first place resolved that a Synod should be held every Year and that the Emperor being present the Decrees of the Canons and the Rights of the Church should be renew'd and the Christian Religion be amended And how far the Design of this Canon was to extend may at large be seen in the Injunction made thereupon by the Emperour which we find in the Collection of the same Capitularies according to the Edition of Benedictus Levita pag. 823. Num. ii ibid. And now if from Germany we pass into France we shall there also meet with the like Practice It was the constant Method of Charles the Great in that Kingdom as well as in the Empire to preside over his Clergy Thus we see he did in most of those Synods whose Acts remain to Us And in an Antient MS. of St. Germains wherein the Canons of the Bishop of Langres are transcribed the first Chapter carries this Inscription Out of the Council of Bishops where Charles the Emperor Presided And Charles the Bald not only Sate in the Second Council of Soissons anno 853 but proposed to the Fathers what He desired they should debate about and oftentimes prescribed to their very Resolutions also From what has been said I may now I conceive take it for granted That the Prince has a Right either to preside over his Synods in Person Or if he rather thinks fit to appoint his Commissioner to do it in his stead The only difficulty will be to determine how far he may be accounted a Part of the Synod and be allow'd not only to Preside over it but also to Sit and Vote in it And 1st As I have observed that One great End of his Sitting there is to keep the publick Peace and to see that all things be Regularly and Quietly transacted by the Bishops and Clergy in them So it must also be allow'd that He has all that Power over Them that is necessary for the obtaining of this End He may therefore without Controversie Commend the Modest and Ingenuous Reprove the Factious May keep all to their proper Business and not suffer them to Wander into other Matters or pursue any other Method than what He has prescribed to Them And if any shall become so disorderly as to need it He may as the antient Emperors did not only commit such turbulent seditious Persons to safe Custody and punish them according to the Nature of their Offence but if need be may annul the Acts that were so tumultuously and irregularly done by Them 2dly In the Debates of every such Synod of whatever kind they be the Prince may freely join with the Synod and offer any Objections or propose any Difficulties He shall think fit in order to his being better convinced of the Truth of what is to be believed or of the Expediency of what is determined by it For Princes are Men of Reason and Capacity as well as Bishops and Priests And when a Matter is debated may be as capable of making a sound Judgment as any One that is there Assembled It has I know been speciously Objected against this that Princes have commonly Other things to do than to study Divinity to read Commentators Fathers Councils and the like Books which are the proper Subjects of the Clergies Meditations This indeed is true nor shall I go about to deny it But are they sure it is necessary that the Prince should have study'd all these Books to be able to make a sound Judgment of what may be alleged out of Them May not a Point be proposed and Scripture be Quoted and Antiquity Alleged and Learned Men canvas these Matters so long till a Stander by who is endued with a good Natural Judgment shall be able very evidently to discern on which side the Truth and Authority lies If not I am sure the Generality of Christians will be left under very hard Circumstances who must at last believe as the Church believes and pin their Faith upon the Authority of their Clergy and neither be alow'd to judge of the Grounds of it nor if once in an Error be capable of ever being convinced of it But if therefore it must be confess'd that an Argument may be managed by Learned Men in such wise as to convince those that are not Learned on which side the Truth lies then certainly the Prince may also be capable of discerning whether his Synod has Reason for their Definitions or not tho' He has not perhaps himself Read so much Divinity as to be able to enter into the Learned Part of the Debate with the Fathers of it Whether therefore it be a Matter of Faith or a Matter of Discipline I see no Reason why the Prince if he think fit may not only be present when the Synod debates about it but may not also enter into the Merits of the Cause with Them and propose his Doubts and manage his Arguments and do whatsoever is requisite to his full Information and Satisfaction Concerning it And having done this I add 3dly That as Charles the Emperor did in the Great Synod of Frankford so may Every Other Christian Prince if he please do still I mean may Vote with Them in such things as concern the Discipline of the Church Because in these both the Rights of the People and the Power of the Prince are for the most part very nearly concerned Whether the Prince may judicially concur with the Clergy in their Decisions in Matters of Faith I do not think it worth the while to dispute Thus much I dare confidently affirm That if He may not judge with them He not only may but must judge after them For as much as He is not only concern'd in Common with his Subjects to believe aright but as a Christian Prince ought to assert the Right Faith too And do what in Him lies to promote the belief and profession of it in his Dominions For give me leave thus far to anticipate what I shall presently have Occasion more particularly to Consider When the Synod has settled the Doctrine of Faith and framed as they conceive a just and Orthodox Confession of it Is it the Duty of the Prince to Receive and give Countenance to their Definition or is it not To say that it is not is to sink the Credit of such Meetings very low indeed and to make their Assembling of very little Consequence if when They have done all they can to fix the Doctrine of the Church neither the Prince has any Obligation to support their Definition nor the People to Receive it But if when the Synod has done and their Sentence is pass'd and perhaps their Anathema's too have been thunder'd out against all that shall presume to call their Decisions in Question the Prince is obliged to add his Sanction to their Definition Then I hope They will think it to be their Duty in order to his confirming their Decrees with a Good Conscience to convince him of
be first made Whether the Convocation has a Right to Meet and Act as often as the Parliament does § 1. The Method which this Author has taken to vindicate this supposed Right of the Convocation censured § 2. The Design of the following Treatise laid out § 3. CHAP. II. The first General Point proposed and the Method laid down for the handling of it In pursuance whereof a general Enquiry is first made What Power Christian Princes have always been allowed to exercise over their Ecclesiastical Synods or Convocations with respect both to the sitting of them to the managing of them when sat and to the Confirming or Annulling of their Acts after The first General Question proposed and the Method laid down for a full Resolution of it § 1. That Christian Princes have Authority over Ecclesiastical Persons and in Ecclesiastical Causes § 2. And that Particularly with reference to their Synods and Convocations § 3. Which I. Cannot meet without their Permission or against their Consent § 4. That the eight first General Councils were all call'd by the Emperors Authority § 5. So were all the lesser Synods held under the Roman Emperors § 6. The Gothish Princes in the Empire kept their Synods to the same Rule § 7. So did the Princes of the several Kingdoms which rose up out of the Ruins of it Of Spain § 8. Portugal § 9. Burgundy § 10. Germany § 11. France § 12. The Bishops and Clergy never opposed this or made any Complaints against it § 13. 1 Christian Princes have often call'd such Councils by their own Authority without the Advice of their Clergy and refus'd to do it when the Bishops have desir'd it § 14. Who 2 Being so refused have never pretended to meet in Council against their Will or asserted any Right so to do § 15. 3 No not in Provincial Councils for which they seem'd to have some Right on their side § 16. 4 That the Prince has a Right to determine the Time and Place of their meeting § 17. 5 And may direct what Persons shall be allow'd to come to them § 18. The first Point summ'd up § 19. II. Of the Princes Authority over Ecclesiastical Synods when they are met § 20. 1. He has a Right to prescribe to them What they shall debate about § 21. The Ground of this ibid. The several Methods that have been taken by them to do this § 22. The Practice of the Church in Confirmation hereof In the Roman Empire § 23. In other places § 24. 2. To determine in what Manner and Order they shall proceed in their Debates § 25. The Practice of the Roman Emperors in confirmation hereof § 26. 3. To sit with them and to preside over them So the Emperors did § 27. And so did the Princes who succeeded them in their several States § 28 c. How far the Prince thus presiding may act synodically with his Clergy § 31. III. Of the Authority of the Prince over these Conventions after they have ended what was to be done by them § 32. The Clergy cannot regularly break up their Synod without his leave § 33. Their Acts are of no Authority till confirm'd by him § 34. How far the Prince is at liberty to examine their Determinations to confirm annul or amend them § 35. What Power he has over their Judgments § 36. What over their Constitutions § 37. The whâ—lâ— applied to our own Case § 38. CHAP. III. Of the Authority which our own Kings have over their Convocations with respect both to their Meeting and Acting first and to the Confirming or Annulling their Acts after That our Princes ought of Right to have the same Authority over their Convocations as any other Princes have before been shewn to have § 1. I. That the Convocation cannot meet without the King 's Writ to empower them so to do § 2. The Judges Opinion to this purpose ibid. The Parliaments and Convocations § 3. The King has a Right to name the Time and Place of their Meeting § 4. As also to appoint what Persons shall come to it § 5. Being summon'd it lies in his Breast whether they shall sit or no. § 6. II. That being Met they have no Power to Act but by the King's Permission § 7. This also confirm'd by the Opinion of the Judges agreeably to the Act of the 25 Hen. 8. And farther proved from the Tenour of the Convocation-Writ § 8. The Form of which is the same now that antiently it was wont to be § 9. As also from the Commissions wont to be sent to them for that purpose § 10. Several Instances of which are offer'd § 11. From the judgment of the Convocation in the 1. Edw. VI. § 12. Of the Power of our Kings to sit with or to send Commissioners to their Convocations § 13. Whether the Convocation as a Court may proceed to judge any Cause without the King's Licence § 14. The Convocation did antiently judge of Heresie § 15. How it judged § 16. It is most probable that it cannot judg any person without the King's Leave § 17. It is certain the King may in a particular Case prohibit them so to do § 18. And Suspend or Annul their Sentence ib. III. Of the Authority which our Kings have over their Convocations after they have done what they were called for They cannot break up without the King's Licence § 19. His Authority requisite to confirm their Acts. § 20. How far and in what Cases He is empower'd to Confirm them ibid. The King has power not only to Review their Acts himself but to submit them to the Judgment of his Council § 21. The Practice of this proved to § 24. Whether he may Alter and Correct their Definitions ibid. From the whole an Answer is distinctly given to the first Question proposed § 25. CHAP. IV. In which the State of the Convocation is Historically deduced from the First Conversion of the Saxons to our own Times The Occasion of this Enquiry and the Method proposed to be observed in it § 1. 1. Period How the Affairs of the Church were transacted from the first Conversion of the Saxons to the Time of the Norman Conquest The Clergy summoned to Convocation after Two very different Manners By the Parliament Writ § 2. By the Provincial Writ § 3. The Foundation of this laid in these first times wherein the Clergy were members of the Civil Councils as well as of Ecclesiastical Synods § 4. Of the Nature of our Great Councils in these times and how Ecclesiastical Affairs were transacted in them § 5. Shewn from the like Councils in France Under Pepin § 6. Under Charles the Emperor § 7. Their manner of Debating § 8. Their Politie clear'd § 9. The Nature of our own Great Councils stated upon this Foundation § 10 11 12 Of the Ecclesiastical Synods of these Times Of what Persons they consisted By what Authority they were held § 13. A particular View taken of the principal
both the Time and Places of their Meeting and after what Manner they should proceed being Met. But 5thly And to conclude all That nothing may be wanting to shew what an entire dependance the Synods of the Christian Church have ever had upon their respective Princes I add That not only the Convening of them and the Time and Place of their Meeting depend upon their pleasure but that they have morever Authority to appoint what Persons shall come to them and to direct the Choice that is to be made of them Thus Constantine the Great did when he call'd the Synods of Arles and Tyre And thus his Successors continued to do in the most General Councils that were held by them When Theodosius had agreed to call the General Council of Ephesus He directed his Precept to the several Metropolitans and commanded them to choose such and so many of their Suffragans as they thought convenient to draw out of their Provinces and to bring them with them to the Council And the same Method was observ'd in the next Synod that met there The Emperror commanded Dioscorus to Summon ten Metropolitans of his District with such other Bishops as he thought convenient and that none else should presume to come to it And in another Letter upon the same Occasion the same Theodosius appointed Barsumas the Priest to come to the same Council and appear in it as Representative of all the Archimandrites of the East It was after the same manner that Marcian the Emperour Assembled the Fourth General Council at Chalcedon He wrote to the Metropolitans to come to it and left it to them to bring such of their Suffragan Bishops as they thought fit along with them And when the Princes who follow'd after summon'd their National Synods they in like manner directed the Choice of those who were to come to them as we see in the Synods of Vernis and Aix la Chappelle assembled by Ring Pepin and Charles the Emperor An. 755. 816. 'T is true the Metropolitans in these Cases did oftentimes call a Provincial Synod and therein agree who among them should attend upon their Primate to the General Council But neither did they always take this Course nor when they did had they any Direction from the Emperors so to do They only sent their Orders to the Metropolitans and commonly left the rest to them to chuse such Bishops out of their Provinces as they thought fit As for the lesser Synods tho' the Princes did not often interpose in them yet neither was there any choice left to the inferiour Clergy to nominate the Members of Them To the Provincial Synods all the Bishops of the Province were obliged if able to come And they brought with them for their Companions such of their own Priests and Deacons as they thought fit At the Diocesan Synod every beneficed Priest of the Diocese was required to appear And they had not so much a Right as an Obligation lying upon them to be present at them And thus have I shewn what the Authority of the Supreme Civil Magistrate is as to the Business of Assembling Ecclesiastical Synods or Convocations And the Sum of what I have proved is in short this * That it is the Right of Christian Princes to call such Assemblies and that they cannot lawfully meet but as they are either commanded or allow'd of by Them * That They and not the Clergy are Judges when it is proper to Convene them * And ought not to be censured for not assembling of them when they are perswaded it is Needless or would be Inexpedient for Them so to do * That even the Ordinary Synods required by the Canons and allow'd of by Themselves may yet upon just Grounds be stop'd by them And when there is a just Reason for them so to do they are to judge And being so prohibited cannot be lawfully Assembled In short * That when-ever they do meet the Prince is not only to appoint or at least to approve of the Time and Place of their Meeting but may give Direction for the Choice of the Persons that are to compose them That so he may be satisfied that they are such whose Piety and Temper have fitted them to serve the Church and in whose Prudence and Conduct himself may safely confide It were an easie matter to argue the Reasonableness of every one of these Conclusions from the Ends of Civil-Government and the Power that is necessary to be placed in the Hands of the Supreme Magistrate in order to those Ends. And I need not say that Christianity came not to Usurp upon the Civil Power but rather to engage Men to be the more ready to render that Duty which they owe to it 'T is true by these means the busie Tempers of some forward Men may be restrain'd and to such these Limitations may seem very Odious and Unreasonable But they are such Men and such Tempers that make these Restrictions necessary And their Unwillingness to submit to them shews but the more clearly how fitting it is that Princes should have all that Power I have now mentioned to prevent them from doing both Themselves and the Church a Mischief That Princes may abuse this Power to the Detriment of the Church is no more an Argument that they ought not to enjoy it than it would be that they ought not to be entrusted with a Civil Power because they may abuse that too to the ruine of the State But I am apt to believe that were the Dangers to be weigh'd it would be much more fatal both to the Church and State to have some Men intrusted with an Immoderate Liberty than others with a Soveraign Power to restrain them And 't is enough to answer all Pretences of this nature to say that whenever the Civil Magistrate shall so far abuse his Authority as to render it necessary for the Clergy by some extraordinary Methods to provide for the Churches Welfare that Necessity will warrant their taking of them In the mean time such an Authority as I have now shewn the Prince has in these Matters and till things come to such an Extremity we must leave him as of Right he ought to enjoy it And this may suffice for the First thing proposed in this Enquiry viz. To shew What Power the Christian Prince has in the calling of Ecclesiastical Synods or Convocations I go on 2dly To consider What Authority He has over Them when They are Assembled Now that may I conceive be reduced to these 2 Particulars 1st Of his Authority to Direct and Govern Them in their Proceedings And 2dly To sit with and to preside over them in Order thereunto 1st Then I affirm That the Civil Magistrate has a Right to Direct and Govern Them in their Proceedings And that with Respect both to the Matters on which they are to Debate and to the Method which they areto take in Debating upon Them 1st The Civil
of a Priestly Mind you have commanded your Priests to be gathered together into one Place to treat of such things as are Necessary We have according to the Purpose of your Will and the Heads which you gave to us answer'd in Our Definition as to us seem'd Good So that if those things which we have Established are also approved of as Right by your Judgment The Consent of so great a King and Lord may Confirm the Sentence of the Priests to be observed with the Greater Authority And thus have I done with the First Thing which I proposed to Consider I have shewn what Authority the Christian Prince has always been accounted to have over Ecclesiastical Synods with respect to the Assembling of them to their Proceedings whilst they are Sitting and to the Confirming or Annulling their Decrees afterwards I shall make only an Observation or two upon the whole with Respect to our present purpose and so conclude this Chapter And 1st I must take notice that whatever Privileges I have here shewn to belong to the Christian Magistrate they belong to Him as such They are not derived from any positive Laws and Constitutions but Result from that Power which every such Prince has Originally in Himself and are to be look'd upon as part of those Rights which naturally belong to Sovereign Authority Hence we find that All Princes in All wountries how different soever they have been in other Respects have yet evermore claim'd an Equal Authority in these Matters And the little Kings of Suevia and Burgundy accounted themselves to have as good a Title to Them as the Roman Emperors in their most flourishing Estate had Which being so it will follow 2dly That every Sovereign Prince has a Right to Exercise this Authority within his Dominions And that to prove this Right it is sufficient to shew That he is a Sovereign Prince and therefore ought not to be deny'd any of those Prerogatives which belong to such a Prince among which this Authority is One. 'T is true such Princes may by their own Acts limit themselves as they think fitting And these Limitations may give such Assemblies a Privilege in One Country beyond what they have in Another But then these Limitations must be plainly proved to have been made in their favour And till they are so the Prince must be accounted to have a Right to that Power which as a Prince belongs Him and is not yet proved to have been given away by Him And therefore 3dly Whereas it is now to be Enquired What the Authority of our Kings is over our Convocations We have thus far proceded towards the discovery of it that we have shewn what Power They had Originally over Them and as Christian Princes ought still to Enjoy And those who will Restrain Them with narrower Bounds must first shew how they came to lose that Power which they would take from Them and which till This shall be cleared they must be Presumed still to have a Right to CHAP. III. Of the Authority which our Own Kings have over their Convocations with Respect both to their Meeting and Acting first and to the Confirming or Annulling of their Acts after WE have now seen what Authority all Other Christian Princes have claim'd and Exercised over their Clergy from the first Conversion of the Empire to Christianity till the Prevalence of the Papal Power began to deprive Them of that Supremacy which of Right belong'd to Them Let us go on upon this Foundation to Enquire II. Whether our Own Kings have not as Great an Authority over their Convocations as any Other Princes have ever pretended to over their Councils That this of Right they Ought to have I have before observed The only Question is whether our Own particular Constitution has interposed to deprive Them of that Authority which we have already shewn did originally belong to Them And here I might justly leave it to Those who advance such Pretences to produce their Proofs and shew us upon what Grounds they do it And account the Right of our Kings to this Authority to have been sufficiently established in that common Claim which I have already proved all Christian Princes as such have ever made to the Exercise of of it But that nothing may be wanting to the clearing of this Matter beyond all reasonable Exception I shall to the General Argument I have before made use of add those particular Confirmations which our own Laws and Customs afford us of this Truth And shew that by our own Constitution the King of England has all that Power at this day over Our Convocation that ever any Christian Prince had over his Synods 1st Then if we consider His Authority as to the first thing before-mention'd viz. of Calling together of the Clergy in Convocation We are told by One of the most Eminent Professors of our Laws that it was among other Points Resolved by the Two Chief Justices and other Judges at a Committee of Lords in Parliament Trin. 8. Jac. 1. That a Convocation cannot Assemble at their onvocation without the Assent of the King And One would think such Persons should not only be very well Qualified to know what our Law is but should also be very Careful especially at such a Time and in such a Place not to deliver any thing for Law which They were not very well assured was so But because some have excepted against the Authority of this Report as a Piece that was published after the Death of the Author and in Suspected Times Tho' I cannot see what Interest any One should have to falsifie his Relation in the Instance before Us We will take his Opinion from a Book which we are sure is Authentick and lies open to no Exceptions 4. Instit. pag. 322. Where treating expresly about the Court of Convocation He affirms that the Clergy were never Assembled or Call'd together at a Convocation but by the King 's Writ And in which tho' I am sensible He has spoken a little too Generally as to matter of Fact yet in point of Law and in which only I make use of his Authority I cannot but look upon him to have been absolutely in the Right It being certain that the Clergy not only now cannot but never could be lawfully call'd together in Convocation but by the King 's â—rit or with his Consent And in assirming this I say no more than what was the joint Opinion of the whole Representative Body of the Nation as well of the Clergy in their Convocation as of the rest of the Realm in Parliament 25 Hen. 8. And from whence if from any Authority we may certainly the best take our Measure to judge Whether a thing does of Right belong to the King and is a part of his Royal Prerogative or No. For 1st As for the Clergy We are told in the Preamble to the Act of the 25 Hen. 8. chap. 19. That the Clergy of this Realm of England had acknowleged
had might easily be made appear were it needful to enlarge upon so Known and Melancholy a Subject Now this as it has obliged not only the Best Men but the Wisest Emperours to be very careful how they either called or encouraged such Assemblies unless they had some Reason to hope for a Good Effect of Them so may it suffice to convince Us still that neither are All Times nor All Causes either Proper for or Worthy of such Meetings and that the Expediency of Them ought to be very Clearly made out before it can with any Reason be expected that the Prince should consent to their Assembling It has I think been generally agreed that the main End for which Synods are necessary to be Assembled is either to establish the Faith and to declare the Unity of the Church in matters of Doctrine Or to advise and assist the Civil Magistrate in things pertaining to the Discipline of it As for the Exercise of Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction that in every well settled Church is commonly provided for by some more Ordinary Means So that except in a few Cases of an Extraordinary Nature there is seldom any Occasion for a Synod to meet upon any such account Now as these are the Ends for which Synods ought to be Assembled so I believe it will be allow'd by all Considering Persons that the Prince ought never to Call them when Either 1st It is needless Or 2dly It would be hurtful so to do When there is no Appearance of any Good to come from their Meeting but rather it may justly be fear'd that their Meeting will turn to the Prejudice of the Church In short That the Prince ought never to call his Clergy together but for some Rational and Good End When there is something Proper for such an Assembly to do and They may be likely to Do it so as to advance the Welfare of the Church by it This I conceive must be allow'd in point of Prudence to be the General Measure by which the Prince ought upon all Occasions to judge whether it be Necessary or even Expedient for him to suffer a Convocation to Meet or no. And from these General Measures we will proceed to draw some farther and more particular Directions for our better judging in the Point before Us. And 1st Because in Clear and Evident Cases where both the Truth is Manifest and the Consent of the Church Constant and Out of doubt there is no need of any Definitions either to declare its Sense or to testifie its Agreement therefore neither can there be any Need to Assemble a Convocation to Judge or Determine in such Cases If in a Christian Country where the Gospel is profess'd and its Truth establish'd and Men have for many Ages been Bred up to the Knowledge and Belief of it A sort of Libertines should arise to deny not only the truth of Christianity but the very Being of a God the Certainty of Revelation the Authority of the Holy Scriptures and the like Common and Avow'd Principles of Religion It would be not only Needless but Absurd for a Synod to be call'd to debate over again the Fundamentals of Piety and solemnly to define against these Sceptical Profane Disputers That there is a God That He has Revealed his Will to Mankind and that the Scriptures were written by divine Inspiration And all that they would Gain by doing of it would be only this that they would see their Authority and their Definitions despised by Them And might probably give Offence to Good Men as if they had so much Reason on their side or there were so much Difficulty in this Case as to need the Solemnity of a Convocation to interpose in it In such Cases as this the Christian Magistrate ought to take upon him the Protection of Religion of the Faith which he professes and of that Saviour by whom He hopes to be Saved And so to Order Matters that such Persons shall either Cease to blaspheme Or they shall find out some Other Place than a Christian Country to do it in Civil Authority may Restrain such bold Men but 't is Ridiculous to think that all the Synods in the World should ever be able to Perswade Them Again 2dly Upon the same Grounds I affirm that neither is there any need of a New Synod to declare the Doctrine and Consent of the Church in such Points in which it has by as Great Or even Greater Authority been before Declared Thus supposing any Church should not only have solemnly Received the Four first General Councils but in farther testimony of its Agreement in Faith with Them should have given their Creeds a Place in its Publick Liturgy And to strengthen all this should have drawn up a Clear and Full Confession of its Own upon the Principles by them defined and have Required that Confession to be Received and Subscribed to by All who are Admitted to any spiritual Office or Function in it How ridiculous would it be for such a Church to Assemble a Convocation to declare to all the World that it believes our Saviour's Divinity and holds a Trinity of Persons in the Unity of the God-head What tho' there be some in such a Church who deny this and take advantage of the Liberty or rather Licentiousness of evil Times to dare even to Write and Argue against it The Doctrine and Faith of the Church are still the same And it may as well be said that in Our Protestant Reform'd Church it is needful to call a Convocation to protest again against the Errors and Superstitions of the Church of Rome because some not only Write in defence of Them but are buisie also to make Converts to them As for such a Church to call a Synod to declare that it has no part with those who Write and Argue against its own Avow'd Sense in the Points of the Holy Trinity and of the Divinity of the Son of God A Convocation may sit and draw up what Creeds and Confessions it will But if They expect that Those who despise the Authority of the Ancient General Councils of the Church should be Concluded by their Definitions It will I doubt appear that They have but flatter'd themselves with Vain Hopes And they will find too late that those who are not to be Restrain'd by what has been already Determin'd will much less regard any New Decisions that can be made Against Them In this Case again 't is the Civil Power or nothing that must Restrain their Presumption A Good Law may Oblige them to be silent but I doubt neither that nor any Thing else will be Able to cure them of their Infidelity But. 3dly If a Convocation ought not to be called without need then neither can it be Necessary or even sitting to Assemble it for such Matters as not only may be Equally provided for by Ordinary Means but which fall more properly under the Cognizance of some Other Authority Such are first