Authority of a Provincial Synod had been Supream Would not Dionysius Alexandrinus himself have answer'd to his Adversaries that his Cause ought to have been heard before the Bishops of the Province if he had believ'd that every Province was to be govern'd by its own Synod as the Supream Authority Dionysius Alexandrinus was so far from thinking this that having heard he was accused he made it his Request to the Roman Prelate that they might give him a Copy of his Accusation which having receiv'd he published a Treatise Entitled Elenchus Apologia as St. Athanasius testifies in the Place before cited Why should I call to mind what was done in the Cause of Paulus Samosatenus Bishop of Antioch in the time of Aurelianus the Emperoror Eusebius Lib. 7. Cap. 30. tells us that he after Sentence past in a former Synod at Antioch was in a second deposed and that Domnus who was chosen in his stead would have taken upon him the Government of the Church of Antioch But saith Eusebius Eusebius Caesariensis lib. 7. cap. 30. Vid. num XXXIV when Paul would by no means depart out of the body of the Church Aurelianus the Emperor being appeal'd to rightly determin'd the matter commanding the Church to be deliver'd to those to whom the Italian Prelates of the Christian Religion and the Roman Bishops should write Aurelianus the Emperor would never have sent the cause of Domnus and Paulus Samosatenus to have been tried by the Bishop of Rome after it had been adjudged in the Synod of Antioch if he had not learn'd of the Catholic Bishops how Controversies ought to be determin'd in the Church neither would Eusebius himself who was present at the Council of Nice and subscrib'd to its Canons have commended this act of Aurelianus as most right if he had believ'd the judgment of the Synod of Antioch to have been Supream 3. But if it appears by what hath been said that before the Council of Nice the Oriental Synods that were celebrated not by the Metropolitans of one Province only but of many had not Supream Authority in the Church what shall we say concerning the Authority of simple Provincial Synods The Eusebians themselves in their Conventicle at Philippopolis did not defend the Authority of these as Supream For when the Great Athanasius Patriarch of Alexandria being condemn'd by Eusebius of Nicomedia in the Tyrian Council fled to Julius Bishop of Rome the Eusebians submitted their cause to the judgment of the same Pope but observing that they were like to be condemn'd they began to impugn the Authority of the Pope whom they could not gain to their party and were the first that ever contended not that the Sentence of one single Province was of so great Authority that from it no Appeal could be made to a higher Judicatory as the Author of the Book de antiqua Ecclesiae disciplina dissertation 2. hath lately feigned but that the Eastern Church was distinct from the Western as in Name so also in Jurisdiction and that the Bishop of Rome was not to judge in that matter concerning which an Eastern Synod had given sentence For which cause Julius the first accuses them of rashness and innovation making answer in his Epistle to the Eusebians Julius Primus Epist ad Orientales Antiochiae congregatos Vid. num XXXV that the Western Bishops who were with him being struck with astonishment could hardly be induc'd to believe that such things could proceed from them and says that the Apostolical Canons were to be followed and that the Decrees of the Nicene Bishops which permitted that the acts of a former Synod might be revised in a latter ought to be attended For saith he if there was of old such a custom and the memory of it be renew'd and committed to writing in the great Synod and yet you will not suffer it to prevail amongst you you do indeed a thing that is very unseemly for it is very unjust that a custom which hath once obtain'd in the Church and been confirm'd by a Synod should be abrogated by some few persons This was the judgment of Julius the first a most moderate Prelate and of all the Bishops of Italy who assembled at Rome in Athanasius's cause which three hundred Western Bishops in the Council of Sardica judg'd to be so true that they excommunicated the Eusebians and determin'd against them Canon 3. that the memory of Peter the Apostle was to be honour'd and declar'd Canon 4. 7. that Appeals might be made from the Eastern Councils to the Bishop of Rome What hath been alledged is sufficient if I mistake not to confute the Forgeries of the Conventicle of Philippopolis although not only the English Writer approves them but also a late French Author maintains them to be so true that he is not ashamed in Dissert 2. c. 1. Sect. 2. to endeavour to fasten them upon St. Ambrose For having cited a certain place out of Ambrose he says that this Father supposes that the affairs of the East ought to be administred by the Eastern Bishops and that it did not belong to the Western Bishops to judg the Eastern which Constantius says in his Epistle to the Council of Ariminum as also the Eusebians in the Council of Philippopolis Thus this Author not scrupling to affix the new whimsies of an Arian Emperor and the dreams of the Conventicle of Philippopolis upon St. Ambrose But I must not insist upon these things since they do not deserve an Answer 4. Let us therefore proceed to our Authors Commentaries upon the Third Canon which is the Sixth in order among the Nicene Canons for the things which he relates here are new and scarce ever heard of The Canon Canon 6. Nicaenus Vid. num XXXVI of which we treat runs thus according to the Version of Dionysius Exiguus Let the ancient Custom be kept through Egypt Lybia and Pentapolis that the Bishop of Alexandria have jurisdiction over all these because the Bishop of Rome hath a like custom Likewise in Antioch and other Provinces let the priviledges of their Churches be preserved But this is generally clear that if any one be made Bishop without the consent of the Metropolitan the great Synod hath defined that he ought not to be a Bishop c. There is one thing in this Canon which our Author because it destroys his design interprets after a strange manner He follows the opinion of those that acknowledge no Authority superior to that of a Metropolitan now because the Nicene Canon ascribes an Authority to the Patriarch of Alexandria over all Egypt Lybia and Pentapolis and hath expresly declared that the like custom had obtained at Rome and Antioch that their Bishops presided over many Provinces our Author following the Error of Beverage hath asserted that there was no Metropolitan in Egypt Lybia and Pentapolis in the time of the Nicene Council and so he would make the Bishop of Alexandria to be a Patriarch as to
Church and receded as Schismatics from the center of Ecclesiastical Communion What else can we conclude but that God was willing to shew the falshood of the Schismatical Church of Britain by the Miracle which he wrought upon Augustine's intercession Do not the Acts of the British Synod recorded in Bede testifie that Augustine did by so manifest a Miracle demonstrate the truth of those things which he proposed to the Britains that they were forc'd to confess it was the true way of Justice which Augustine Preach'd If these things cannot be denied as it is most certain they cannot what do the modern English Authors mean when they object against Catholics the answer of the Britains and the Monks of Banchor Will they not at length be convinc'd that they oppose nothing but their own Errors which are the vain Forgeries of Men against that Truth which hath been confirm'd by a Divine Testimony and that the rest of the Church hath just reason to condemn them for having lost both Truth and Modesty at the same time I am weary of vainly spending my time in matters so clear so manifest so perspicuous and of being again forc'd when Religion is the subject to bring a new Evidence of that Truth which all the English Writers of former Ages all men that have been eminent in Britain for Sanctity and Learning and lastly even the Bishops who have been present in the several Councils that have been held in England Scotland and Ireland have acknowledg'd and defended I will therefore conclude my Discourse with the following Exhortation AN EXHORTATION TO THE MINISTERS OF THE English Church WHen Philo the most Eloquent of the Hebrews address'd his Oration to Caius the Emperor Philo in Oratione pro Gente Hebraeorum ad Caium Caligulam and the Roman Senate How long saith he shall we old Men be Children as to the Body gray indeed through Age but as to the Mind through want of Knowledge very Infants whilst we believe Fortune the most inconstant thing in the World to be stable but Nature to be unstable whereas it is most constant Pardon me I beseech you most excellent Ministers of the English Church if I make my Address to you in the Words of Philo tho somewhat alter'd How long will you who are ancient in Body be Children in Minds and meer Infants for want of knowledg of Religion whilst you think the Catholic Church unstable which is yet most constant and your own which is rent from the Body of the Catholic Church will be stable You have chang'd the true Estimate of things attributing that to a part which is only the Property of the whole and imagining with your selves that the Catholic Church is defectible Matthaei 16 cap. 1. ad Timoth 3. which the eternal Truth hath promised shall never fail and which the Doctor of the Gentiles hath called the Pillar and Ground of Truth You thought that the true Faith was lost in the Catholic Church spread over the Face of the whole World but found again by you in England little considering how truly that Objection might be made against you which Henry the Eighth your King in the Age before this made against Luther that like the Donatists you reduce the Catholic Church to a very small number whispering of Christ in a Corner It was the Judgment of the great Augustine and of St. Optatus Milevitanus Optat. Melcvit Lib. 2. contra Parmenianum Quasi in carcerem latitudo Regnorum that the Church was not to be shut up in some Corner but to extend it self to the utmost Bounds of the World the latter of these Holy Fathers Lib. 2. reprehends Parmenianus the Chief of the Donatists for endeavouring to make void that Promise of God the Father of giving to the Son the uttermost parts of the Earth for his Possession whereas he had confined the large Extent of his Dominions as it were to a narrow Prison Then he asserts the Church that it may be Catholic ought to be extended to all parts of the World and that the first Mark to distinguish it by was Vnity which consists in the Communion it holds with St. Peter's See which is but one and this he believ'd so manifest that he thought Permenianus himself could not deny it Negare non potes inquit loco supracitato Stire te in Vrbe Roma Petro Primo Cathedram Episcopalem esse callatam in qua sederit emnium Apostolorum Caput Petrus undè Cephas appellatus est in qua una Cathedra uni as ab â—mâ—â—bus servaretur ne caeteri Apostoli singulas sibi quisque defenderent ut jam schismaticus peccater esset qui contra singularem Cathedram alteram collâ—caret Ergo Cathedra unica que est prima de dotibus sedit prior Petrus cui successit Linus enumerata longa Romanorum Pontificum serie usque ad Siricium sub quo scribebat Siriâ—â—us inquit hodie qui noster est Sociuâ— cum quo nobis totus Orbis commercio formatarum in una Communionis Societate concerdat You cannot deny saith he in the place above cited but that you know that the Episcopal See of the City of Rome was granted to Peter as the Chief in which Peter the Head of all the Apostles sate from whence he was called Cephas in which one See Unity was to be preserved by all least the rest of the Apostles should claim a Superiority to any of their Sees So that now he would be a Schismatic and a Sinner who should set up another See in opposition to this peculiar See. Therefore in this one See only which is its chief Dowry Peter first sate to whom Linus succeeded and so reckoning up a long Series of Roman Bishops till he came to Siricius in whose time he wrote who saith he is our Fellow-Bishop with whom the whole World agrees as we do in one Society of Communion by intercourse of Communicatory Letters There was then a true Church in time past which diffused throughout the whole World made Peter's one See the Center of its Vnity and communicated with the Roman Church as a Sign of one Faith and Religion by Communicatory Letters This was the Sentence of Optatus Milevitanus and the rest of the Fathers which because the Donatists durst not deny they had constituted a Bishop of their own in the City of Rome who as St. Augustine tells us was called Rupensis and Montensis a Rupe vel Monte from the Rock or Hill wherein he conceal'd himself If therefore the Popes Authority was so manifest in former Ages that the Schismatical Affricans themselves could neither be ignorant of it nor deny it how comes it to pass that you in England now do not at all acknowledg it was perhaps the Knowledge of it so obliterated in the latter Ages that it could not be discovered by your Ancestors when they separated from the Communion of the Apostolic See Henricus Octavus libro de 7.
Romanae Ecclesiae Caelestino primus mittitur Episcopus ibid. NUM XLVII Matthaeus Westmonasteriensis Audita verò morte Palladii Patricius Theodosio Valentiniano imperantibus à Papa Caelestino ad partes occiduas missus est ut vexillum S. Crucis Gentibus praedicaret Cumque ad Britanniam pervenisset praedicavit ibi verbum Dei à Genti-incolis gratanter est susceptus Deindè ad Scotos se conferens praedicavit verbum Dei quod non potuit alligari ibid. NUM XLVIII Jocelinus in vita S. Patricii Illique inquit vices suas committens atquen legatum suum constituens quaecumque in Hibernia gesserat constituerat disposuerat auctoritatis suae munimine confirmavit Pag. 101 NUM XLIX Auctor vitae Gregorii Magni Gregorius cum primum in toto Orbe gereret Pontificatum conversis jamdudum ad fidem veritatis esset praelatus Ecclesiis ibid. NUM L. Venerab Beda lib. 2. Hist cap. 2. In multis quidem nostrae consuetudini imò Universalis Ecclesiae contraria geritis tamen si in tribus his mihi obtemperare vultis ut Pascha suo tempore celebretis ut ministerium baptizandi quo Deo renascimur juxta morem Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Apostolicae Ecclesiae compleatis ut Genti Anglorum una nobiscum praedicetis verbum Domini caetera quae agitis quamvis moribus nostris contraria aequanimiter cuncta tolerabimus At illi nihil horum se facturos neque illum pro Archiepiscopo habituros esse respondebant Pag. 103 NUM LI. Ibid. Qui cum longa disputatione habita neque precibus neque hortamentis neque increpationibus Augustini ac sociorum ejus assensum praebere voluissent sed suas potius traditiones universis quae per Orbem sibi in Christo concordant Ecclesiis praeferrent Sanctus Pater Augustinus hunc laboriosi ac long◠certaminis finem fecit ut diceret obsecremus Deum qui habitare facit unanimes in domo Patris sui ut ipse nobis insinuari caelestibus signis dignetur quae sequenda traditio quibus sit viis ad ingressum Regni illius properandum Adducatur aliquis aeger per cujus preces fuerit curatus hujus fides operatio Deo devota atque omnibus sequenda credatur Quod cum adversarii inviti licet concederent allatus est quidam de genere Anglorum oculorum luce privatus qui cum oblatus Britonum Sacerdotibus nil curationis vel sanationis horum ministerio perciperet tandem Augustinus justa necessitate compulsus flectit genua sua ad Patrem Domini nostri Jesu Christi deprecans ut visum caeco quem amiserat restitueret per illuminationem unius hominis corporalem in plurimorum cordibus fidelium spiritualis gratiae lucem accenderet Nec mora illuminatur caecus ac verus summae lucis praeco ab omnibus praedicatur Augustinus Tum Britones confitentur quidem intellexisse se veram esse viam Justitiae quam praedicaret Augustinus c. Pag. 104 NUM LII Gregorius Magnus lib. 4. Epist 32. Cunctis enim Evangelium scientibus liquet quod voce Dominica Sancto omnium Apostolorum Petro Principi Apostolo totius Ecclesiae cura commissa est Pag. 105 THE INDEX A. WHat Provinces there were in Aegypt and to whom they were Subject p. 87. The Aegyptians did in the third Age acknowledge the Authority of the Roman Bishop as Supreme p. 79 Aethiopia appertains to the See of Alexandria because Athanasius sent a Bishop thither who planted the Aethiopic Church p. 30 The Epistle of Agatho shewing of what Bishops the Patriarchal Synod of the Bishop of Rome consists p. 54 Agricola first brought the Pelagian Heresie into Britain p. 98 The Bishop of Alexandria had the care over all Aegypt committed to him 82. The Nicene Council intrusted him also with the Computation of Easter day 68. He had Metropolitan Bishops under him p. 84 The Bishop of Antioch had also Metropolitan Bishops under him before the time of the Nicene Council p. 84 Appeals to the Bishop of Rome as being Successor to Peter are to be admitted of p. 81 It appears from the Testimony of the Council of Aquileia that the Roman Church is the Head of the whole Roman World. p. 96. The first Canon of the Council of Arles is recited from several Manuscripts p. 66 The Council of Arles refers the determination of Easter day to Pope Sylvester 59. How the defect in the citation concerning the publishing of the Feast of Easter is to be supplyed p. 59 The Testimony of Augustine the Bishop concerning the Roman Patriarchs Authority over all the West 22. Augustine the Monk was Gregory the Great 's Legate 101. he institutes Metropolitans by Authority receiv'd from the Apostolic See. 102. he proves the truth of Catholic Religion by miracle p. 105 B. What Testimonies prove Britain to have been converted to the Faith by Peter 4. Severus Sulpitius affirms that Britains first Conversion to the Faith was in the third Age. 11. Bede and Tertulian testifie the same 12. Britain was longer preserv'd from the Pelagian Heresie than the other Western Regions 98. Faith and Discipline were restored in it by Augustine the Monk under Gregory the Great The Acts of the British Synod concerning those things which Augustine wrought for the restoring of Religion in England p. 103. The British Bishops did acknowledg in the Council or Arles that the greater Dioceses did belong to Sylvester the Bishop of Rome and that the Apostles did daily sit in the Roman See. 94. They profess'd in the Council of Sardica that the Memory of Peter was to be honoured 95. They acknowledg'd that they appertain'd to the Patriarchal Synod of the Bishop of Rome 55. When they began to deviate from truth and Ecclesiastical Discipline 101. How bad a cause they endeavoured to defend against Augustine Legate of the Apostolic See. p. 106 C. The Bishop of Caesarea being Metropolitan of the Chief part of Palestine was Subject to the Patriarch of Antioch p. 85 Pope Caelestine sent his Legates into Britaem p. 99 The Catholic Church is the Pillar and ground of truth the Faith of which Church never fails p. 109 The Testimony of Clemens Romanus concerning Paul the Apostles Preaching p. 9 Caelestine was of opinion that appeal was to be made from the judgment of the African Synod to the examen of the Roman Bishop p. 97 The Fragments of the Council of Palestine concerning Easter p. 72 The 8th general Council hath taught us in the 17th Canon that the Metropo itans of the West did appertain to the Roman Patriarchate p. 35 The Council of Arles c. See Arles c. What Customs were introduced by the Apostles and how they may be known to have been so p. 53 The Church was chiefly governed by Custom before the time of the Nicene Council p. 53 The Testimony of Cyril of Alexandria concerning the Computation of Easter-day p. 71 D. Pope Damasus constituted a Vicar in Illyricum and why he did
A DISSERTATION CONCERNING Patriarchal Metropolitical AUTHORITY In Answer to what Edw. Stillingfleet DEAN of St. PAVLS Hath written in his BOOK OF THE BRITISH ANTIQUITIES By Eman. Ã Schelstrate S.T.D.C.L. And Prefect of the Vatican Library Translated from the Latin. With Allowance LONDON Printed for Matthew Turner at the Lamb in Holbourn MDCLXXXVIII TO JAMES the II. OF Great Britain c. KING DEFENDER of the FAITH CONQUERER TRIUMPHANT PEACEMAKER THE Immortal God Supreme Governour of Kings and Ruler of the World hath by his Providence order'd it as auspicious to the Catholic Faith That in these times wherein other Christian Princes are restoring the Kingdoms of Hungary and Greece to the Church Your Majesty should ascend the British Throne and invite the renown'd English Nation to embrace the true Religion by your Royal Example It is by the conduct of Divine not Human Wisdom that Kings reign Prov 8.15 and Law-givers decree Justice Which being spoken of all Princes in this World cannot but be understood of Your Majesty who governing the British World in Justice reign so happily that You seem to have ravish'd the hearts of all your Subjects with Love and the Eyes of all Strangers with Admiration It is a Maxim of the Ancients and the Oracle of Wisdom it self that the Love of the People is the Princes chief Safeguard Which made Pliny the second say in his Panegyric to Trajan that the Kings Palace is no where better secured than where Love keeps the Court of Guard. And Themistius the fam'd Graecian Orator hath given this excellent Admonition that it is far better to allure Subjects by Love and Favour than to awe them with Fear and Terror By Love Mens minds are united and made to agree in one and by Agreement Empires cement as by Discord they fall asunder Which Your Majesty very well understanding presently quell'd the dissention that in the beginning of your Reign threatned destruction to all Britain and when you had cut off the Principal Conspirators Victorious and Triumphant You either intirely pacify'd or wholly restrain'd the minds of the rest by Sweetness and Love. Being excellently well read in the tempers of Men You knew that he is in vain arm'd with dread who is not fenc'd with love and affection Having therefore freed your Subjects from terror and fear You won their hearts by your serene Countenance and affable Conversation who the more freely acknowledg they owe the Public Safety to Your Majesty the more other Nations look upon it with admiration O thrice happy Prince who whilst you embrace your People with Kindness gain Veneration at home Renown abroad and are purchasing with God a blessed Eternity I will not speak here of that Frankness with which you receive all of that Clemency which makes you easie to be intreated of that Liberality wherewith you relieve the Needy and Miserable of the indefatigable Industry wherewith you manage the Affairs of your Kingdom of that firm Constancy which enables You to undertake the most difficult Enterprises For these and many other gracious Endowments wherewith the Great God of Heaven hath richly adorn'd your Royal Mind might here be highly extoll'd But since they would be too copious a Subject for a short Epistle I shall only intreat this Favour that not being mindful of Your Majesty but my meaness you would so far condescend as favourably to receive this small Treatise concerning Ecclesiastical Hierarchy which I have put forth in Answer to an English Author and to protect it with the Patronage of Your Great Name Nor can any one induce Your Majesty to believe That I seek to shelter Novelty under the Protection of Your Royal Name for in this small Book I do not undertake to defend an Error lately invented but a truth anciently receiv'd I treat concerning the Roman Patriarchate which the Catholic Kings Your Predecessors acknowledg'd for the space of Thirteen hundred years and which even since the Schism Your Grand-father King James of Illustrious Memory hath not obscurely asserted For in the Apology for the Oath of Allegiance which he sent to Rudolphus the Emperor to the Christian Monarchs and to both the Catholic and Protestant Princes * Jacobus Augliae Rex in apologia pro juramento fidelitatis Scio inquit Patriarchas in Ecclesia primitiva extitisse institutionem illam ordinis discriminis causa amplexor sed inter illos de Principatu magna contentione certatum est quod si in eo quaestio adhuc verteretur meo libens suffragio primum locum Episcopo Romano deferrem Ego Occidentalis Rex Occidentali Patritarchae adhaererem I know saith that Prince That there were Patriarchs in the Primitive Church and I embrace that Institution for Order and Distinction Sake there was also great Contention amongst them who should be Chief but if that were still the question I would freely give my suffrage that the Bishop of Rome should have the first place I being a Western King would adhere to the Western Patriarch That which King James the First a Prince of the same name with Your Majesty here asserts I explain more clearly in this Dissertation and prove from the Testimonies of the Antients and the Decrees of Synods that the Authority of the Roman Patriarchate extends it self over all the West So that I may use almost the same words which Honorius did when he exhorted the Emperor Theodosius to preserve the Priviledges long before granted to the Roman See that the Roman Church may not lose under a Catholic Prince what she ought not to have lost under other KIngs who fell into Schism Honorius Epistâ—ad Theod. Suffer therefore Most Gracious Prince that this small Treatise may come forth under your Protection in which the only thing I earnestly contend for is that the Roman Church which is the special Head of all the Western Churches and the Principal Head of all the Churches in the World may not be disturbed because from thence the Rights of admonishing others issue forth all over the West as well as over the whole World. Written from Rome by Your Majesties Most humble and most obedient Servant Emanuel of Antwerp in the Low Countries THE PREFACE TO THE READER I Know not Courteous Reader how it came to be my Lot in one years time this proves my second Contest with Adversaries that write in the Language of their own Countries At the beginning of this year I had to deal with Maimbourg who set forth a Treatise in French concerning the Roman Bishops Supremacy over the Vniversal Church Now towards the end of the year I must fall to work with the Dean of St. Paul's who hath publish'd a Book in English wherein he calls in question the Bishop of Romes Patriarchal Power over all the West The former Authors Work though it ought not to have been written in French did not create me any difficulty because I understood that Language But the second in English although the Idiom in
have done being mov'd as I suppose at the indignity of the thing he desisted from writing and there was none afterwards found in France to maintain the Cause till of late the Author of the Book de Disciplina Ecclesiae started up who Dissertatione 1. Part. ultima says indeed that he defends Valesius's Cause against Launoy's whereas in reality he impugns and rejects it He understands the sixth Canon of the Council of Nice as referring to the Suburbicarian Churches only and restrains the bounds of the Roman Patriarchate within the limits of the Cities Vicariate thinking it most probable that only those Regions which were subject to the Vicariu Urbis were the Suburbicarian Churches to which the Patriarchal Right of the Bishop of Rome extended and to no others He denies Germany Spain France Britain Africa Illyricum and a great part of Italy to have been subject to the Jurisdiction of the Roman Patriarchate in former times and as if it had been but a small matter to shake off the Yoak of Patriarchal Authority he hath endeavour'd to destroy the Papal Power and to reduce the Primacy of Peter to a meer Dignity of Order amongst equals I am ashamed to think of those things which this Author deduces from such like Principles as these I shall treat of them in another place if I shall think it worth while In the mean time it will be enough to observe in brief that they are so absurd and disagreeable to the Doctrine of the Church Julius 1 Epist Synodica ad Orientales Antiochiae congregatos that they run the same Fortune as Julius the first tells us befell the Eusebian's Letters that all were so full of admiration that they could hardly be induced to believe such Writings should proceed from a man who desires to seem a Catholic The Eusebians contended that the Sentence of the whole Eastern Synod could no ways be retracted by the Bishop of Rome and when the Church was offended at that Error Julius the first wrote thus That it was better according to the Gospel that a Mill-stone were hanged about his neck and so he were drowned then that one of these little ones should be offended What then would that great Prelate say if he liv'd in our times and heard it maintain'd that not the Eastern Church only but the Bishops of one Diocess the Synod of one Province have Supream Authority and that their Sentence cannot be invalidated by any other Judge Dissert 2. ca. 1. Sect. 1 p. 97. What would he say if he should hear that not only the Causes of the Eastern but likewise of the Western Bishops were to be exempt from the Jurisdiction of the See Apostolic and that it is but a feign'd story that an Apostolical Authority was so given to Peter that it might descend to his Successors whereas it was granted to the rest of the Apostles only for their time This is fictitious Ibid. Sect. 2 p. 96. Seq says that Author because we have no reason nor testimony from Scripture or Tradition to prove that the Power of Peters Apostleship descended down to his Successors and that the rest of the Apostles did not seeing that the Bishops of the Apostolical Churches are equally said to be the Successors to those Apostles by whom their Churches were founded nay all Bishops are esteemed Successors of all the Apostles These are the consequences of this mans Principles which if they might take place farewell the sollicitude which in Obedience to the Divine Precept the Bishop of Rome has had over all Churches of the Catholic Communion throughout the whole World and which he still has as becomes the Primacy of his See although Quesnellio Dissert 1. p. 79. a late Author invents another story concerning the Churches of France supposing according to his Opinion that the Bishop of Rome hath not the Gallican Churches under his charge I am unwilling to insist any longer upon this expostulation but before I conclude this Preface two things are to be observ'd the former whereof hath relation to the favourable Reader whom I would not have to suspect that the Errors of this Book are to be ascribed either to the Sacred Faculty of Paris or to the most Illustrious Gallican Clergy For although the Author calls himself a Doctor of Paris and is a French-man yet it is not at all credible that this Work of his will either please the Sacred Faculty of Paris or the most Illustrious Gallican Clergy 'T is rather to be believed that all those of the French Nation that are eminent for Learning and Piety will judge it unfit that Book should ever have been publish'd The ancient Religion of the Gallican Church which never withdrew its subjection to the Apostolical Sea and hath often profess'd it never will obliges me to believe this It would be temerity therefore to censure the most Illustrious Gallican Church for the publishing of this Book Far be it from Men eminent for Learning far be it from Doctors educated in the Communion of the Apostolic See far be it from a Clergy and Bishops that maintain the Catholic Faith whilst they are earnestly endeavouring to root out one Heresie to consent to the Principles of another not remembring that saying which St. Avitus Bishop of Vienne St. Avitus Viennen Episcopus in Epist ad Faustum Symmachum Senaeores in the Name of the Gallican Church hath 1160 years since consecrated to the memory of Posterity If the Papacy be called in question not a Bishop but Episcopacy will seem to shake Si Papa Urbis vocatur in dubium Episcopatus jam videbitur non Episcopus vacillare The second thing concerns our English Author whom I would not have to boast that he hath found a Patron for his Cause amongst Catholics For since he is a Minister of the English Church and acknowledges a Metropolitical Authority he must necessarily own that the French Author is no less an Adversary to him than to us For since that Author not only denys Patriarchal Authority to be of Apostolical Institution but Metropolitical also that the Dean of St. Saul's may be able to defend the Hierarchy of the English Church to be of Apostolical Institution he ought to exclude out of it not only Patriarchs but Metropolitans also and first to constitute a Church consisting only of Bishops and their inferior Clergy This I say he ought to do if he follow the judgment of the late French Author which notwithstanding we will never subscribe to For we shall ever oppose those Opinions by which we see the Rights of Churches are destroyed the receiv'd Sanctions of Synods perverted the approv'd Writings of ancient Bishops ridicul'd the venerable Testimonies of the ancient Fathers despised and the solid foundations of Ecclesiastical Polity subverted And never admit Principles of Division and Schism to be Rules of Catholic Religion And so much concerning the Treatise of a late French Writer now I proceed to shew the Errors of
the English Author which are here summ'd up together with the Truths by which they are confronted that the Reader may observe them all at one view THE ERRORS Which are Confuted in this DISSERTATION ARE Here set down together with the TRUTHS Confronting them ERRORS TRUTHS ERRORS 1. THat Peter rather Preached the Gospel in Britain than Gaul depends upon slight Testimonies viz. Those of Simeon Metaphrastes the Legendary Writers or the Monkish Visions Origines Britannicae chap. 1. p. 45. TRUTHS 1. That St. Peter preached the Gospel in Britain depends upon the the Testimonies of Eusebius Innocent the first Gildas the Wise John the V. Kenulphus King of the Mercians and Metaphrastes chap. 1 2. Of this Dissertation ERRORS 2. That St. Paul declared the Faith to the Britains is had from the Testimonies of Clemens Romanus Eusebius Theodoret and St. Jereme who in his Commentary upon the 5 chap. Of the Prophet Amos says that St. Paul having been in Spain went from one Ocean to another and that his diligence in Preaching extended as far as the Earth it self chap. 1. p. 37. TRUTHS 2 The Testimonies of Clement Eusebius and Theodoret either relate not at all to Paul's coming into Britain or else may be equally understood of Peter and Paul's coming thither St. Jerome upon the 5. Chapter of Amos says that Paul was called by the Lord to go from Jerusalem even to Spain and to take his course from the Red-Sea and even from Ocean to Ocean which does not signisie that he preacht the Gospel from the Spanish Ocean to the British Ocean but from the Arabic Ocean which is adjacent to the Red-Sea to that Ocean which washeth upon the Spanish Coasts chap. 1. num 4. ERRORS 3. When Sulpitius Severus asserts that Martyrdoms were first seen in Gaul in the time of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus the Christian Religion being more lately receiv'd beyond the Alpes he relates the former of these things as certain the latter as doubtful chap. 2. p. 55. TRUTHS 3. Sulpitius Severus lib. 2. Historiae saith that the fifth Persecution was carried on under Aurelius the Son of Antoninus and that then Martyrdoms were first seen in Gaul the Christian Religion being more lately received beyond the Alpes He relates both these things as equally certain neither doth he doubt more of the latter than of the former chap. 1. num 6. ERRORS 4. Lucius King of the Britains sent his Embassadors to Rome as to the place whither as Irenaeus argues in the like case resort was made from all places because of its being the Imperial City so saith our Author chap. 2. p. 69. TRUTHS 4. St. Irenaeus lib. 3. cap. 3. asserts not of the Roman Imperiality but of the Roman Apostolical Church that it is necessary that all Churches that is the Faithful from all parts resort to it by reason of its more powerful Principality So that King Lucius sent his Embassadors to Pope Eleutherius at Rome by reason of the Principality of that Church and upon no other account chap. 1. num 9. ERRORS 5. The Council of Arles in their Synodical Epistle to Pope Sylvester have writ who holdest a greater Diocese For so that place is to be read chap. 2. p. 83. chap. 3. p. 130. TRUTHS 5. The Council of Arles in their Synodical Epistle to Pope Sylvester set forth first by Pythaeus afterwards by Sirmondus from the Gallican M. S. S. say who holdest the greater Dioceses and so that place is to be read chap. 4. ERRORS 6. It is doubtful whether the distribution of the Empire into Dioceses were made by Constantine at the time of the Council of Arles and it seems more probable not to have been done in the time of the Council of Nice Dioceses not being mentioned there but only Provinces Chap. 3. p. 130. TRUTHS 6. In the time of the Nicene Council Constantine in his Epistle to all the Churches makes mention of the Pontic and Asian Dioceses so that it is not probable but plainly false that in the time of the Council of Nice there was no mention made of Dioceses For in the time of the Synod of Arles the name of Greater Diocese was known as even our Author himself confesses whilst he affirms that instead of Greater Dioceses we ought to read Greater Diocese Chap. 4. ERRORS 7. The Authority of publishing Easter-day in all parts which the Council of Arles in its first Canon allowed as the right of the Bishop of Rome was taken away from him by the Nicene Council which committed this Affair to the Bishop of Alexandria Chap. 2. p. 84. TRUTHS 7. The Authority of publishing Easter-day in all Parts was not taken away from the Bishop of Rome by the Nicene Council the burdensom charge of computing Easter-day was laid upon the Bishop of Alexandria by the Nicene Fathers the Authority of proposing the certain day to the Churches was left to the Roman Bishop Cyril Patriarch of Alexandria in the Preface to his Paschal Cycle says that the Patriarch of Alexandria ought to intimate Easter-day every year by his Letters to the Roman Church from whence by Apostolic Authority the Universal Church might know without any further dispute the determin'd day of Easter throughout the whole World. Which Rule seeing they had observ'd for many Ages c. Chap. 4. ERRORS 8. The Council of Nice in the fourth and fifth Canons hath established the Authority of Provincial Synods as Supreme the Securing of which the Fathers have provided for in the sixth Canon neither did they acknowledge any Authority to be above that of a Metropolitan Chap. 3. p. 100. c. TRUTHS 8. The Council of Nice in the fourth and fifth Canons never so much as dream't of the Supreme Authority of Provincial Synods and hath acknowledg'd in the sixth Canon that the Patriarchal Power of the Bishops of Rome Alexandria and Antioch was Superior to that of Metropolitans Chap. 5. ERRORS 9. The sixth Nicene Canon decrees that the Bishop of Alexandria hath Power over Aegypt Libia and Pentapolis because the Bishop of Rome had a like custom But the likeness did consist in this that as the Roman Patriarch hath no Metropolitan under him so there was no other Metropolitan in all Aegypt but the Metropolitan of Alexandria Chap. 3. p. 104. TRUTHS 9. Before the time of the Council of Nice there were Metropolitans subject not only to the Patriarch of Antioch but likewise to the Patriarch of Alexandria S. Athanasius and S. Epiphanius declare Meletius to have been an Archbishop before the Nicene Council so that the parallel between the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Rome mentioned by the Nicene Council did not lye in this that neither of them had Metropolitans under them Chap. 5. ERRORS 10. That the Patriarchal Power of the Roman Pishop was confined to the Suburbicarian or Neighbouring Proviâ—ces and that the Roman Bishops First began to Usurp the Provinces of Illyricum by constituting the Bishop of Thessalonica as his Vicar after the Second
General Synod had given the Second place of Dignity to the Constantinopolitan See least the Bishop of Constantinople should encroach upon these Illyrican Provinces Chap. 3. p. 114. c. TRUTHS 10. The Metropolitical Authority of the Roman Bishop was limited to the Suburbicarian Provinces as the Author Terms them his Patriarchal Authority extended to the Greater Dioceses of the West after the Constantinopolitan Council Damasius first constituted the Archbishop of Thessalonica Vicar of the Patriarchal See of Rome in the Provinces of Illyricum that the Bishop of Constantinople might not encroach upon them Before the time of Damasius the Roman See had a right to exercise Patriarchal Power by it self or by its Legates as appears in that Legates were sent by Clements the First to Corinth at the end of the First Age wherefore Honorius the Emperor did require that the priviledge of the Roman See which was long since established by the Fathers and confirm'd by the Canons should be preserv'd in Illyricum and Theodosius the Emperor commanded the Ancient Apostolical Discipline and Order by which the Roman Bishop presided over Illyricum to be kept up Chap. 3. ERRORS 11. When Perigenes the Bishop Elect was rejected at Patrae and put into the See of Corinth by the Bishop of Rome without the consent of the Provincial Synod the Bishops of Thessaly amongst whom the Chief were Pausianus Cyriacus and Calliopus look upon this as a notorious invasion of their Rights and therefore in a Provincial Synod they appoint another person to succeed there Chap. 3. p. 116. TRUTHS 11. Perigenes the Metropolitan of Corinth in the Province of Achaia was one Person Perrevius Bishop of a See in the Province of Thessaly not well known to us another Pausianus Cyriacus and Calliopus Bishops of the Province of Thessaly had no Jurisdiction ever Perigenes the Metropolitan of another Province neither doth Bonifacius the first testifie that they acted against him but against Perrevius that was lawfully ordained who appeal'd from their Sentence to Rome and was restored to his See by the Sentence of the Roman Bishop Chap. 3. ERRORS 12. The British Church did not acknowledge any Authority Superior to that of a Metropolitan during the Six First Ages so that when Augustine the Monk was sent to them at the beginning of the Seventh Age Seven British Bishops who were found there and many other learned Men of the Monastery of Banchor refused to be Subject to the Apostolic See or to acknowledge Augustine but remain'd under their own Metropolitan So it appears from Bede and some Monuments set forth by Spehnan which last although the Author doth not think them necessary for the proof of what is above mention'd yet he declares that he approves of them Chap. 5. p. 357. c. TRUTHS 12. The British Church acknowledg'd an Authority Superior to that of a Motropolitan in the Six First Ages and this is so manifest that the Pests of the World Pelagius and Caelestius who were born in Britain confess'd this very thing whilst they either permitted their causes which had been decided in the Provincial Synods to be referr'd to the tribunal of the Apostolic See or did by their own proper Appeal refer them thither What Spelman cites out of the English Monument concerning the Monks of Banchor is Supposititious What Bede Relates does not shew that the British Bishops acknowledged the Metropolitical Authority as Supreme and if it did shew this it discovers that their Error was reprov'd by Miracle from Heaven so that those who persist obstinately to defend this Error are guilty of a double fault of resisting the Truth and being shameless Chap. 6. THE HEADS OF THE CHAPTERS OF THIS DISSERTATION CHAP. I. THat the British Church was instituted either by St. Peter or his Successors Pag. 1 CHAP. II. That the Bishop of Rome is Patriarch of the West and therein even of England and that this follows from the British Church's having receiv'd her Institution either from him or from his Priests as is prov'd by the Testimony of Innocent p. 16 CHAP. III. Although the British Church had not received its Institution from the Roman yet it is shew'd from the Example of the Illyrican Church that by ancient Custom time out of mind it might be subject to it and moreover that it ought to be so p. 36 CHAP. IV. Concerning the Greater Diocesses attributed to Pope Sylvester by the Council of Arles p. 57 CHAP. V. Whether the Nicene Canons establish the Metropolitan Dignity as Supreme and what is decreed in the Sixth of these Canons concerning the Patriarchal Authority p. 76 CHAP. VI. That the British Church acknowledged an Authority Superior to that of a Metropolitan from the time that the Christian Religion was first planted there till such time as it was again restored by Augustine the Monk under Gregory the Great p. 91 Imprimatur si videbitur Reverendissimo Patri Magistro Sacri Palatii Apostolici 19. Octobris 1686. Pro Eminentissimo Cardinali CARPINEO Vicario H. Cardinalis CASANATE Imprimatur Fr. Dominicus M. Puteobonellus Sacri Apostolici Palatii Magister Ordinis Praedicatorum A DISSERTATION Concerning the AUTHORITY OF Patriarchs and Metropolitans ALthough there is something spoken in the Preface to the Reader concerning the Occasion and Design of this Dissertation yet it is so little that I think it will not be amiss if at the entring upon it I give you a more full Account of the Occasion of it and add something for the more clear Understanding of its Design This Dissertation hath its Origin from what I had written in the first Part of Antiquitas Illustrata Dissertation the Second For when I had there shew'd from many Monuments of the Ancients that was true of the whole West which Theodosius Bishop of Echinus in Thessaly said above eleven hundred and fifty years since before Boniface the Second in the Roman Synod concerning the Churches of Illyricum viz. that the Roman Bishops besides their Principality over the Churches of the whole World more especially claim'd to themselves the Government of the Western Churches this special Authority of the Roman Bishop over the West did not please a Modern English Writer that styles himself Dean of St. Paul's and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty and he took it ill that the English Church which is rent from the Communion of the Apostolic See should be concluded by me within the Bounds of the Western Patriarchate He explains his Sense of the thing in a Book intituled Origines Britannicae or The Antiquities of the British Churches which he set forth at London Anno 1685. wherein as a Minister of the English Church he takes upon him its Defence and contends that the Hierarchy of the English Church which since the Schism hath own'd Subjection only to Bishops and Metropolitans as the Superior Clergy is conformable in this to the Ancient Church Therefore he endeavours not only to shew that the English Church was Acephalic that is without a
detest the Error they have imbibed concerning the Supremacy of the Metropolitcal Authority 8. Thus far enough of the Patriarchate of Antioch Let us now speak of that of Alexandria It is confest that the Bishop of Alexandria had a power over many Provinces before the time of the Nicene Council which the Sixth Canon of Nice plainly declares whilst it ordains that the ancient custom should be observ'd according to which the Bishop of Alexandria exercised a jurisdiction over Egypt Lybia and Pentapolis This is expresly commemorated of Dionysius who govern'd the Church of Alexandria Sixty years before the Nicene Council by St. Athanasius lib. de sententia Dionysii contra Arianos in these words D. Athanasius de sententia Dionysii Vid. num XXXVIII In Pentapolis of the upper Lybia some of the Bishops embraced the opinions of Sabellius and their fictions did so much prevail that the Son of God was scarce any more Preach'd in their Churches Vpon the discovery of which Dionysius to whose charge those Churches belong'd sent Legates to withdraw the Authors of these things from their false opinions Therefore according to the testimony of Athanasius the Churches of upper Lybia Epiphanius Haeresi 68. Vid. num XXXIX or Pentapolis as also other Churches distributed through the rest of the Provinces of the Egyptian Diocese were under the charge of Dionysius as St. Epiphanius informs us Heresi 68. where he detests the Original of the Meletian Schism Meletius saith he and the Martyrs especially Peter Archbishop of Alexandria were then in bonds and Meletius though he excell'd the other Bishops of Egypt yet was second to Peter in dignity as being his Suffragane yet subject to him and referring Ecclesiastical Causes to his Jurisdiction For it is the Right of the Arch-Bishops of Alexandria to administer Ecclesiastical Affairs throughout all Aegypt and Thebais Mareotis Lybia Ammoniaca and Pentapolis From these ancient Testimonies the Jurisdiction of the Bishop of Alexandria over all the Provinces throughout Aegypt is clearly proved neither do I see that any doubt can be made of this it remains therefore for us to consider whether there was at that time no Metropolitan Bishop to be found in any of the Provinces of Aegypt 9. This our Author denies as to the times before the Nicene Council but upon what ground I know not For Meletius held a Bishoprick in Thebais before the time of the Council of Nice and St. Epiphanius in the place above mentioned hath recorded that he in the time of St. Peter Bishop of Alexandria who was crown'd with Martyrdom about fourteen years before the Nicene Council excelling the other Egyptian Bishops was the second to Peter in Dignity Now how could Meletius then have obtain'd the second Place to Peter by what Right could he have excell'd the other Egyptian Bishops unless he had been a Metropolitan If you would have a farther Confirmation of the thing consult St. Athanasius who tells us that Meletius ordain'd Bishops in Egypt and in the Breviary of the Bishops consecrated by Meletius names John Bishop of Memphis in the last place 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In Memphis Bâ—â—â—â—â—um Eâ—â—â—coporum à Meletio orâ—â—natâ—um John commanded by the Emperor to be together with the Archbishop Meletius therefore was an Arch-bishop to whom John Bishop of Memphis was by the command of the Emperor to be an Assistant and this St. Athanasius expressy affirms Haeresi 69. where he tells us that Arius drew to his party Secundus Bishop of Pentapolis together with some others and that all this was done without the knowledge of S. Alexander until Meletius Arch-bishop of Thebais in Aegypt D. Epiphanius and again until Meletius Arch-bishop in Aegypt and subject to Alexander had inform'd Alexander of the whole Business Thus Epiphanius twice calls Meletius Archbishop 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and affirms that he was subject to Alexander Bishop of Alexandria so that there is no question but the Patriarch of Alexandria had a Metropolitan under him before the time of the Nicene Council and whereas our Author owns no Metropolitan to have been in Thebais this proceeds from his Ignorance in Ecclesiastical History 10. Since therefore these things are so clear that they cannot be call'd in question let our Author now say that the Parity between the Patriarchate of Alexandria and that of Rome lay in this that neither of them had Metropolitans under him For since it hath been shew'd that there were not only many Provinces but likewise several Metropolitan Bishopricks under the Patriarchs of Antioch and Alexandria before the time of the Nicene Council since the fixth Canon of the Council of Nice decrees that the ancient Custom should be observ'd viz. that the Bishop of Alexandria should have Authority over Aegypt Lybia and Pentapolis because the Bishop of Rome hath a like Custom hereby the Authority of the Bishop of Alexandria not only over Bishops but also over Metropolitans is confirm'd from the Example of the Roman Patriarch who consequently must have a Jurisdiction over Metropolitans Neither hath any one reason to alledge the Paraphrase of Ruffinus concerning the Suburbicarian Regions against us and to affirm with Salmasius that these were confined within the space of a hundred Miles from the City or within the Bounds of the Lieutenancy of the City as a late French Author would have them to be All which I shall refute at large in the second Edition of Antiquitas Illustrata and shew to be erroneous In the mean time who will not admire that there should be such Men to be found who notwithstanding they may plainly see that the Bishop of Antioch had fifteen Eastern Provinces and the Bishop of Alexandria six Provinces of Aegypt under thier Jurisdiction yet can have the confidence to affirm that the Patriarchal Authority of the Bishop of Rome was confin'd to the narrow space of a hundred Miles or but few more from the City If the Bishop of Alexandria obtain'd a Patriarchal Jurisdiction over a larger Diocess of the Empire because the Roman Bishops had the like Custom then we must of necessity allow the Roman Bishop to have obtain'd a Jurisdiction over at least a like Diocess of the Empire But the first Council of Arles ten years before that of Nice expresly declared that Sylvester Bishop of Rome held not only one but many greater Diocesses nor is it any where read that these Diocesses were taken away from Sylvester in so short a space of time it must then be held for certain that he retain'd them all at the time of the Council of Nice and consequently that the Popes had not only a Patriarchal Jurisdiction over the Provinces that were near the City of Rome but also over all the rest of the Western Provinces amongst which the British are to be reckon'd CHAP. VI. That the British Church acknowledged an Authority Superior to that of a Metropolitan from the time that the Christian Religion was first planted there till such time
Heresie came late into Britain and was first brought thither by Agricola the Son of a Pelagian Bishop about the time of Pope Celestine for it appears from Bede that Britain was free from that Heresie during the whole time that Innocent and Zosimus were Popes which cannot be thought to proceed from any other Ground than this viz. that they had receiv'd the Decrees of Innocent and Zosimus 6. But when Agricola spread the Pelagian Heresie in Britain the Apostolic See making use of its Authority sent Bishops into Britain whom Britain receiv'd and by their help was not only converted from Heresie in those parts where they were Christians but likewise from Infidelity in the Parts where the Christian Faith was extinguished Indeed Venerable Bede relates Lib. 1. Hist Gentis Anglorum Cap. 17. that the Britains implored the Aid of the French Bishops against the Pelagian Heresie and that Lupus Bishop of Troies and Germanus Bishop of Auxerre came into Britain from France whence our Author Pag. 89. deduces that the Authority of the Roman Church was not acknowledg'd by the Britains But whilst he cites Bede let him also consult that Writer from whom Bede might have borrowed his History viz. St. Prosper who ad Consulatum Florentini Dionysii gives us an account of the Matter of Fact in these Words S. Prosper in Chronico Vid. num XLIV Agricola the Son of Severianus a Pelagian Bishop being himself also a Pelagian corrupted the British Churches by the Insinuation of his Doctrine but Pope Celestine being solieited by Palladius the Deacon sends Germanus Bishop of Auxerre as his Legate and having expell'd the Heretics he instructs the Britains in the Catholic Faith. Thus St. Prosper who for his Age might have seen and spoken with Palladius Deacon to Pope Celestine who was also at Rome under Leo the Great Successor to Celestine and Notary to the said Leo and so might have read in the Registry of the Roman Church the authentic Instrument wherein Germanus was constituted Delegate of the Apostolic See for Britain so that there can be no question made of the Authority of this Fathers Testimony Nor imports it that Bede says Germanus came together with Lupus into this Island at the Instance of the Britains and that they were chosen by the Council of Verolam to dispute with the Pelagians For as Baronius the Parent of Annals rightly observes this doth not at all hinder but that Pope Celestine made Germanus Bishop of Auxerre his Delegate at the Instance of Palladius the Roman Deaconâ— and that Germanus relying upon the Apostolical Authority came to compose the differences of the British Church and went out of his own proper Diocese into the Dioceses of others which as the Monuments of those times inform us was a frequent practice 7. S. Prosper Vid. num XLV Venerab Bâ—da lib. 1. cap. 133. Vid. num XLVI Matthaeus Westmonasteriensis Vid. num XLVII For Prosper relates that two years after the mission of Germanus Antisiodorensis Bassus and Antiochus being Consuls Palladius was ordain'd by Pope Celestine and sent the first Bishop to the Scots who believ'd in Christ Venerable Bede tells us the very same thing lib. 1. cap. 13. asserting at the Eighth year of Theodosius junior that Palladius was the first Bishop that was sent by Celestine Bishop of the Roman Church to the Scots believing in Christ After Palladius Matthaeus Westmonasteriensis mentions St. Patrick as sent by the same Pope in these words Pope Celestine after he had heard of the death of Palladius Theodosius and Valentinian being Emperors sent Patrick to display the Banner of the Holy Cross to the Gentiles who when he came to Britain preach'd the word of God there and was kindly receiv'd by the Inhabitants of that Island Then going into Scotland he preach'd Gods word which could not be restrained Indeed he adds that he was advanced to the degree of a Bishop by Matthew Archbishop and this also might be done by the command of Celestine in the same manner as we shall see anon Augustine was ordain'd by the Bishop of Arles upon the Order of Pope Gregory Moreover Marianus Scotus asserts that St. Patrick was ordain'd Archbishop of Scotland by Celestine and that all Ireland was converted by him for which we have not only the testimony of Sigebert and other foreign Writers but likewise of many English Authors as the Bishop of Armagh hath observ'd p. 838 c. where he cites their testimonies and amongst the rest that of Joceline the Monk who hath placed St. Patricks life at the latter end of the Twelfth Age which Henschenius puts at the 17th day of March and doth not only mention that St. Patrick was created Bishop by Pope Celestine but likewise that he came again to Rome in the time of Pope Hilary to give an account of his mission who Jocelinus in vâ—â—â— S. Patricii Vid. num XLVIII saith he giving him power to act in his stead and constituting him his Legate by the Sanction of his Authority confirm'd all that he had done constituted or settled in Ireland From all which it is clearly proved that the Apostolic See did make use of its Authority in governing the British Churches by its Legates and that Britain did acknowledg this Authority till the Invasion of the Saxons which was after the time of Celestine 8. After that upon the coming of the Saxons into Britain the Churches had been demolished the Altars broken down and the Priests dispersed Gregory the first sent Augustine the Monk to restore the Catholic Religion gone to decay in the chief Provinces under the Tyranny of the Heathen Princes for a long series of years and Britain receiv'd and honour'd him as their Apostle Venerable Bede lib. 7. cap. 28. testifies that Augustine was ordain'd Archbishop of the English Nation by Etherius Archbishop of Arles according to the commands he had received from the Holy Father Gregory Venerab Bede lib. 1. Hist c. 28. Auctor vitae Gregory Magni vide num XLIX Augustine was therefore ordain'd by the command of Gregory the Great because Gregory being the chief Bishop in the whole World presided over those Churches which were long since converted to the true faith as Spelman relates Tomo 1. Conciliorum Angliae ad anum Christi 597. ex vita Gregorii lib. 2. cap. 2. per Bedam conscripta Also at the beginning of the Sixth Age Augustine the first Bishop of Canterbury when he made it his business to restore the Discipline of the English Church consulted Gregory who by vertue of his Apostolical Authority gave Rules according to which the Discipline of the English Church was Established By virtue of this Authority Gregory commanded Augustine to create two Metropolitans the one at London and the other at York together with twenty four Bishops and order'd that they should be subject to Augustine so long as he continued as his Legate All which is a plain evidence that the Bishops exercised a supream
Sacramentis contra Lutherum But it cannot be denied said Henry the Eighth at that time but every Church of the Faithful owns and reverences the Holy See of Rome as their Mother and Primate If every Church did allow of this in the time of Henry the Eighth if they all recognized this one See of St. Peter what Reason what Right what Equity could this very Henry the First of all the Kings of England have to set up another See against this peculiar See and offer to restrain the Bounds of its Primacy I know indeed that your Author against whom I have hitherto written hath made the same Answer to this that Luther did in the time of Henry the Eighth that the Pope had not obtained a Power so great and of so large an Extent as this by the Command of God or by the Consent of Men but had usurped it to himself But because he agrees with Luther in opposing the Popes Power it is but reasonable he should hear what Answer Henry the Eighth hath made to him in the Person of Luther I would have him to tell me when it was that he enter'd forcibly upon this large Possession The first beginnings of so immense a Power could not have been unknown to us especially if they had happened within the Memory of Man. But if he shall say that it is an Age or two since the thing was done let him give us an account of it from History Or else if it be so ancient that the Original of it although it be so considerable a Matter is obliterated he knows it is the wise Provision of all Laws that when the Right to any thing is so far beyond the Memory of Man that it cannot be known what a beginning it had it should be presumed to have had legitimate one and it is plainly forbidden by the consent of all Nations that those things should be unsetled which have for a long time continued in a setled State I very much admire how he could ever hope to find Readers either so credulous or so stupid as to believe an unarmed Priest all alone having no Guard to attend him no just Right to support him nor Title to rely upon could so much as hope ever to obtain so great a Dominion over so many Bishops that were his Equals in so many different and far distant Countries Much less can any one believe that all People Cities Kingdoms and Provinces were so prodigal of their Concerns Rights and Liberties as to give a Priest that was a Stranger to them and to whom they owed nothing so great a Power over them as he could scarce dare to wish for These things are manifest and the more remarkable because written by that King of Great Britain under whom your English Church separated from the Roman for a Reason which I am ashamed to relate neither is it fitting for you to hear it and contrary to the perpetual Tradition of the Ancients contrary to the Faith of your Ancestors contrary to the Consent of all Catholics broke into open Schism and fell from Schism into Heresie and from Heresie into the Abyss of those Errors which are now fresh in the Memory of Men and which Posterity will ever have cause to lament Of these Errors I need not make a Catalogue or produce any Testimony since you are too well acquainted with them only I should indeed think my Pains very well bestowed if I could by any means recal you from Heresie and Schism which are the Sourses of so many Evils to a sound Mind and move you to repent whilst you have time After the Darkness of Schism the Light of Truth shone forth to you under the Reign of Mary your Queen which Britain calling to mind its ancient Faith receiv'd with due Veneration After the Night of Heresies into which Britain fell back under the Reign of Elizabeth Faith like the Morning seems to rise again under the Government of a Catholic Prince whence we may hope the Light of Truth which your Ancestors enjoyed for so many Ages will break forth among you into open Day and again recover that Place from whence a hundred Years since it was forced into Banishment This is what all those Churches with whom you have formerly held Communion earnestly desire This is what Spain Portugal France Germany Bohemia Poland Dalmatia Italy Sicily and the other Western Regions in which the ancient Religion now flourishes with so much Splendor continually pray for This is what the Churches still remaining in Grece Asia Palestine Mesopotamia Persia Armenia and all the East will joyfully entertain This the vast Provinces of the new World inhabited by so many People so many Nations so many Families This the far distant Inhabitants of China many of which have in the former and in this present Age embraced the Christian Faith This innumerable Islands scattered every where up and down in that Sea we call the ocean will receive with joyful Acclamations This will be most acceptable to Rome the Mother Church which first brought you forth to God and Religion neither could any thing be more delightful to Her than to receive You as a kind Parent amongst so many others which at this time are returning to Her from Heresie and Schism and cherish you in her Bosom All the other above mention'd Churches throughout the World are subject to this Roman See and all these joyn'd together constitute the Catholic Church from which none can be separated who desires to be one of the Faithful and would attain Salvation Would to God therefore that you would look after the Salvation of your own Souls whilst the Catholic Church spread over the Face of the whole Earth waits earnesily for your Conversion that you would return to the Communion of that Church out of which there is no Salvation Epist ad Ephes c. 5. There is one Lord and one Faith saith Paul. That Faith is found in the Church which is but one D. Ambrosius in cap. 4. Lucae as the Apostles in their Creed have taught us This Church is the House that I may use St. Ambrose's Words of which as Damasus was at that time Rector so Innocentius is now D. Hieronymus Eâ—â—stâ—ad Damasum Whosoever eats the Lamb out of this House saith Jerome is Prophane and since he is not in the Ark of Noah he shall perish when the Deluge reigns Julianus Cardinalis apud Pium 2. in Bulla ad Vniversitatem Colomensem Latinerum Graecorum Doctorum una vox est salvari non posse qui Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae non â—enet unitatem Nor is this the Sense of Jerome only but of the rest of the Fathers for as Julianus President of the Synod at Basil rightly observ'd The Latin and Greek Doctors say all with one Voice that he cannot be saved who lives not in Unity with the Holy Roman Church Testimonia in Idiomate quo ex Authoribus in hoc Libro citantur hic conscripta