induces me to think so is That till the Fifth Century when this request was presented it was not very needful to make Canons to oblige Pastors to reside in their Churches if it be not that one may apply to this Residence the Canons which prohibit the Translation of Bishops from one place to another whereof we shall treat hereafter I know very well that the Council of Sardis had in the year 347 made some Decrees which in some fort regarded Residence but besides that these Canons were not much known in the East they were not properly made for establishing of Residence nor precisely to oblige Bishops thereunto but only to inform them in presupposing it as an indispensible Obligation in what occasions and for what time they were permitted lawfully to be absent from their Churches in effect in the eighth Canon the Fathers of Sardis allow Bishops may go to Court if the Emperor send for them or if the protection and defence of the Poor of Widows and Orphans oblige them to it It is true that in the ninth and tenth Canons they restrain the permission granted in the former and do not permit Bishops to go themselves to Court but when they are called by the Prince nevertheless they agree they may send one of their Deacons to obtain some favour in behalf of distressed persons but they consent to it upon prudent and judicious reasons and which are to be lookt upon as necessary precautions against the ambition of Bishops to whom the same Council positively forbid Can. 14 15. To be absent from their Churches above three Weeks unless some pressing necessity constrain them to it When under the second Branch of our Kings the Prince cast his eye on any Bishop to make him his Arch-Chaplain he was forced to demand leave of the Synod and Pope Con. Fran. cap. 55. Tom. 2. Conc. Gall. p. 217. the Bishops of Rome having already got great power in France I say he was forced in some sort to desire their leave to get him away from his Church to have him near his person because every body was then perswaded that Pastors were bound in Conscience to make their Residence in the midst of their Flocks I believe Plurality of Livings as is spoken at this time has given a mortal blow to the case of Residency and has by this means introduced ignorance into the Church and together with Ignorance Superstition which is the Daughter of Ignorance this wicked custom was a long while unknown amongst Christians seeing the first Canon which formally condemns it is if my memory fail not the fifth of the sixteen Council of Toledo assembled the year
our Lord 506. Tom. 1. Conc. Gall. Can. 21. p. 165. the Council of Agde in Languedoc made a Decree which in some sort refers to this Settlement for it suffers those who for the convenience of their Family desires to have an Oratory or as they speak now-a-days a Chappel in the Country besides the common Places of assembling it permits them there to serve God except it be on principal Feast-days for on this occasion it enjoins them to come to their Parishes excommunicating the Church-men that shall serve in those Oratories if they attempt any thing against this Decree Collect. Rom. part 2. c. 41. p. 132. unless it be by the order or permission of the Bishop in whose Diocess the Chappel is Thence is it that Pope Leo the IVth forbids Laymen to establish a Priest in any Church whatever without consent of the Bishops The Council of Meaux in the Year 845. Exhorts Princes and Lords to order it so that the Priests which serve in their Chappels should be ready to hinder and banish from their Houses all manner of Vice and be careful to instruct the Domesticks because Parish-Priests and Bishops and Ministers are to do so unto the poorest and meanest of the People Agabard Bishop of Lyons in the same Century complains in a Book he writ of the Law of Priesthood he complains I say Tom. 1 p. 134 135 Paris 1666. of the abuse which reigns amongst great Lords in regard of their Priests and Chaplains and of the little esteem they made of them requiring of them services altogether unworthy the Degree they were to hold And because these Priests dwelt in the Houses of Persons of Quality they were called their Priests Pag. 121. and 't was said the Priest of such a Lord the which Pope Nicholas the Ist could not suffer as appears by the Chronicle of Hugh of Flavigny contained in the 1st Volume of the Library of Father Labbe imprinted at Paris Ann. 1657. there is in the 6th Tome of the Councils divers Canons of a Synod which as some think was assembled at Pavia in the Year 850. in the 18th of which the Priests whereof we speak are called Acephales Pag. 444. and those which have them in their Families are warn'd not to entertain any but such as have been examin'd by the Bishops Pope Vrban the IId in the 9th Canon of the Council which he held at Melphes Tom. 7. Conc. p. 504. in the Year 1090. says near hand the same thing and makes such another Decree XXII It shall not be lawful for a Minister to leave his Flock without leave of the Colloque or Provincial Synod of the Church to the which he was given CONFORMITY This Rule is very judicious to hinder Ministers from leaving their Flocks slightly and without permission of those which have power to dispose of their Ministry this is agreeable to the 3d Canon of the Council of Antioch in the Year 341. which forbids Priests and Deacons and all those of the Clergy to abandon their Churches to go unto others suspending from the Ministry those that do so especially if after being warn'd by their Bishops they do not speedily return to the Churches which they left and deposing without any hope of restoration those which shall persevere in their Disobedience with menaces to the Bishops which shall receive them to be censur'd by the Synod according to their Merit or as the Council of Calcedon will have it be excommunicated with the Desertors Can. 10 20. until such time as they return to their Churches Add also to this the 23d of the same Council with the 18th and 13th of Ancyra XXIII The Deserters of the Ministry shall be Excommunicated by the Provincial Synod if they do not repent and re-assume the Office God has committed to them CONFORMITY The Council of Sevill in the Year 619. Can. 3. for some time Exiles the Deserter into a Monastry after having degraded him of the Honour and Degree of a Minister but without taking away from him all hope of being restor'd after a punishment proportion'd to his Fault to the end by this means to restrain the Libertinism of Deserters Gratian cites this Canon in his Decret cap. 21. q. 2. Placuit ut si XXIV Ministers shall not be Vagabonds and shall not have liberty of their own free Authority to intrude themselves where they please CONFORMITY The Council of Ancyra in the Year 314. made a Decree which was very conformable to this of our Discipline If those which have been orduin'd Bishops saith he Can. 18. are not receiv'd into the Churches for which they have been named and that nevertheless they endeavour to get into others and to offer violence to those that are duly establish'd and to stir up troubles against them let such be depos'd but if they will continue in the Presbytery wherein they were formerly Priests let them not lose the honour of Episcopacy whereas if they stir up Seditions against those which are setled Bishops 't is sit they should be depriv'd of the honour of the Preshytery Tom. 1. Conc Gal. p. 126. Câ—n. 11. and intirelâ—d pos'd The Ist Council of Tâ—â—rs assembled Ann 46. requires that he be excommunicated from the Clergy which forsakes his Church without the Bishops permission to settle himself in any other place Ibid. p. 138. c. 5. That of Reimes orders almost the very same thing again Church-Vagabonds in the year 465. In the Council of Valentia in Spain assembled Ann. 524. the like Edict was made against inconstant and wandring Clerks Can. 5. Tom. 3. Conc. pag. 820. See Synesius on the 22d Article in his 67th Epistle how he declaims against these wandring Clergy-men whether they be Bishops or others and judges it is not fit they should have any publick mark of Honour amongst the Clergy nor admission into any other Churches to oblige them to return to their own XXV The Minister of one Church cannot preach in another without first obtaining leave of the Minister of it unless in case of his absence in which case it must be the Consistory must give him leave and if the Flock be disperst by reason of persecution or other trouble the Foreign Minister shall endeavour to assemble the Deacons and Elders which if he cannot do he shall nevertheless be permitted to preach to reunite the Flock CONFORMITY We formerly observ'd on the 18th Article that a Bishop had no power to undertake any thing without his Diocess within the compass whereof he was oblig'd to limit all the Functions of his Ministry and we proved it by sundry Canons needless here to be repeated it shall suffice to add unto them the 20th Canon of the VIth Oecumenical Council which is yet more formal than any of the rest to the matter now in question see here in what sort the Fathers have laid it down That it be not permitted for a Bishop to preach publickly in any City which is not
neighbouring Churches shall join together that at least there might be a maintenance for each Colloque and that rather than fail the 5th Penny of the Alms-money be set apart for this use if it may be conveniently done CONFORMITY It appears by the 14th Canon of the Synod of Epaum Assembled in the Year 517 That it was practis'd at that time just as our Discipline prescribes for it appoints to him of the Clergy that shall have received any Gratification and Present from the liberality of the Church wherein he liv'd that he should return it back again if he be advanced to be Bishop of another Church it appears to me this cannot be understood but of the assistance was given him during the time of his studies seeing that from the very moment any one entred into the Service of a Church he was to have his support and maintenance from it It was in this regard Theodolphus Bishop of Orleans permitted the Priests of his Diocess in the Year 797. to send their Nephews or some of their Relations unto the School he names which they shall like best there to be Taught and Educated There 's something like this in the Seminaries which the 2d Council of Toledo as 't were founded in the Year 530. and the 4th of the same place An. 633. Can. 23 or 24. Tom. 4. Conc. Page 588. Not so much as the Council of Trent but made a Decree in the 29th Session Anno 1563. for the Establishing these Seminaries Tom. 9. Conc. Page 409. cap. 18. V. In each Church there shall be appointed Propositions of the Word of God amongst the Scholars according as the convenience of the place and persons shall permit where the Pastors shall be present as well to preside as to direct and help the said Students CONFORMITY The Exercises here prescrib'd have no other scope but to fit and prepare Students in Divinity for Preaching and to put them in a condition to Preach the Gospel to Edification with profit which agrees very well with the Establishments of the Synods of Chalons and Meaux which we cited on the first Article CHAP. III. Of ELDERS and DEACONS ARTICLE I. IN those places where the Order of Discipline is not yet Established the Election as well of Elders as of Deacons shall be made as well by the common voice of the People as of the Ministers but where the Discipline is already established it shall pertain to the Consistory with the Pastors to make choice of the fittest Persons by ardent Prayers to that effect And the Parties shall be expresly nominated publickly in the Consistory and to those which shall be chosen the Office shall be read to the end they may know the business they are to be employed in If they consent to it they shall afterwards be nominated to the People two or three Sundays that so the consent of the People may also intervene and if there be no opposition the third Sunday they shall be publickly admitted by solemn Prayers they standing before the Pulpit and so shall be setled in their Office subscribing the Confession of Faith and the Ecclesiastical Discipline but if there be opposition the Matter shall be decided in Consistory and if it cannot be there determin'd the whole shall be transmitted to a Colloque or Provincial Synod CONFORMITY Having treated of Ministers and the Schools where they ought to study to attain to the Office of the Holy Ministry it follows in order to speak of those which partake with them of the care in Governing the Flock That is of Deacons and Elders which amongst us are Secular persons serving in the Church and distinguished from Ministers or to speak with the Fathers from the Clergy it is then of these two sorts of Persons and of their Election that I am to treat in examining this Article according to the design and intention of the Compilers of our Discipline I 'll begin with the Deacons which as every body knows are of Apostolical institution In effect we find in the 6th Chapter of the Acts That the Apostles giving themselves up wholly to the Preaching of the Gospel they desir'd the Church of Jerusalem to chuse out certain persons of good repute for Wisdom and Piety that they might commit unto them the care of the Poor which they express by serving of Tables that by this means they might the more conveniently attend to Prayer and Preaching of the Word St. Chrysostom observes on this place that this was the first establishing of Deacons the very name not being till then known that is in the Christian Church as for the Jewish Church they had their Deacons as Epiphanius writes in the Heresie of the Ebeonites which is the 30th they were called Azanites and thence probably 't was that the Apostles took the Original of Christian Deacons and they called them so because they served at Tables and at the distributing of Money to the Poor It was to that time those which followed St. Chrysostom and wrote of the first institution of Deacons writing on the Acts of the Apostles as Beda and Orcumenius have refer'd it As for Lay-Elders such as ours be I do not find their institution in Scripture as that of the Deacons is found as for the Elders of the Christian Churches whereof there is mention made in several places in the New-Testament I am fully persuaded that by them is to be understood Pastors themselves which were called indifferently Elders or Priests and Bishops I do not except that famous passage chap. 5. vers 17. of the 1st Ep. to Timothy It is certain that these Elders were all of the same Order that is to say They were all Pastors but because there were several in the same Church and that some were sitter for Preaching the Word than others they gave them different employments according to the diversity of Gifts in my judgment there needs no other proof of this Truth than the right of Precedency which St. Paul attributes indifferently to all which he would not have done had they not been all of one Order the Greek word also which he uses ordinarily imports a precedency which is due only to Pastors which the Ancients frequently design by this name particularly Justin Martyr But notwithstanding this I make no question but the Original of our Elders is very Ancient and that it approaches very near to the Apostles days if they be not rather themselves the Founders of them and what confirms me in this Opinion is that they establish'd in the Church a Government like that of the Synagogue a Christian Presbytery instead of a Jewish one and as there were Elders amongst the Jews which had share in Governing the Synagogue it is very probable that there were also Elders amongst the Christians People which had part in that of the Church if not at the very first birth of Christianity at least there was as soon as the number of them was increased in so great a manner for then it was
we Examine That of Charanton I say in the year 1623. enjoins Exactly to Examine as well the Attestations as those which have them to have from their own mouth testimony of their Religion and Instruction As for the Order our Discipline prescribes to give and renew from Church to Church the Recommendatory Letters it is the same in substance of that establish'd by the Synod of Sardis An. Dom. 347. in the 8 9 10 and 11. Canons and particularly in the last where it appoints Bishops which are on the way to Examine these Letters of Recommendation and to ask of those which have them the Cause and Reason of their Travelling or to subscribe their Letters if they are just and to refuse them Communion if they have fraudulently got them CHAP. V. Of CONSISTORIES ARTICLE I. IN each Church there shall be a Consistory compos'd of persons which shall have the conduct of it to wit of Pastors and Elders and the Ministers in this company are to preside as also in all other Ecclesiastical Assemblies CONFORMITY From the very first Establishing of Christian Churches there was in each of them a certain number of Persons to whom the Government of it was committed and who were distinguish'd from the rest of the People by the Offices which they Exercis'd and by the choice which had been made of them for supervising the whole Flock and 't is what we call Consistory Origen calls it the Ecclesiastical Senate and makes it parallel with the Politick Senate of each City to shew that the Ecclesiastical Senate very much surpasses the other being compos'd of Persons of more virtue and knowledg than those which are Members of Politick Senates in Cities The Ecclesiastical Senate or Consistory is compos'd amongst us of Ministers and Elders and it ought not to be thought strange that we joyn Elders with the Ministers after all we have said on the 3d Chapter particularly on the 1st Article where we have at large prov'd that the Elders have had share for several Centuries in the Government of the Churches and that they in all likelihood would have still continued if the ambition of Bishops and their Clergy had not insensibly abolish'd this laudable practise The Deacon Hillary as has been shewn complained of it in his time But altho' the Elders partake with the Ministers in Governing the Flocks yet the right of precedency appertains to the Ministers therefore in these testimonies we have alledged to prove that the Church has had great advantage in the first Ages of Lay-Elders like ours they are for the most part named after the Clergy II. As for Deacons seeing the Churches for the necessity of the times hath to this day happily employed them in Governing the Church as Exercising also the Office of Elders those which hereafter shall chuse such or continue them they shall with the Pastors and Elders bear a part in the Governing the Church and therefore shall frequently be with them in the Consistory yea even at the Colloques and Synods if they are thither sent by the Consistories CONFORMITY The care of the Poor making one of the most considerable parts of the Church-Government it is with great reason we therein admit the Deacons because they were properly instituted to attend on this thing as has been above proved at large III. In places where the Exercise of Religion is not setled Christians shall be exhorted by the Colloques to have Elders and Deacons and to follow the Ecclesiastical Discipline and at the said Colloques they shall be inform'd to what Church to joyn themselves for their convenience and exercise of their Ministry from whence also they may not depart without communicating it also to the said Colloques CONFORMITY In the places where there is no publick exercise of our Religion although there are a considerable number of Families which profess it care must be taken they do not live without Discipline and to this purpose there must be Establish'd amongst them Deacons and Elders to take care of the Poor and to watch over the Life and Conversation of private persons whereof they shall give account at the Church-Consistory to the which they shall be joyn'd for the publick Exercises of Piety and the Service of God and there 's no question to be made but something of this Nature was done in the Primitive Church Apolog. p. 98. for instance in the days of St. Justin Martyr that they Assembled from the Country and Cities unto one place which sheweth plainly these Assemblies were not made every where although according to all appearance there was in all places one and the same Order for the conduct of Christians to the end they should do nothing unworthy the holiness of their Profession IV. There shall be but one Consistory in each Church and it shall not be permitted to Establish other Council for any Church-business whatever If in any Church there shall any other Council be established different from the Consistory it shall forthwith be suppress'd Nevertheless the Consistory can sometimes call to its aid such of the Church as shall be thought convenient when occasion requires and that Ecclesiastical matters be treated of only in the place where the Consistory doth Assemble CONFORMITY There was not anciently in each Christian Church any more than one Ecclesiastical Senate as we have heard by Origen and this Senate was not properly any thing else but what we call Consistory which is a company of Persons which the Church does invest with her Rights and Power to Govern the Flock V. It is in the Power of the Consistory to admit of Father and Son or of two Brothers in the same Consistory unless there was some other reason to the contrary of which the Colloque or Provincial Synod shall take cognizance CONFORMITY The Church being the Spouse of Jesus Christ and by consequence the Mistress of all the Power and of all the Ecclesiastical Authority which resides in Her as in its Fountain and in the Consistories as in Societies which she establishes for the use and exercise of this Power She may then have authoris'd the Ecclesiastical Senate and the Consistory to admit into its Body the Father and Son or two Brothers provided they are agreeable to the Church which has in general given this Power to the Consistory VI. It is also refer'd to the discretion of Consistories to call unto them young Students although they have no Office in the Church but not without weighty causes and considerations and when their Wisdom is known the said Students shall be there present not to have any voice in what Affairs shall be debated but that by their presence there they may the sooner become fit and proper to Govern the Church when it shall please God lawfully to call them thereunto Nevertheless it shall be at the Pastor's free choice to demand their Judgment to make tryal of their abilities which shall be done with great prudence and caution and promise not to make
be injustice to refuse it to the Christian Church seeing also Jesus Christ her Head and Spouse has commanded us in his Gospel to look on him that refuses to hear the Church as a Pagan and Heathen that is to say Matt. 18.17 he will that he be cast out of the Church or that he be Excommunicated which amounts all to one thing St. Paul has expressed this action by delivering over to Satan 1 Cor. 5.5 1 Tim. 1.20 unless one will say that there was something more in St. Paul's Excommunication than in that designed by Jesus Christ in the Gospel However it be the Governours of Churches strengthned by the command of the Lord Jesus and by the Example of his Apostles have always Exercised this Ecclesiastical power against enormous and scandalous sins Tertullian and Origen have shewn on the fifteenth Article That it was the practise of their times which is also verified by the places I have cited out of the same Origen on the precedent Article and by another of Tertullian's who writes in his Book of Pudicity Chap 4. that these sinners should be driven away from the Inclosure of the Church and the place of the Assembly and this was the great and true Excommunication whereas the other was only a privation from the Sacraments To these two Witnesses we may joyn St. Cyprian Contemporary with Origen who very often in his Epistles makes mention of this Censure Ep. 28.38 55 62 of the last Edit when he speaks of removing from the Communion of not Communicating with some one to banish and to cast out of the Church to condemn by the mouth of the Pastor to kill with the Spiritual Sword And other Expressions he uses to declare the same thing The tenth of the Canons attributed to the Apostles does not suffer us to be ignorant of this ancient Discipline Seeing he Excommunicates him that prays with an Excommunicated person in the House only I 'le inlarge no farther seeing one must make a Volume if one would collect all the Canons and Testimonies of the Fathers which treat of Excommunication and more also should one treat of the History of Interdiction which Popes to render their Power more formidable have sent abroad in these last Ages contrary to the use and practise of the Primitive Church to which they were utterly unknown As for the Order which is to be followed according to our Discipline before debarring a sinner from the Communion of the Church besides that it is grounded on the Laws and Precepts of Charity it is also conformaable to the practise of the Primitive Christians Hom. in Jos Tom. 1. p. 185. who by Origen's report reproved and warned the guilty three several times before they came to this last Extremity Thence it is also the same method was observed when there was any mention of deposing an Ecclesiastical Person because in sundry occasions the same faults which deserved Deposition of a Church-man was punished with Excommunication in a Secular as appears by divers Canons particularly by the sixth and seventh of the first Oecumenical Council of Ephesus where we find these words If they are Bishops See the Can. 8 17. of the Counc of Calced or others of the Clergy which are deposed the Bishops from Episcopacy the others from the degree they-held in the Clergy from whence they are quite excluded but if they are Lay persons let them be Excommunicated And we have made appear on the 49th Artic. of Chap. 1. that a Bishop was cited three times or any other Ecclesiastical person before proceeding to his deposing I don't insist on the form of Excommunication repeated after the Article on which I have made the necessary remarks because 't is in the liberty of the Church in such like occasions to make use of what terms it shall judge most fitting provided that in the main it don't depart from the bounds which the Gospel does prescribe nor from the Example of the Holy Apostles Neither do we see that in the Primitive Church they were confined to the use of a sorm of words when any one was Excommunicated those which condemned Sinners to that punishment having been always Masters of the form and manner of Excommunication which is always the same in substance what variety soever there may be in the form wherein it is conceived XVII For the future all Sentences of Excommunication confirmed by the Provincial Synod shall continue firm as also all Sentences of Suspension from the Lords Supper given by the Consistory the which not being published to the People shall hold good altho the party suspended appealed to the Colloque or Provincial Synod CONFORMITY There 's nothing in this Article but what is very conformable to the ancient Discipline according to which each Church had power to inflict throughout the whole extent of its Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction the necessary punishments and Censures against all sorts of offences so that when a Bishop had Excommunicated any one none but the Synod of the Province could take off the Excommunication as there was none but the Synod of the whole Diocess which comprehended several Provinces which could reverse the Sentence of a Provincial Synod Therefore 't is that the Sixth Canon of the first Oecumenical Council of Constantinople the 9. and 17. of that of Chalcedon suffers to appeal from the Bishop to the Provincial Synod and from the Provincial to that of the whole Diocess of which we have a resemblance in our National Synods XIX Those which have deserted the profession of the True Religion to embrace Idolatry if they persist in this Apostacy after means used to return them to the flock they shall publickly be declared Apostates to wit those who lately shall turn to be such unless the Consistory shall think such a publication to cause some notable damage and prejudice to the Church in which case nothing shall be done but by advice of the Provincial Synod As for those which of a long time shall be revolted the execution of this publication is refer'd to the discretion of Consistories CONFORMITY In the Primitive Church Idolatry and Apostacy were in several places excluded from pardon and absolution Tom. 1. Conc. p. 232 236. Tom. 1. Conc. Gall. p. 8. during the two first Centuries of Christianity as is made appear by the first and 46. Canons of the Council of Eliberi assembled Anno Dom. 305. and by the last of the first Council of Arles in the year 314 but it also appears by these same Canons that bare Apostacy was not without hope of being pardoned by the Church but only when it was accompanied with Idolatry which the ancient Christians looked upon as the blackest of all crimes Paran ad Poen Tom. 3. Bib. Pat. pag. 71. and the most heinous of all sins But the great Council of Nice removed this difference in the 11th Canon and made them all hope to find absolution in a certain time as well Idolaters as meer Apostates
left off as he doth testifie in his 80 Letter It may be thought that the Synod of Ries in Province had given some slight endeavour to the first practice Tom conc Gal. p. 69. Ibid. p. 74. in the year 439 when it confirms it in the Eighth Cannon but under condition that times were quiet That of Orange explains it self fuller in the year 441 Cannon 29 saying it was difficult to assemble twice a year by reason of sad and difficult times The Second thing I mean to observe is Ibid. p. 173. Ib. p. 268 284. That the Synod of Agde in Languedock made a Decree in the 71 Cannon by which it reduces these Synodal Assemblies to hold once a year and it declares in the same Cannon which is of the year 506 that it does so according to the constitution of the Fathers having respect it may 〈◊〉 to the Cannons of Orange and Ries but just now cite The 37 of the 4 of Orleans of the year 541 the 23 an◠〈◊〉 of the year 549 on the same with that of Agde 〈◊〉 â—he 18 of the 3 of Tolledo alleges for a reason in the 〈◊〉 589 the length of the way and poverty of the Churches To. 4 Conc. pa. 505 506. II. Ministers shall bring along with them one or two Elders at the most chosen by the Consistory and the said Ministers and Elders shall shew their Deputations If a Minister comes alone no heed shall be taken of the Certificates he brings along with him no more than there shall be of those an Elder shall produce if he comes alone without a Pastor which Rule shall be of force in all Ecclesiastical Assemblies If they cannot come they shall make their excuse by Letters of the which the Brethren there present shall be Judges and shall send their Memoirs signed by a Pastor and an Elder Those who shall fail of being present at Colloques and at Provincial Synods without lawful Excuse shall be sensur'd and the said Colloques and Provincial Synods may finally judge their Cause and dispose of their Persons CONFORMITY There are in this Establishment several things to be consider'd in the first place the deputing of our Elders with the Pastors to Synods which is very agreeable to the practice of the Antient Church which admitted the Layity into their Synods after the Example of the Apostles who in the Synod of Jerusalem make mention of the Church in distinguishing it not only from themselves but also from ordinary Persons which they design by the term of Elders Acts 15.22 to shew that by the Church they meant the faithful People which assisted at that Holy Assembly according to which the Fathers in the Council of Antioch distinguishes also the Churches of God Aâ—d Euseb l. â— c. 30. from Bishops Priests and Deacons in the Letter wrote to Dennis Bishop of Rome to Maximus Bishop of Alexandria and to all the Churches to inform them of the deposing of this Arch Heretick not that 't is necessary to think that the intire Churches assisted at this Council which was assembled from sundry Provinces but they assisted by some of their Body which represented them that is by some of the Body of the People But to say something more to the purpose I have shewn on the First Article of the Third chap. by Authority of Fermillian and of the African Code that the Elders such as ours were deputed to Synods with the Pastors against whom they sometimes pleaded the right of the People which deputed them The Second thing I observe on this Article is that the Deputies to Synods are obliged to be present there or to excuse themselves by Letter And if their Excuse be not sufficient they are sensur'd as shall be thought fit in the Colloques and in the Provincial Synods which have power to judge definitively of their Excuses and to dispose of their Persons which also is according to the practice of the Primitive Christians the Fortieth Cannon of the Council of Laodicea is conceiv'd in these terms The Bishops which are called to a Synod must not neglect to go thither and if any one does neglect he will condemn himself unless some Sickness doth hinder him The 19th of Calcedon requires that one should reprove in a brotherly way those which fail of coming although they are in good health and that they are hindred by any extraordinary business which might not be deferr'd In France no other Excuse will be admitted but that of Sickness as appears by a great many Cannons and amongst others by that of the First of Epaume by the 1 of the 2 of Orleans by the 80 Letter of Auitus Bishop of Vienna and by several other Decrees which I forbear to cite The Council of Agde in the 35 Cannon joyns to Sickness some command of the King next to which it deprives from the Communion of the Church till the next Synod those which have failed to be present at the former and as it deprives them for that time from the Communion of the Church it also deprives them from the Charity of their Brethren that is from the other Bishops to which the Council of Tarragona in the year 517 reduces in the VI. Cannon all the punishment of those Bishops which neglect to be present at the Synods where they have been called by the Metropolitans and excuses none but them which are hindred by Sickness The 15 of the 11 of Toledo assembled Anno 575 Excommunicates them for one year if they are not hinder'd by some Sickness or by some inevitable necessity the 76 of the African Code wills That they should be content with the Communion of their Church the V. Cannon of the Council of Merrida of which I will speak on the 10 Article of the IX chap. excuses those who are hindred by Sickness or by Order of the Prince As to what our Discipline saith That if the Pastor comes alone no heed shall be taken of the Memorials he shall bring nor of those the Elder brings if he comes without the Minister it agrees not ill with what we read in the 100 Cannon of the African Code where a Bishop complains of his Church but because the Elders the Church had deputed to defend its cause against the Bishop did not appear the Council referr'd the Judgment of this Affair to a certain Number of Bishops whereof some were nominated by the Bishop which was dissatisfied with his Flock and the rest were left to be named by the Elders although absent As for the Memorials whereof mention is made in this Article more may be seen of it in what I shall say on the Third Article of the Ninth Chapter III. Those Churches which have several Ministers shall depute them by turns to Colloques and Synods CONFORMITY This Article is grounded on that That Ministers may not pretend any Authority one over the other as I have made appear on the Sixteenth Article of the First Chapter and having no Power one
Name for the favour thy good hand has vouchsafed to shed abroad on this thy Servant who was in the most profound darkness of the shadows of Death when thou didst illuminate him causing to shine on him the saving and quickning Light of the Day Star from on high drawing him from a deplorable hardness to soften his heart and freeing him from the bands of Death to restore him to Life as Lord thou hast taken away the vail which was on his heart calling him to confess the only true God and him whom thou hast sent Jesus Christ and hast at this time inspired him with courage to make publick Confession of thy most Holy Faith and of the hope thou hast caused to spring in his Soul enabling him to present himself in thy sight to receive Holy Baptisme the Seal of thy Covenant pledge of the remission of sins and Symbole of our entrance into thy House by Spiritual Regeneration Look Lord more and more on him with the eye of thy favour forgiving all his sins sprinkling his Soul with the precious Blood of the Lamb without spot which taketh away the sins of the Woold and making him feel the powerful vertue of its propitiation let thy Spirit sanctifie and make him a new Creature to the end that dying to sin he may live unto Righteousness and laying aside the Old Man with its Lusts he may put on the New Man which is renewed in Righteousness and true Holiness And as we are about to pour on his head the water of thy Sacrament shed forth on him the Gifts and Graces of thy Holy Spirit receiving him into the number of thy Servants and honouring him with the Adoption of thy Children Enable him to offer unto thee during the whole course of his Life the Obedience and Religious Service which is due unto thee and for ever to persevere in thy Holy Covenant to the end that as now in thy Name we receive him into the Communion of thy Church Militant thou wilt vouchsafe one day to receive him into thy Church Triumphant and gather him for ever into the Assembly of the First born whose Names are written in Heaven Hear us O Father of all Mercies to the end the Baptisme we confer upon him according to thine Ordinance may produce its Fruit and Vertue as 't is revealed to us in thy Holy Gospel in thy Son our Saviour Jesus Christ who has commanded us to pray unto thee and say Our Father which art in Heaven c. Speaking to those who present the Catecuminy the Minister shall say to them Quest As you have been charitably imployed in the Teaching and Instructing our Brother and are Witnesses of the Baptisme he is to receive at this present by our Ministry Do you not promise in the presence of God and this Holy Assembly to continue more and more to strengthen him in the Faith and exhort him to good Works Answ Yes This being done speaking to the Catecumeny which waits kneeling to receive Baptisme powing the Water on his head the Minister shall say Having seen the Testimonies of your Faith N. I Baptise you in the Name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost Amen CONFORMITY There is nothing in all this formulary as large as it is which is not found in substance in what we have remaining of the Catechisms of the Antient Doctors of the Church and in what was practis'd towards those to whom Baptisme was to be conferr'd and because most part of those which converted themselves to the Christian Faith turn'd from Paganisme where they had learn'd to believe and serve several Gods the first step they were made go in the way of Salvation was to make them renounce this Diabolical Doctrine afterwards to believe and be throughly perswaded that there is but one True God which has made Heaven and Earth that supports all things by his Almighty Word who gives us our Life Being and Motion who never left himself without Witness and has manifested himself to Men not only by his Works but also by Revelation of his Will contained in the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament Tom. 1. pag. 93. The first act of Faith of the Catecumeny's saith St. Cyril of Alexandria in the third Book of Adoring in Spirit and Truth is to depart from the belief and opinion touching the plurality of Gods and to imbrace him who is the only true God by Nature Theodolphus Bishop of Orleans in a Treatise he made of the Order which is to be observ'd in the administration of Baptism establishes near hand the same practise when he writes in chap. 2. that the first instruction which is given to Catechumenies is that there is one true God to the end that leaving the worship of the creature they should Consecrate themselves to the Worship of God the Creator It 's true that when 't was a Jewish Proselite he was obliged before Baptisme to renounce particularly all legal Ceremonies to the Ancient Material and Typical Worship to the Jewish Washings and Purifications to their Feasts their New Moons and Sabbaths and generally to all that pertained to the Synagogue especially to the false Messias they yet expect and will never come Moreover they were to make open profession to believe in God the Father Son and Holy Ghost Holy Consubstantial and individual Trinity that they should admit of the Incarnation of the Eternal Word Jesus Christ our Saviour in confessing he is come into the World and that he is made Man but not ceasing to be God the Holy Virgin having brought him forth after the Flesh and by this means being become the Mother of God It is after this manner they proceeded with the Jewish Proselites Pag. 344. Par. 1647 as we find by a Catechism in the Ritual of the Greeks which in substance answers to what 's prescrib'd in our Discipline But if it was a Mahumetan that imbraced the Christian Religion the first thing that was requir'd of him was to Anathematise Mahomet his Sectators his Successors his lying Alcoran full of Impostures and Dreams especially in what regards our Saviour Jesus Christ in a Word all the impieties which depend of the Carnal Religion of this infamous Impostor of the East which being done this Proselite made this Declaration I now adhere to Jesus Christ the only true God I believe in the Father the Son and the holy Ghost holy indivisible and consubstantial Trinity I believe the Mistery of the Incarnation and the coming into the World of one of the holy Trinity that is of the Word and only begotten Son of God who was begotten of the Father before the World began by whom all things were made and I am perswaded he is true Man without being divested of his Divinity for he is true God and true Man without confusion without conversion and without alteration with two Natures in one sole Person I confess also he suffered all things voluntarily that he was crucified
according to the Flesh the Divinity remaining impassible that he was buried that he rose again the third day that he ascended into Heaven and that he will come in glory to Judge the quick and the dead to conclude I confess and believe that the holy Virgin is preperly and truly Mother and the Mother of a God which made himself Man Those who desire to be more fully informed of what I have now discoursed may Read the formulary of Nicetas whereof I have made mention on the 3 article of this chapter and in the place I marked After all 't is most certain the Catechumeny were instructed on all the articles of the Symbol which comprehend the principal points of Christianity and the essential and capital points of Religion the Catechisms of St. Cyrill of Jerusalem shew so much seeing he there Explains all those saving truths which those ought to know which fitted themselves to receive holy Baptism in effect they often heard mention made of God the Father and the Work of Creation with the Titles of Father of Almighty and of Creator which are given to him of Jesus Christ and of the work of Redemption with his quality of only begotten Son of God of the Holy Ghost and the Work of Sanctification they were taught there were three Persons in Unity of One and the same Essence that the second Person of the Trinity took on him our Nature in the Womb of the Virgin Mary by the Operation of the Holy Ghost to the end he might dye and by his death make Expiation for our Sins fully satisfie his Fathers Justice for us appease his Wrath and restore us into his Favour They often heard mention made of his Person of his two Natures Divine and Humane of his Imployments and Offices of the Misteries of his Incarnation the Wonders of his Birth the Holiness of his Life the Glory of his Miracles the meanness of his Cross the shame of his Sufferings the power of his Resurrection and the Glory of his Ascension and of his Triumph thence they proceeded to the Explication of the Article of the Holy Ghost whose Divinity and Operations were established Jesus Christ having sent Him from Heaven on the Apostles for the establishing his Kingdom and for Illuminating and Sanctifying those which he was effectually to call to the Communion of his Gospel To conclude they were made understand the Nature of the Holy Church which was to beget them anew unto God of the Graces he bestows on it in this Life and of the Glory he prepares for it in that which is to come All these thing are at large treated of in the Catechisms of S. Cyril which I have cited and they are seen more succinctly in the 7 chapter of the little Treatise of Theodulphus of whom I have also spake and in that of Amalarius Arch-Bishop of Treves Pag. 1151 Par. 1617 dedicated to Charlemain in the works of Alcuin Besides it must not be thought that in the ancient Church they satisfied themselves with explaining to the Catechumenies the things which I but now touched it was also necessary they should give an account in answering the questions put to them on each article according to which Eusebius makes mention in his Ecclesiastical History of a man Lib. 7. c. 9. which had assisted at the Baptism of those which had been newly Baptised and he said he heard their Questions and Answers St. Cyprian in his 70 Epistle speaks also of this custom when he saith the Question it self made at Baptism is witness of the Truth Firmillian Bishop of Cesaria in Cappadocia teaches us the same thing when speaking of a woman which boasted to be a Prophetess he saith that to give the more colour to her Delusions Apad Cypri Ep. 75. pag. 147. She Baptised several persons using the usual words which were wont to be implyed in the Interrogations to the end her Baptism should not seem to differ in any thing from the Ecclesiastical Rule seeing that neither the Symbol of the Trinity nor the usual and Ecclesiastical Interrogations was omitted by her It is to which doubtless the first Council of Arles had regard Tom. 1. conc Gal. pag. 6. when in the year 314 it appointed in the 8th of it's Cannons not to re-baptise Hereticks if after Examining them on the Creed one found that they had been Baptised in the Name of the Father of the Son and of the Holy Ghost but only those amongst them who being interrogated answered not this Trinity that is to say to the questions made them touching the Trinity of Persons and unity of their Essence St. Pag. 86. Par 1631 Cyril of Jerusalem has not forgot this Circumstance in his two Mystagogical Catechisms no more than Optatus of Mileua in his 5th Book against Parmenian nor St. Jerom in the 5th Chapter of his Dialogue against the Luciferians nor St. Austin in the 20th Chapter of the 5th Book against the Donatists and he even tells us in his 23th Epist to Bonifacius that when Little Children were Baptised those which presented them answered for them to all the Interrogations which were made and the Author of the Book of Ecclesiastical Dogma's in the Appendix of the 3d. Tome of his Works establishes the same Custom in the 52 Chap. The Author of the Book of Sacraments in the 4th Vol. of the Works of St. Ambrose also observes this Custom in the 7th Chap. of the 2d Book And a great while before Tertullian in the 3d. Chap. of the Book of the Crown had made mention of the Answers of those which were Baptised therefore he could have wished they had deferr'd the Baptism of Children until they were in a state of being able to give an account of their Faith which opinion St. Gregory of Nazianzen seemed also to approve In the book of Sacraments of Gregory I. Pag. 73. it is demanded of the Party to be baptised Do you believe in God the Father Almighty maker of Heaven and Earth He answers I do believe Do you believe in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord which was born and suffered I do believe Do you also believe in the Holy Ghost do you believe the holy Catholick Church the Communion of Saints the forgiveness of Sins the Resurrection of the Body and the Life Everlasting I do believe Do you desire to be Baptised I do Somthing to this purpose is to be read in the book of Sacraments whereof I made mention in the foregoing Section and in the place I noted Besides there 's great probability that St. Peter made Allusion to this practice when he said in the 3d. Chap. of his first Epistle that the Baptism whereby we are saved is not that whereby the filthiness of the Flesh is washed but the witness of a good Conscience in the sight of God the Resurrection of Jesus Christ The Greek Word which we have translated Witness signifies properly Interrogation I add for a Conclusion of these
same thing The Third Council of Toledo made a like Decree Thirty Two years after the Synod of Paris and 't is still to be seen in the Fourth Volumne of the Councils and in the Tenth Cannon it is to what amounts the 358 chap. of VII Book of the Capitularies of Charlemain and Lewis the Debonnaire Photius Patriarch of Constantinople saies the same in the Fifth of his Letters taken out of an Ancient Eastern Manuscript there is not so much as the very cheat that has forg'd Two Decrees in the Name of Pope Evaristas pag. 391. but has in the first of them taught the same Doctrine and word for word as it is expressed in the Capitulary but now cited so that of necessity one must have borrowed it of the other It is easie to judge after all I have hitherto said Whether the Council of Trent does march in the steps of the Antient Tradition when in the 24th Session which is the Eighth under Pius the Fourth in the Year 1563 and in the First chap. of the Decree touching the Reformation of Marriage Tom. 9. Conc. p. 411. It anathematises those which affirm Marriages contracted by Children without consent of the Father and Mother are void and that the Father and Mother may break or ratifie them a Condemnation wherein Pope Celestin the First is concern'd if we believe what Gratian reports of him in the First Volume of the Councils cap. 4. p. 910. Whereas our Discipline adds That if Fathers and Mothers should be so unreasonable as not to consent to so holy and profitable a thing the Consistory may advise the I arties to have their recourse to the Magistrate it says nothing therein but what is agreeable to the Antient Practice as we find by the Letter of Photius pag. 392. which I mention'd for he declares that then the Judge may take cognizance of the Marriage and declare it lawful in preferring the protection of the Children and their lawful desire before the perverseness of Father and Mother II. As for those which are of Age and in possession of their own Rights they shall be warned by the Ministers and Publick Assemblies of the Church not to make any promise of Marriage but in presence of their Parents Relations Neighbours and good Friends and those which do otherwise shall be sensur'd of their lightness and slight of the said warning and 't were to be wished the said promises of Marriage were made with invocation on the Name of God CONFORMITY This Establishment was made to prevent Clandestine Marriages there are put into the First Volume of the Council some Decrees attributed by Gratian to Pope Celestine the First which in the 4th ordains that Parents of both Sexes should be present to witness the Marriage Paulinus Bishop of Aquilea in the Council he caused to assemble in a part of his Diocess called forum-Julii desires the Neighbours and chief of the place should be present at Contracts of Marriage to prevent the mischiefs may ensue by Clandestine Marriages The Council of Trent in the 24th Session which I mention'd on the other Article and in the same Decree of Reforming Marriages chap. 1. Will That it be done in presence of the Curate or some other Priest that supplies his place and of Two or Three Witnesses Which thing is renewed by Cardinal Borrome in the Fifth and Sixth Councils of Millan III. Believers which are of Age although they have been marryed yet shall so far honour their Father and Mother as not to conclude upon Marriage without first communicating it to them and for not so doing shall be sensur'd by the Consistory CONFORMITY We have already seen on the First Article That Children under Power of Father and Mother cannot lawfully contract Marriage without their consent In this there is mention of those which have already been marryed and who being desirous to marry a second time ought in civility to impart it to them St. Ambrose in the Ninth chap. of the First Book touching Abraham requires that the Widow Woman which intends to re-marry should refer to Father and Mother to make choice of the Person which she ought to marry Balzamon and Zonaras explaining the 42 Cannon of St. Basils second Canonical Epistle distinguishes Widows which are under the power of any Relation from those which depend only of themselves And for these last they pretend they are at liberty to marry to whom they please so it be in the Lord and according to the Laws and Cannons but as for the others they think they ought to have the consent of those under whose Tuition they are and who without it have right to dissolve the Marriage There is in the Third Tome of the Councils a Decree Attributed to some Council of Arles pag. 823. where there 's mention of the Marriage of Widows and of the consent of Fathers and Mothers IV. Fathers and Mothers making profession of the Reformed Religion whose Idolatrous Children would contract Marriage with Idolatrous Wifes shall be warn'd as much as possible to divert their Children from such Marriages and especially when they are not too hasty the Fathers shall imploy their Paternal Power to hinder them if they cannot prevail with them being present when contract marriage is passing they shall declare to have abhorrence of the Idolatry wherein their Children do more and more plunge themselves which being done the said Fathers may consent to the promises and conditions concerning the Portion and the like and shall represent in Consistory the endeavours they have used to prevent such marriages CONFORMITY We shall see on the Twentieth Article that it was prohibited to the Orthodox to marry with Persons of a contrary Religion unless they promised to imbrace the Orthodox Religion and that they should accomplish their promise before Marriage therefore the Fathers and Mothers could not consent to such Marriages but under the Conditions enjoyned by the Cannons It cannot then be said that our Discipline differs from that of the Antient Christians in the Matter which we Examin and the which shall receive farther Explanation from what shall be said on the Twentieth Article V. Henceforward shall be used in promises and Contracts of Marriage terms of the Future Tense and the said words shall not be esteemed so binding as words of the Present seeing words of the Present do not promise Marriage but does it in effect nevertheless these promises by words of the Future shall not be dissolved without great and lawful causes CONFORMITY Of all the Articles of our Discipline there has scarce any one been so often touched by the National Synods as this by reason of the difference which is found betwixt the Ancient and Modern way of Marrying for formerly the promises of Marriage were made by words of the Present and now they are made by words of the Future Tense according to the Laws of the Kingdom and the Establishment of this same Discipline I find nothing in the first Ages of the