A LETTER WRITTEN FROM PARISH, BY THE Lord Cardinal of Peron, TO MONSr. CASAUBON in England.  
Translated out of the French corrected Copy, into English.  
Anno M.DC.XII.   

GENTLE Reader,  
This Epistle was composed by the Lord Cardinal of Peron, without any purpose to have it seen in public, but rather with deliberation not to impart it so much as to his very familiar friends. But a Copy thereof being by chance gotten, it was presently printed in Paris, with many faults, yea and with some heresies. And although the foresaid Cardinal used all diligence to have it suppressed, causing the Copies to be seized on by the Officers of justice, and the Printer to be punished for publishing them without his knowledge: yet was there soon after another impression made thereof in Rouen, conformable to that faulty Copy of Paris, and the like may also be done elsewhere. For remedy therefore of the disadvantage which may arise hereof, both to the doctrine of Catholics, and the reputation of the Author, it hath seemed necessary to permit, that it be printed entire and perfect, according to the Copy which was written & sent. And this we do at this present, disclaiming from all the former copies, and whatsoever else not conformable to this.   

SYR.  
THE Letter which you delivered to Monsieur de la Boderie, to be given me, I received when I was upon my departure, taking my journey into Normandy. Since my return, I have been always sick; which hath been the cause, that my Answer cometh no sooner to your hands. But now, that my infirmity alloweth me some little ease, I will pay the arrierages of my former slackness. And first I yield you many thanks, for the pleasure you did me, in showing my Letter to his Majesty of Great-Britaine, and procuring me some part in his gracious favour; which I will endeavour so to increase by most humble services, and particularly by setting forth his Royal Praises (the only fruit, which good and virtuous Kings, such as his Majesty is, do receive of the thorny cares annexed to Royal Government) as he shall have no cause to be sorry, that Posterity know the honour, which his Majesty did me with his Royal favour, and the Reverence and Admiration I had of his Princely virtues.  
As for the Translation of Virgil's verse, whereof you say his Majesty desired a Copy, that being lost, which before I sent you, I must differre for some days the performance of this duty, for that I have caused it to be printed again with an Addition of one part of the fourth; which for his majesties sake I have of purpose added, to make thereof unto him a more ample and worthy present; and as soon as some few Copies shallbe finished, I will not fail to send you one, that you may present it to his Majesty in my name.  
There resteth now the third point of your Letter; which is, that his Majesty much marveled at these words of mine, where I said, that excepting the only Title of Catholic, there was nothing wanting in his Royal Person, to express the lively pattern of a Prince, completely endued with all Princely virtues: and that he pretended the Title of Catholic, could not be denied him, since he believed all those things, which the ancient Fathers with uniform consent esteemed necessary to salvation.  
To this I answer, that as on the one side I cannot but greatly praise the Christian humility of his Majesty, in that he refuseth not to submit his judgement, adorned with so rare light of Nature, and increased by Industry, to those bright shining Lamps of Antiquity; imitating herein the prudence of the Great Emperor Theodosius, who thought no other means more ready for the composing of those dissensions, wherewith the Church was molested in his time, then to demand of both parties, if they believed, that the ancient Fathers, who flourished before their contentions began, had the true faith; which they confessing, he required them to submit themselves to that, which they should find to have been believed by the ancient Fathers: so on the other side, there are divers things to be observed upon the Premises before we come to the Conclusion; which for that I have not means to present to his Majesty, I shallbe content to inform you of them for your particular satisfaction.  
The first is, that the Name of Catholic, is not a Name of only Belief, but of Communion; otherwise the ancient Fathers would never have refused to give this Name to them, that were separated from them, not in belief, but in the communion & unity of the Church. Neither would they ever have affirmed, that out of the Catholic Church they might have Faith and Sacraments, but not Salvation. Out of the Catholic Church (saith S. Augustin in his Treatise of the Conference had with Emeritus) a man may have all things, excepting salvation: he may have Orders, he may have Sacraments, he may sing Alleluia, he may answer Amen, he may have the Gospel, he may have, and preach the faith in the Name of the Father, & of the Son, and of the holy Ghost; but he can by no means obtain salvation, but in the Catholic Church.  
And in his book de utilitate credendi. 
Cap. 7.  There is one Church, as all do confess: and if you look on the whole compass of the world, it exceedeth all others in number: and as they affirm that know, it is more sincere in the doctrine of the Truth. But this is another question. That which sufficeth for our present purpose, is, that there is one Catholic Church, to which divers heresies have given different Names, when as every of them have their proper Names, which they dare not deny: by which it may easily appear, to whom the Name of Catholic, of which all are desirous, aught to be attributed.  

Cap. 4.  And in his book contra Epist. Fundam. And that I may omit this wisdom, which you deny to be in the Catholic Church, there are divers other things, which do most justly retain, and hold me in her bounds & unity. There doth hold me the consent of people and nations, the authority which had her beginning by miracles, nourished by hope, augmented by charity, confirmed by antiquity. There doth hold me the Succession of Bishops until this present day, from the very Seat of Peter, to whom our Lord committed the feeding of his sheep after his Resurrection, to the Episcopal dignity of the present Bishop. And lastly this very name Catholic doth hold me in the unity of this Church; which name this Church hath always, not without cause, amongst so many different sects of heresies, in such sort obtained, that although all heretics desire to be called catholics; yet if a Stranger should demand where is the Assembly of the Catholic Church, there is no Heretic that dareth to assign him his Temple, or his house.  

Cap. 10.  And in his Treatise de fide & symbolo. We do believe the holy Church, that is Catholic; for the Heretics and the Schismatics do call their Congregations Churches: but the Heretics believing those things of God, which are false, do violate the faith; and the schismatics by unlawful divisions, do separate themselves from brotherly charity, although they believe in all things the same with us. And for this cause neither doth the Heretic appertain to the Catholic Church, for that she loveth God; nor the Schismatic, for that she loveth her neighbour.  

Cap. 4.  And in his Book de unitate Ecclesiae. All those that believe, as hath been said, that our Lord jesus Christ is come in flesh, & risen from death in the same flesh, in which he was borne, and hath suffered; and that he is the Son of God, with God, and one with the Father, and the only immutable Word of the Father, by whom all things were made, but doth yet in such sort dissent from his body, which is the Church, that their communion is not with all them with whom the Catholic Church doth participate, but are in some divided part; it is manifest, that they are not in the Catholic Church.  
And Prosper his Disciple saith: That he who doth communicate with this Universal Church, is a Christian, and a Catholic, and he that doth not communicate, is an Heretic and Antichrist. By which we see, that the ancient Fathers denied the Title of Catholic to the Donatists, because they separated themselves from the Communion of the Church, and granted it to them, from whom the Donatists took their doctrine, because they remained in the Unity of one communion. The people under S. Cyprian his charge (saith Saint Pacianus) have never been called otherwise then Catholic. And S. Vincentius Lyrinensis: O admirable change of things! The Authors of one and the same opinion are esteemed Catholics, and their followers are judged Heretics. And S. Augustine. Your dissension, saith he, and your division maketh you Heretics, & their peace and unity made them Catholics.  
And when as in the fourth Council of Carthage this Article was put in the examen of those that were to be made Bishops, the same was repeated in the Epistle of the Council, by Saint Augustine, who was the Secretary, in these words: 
epist. 152. ad Donat●st.  Whosoever is divided from the Catholic Church, how laudably soever he seem to live, for this only crime that he is separated from the Unity of the Church, he shall be excluded from life, and the wrath of God shall remain upon him. And the same was repeated again by Fulgentius, who saith: 
lib. de fid. ad Pet. Diac. cap. 29.  Hold for most certain, and doubt not in any manner, that no Heretic or Schismatic, baptised in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the holy Ghost, if he be not united to the Catholic Church, although he give never so great alms, and shed his very blood for the name of Christ, yet can he in no wise be saved. Thus said these Fathers, wholly or principally against the Donatists; who notwithstanding agreed with the Catholics in all articles of the Creed, and in holy Scripture.  
You accord with us (saith S. Augustine) in Baptism, and in the Creed, and in all other Sacraments of our Lord: but in the spirit of Unity, in the place of peace, & lastly in the Catholic Church, you are not with us. And yet they differed only in one point of Tradition, not expressly contained in Scripture. And S. Augustine himself, the chief Conqueror of this Heresy, doth confess, that it could not be proved by Scripture. This (saith he lib. 
Cap. 19  de unitate Ecclesiae) neither you, nor I, do read in express words. And in his first book contra Cresconium: 
Cap. 33·  Although no example of this matter be found in holy Scriptures, yet do we follow in this, the Truth of the Scriptures, when we do that which is agreeable to the Universal Church, commended unto us by the authority of the same Scriptures. And l. 
Cap. 4.  11. de Bapt. cont. Donat. And we ourselves (saith he) should not dare to affirm any thing of this matter, if we were not warranted by the most uniform Authority of the Church. 
Cap. 24.  And l. 5. The Apostles have commanded nothing concerning this matter: but the custom which was alleged against S. Cypr. is to be thought to have descended from their tradition, as divers other things have done, which the Universal Church doth observe, and are therefore with great reason believed, to have been commanded by the Apostles, although they be not written.  
Whence it followeth, that it sufficeth not, for the obtaining of the Name Catholic, to hold, or rather to think we do hold the self same belief of the ancient Fathers, if we do not participate with them in the Unity and Communion of the same Catholic Church, with which the same ancient Fathers did communicate, and which by succession of persons, and, as we further pretend, by the succession also of doctrine is descended unto us. And if she hath lost any part of her greatness in our Hemisphere, she hath gotten as much, or more, in the other Hemisphere, that is under us: that so those ancient Prophecies may be fulfilled; 
Gen. 26.  In thy seed all the nations of the earth shallbe blessed And: In the last days, 
Isa. 2.  the mountain of the house of our Lord, shallbe in the top of mountains, and shallbe lifted up above the hills, and all nations shall come unto it. The Gospel of the Kingdom must be preached through the universal world, 
Matth. 23.  and then shall follow the end and consummation: with other the like sentences of holy Scripture. By which (as Saint Augustine noteth) the Church hath obtained the Title & Mark of Catholic.  
The second observation is, concerning the restriction to things, necessary to salvation. For besides those that are necessary to salvation, there are two other degrees of things: the one, of such as are profitable to salvation: as, according to the judgement of your Ministers, is the selling of all that a man hath, and giving it to the poor. Likewise to fast in time of affliction, to appease the indignation of God; to pray for the brethren that are of the same faith with us; to pray to Almighty God for our own necessities. The other degree is of things lawful, & not repugnant to salvation; as to fly in time of persecution, and for such as serve the Altar, to be maintained by the Altar; to put away the wife that is adulteress, and the like. For I allege these, as examples, and not for instances. Now for entire conformity with the belief of the ancient Fathers, it is necessary, that we believe all those things which they believed, every one according to the degree in which they were held by them; that is, to believe those things to be necessary to salvation, which they reputed necessary; and those things profitable to salvation, which they esteemed so: and likewise to believe those things to be lawful, and not repugnant to salvation, which they did hold for lawful & not repugnant: and that under colour, that these two last degrees are not of things necessary to salvation, but only profitable or lawful, we should not condemn them, nor separate ourselves for any respect of them from the Church, which did, and doth practise them.  
The third observation is, concerning the ambiguity of the words (necessary to salvation) which for that there are divers kinds of necessities in matters of Religion, may be diversly taken. For there is one necessity, which is called Absolute, and another Conditional. There is a necessity of the means to do a thing, and there is a necessity induced by the precept, by which we are commanded to do it. There is also a necessity of special and particular belief, and a necessity of belief in general: a necessity of act, and lastly a necessity of approbation. I call absolute necessity (not that it is simply so, but for that God hath so ordained it) that which admitteth no excuse of impossibility, nor any exception of place, time, or person. Of this kind is the knowledge and belief of Christ, the Mediator between God and man, which is of absolute necessity to be known of all that be of age. For it is not excused with the circumstance of not being in place, where one may be instructed, nor with the condition of being ignorant and unlearned, rude, and of little capacity, a sheep, and not a shepherd: for none of these exceptions can defend them from eternal death, that do not actually believe. Forasmuch as whosoever believeth not in the only begotten Son of God, is already judged. 
joan· 3.  And of the same necessity to little infants, is the receiving of the Sacrament of Baptism, by which alone, according to the doctrine of Catholics, the faith in Christ is in them supplied: following herein the sentence of S Augustine, 
lib. 3. de an. & eius orig. c. 9  who saith: Do not believe, do not say, do not teach, that the Infants prevented by death, before they be baptised, can obtain remission of Original sin, if thou will be a Catholic. And of this kind of necessity, there are but few examples.  
I call that necessity Conditional, which obligeth not, but when there is possibility, and admitteth exception of place, time, and persons: and this again is subdivided into many branches. For first of all (to speak of matters which concern Faith) there are many points, which necessarily are to be believed by him, that is in place, where he may be instructed, or hath time to inform himself, which are not necessary to another, that liveth in a desert, or is so suddenly prevented by death, that he hath no leisure to be instructed: as, that Christ was borne of a Virgin, that he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, that he rose again the third day. And many things are necessary to be believed and held for points of Faith, either by the whole body of the Church in general, or by the order of Ministers or Pastors, who are the eyes of the Church, which be not necessary to be known and believed as articles of Faith by every one in particular: As, that the persons of the blessed Trinity are one in Essence, and distinct in Subsistence: that the Father hath begotten his Son of necessity, and not of free accord; that they are the divine Persons which do produce, and are produced, and not the Essence which doth neither produce, nor is produced; that the external operations of the blessed Trinity are undivided: that the only Person of the Son hath taken flesh, and not any of the others: that in Christ there are two Substances, and one Subsistence: that the Divinity was not in place of the soul, but that besides the body and Divinity, there was in Christ also a sensible and reasonable soul: that what Christ did once personally unite unto him, he doth never abandon: that the Devil was created good, and by the liberty of his own free will, he became evil; and other the like.  
And as for the necessity of action, there are many things necessary, when there is possibility and opportunity of times, of places, and of persons; which are not necessary absolutely, and when these commodities and means to perform them, are wanting: As to assist at Ecclesiastical solemnities; to receive actually the Eucharist. And many things are necessary to some, as Mission and Imposition of hands to the Pastors of the Church; and Marriage to such as desire lawful offspring, which are not necessary to others. And briefly, other things are needful for the obtaining of salvation, and others for the obtaining of it with more facility: others for the obtaining of it for one's self, and others for the procuring and getting of it for another: others for the constitution of the Church, and others for the edification and more large propagation of the Church: others for the mere being of Christian Religion, and others for the better being, that is, for the decency, dignity, and splendour thereof. I call necessity of means that which is in the things themselves we use, as that of the Sacraments, to which God hath given power, for the imparting of Grace, and the real cooperation to the health of a man's soul, That also of the Commandments of the moral law, the necessity whereof is imposed by the order of nature. In like manner the necessity of repenting for our sins, which is a necessary mean for obtaining of pardon.  
I call that necessity of Precept, which proceedeth only from the force of commandment, as is the keeping holy of the first day in the week, in memory of that day in which our Saviour rose from death, and which for this cause is called Dies Dominicus, that is, the day of our Lord, and other the like observations; the omission of which, would nothing endanger salvation, if it were not for disobedience and the breaking of the precept, by which they are commanded. I call necessity of particular and special belief, the necessity of those articles, which all faithful souls not prevented by death are bound to know and believe with an express, distinct, and determinate faith, which in Schools is called Fides ex licita: and of this kind, are the twelve Articles of our Creed.  
Necessity of general belief comprehendeth those things, which every one in particular is not bound to believe in distinct and express manner; as the doctrine of Original sin; the article of two wills in Christ; the proceeding of the holy Ghost from the Father and the Son; the force of Baptism given in due form out of the Catholic Church; and that the baptised by heretics are not to be rebaptized, when they return to the unity of the Church, and other the like, which every simple and rude Christian is not bound expressly and distinctly to believe, but it sufficeth, that they believe them in general, in the faith of the Church, that is, that they adhere, and be united to the Church, which believeth them; in the faith whereof they live as long, as they remain in her communion and unity; in like manner as the infant liveth by the food received by the mother, as long as it is within her womb.  
Necessity of Act I call that, which is of those things, which every one in particular is bound actually to do: As to profess the name of Christ, to pardon received injuries, to restore the goods of others unjustly detained. Necessity of approbation is of those things, which every one in particular is not bound actually to execute; but he is bound not to contradict, or condemn those that do them, nor the Church which doth approve them, nor for any dislike of them to separate themselves from the Church, under pain of being excluded from everlasting salvation. Of this sort is the choice of living a chaste and single life, and other the like. Of all which kinds of Necessity the ancient Fathers held many things, each one in his degree, differently necessary to salvation: as we will show in those particulars, which shallbe presented to be examined. Now if we hold the points of doctrine or of action, which the Fathers esteemed necessary for salvation, according to some of these necessities, and do reject the rest, we cannot for this be said to agree in belief with the ancient Fathers: but it is further needful to hold and esteem all those things necessary to salvation, which the ancient Fathers did esteem to be necessary, every one in the degree, and according to the kind of necessity, as they were esteemed by them.  
The fourth Observation is about the word (Ancient) which some, when they should come to perform their promise of submitting their judgement to Antiquity, do restrain to the first or second Age immediately after the Apostles, not for that they hope to find within that space any ancient Father, that doth favour them, but for that the Church being then oppressed with persecutions, left us but few writings of that Date; and those for the most part against such persons, & about such matters, as do so little appertain to the questions now in controversy, as the face of the ancient doctrine, & the practice of the Church in those days, cannot be fully represented unto us & known. But reason and equity requireth, that if we will confer the estate of the Sects of this age, which would challenge to themselves the Title of the Catholic Church, with the estate of the ancient Church; we should take a time, wherein not only our Competitors do agree with us, that the Church of that age was the true Church, & the true Spouse of jesus Christ, and that she had lawful authority to judge and determine the Controversies in matters of Religion; but also it behoveth us to take such a time, of which we have sufficient Monuments and Records, to show clearly unto us the doctrine & observations of that Church, which cannot in any sort be better found then in the times of the four first Counsels, that is, from the time of Constantine the Great, who was the first Emperor that publicly professed Christian Religion, to the time of the Emperor Martian.  
And it seemeth his Majesty doth liberally accord, not only to this, but to much more in some of his writings, having extended the continuance of the true Church, to the whole space of the five first ages. For besides that the freedom from the yoke of servitude of the Pagans, gave place to the Church then to speak with more liberty, and to have more free communication with all the parts belonging unto it, dispersed in divers countries and Kingdoms, and to flourish in a greater multitude of learned and excellent Writers, which hath been the cause, that we have at this present without comparison, many more testimonies of those ages, to discover the entire and perfect form of the ancient Christian Religion, than we have of the other ages which went before. Besides this, I say, our Adversaries cannot deny, but that Church, which was nourished with the breasts of the first Christian emperors, and which destroyed the Temples, abolished the service and honour done to false Gods, and exercised the sovereign Tribunal of spiritual authority on earth, by the sentence of condemnation, which she pronounced against the four most famous Heresies, in the four first general councils, which were the four first general Assemblies, and Parliaments of Estate of the Kingdom of Christ, was that Church of whom it was fortould, that she should suck the breasts of Kings; 
Isa. 62.54.  and that Nations should walk in her light, and Kings in the brightness of her orient; that all attempts against her should be destroyed; that she should judge every tongue that resisted in judgement; that God had put watchmen upon her walls, who should not be silent day or night for all eternity; 
Matth. 16.18.  that the gates of Hell should not prevail against her; and whosoever refused to hear her, should be esteemed as a Publican and Heathen: 
1 Tim. 3.  and briefly that she was the pillar and firmament of truth. Shall we doubt, 
de utilitate cred. c. 17.  saith Saint Augustine, to put ourselves in the bosom of that Church, which by succession of Bishops from the Seat of the Apostles, to the universal confession of mankind, the Heretics barking on all sides, and condemned partly by the judgement of the very people, and partly by the Majesty of miracles, hath obtained the highest degree of authority, which not to obey and acknowledge, is an act of extreme impiety or precipitous arrogancy. And again. 
De symb. ad Catech. lib. 1. c. 5.  The Catholic Church resisting all Heretics may be impugned, but never overcome: all heresies have come out of her, as unprofitable branches cut off from the vine, but she remaineth still in her root, in her vine, in her charity.  
That doctrine therefore shall truly be said to be ancient, and marked with the character of the primitive Church, which shallbe found to have been believed and practised universally by the Fathers, who lived in the time of the four first General councils; and principally when it shall appear, that the things affirmed by the authors of those ages, were not held by them as doctrines and observations of their own, but as doctrines and observations perpetually practised by the Church in all ages, from the time of the Apostles: although perhaps there cannot be found so many express testimonies of every one of those things within the compass of the precedent ages, as may within the time of the four first councils, by reason of the small store of writings, which the Persecution of those times suffered to come to our hands. For it sufficeth to assure us of the perpetual practice of those matters, that the Fathers who lived in the time of the four first councils, and knew better than we what passed in the ages that went before them, do testify that they were believed and practised, not as things instituted in their age, but as things, which had been practised in all times in the Church, & were come by continual and successive observation from the Apostles unto them; and that in the Authors of the precedent ages, no repugnant testimony can be found, but wholly to the contrary: when any occasion of speaking of those things is offered, they always afford conformable and favourable testimonies; which is in few words to say: That thing ought to be held in all reason for ancient, which those, whom we do account ancient, did themselves esteem to be ancient.  
The fifth observation is, about the Unanimity and uniform consent of the Fathers; which some contentious spirits would have to be understood only, when one and the self same thing is actually found in the writings of all the Fathers; which is a most unjust and impertinent pretension. For, that any doctrine or observation be truly held by the Fathers to be Universal and Catholic, it is not needful that it be found in the writings of all the Fathers, when as many of them perhaps never treated of those matters, and of whose writings some have perished, and never come to our hands: but there are two other lawful ways to assure and satisfy us in this matter. The one, when the Fathers or greatest eminency in every Country, do agree in the affirmation of one and the self same doctrine or practice, and none of the others have noted it, as dissenting from the Church, nor have written against it. In this sort, 
Contra 〈…〉.  when Saint Augustine had cited against the Pelagians the testimony of an eleven Fathers, eminent in learning, and agreeing in the same points of doctrine, he thought he had sufficiently produced against them the belief of the Catholic Church: and when the Council of Ephesus had produced ten Fathers of former ages, they thought, they had sufficiently expressed the consent of the Church in the precedent times, against the doctrine of Nestorius: 
Cap 42.  for that, as Vincentius Lyrinensis noteth, they doubted not, but those ten Fathers held & believed the self same, which all the rest of their brethren did.  
The other way is, when the Fathers do speak not as Doctors, but as witnesses, of the use and practise of the Church in their ages, & do not say; In my opinion, this aught thus to be believed, or thus to be understood, or thus to be observed: but the Church from one end of the world to the other, believeth thus, or observeth this. For than we do not hold that, which they say, as a thing said by them, but as said by the universal Church: and principally in matters whereof they could not be ignorant, by reason either of the condition of things, as in matters of fact, or in respect of the sufficiency of the persons. And in this case we do not draw from their words, only a probable argument, as we do, when they speak as particular Doctors; but the argument we draw from hence, is an absolute demonstration.  
This therefore is to be held undoubtedly for Universal & Catholic, which the most eminent of the Fathers, that lived in the time of the four first councils, have taught in divers Countries, and different parts of the world, and which none of the rest have impugned or noted, as disagreeing from the doctrine of the Church; or which the Fathers of these councils have witnessed, to have been believed and practised by the whole Church in their ages: and that shall undoubtedly remain as ancient and Apostolic, which the Fathers of those ages have testified to have been observed by the whole Church, not as a thing newly begun in their time, but descended to them by continual and immemorable succession from former ages, or from the express Tradition of the Apostles. For those things having been universally observed in the time of the four first Counsels, they could not be instituted, but by an universal authority. For in the Catholic Church was then exactly observed the rule mentioned by Vincentius Lyrinensis, to oppose Universality against Particularity. And therefore one doctrine or observation of one particular Prince, could never come to be the belief or custom uniform and universal throughout all parts of the world: especially in such sort, as no one of the Father's living near the time of those universal innovations, should have perceived or noted; but whatsoever was then universally observed in the whole Church, must necessarily be instituted by some universal Prince.  
For according to the opinion of your Ministers, there were in those ages but two principal and universal authorities; the one of the Apostles, and the other of general councils. For they will not admit, that the Sea Apostolic had at those times any universal authority: and therefore, whatsoever shallbe found to have been universally and uniformly observed in the Church, in all Countries & Provinces of the earth, in the time of the four first General councils, and not to have been begun in that time, but to have been formerly practised, that is, before there was any General Council in the Church, must necessarily be a tradition of the Apostles, following those rules of S. Augustine Epist. 18. Those things, saith he▪ which we keep, not by writing, but by Tradition, which are observed through the whole world, are understood to be received from the ordination and institution either of the Apostles themselves, or of General councils, whose authority is most profitable to the Church. And in another place. 
De Bapt. cont. Donat. lib. 4. c. 6.  That custom also, which men looking upwards, could not find, that it was instituted by posterity, was justly believed to have been instituted by the Apostles. And there are many other things, which would be long to repeat. And again. If any one in this do seek divine authority, although that which the universal Church observeth, and hath not been instituted by councils, but always retained; is justly believed not to have been delivered by Tradition, but by Apostolical authority etc. Which rules of S. Augustine if they have place in those things, which the Fathers, who lived in the time of the four first councils, do testify, to have been observed in the Church before those councils; with how much more reason ought they to have place in those matters, which the same Fathers affirm, not in doubtful, but in express terms, to have been instituted, and ordained by the Apostles.  
These five Observations then thus made upon the Premises, to pass now to the Conclusion; I say, that so far of it is, that your Ministers to whom his Majesty doth exteriorly adhere, do hold the same things, which the ancient Fathers have believed and practised, as necessary to salvation, that in the solemn Service or Liturgy of the Church, which is the seal of Ecclesiastical Communion, the four principal points, for which they have separated themselves from us, which are, the Real Presence of the body of Christ in the Sacrament; the Offering of the Sacrifice of the Eucharist; Prayer & Oblation for the dead; & Prayer to Saints, the ancient Fathers have universally and uniformly believed, held, and practised them all, as things necessary to salvation; although in different degrees of necessity. So as if your Ministers had lived in the time of the ancient Fathers, they must, as they have now forsaken and renounced our solemnities and communion for these causes: so also have then renounced the solennities & communion of the ancient Fathers, and consequently the title & society of the Catholic Church.  
I said the Real Presence of the body of Christ in the Sacrament, not because I think not to pass further, to affirm the substantial conversion of the Sacrament into the body of Christ, but it sufficeth for my purpose to say, the Real Presence. For it is not precisely and particularly the Transubstantiation of the Sacrament, but the Real Presence of the body of Christ in the Sacrament, on which is grounded the importance of this article, and the necessity of it to salvation, to wit, the Communion and substantial Union to the body of Christ; which Saint Cyrill calleth the knot of our Union with God. Neither is it particularly and precisely the Transubstantiation, but the Real Presence, from whence those two inconveniences do proceed, for which your Ministers in this article have separated themselves from our Communion; which are, the one, the adoration of the body of Christ in the Sacrament, whom they would have to be sought and adored only in heaven; and the other is, the pretended destruction of the Union of the body of Christ, by being at one time in many places in the Sacrament.  
I have said nothing of the prerogative of the Roman Church, which all the ancient Fathers have held to be the Centre and root of Episcopal Unity, and Ecclesiastical communion. For that I persuade myself, that You are sufficiently conversant in antiquity, to know, that the most ancient Fathers, councils, and Christian Emperors have perpetually given unto her the Primacy and supereminent Authority in all Ecclesiastical matters, and such as concern Religion: which is as much as the Church requireth, to be confessed as a point of faith, by them that do return to the Unity thereof, that so this company of the Faithful may be discerned from the Grecians, and others of their Sect, who some ages since have separated themselves from the visible, and ministerious head of the Church.  
These four points therefore are the principal fountains of our dissension: & if about these we were of accord, it would be easy to agree about the rest. I say, that the Fathers, who lived in the time of the four first councils, have all of them held & practised, as necessary to salvation, albeit in different degrees of necessity, to wit, the Real Presence of the body of Christ, & the oblation of the Sacrifice, as a means absolutely necessary to the whole body of the Church, and conditionally necessary to every one in particular: Prayer and Oblation for the dead, as necessary necessitate medij to them for whom they are offered, to help them by the prayers and Sacrifices of the Church, to deliver from temporal pains after this life, those who having sinned after baptism, have not done sufficient penance, nor fully satisfied the justice of Almighty God: and they are necessary necessitate praecepti, for the exercising of Christian charity & piety, both to the Church, who maketh them, and to the Ministers and Pastors, by whom she maketh them.  
And Prayer to saints hath been practised, as necessary to the body of the Church, and to the Ministers, by whom she maketh them: necessary, I say, necessitate praecepti, for the communion and commerce between the Triumphant and Militant Church. And as for particular men, than have no office in the Church, but use their private devotions, it is not necessary necessitate actus, but it is only profitable for the more easy obtaining pardon for their sins, by making their recourse in prayer to them, that are already in perfect and assured possession of the grace and favour of God: but to these and to all other it is necessary necessitate approbationis, that is, they are bound not to contradict it, nor to condemn the use and doctrine of the Church in this point, nor to separate themselves from the Church for this cause, under pain of Excommunication, and to be held and esteemed for Heretics.  
Of all which things I do not for the present undertake the proof, least in place of a Letter I should sand you a book, but I oblige myself to perform it, whensover you shall require it: and to show unto you, both by the uniform consent of the Fathers, who flourished in the time of the four first councils, and by the forms which they have left us in their writings, of the ancient service of the Catholic Church in their ages, universally and uniformly were held, believed, and practised through all the Provinces and Countries of the earth, these four points, in the same sense, and in the same form, as they are used in our Liturgies and common Service, and not as Observations, which then had their beginning, but as things which the same Fathers affirm to have been believed and practised by all Antiquity; and to have come to them, by a never-interrupted succession of the tradition or approbation of the Apostles. So as, no man can renounce the Communion of our Church under the pretext and colour of any of these things, but they must also renounce the Communion of the ancient Catholic Church, and consequently the inheritance of salvation.  
And this I will do by authors and testimonies of good rank and mark, as you know I am curious not to use others, and with plain and clear answers to all objections, taken out of the Fathers of those or former ages; which thing will be unto me so much the more easy, forsomuch as the proofs, which we bring out of the Fathers, do contain in express terms the affirmative of what we say; whereas on the contrary, our Adversaries shall never be able to find one passage, which doth in express terms contain the negative: but only by such inferences, as in an equal and just Tribunal deserveth not so much as once the hearing. For who knoweth not, how contrary to reason it is, to allege the consequences of passages, and those also ill interpreted and understood, & in whose inferences doth always lie hidden some Paralogism and fallacy, against the express words, and the lively and actual practice of the same Fathers, out of whom they are taken: and that this is a ready way to accuse the Fathers of want of understanding and memory, not to take them for judges, and to submit one's self to the observation of that, which they have believed and practised.  
To this I will further add when you shall desire it, the present conformity of all other patriarchal Churches, in these four points, with the Church of Rome, and of all those which do yet remain to this day under their jurisdiction, that is, of those that do remain under the patriarchal jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Constantinople, as the Grecians, Russians, Muscovites, and Asians of the lesser Asia, separated from us some eight hundred years since: of those also which are under the Patriarch of Antioch, as the Syrians, Mesopotamians, and others that are further East: For those that acknowledge the Patriarch of Syria, as the Maronites, do still persevere in the Communion of the Church of Rome. Of those also, which rely and depend of the Patriarch of Alexandria, as the natural Egyptians, whom they call Copthes, and the Ethiopians, divided from us and the Grecians, more than eleven hundred years ago, even from the last of the four first councils, that is, from the Council of Chalcedon; these do hold these four articles, and with greater jealousy, if it were possible, than the Latins do; and particularly that of the Sacrament, in which they do not only believe the Transubstantiation which the Grecians at this day do call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, but do also adore it with external actions, full of much more humility, then ours are; which is a manifest sign, that these four points were uniformly held and observed by the ancient Catholic Church; seeing that all the parts, into which the Catholic Church is divided, retain them to this present day with great uniformity, notwithstanding the distance, separation, and division of them, through all Nations of the earth.  
Behold here in general, the causes, which moved me in my Letter, to use that exception objected unto me in yours, which if his Majesty of Great-Brittaine had as well the leisure to consider in particular, as he hath capacity to comprehend them; I assure myself, he would not think it strange, that I should wish him the Title of Catholic: but would also wish and desire it himself, and put himself in state to obtain it both to himself, and his: I mean, he would to his other Crowns add also this, that he would become a Mediator for the reconciliation of the Church which would be unto him a more triumphant Glory, then that of all Alexanders, and Caesar's: and it would obtain no less honour to his Island, to have been the place of his birth, then to have brought forth the Great Constantine, the first deliverer and pacifier of the Church of Christ.  
I beseech the infinite goodness of God, that he would vouchsafe one day to increase with this, the other graces, which he hath given him, and to grant in this behalf, the prayers of the happy deceased Queen his Mother, whose not only tears, as did those of S. Augustine's Mother; but also her blood doth make intercession, and cry unto heaven for him: and always preserve You in health and safety.  
FINIS.